Tea Party, Puppet and Pairs

This evening we worked on Madison's homework. In this week's book Bears in Pairs, all of the bears have a tea party at the end of the story. Seeing how we usually have a tea party once a day in our house, this was not a tough assignment. A tea party isn't complete without crumpets, which are goldfish in our house.

The final book related activity this week was sorting items into pairs. Since the basket on our stairs was filled with pairs of shoes, Madison sorted them into pairs and helped me put them all away. It was a little difficult because Madison and Jocelyn have a lot of the same shoes, they are just different by one size. Madison had to do a lot of comparing to make sure that she had the correct sizes together.

Today at school they played the name game again. They also read Franklin Goes to School and made a Franklin puppet. They even got to go out and play in the water tables. Madison got 6/6 stars and is very excited about taking Grandma to school with her tomorrow!

Coffee Filter or Bowl?

My trip to Sam's Club has left us with a VERY LARGE stack of coffee filters in the pantry. Madison decided to have a snack this afternoon after school and couldn't reach the bowls, so she improvised and decided to use a coffee filter as a bowl for her Sun Chips. What a creative solution to her problem.

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She had another great day at school. She got 6/6 stars. They played "Who's Under the Blanket?" Mrs. Hunter read them Trouble at School. They got to make a personnel page with their height, weight, and hand print to document their growth at the beginning of the year. They also got to go outside and play on the playground today rather than having Center Time inside.

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Tonight we did another homework activity based on Bears in Pairs. We went around the house and tried to find items that started with the letter "B." On our "B Hunt" we found: blueberries, books, blanket, bed, bathroom, bedroom, bow, bench, box, bookcase, bear, ball, black bag, bike, bubbles, blocks, bananas, backpack, belt, and Belle (princess). Madison did a great job deciding whether or not items we found started with the letter "B" or not. The only item that stumped her was a pillow. She first said that it started with the letter "B," but then corrected herself and said "No, it starts with a /p/ like in pig."

Baby Jocelyn!

We do not have many pictures of Jocelyn before we adopted her at 6 months old, but Keisha (her birthmother) did scan some and send them to us via email. Here are some pictures of baby Jocelyn:

I was so happy when we received this information. I always wondered what her statistics were at birth. She weighed 6 lbs. 13 oz. She was 20 inches long and was born at 10:54. I don't know if it was a.m. or p.m., but at least I have some information for her when she grows up and starts asking questions.

Jocelyn and her birthmother Keisha:

This picture is very grainy, but it is a cute one of Jocelyn smiling with her birthmother, Keisha.

This is another grainy picture of Jocelyn with her half sister Brittani Ann.

Grandma and Granddaddy are Coming Tomorrow!

We just found out a few days ago that Grandma and Granddaddy are going to drive up for the long weekend. They will be getting here tomorrow night. The girls are so excited to see them. In honor of their arrival, I thought I would post some of my favorite pictures of them and Madison from when she was a newborn.

Grandma holding "Baby Girl Rabens" the day she was born.

Three generations reunited after my stay in the ICU.

Grandma resting at our house in Maryland with Madison and our dog Chester.

Granddaddy finally gets to meet Madison on her 1 month birthday.

Leave it to Granddaddy to teach her how to work the remote control.

He even took her for a swim in their pool.

Grandma and Madison at the beach.

Grandma has the magic touch in the swing.

Snuggles with Granddaddy are the best!

We can't wait to see you both tomorrow. We are looking forward to a weekend filled with new memories and pictures!

Caterpillar Update

After researching our caterpillar on the Internet, we think it is a

Antheraea Polyphemus.

It will eventually turn into a
Polyphemus Moth.

The girls are enjoying taking care of the caterpillar. They go and pick him leaves and branches everyday. They get so excited when they see him crawl around or eat the leaves they picked for him. They are looking forward to watching the caterpillar make its cocoon and eventually turn into a moth.

OT Therapy

On Tuesday afternoons I pick Madison up from school and take her to her private OT and Speech Therapy. Madison really likes her new OT therapist, Miss Melissa. Here are some pictures from today's OT therapy:

Madison is bouncing on the BIG ball.

She is rolling backwards to touch the ground.

Hanging backwards smiling at the camera.

She then switches to her tummy and rolls that way.

Time for the "rocket ship!" We are still working on being able to spin 10 times while lying down. We are currently up to 4-5 spins before she gets too dizzy and has to stop.

Madison is much better at spinning while sitting up.

Although she has to do it with her eyes closed otherwise she cheats and tries to fix her eyes on one object to keep from getting dizzy.

When she gets too dizzy she has to go and jump. She likes to jump on the mats and the trampoline.

Time to swing.

Today we tried to swing in circles.

She even tried to swing on her belly.

Look, NO HANDS!

We are still working on going down the slide backwards.

She loves getting to slide into the balls.

Today at school the kids played the name game. They also got to go to music. According to Mrs. Hunter, the music teacher has fallen in love with Madison. She adores the fact that Madison loves music and wants to play the violin when she gets bigger. The students got to color and read their own "Time for School" book. Their story today was Dinosaurs It's Time for School. Madison got 6/6 stars and was thrilled to get a hot pink "praiselet" that matched her pants today. Even though her best friend was still sick she went to the Dramatic Play center.

Purple Bear

Today at school they assigned new jobs and discussed what everyone did over the weekend. They also read their first Weekly Reader, "School Days." They got to go to the library for their first story time and read Little Monster at School. Madison earned 6/6 stars today. She of course went to the Dramatic Play center today at school, but was sad to tell me that her best friend was sick today. She doesn't know her best friends name yet, but it is the little girl that plays with her at the Dramatic Play center. Madison is very excited that she got invited to Zachary's Diego birthday party at McDonald's. She doesn't know who Zachary is, but we will be going to his birthday party. I hope it is a way for me to meet her classmate and learn their names.

Every week Madison will be bringing home a book packet. It will contain a book and activities that relate to the book. We will read the book and do the activities throughout the week and return everything to Mrs. Hunter on Friday. This week's book is Bears in Pairs. After reading the book we decided to do one of the activities. I asked Madison to pick her favorite bear from the book and draw a picture of it. She chose the "Purple Bear!"

She was very excited to be doing HOMEWORK!

Madison wasn't sure how to draw a bear, so I drew one first and let her help me color it in. She then decided that she could draw one all by herself.

She worked very diligently on her homework.

She wrote her name on the bottom of the paper when she was done.

WOW, my bear looks just like the purple bear in the story!

Madison's Purple Bear!