Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Month Thirty-Nine

Dearest Maddy,

Oh what to write! I am already days late...

You continue to be awesome. You are still doing well in preschool, love the activities there. Favourites right now are still going to the gym to kick a ball and "puzzleds". And making objects with these... shape magnets. Google to the rescue! Magformers. You LOVE them.

You have also started sounding out letters. You learned this from youtube, I think, but will go "P- P- P- PIG. Starts with P". You actually have yet to be stumped... And we taught you "SH" too (shampoo, shovel). You really are showing great interest in reading. I see you reading before kindergarten, for certain.

Things you have NO interest in. Potty training. And giving up your high chair. This weekend I think we're going to hide your high chair and get you at the table. I am not predicting it'll be smooth. And the long weekend in May we'll try potty training. Will it work? Um... If it isn't happening we won't push. But we'll try...

You are taking a dance class on Sundays. An unparented dance class. You, off by yourself. Listening to the instructor, interacting with other kids. While I watched (the first week). And now they shut the door... But the first week you were doing so well! You listened, sometimes. And followed along, sometimes. And then when you didn't want to listen, you were perfectly content to do your own thing. And we see that in preschool too. You are completely ok with wandering off to do your own thing. Many days I'll come by and all the other kids are happily doing a group activity. And then there is you, playing by yourself. Playing with toys, or Magformers, or books. Off doing your own thing.

This has also extended to you going downstairs to play by yourself, without supervision. You can turn on the TV by yourself and you have fun! Yesterday I asked you to come up from the basement to set the table. You came all the way to the kitchen to let me know that you were busy cooking downstairs and you couldn't set the table. Then you happily went back down. I think I should have insisted that you set the table. But I was just a little in shock... at how BIG you seemed. When dinner was ready I called to you, expecting a fight to get you up. But nope, you came upstairs with a plate, knife and fork. And plush grapes and banana, ready to eat.

Your independence. Your ability to be alone, play alone. You don't seem to be a follower (yet). Will this last? Are you just a little slower socially compared to your size and language. You have not yet made the switch from preferring to interact with adults to kids your age. When that happens, will you be more prone to peer pressure?

The future looms large... Who knows what time will bring. But who you are now? That person is awesome. We are so proud of you, so in love with who you are, so honoured to be your parents.

We love you, Maddoosh.

Mommy


Monday, April 8, 2013

Who's in Preschool?!!

Last Tuesday, April 2, I took Maddy to daycare and as we were walking into the toddler room, staff let me know that Maddy? She's in preschool now, in the big kid room.

Blink.

BLINK.

Sometimes Maddy doesn't deal with unexpected change well. She likes to KNOW something is coming, then deny it will happen, grump... then accept. And this was a surprise to us all.

I knelt down, and let Maddy know that she has been moved to the big kid room, and her cubby would be there. And the reaction?

JOY!

She ran into the room, was shown her cubby and she stood there in front of it, guarding it. Then she looked around the room, HER NEW ROOM, and immediately was ready to play! I tried for some pictures, while a few tears filled my eyes. But she was having none of it. She raced to the puzzles, grabbed one, and was putting it together (and ignoring me) within seconds.



Blink. *tear* Blink.

I spoke to the staff about the change. She would be sent to the other room if there were any issues. She's be napping in the toddler room too. They would work with her to make the transition easier, but they expected it to be smooth.

And almost a week later? It's been amazing. Maddy is so proud of the her cubby in the big kid room. So proud of the arts and crafts she's doing. So HAPPY to be in preschool! And her language is blossoming. Her ideas and imagination are growing. But her poor little head is FULL. She's so much sleepier right now, needing full 2 hour naps plus early bedtimes. But, really, there is so much more to digest for her. So much more her brain needs to understand and sort and compartmentalize.

On Saturday we tried to wake her early from a nap to go do errands. She sat up in bed and looked still spent. We got her dressed and were talking and trying to wake her. She asked for a glass of water, then laid down again. I handed her the water and was giving her instructions to sit up when she threw half the glass of water on her face. Well, that should wake her! Nope. She drank the other half, laid down, sucked her thumb and closed her eyes. I headed off to do errands alone and one hour later she woke happy and ready to rumble again.

On top of loving preschool, Maddy is also apparently interested in writing letters. As in, I mean SHE WROTE REAL ACTUAL LEGIBLE LETTERS.

Wait. WHAT THE WHAT!?

I still have such a hard time believing it was her. She has weaker fine motor skills and never draws anything more than random squiggles. But the staff swear she did these herself.


Blink. Blink.

The "A" and "L" are most legible. The other blue ones are a "V" and and "S" and the one right by the "A" is a "U". Um...

So there is our week in a nutshell.

Blink.