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After a little more than a week in preschool, Cordy is doing very well. I didn't expect her to acclimate so quickly, but by the end of last week, I could leave her in her classroom without any tears from her. The key was to spend a few minutes together, and then get her interested in the lunch they were setting up before I left.

Her teacher reports that Cordy is joining in on group activities. During circle time, each kid will "check-in" by moving a picture of themselves from the "Not present" board to the "Present" board. She also has a picture of herself over her coat hook, and knows to hang up her backpack by finding her picture. During lunch and snacks, she will drink her milk from a regular cup - a task she still won't do at home!

She still doesn't play with other kids, and her sensory issues continue to hold her back. But she did finger paint last week, even though it bothered her a lot. She's a brave little girl to face so many of her fears at once.

However, the change that worried me the most came on Friday. Until then, I had been dropping her off at school, and picking her up at the end of the day. But the teacher and I agreed that it would be so much easier for me if Cordy could ride the bus. The preschool has their own bus, so she wouldn't be mixed in with elementary school kids. The route, though, would have her on the bus for an hour each way. Two hours of her day spent on a bus was too much for me. The issue was discussed further, and it was decided that I would still drop her off, but Cordy would ride home on the bus.

Friday I was gone all day, so I didn't get to see her off the bus. My mom was babysitting, and she said that Cordy got off the bus with a big smile, and the driver and aide said that she didn't have any problems at all. Today, she took the bus home again, and as I walked down the driveway to meet the bus, I could see that adorable little face peering out of the window at me with a big grin on her face. The aide told me that she was a joy for the entire ride again. Apparently she thinks riding on a bus is fun.

The next challenge with school is to possibly switch her class time. She's in the afternoon class right now, but I'd like to see her moved to the morning class. As I've mentioned before, she's an early riser, which means that by 12:30pm, she's having trouble staying awake. She's hungry long before the 1:10pm lunch they have at school, forcing me to give her a mini-lunch at 11:00am and hoping she'll still eat at school, too. Her teacher is looking into switching her to the morning class, but can't promise anything. I think she'd enjoy school a lot more if it was in the morning, when she's more awake and alert.

For now, we'll continue to celebrate the small milestones and encourage Cordy to try new things. Riding the bus, which I feared would be a big hurdle, was cleared with barely a glance back. I'm really glad we switched her into this program.