Team Arsenal

Today Georgia had her first game with Team Arsenal, or as the kids cheered, "red team!"  She had a blast, both playing and cheering on her teammates.  When her friend Frances scored the teams only goal, Georgia ran onto the field, put her hands on Frances' shoulders and said something to the effect of "wow, great job!" then gave her a huge hug.
The other team was quite good, well really one girl in particular, I lost count of how many goals they scored.  In the end all of the kids had huge smiles and happily completed their first game.  Georgia said it was fun... and tiring!

 Ready to play!

 This little spectator was woken up from his nap to watch the game.

 Georgia getting ready to throw the ball in

Georgia & Hazel

Conference

Yesterday Brian and I attended our first ever parent/teacher conference, we met with the parent ed teacher, Judy and Georgia's teacher, Kylene.

The 20 minute conference ended up being 40 minutes, all discussing the most amazing Miss Georgia.  Judy started off by going over the evaluations she'd done a few weeks prior.  The kindergarten readiness evaluation consisted of things like stacking blocks a certain way, remembering which order cards were placed in, using a pencil to draw certain shapes and balancing exercises like hopping on one foot.  Judy went over how the test is scored, it's broken up by specific age and each section is scored, if the child scores 18 or above they have passed, 14-17 is retested and so on, there is a max score of 28.  Georgia scored a 26.

When I saw her score, I smiled, remembering the words of her doctors over the years... "she might have developmental delays..." "do you think she'll do okay being away from you?" "transplant can impact how well children do in school."  All I could think was, she sure showed them, didn't she.

Next, Kylene showed us her evaluation of how she has observed Georgia in class and how she did in an exercise that she had done during school.  Out of 30 skills, Georgia scored Meets Expectations in five, the rest were marked Exceeds Expectations.   Her teachers notes included the following:

Georgia is a skilled and capable child.  She is an enthusiastic and passionate student when playing in dramatic play or involved in and area that interests her.  Georgia puts her whole self into the activity.
Georgia plays well in the classroom both independently as well as with others, she can lead the play as well as follow.  She has the communication skills to make her needs known to adults, as well as her peers.  She is willing to problem solve and negotiate with those around her.
Georgia will continue to be successful as she enters into kindergarten next year.  She is truly a Teacher's Delight.

Naturally, Brian and I are proud of her, but it's more than a score or a comment that makes Georgia amazing.  It's the reminder that she is doing well, in life and all that it has to offer.  She is the epitome of resilience and a well adjusted five year old.

Two things were continually mentioned during the conference, Georgia is always smiling, and she is a very happy little girl.  No parent could ask for more.

Keep being you Georgia, you are truly remarkable.