Monday Monday

Hi friends!
I hope you had a great weekend! We got lots done and we went to Paige's favorite place...the Rainforest Cafe. It's a theme restaurant made to look like you're in the rainforest. The animals come to life and every 30 minutes there is a fake thunderstorm and the animals go crazy. There's giant fish tanks everywhere and all kinds of things to look at. You're encouraged to run around and look at things, so it's the perfect place to bring little ones and not worry about craziness.
As you know, Paige started preschool for the year and she's been doing a great job. She's gaining a lot of new skills already! In the morning, she has her special needs class where there are 2 kids per teacher with 4 teachers in there. She's learning all about how to initiate a conversation, say hi and bye without prompting, and how to share and play with other kids. She's doing great! She's finally saying things like "hi Mommy" on her own. When my Mom was visiting Paige said "Bye Nana!" all on her own as she was leaving for the bus...without me having to say "Say Bye to Nana!". She's really using all her new skills in real life situations, so it's working out great! After her first class, she has a rest period and lunch, and then she goes to the integrated classroom for the afternoon where she is mixed with typical kids. She gets to practice all the skills she learned in the morning there. She LOVES it. Then, she's home around 3:45 after she gets off the bus. She goes Monday through Thursday. She's pretty tired when she gets home, so I let her decide what to do with her time and let her have her space to decompress. So far so good! It's a lot for a three year old, but I also know it's working for her. I try to always remember that even if it's not something I WANT to do, I have to do what is best for her and her future. I'm reminded of our good choice every time she talks about sharing or I see her out in public saying hi to older kids on her own and then running to us to say "Look Mommy! I'm making a new friend!"
To celebrate, we let her choose the restaurant we went to. Rainforest Cafe it is! (She calls it "Jungle Supper.") She enjoyed her hamburger and the fries even more! Good times that go far too quickly.