First Week At Her New School

It's been non-stop around here. The day after Ainsley's 3rd birthday she started at her new preschool. It is a developmental preschool inside an elementary school that has greater expertise with the medically "fragile". We toured it several times over the last year and felt that it would be the best fit for Ainsley. It's a little slower paced than say the EEU. We finished up her IEP last Friday. I was pretty surprised they had a spot for her right away so she didn't miss any school. Since she's eligible for transportation we decided to give that a try. Otherwise I'd have been trying to get her to school prior to running carpool for the other kids. Now I have to get her up much earlier to be ready to meet her nurse at 8:15 and on the bus at 8:24. I hope it gets easier once I'm feeling better. But we did it and weren't late. She made it through an entire week and seems to be LOVING it! She goes off in the morning without a complaint. I knew she'd be okay. She's a pretty independent one, this girl.

Monday was exciting. The bus didn't show up so I had to call in at 8:30 when it still wasn't here. They said she'd come in 5 minutes. A few minutes later I hear the bus and go out to the porch just to see her turn around and leave. Then I call back. See her go around the block and head the other direction down the street. Well they told her the wrong cross street. Then she came back but was convinced she couldn't get down the street. She could but had to drive on the sidewalk. We live on a narrow street, the other houses across the street are down below with a divider between the drop-off. It got so late that Evie and Adrian were up and got to come say goodbye. So after 3 phone calls and all this we headed not to school but to pick up more kids in the opposite direction! We were running 20 minutes late and all the other parents on the route were mad. I actually felt bad for the bus driver. Apparently they didn't tell her she had a new student.

What is going on?! Why am I up so early?

Finally getting on the bus.

Not sure what she thinks about this.

A lot of new faces. Daddy beat us here after driving carpool.

Music time. My favorite time of the day.

Putting up her picture for the first time.

Attempting to put her chair away. Pushing and walking at the same time is tricky!

Mixing red and yellow to make orange paper for a pumpkin project.

Fun in the ball box.

Back on the bus so soon? It was the worlds bumpiest bus (no wheelchairs to weigh it down) but she thought it was a blast. It was good I went with them to make sure they got home okay for the first day. She did great and seemed to enjoy it. The teachers were very nice and attentive.

We'll be getting to know her new therapists. They need to spend a little time getting to know Ainsley. They're already recommending AFO's on the first day. Sheesh. And I hope they don't underestimate her. It's easy to do. And I won't be there to set them straight but I'm trying to have faith that it'll all be fine.

Tuesday the school nurse went with our nurse for a day of training. Then he took her Wednesday and Thursday. It feels a little weird to see my "baby" with a trach go off without me but I'm sure I'll get used to it. It is nice to have a few hours of quiet to take care of business around the house. It's a whole new routine. Maybe next week I'll dare venture out of the house while she's at school. We've entered a new chapter in our lives. I get to watch and see what little miss can do without me by her side. She's showing what she's made of and doing great. It's our Friday. We made it through an entire school week. The best thing is when she gets off the bus and sees me and I get the biggest smile you've ever seen.