Parent-Teacher Conference

I snuck away from my cot at school to write this post-conference report during nap time. Mom & Dad got to see me asleep-- or pretending to be. I have a good spot right up against the wall and the teacher sits between me and Collin and rubs our backs.

The other teacher, Miss Jessica (or "Caca" as we call her), told Mom & Dad all about what I do during the day and what I am working on. I am doing great at large motor activities. The only exception was pedaling the bike, but the teacher said (in my defense) I can not reach the pedals on the bike at school. I am doing great with colors, shapes and numbers and love to sort and do puzzles. I love art-- especially finger painting. She said I think I am getting away with doing something bad!

I get along well with the other kids and share well and am good at working out a solution (i.e. giving the other kid a less desirable toy in exchange for the toy I want!) I help the teachers a lot and it is MY JOB to hold the basket when we pick up toys. She said I am doing very well with communicating, using three-word sentences and asking for help if I need it. She said when I eat my lunch I sit in my chair with one arm on the back of it, turned partly sideways; she thinks this is because I want to be able to see what is going on at the other table as well. Sound like anyone else we know?

I love to dance and sing and read stories. And she said she watched me playing Mommy in the play kitchen the other day. I put on the apron and carried the purse and cooked dinner for two other kids and I patted them on their backs. She also said I was the class clown- in a good way.

I am working more on using scissors and holding a pencil or crayon correctly, as well as drawing different shapes. We are going to start working on letters and recognizing the ones in our names. She said I am intelligent and have a strong sense of myself-- and what is mine!

So that's the report on school. I'll write more over the weekend.

Cinderella

Mom & Dad put me to work all weekend. You should have seen all the chores and errands I had to help with! I hope I get an allowance soon.

We kept busy this week. Mom & Dad had a lot of meetings in the evenings so we planned a quiet weekend. Yesterday we went to the grocery and then in the afternoon it was warm enough to go to the park. I was an old pro at climbing the steps and going down the slide. It was 60 degrees here so it was pretty busy there, but I managed to take turns. Last night I had a babysitter so Mom & Dad could go out. They had to pay up on a dinner bet on the ND vs. Ohio State game.

Today after I helped with the laundry, fed Lily and swept the kitchen floor we went out to Target to buy my valentines. I picked The Wiggles and I love the fact that the box they came in is like a purse. We also went on another adventure today after my two hour non-nap. We went looking at houses and found a neighborhood we really like. Mom & Dad have to get all of that figured out soon. I saw a lot of swingsets in that neighborhood and I think I might like it!

Mom & Dad have a parent-teacher conference at my school on Tuesday, so that should be interesting. I wonder what they will say about me? I'll report in on what I hear later in the week.

I am including one other photo from earlier this week. I climbed up onto Mom & Dad's bed and grabbed one of Mom's books and paged through it saying "I'm Mom!"

Ice Cream Baby

Hi everyone. Today was the annual Notre Dame Alumni Club communion breakfast. We had a nice time and I got to see Father Bill, who baptized me. It's a long event-- three plus hours and I was very good during it. We sat by our friends who had the Fiesta Bowl party and I played with 16-month-old Kaitlin again. I wore my pretty new dress and Mom had my hair done with a bow and then I went to the coat closet and selected this hat and proudly showed Mom my "improved" look, but at least it was appropriate for the venue!

My other favorite thing from the weekend was our family dinner out last night. Before we went Mom asked what I wanted to eat and I answered "ketchup." That's easy enough to find! I ate a ton of food-- salad (with lots of ranch dressing), almost a whole chicken breast, cheese, french fries (with the aforementioned ketchup and a little hamburger, too. Mom & Dad think it was the most I ever ate. Then we ordered a cookie sundae for dessert to share. It was like heaven! I couldn't shovel it in fast enough. I even stole some ice cream right off of Dad's spoon.

