Gabby's School Newsletter 1/25-1/29/2010

Gabby is the Star of the Week!
* Listening to your teachers
* Helping out in tidying up toys and other school materials
* Playing well and safely with your friend
* Sharing and taking turns
* Being kind to your friends

Chinese Language with Zhao Laoshi
The whole month of January the children learned all about their body. We learned parts of our bodies in Chinese and sang many songs naming parts of our bodies. We also learned Chinese characters and read many stories. We talked about how healthy foods help us grow and how to keep our bodies healthy and clean.
Chinese words we learned:
yī yào – Medicine
wēn dù jì ‐ Thermometer
zhù shè qì – Syringe
tīng zhěn qì – Stethoscope
yá yī ‐ Dentist
yī shēng – Doctor

Understanding Gluten a Little

There's a Sandra Boynton book, called "Hey, Wake Up!" which seems to be the book of the moment right now. I believe it's supposed to be read in the morning, but we read it before bed. Anyway, there's a page where four different animals are eating different things for breakfast. One of the animals only eats cereal. Gabby pointed out that the other animal can't eat it and when I asked why she said it has gluten in it. As always, I made the connection that for some people gluten makes their tummy feel icky and she agreed. I thought that was interesting... she's getting it in her own little 2 1/2 year old way...

Potty Training

I was just thinking the other day how well Gabby is doing with the whole potty training thing... until last night. It was a poop catastrophe. Travis and I were cleaning up after dinner and she peed in her play room. It was weird because she didn't seem to care which ticked me off a bit. I know you're not supposed to get angry, but at least she could be sorry about it! I tried putting her on the toilet but I was so consumed with how wet she was and how much this sucked that it was taking me awhile to get her pants down. Then she pooped. So I picked her up and we headed upstairs to the bathroom. Have you ever taken off underwear with poop in it? Pretty narly, so I gave Travis that job. He tried to be sly but the poop landed right on the ground. I put Gabby on the toilet and she got poop all over the seat. It was everywhere! Poop on the floor, in my fingernails, and I believe there was some in her hair. At least we weren't in public.

Chinese Water Park & Australia Day Brunch

Gabby getting ready to swim... My lens was a little steamy, so that's why it's fuzzy.

As always, we had a packed weekend... we did the usual, play dates, Gymnees, a dinner and game night with the Snells, and this weekend... a day at a Chinese Water Park and an Australia Day Brunch.

Not surprisingly, "Merry Tulip Water Park," was Chinese-Ghetto-Fab. It looked like it was built in the 70's but wasn't... It was sort of clean, but not. Travis found a cigarette floating around in the adult area. Weird. I loved it, though. Travis said he'll never go back. We went with about 34 adults and 39 kids. One of the rules is that everybody has to wear a swim cap, so we all looked like crazy bald people. They had an area that was perfect for Gabby's age. There were about 5 slides and a climbing area that was surrounded by warm water about 2 meters deep. I thought it was great... I laid around in the warm water and visited with people... I completely forgot it was winter outside. I have to say, our daughter is turning into a little fish. She seriously had a blast! She was climbing all over the structure and going down on all the slides... she was quite adventurous... no fear. Today she told me, "I love swimming!" I'm now looking into getting her some swim lessons.

Australia Day is this Tuesday, which is the equivalent to the American Fourth of July. One of the many Aussie families host an annual brunch and it's always a good time. People bring Aussie type dishes (I just brought good ole' American chocolate chip cookies) and dress-up in Aussie gear. (I did wear my Uggs). Although the people our awesome, I'm not a big fan of Aussie food. I've tried it all- lemmingtons, trifle, amzec cookies (AKA oatmeal cookies but not as good), and this stuff that looks like divinity (nasty) and it's just all right. Instead of "hotdogs" they roll-up sausages in bread and put ketchup on it. That's actually not bad. There's also something called fairy bread, which is buttered white bread with sprinkles.  Isn't that weird? Anyway, we had a good time but had to leave early because it was getting really crowded. Yay for Australia, though!

