eye of the tiger

well summer officially ends at our house when Robbie goes back to school. the days are still hot, but it just isn't the same when Rob isn't home running things at the campground. we are happy the campground is over (well, pretty much over). it is nice to get back into a more regular routine for the kids. especially Xander. he's had cabin-fever for a few weeks and has been anxious and excited to get back to school.

we had pre-school orientation yesterday, and i was lucky not to have to take Judy with us. that pretty much would've spelled disaster. but things are looking really good for the school year. after orientation i had to sign some things for Xander and we had a quick meeting to talk about what they had planned for him.

it was really cool. his speech pathologist was there, along with the lady we had been seeing all summer to work on behaviour, the pre-school teacher(s) and the learning support teacher. they all had a chance to interact with him since basically not really seeing him since june and were commenting on how much progress he's made over the summer. and he has. it was really nice to hear all the good they had to say about Xander, and to feel like they were all in your corner and enthusiastic about his school year.

we are really excited about this year. since Xander has had his diagnosis for Autism he qualifies for a lot of funding through the school for extra help. so, on mondays and wednesday's he gets to go to pre-school just like all the other kids his age. he may even get to ride the bus home. then, on tuesday's they will take him to gymnastics. this will help him learn to cope with being more flexible and transitioning from one activity to another (oh yea, and what 4 year old doesn't love gymnastics?). then on thursday's they take him to equine therapy. equine as in horses! so cool. he'll be doing activities with horses that will help him with speech, behaviour, ability to follow instructions, etc. so he'll pretty much have a full week. but we're ready for it!

i can't say enough about the people who have been involved with our path leading to this point. everyone has been stellar and perfect for Xander. i can't imagine what it would've been like if we hadn't decided to give Mountain View a shot. we truly feel like we owe all the good things that have gone right in our lives to being here in Mountain View. especially Xander. it makes a big difference when you feel like the people working with your kid love him as much as we do. and that played a key role in deciding to stay here.

right now i can't see anything but good things for the coming school year. a lot of progress will be made. we are ready!