This is my second ice cream of the week. One night Mom had to leave after dinner for a volunteer project and I got upset, so Daddy pulled out the ice cream. That stopped the tears fast!
Here are some other photos from the week:
* waiting for Daddy to come home from work
* Saturday morning cartoons with Dad (or was it SportsCenter?)
* enjoying my Curious George book while Baby naps.

Speaking of Curious George, I love him. I ask for George ever night. If you ask me who the President of the United States is, I will correctly answer George most of the time. Although, sometimes I say Elmo, who is an obvious second choice.

Aside from that I am doing well with my counting. I can partially count to ten. I usually leave out one--now that I am two it's not very important so I just start with two and sometimes say it twice to make up for it. So my counting is somthing like: two, two, tree, four, five (trail off . . . ) if someone else says six and seven I usally pick back up with eight and nine--I love nine--and then I break into a round of applause for myself.

Ice Baby

Hi everyone. I went ice skating for the first time ever today and loved it. Every time we stopped or came off the ice for a break I said "More?" Dad says I was the best two-year-old skater there. He should know- he's a professional. They didn't have skates my size so I got the smallest they had- 10 toddler (I usually wear a 6 or 7) and I battled through. When we would get going fast I would move my feet like I was running and shout "Weeee!" We both had a lot of fun.

Yesterday I got to see Daddy play hockey in an alumni game for his old team. They played against the Detroit Red Wings alumni so it wasn't a very fair match up. They lost 10-4, but it was fun to see him play. He took me into the locker room afterwards. I was happy to see him even though he was all sweaty and wet.

Aside from all the ice activities, we've had a good week. A few other photos: I was busy talking on the phone- I love the phone and wanted both of them. I kept saying hello into one and then the other back and forth. Yesterday, I picked out my own outfit for the grocery store. And tonight, I helped Daddy make pizza. But I didn't want to get my outfit dirty so I went and got one of Mommy's shirts.

Update

Hi guys. It's been a slow week recovering from Notre Dame's loss and all this Ohio State nonsense, but we made it through. We've had a quiet weekend. Lots of playing and running errands. Yesterday we all went out to dinner to a funny little Italian place and I had some Calzone. I didn't make a peep. I just kept eating and eating.

We had a slow "LeBrun" morning and were in our pajamas quite late. I loaded all of my animals and blankets into my play tent and had a good time with it.

Today Mom's friend, Ricia, had her son Griffin baptized and Mom was the godmother. So Mom went to church and did all that stuff while I had my nap. Afterwards Dad and I joined them all for a little party. It was fun! There were nice kids to play with, two dogs and yummy carrot cake.

Irish

I must be honest. We were all a little bit grouchy this morning after Notre Dame's loss to Ohio State. You could even say I was stunned.

We went to a friend's house to watch the game. We had a great time there and they have a little girl who is 16-months old so we played together. She had a little ND outfit, too.

Well after last night, we're looking forward to next year's football season. Unfortunately I'll have to listen to all the kids in my class talk about Ohio State football for another year . . .

Happy Day New!

That's what I have been saying today . . . whatever that means! We had a good New Year's Eve. We all went to a party at a friend's house and I played with some other kids. They have a three-year old and she and I played and danced well together. I was up way past my bedtime and for the last 45 minutes we were there I just played quietly with the cooler and the ice. Now everyone knows what to get me for Christmas next year!

Today we went out to breakfast and then just did a lot of playing. I broke out the musical instruments. The kazoo is my favorite right now. I really don't like to share these instruments, so while I play one I have to sit on the rest to prvent Mommy and Daddy from taking them. I actually think the castinet is a make-up compact and I like to look at it and dab things on my cheeks from it!

I had my 2-year check-up with the pediatrician this week and all was well. I am now 35 5/8" tall (90th percentile) and 28 lbs 9 oz. (75th percentile). This is more than 3 inches taller than 6 months ago and almost 3 pounds heavier (but it was just the holiday season . . .) Oh, and of course my head circumference remains 95th percentile!

Mommy and Daddy are off tomorrow so we're looking forward to another fun day. We're going to a party to watch the big football game and I can't wait to yell "Go Irish!"