Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Happy Birthday Princess

  Sara is 3 today... whew!  that flew by!  Yesterday we celebrated her birthday at preschool.  It was my first time being a helper this year.  They decorate a birthday chair, let them throw confetti, be the leader, and have their mom their all day.  We had a blast and she was so well behaved.  She chose her friend Mandy to sit next to her during snack time.  Today we awoke to balloons on her chair, a musical birthday card, and one gift.  Evan had a very tough time with Evan having the attention.  He had a breakdown at the house and then at my moms before getting on the bus. At our sitters Sara had a gift of Princess squinkies awaiting her.  When Sara and I came to pick Evan up at my Moms, Sara received her presents from my parents, the coveted Cinderella mirror, she jumped up and down and was so excited.  Grandma also gave her some clothes and a $50 bill, and Sara clutched it and said now I can buy exactly what I want!  Where does she get this stuff?  We explained that the money has to go in the bank.  Well when we came home she managed to take the money out of the card and was crumbling it up to fit in her bank! 
      My Aunt came over and brought Sara some wonderful books and a leap frog Dog.  We bought Sara the Little Mommy Doctor Doll and a pack and play set and some doll clothes.  Evan and Sara had a blast playing with the doll and making her better.  She talks and her head turns red when she has a fever.  Hopefully we will play with this often and it won't just be a novelty.  The kids love to play with the Fisher Price Doctor set so I hope this works the same way.  Marc tried so hard to be home.  Yesterday he woke up at 3am to go to Staten Island he made it home at 8pm, and planned to be home tonight.  At dispatch this morning he had to go to Philly, so I videotaped and took lots of pictures. 
     Sara has come a long way the past few weeks, she says her alphabet, identifies 8 letters, counts to 10, and sings lots of songs.  She is a great problem solver and has a incredible memory.  When she talks on the phone she always ends her calls with I love you so much!  She does tell Marc I love you the mostest!  Dad is preferred over Mom by a long shot.  She is a easy child to feed.  She loves raw vegetables, especially cauliflower, peas (in the shell I buy at Wegmans), carrots, celery, and broccoli.  She would prefer vegetables raw rather than cooked.  She will also eat chicken, steak, and loves roast  beef.  She will not eat any ground beef. 
     Sara is still in her crib, we have tried the toddler bed and she climbs out over and over again and tells us she needs to check on us.  She has never climbed out of her crib.  Naps seldom happen, if she falls asleep in the car or in front of the tv she may take one, but then doesn't fall asleep until 9:30, or 10:00 pm.  She has been completely potty trained since June.  We still use a sippy cup only out of convenience but she is completely capable of using a drinking cup. 
     Sara is my child I have to watch.  I never know what she will get into.  Evan has always been the complete opposite and I never had to worry.  Now I need to worry when she disappears or it quiet for to long.  Last week it became very quiet as I was getting ready in the morning.  She had went in her room and climbed behind her chair and I found her unwrapping a tampon.  I keep waiting for the day she gets into makeup or nail polish.  I try to be vigilant but she is very resourceful in getting what she wants.  She will dump the clothes basket and use it to climb up on.  My parents laugh because I was always climbing up on the counters.  My mom used to tell me she was going to come to my house some day and walk on my counters.  When we were little we were playing hide and go seek and I climbed on top of the fridge!  Sara has acquired my climbing abilities. 

      Marcs mom is flying in on Thursday and staying 10 days.  Saturday we will have Sara's birthday party. 

Monday, November 19, 2012

3rd month of school already??

The weeks fly by, as much as I like my school year to go by quickly, I hate the idea of my babies growing up.  Sara is getting so big and verbalizing everything.  Although she has amazing verbal skills she is very stubborn about learning.  She can finally count to ten, recognize her colors, she is not catching on to numbers and letters.  She can identify a few letters and numbers but has not interest in them.  I have tried flash cards, foam letters, reading, magnets, writing, a letter a day, and still she will tease and tell me everything is "S" or "X, Y, Z".  I guess its so frustrating because by 2 1/2  Evan could identify all letters and numbers.  Her problem solving skills, balance, and fine motor skills exceed Evan.  She can completely dress herself correctly.  Evan still wants me to put his shirt on. 
  Oops I started this post a few weeks ago and never finished.  Well Sara can tell me whose name in her class goes with the letter but she doesn't name the letter if I show her B - she tells me Brett, M- Mandy.  I guess she learns very differently from Evan!

Surprise!

No, I'm not pregnant.  As much as I love my children, 4 pregnancies have been enough.  Today Evan had a half day and I picked him up during my lunch.  When we opened his backpack he had a letter addressed to Marc and I.  Well he was chosen for Student of the Month for the character of behavior.  I am such a proud Mommy today, out of the 21 students in his class he was chosen for this.  Evan is very well behaved in school, unfortunately if he is tired or hungry this doesn't carry over to home. 
     I also had his parent teacher conference this afternoon.  His teacher had nothing but positive things as far as his academics go they only negatives were that he had a hard time identifying lowercase q, and a hexagon.  Other than that he is exceeding all the goals for pre-k.  Last week he asked us how to write I love you, and then wrote us each a note with it on it.  He also wrote I love you Santa Claus this weekend after I had written it for him to copy.  He is a little sponge at school.  I had some concerns about his socialization because he tells me he doesn't always play with the other kids.  His teacher told me he will often ask the kids that are to shy to play with him.  He avoids the loud obnoxious kids.  Evan will often complain to me that the kids are very loud, and I'm glad he avoids this group.  I know that there are a few kids that should have IEP's and the parents refuse to have them tested.  I'm sure one is on the autism spectrum and the other is very defiant.  Hopefully they won't continue at our school next year. 
    Evan has a half day again tomorrow so I'll pick him up and take him to Sara's sitter for the afternoon.  I made the mistake of promising happy meals, something that is no longer a cheap lunch.  Tonight I said lets go for pizza, thinking we would just get two slices.  The kids asked if we could get french fries and then Sara decided she didn't want pizza.  So our cheap date turned into $18 for chicken fingers, fries, a slice of pizza, and two drinks, I knew I should have just popped a frozen pizza in the oven!

Monday, November 12, 2012