A New Chapter

Because of Punky's hearing loss, she gets special services through the school district.  For the past two years, we have been attending a parent/child class for kids with hearing loss.  Her D/HH (Deaf/Hard of Hearing) teacher, Cassie, also comes to our house once a month to work with Punky.  Cassie has been a tremendous support to BOTH Punky and I.  Punky loves Cassie's visits.  I am sure she has no clue that she is learning while having fun and playing with Cassie.  Plus, I am able to pick up on fun ways to incorporate learning and language skills into everyday play.  I am able to talk with Cassie when I worry about how her hearing loss will affect her in Middle School and High School (I know this is a long way off, but mothers worry).  Cassie has given us the tools to make Punky a confident girl who can advocate for herself.  Because of Cassie and the other special services that she receives, Punky is doing great, has no delays, and is excelling in many areas (4 year old cognitive and receptive language levels!).   

Punky and Cassie

Now that Punky is 3, the services through the school district change from a family-based approach to an individual/educational based approach.  So, that means no more parent/child class and no more home visits.  Boo.  Her last day at the parent/child class was last week.  Punky, Buddy and I are truly going to miss all the other kids, moms and teachers at the class.        

Teacher's Pet and Jenny, her school audiologist.   

In order to continue Punky's services after 3, we enrolled her in preschool.  We debated whether or not to send Punky to preschool for awhile.  She is pretty young, and will get over 2 years of preschool, but we also wanted her to keep getting additional help.  So, we visited the preschool a month ago, and Punky loved it!  We've been preparing her ourselves for the first day ever since.

  Preschool drop-off went well this morning.  As we were walking up to the building, Punky asked me if Cassie was inside waiting for her.  I had to remind her that she would have new teachers and new kids, but they were all very nice and she would have fun.  She also asked what Buddy and I were going to do while she was in preschool.  Apparently, she thought we should just wait in the car for her (for 2 hours!).  Once we got in, she sat right down by her name, and didn't look back.  I had to tell her to stand up and give me a hug.

Buddy and I had a good morning.  He tagged along with me while I tried on jeans and we also picked up a few groceries.  It was nice to push a cart with only one kid in it, but it felt odd seeing her carseat empty as we were driving.

At pick-up, the teachers said she had a good day.  the theme this week was Hawaii.  They made leis and a volcano with vinegar and baking soda.  On the way home, I asked Punky what Hawaii was and she said "Funny necklaces and a funny dance."  Her pick-up sheet said they did the limbo, but it really looked like Punky was trying to hula to me!

For one reason or another, Punky had in her mind that at preschool you paint and play the fishing game.  (During our first visit, the kids were playing a fishing game with a real swimming pool and pretend fish with letters written on them.)  Punky was so happy to play the fishing game again today, but apparently, she cried when they told her that her turn was over and she wouldn't hand the pole to the next kid.  There was no painting today, but the teachers promised her they would paint soon.  At pick-up time, she went up to a teacher and said, "I didn't get to paint today."  I asked her what her favorite thing at preschool was and she said, "Everysing".  It was a good day and I think preschool will be great for Punky. 

There are going to be many more transitions in the years to come.  Fortunately for us, this time around it was harder for us than it was for her.  She's going to adjust to this new chapter in her life just fine.  We just don't want to admit that Punky is now a preschooler and not a little baby anymore. 

Three Years Old

Dear Punky,

You've grown from a tiny baby...

  

into a little girl...

At three years old, you are:

Smart.  The things you say (and remember) amaze us.  You've completely memorized your favorite book "Pinkalicious".  You know all of the letters of the alphabet and can count to 14 (after that you only say the even numbers).  You remember random things that I have forgotten about, like what costume your friend wore for Halloween two years ago and how you ate M&Ms at the hospital when Colin was born.   

Stubborn.  You've decided you do not like vegetables or milk in addition to other random things throughout the week.  If you do not want something, you let us know!

Sweet.  (Especially with your little brother.)  You make him feel better when he gets an "ouchie" and you share your snacks with him.  We hear you singing and talking to Buddy as you two are falling asleep at night. 

Silly.  You come up with the silliest, goofiest games.  Yesterday at your birthday party, you entertained yourself (and your friends) for 5 minutes by putting a bucket on your head.  I have no idea what exactly you were doing.  What a goof!

Imaginative.  You come up with some crazy, fun games to play!  Your favorites are mailman where you tell us to close our eyes, you put a toy in a bag, and then you pretend to be the mailman and say "ring dong" and give us the present to open.  You also like to wave your pretend wand and say "Abra-a-dabra" "I change you into a lion/monkey/worm".

Friendly.  Everyone loves you.  You make friends where ever we go.  You are just a likable little girl. 

I hope you always stay as smart, stubborn, sweet, silly, imaginative and friendly as you are now.

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy 

Celebrations

Earlier this week, Derek stated that Punky was definitely a girl because we are celebrating her birthday all week long.  So true!  On Friday, Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Max came to visit.  We spent some time playing at our house before Derek got home from work.  

