Nursery Rhymes
I've gotten really into nursery rhymes all of a sudden. They're so interesting! So every chance I get, I ask Mommy or Daddy to read this book to me, and I'm loving it. I love nursery rhymes!
WFMW: Alphabet Fun (by Mommy)
It's Works for Me Wednesday!
My friend, Sarah, had the great idea to use a classroom wall alphabet as a border in her son's room. I copied the idea from her and used it at eye-level in Jonathan's room. (Thanks, Sarah!) It was an inexpensive way to add color to his room. Since it's a train, he loves it! And, it's one more way to bring the alphabet (and the seeds of literacy) into his life. I find it easier to make conversation with Jonathan about the world around us than to sit down and deliberately teach him something. (Sitting down to learn something is not so easy for him, either!) So, making the alphabet part of everyday life "works for me!" A few days ago, he decided he wanted to tell me all the letters and the pictures that they stand for. And he went through every single letter in the alphabet! He got some of the pictures mixed up, but it was a great opportunity to talk about some of those obscure pictures as well as letter sounds. My favorite one was "Q." "Q is for king and bird!" he said. "Well," I said, "that bird is a special bird called a quail, and a girl-king is called a queen. Q is for queen and quail." And he replied, "That queen is the princess' mommy." I loved that. And I love that he wanted to talk about the alphabet. I've also found that even though we haven't emphasized lower-case letters, he's picking those up along the way, as well. I hope that all the small ways we bring the written word into his life will make learning to read easier for him when the time comes.
Besides our first and favorite way, reading books, here are some other fun ways we've brought the alphabet into everyday life:
Alphabet Train (shown here-find it at your local teacher's store.)
Fridge Phonics and Lowercase Expansion Pack (thanks to Grandma!)
Alphabet Train Floor Puzzle (thanks to Doreen!)
See-Inside Alphabet Peg Puzzle (thanks to Grandpa!)
Alphabake Cookbook and Cookie Cutter Set (we don't have this-but doesn't it look fun?)
Immersing kids in the letters of the alphabet-it Works for Me! What are some of your favorite ways to bring literacy into a young child's life? Leave a comment here to share, or just to let us know you stopped by!
And visit Rocks in My Dryer for more great Works for Me Wednesday tips!
**UPDATED** A reader asked where I got this alphabet. Here it is online from Carson Dellosa, but we found it at the local teacher supply/educational store. There are lots of others to choose from. You could also use a set of bulletin board letters in your child's favorite color(s)!
WE ARE A WAITING FAMILY!
As far as I'm concerned, we've already been waiting for a baby just about forever, but my mom and dad say that we're now officially a "waiting family." We're praying even more now that God will send a birth mom (or birth parents) our way who wants to entrust us with a baby so that we can adopt him or her. I'm sure ready to have a brother or sister. If you'd like to read more, you can read our adoption blog. Thank you for your prayers!
Working in the Yard
"I'm just exercising a little bit."
"I'm just trimming a little bit. And this is my trimmer, not Daddy's trimmer, and Daddy shouldn't touch it because it's very sharp."
Morning Conversation
(After the long process of getting dressed and coaxing Jonathan to do as much by himself as he can)
Mommy: When you're a little older, you'll know how to get dressed all by yourself with no help from Mommy!
Jonathan: Maybe when I'm ten.
M: Maybe when you're three.
J: Maybe when I'm seven.
M: Maybe when you're four.
J: Maybe when I'm four. Four will work for me.
Gardening with Daddy
I asked Daddy if we could work in the garden tonight, and he said yes!
Here we are checking on the strawberries. When we started our sideyard project, we moved the strawberry plants (still alive from last year) over here. They are very happy, and they're making blossoms and fruit. (You can see that I am using Daddy's tools so he can use mine.)
Our lemon tree and our baby orange tree are blooming, and they smell so good! We hope we'll have oranges on our baby tree for the first time this year. We'll let you know sometime around January.
Here I am bringing some lemons in to Mommy. Do you like my gloves?
Daddy and I decided it was time to plant some basil. It's very hard to be gentle with those tiny seeds. Mostly I watched. I had a great time gardening with Daddy. After dinner tonight, I told him, "I had a great day with you, Daddy!" And I sure did!
A Visit from Baby Andrew
Baby Andrew came over for a visit. Here's what he had to say.
And here's what I did with the baby toys after he left. Links must be linked, you know!
Day With Daddy
Today, I spent the day with Daddy. When he got me up in the morning, we went for a run together since Daddy's training for a marathon. After that, we went out to eat waffles! For the rest of the morning, we went looking for hiking gear, went to Home Depot, and had lunch at Taco Bell. My favorite part of the day was going to see a model train exhibit. We did so many fun things together, and I just love being with my dad. All the fun makes for a great afternoon nap.
A Super-Big Sign
I'm making a super-big sign!
