Last week of April 2016

Dora and Diego are ready to go with their backpacks.  ;)

Somehow these accessories made it into the car in addition to the backpack.  She is rockin her high heels and shades.

We took the kids to the Heard Museum for the first time.  It is gorgeous and I love all the trails!

Playing in the little wooden village

Maxwell got to hold the map and give us directions.  He really enjoyed that. It was fun!  Hopefully we will go again soon.

Emmalyn cuddled up with Aunt Britt

Watching daddy's phone

I randomly came across this picture of my dad and Marriann.  I love it!

Time for new sleeping pics...

Her little foot peeking out of her sleep sack.

Maxwell was excited to bring a book to preschool that he wanted to read to his class.

We have decided to keep Maxwell in school for part of the summer.  It won't be quite every other week but close to it.  I think this will help him keep learning, which he enjoys, plus give him a chance to see his friends at school.  And he will still get a chance to get some "off" time with Brittany and her boys but then she doesn't have 4 kids to take care of for a full 3 months.

I've had Maxwell in group piano lessons.  It's really slow paced but he seems to be learning a little about reading music and a little about the piano.  Once this semester is done, I'm not going to have him continue because I don't feel like it's worth it.  I snuck in to watch a little of class...

Maxwell with his class at swimming lessons.  See how he's at least a head shorter than the other three kids in class?  I'm proud of his skills and that he's able to hang with these bigger kids.

Maxwell has been begging to go see a musical.  He'd really like to go see "Wicked" but I think he's too young for that one.  I bought him tickets to go see a musical put on by the local children's theater group.  When I told him what I had bought him, he was so excited and jumping up and down!

Ready for a day on the town with her glasses, hat, and gloves

This is my fancy, permanent name badge for an organization I belong to called NEW (Network of Executive Women).  It's been 5 years so I got this great pin.  I've enjoyed being a part of the group and enjoy it more each year.

Have I mentioned how fun it is to dress a girl?  Shoes that match a swimming suit?  Yes!

She scraped her foot when swimming and sweet talked Ms. Mary Ann into getting her a bandaid.

I got out all the 2t clothes I have for Emmalyn so I could separate out the winter from the summer stuff.  Here's everything I've got for her - it covered and entire full size bed.  OH MY!!!

Kindermusik fun!  I love getting to spend an hour with her each week doing this.

Look at those curls

The day arrived, time for the musical!!  It was just Maxwell and I out on a momma/son date.

Reading the program

He was incredibly focused

I let him get some snacks during intermission

We stopped and got an ice cream cone and some food before we went home

picnic in the trunk

It was a fun afternoon and Maxwell was wiped out on the way home.

I took a picture because for the first time ever, we finished an entire workbook!!  I feel like we just keep adding more to our house but never fully completing what we have.

Emmalyn kicks her binky habit

Since Emmalyn has turned two, Peter and I decided it was time to get her off the binky.  I was tempted to keep pushing it off but Peter stayed strong.  She mainly only has it for nap/bedtime.  Our game plan was to have her give her binkies to one of the babies in the neighborhood since she is a "big girl" now and doesn't need a binky.

Emmalyn was really upset when I took the binkies that were at Brittany's house and put them in a bag.  She cried.  :(  It was sad but I wanted to make sure she saw exactly what I was doing so that she could understand that they weren't going to be there anymore.  Then at our house we got the binkies there and put all of them in a cue little bag.  She grabbed one and didn't want to take it out of her mouth but eventually did.

She walked around holding the bag and refusing to put that one her mouth in there.  I had been prepping her for this and talking about what we were going to do and she wasn't happy about it.

Emmalyn held the bag as we walked to one of our neighbor's houses.  She then held the bag and handed it to the baby.  Emmalyn watched as baby Grayson's mom opened the bag and gave one of them to him.  He held them and stuck them in his mouth while she watched and then gave me a hug.  She was okay.

That night when she laid down, it hit her and she kept saying "please" and begging for her binky.  It was so sad as she say there with her hand on her cheek just saying "please".  I walked out and she called after me.  I thought she was okay but then for like 20 minutes she kept calling out "Momma" but not really crying.  I eventually went in and comforted and left and she was OK.  It killed me to see her so sad even though we've been talking about this for a week.

