february

Today Sarah and I peeked in at the Moonbear classroom after dropping Emily off. The Moonbears were just coming back from a walk and invited us in! We walked around the classroom and looked at the snack table, the reading corner, and the soft mats for climbing on. Buckled into her carseat on the way home, I hear Sarah crooning to herself, "Mooooonbear, Mooooooonbear." 2/3

Sarah and I peeked in again at the Moonbears. I sat down near the door and let Sarah explore by herself. Miss Kristin, the master teacher, came over and sat with Sarah on the climbing mats. They played with puppets for awhile, and Miss Kristin introduced Sarah to some of the other kids. Then Kristin asked Sarah if she'd like to go see some other places in the room. Sarah said, "Yeah!" and off they went. They wound up in the reading corner (on the other side of the bookshelves from me). After a few minutes I stood up to sneak a glance at Sarah. She was sitting in Kristin's lap, talking about the pictures of the book Kristin was reading. When they finished, Sarah--who not once has looked around to find me--stood up to get another book! When they finish the second book, I say, "Sarah, it's time to go find Emmy," and Sarah looks up at me with an "Oh, you're still here?" expression. Kristin says, "Oh, we're going to do just fine!" 2/5

Sarah and I have a nickname game we've been playing for a couple months. I say, "Sarah, are you my angel face? Are you my pumpkin head? Are you my sweet potato?" After each nickname, Sarah decides, "Yes" or "No!" if she is that nickname today. The answers vary considerably!

After her nap, I told Sarah, "Time to go get Emmy!" Sarah said, "Peek in!" I told her we could definitely peek in at the Moonbears again! 2/6

Sarah has a wonderful birthday weekend. We did not celebrate on Friday since we had her party planned for Saturday, but Aunt Amy called to say "Happy Birthday" and Gma and Gpa Zymboly sent an email! On Saturday when I got her out of bed and said, "Happy Birthday, Sarah!" she said, "Amy!" I said, "Probably not today, Sarah-roo!" At lunchtime Sarah opened her presents from her aunts, uncles, parents, and grandparents. She would say, "Diss one! Open it! Pull hard!" (Emily helped a lot with the wrapping papers.) After a "nap" her guests started arriving for the party. We had Susan, Tim, and Nigel Duff, Chrisann and Cati Karr (from church), Uncle Todd and his friend Michelle, and Christine come over for cake and presents. Nigel, Sarah, Emily, and Cati played together in Sarah's room for awhile, then we opened presents (again!). Sarah had asked for chocolate cake, so Daddy found a cake mix and frosting that both had chocolate chips in it! Sarah was THRILLED to have the birthday song sung to her for real. She sat at the head of the table and BEAMED at everyone. She puffed out her cheeks and tried to blow out the candles, but couldn't blow hard enough. Nigel, Cati, Daddy, and Emily helped get the job done. Once everyone had slices, I asked Cati what the best part of birthday cake was...she said, "Eating!" After cake there was time for more playing and talking before everyone went home. Emily fell asleep, and Mom, Dad, and Sarah sat on the couch and watched TV until an early bedtime! 2/8

When you ask Sarah a question, and she doesn't know the answer, she'll say, "Ummmmmmmmm..."

Sarah goes to see Dr. Tucker for her 2 year check up today! He is amazed at how big she is: 32 1/2" tall (20th percentile) and 25 1/2 lbs (30th percentile!!) She hops right up on the exam table and tries to stick the rubber reflex mallet in her belly button while he listens to her heart through the stethoscope. Sarah answers questions about some pictures, names some colors, points to body parts, stacks blocks, and completely charms Dr. Tucker...he says Mommy and Daddy should have "5 or 6 more kids" since the ones we have are so great! He writes, "Terrific child--excellent growth--development on track." 2/10

Sarah's BIG GIRL Weekend:

Sarah goes to Sunday school! She and her friend Cati (who turns two March 5) both attended Miss Ardie and Miss Pat's preschool class for the first time today! They both did great playing with the other kids, listening to the story, and working on their project for the day. 2/16

Sarah has used her potty once a day for the last few days! At her "naked times" (getting dressed in the morning, or putting on PJs in the evening) she likes to run naked into the bathroom and sit on her potty. Then she brings me to the bathroom to show me her pee in the potty! She wipes her bottom and flushes the toilet when she's done. She likes to look at her new potty book that can hang on the doorknob while she sits. If she doesn't go to the bathroom, she says, "Next time!" Mommy is pleased but is not holding her breath! 2/17

Today was Sarah's first day as a Moonbear! She carried her blankie and a little stuffed Max bunny in her new canvas bag. Daddy and Mommy stayed with her for almost an hour, for snack and outside time, then Daddy went to a meeting and I stayed for circle time. The Moonbears are working on a color unit and exploring one color every week. This week is orange! They had orange slices and orange milk for snack, and read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear," at circle time. Then they sat at the table and painted a picture of an orange with orange glue and sprinkled it with orange Jello powder. I left to go get Emily (at Nigel's house) while Sarah was working. When we came back to Fisher an hour later, Sarah was out on a walk in the big 6-seater stroller around the block. Miss Maureen and Miss Ginger said Sarah didn't cry or worry at all while I was gone. We came home for nap today, but we'll try nap with the Moonbears on Wednesday. It was a super first day of school! 2/17

Another great day with the Moonbears! Today we brought Sarah in at around 11, and got her settled, then Emily, Daddy, and I went out to lunch! We came back to drop Em off and were just in time to see Sarah come back from her walk around the block and got to tuck her in for her nap. When I came back at 4.15p to pick her up, the Moonbears were on the playground. Sarah saw me, smiled, and then realized I was here to take her home and turned around and ran in the other direction! Her teachers said she did not cry or fuss, liked doing things with the class, and fell right asleep at naptime. She didn't even get disoriented when she woke up from her nap and wasn't in her crib at home. Miss Kristen said she just started singing to herself! Yay, Sarah! What a big girl! 2/19

Amy and Sarah were tracing their hands on pieces of paper, and Sarah was enjoying tracing her had with fingers together, fingers apart, then Amy's hand...then she told Amy she wanted to trace Nigel's hand! He's at his house, Sarah! 2/22

We get daily written reports from Sarah's teachers! Today's said, "Had a great day! Really enjoyed playing in the sensory table, and made a real effort to get to know the other Moonbears!" (This week they are learning about and exploring the color yellow, so the sensory table had water with yellow food coloring and turkey basters!) 2/24

Today at bedtime I asked Sarah what she did at school today with the Moonbears. She said, "Ummmmmmmm," then said, "Guess!" 2/24

We got out Sarah's Blues Clues PJs for bedtime tonight and she said, "Cati!" remembering that they were Cati's present to her. 2/24

We say goodbye to Aunt Amy. :( The girls will really be in withdrawal without her now! 2/26

As we were leaving the Moonbear room today, I told Sarah, "Say goodbye to your friends, Sarah!" and she turned, waved, and said, "Bye bye friends!" Miss Kristen says she is still adjusting well and played for at least a half an hour with the water table today. 2/26