Memorial Day brought Annabelle a present: her 10th tooth (a lower molar). The fourth molar and her final lateral incisor are trying to break through the gums next. Needless to say, Bella has been fussy recently.
Aunt Lisa with the girls
(I love Gabi's smile in this picture!)
The girls showing Aunt Lisa their dollhouse
Aunt Lisa and Annabelle
One day when it was chilly, Gabi told me that we needed some blood to keep us warm. That caught my off-guard, but, yes, blood does help keep us warm... I wonder if she learned that at school.
Another night, Gabi told Michael she was going to draw some blood for him. She then proceeded to use a red crayon to draw blood on paper for her Daddy. Not the typical meaning of "draw blood," but definitely very literal.
Gabi watering an Olivia-flower and watching it grow
Gabi and Olivia dancing at Olivia's birthday party
Bella loves pointing out all sorts of vehicles; she knows about trucks, tractors, trolleys, trains, cars, buses, boats, and airplanes. Then she will say "vroom-vroom" or "choo-choo" (or "zoom") as appropriate. Today at Home Depot, she was pretending to be a train and calling out "chug-a-chug-a choo choo!" as we walked through the store. Gabi joined in the fun, too, of course.
Bella driving a toy car at Playtime Pizza
"Vroom-vroom!"
It's the end of the school year, which means we've been busy with recitals and goodbyes. Gabi's PreK3 class had an adorable Spring Program on May 5th. I will have to post the video soon!
Back in February, Gabi had told me that after Z week, they would have to start over because she would still have more school. That was clever of her to figure out, although what they really did was move on to numbers. Last week, I heard Gabi singing a song about addition. She would sing "2 plus 2 is four. Five plus five is [pause to count on her fingers] 10, five plus five is ten." etc. It was very cute, and I was even more impressed that she would use her fingers to illustrate her additions and count to determine the answers. That means she wasn't just memorizing the facts/sentences, but rather she understood the concept of addition. Of course, for the past month or two, she's been adding (and sometimes subtracting) with objects in word-problem-type format, so addition isn't a new concept for her. She's also figured out that two numbers together (e.g. 11 or 28) represent a larger (two-digit) number as opposed to just two individual numbers.
Ms. Maureen putting on Gabi's makeup for the Spring Program
Three little piglets in the PreK3 Spring Program
Samantha, Kate, and Gabi
Gabi and her PreK3 teacher, Ms. Laura
After the last day of school, we had a parent-teacher conference with Gabi's teacher. I love that the Anthony School has mid-term and end-of-year conferences for all students so that you don't only hear from the teachers if your child is having a problem. Gabi easily mastered the entire three-year-old curriculum in both English and Spanish, and she has really come out of her shell and matured socially and emotionally. (The first semester she had trouble "participating in class activities with a positive attitude.")
The Anthony School has a regular PreK4 curriculum plus a PreK Transitions class with an advanced curriculum for the students who have completed PreK4 but who are yet not ready for Kindergarten. Currently, there are a couple spots in the Transitions class that were not filled with older children, and Gabi has been recommended for that class! The Transitions class still has recess and PE with the other four-year-olds, and one or two other students from PreK3 will likely also join her in Transitions, so she'll still see all her friends from this year.
The PreK4 class has a letter of the week just like in PreK3, but the Transitions class does a letter a day and then moves on to more advanced material. Students in the regular PreK4 class are usually reading by the end of the year, whereas most of the Transitions kids can read some at the beginning of the year. The Transitions class is more writing-intensive; they keep a daily journal and write stories. It also requires more independence, as students are assigned tasks for the week and given time to work each day, and they must manage their own time and be aware of which tasks they still need to do. I think it will be a perfect fit for our Gabi girl! I'm very proud of her.
Gabi's dance recital costume
Last night, Lola called to ask if I could pick her up at the airport when she returns to town, and then she talked to Gabi. When the conversation was over, Michael asked for the phone so he could hang it up. Gabi insisted that she could do it, and she pressed the button to turn off the phone. After she handed the phone back to Michael, she explained, "You press the off button, the one that says O-F-F," spelling the word off from memory, which she had read herself on the phone. She also reads signs to me when we are out and about.
Climbing on the paddle wheel of the ACH boat
Captain Bella steering the ACH boat
In the last post, did I say that Annabelle was using two-word sentences? What I meant to say is that she is using full sentences! That girl can talk. We went out to eat with Lolo this weekend, and Bella handed me her empty cup and said, "I want more Sprite." (Yes, I gave her Sprite... Big sister introduced it to her.) As we were driving through downtown Little Rock, Bella very excitedly pointed out the trolley (which she can pronounce perfectly, by the way) and then said, "Mommy, trolley go bye-bye" to tell me that it was out of view.
At Riverfest over Memorial Day weekend, we went to the Trout Fishing in America concert and heard some new songs that we didn't know before, one of which was called "I've Got A Friend (and He Won't Be Quiet)." Ever since, Michael and I have been singing "I've Got a Baby and She Won't Be Quiet." After each refrain, Bella adds "E-I-E-I-O" (just because she knows that's a song, and she likes Old MacDonald). She has such a cute voice; I need to post a video of her talking so you can hear her.
Enjoying the Kris Allen concert in Little Rock
(Final 3 week of American Idol)
Walking back to the car after the Kris Allen concert
Preston and Gabi checking out an historical fence
Well, now that is is June, I have finally posted pictures from the first half of May... and I have yet to copy all the videos from the camcorder to the computer.
