She's been writing her name in all CAPS for quite some time, but she had to learn lowercase for preschool; as you can see, she's successfully transitioned!As back-to-school time arrives (can you FEEL my shudders?), the Smith household has been shifting gears into educational mode. You know, accomplishing tasks like pulling out backpacks, sharpening pencils, stocking up on Tylenol, that kind of thing. Of particular importance this year is Ava starting preschool, a monumental milestone. For my part, I cannot believe my baby is ready for school, but I am happy to report that she simply radiates excitement at this prospect. Yes, like her mother, Miss Ava seems poised to LOVE SCHOOL!
At least, so far, so good.
Of course, Hudson hasn't been left out of the learning by any means either. Already he holds his head up and can perform a "sit-up" while keeping his head level with his body. Okay, so this may not sound spectacular to those of you without children, but What to Expect the First Year reports that this feat generally happens after the fourth month. And our little man began this trick at two months, so we're pretty excited about that. We've also been strengthening his verbal skills by practicing baby talk, such as the word Ah-goo, which is a good vowel-consonant combination. Hudson enjoys repeating this word back to anyone willing to play the game, but sometimes he just laughs in our faces when we babble to him. Ah, it's always great fun to try and hold a conversation with a two-month-old!
This past week, we have been preparing Ava for preschool. Her teacher suggested we help her recognize her own name. No big deal, since Ava has been reading and writing her own name for some time now. However, Miss Nicole added that we could write the names of everyone in the family on note cards and help Ava locate her own name among those. Ava's response? What a fun game! We got out note cards and promptly wrote Ava, Hudson, Lori, and Erik. Within moments, she had memorized those and wanted to move on to grandparents. Wonderful! Rich, Karen, Nick, Vicki, and Carol. No problem; Ava memorized those as well. Basically, my adorable little learner created about twenty flashcards with names of various relatives on them. Yes, she can now recognize and "read" all of them.
And she hasn't even started preschool yet!
Of course, Erik and I may have gotten a little carried away with this game. One afternoon, Ava spread her cards out on the floor to read while we cheered her. Hudson, meanwhile, lounged nearby in his bouncy seat. We clapped eagerly as Ava read each card, bragging to one another. It was at that moment I heard another sound, another voice. This one, adorable and sweet, was emanating from the blue bouncer on the floor. Slowly, I turned to my little man, my second little learner.
His eyes wide, chubby legs kicking, he was shouting at his parents: Ah-goo! Ah-goo! Ah-goo!
Yes, sibling rivalry at its best!
