The First Day of School!

Whew!  What a day!  I must say that it went very well and we are so happy about that!  

There are some things we're going to change up for tomorrow.  I fully expected this week to be full of changes, trying to figure out what works best.  Normally, I go into Harlie's room and start her breathing treatments (2 meds, which takes about 15-20 minutes).  I put it on her while she's sleeping and don't wake her until it's finished.  While that's running, I draw up her Prevacid and baby aspirin (they are pills and need about 15 minutes to dissolve in water in a syringe).  I have to give that to her on an empty stomach, and 30 minutes before she gets any food.  

This morning, to save some time, I only gave her the Prevacid - it only takes a few seconds to dissolve.  And I'm going to give her the baby aspirin at night from now on.  

As for her breathing treatments, she gets two, one is given once a day, the other is given twice a day.  So, I'm going to reverse it and give her both tonight and then in the morning, I'll only have to give her one.  So, between those two changes, I'll save almost 30 minutes.

At any rate, she fought waking up, as usual.  I had to physically pick her up and put her feet on the floor.  She was a little upset.  She walked to her window, pulled the shade back and looked out (it was still DARK) and then turned around and looked at me, as if to say, "what the hell?"  

Once she was up and I got her teeth and hair brushed, she was already in a better mood.  Then I let her choose what she wanted to wear (between two outfits I laid out for her, of course).  And she hurried downstairs.

As soon as we got downstairs, it was almost time to go.  Brandy got here and put her shoes on, tubed her a can of breakfast and the bus pulled up at 6:48am sharp.

I didn't even think about the weather and let her walk out the door in a tank top and shorts and it was chilly and rainy!  I had to run back in the house to get her a raincoat.  But, Harlie is VERY hot-natured so she was probably just fine.  We forgot to put on her harness before she got on the bus.  And then when I put it on, it was too big, so I had to run back in the house to get a smaller extension for it, so it would fit.  So, the bus was at our house for a little longer than it should have been.  Tomorrow will be better for sure.

Harlie had no problem getting on the bus.  And even though she's gotten on the bus before - it felt SO very different for me.  I definitely had to fight back the tears.  Okay, fine.  Yes, I cried a little.  Tears of both fear and joy.

Once she was off, it was time to focus on Murphy.  I took a wipe board and wrote his "to do" list and he went through everything on the list without one word from us.  I can't tell you how much better this made our morning.  Seriously - the best idea I've had so far.  He was ready to go and wearing his backpack - 40 minutes before we had to leave the house.  When Tom told him to take it off because we weren't leaving for a while, he said that it was "comfortable."

Finally, 7:30 rolled around and it was time to leave.  And boy was it yucky out!  It rained last year on the first day of school, too.

I cannot tell you how different his class is this year from last year.  All the kids were in their seats, quiet and calm and ready for class.  Last year it was pure chaos with kids moving in all directions working on their check-in procedure.  I am really excited to see how he does in this calmer environment.

For various reasons (mainly due to the holiday weekend) we did not have Murphy's meds ready to give to him today.  But, after seeing the class environment, I think we might see how he does without the meds.  So, we're going to hold off on them for a few days.

When I picked him up from school today I asked him how the first day was and he said, "It was awesome!!!"  How great is that?  He said he really likes his teacher.  And they went to the library and he checked out a chapter book - and no Halloween books!!!  Wow!!

About an hour or so into the day, I sent Brandy a text to see how Harlie was doing.  She said that she was doing well, dancing in circle time and that she heard Harlie answer a color question with her device.  I asked her how the other kids were and Brandy said they were fine.  They just had some questions about why she doesn't talk.  The teacher answered them and then moved on with class.

After lunch Brandy sent me a text to let me know that Harlie fed herself half her peaches and drank an ounce of formula, with NO problem!!!  Then Brandy fed her the rest, discreetly, with no resistance from her at all!!!  That girl kills me.

She also said that she asked Harlie if she was having fun and Harlie said "yes."  Then she asked her if she liked kindergarten and she said "yes."  Yay!

Overall, I think she had a great day.  Later on, her teacher called and said that she did very well.  She followed instructions just fine.  She didn't want to participate in some activities, but after some prodding, she finally gave in and did what she was told (like coloring or something).  And then she said that they have PE tomorrow, so she wanted to know what she could/couldn't do.

After they were both home from school, I was immediately exhausted!!!  Come bedtime - they all went to bed with no problems and were sounds asleep in just a few minutes.  Ahhh....

Speaking of sleep....time for me, too!  Thank you!!
~Christy