On Saturday morning, I had to work at the library.  Daddy and Grandma worked hard to get a lot of things ready for Punky's birthday party.  They took Punky and Buddy to McDonald's for "Cheese Hamburgers" and to play at the Playland.  So spoiled! 

On Saturday afternoon, most of our family was able to come celebrate Punky's birthday.  I had wanted to get photos of Punky with each of the guests, but I forgot!  Ugh!   Grandma Debbie, Grandpa Max, Auntie Shannon, Leah, Grandma Trudi, Grandpa Scott, Auntie Amber, Uncle Ryan, Godmother Missy and Emily were all there.  The "theme" for her parties this year was Olivia.  Side Note:  Punky originally told me she wanted a Bob the Builder cake.  I probably shouldn't have, but I tried my hardest to persuade her to have an Olivia party.  She has probably only seen Bob the Builder one time, so I have no idea where this idea came from.  She was fine with it, but I did hear her tell Grandma, "I wanted a Bob the Builder cake, but Mommy said Olivia was best."

  

Punky asked for only one thing for her birthday this year... a Dora sippy cup.  Her three best friends all had Dora sippy cups at our last play date and Punky hasn't stopped talking about it since.  And, on top of that, little Emily came to the party with a Dora sippy too.  Punky just looked at her and said in the most pathetic voice, "You have a Dora cup too?"  Luckily, Buddy knew exactly what she wanted and got her the cup.  The look on her face was priceless!

Squeeeeeeeeeeeel!!!

Thank you, Brother!

On Sunday, we all went to Llama Llama Red Pajama at Stages Theatre.  The Llama Llama books are some of Punky's favorites, so we thought it'd be a good opportunity to go to both Punky and Buddy's first play.  They did awesome and really enjoyed the show!  Buddy was fussy, fussy, fussy before the play started (we had to wake him up early from his nap), but as soon as the lights went down and the action started, he snuggled in and watched everything.  Punky did great and wasn't too noisy.  At the end of the show, she said, "And now another one!"  I think she was expecting another performance of Llama Llama Misses Mama or Llama Llama Mad at Mama. 

Today, Punky invited her three friends over for a small birthday party.  It was our typical Monday morning playdate, but with a craft, pizza and cake added in.  These girls have so much fun together and are bound to be lifelong friends! 

Tonight, we went to Broadway Pizza for supper.  Three years ago, Derek and I were bummed our baby was making a late arrival and decided to go out for pizza.  Lo and behold, we started timing my contractions at the restaurant that night!  We've made Broadway Pizza another birthday tradition for Punky every year.

Tomorrow is Punky's actual birthday.  I've been feeling really sentimental about her birthday this year.  I am not sure why, probably because my little girl is growing up too fast.  Three years old isn't a baby anymore.  Slow down, Punky!  

Future Builder

If this isn't something to be proud of, I don't know what is!  Buddy built himself a tower of 5 soup cans high!  We've got some big talent in this family, people!

PS- Please excuse Punky.  She had a dreadful night when Daddy made her try two bites of "yucky" tater tot hot dish.  

Punky's Favorite Song

I typically hate those cheesy/corny/stereotypical country songs you hear on the radio.  Punky, on the other hand, has found a new favorite song.  She loves to sing along with the radio, especially when Red Solo Cup, by Toby Keith is playing.  She won't even let me sing along anymore.  I guess this is HER song!

what we've been up to...

I can't believe it's already mid-January.  The last few weeks have flown by even though I feel like we haven't been up to much lately.  But, I also feel like I have a lot of to report write down so I can remember.

So, what have we been up to? 

Painting

Playing at the Indoor Playground

Relaxing

Being Silly (and Making Messes)

  I've got a few cute videos of Punky and Buddy that I will be posting later.  Stay tuned! 

Are the 80s back?

Punky proudly wore her new legwarmers to school today.  Thanks, Grandma Trudi!  She got lots of compliments! 

New Year's

We celebrated Christmas with my family over New Year's this year.  It was hard to not see my family on the actual holiday, but it was so nice to spend 4 days with everyone (instead of the 24 hours we had done in previous years).  Right away on Friday, we opened presents.  Christmas had passed, so Grandma thought we might as well dig in right away.  Punky finally got the dollhouse she had asked Santa for.  It was heartbreaking to hear her tell people "Santa didn't bring me a dollhouse." 

Buddy's favorites were the basketball hoop and tons of animal figurines.  He's been shooting hoops all day (and clapping for himself after he makes a shot).  He's been making all kinds of animal noises while playing with his new figurines (well, most animals say baa or roar, according to Buddy).  

Making Elephant Noises

We went to church, ate a ton of yummy food, and spent time together.  We watched TV, visited the neighbor's farm animals, and played Risk, Guess Who and Life.  It was great!  Grandpa Max even planned a scavenger hunt for us.  He wrote clues and hid them around their 80 acres.  It took about an hour, and although it was a nice day for December 31st, it was windy!  We'll have to try the scavenger hunt again when we are visiting in the summer.  



Learning the rules of the game



Searching for a clue

And just for fun, I want to say, I *heart* my new camera!