They are unstoppable!

Dave and Scott share many things in common and the recent activity includes puzzles. How excited am I that the best place in the house to do big puzzles is the dining room. Isn't that nice? Well, I guess it is nice when they are finished and as pretty as this one! This was Scott's first 1000 piece puzzle. I have to add that Dave did help a lot. He may have come home early from work "sick" and spent a considerable amount of time on it.

This is how I roll

Evidently Scooter is way ahead of the game and knows that the Penguin is a super cool way to dance. The little guy to the right of him was doing it by the end of the concert. Maybe it will catch on and it will be all the rave. Well...maybe not.

It was still amusing to watch! Scott has all the super fly ways to dance. Quick feet, the penguin, the jump forward and backward...the list goes on and on!

Worms are friends too.

Our sweet little caregiver always thinking about others. This worm HAD to have a home. I am sure he was very appreciate and doesn't mind that he may have been forgotten and left outside all weekend. Maybe Mommy should go and check on the little guy.

We really do love each other.

It is possible that we really do have fun together! Here we are helping Daddy plant sod in the back yard. We have our gloves on and everthing! We are so official!

I love my Scooter even though his 550 piece puzzle is more important then smiling for a picture!

Pictures speak a thousand words.

We are blessed to be loved.

And we are off....

training wheels that is!

Scott has decided (been forced) to take his training wheels off and start riding his bike! He has done a great job with little (lots) of whining! We are so proud!

Anna's 2 year old conference

I have been meaning to add this to the blog. This was Anna's 2 year old conference notes from her 2 year old preschool teacher. I think that it is super cute and I am glad that she emailed it to me so I had it on file.

Sweet Anna.

For spring conferences, I looked at three basic groups of skills,social/emotional/behavioral, fine/gross motor, andspeech/language/cognitive, and evaluated each child on what they did welland what they needed work on in each category. Anna does great in all three categories (as I'm sure you already know, but sometimes it'sstill reassuring to hear!)

Some highlights of Anna's achievements are:

- Anna plays cooperatively with other children (meaning she engages with others in play that is meaningful and has a common purpose).

- Anna's social interactions are frequently positive. She enjoys playing with others and understands positive social behaviors like "sharing" and "waiting your turn".

Anna will also work cooperatively with others to complete a task such as building a tower or cleaning up.

- Both Anna's fine and gross motor skills are right on track!

- Anna has mastered self-help skills like hand-washing, pulling up underwear and pants, and putting on her jacket.

- Anna has a great vocabulary and good diction.

- Anna is able to communicate well about non-present situations (for example, telling a story about something that happened in the past.)

- Anna follows two-step directions well, and is working on following multi-step directions.

Some things to work with Anna on are:

- Finding her "assertive" voice. Like a lot of three-year-olds, Anna often uses a quiet, "whiny" voice to communicate wants and requests. Helping her find a voice that is loud enough to be heard and firm enough to be listened to is something we have been working on at school. A great way to encourage Anna to use an assertive tone is to model what the request would sound like in that tone and then have her repeat it back to you.

- Following two- and three-step directions. One way we encourage following multi-step directions at school is listing the steps and having the children repeat them back. for example, "First put your coats in your cubbies, second sit down on a lilly pad... What do you do first?.. And then?".

Anna is truly a delight to have in class. Whether it be cruising the playground on her favorite bike or breaking out her dance moves to "Five Little Monkeys", she never fails to make me smile. You should be proud ofyour amazing little girl - God has blessed you with someone very special.

Miss Rachael