HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Holy cow I cannot believe Kiya is three.  It has been an incredibly slow and fast three years.  Looking back I am so happy to be at this point.  Kiya has surpassed all of my expectations and does not allow her physical limitations to slow her down.  She has come so much farther than I ever allowed myself to hope.  She has been such an amazing part of our family and my life.  I have learned immeasurable things from her and she touches everyone she meets.
Kiya starts integrated preschool tomorrow.  I cannot believe it!  It is definitely going to be really hard for me.  The teacher is going to let me stay for the first few school days so I can teach them how to feed her safely and show them how she functions in her walker.  The first day I have to leave her for the full day I am going to have a melt down.  I have been in charge of every aspect of her care for the last three years.  Not only is she younger than the boys were when they went to school, but I have been super protective of her.  This is going to be like ripping a paper sized band-aid off of my heart.  Part of me is excited, however, because she is so sick of me.  We spend a good amount of the day in a heated battle of wills.  I hope she enjoys being with other kids and learning new things.  There are 16 kids some typically developing and some with other special needs.  Kiya is definitely the most involved and the only child with mobility issues.  I was kind of sad about this at first, but now I'm glad because she will get the help she needs.  She will receive OT, PT, Speech, Cognitive, and sensory help.  It is nice to think that not all of that will fall on me for a change.  Kiya is going to go to school four days a week for three hours.  We got so lucky because she is going to go to the same school as Lex and Mason.  They have only had the program for two years so I feel like it is a huge blessing.  I had the most foreign thought after I found out she was going to school.  "What do I want to do for three hours."  I haven't thought about doing something for myself for three years.  We shall see how much I can cram into three hours.
I cannot wait to see what this next year holds.  We want to send Kiya to Now I Can therapy again in January.  She made so much progress with that.  Now that she is out of early intervention I have to replace all my therapy with outpatient therapy.  I am so thankful to early intervention for what they have done for us since Kiya was born.  We are really going to miss her therapists!
Here is what I can do at three:
1.  I can use my walker!  My next goal is to be able to turn the walker all by myself
2.  I can sit on a bench
3.  I can slide down the stairs
4.  I can hold small objects and feed myself with a spoon
5.  I can sing and imitate anything mommy says even knotty words
6.  I can boss my whole family around
We love you Kiya and are forever grateful that you fought to be a part of us forever.