First Day of Kindergarten

First day of kindergarten! First day of kindergarten! Oh My Goodness -- today was Gwendolyn's first day of KINDERGARTEN! And she loved it.

Gwendolyn had an awesome day. She was a little bit nervous but is very proud of herself. There was some rug time, some painting, two stories and two activities that went with them, going over rules, lining up, free play, snack time and recess. The highlights for Gwendolyn were definitely putting her backpack on its hook for the first time, meeting new friends, listening to the stories on the rug, free time when she explored the classroom and got to play with all the kids in her class, and putting her new Washington folder with all kinds of special papers in her backpack before we went home.

The highlights for me to witness were the kids and the way they interacted with her. All of the children were friendly and quickly comfortable with her -- of course they had questions but once they were answered they were eager to play. And it was clear that most of the parents read the letter we sent home and had talked to their children about Gwendolyn already. And that is AWESOME! One sweet little girl brought two of her pony dolls from home and gave one to Gwendolyn to borrow while they listened to the morning story together. Another little girl wanted to help push Gwendolyn's wheelchair, told us when Gwendolyn needed her mouth wiped, and proudly said, "We talked about Gwendolyn at dinner last night." At free play time Gwendolyn played kitchen with a whole group of kids -- they kept giving her tea and fruit and were excited to fill up her shopping basket. Then all of a sudden a few of them decided to perform a puppet show for Gwendolyn. So sweet. She also played on the computer with a little boy. And several kids decided to make art for Gwendolyn to take home.

At recess we went out to the playground with all the other classes. Gwendolyn was like the little Pied Piper -- kids gravitated to her and followed her wherever she went. We had lots of questions from the other classes but what was great is the new little friends in Gwendolyn's class were answering the questions for us and standing near her protectively. All of the other classes will receive our letter in the parent folder so we know understanding Gwendolyn will become easier.

Here is Gwendolyn putting her backpack on the hook for the first time and then admiring it.

Here she is watching the other kids and getting ready to go into her classroom.

Here is her first rug time listening to the morning story -- the "Kissing Hand."

Here is Daddy lingering at the door -- not ready to leave just yet.  

Lining up to go to recess.

Here is Tina, Gwendolyn's school nurse. Gwendolyn really likes Tina and we think she is wonderful. She has such an easy going and positive attitude and we know she is going to be a really important person in Gwendolyn's life. Gwendolyn is clearly comfortable with her and already let Tina do all the activities with her. Gwendolyn only "needed me" once and I think it was more because she didn't sleep well last night and was getting tired toward the end of the day.

I didn't cry at all until Gwendolyn was at home napping peacefully and Bill and I were able to talk and process what an enormous day this is for all three of us. Gwendolyn has been through so much and we have been through so much to get to this day. Four years ago, this is a day we never thought we would get to see. This is a day so many other SMA parents would give anything to have with their babies. This is a day that we do not take for granted.

Our little girl is in kindergarten and we are so proud of her and so very grateful!  

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