Happy Birthday to My Leap Day Baby

Here is the story of Lilly's birth, if you want to read about it.

I thought I would just do a picture walk of each birthday she's had:

Feb. 29, 2008

Just born!

One Year Old!

1 year old

2 years

2 years

3 year old clown!

3 year party

To my sweet baby girl,

Today you are 4! It is hard to believe that it has been 4 years, but at the same time I can't really remember life without you.  You amaze me every day at the things you have learned and how creative and intuitive you are. I can't wait to see how God is going to use your gifts and talents for His glory! I love you so much!

Mommy :)

Instruments

I taught a lesson on opposites and instruments to Lilly and 2 of her friends.  We talked about high notes and low notes, fast music and slow music, happy songs and sad songs, etc.  Then, we made instruments.  We made "horns" by poking holes in a paper towel tube and then applying a piece of wax paper to one end with a rubber band.  The kids hummed into the open end and were able to create different sounds depending on which holes they covered.

Also, we made "guitars" by putting rubber bands around shoe boxes.  The children had a great time creating and playing the instruments.  I decided it would be a good idea (and fun) to make a music video.  We did 3 - each child got to pick a song.  Here is the one of "Jesus Loves Me" which Lilly picked.

Bath Tub Learning

We have these foam shapes that my daughter plays with in the tub - there are squares, rectangles, triangles, people shapes, trees, cars, vans, etc.  There are lots of thing that we have done with the shapes:

* We have created towns complete with school, church, and houses for each person.

*  We have figured out that 2 sqaures = 1 rectangle and 2 triangles = 1 diamond and 2 trapezoids = 1 hexagon

* We have made "cookies" with them and served them with "milk"

* We have made towers with them and talked about which was taller and shorter

* Recently, Lilly figured out that she could "write" her name using the shapes

I know it is backwards to you in the picture

*We have figured out that no matter the shape - all the foam pieces float. :)

* We have just used them for decorations in the tub

Foam shapes = fun in the tub = happy bath time for a sweet girl!

In Case of Emergency (Home)

A few months ago, I was really sick and my husband was out of town.  I began to worry about what would happen if I couldn't wake up or if I got so sick that I couldn't take care of my daughter.  Silly me, I brought these thoughts up to my mom and, of course, she began to worry as well and she gave me lots of suggestions.  Needless to say, the very next day I was teaching Lilly how to use the speed dial option on my cell phone to call my mom (who doesn't live close) and nearby friends.  I gave my mom my friends' numbers and my friends my mom's number so each could contact the other in case of an emergency.

I also taught her about 911 and we watched a few videos on youtube where young children called 911 to help out their parents or grandparents.  We practiced dialing the numbers (without the phone on) and answering the questions - complete with our address, her name and age and my name.  I have to say, I am pretty confident in her ability to get help if something should happen to me - as long as she doesn't "freak out".  :)

In case you are wondering, we used this song from the Wee Sing Together video - here are the words:
My name is "Sally Smith"
This is where I live
1234 Wee Sing Lane
Any City, USA

It really helped.

You're Not My Dad!

I got a little disturbed after watching the following video:

So, my husband and I began to teach my daughter what to do if a stranger every tried to take her some where.  We taught her to yell, "you're not my daddy" or "you're not my mommy" or "i don't know you" or "help me." Also, we taught her to kick and fight back as hard as she could to not let the person take her. 

We also let her know that if she ever said these things about us that there would be some serious consequences.

Reading Eggs

I teach Lilly at home.  We do letter sounds, math lessons, reading about animals, etc.  I have "taught" her a lot of things.  Often times, I wonder if she is retaining any of the information that we have talked about.  Over the last couple of weeks I have seen her spark of interest in reading and it has brought me confirmation that she is retaining some things.  For example, she has taken an interest in "sounding words out."  She will take my cell phone and compose a text message full of random letters (sometimes they make real words and sometimes not) and then proceed to sound out the word.  You should see the light in her eyes when she realizes she has made a real word.  It is exciting for me to see the light bulb turn on for her, realizing that letters make words.

The other day on FB, a friend of mine had a posting on this reading site called www.readingeggs.com so I decided to check it out.  It teaches letter sounds, letter recognition, sight word recognition, sounding out words, rhyming words and so much more.  There are two parts to the site, one is for younger children, like my daughter (who is almost 4) and one for older children.  Both parts, allow the child to earn "eggs" by playing the games and spend them on things like items for their "house" or clothing for their "character", etc. I love that it doesn't allow the child to go on to the next game if they have not mastered the skill they are currently working on.  Lilly loves playing it and I enjoy watching her play, amazed at how much she is actually reading. 

A little bragging: At the beginning they quiz the child to see what level to start them on and I was happy to see that she is "reading" on a 4.75 year old level.  Maybe all the homeschooling lessons I have done with her have really been helping.

The Pan is Hot

Not too long ago, Lilly learned how to make her own ham and cheese sandwich. I learned this while preparing dinner one night.  She said she didn't like what we were having, so I  jokingly told her that she could make a ham and cheese sandwich if she wanted but I wasn't going to make anything else.  So, to my surprise she proceeded to get out all the things she needed and make the sandwich. 

After this incident, I began to realize that she is growing and maybe she can do a little more with helping me prepare meals than pour in the flour or stir the ingredients in the bowl. 

One morning, after she had woken up, I told her she was going to make scrambled eggs.  She was a little hesitant because she knew she would have to stand at the stove which I constantly had been telling her to stay away from so she wouldn't get burned.  I assured her that I would be right there beside her and that we would be super careful.  You should have seen the look on her face when she was able to tell her Daddy that she made the eggs we ate for breakfast.  It was priceless!

Hi, Clown!