The next day it was rough with Brittany during nap time.  Britt said she cried for 40 minutes.

The second night there were more "please"s and she called for me for 10 minutes then I went in and told her to go to bed and nothing else. 

The third night still more "please"s and she called for me for 15 minutes before she was quiet.

On night four she still asked for them and said "please" and then called for me and sort of cried for awhile before I went in and told to go to bed.

Those were the worst nights.  After that she didn't totally forget but her pleas were not as intense.

A normal spring week with a couple regular checkups

It was time for Emmalyn's 2 year checkup!  I always look forward to seeing how the kids are growing at each checkup.

There's this little off-the-beaten-path road close to her Dr's.  I love how the trees arch over the road and create this beautiful path to drive down.  I think it's my favorite street in Dallas.  I sure hope that all the development in the area doesn't eventually lead to a need to disrupt this little gem.

Emmalyn was so excited to see the doctor and have him check her eyes. (Not sure why her eyes were such a big deal...maybe because Maxwell has had his eyes checked?)

video - Emmalyn talking about how she is ready for her checkup

Waiting for the doctor

Smiles

Cheese

The results of her 2 year old questionnaire:

She cried when she got her shot.  She knew it was coming once the girl walked in with the tray.  She hugged me and said she was scared.  She didn't cry until she got the shot though and then recovered within 20 seconds.  So it wasn't as bad as I figured it would be.

She wanted both a sticker and a sucker but they had done a fluoride treatment on her so she couldn't eat or drink for 20.  I didn't want to tempt/torture her by letting her get a sucker.  (I've never heard of a dental procedure being done at a pediatrician but since we haven't been to the dentist yet, I went with it.)

Checking out her bandaid

Emmalyn's 2 year stats!

Weight: 24 lbs, 40th percentile

Height: 32.8 inches, 17th percentile

 (a great jump from 8th on her last visit!)

Head: 18.5 cm, 44th percentile

silly girl wearing her hat in the car

It's nice enough that Maxwell went and "swam" in the neighbors hot tub while I entertained Emmalyn

They spoil the kids...cupcakes in the hot tub!

Maxwell and I had our bi-annual visit to the dentist.  He did a great job!

trying out "mr slurpee"

Sitting pretty comfy

Again, so laid back!

At this point he was a little nervous.  He didn't like doing Mr. Slurpee in his mouth.  It was a great visit though and he's an awesome patient!

"Sitting" fully clothed on the potty... whatever it takes to get her excited about it? right?

She's so demanding!  Emmalyn knows the difference between "fast and "slow" and asks for both, for example when she's brushing her teeth, she will dictate how quickly we can brush.  Or, when we are doing a lap bounce at Kindermusik she will ask her teacher to go faster and then slower. 

Sweet girl is ready for bed with her puppy and turtle snuggled by her head, 2 blankets laid out on top of her, and her hand tucked into her pajamas.

cousin picnic on the trampoline

I was having a rough day so my friend at work, Josh, brought some fresh blackberries and canned whipped cream he grabbed from the cafe to our meeting.  It was a nice surprise.

I got this super cute dress and overcoat for Easter for Emmalyn this year but because it was freezing in Seattle, she didn't end up wearing it.  

Grumpy face

Happy face

Maxwell came with me to Emmalyn's kindermusik class.  I let him hang out in the hallway and play his ipad.  He was super well behaved (and I kept checking on him every couple minutes).

Love this swimsuit, that curly hair and those chubby cheeks!

Maxwell playing war with his dad

crazy post-nap hair...

...and rosy cheeks

She wanted to take her scooter to the park but got overridden by Momma because I knew she wouldn't be able to ride it that far.

Instead we took the trike I can push.

Trying out the big girl swing

Maxwell's Last Parent Teacher Conference in Preschool

I had Maxwell's last Parent/teacher Conference with Ms. Cynthia at his preschool.  It was a big departure from the first one we had a year and a half ago where I wondered if she even knew my son at all.  She had much to say about him and I left feeling so appreciative of everything she has taught him.  It made me a little sad to think that the end of his time with her is coming before I know it.  I may have had my doubts when we started but it has turned out even better than I could have hoped for.

