We knew he could do it!

I wanted to take a few pictures of Matthew today, and he agreed to sit through a quick session. In an effort to keep him in one place for more than a couple of minutes, I asked him to grab his favorite book.  Then I thought, hey, I'll get some shots of him looking like he's reading....everyone will see what a smart kid I have, and maybe I'll be back in the running for good mom of the year award! (one can dream, right?)  Well, Matthew sat down with his book and one of his favorite buddies, and started to read. And read. And read!  Before long he wasn't even paying attention to my camera, and just sat there reading his entire Dr. Seuss book to his buddy. He did a a really good job, and it made me so happy to see him actually read a book on his own, and seem to enjoy it too!

You see, Matt has never been a fan of reading. Or homework. Or school in general! He's quite smart and capable, he just doesn't have the attention for anything that requires him to sit still and focus for more than a few minutes. He's our square peg we're all trying to cram into a round hole. Lately though, he's been trying to make more of an effort to prove to us and his teachers that he can do the work and meet the goals that we set for him in his last IEP.  It's finally paying off  - Matthew's RSP teacher let me know today that they are no longer recommending the SDC (special day class) program for him (a program that would have required him to change schools for second grade)! He'll remain in his current RSP program as long as he continues to make progress. It was awesome news, and Matt's pretty stoked he doesn't have to change schools. We knew he could do it!

Here are some goodies from our photo/reading session: