First Day of Preschool

Wednesday, January 2nd was Sadie's first day of preschool.  I am writing this post so that I can document every moment of that day.

We started discussing Pre-School with Sadie as soon as we found out the school had space for her (which was about 2 weeks after we toured the facility.  I never thought it would happen so quickly!).  We talked to her about the fact that she could not wear cowgirl boots to school (not appropriate for running around), she could not wear her jammies to school (she had to get dressed every morning), she would drink out of a normal cup (not a sippie cup), etc.  She seemed very excited and eager to meet and play with new friends.

The Friday prior to her first day I met with the Team Leads and teachers to explain about Sadie's hearing loss and how the hearing aids worked.  I could not have asked for a better group of people. They were so attentive and inquisitive about Sadie and my concerns. 

Tuesday night before her first day of preschool I was a complete wreck.  I was bawling (please ensure you never say balling or your mother might correct you and explain that that word means something completely different and inappropriate...thanks mom! :)).  I NEVER understood why parents were always so upset about dropping their kids off.  Now I COMPLETELY understand.  I am watching my child grow up before my eyes and while I am SO proud of her, I am sad that she is growing up. 

Wednesday Morning did not start out how I had expected.  We laid Sadie's clothes out the night before so she would understand what she was going to wear to school on the first day.  Well, in true Sadie fashion, she had a different opinion.  She thought jammies would be the perfect thing to wear that day.  After about 5 minutes of back and forth with her (me biting my tongue and trying to be as patient as possible), she finally conceded and put on her clothes. 

We drove up to Pre-School, walked into the classroom and Sadie acted like she owned that place.  She sat right down in a chair and started working puzzles.  I told her good-bye and she pretty much just dismissed me.  Go figure (I better get used to it, eh?).

The teachers were wonderful and updated me throughout the day.  Here was her first update around 10:00. 

Sara-

Just wanted to let you know how Sadie’s morning is going.  She is doing AMAZING.  We are shocked that this is her first day ever in a center.  She is picking up our routines so fast, packing up her work when she is done, sitting nicely with her friends for breakfast and she saw how her friends packed up their plates and she followed their actions.

Every time we give her work we demonstrate it first, and we only have to show her one time and she does it all on her own.  I’ve attached pictures, one is where she is doing a matching/puzzle work (the tea cup tile will only fit in with the teapot, the dog with the dog house…)We have older kids in this class that struggle with that and she knew every match on her own.  The 2^nd picture is of Sadie playing dolls with a friend.

We will keep you updated throughout the day, we are really excited to have her in the Ladybugs!

 

All I could think was WOW!  This was better than I ever could have imagined!  My 2nd update came around 1:00 that day.

 

Sara-

 

Sadie had a lot of fun playing in the Jungle today, when we walked up to the door she stopped and asked if she could go in there, she was so excited. She didn’t eat much lunch, it was vegetable lasagna with apples and bread. She ate half a piece of bread, and about 5 apple pieces (also two glasses of milk).  I got her to taste the lasagna but she said she didn’t want any more of it.

 She just now fell asleep. We took her ear pieces out and pulled the battery areas out. She was a little fidgety so I sat next to her and held her hand til she fell asleep (I tried patting her back at first but that seemed to be keeping her up).

She loves that hat, she put it back on to sleep with.

Can I just reiterate how much I love these teachers? I mean, to hold her hand until she fell asleep (probably to keep Sadie from getting up and making a ruckus, but still!). 

 

At the end of the day, I left work and went to pick up my girl.  I ran into Sadie walking down the hall towards the  "Jungle."  It is this big open room that has playmats and allows the kids to run, jump, and scream in it.  I kid you not, this was Sadie's reaction to seeing me. "Mommy!" (Excited face), (Tormented Face), "No Mommy, No.  Sadie doesn't want to leave."  And she threw herself down on the ground screaming and crying.  Not the reaction I was expecting at all.  So I allowed her to go into the  jungle to play for a bit while I spoke with her teacher.

 

The teacher informed me that Sadie could not have had a better day.  They realized very quickly that they are going to have to work to keep her challenged. She is already doing things that the older kids have troubles doing (HUGE GRIN on MOMMAS face). 

 

After about 10 minutes, we had to leave in order to make it home for Speech Therapy.  Again, Sadie threw herself down on the ground crying that she didn't want to leave, but I finally coaxed her into it by telling her that Minnie Mouse was in the car waiting for her (this little doll she has).

 

All in all, a fantastic start.  Today (she only goes MWF) on the way in she said she didn't want to go to school, she wanted to go home (uh-oh), but she was fine as soon as we got into the classroom.  Let's hope that she continues to do well!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

A little clip of Sadie singing her Christmas tunes! :)

Catching Up

I have a lot of catching up to do since my last blog post, over 1 month ago.  Let's start with Halloween!  Sadie got to dress up in 4 different costumes this year. She was a bumble bee for Story Time at the Library, a pumpkin at Gymboree, Tinkerbell for my work Trunk or Treat, and Raggedy Ann for Halloween Night in our neighborhood. I think we confused her quite a but, because when she was Tinkerbell and someone asked her what she was, she replied"Raggedy Ann!" Oops :) Maybe next year we will go with just one costume!

Grandma, the picture is all blurry!  But you get the drift.  Me and Miss Vicki!

 Do pumpkins get much cuter than this?

I would wear wings every day of the week if I could!

I am much happier than Louie is right now!

After Halloween, we quickly transitioned to the next holiday of Thanksgiving.  Sadie is still a little confused on where Frank (our Jack-O-Lantern) went and why he isn't coming back until next year. 

Next we had family photos at Unity Village (see side bar for a few pictures).  Sadie was about done after 3 pictures, but we are lucky that Wendy (with Simply Moore Photography) was still able to catch her in some great photo ops!  Since then, every time we pass Unity Village, Sadie points and says "That's where we went (Unity Village) and had our picture taken and Sadie wore her pink cowgirl boots."  That is her longest sentence yet (yep, I am still counting) :)

The last time we had therapy Sadie was tested using the Ski-Hi test (I think that is what it is called) and she ranked at the 40-42 month old range for her receptive and expressive language.  I think that is pretty awesome!

Her therapist, Stacy, and her daughter Autumn went with us to the aquarium on Wednesday.  Sadie loved all the fish.  And she love Autumn even more. Autumn is almost 6 and was so sweet to Sadie and such a cute role model for her.  Autumn got Sadie climbing on things and going down slides that she never would have done on her own. It was awesome.  Afterwards we had lunch at Crayola Land. It was such a fun day for all of us!

We had Thanksgiving with my side of the family this year. Sadie wasn't a big fan of all the new foods, however, she did ask for Cranberry Sauce.  I guess she got that from some of the Thanksgiving books we have been reading. Ha!  She didn't like it as much as I think she thought she would.

Thanksgiving night we introduced Sadie to "Elf on the Shelf."  The Elf appeared at Grandma and Pap's house the day after Thanksgiving on top of the Tent that Sadie always plays in.  Her name is Ginger.  And guess what, Ginger even made back to our house before we got home.  She was hanging from the chandelier when Sadie walked in the door.  Sadie ate a good lunch today and so she walked up to Ginger and said "Sadie at a good lunch!"  I think she wants to make sure Ginger knows all the times she has been good so she can report back to Santa.  So far, Ginger has been awesome!  I hope Sadie continues to behave with her around :)

Fall Fun

Sadie has been having a great time this Fall with all sorts of activities going on. It is also a fantastic time to teach her new vocabulary (her new favorite word is Jack-O-Lantern). 

We started the month off at Oktoberfest in downtown Lee's Summit.  We went with some of our friends who also have young kids and had a great time.

 I got a butterfly balloon made!

 Family Picture

First time riding a pony...a little nervous at first!

A few days later Sadie got her first hair cut (trim).  It was all she could talk about for days.  Even still she will randomly say "Laura cut Sadie's hair and mommy's hair."  It is pretty cool because Laura gave me MY first haircut as well.

 Yes people, this is my hair after a good brush out.

 Wetting it down so we can cut it!

 Look how long my hair really is!

And we are done!  The best part was the sucker I got!

Troy & Sadie carved a pumpkin last weekend.  She chose the Frankenstein design and helped dig out the insides of the pumpkin...for about 2 scoops. Then she was done.  She LOVED putting a candle in the pumpkin..excuse me, Jack-O-Lantern, and she tells "Frank" good night every night and blows his light out.  It is super cute.

 This is kind of gross dad, I thnk you can finish it.

Good job Daddy, Frank looks great!

 



Last night we made Pumpkin Muffins.  Sadie's favorite part was putting all the cupcake liners in the muffin pan. She also helped stir the muffin mix, and of course did a great job eating the cinnamon chips.  When I wasn't looking I think she also stuck her finger in the mix...good thing we bake the muffins and kill all the germs :)

 This is a perfect job for me. 

Fine mom, I will smile for you, but I am not happy about it!

Mixing up the batter!

 

And of course now is the perfect time to show off my Fall fashion! :)

 

Did you notice my pink cowgirl boots..Oh yeah, I picked them out myself.

Love fall clothes!

Hidden Compliment

Last week Sadie, Troy & I were playing in the front yard one night after dinner.  Some of neighbors from across the cul-de-sac were walking by with their 2 children. I had not met their kids yet, and only waved to the neighbors in passing, so they stopped by and we had a nice chat.  They have a boy and a girl who are both 2 years old.  During our chat, Sadie was her normal talkative self (pointing out our neighbors cute green shoes, etc) and our neighbor said "Wow, she has a great vocabulary, how old is she?"  I promptly answered 2.  Our neighbor's mouth dropped.  She said she could not believe Sadie was only 2 and that they were working with her kiddos to talk more.  Later in the conversation, she asked when Sadie turned 2.  I was like "2 weeks ago."  You could just see on her face how astonished she was. 

In the meantime, Sadie had taken off her jacket she was previously wearing.  She was also wearing her hood up, so when she took her coat off, I could tell that our neighbor noticed Sadie was wearing hearing aids.  So of course, I shared the fact that Sadie is hearing impaired and we do weekly speech therapy, which has aided in her speech and language.  Again, I could just tell this woman was ready to take her kids home and start working with them ASAP.  She had no idea what a huge compliment this was to Sadie and quite frankly to Troy and I.  I think Sadie is doing very well, but it is always nice to have a complete stranger confirm it as well.  Our neighbor made my night :)

Who me?  Well, thank you for the compliment!

Sadie Turns 2!!

Sadie turned two years old on August 26th. I cannot believe how time has flown by. I am so proud of my little girl and she continues to amaze me every day.

We had a small get together for her 2nd birthday. Sadie loved all the attention and her favorite part of the whole night was when everyone sang Happy Birthday to her.  We had been teaching her that song, and so she was literally thrilled when everyone sang it. Then she got to blow out her candle, which she had also been talking about all week.  "Sadie has to blow the fires out of the candle.  Can't touch it, it is hot."  I can't tell you how many times the previous week I heard that phrase.  And now Sadie loves to sing Happy Birthday, and wants you to sing it to her as well.  Apparently we are celebrating her birthday all year long :)

 Opening presents in the morning from mom and dad

 Smiling for the camera

 I am loving this attention!

 Mmmmm, ice cream cake.

 Uncle Keith & Aunt Nell know just what I like!

Let's see if I can wear everything I got all at once!

Twinkle Twinkle

Sadie has now decided that she LOVES to sing (except on camera..and in front of anyone but relatives).  In our past therapy sessions, we tried over and over again to get her to sing and she would never do it. Then one day, all she wanted to do was sing.  She rides in the car with my mom and shouts "more songs!!!" I love it. She knows her ABC's, Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle, Tiny Turtle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Pop goes the Weasel, and more.   We found a rare moment where she let us capture her on camera, so hold on to your seats for this cuteness! :)