It's Good to be Back...

Katelyn was officially discharged from the PPHP program on Monday. The staff had a little going away party for her while I met with the doctors to discuss her discharge plan. The kids sang a goodbye song to her and then it was time for her to leave her permanent mark in the form of a yellow painted hand print on the wall. After four and a half weeks in the program, it was now time to complete the transition back to her preschool.

The week went fairly well overall. Her teacher reported that Katelyn seems very happy to be back, but that she definitely requires constant attention, which we completely expected. Because of this need, the school has provided her with a 1:1 aide in the classroom. I am also driving her to and from school because we are concerned that taking the bus could cause more anxiety for Katelyn at this point, despite the fact that she really enjoyed it in the past. We will be meeting with the school on Tuesday for her IEP meeting to further discuss her current needs and to make sure that all appropriate services are in place.

Her teacher and other support staff are very happy to have Katelyn back, and we are so glad that she is back in her preschool classroom that she loves so much!

Here are some photos from her last day at the PPHP program:

"Pum at Parpy"...

Today we attended our friends' son's birthday party at a place that had indoor rides and games. Katelyn was very excited and even demonstrated some of her newfound social skills! She made eye contact with a boy her age and even said hi after just a little prompting.

She even wanted to go on some of the rides (with Mama or Dada), which is rare!

She especially loved watching the "animal band" and she danced to the music. She kept saying, "More! More!" when the curtain closed, but luckily they started playing again within seconds.

We had to pry her, and Giraffe, off of the stage!

Overall, it was a really great time. It was nice to not have to leave a party early, and it gives me hope that Katelyn will continue to get more and more used to being around other children, especially in loud places. And she really enjoyed it too. When I was putting her to bed for the night, she said, "Pum at Parpy," which was her way of saying that she had fun at the party. It truly made my day to hear her say that. I am now hopeful that we will have many more "pum" days at "parpies" in the future :)