Settling In

Saya was helping me clean up the other day. 

We are starting to find the nice rhythm of new routines now that we are in the second week of school.   We were nervous about how it is all going to work out, but I think it's going better than I thought.  The morning is early, everyone gets up around 6:00 am or sometimes earlier but as they say, early birds catch more worms.  I am getting more stuff done and energized to accomplish my goals of the day.  I do have to go to bed earlier and no more late night blog updates, but I tend to waste more time working on my computer anyway.  So, all in all, it's going great.

Alyson is doing better at school and she is definitely speaking more English at home now.  It's amazing how quickly she is absorbing.  She mentions some of her classmates' names and she seems to be having a lot of fun.  Unlike Sean, she actually tells me what she did at school with excitement, so that is very nice.  Today, she played with Sophie, Lucy and Christian.  Alyson will have her royal week next week where she gets to play a princess the entire week.  Sean did that last year and I went and talked about Japan in his class.  I am going to make a Japanese story board and read Japanese folklore, I've decided. 

Noah seems to be having fun at his new school as well.  I met his teacher, Ms. Hubert, at the curriculum night and she seemed very nice.   His class room is big and bright with several different areas for books, pretend play, sensory area etc... and looked like a bigger version of his Phantom Lake preschool.  There are eight students in his class and there is a para-educator assigned to every two kids.  Visiting the school and getting know the teacher eased my mind knowing that Noah is in good hands.  We are lucky to live in an area with the advanced special education system.  I am looking forward to building a strong partnership with the teacher and her aids to help Noah achieve his goals - hopefully talking by the end of the school year!  I must say, he has grown so much in the past six months and we are very hopeful, he will learn to talk. 

Sean transitioned to his new schedule and grade level smoothly.  He still has behavioral issues at home, but it is getting less.  He is a good student and a friend according to the teacher.  I see him interacting more with his classmates when I drop him off.  He even tells me who he played with that day which didn't happen much before.  I am not too worried about him at school, which is a good thing.   I am looking forward to seeing him at school occasionally since I will be able to volunteer during the school hour this year!

Saya and I are having lots of fun spending more peaceful time together.  I am finally finding time to go to the gym and have been working out at our fabulous luxury gym a couple of times per week.  I also have time to sit with Saya and teach her reading and writing.  She started to take gymnastics on Wednesdays and she enjoys learning summersaults and hanging on the bar.  She insisted she wants to wear a leotard just like her classmates, so I got her one.  I can't wait for her to wear it and pat her bottom.   Saya gets the best of it since I am already feeling sad that she is going to be a kindergartner next year.  I am determined to have a very special year with her!!