My daughter loves, loves, loves clowns. So, recently we took her to the circus.  We'd been to the circus before where the clowns were just so-so, but this circus had some pretty funny clowns and many of them.  We even "splurged" and got ringside seats so that she could be up front to see the action. 

Here are some funny and cute parts to our trip -

One of the acts included some shaggy dogs to which Lilly turns to me and says, "Why don't they
have any eyes?" 

The motorcyclists had an act where they were riding around in a circular cage.  Lilly did not like this act because it was too loud and because she said it wasn't safe. 

During intermission we paid an absurd amount of $ for her to have her face painted.  She chose to have it painted as a clown (of course).  At the end of the show, she was waving to one of the clowns and saying, "Hi, Clown!"  He looks at her (noticing that her face is painted like a clown) and says, "Hi, Clown!"  Her smile was so big!

Here are some pictures from the event:

Valentine's Day

When Daddy is home, we usually go downtown and serve burgers, drinks, and a packaged cookie to the people who don't have much.  Lilly goes with us and she loves to help pass out the cookies.  Since, Valentine's Day happened to be the day we were going, I decided to bake cookies instead.  Lilly helped me bake them - adding the egg, stirring the ingredients, etc.  We baked 100 cookies, but I knew that wouldn't be enough so we added kisses and peanut butter cups to the bags.  She was a great help in counting out the correct number of kisses and cups for each bag. 

When we got downtown, she was a big help again in passing them out to all the folks.  Seeing her usually brings a smile to their faces. 

After serving food to others, we decided to go out to eat with our old pastor and his wife, who are like grandparents to us.  My beautiful daughter decided to take pictures of us.  Here are her amateur photos:

1830's Part Two

A continuation of our day at the local Homestead Heritage Day event here in Houston, TX.

Learning about spinning and weaving in the 1830's.

Picking through the cotton to get the seeds out.  We discovered that it is not an easy job to do.

Hard to see, but this is where we ground up corn and made corn meal.  During the day, we got to try Hoe cakes or Johnny cakes that were made with this corn meal.  Lilly didn't like them very much, but I thought they were quite tasty.

Hearing a demonstration on how they made homes and other things from wood.

Learning how clothes were washed back then.

A war reenactment.

Exploring the cellar where they stored their vegetables. 

Playing toss the corn cob through the hoop. :)

Investigating an Indian hut.

1830's Part One

Recently, we went to a Homestead Heritage Day festival at one of the local parks.  We learned alot about what life was like here in Houston back in the 1830's.  There were lots of demonstrations and both Lilly and I learned a lot. 

Here is a picture walk through our day:

Making our own candle by dipping the wick into hot wax and then into ice water.  We repeated this process many times until we had a nice little candle.

Dressing up like a little girl who lived in the 1830's and posing in a carriage. She picked out each article of clothing herself.

Learning how to make a rope by twiling pieces of twine together.

Indian face paint.

Making a bonnet out of brown paper, string, and a brad.

Making a purse out of brown paper and sting.

Dancing with Daddy

If you are a daughter, you know how much a girl loves her daddy.  Any time he will spend with her is joyful and includes a big smile on her face.  I know my husband loves his daughter and I know he knows Lilly loves him, but I don't know if he gets how important he is to her.  This moment brought tears to my eyes.

Singing on Stage

Last year around Valentine's Day, we were invited to attend our former church's banquet.  While we were there, they had a karaoke machine hooked up and Lilly decided she wanted to sing.  She did such a good job.  I was so surprised at how brave she was to get up in front of everybody and sing.  Also, I was so bummed because I didn't bring my camera. 

This year we were invited to the same event so I made sure to bring my camera this time.  Lilly sang again.  First she sang Amazing Grace, but I think she got a little nervous because you could hardly here her.  Second, she sang Jesus Loves Me and she did awesome! 

My Snake Hermit

The other day we went to the Houston Zoo.  It was the perfect day - not too hot, not too cold, and not too crowded.  Upon our arrival, I decided that, if our friends agreed, we were going to try and attend some of the zookeeper talks rather than just aimlessly walking around (which is what we normally do).  Our friends agreed, so we were walking around the reptile house while waiting for the first talk to begin.  Surprise!  We were able to see a talk that wasn't on the map.  Some volunteer ladies were there showing off a snake and a lizard.  Since there was hardly anybody at the zoo, we were able to view the animals and hear about them without any others around.  The volunteers told us the name of the animal, what type of snake or lizard it was, where it lived, what it ate, and a few other nuggets of information.  It was great!

Then, it was time for us to head to the "scheduled" talk on sea lions.  Along the way, Lilly decides to pick up a fat stick.  She shows me the stick and says,
"This is my snake, Hermit.  He lives in America.  He eats hard things like rocks, bricks and other hard things.  Do you want to pet him?  You have to use 2  fingers and be very gentle." 

It was the cutest thing ever, but then I realized she just learned - through observing those volunteers - how to give an oral report on an animal.  How cool is that?!

Reason Behind the Title

When Lilly learned to put on her shoes, I pretended to cry.  With a concerned tone in her voice, she said, "Mom, why are you sad?"  I replied, "Pretty soon, you won't need a Mommy anymore because you are growing so fast."  She laughed and comforted me by saying, "I still need you to teach me how to drive." *Smile*


Now, every time she learns something new or decides she can do something without my help, one of us will say, "pretty soon I/you won't need a Mommy anymore" and it has become our little inside joke.

This blog is about the things my daughter is learning. When she was a baby, it seemed as if she was learning something new every day. Now that she is a preschooler, it seems that the obvious-in-your-face learning has dwindled a little bit, so this is my attempt to be observant and not miss those moments where I realize she has done something new. It is also to recognize some of the "lasts".