Wow!  What a great week.  Heather was sick on Monday so I went to school by myself and I stayed the WHOLE DAY!!!  Yep, from 8:20am to 2:30PM!!!!  I did amazing!  I got to eat lunch in the cafeteria and it was just the greatest day ever!  Since I did so great by myself mom said I would go by myself from then on and I stayed the whole day, every day, for the rest of the week!!!  Each day I had some struggles but I worked through them and my teacher Mrs. Paggi was really proud of me.  I was pretty proud of me, too!  I love school and I really love the alphabet videos we watch each day, that's my favorite part.

When mom and Nix came to pick me up on Monday they had quite the surprise for me...we got two new pet rats!  Their names are Phineas and Ferb, cartoon character brothers that we love, and I thought that was hysterical.  I danced all the way from my classroom to the car, I was so happy.  When I got to hold them we figured out quickly that I am....the rat whisperer!  See, the rats are only 4 weeks old so they are really skittish and not used to people very much.  I told mom that they thought we were "giants".  So, mom let them run around on her bed and when they came on to my lap I petted them really gently and talked to them really quietly and they fell asleep!!!  Nixi tried her best to do the same but she's little too so its hard for her to stay calm.  We both are having a great time watching them and petting them and we love them a lot.  They have a bit of a cold so we took them to the vet's on Friday and got them some medicine.  I hope they get all better really soon.

Nix and mom were able to get a routine going once I started staying at school the whole day so they had a much better week, too.  Nix gets to go to the park every day and play in the toddler area with kids more her own age.  Mom brings different toys like balls, bubbles, cars, etc because Nix has an easier time socializing with the other kids when they have something to do.  It's less one on one and less pressure, but its still very much playing and Nix really blossomed this week without me to cling on to.  Each day she played with different kids, playing chase and stuff and had a great time.  She still gets confused really easily by social cues she misses and gets upset, but mom's helping her move past those and keep playing.  A lot of times she thinks kids don't want to play with her anymore if they mix up the pattern of the game they're playing with her, and that makes her sad.  It makes her scared when kids want to take a turn chasing her.  Stuff like that.  The fact that she's able to get it back together and stay a while longer is HUGE.  Its even more huge that she's initiating some play and almost always engaging back when a kid is engaging her.  She still leans towards starting games with the adults that are present but she does play with the kids and that is a 100% from before summer.  Way to go little sis!

Also, not a moment too soon...as Nix starts preschool on Tues!  She'll be going on Tues and Thurs and she's rally excited.  Mom made her a school slide show to get ready and she's pumped!  I hope she loves school as much as I do!

So, there our week.  Its just been amazing!  Check back next week to see how Nixi's first days went and to see if I can keep this momentum going!

xoxo.
Safi

Rattin' around...



Dancing with myself...oh, oh, oh, ohhh!