"Amazement"

E has me in a constant state of amazement. Sometimes I have to pinch myself, this is real? She's really mine?

God is so god. I am so lucky.

As you all know E started school a little over a month ago and only goes 3 days a week, outside of school we have a workbook, for preschoolers, and flash cards that we use 6 days a week. E asks to do "homework" she loves it. I love that she loves it.

A few weeks ago she was in the tubbie and she has letters/ numbers that stick to the wall, anyways, she kept grabbing letters and saying "This is a letter" or a number and say "This is a number; but never the letter name or number.

A couple days ago she grabs a "G" and says "This is a blue G mom" I thought it was a lucky guess.

She has known for a while how to spell her name, when asked. She also knows her first middle and last name, where she lives and her birthday (and how old she'll be). But we were having trouble with recognition.

This morning, while I was checking e-mail and blogs she was sitting next to me and started punching letters on the keyboard saying their names. She has E, M, Y, O, A down pat. I am so proud.

Its just like with her colors and shapes, she knows all the colors and shapes, we are working on how to draw her shapes right now. She is left handed so I am having a hard time helping her. She struggled a bit, with colors/ shapes; but once it clicked, it clicked!

And just like that, her letters, clicked!

I am also amazed that out of no where she is wearing real panties, all day. Going potty, on her own and staying dry.

She has mastered feeling the "tickle" and gets up from nap/ bedtime to go peepee, she doesnt even like going in her pull-up. She only wears pull-ups at nap/bedtime, against her will. I told her that if she stays dry for 2 weeks straight (14 days) that she can wear panties to bed/nap.

I know identifying letters and going pee may not seem like a big deal but it is; I just took a child development class, It focused on young children (conception- age 4).

Anyways one of the charts (below), was talking about developmental milestones for 4 year olds and E could or already does all of them. She will be 3 the first week of April.

Age 4 (source)
Rides tricycle- Yes (E loves her tricycle).
Climbs stairs alternating feet- yes, for a while now.
Balances on one foot for a short period- yes this is new[er] but she does it.
Climbs playground equipment with agility- Ha! Yes. Some days I think I birthed a monkey.
Enjoys creative responses to music- Yes, Girl dances more than she walks.
Skips on one foot- They did this at school the other day and now she does it all the time.
Jumps easily in place- Yes sir. She loves to jump, especially while dancing.
Throws a ball- yes, and catches it.
Likes to chase- our cat, haha.
Walks a straight taped line on floor- I can't even do this, but she can for a few steps.
Enjoys noncompetitive games- She loves any game. She's always been "ahead", sleeping all night at 3 weeks, rolling over both ways at 3 months, sitting up on her own at 5 months, crawling at 5.5 months, pulling-up/ cruising at 8-9.5 months and started walking at 10.5 & was a full on walker at 11 months. She was also talking early on too; but now it is more apparent. I don't push her to do these things, she just does them. I don't push her to do her workbook, she loves doing and we usually do it for 45-60 minutes. She loves learning and exploring. She asks a lot of questions and I answer her in a real voice, no babytalk. I just got so lucky to have such a wonderful child. I am trying really hard to blog about more than just my kiddo, but its very hard. She is my life and I want to document her life. ... Keep up in between posts, I Tweet , A lot. xo -Kandid Kelli

"The BOX"

Do me a favor.. if you're reading this in reader or via RSS feed... Click here. I redesigned my blog. YES you read that RIGHT... I DID IT!!!  What do yall think?

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I have mentioned to a few of you about E's "weekly box" but I have never blogged about it. I figured why not now?

When I was concerned about E being colorblind, I got such wonderful comments & E-mails from my readers with suggestions, though none of them seemed fitting for E. So I started doing a lot of research and Dr. Google & I were becoming good pals. 

I was finding that a lot of children who excel in other areas sometimes will "lag" (for lack of a better word) in one pronounced area. E's must have been colors. I mean my kiddo was counting to 10 alone before her 2nd birthday. She knows her ABCs & can sing you any nursery rhyme-y song you request. 

But colors, were/are her weakness. She knew the names of all of them but matching the name with the actual color was where she was troubled. 

So after various research and talking to other toddler/older kid moms & early childhood aged teachers; I adapted something for E. 

We call it "E's Weekly Box". It is given to her MONDAY AM after breakfast. A big deal is made about the box so she is excited to open it and see what "treasures" lie inside. 

We do a COLOR, LETTER, SHAPE & NUMBER of the week. I know it sounds like a lot. 4 things to focus on but how I have adapted it she seems to do well. I am also seeing a huge improvement on her color recognition. 

Inside the box lies a letter written by mommy [me] on a piece of paper that is the COLOR of the week. The letter states what we will be focusing on that week. E & I go over that and she moves on to her "treasures".

The contents of the box or "treasures" as E calls them are things found around the house, in E's toybox, anywhere. I am creative & keep it cheap (as in $0-$1).

Everything in the box for that week is the color of the week. To really put emphasis on the color.  

Once we have gone over everything in the box and she has had time to play with and talk about her treasures we put them back in the box, for the next day. Its done every day, at the same time. We're big on routine here. Then usually Mon or Tues we go on a hunt around the house and collect as many things that are the color, shape, START WITH the letter for that week & add them to our box. 

E likes arts & crafts and when we do arts we focus on that weeks COLOR, LETTER, SHAPE & NUMBER.

As for the numbers she is good, she can count to 20 alone now, we're working towards 25. I just want her to recognize the numbers when she sees them quicker then she does & on her first try.  We have about 4 or 5  1-10 puzzles and she does those so quick, girl loves her puzzles, but I think its different just seeing the number. 

Over all I am very pleased with how this is working, as I have expressed to some (Candice did a similar idea with her son). E really enjoys the box. She knows she gets it after she eats her breakfast. I really like mondays b/c its all new.  E is just so animated, about everything. It really makes doing things like "the weekly box" that much more fun. 

Even better she has no idea she is learning. 

**Tell me, Do you do anything special with your littles to keep their brains firing & get them ready for pre-school? (OMG thats in about 8 mons for E...growing up too fast!) 

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Don't miss a beat, keep up in between posts, I Tweet , a lot.

xo

-Kandid Kelli