A Circle Is Round

Last week Chris and I took the time to dig through bins of Ava's old toys. I was specifically looking for the toys I bought from Montessori Outlet. Lucy started sitting up without assistance last month and I thought it was the perfect time to introduce toys that will encourage grasping, hand-to-hand transfer and pincer grip. This is great practice for when your infant starts eating items such as organic baby puffs, cheerios or cooked peas. 

Lucy, my almost 8 month old. 

I found this brilliant single shape puzzle set from Montessori Outlet. The set includes a large circle, small circle, square and equilateral triangle. Isolating each shape allows the child to focus on one shape at a time. I decided to start Lucy with the large circle. 

I love those 2 bottom teeth shining in this photo.

I love her "ooooh, what's this?" face hehe 

As Lucy picked up the circle and brought it to her mouth I made sure I said the word, "circle." It's important that we are constantly naming the objects a child is seeing in their environment. We should give them as much information about the object as possible such as, "blue circle" and "round." 

This circle held her attention for at least 10 minutes.

Maria Montessori said, “Never give to the mind more than we give to the hand.” 


Montessori From The Start is a great book that will give you a better understanding of your child's developmental stages and how Maria Montessori created her techniques based off of children's natural milestones

Lollipop, Lollipop

Ava has always enjoyed music. It doesn't matter if the music is slow or fast the little girl enjoys moving. (I guess she got it from her mama) Ava started tap/ballet back in September. Every Tuesday when I tell her it's time for dance the girl will strip whatever clothing she has on and head for her dance bag. It's the one day of the week I don't have to convince her to put clothes on. She will rush to get her hair tie, gel and brush for me to put her hair back. This in itself is a miracle because any other time I try to put a cute bow in her hair she immediately takes it out. The first picture below is when she started and the second picture is from this past Tuesday.

Waiting to go inside :)

The girls line up in a "choo-choo" before they head into class. 

This video is from her third class session. I think she did well considering she was late signing up for the class and the other girls had 2 months on her. This is her most recent dance class. I look forward to her recital in May. The theme of the recital is Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Ava's class will be featured as the Little Munchkins.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

We spent the weekend at my parent's house because it was my dad's 62nd birthday. My dad wanted his birthday to be very low key this year. He wanted takeout from Chili's and the Oreo ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. My mom and I left early that morning to run a few errands and then ended up at Toys R Us. Dad had seen a few pictures with Ava doing some science experiments and had asked where we purchased the kit. Mom and I decided to buy him a few different kits because dad really is a big kid at heart. After we ate and had some cake Dad opened his gifts. Ava seeing the familiar looking box asked Grandpa to open it promptly. Dad tried to act like he wasn't as excited as Ava but once he opened it and started seeing what all the kit included he was eager to give one a try. He chose this kit which included breaking hard sand uncovering the bones of a T-Rex. It's times like these that Ava will be able to cherish forever. Here are a few pictures of Ava, Grandpa and Grandma at work.

Ava giving the archeologist thing a go. 

Dad's face is priceless in this picture. Ava went to town hammering. haha

Ava brushing away the dust.

It Seems Like Yesterday, Lucy

It was a long ten weeks of morning sickness, very unlike my pregnancy with your sister. I was for sure the first trimester was going to last forever. At ten weeks we went in for our first appointment and luckily we got to peek at you that day. At first glance you were perfect! Looking up at the screen, I began to imagine all that you were going to be and achieve in your lifetime. My heart swelled with gratitude that God chose me to be your mommy.

At 18 weeks you had another checkup. We got to see you again and you were so active on the screen. We were not sure we would find out your gender that day but we finally did.

Here you are, 18 weeks and 4 days old.

Your grandparents, abuelos and Tio Christian were there to find out what you were.  

Ava was ecstatic she was going to have a sister.

For the remainder of your time in my belly I was for sure you were practicing for the leading role in a Kung Fu movie. 

At 37 weeks and 4 days I began to have strong contractions 5 minutes apart around 11:00 p.m. We called Dr. Ferguson and she told us to head to the hospital. I was put in observation over night in hopes to slow or stop my contractions. The IV fluids helped slow the contractions and I was asked to check out of the hospital and to go see Dr. Ferguson at her office. I was 4 centimeters dilated and about 50% effaced. Although the Dr. preferred me to wait another week, because I had a positive strep test they gave me the option of going back to the hospital to be induced or wait until the next morning. I hadn't slept a wink the night before so Chris and I opted for the next morning delivery. We checked in the hospital the next morning and things got rolling by 7:30 a.m. After the pitocin was administered I was dilated to 10 centimeters in no time. You were born July 22, 2014 at 12:13 p.m. 

You came into this world with one single cry and then you were at peace on my chest.

10 fingers, 10 toes, 7 lbs and 11 oz., 19 inches long and PERFECT!

Everyone was so excited to meet you. It was extra special having your great abuela Sara and Tia Olga and Tio from Puerto Rico here in NC to meet you. 

It's been 7 months since you melted all of our hearts. Our family feels complete now that you're here. We look forward to every new milestone we get to share. We love you Lucy Corinne!

Newborn

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

Go Away, Elsa!

It's been a cold few weeks here in NC with a mixture of snow and ice. Ava is an outdoorsy type of girl so being stuck in the house has been no fun! We've tried to be creative with getting our wiggles out. We've turned on the Frozen soundtrack and Taylor Swift's Shake it Off all the while dancing and singing our hearts out. With all this cold weather happening and Ava being under the weather it was no surprise that she came down for breakfast like this and announced that she was ready to go to the beach.

As a mother my immediate thought was, "you're sick and need to put some clothes on!!" Instead, I took a deep breath and couldn't help but chuckle at my little one's wishful thinking. Soon enough the sun will come out to stay and we'll have our toes in the sand, sweet one!

Hold The Pulp, Please!

Ava received the citrus squeezing activity a few months back from her grandma. After many preliminary Practical Life activities I decided to let Ava give juicing a go. She enjoys helping us in the kitchen and what's better than freshly squeezed orange juice? After presenting the lesson it was Ava's turn to give it a try. She wasn't a fan of the juice going all over her hands but she enjoyed seeing how much juice actually came from each orange slice. After convincing her that she didn't need to squeeze the whole bag of freshly bought oranges...she poured herself a glass of juice.

and then came the best part, taste testing....mmmm delicious!!

Sunny Suncatchers

Ava's school was having their monthly Umbrella Market. The children were asked to make a craft that could be purchased. I wanted Ava to do something that could be self led and that could be utilized. I went to Pinterest right away, of course. (What did we do before that invention?) I found this Suncatcher and thought it would be perfect. Ava loves to use glue so this was right up her alley. The hardest part was having to wait 3-4 days for the glue to completely dry. Here are a few pictures of the finished product and the smile of the accomplished creator.