Fall Festival

Today was Corinne's Preschool Fall Festival at school, which was mostly just an open house for parents to come in and have a snack and see what the little 'ens have been up to. Regretfully, I forgot to bring my camera (I wasn't sure if it was that kind of event, and I didn't want to be that mom), so you're just going to have to take my word for it that Corinne has turned into a very different kind of kid than the scared little girl in Early Intervention playgroup six months ago.

When I go there, before I even entered the classroom, I could hear her clear down the hallway exclaiming delightedly that Momma was coming. Upon seeing me she began yelling "I love you Momma!", much to the amusement (and jealousy) of the other parents. She really was quite a spectacle about it, so overwhelming was the thrill of having Momma here, in her classroom.

What struck me the most was just how comfortable she was there. She showed me toys and things that she liked, and moved with ease from one activity table to another. This is the girl who use to be in full blown defensive mode any time there were kids around, her body stiff and ready for flight. Now she was aware of the other kids, but not uneasy with them. She greeted them in response to their hello's and told me the names of many of them when I asked.

The highlight for me was when they sat down for circle time. Corinne sat on her little mat between two other kids and even joined in the songs as best she could (she is a little slower than they are and sometimes needs prompting, but left on her own she watched the teacher's every move intently and followed along, albeit a little after the fact.) I wish her Early Intervention people could have seen her. She is adapting to school better than we ever could have imagined and she really likes going there. We've seen such an improvement in her voice affect, her independent play, and her imagination (some of it quite strange, but that makes it even better, in our book) We couldn't be happier.

Oh, and I made some kick ass Halloween cookies for the party, too. Much better than my fourth of July ones.