Cameron's conference

Today I met with Cameron's teacher for our first conference. I guess since report cards are getting ready to be issued- they are meeting with all the parents. I was very impressed with all his teacher had to tell me. First she tells me that Cameron seems to be the star of his class. Apparently the little boys fight over who will sit next to Cameron and who will help him walk to music, P.E., library etc. The teacher also told me that they call Cameron a little Cassanova. He likes to love on the girls alot. :) This should make his daddy very proud don't ya think?  All in all it was a great conference. I love to hear that my little guy is doing so well and that he is adored by everyone around him. This is a big change from the beginning of our journey with Cameron when everything seemed to be of a negative nature. I think the best thing I heard today was that Cameron seems to have a great effect on his peers. I was explaining that I think Cameron is really benefiting from being around typically developing children his age, as he seems to be working much harder to do the things they do. Her comment was this...."Cameron is really good for the other children too, they don't see him as a child with Down syndrome they only see him as a friend." She said they even take up for Cameron and say things like he's only 3, that's why he's having a hard time.

While I was super reluctant at first to send my little fella off to school, I am soooo glad I did it now. This has turned out to be such a great thing for Cameron- not to mention that he absolutely loves going.

I'm going to soak this up for now, cause I am sure things won't always be this easy!

Schools on

Yesterday was the first day of school. A day that I have been waiting for since late June...! We decided at our last IEP meeting for Cam that we would let him try to ride the bus. He had been asking to ride the bus and we knew with the new baby coming that transportation was going to be a little more difficult anyway. And of couse, Robert pushed for it cause he has no idea how much mother worries about her sweet baboo. We had all of our stuff ready and had already visited the class for open house. Cameron loves the new room and all the fancy toys. He waited very patiently for the bus to arrive (in the monsoon).

The dreaded time finally came. The bus pulled right up to the driveway to pick up my precious cargo. I dredged through the river that was flowing down the driveway and took my sweetness to the school bus. I fully expected him to cry even though he had been talking about it excitedly for days. WRONG. My boy didn't have one worry when I stepped off that bus.

What a ham. I had committed to going to work so I went back inside to get my stuff and good old nanny was in tears. Good grieft mom, I don't remember you crying when your own children went to school. So off we went to the school. (Had to reassure Nanny that her boy was ok) Ok and me too. I admit I was a little worried. I waited and waited in front of the school for Cameron's bus to arrive worrying the whole time if he was upset.

No worries at all. He was fine as the para in his class brings him off the bus. I elected to walk him in to his class since she had to wait for other students to arrive. We had brought his reverse walker with him to assure that he can get around the halls with ease.

Everyone of the staff seem to know Cameron from last year. We received so many warm greetings from different teachers and staff as we walked through the hall. Cameron repeating over and over "cook". He hasn't forgotten that lovely kitchen set up he saw at open house.

Once inside the class room, Cameron went right for the doll house. (His daddy is gonna be so proud)..! I told him bye and made my exit with very little interest from him while another little boy held tightly to his mom's neck. Cameron rode the bus home too and in his notebook we found a sweet note from the teacher telling us how well Cameron had done. That he had spent some time cooking and making new friends. His color of the week is red and his letter is L. He is very excited to go again tomorrow and I'm so glad that this is something that he enjoys and that the people teaching him enjoy him just as much.

Open House at School

Today was Cameron's open house for his IPOP class. We are very excited that he will be attending the IPOP program this year. It will consist of 10 children, 5 of which are typically developing and 5 with some sort of special need. Luckily, Cameron's preschool teacher has moved from preschool to the IPOP class, so he will have the same teacher as last year. Her name is Mrs Coaty and Cameron just loves her. Today when I asked if he wanted to go to school, he said yea, see Coaty. The classroom was so fun. His favorite part was the little make believe kitchen. I'm sure his dad would have been so proud to see his little man making pretend spaghetti in the kitchen while all the other little boys played with trucks. It was adorable. I had to literally drag him out of that classroom in order to make in on time to his PT appointment.

So, I think we're ready. Tuesday is coming, and school is starting. We'll see what happens when the yellow bus pulls up. I think Cameron will be fine.....it's nanny that I'm concerned about. :)