Annabelle's Blog: Fall 2016

Annabelle started kindergarten in the fall and for the first couple weeks it was strange to have her gone the entire day. That quickly passed and now the days fly by and before I know it, it's 4pm and time for the bus.

We have had such a fun Fall! October is always so much fun, filled with Halloween activities. Trick or treating at the Garden Factory, the village, school and in our neighborhood. The day before Halloween we had some neighbors come over for a party, we had over 50 people! We played minute to win it games, did arts and crafts and even had a photo booth. Everyone had so much fun, even with the cold weather and rain.

Annabelle started ice skating with Gliding Stars of Rochester. She skates every Sunday and absolutely loves it! There is even an ice show where they perform in February. She is still dancing at Dancing with Denise once a week and is even going in on her own without mommy (some days). We have cut back activities this fall to make sure her transition to kindergarten was a smooth one.

Kindergarten is going so well! Annabelle loves school, her teacher and everyone she meets. She is in a self contained classroom with 4 friends. At first I was concerned that she wouldn't be socialized enough but they have exceeded my expectations week over week. Her teacher is just amazing and really makes everyday individualized for her and her abilities. Throughout the day she is integrated into a "typical" or GenEd classroom for different activities then also has all of her therapies mixed in (PT, OT, Speech, Vision, Music). She started with specials (Art & music) then began having Choice time, then the PE teacher decided to integrate her and now she is also doing some reading, sight words and other fun things in the class. She is making so many new friends and sometimes even chooses to sit with them at lunch.

We went to Erie for Thanksgiving once again this year and had a wonderful weekend. After coming home we started decorating for Christmas and Annabelle's birthday. Her parties are today (Chuck E Cheese) and tomorrow (neighbor kids at our house) along with ice skating where they will sing to her (and Santa will be there). Monday I go into her class to read to the kids and do a craft. I will be sure to post a birthday blog with lots of pictures!