That spells "bonk!"
That spells "Grandma!"
That spells "yes!"
WFMW-Awesome Birthday Gift (by Mommy)
It's Works for Me Wednesday!
In our old town, we had some amazing neighbors. They were our neighbors and our friends, and we'll never forget some of the outstanding things they did for us. The December that Jonathan was born, we decided that we wouldn't decorate the outside of the house for Christmas because taking the lights down would be too much to tackle with a new baby in the house. Much to our surprise, when we came home from the hospital with Jonathan, our neighbors (with the help of some other neighbors) had decorated our home for Christmas. It looked beautiful, and we were so touched! (I don't know how they found time to do it, because they had been to visit us at the hospital with their four children!) They also placed a huge stork on our front lawn, proclaiming, "It's a boy!"
For Jonathan's first birthday, they made an especially meaningful gift for him:
It's a growth chart! Some people have grown up in the same home for their entire lives and have always had their height measured at the same spot. Some of us won't have that. I know that Jonathan won't! But, we will be able to take the measuring spot with us wherever we go! This is just a simple 2"x4", but our friends painted it and decorated it for us. It was a truly meaningful gift. Every year, we mark Jonathan's height on it on his birthday, and if he's blessed with any siblings, we'll do that for them, too. If we need to move again, we can take the special chart with us and bring along that little piece of family history.
Here's a closeup. We have it attached to the molding of the doorway with sticky tack (or is it called poster putty?)
We truly miss our neighbors: Kim, Keith, Griffin, Colleen, Shannon, and Harrison. Thank you for your kindness to us! A meaningful gift from sweet friends: "Works for Me!" (And click here to check out more great tips at Rocks in My Dryer!)
Bonding
I don't have a picture, but I thought I should tell you about a big part of my day. It's bonding. When it's time to lay down to sleep, I ask Mommy or Daddy (but usually Daddy) to read books and bond. We lay together in bed, read books, chat, sing a song, chat, pray, chat, and then Mommy or Daddy leaves so that I can go to sleep. If it's Mommy, we lay on our tummies to read, and sometimes I lay on her back. If it's Daddy, we lay on our backs to read, and sometimes I lay on his chest.
When it's time to wake up, I usually ask whoever comes to get me to read books. Sometimes they say yes, and sometimes no, depending if we have someplace to go in a hurry. But I sure do love to bond, and Mommy and Daddy do, too.
More About the Weekend
Just like we promised...it's picture time!
Drawing an amazing tower (more like an empire) with Uncle Jakey
Throwing rocks with Daddy
Surrounded by love!
Perhaps we should put this picture away rather than put in in our Christmas letter or adoption profile.
Lovely lupine
Aunt Laura is so strong, she can even carry ME!
Sunday funnies with Daddy
Hannah got out her brother's old racetrack and Hot Wheels for me to play with...
and Play-Doh and puzzles, too!
A Full Weekend
When I woke up on Friday morning, the fun began! Not only was Daddy home, but Uncle Jake (who has been promoted to "Uncle Jakey") and Aunt Laura had come for a visit. We spent a wonderful Friday and Saturday with them. I think they came here just to see me! We'll share more pictures soon, but for now, here's one of all of us on Saturday afternoon. In the morning, Daddy ran 26 1/2 miles, and then Aunt Laura cooked a delicious breakfast for us. Then, we took a hike and I threw rocks in the water. Here we are: Daddy, Mommy, Uncle Jakey, Aunt Laura, and me. Thanks for the great visit!
On Sunday, after Mommy and Daddy and I went to church, we took a trip to see some of our family from Daddy's side. We spent a great afternoon with Daddy's great uncle Earl and aunt Bev (which makes them my aunt and uncle, too!) and Ms. Tammy, Mr. Mike, and my favorite, Hannah. I played with Hannah all afternoon. I hadn't met any of these relatives before, and we had a great visit. Here we are: Hannah, Mr. Mike, Ms. Tammy, Aunt Bev, Uncle Earl, Mommy, Daddy, and me. Thanks for having us!
Three Quotes
"I heared a helicopter during my nap! I heared a helicopter while I falled asleep, and I did two things at a time!"
"May I please have those bananas not be fragile."
"You are my hero, Daddy."
Daddy
Mommy does the best she can when Daddy travels, really she does. This week, she blew bubbles with me, took me on bike rides, had a Quiznos picnic in our backyard with me, and even had Ella over for dinner. But, it just wasn't the same without Daddy.
Thank goodness, Daddy is coming home right now! Oh, I'm so happy. I'm way behind on my wrestling and other guy things. As soon as Daddy gets home-any minute now-I'll catch up!
A New Little Buddy
Congratulations to our friends, Mr. Gabe and Ms. Dorothy, who had a baby! We're so excited. You can see their story under the new link: "Liam," over to the right. Welcome to the world, Liam!
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