Reader in Training

Maev-

You are rockin' the Bob books, and I'm very impressed. I thought Grandma would enjoy checking out your skills; so here's a quick video.

Keep up the good work!

Love ya,

Mom

Fun Run

Maev-

It's your 1st official race - the Purity Dairy Dash Fun Run.

You started off strong and loved running next to the people dressed in animal costumes. You turned in to a cat several times, asked to be carried two times, and complained about your tummy hurting four, five times (I lost count). We rallied at the end of the 1 mile race and were awarded with a ribbon, chocolate milk, and ice cream.

Great job, Maevy!

Love,

Mom

4th Birthday

 

Happy Birthday Maevy! I cannot believe you are 4 years old, and about to be a Pre-k student. Just crazy...

You have seriously been talking about your birthday and birthday party for months now; so I hope it lived up to all the hype.

This year you picked a Fairy themed party, inspired by Peter Pan and/or Tinkerbell, the movie. Plus you just really love wearing wings.

 

(Pippa, Zoe, Birthday Girl, Margot, Lily)

You also picked the colors, the invitation, the cake, what you wore that day, what (4) friends you invited, the birthday iron-sticker to wear to school and the balloons. Mom ordered the special fairy cake topper, made the funfetti cake, and organized the birthday party crafts. Grandma helped at the party. Daddy and Grandpa took Carter to the grocery store during the party; so the fairies could rule the house.

 Mommy and Daddy's birthday present to you was tickets to see Cathy Rigby's Peter Pan at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. We took Grandma as our special guest. We had a lot of fun, and you thought the funniest part was when Nana, the dog, crossed her paws.  We also got you a few fairy books.

Some fun stories from your party -

- You were the winner (althought I didn't tell anyone) at the fairy dust relay. You had your technique down to filling up your spoon and putting your hand underneath to catch any dust and pouring it carefully into your container. Yours was the most full at the end of the race. :)

- At one point, you wanted to play with a stuffed animal that your friends were playing with and Grandma told you to share. You then collapsed on the living chair, declaring to Grandma that you wanted all of your friends to leave the party.

- Soon after everyone left the party, you told us you wished everyone was still at our house.

- While singing Happy Birthday, Lily declared that she wanted to lick the bottom of the fairy cake topper. Grandma told everyone that it was just a cake topper and no one would lick it. You still remember this and have told me about it 4 times this week.

- At one point, all the girls were underneath the table and you said you guys were "table- fairies". Of course!

 

Other fun facts -

- Grandma got you some BOB books and every night this week, we've read 3 BOB books, along with our 4 regular books. You are doing great sounding out the words and recognizing several sight words. I'm impressed!

- Mommy went to a parent-library work shop recently and they recommended doing collective storytelling at home (basically one person starts the story, then next person continues, and so on.) We stared this at dinner time and lots of times you ask to do it. It's hilarious to see what you come up with!

- Daddy never ceases to amaze me with his awesome story telling skills, and recently he told you a shortened version of the movie E.T. You loved it, and have asked for it several times since. You now describe E.T. as having a bulbous head and can reenact the Reeses Pieces scene. 

-  You love to dance. I would say your style is interpretative. I was telling Daddy the other day that your exposure to dance has been mostly through musical theater; so it's not surprising that your dance moves reflect that. The other night I came home from a run to find you dancing by yourself (jelly shoes on...they are the best for slipping/twirling) to the Once on This Island soundtrack (which Daddy had put on really loud). It was super cute.

- You love Carter so much that you sometimes you say he is your boyfriend and that eventually you two will get married. Recently Mommy and Daddy went out to dinner for a date, and you said that when you grow up you and Carter will go out on dates. Maybe you guys won't be married, but I do hope you guys go out on brother-sister dinner dates.

- And finally, you are becoming quite the know-it-all. If we tell you something more than once or it's something you already know, you will often reply- "I know that Mom!" or "You already told me that. I know that, Mom!" Well...excuse me!

