So you know what that means, right? Time to start Will on preschool! Hopefully not to repeat the whole "two weeks of drama" thing, but we were prepared to fight that fight if necessary.
On Will's first day, he went for a half day with Oma. She was there to show the new teachers the "Will ropes" and to help out with the transition. While we want Will to go to school with typically developing kids and do as many of the "normal" preschool things as possible, we know that he has a lot of things that make him special and need some additional focus.
Our main concerns are feeding, positioning, and the timing of his dosage of afternoon Neurontin (medicine) that is administered through his g-tube. His school has about one third special needs children, but that can mean so many things. We know there have been other children with cerebral palsy there before, but also many other disabilities too. So we spent some extra time with the teachers, walking through training for all of the focus areas that we have for Will.
The first day was a little rough - as expected. Will doesn't eat well for new people, and because so many of the other children in his class are also in transition, it is noisy at times with crying and upset kids. He did truly enjoy outside time with his classmates, as you can see in the photos below! Will came home to nap that day.
On day two, we had kind of a repeat of the first day. Oma walked them through Will's Kid Kart, stander, feet DAFOs, and his new hand positioning "mitts" (http://www.benik.com/peds/wrist/bd-88). Again, though, difficulty with feeding. We were a little worried, with everything that we've been through with his weight and the vomiting and the failure to thrive... but kept up hope that Will would warm up to everyone and his teachers would keep trying to feed him.
Today was Will's first day alone (Oma and Opa hit the road on their return to Texas this morning). Luke and I dropped Will off a little early so that we could walk the teachers through how to administer Will's Neurontin. We talked about our goals for Will's feeds, and told them that we have confidence that things will work out if everyone keeps working at it!
I am happy to report that Will had an absolutely fabulous day today! He ate relatively well for his teachers - while not exactly reaching his daily goal its a step in the right direction because he wouldn't eat for them at all on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. He enjoyed outside time and art time quite a bit. And get this... he actually napped while he was there! Will - who needs music and a noise machine and perfect quiet and a pillow and a specially placed pacifier when he sleeps at home - went to sleep on a mat on the floor surrounded by 8 other not-perfectly-quiet kids in a brand new place. He was all smiles when Nate picked him up and has been in a good mood all evening.
Wow. We are so happy with today, it by far exceeded our expectations! Will did so well in his new environment. We hoped that he would enjoy preschool, but were nervous because he's really seemed to enjoy his situation at home. We couldn't be prouder of him for doing so well! Now let's hope he continues on this wonderful path!
1 comment:
I am beyond thrilled for you guys. I've loved reading your posts about their transitions to preschool. Such big strides for all of you. Kudos!
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