As most know, I had so much anxiety over sending Ailyn to school. I was afraid to send her off into the real world. Not being able to shelter her and be there for her every minute of the day was going to be tough for me. I knew she would thrive in school. She is so social and loves to be around people. So I let my baby grow some wings and head off into this huge world 5 half days a week.
Ailyn has an IEP. She will recieve OT, PT and speech during class. They focused more on speech and she will get it 3 times a week. She only gets PT once but I'm hoping we can add one more day in the future. Ailyn shares an assistant/aid with one other child. Kristen is AWESOME!!! So full of life, so positive, I really like her. I can tell Ailyn adores her with the huge smile she gives her each morning.
There are 12 kids in her class. With 6 of them being "typical peers". This will be SO good for Ailyn. Ailyn has always had adults as her best friends. Her daily therapist coming to our house. She prefers to play with adults over peers. I'm hoping she will learn to make friends. Even if she just plays WITH a classmate, I will be happy.
Ailyn giggles when we get to the stop light by her school. She gives me many kisses (OK, I ask for them) and she blows kisses as I am walking away. She looks so old to me as she walks off with her class.
On the first day I watched as she walked down the long BIG hallway to her classroom. I was so proud of her. I thought back to the day she was born. We had no idea if she was going to make it. And, here we are 3 1/2 (and a half!!!!) years later, she's off to preschool. I was able to peel myself away from the window and let her go.
When I pick her up, she tries to tell me about her day. She will sign that she sat on the potty, washed her hands, ate snack, drank her juice and read a book.
Ailyn still has therapy at the children's hospital 3 days a week. She will get a hour nap inbetween. By 7pm she is begging to go to bed. She never begs to go to bed that early.
I look forward to seeing her bloom this year.