Love you Maevs. Here's to another great year!

Mom

Big Sister Reader

Maevy,

You've always been a great, big sister, but this video is one of the cutest things I've seen in a while. About every other night you and Carter take a bath together. He loves splashing around with you and we love knocking out 2 baths at 1 time. Carter finishes his bottle and goes to bed right after bath time. Then we all head down stairs for dinner. Besides constantly sneaking into his bedroom to "borrow" his baby books, you also have a fondness for a few particular "baby" books; one being, "Brown, Bear, Brown Bear". I think you've had this book memorized since you were 2ish (not sure if we have a video of this saved somewhere in our digital archives). Recently, you've asked to read Carter a book along with the other books Mommy and Daddy typically read him.

Carter has his ears off after bedtime; so Mommy usually reads loudly right into his ear while he finishes his bottle. So when you read him a book, we instruct you to "read it loud.", which you do. This video isn't a great representation of Carter's attention span. I think he was distracted by the camera and all the people in his bedroom. He's usually a better listener. Either way, I think you're adorable and a great, big sister reader!

Love,

Mommy

Christmas Kittens

Just a quick follow-up. You did, in fact, want Christmas kittens for Christmas. I guess the day you wrote your note to Santa someone brought in a kitten, which caused almost everyone in the classroom to ask for a kitten. It's been weeks now and you are still asking for your Christmas kittens. I keep telling you..it's never going to happen.

Lucky for you, a classmate, Margot, actually did get Christmas kittens. I'm working on playdate to satisfy your Christmas kitten desires.

Love you,

Never going to own a cat, Mother

Thumping the Threes

Guess who's pretty good at school... the girl above impaling herself on a pole at the Zoo. We had your mid-year Three's Parent-Teacher conference this morning. You're pretty much nailing preschool and have met all expections at or above your curriculum. Nice!

Daddy and I are so proud of you, especially all the progress you've made this year in writing, reading, and math!

Unlike some of your classmates, you really do love school (and a routine). Just this week, I left work early due to (potential) inclement weather. I got there at 3p and we didn't leave until almost 3:30p. You finished your snack, and then asked if you could sit down for circle time because "you wanted to see what was going to happen next." Granted, you do the same schedule at school every day; so you should know the drill. Either way, you wanted to participate in the next activity.

While Carter crawled around your classroom, and I waited patiently for you to finish circle time there were 2 other parents who came in and left with their children in under 5 minutes.

We finally left..and I got the third degree about why it was still light outside...and when are you going to get to stay until it's dark like normal, etc. I asked if you liked hanging out with Mom, as well as going to school. You said..."yeah. School first. Then Mom."

Awesome...(sarcasm). In all seriousness, I hope you never lose your love and enthusiasm for school.

Keep up the good work!

Love,

#2, Mom

PS. Later on in the evening, you told Dad that you really wanted to go the loft (the loft center). All the other kids were picking which center they were going to play in when we finally left. You were going to choose the loft. Sorry Maev...I'm sure you can have loft time tomorrow.

The House Began to Pitch

Hey Maevs-

The man who claims to not like musical theater sure does know a lot of music theater. I have a good memory when it comes to social security numbers, appointments, you know important things. Your dad, on the other hand, has a great memory bank of movies, actors, songs, and song lyrics. I'm horrible at song lyrics. Currently you love hearing songs from Into the Woods, Wizard of Oz, "Hallelujah" (from Shrek), "Tomorrow" from Annie, Mary Poppins, and just recently Daddy introduced you to West Side Story, not the whole movie- just "I Feel Pretty", "Tonight", and sometimes "Maria".

We noticed over Christmas break that your music memorization skills have really taken off. How? Well because you sang Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Coming to Town about a million times. You also know a good chunk of your favorite song, "Call Me May(ve)". I think for months you've known all the words to "The House Began to Pitch"/Munkinland, but I finally grabbed a video. You and Daddy..plus the motions are pretty stinkin' cute.

Love ya,

Mommy