This has always been Janie’s favorite photo in the house. She always says “Mama is pretty and Dada is handsome.” She also likes to put it in front of the fish tank so the fish can see them.
Artist of the Week
There’s a featured artist every week and it’s Janie’s week! Her artwork is on display at the entrance to her classroom. One of her favorite things to do is cut paper with scissors at the art table. I like how her teacher included her clippings on the board.
“This is my paint. It is pink and purple.”
“This is my baby brother, when he grows up.”
“This is Peanut…he has a belly button.”
Here’s a photo of her hard at work.
Valentine’s Day at School
There was a big celebration of Valentine’s Day at school today. The kids exchanged valentines (we gave DumDums and pencils) and the kids had a special presentation to the parents at the end of the day. Luckily Mama was home today so she was able to watch too.
All the kids had worked hard over the past two weeks practicing some love songs, making ukuleles, cutting out hearts, and making necklaces for each of their parents.
https://youtu.be/v1guz2PsA4M
https://youtu.be/q7WYU6XhB4Q
They all performed for us this afternoon, strumming their ukuleles and singing 4 songs.
Then they handed out their gifts for us. We didn’t even know Janie could cut out a heart already! What a nice job she did. The ukuleles also had rubberbands that made noise when you pluck them. Very clever.
Before we left school, all the kids decorated their own cookies and ate them (of course).
To celebrate what a good job she did, we took her to SuperDuper and she ate about 75% of this burger!
We took the train home after dinner and then Janie played her ukulele some more.
She also insisted that we both wear our leis this evening before bed and snapped a photo.
new year’s resolution
More words of wisdom from school…
We like her goal very much.
Long Drive Home
This morning we packed up the car and said goodbye to the Buena Park House along with Ankong and Ama. Before heading out, we had lunch with them.
https://youtu.be/iYfrUcc493k
At lunch, Peanut was blowing some pretty big raspberries.
The drive was smooth but we made lots of stops to keep everyone happy. Peanut did pretty good sleeping most of the way and only had one bout of crying. Janie had at least half a hamburger for dinner. We were so proud of her big bites. It’s crazy that this kid eats anything with the exception of things in sandwich form.
Peanut hung out in a highchair while the family ate. He also gave his new teething toy at try.
https://youtu.be/OPDrvWjR2wM
We made it home in about 8 hours. Not too bad.
Caterpillar Book
This past month, Janie was learning about the life cycle of a caterpillar. They had some in the classroom and watched them go from a caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. When the butterflies appeared, the class would take them outside to be released. She did observations of the creatures and drew pictures to make a book. Her teacher would dictate what she said about her observations too. Today, she got to bring the finished book home.
This is the cover of the book.
“Tiny caterpillars. There is one at the top.”
“They are climbing. They are eating.”
“They are sleeping. Then they will grow.”
“The butterflies are flying.”
bedtime stories
Janie read stories to all her friends this evening.
https://youtu.be/Ewsr4COUh2s
This one is called “Goodnight Goodnight, Construction Site”.
Baby Rhyme Time
This morning, Peanut took a nap in the stroller while dropping off big sister. Once he woke up, he had arrived at the local library and ready for his first Baby Rhyme Time!
We got there a little early and had a reservation so we sat outside to enjoy the morning sun.
As usual, it was a full house and we were so glad to have a reservation. He enjoyed the songs and watched all the kids around him. He smiled each time Mama helped him with the hand motions for Wheels on the Bus and Head Shoulders Knees and Toes.
On our way out, he got a library sticker and was all smiles.
This is his sneaky look. “No one’s getting my sticker or my doggie!”
pizza and stories
On our way home from school, Janie wanted pizza for dinner. So, we stopped by the neighborhood pizza join for their Happy Hour $2 slices. We were full and heading home before 6:00 with lots of time for stories and playtime before bed.
back to school
Janie went back to school today and had no tears this morning when Yai dropped her off.
When we picked her up, there were new things to see on the bulletin board. This past month, all the kids were asked “If you could be an insect, what would you be and why?”
Here are a few of the answers including Janie’s.
The teacher also posted some photos from Curriculum Night and some other things that they had done in October.
Here’s a picture of Janie in line with her classmates. They go on walks around the city together. I’m amazed that the teachers can keep them all together.
They also learned about bugs this past month and there’s a picture of Janie feeding the ladybugs with other girls in her class.