Friday, February 3, 2012

Moving on Up

So some news on our little rockstar. She is moving to a new class at The Bell Center, called Explore Everyday. Here is the description off their website:

Explore Everyday

Toddlers in Explore Every Day participate in center-based activities that are designed to promote independence in a structured therapeutic environment. A team of therapists lead children, and their typically developing “friends” through preschool routines and activities. Activities are modified accordingly to provide opportunities for children to work on individual therapeutic goals while becoming more independent in a preschool environment.
One of the main differences between Explore Everyday and her current, All About Me, class, is she will no longer have a one-on-one volunteer helping her. As it states above, this new class is geared towards preparing the children for preschool. She will also only be attending this class 2 days a week, instead of the 4 days a week for All About Me. (Definitely gonna help the gas budget.)

I am both excited and a little sad about this change. I'm obviously excited because it shows how much progress Delilah has made since she first started The Bell Center, last February (if I remember correctly). She just isn't a baby anymore, she is a little girl. (Small tear.) This is also a great opportunity for her to build her speech skills. She will now be surrounded by peers who will have similar communication skills and who will help her build hers. We will miss her friends and fellow mom's in her current class. Luckily, we will still see a few during Kindermusik, and hopefully we will see the others in passing.

The only downside to the new class...the time. 8:15 a.m. Birmingham Drivers: Keep a watchful eye out for the Zombie Mom while commuting on Wed and Fri mornings. With John's current work schedule of swing shift, sleep deprivation may roar its ugly head.

This month also begins the process of transitioning out of Early Intervention programs and into the school system (should she qualify). We have our first Transition Planning Meeting on the 13th. Basically, we go sign a bunch of paperwork and set up appointments for her evaluations with therapists. The real fun doesn't start until the evaluations are completed and we sit down to discuss the results. Don't worry...I plan to keep you all up to date as it happens.

One last thing...I shared this video on Facebook, but though all you non-facebookers might enjoy it as well. My favorite part is when she sings "hey, hey, hey". So stinkin adorable! Enjoy!