Huge Friday!

Last year on Valentine's Day, Hailey and I were invited into her class to join her classmates.  She was going to be starting in the class in two weeks and her teacher wanted Hailey to join in to get accustomed to the classroom and students.  She seemed so tiny and she was very apprehensive with all the bustling and commotion.  I suddenly panicked.  Was it too soon to send her to school?  Was she not ready?  What would I do?  I pushed those fears to the back of my mind and sent her to school anyway...a mere 24 hours after she turned 3 (months earlier than either of her typical, big brothers did). 

I have been happy with that decision.  I'm glad I didn't give into the fears.  We faced them head on and Hailey has flourished because of it.  Yes, she is a little mischeivous every now and then.  Yes, she has tried to run a few times.  Yes, she can be defiant at times.  Yes, she has been known to throw her glasses or remove her shoes and socks at times.  But she is learning!  She knows all her classmates.  She engages with them.  They play together.  Her fine motor skills are improving as well as her speech and her gross motor skills. 

Hailey painting with marshmallows

Sensory play - which she will NOT do at home!

She loved the hot chocolate a little TOO much!

This day she said "chocolate" about 500 times and smelled like chocolate, too!!!

Some days it is difficult to fully grasp how much Hailey is learning.  How much she is retaining from her classroom.  She isn't like a typical preschooler.  The boys would come home and give details about their days at school.  They would tell me what they had for snack, what they did at recess, who they played with and what they learned in school.  With Hailey, you don't get that.  Most days, I don't even get an answer to "Did you have a good day, today?"  It's hard.  I feel like we are going at this clueless.  Little by little, we get a glimpse to what Hailey is learning and how she is doing. 

She will identify all her colors one day or all her shapes another day.  She counted to 8 for me last week.  She will identify a letter her or a letter there.  She identified 9 at school last week.  It's slow and sometimes just when I'm beyond frustrated because I can't tap into her brain and figure out what she's thinking or what she's learning...she blows me away.  Today is one of those days!

In Hailey's preschool, a parent can either attend the Halloween party or the Valentine's Day party.  I was able to attend today.  The class was divided into groups and they worked through centers.  One of the centers was decorating a Valentine monster with stickers.  Her speech therapist reminded her to write her name on the back of it.  One by one, Hailey listed each letter in her name and then drew them.  To most people this will look like scribbles, but each letter is there and she knew what she was doing.  They aren't in a row yet and she doesn't pick up her writing utensil after the letters (which is why is looks like scribbling)...but she knows them!!!!!!!  I honestly wasn't sure if she would be doing this at the end of next year before going to kindergarten!  I'm not sure her speech therapist saw the tears in my eyes or knew that I cried halfway home.  It makes me wonder what else she knows and we just need to figure out how to get the knowledge out!  I am so proud of my little girl.  The obstacles she has overcome and the ones she overcomes every day....she does everything with a determination and a smile on her face (on most days)! 

Most people will see this as a bunch of scribbles.  I circled them but I can't remember were the "I" is. The top right is an H.....top left is her A....I forget where the I is...L is the bottom left...lower case "e" on the bottom right and her Y is in the middle. She told us the letters as she wrote them.