So it's been a while

But it has been a LONG COLD WINTER, lots of exciting changes going on and I promise I will back post, and update more later.

But tonight I want to right about poetry. Last week I got Abigail the book Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein. This anthology has been a HUGE hit! She loves all the poems and picking them out for me to read. It is great! I honestly am not sure she read any of them, but thats okay, because we are having so much fun listening to them. It is fun to watch her get them. So far her favorites have been Invitation and Hector Collector. Both poems she is able to reflect aspects of herself in. Again, so much fun!

A retrospective on reading

Every New Years Eve I look back at how our life has changed over the last 12 months. As Abigail ages it is less about the physical and obvious changes and more about her sophistication as she has changed from a infant to a toddler to a preschooler. In the next 12 months she will change into a school aged child as she gets ready to enter kindergarten. As I have been sitting here looking back at old videos I realized I have a lot of Abigail's journey in learning the basics of reading on video and so I decided to create a retrospective and here it is.

27 months old: Her first time reading


33 Months: first trying out phonics


37 Months First "real" book Dick and Jane


45 Months Reading "Beth Learns to Write" out of 2nd grade textbook


50 Months: Reading Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Stinky Bus

First Violin Concert

Abigail had her first violin concert last weekend. I want to preface this video by saying three things 1) SHE IS LUCKY SHE IS 4 and CUTE!! and 2) She was scared out of her mind and 3) It was the BEST audience ever. She knew this song backwards and forward but 25 minutes before we were about to leave for the concert Abigail said "I don't want to do the concert". But I made her do it anyway.

Before she starts playing the audience will laugh, the conversation did not get picked up by the camera but it went like this:

Abigail: I hurt my knee
Nicole: Do you want to sit?
Abigail: Yes please
Nicole(to audience): We have a sore knee so we are going to sit
Abigail: Does your knee hurt too?

So without further ado "Jingle Bells"

A white (almost) Christmas

Merry CHristmas to all!!

We had our own little white day-after-Christmas down at the beach this year. It was nice to wake up the day after Christmas to a little white stuff.

Christmas day was very nice and peaceful. We were the only ones in town so did not rush to get anywhere. Although we missed family, it was nice to just relax and enjoy our new toys.

So far the biggest hits of the Christmas Season have been the new scooter and the DSi. She also loves her littlest pet shops.

No plans for the rest of the week except to relax, watch new movies and enjoy the peace and quiet of vacation. Here are some more pictures of our snow.

December Videos

Here are a few videos I have taken of Abigail this week. She had her dance recital on Tuesday. Then this upcoming Sunday she has her first ever violin concert.

Here is a video from her dance recital.

and here is one from Violin practice tonight.


Lastly, this is a video I took last night of her reading. It amazing how much her fluency has improved in the last month. Abby does not know it but tomorrow I meet with the Director or CFCI, a local charter school, to discuss early entry.  This is an excellent charter school, and we are trying to get in on early entry (she misses the deadline by 6 weeks) so we need to prove her worthiness. I have the testing, the work, now it comes down to the director agreeing that she is a good canidate.

Reading

Here is the latest video of Abigail reading. It is the first time she has seen this story so lots of new words...not always the easiest at 7pm, but she still did great!

Addition Rap and a little bit of Homework

Abigail got a CD last week called "Addition and Subtraction Rap" and since then she has been obsessed with memorizing her facts.  Every night she does 1 or 2 lines of addition problems and then writes a sentence.

Here is her work from tonight. Her handwriting is getting beautiful.