Some of the notes I took during our conversation...
Maxwell still can't hop on one foot (I'm not sure why but he's just not able to!).
He is getting better at problem solving.  He doesn't cry and will take a deep breath.
He still doesn't want to participate in P.E.  Specifically when they are playing games that involved being "tagged".  He is afraid to be "tagged" and be out so he just would prefer not to play.
He needs to work on tying his shoes.
He loves performing and loves to sing and use the exact words in the song.
He's doing much better at resolving conflict and interacting with peers. (I think the play dates with his classmates have been a great idea!)
He is doing really well at his skip counting and chains which are the prep for learning multiplication.

We spent a lot of time talking about my uncertainty about putting Maxwell into Kindergarten.  I am concerned that he is going to be really little.  I wonder if he's mature enough to go to Kindergarten.  My concerns isn't for his educational ability - in fact I think he will be far ahead of most of the kids in his class already.  (In Texas, some parents hold their kids back that turn 5 in early May/June before school starts.  So there are going to be 6 year olds in there with him and he will only have turned 5 a few days before school starts.  Plus, he's already on the small side for his age...)

Ms. Cynthia felt like he's ready for it and that it would only put him even further ahead of his peers to send him to Kindergarten in a year and then he would get bored and potentially get in trouble.

She suggested that we try to get Maxwell in the lead Kindergarten teacher's class because that teacher will probably be the best equipped to deal with his abilities.  She also suggested that I ask the principle about they separate the high performers.  She said that Maxwell is reading at about a 2nd grade reading level.  When I asked about Maxwell's maturity level, she talked about the fact that when he cries, it's because he's afraid.  She said to watch the first 6 weeks of school and watch for the tears.  If he cries a bunch, then he might not be ready and we may want to pull him out and wait for the next year.

It was really helpful talking to her and I appreciated her experience and insight.

The Primary Program Skills Inventory goes into a lot of detail, here's a broad recap.
Maxwell's gross motor skills are age appropriate except for his inability to hop on one foot.  His Fine Motor Skills, Writing Skills, and Health/Nutrition are all age appropriate.

Oral Language:  He exceeds age expectation with his Expressive Language and Receptive Language

Personal Development: He exceeds age expectation in his Attitude Toward Work (he has grown his ability to apply a variety of strategies to solve problems to an age appropriate level),  Independence, Concentration, and self control (except handling transition well with his age appropriate).  In Maxwell's ability to take care of one's self he is great at some things, good at others, and then needs to work on tying his shoes which makes sense because he doesn't have any shoes that have laces. His personal expression through music, paint, story telling, clay, and drawing is all age appropriate.

Social Development: All Age appropriate

Refinement of the Senses: He has Mastered understanding size, color, differentiation with sound, and touch/weight.  For his 2 and 3 Dimensional shapes, he's got the standard shapes down plus all the polygons, curved line figures (I may not know what a quatrefoil is, but he does!), and quadrilaterals.

Mathematics: He has mastered Numeration from 1 - 1,000.  He has mastered place value and units, tens, hundreds, and thousands.  He has mastered addition and has made steady progress with subtraction and multiplication.  He has memorized addition facts and is starting to memorize his multiplication facts.

Science: Max has mastered the days/months and can tell time by the hour with steady progress on telling time by the half hour, and quarters.

Geography: He's made steady progress (the level right below "Mastered") with the continents, oceans, countries of North America and state of the United States.  He knows the flags of the US and Texas.  He has made steady progress on his knowledge of landforms like lakes/islands/bays, etc.

Botany: He has mastered the leaf shapes and can name the parts of a leaf, flower, and tree.

Zoology: He's mastered the parts of a horse, frog, turtle, bird, and fish.

The notes Ms Cynthia wrote about Maxwell, "Maxwell is such a great student, he's always willing to volunteer in class.  During Math time we will be working on multiplication and skip counting.  In Language we will be working on identifying nouns, verbs, and improving writing skills,"

How awesome is all the stuff that Maxwell has learned??!?!  I am so incredibly grateful for all that he has learned at Montessori and the fun that he's had too.  The Montessori method has been a great fit for Maxwell and he has thrived!