(check it out at 1+1+1=1)
Jaida (31 mos.) laced beads onto pipe cleaners. She worked so tediously doing it and was completely enthralled. She figured out that as she was putting the beads on and neared the end the beads were being pushed off the other end, so she does what all baby geniuses do and bent the end to keep 'em on.
Nick (46 mos.) worked for only a moment on the lacing. He is meticulous. He spaced each bead the same distance and wouldn't have it any other way. He would much rather the sound of the beads dumping into the tray. We cleaned that and he looked at me as if to say, "give me a real challenge."His mind is so active and he is too darn smart for that "baby stuff" so he built a helicopter using trio blocks. He got these for Christmas and I have been a little hesitant, with the big move coming and all, to take out yet another toy with pieces, but hey, it was school friendly so we did. He had to follow directions using the right color, length and placement to make it happen and the clickey sound they make was entertaining in itself... and he did with a little help from big bro Ryan who, deep down, really wanted those trios. :) Would you believe my camera died before I could get a pic of it?Oh well, good reason to do it again.
Taking the heli apart to put things away was NOT an easy task...Snap into action Mom! Uh, character building, work on keeping a positive attitude.... what are those things I'm always saying??? He was in a full out fit and it was ugly. I started with a simple thing I call ignoring him. It's the quickest way to get his attention is to give him no attention when he is being negative. He stopped and wiped away his tears and said, "Ok, Mom? It's ok." I told him his behavior was not ok and that he was a distraction to others and he (on his own) told the others he was sorry. Yay.
Wouldn't be right if I didn't give you a shot of our Big girl doing her Phonics on her Leap Pad.... Emalee Joy loves school and has made so much progress in just the 7 1/2 months she has been home.... Poor thing had NO educational foundation. She didn't know any of her alphabet, didn't know her age, now my girl can tell you her address, her age, birthday, spell and write her name. She is 5, should be further by most scales, but considering all I know - she is right on track :)
