The class of '29 Journey has begun!

Preschool!  Can you believe it, L&L have entered preschool!!  I think I'm going to blog weekly about their progress, Lena's and #BusyLiam.  :)

Lena on her first day of PreK
August 15th, 2014

The first day was a Friday, how weird is that?  Lena was beyond excited for school, and was and still will, talk about her "purple kitty backpack."  She was thrilled to go, hug and a kiss, and she was off!!  That was a little too fast for me, but I was so proud of her, and I knew that I must have done something right!!  I'm so excited for her!! Learning, school, making friends, how exciting!  So far, she's done great!  She's completed two full weeks of school, and talks about the friends she has made! Sapphire & Peyton are a topic of daily conversation! Good and bad choices have been topic of discussion at school, and she is really latching onto that and applying it! She tells me all about the snacks she eats, and today she even checked out her very first library book!  She chose Fancy Nancy Stellar Stargazer.  Artwork comes home on Friday's, which for me, is very exciting!  The teacher did mention today that we need to work on "independence skills."  But does feel that part of that might come from Liam requiring a lot of attention, "middle child syndrome" perhaps.  This is something we notice at home, but I know that she is fully capable of being independent!

Artwork on our fridge!

 

Liam on his first day of PreK
August 15th, 2014

Liam is in the same classroom as Lena, which I wanted.  and feel very good about!!  He has his own one on one aide, which right now, is a substitute until the find someone for the permanent spot.  I love this lady that fills the spot right now, and really just wish she'd stay!  I hope the next one they find is as proactive and kind as she is.  The first day went ok, Liam had a hard time getting up, but he made it, and even played in the sand table, and checked out what all of the other kids were doing!

His second day of school, he woke up with a fever, and had to miss that day and the next!  What a bummer!! I was so excited for him to be at school, and a little bummed he had to miss two days so early into the year!  His first two days back, were pretty good.  He was getting acclimated to the routines, had some meltdowns with transitions, but we all expected that!  The end of his first week, ended on a rough note.  The school does not want to pick him up, so I had to go into the building to get him out of the room.  Coming in from the playground, well, it initiated a meltdown.  I found him in the room, flat out, blankie over his eyes, screaming his head off.  :(  Not such a great end.  The weekend from there on out was kind of a mess, we had a lot of birthday parties, and he was just flat out exhausted.  He got called out of church for the same reason I had to go get him out of the classroom.  So when Monday rolled around, he was not excited about going into school.  I walked in with him, and stayed for about 45 minutes, while he continued to melt.  He even hit his poor eye on an easel and bit his tongue.  Mommy cried too, it's hard to see your child so stressed out, he is getting hurt.  After that, we decided that Liam would ride to and from the classroom in a wagon!  So the next day, I walked him into the entry way, and he got into his wagon with a bit of prompting and went on his way.  Each day has improved tremendously!  They had an autism speicialist in to observe him, and put some things in place.  They are using a picture schedule with him, which he is slowly catching on to!  Today, he even went over and grabbed his backpack picture when he wanted to leave!  Today I was informed that Liam "worked" with the teacher for FIVE minutes!!  They are using his blankie as motivation, work for five minutes, then you get some snuggles with blankie.  They have created a quiet space for him when he needs some time to take a break from the craziness!  He is also staying in his centers for longer periods of time! This is amazing.  These are the goals I have for him.  Communicating his wants (whether verbally or nonverbally), engaging in appropriate play (at his centers.)  I'm slowly seeing these things happen!  He has started speech and OT this week in school.  He also checked out a book at the library, a Splat the Cat book :)  I'm loving his artwork that is coming home!

This week began on a rocky note, but it ended on a high.  I'm so proud of both of them!  Must be the teacher in me, but I'm so excited about each day!  The stories they tell, and what they will learn!  Prayers are really appreciated for the continued progress for each of them, especially for Liam!  Please pray they find the right aide for him and that he continues to make progress!!