Gabby's School Newsletter 1/18-1/22/10

Last Tuesday we had a special visitor. Mr. Pedro and Ms. Jenny. They taught the children how to paint without using a brush. The children had fun using various things to complete their fine work of art.

(Sorry can't get the "marvelous me" picture copied)

Watch me grow!

For our class topic Marvelous Me! the children made a life size model of themselves using recyclable materials. They had so much fun stacking up boxes to measure how much they have grown

Gabby's First Teacher Conference & Report Card

We had our first teacher conference yesterday about Gabby.  As an educator, it's a bit strange being on the other side of the conversation... Her English teacher (Ms. Penny), the translator, and Chinese teacher (Ms. Zhao) were there. They said Gabby is very friendly and has become quite the chatterbox at school. She does a good job sharing, taking turns, and doesn't hit kids (although she'll hit me!). She likes playing dress-up, building blocks, and is gaining more interest in drawing. She knows her shapes, numbers, can count in sequential order, and can recognize her name and others. She also said that Gabby was observant and a good listener. Her Chinese teacher says she speaks very good Chinese and can recognize a couple of characters (that surprised me). Ms. Zhao also said that Gabby is always happy to be at school and is very polite. She never forgets to say "thank you." Because she only attends twice a week, her Chinese vocabulary isn't as strong. It's okay, though. We'll just keep her there on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Chen keeps her busy with play-dates on the other days. I've always wanted to learn another language, so I'm really happy she's able to learn Chinese. I'm sure her tones will be WAY better than mine. For her first report card- she did great. Mama and Papa are proud parents. :)

Gabby's School Newsletter 1/11-1/15/2010

Letter of the week Mm
 
The children had fun making Monkey Mask for letter Mm craft. The class also learned the “Mm” song and played a game called over the “Mountain” for movement.

Winter Break in WA State

Christmas Eve at Ron and Nita Tebo's House

Gabby and Emerson on Christmas Eve

Gabby, Emerson, and Langston... we have lots of cute pics of these kiddos.

Christmas Day at the Meeker's House. Gabby is dressed in her Barbie outfit.

Gabby in front of the Christmas tree... Aunt Tahnee made her this cute tutu.

Gabby dressing up as Tinkerbell on Christams Day

My brother, Todd, bought my dad a "major reward."

Beth, Jenn (and her son Bennett) and me at the Spiros in Gig Harbor

At the Bollert's house...

Geoff, Emerson, Tahnee, Langston, LaNita, me, Gabby, Travis, and Ron

We LOVED our three weeks off in the States and had such an awesome time. It was a big change from last year, since we weren't snowed in and were able to visit for three weeks instead of two. The weather was mild and we got plenty of chances to visit friends and shop.

We spent Christmas Eve at the Tebo's house. It was pretty hectic with all the gift giving and dinner preparation. When we were done, we felt like we went through a typhoon or something. Gabby made out really well... Grammy made her a Winnie the Pooh scarf and travel pillow. She also bought her a cute fairy costume, so she could play dress-up. Tahnee made her this gorgeous purple tutu for Gabby with Hello Kitty ribbon (you know I loved that!). The kids played together and it was fun wacthing Em and Gabby interact... Em is like a big sister and is really patient with her. Langston is a cutie... totally mellow. I still don't think I've heard him cry? I love those kids! We missed the other Tebo clan, though... it definitely felt different without them there...

Christmas Day was spent with my side of the family... we ate, drank, and watched some movies. It's my favorite way to spend that day! The most significant change this year was the fact that Gabby is "getting" Santa. We're starting our own traditions and laid out milk and cookies for Santa the night before... she knew he came because the milk was all gone and he took a big bite out of the cookie... Mrs. Claus gave her pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve which is the one present she can open. It was a fun a day and she got lots of things. We're trying not to spoil her but it's hard. Gabby played with her new doll, called Sally. She also enjoyed her time with the family and dressing up in her new costumes. We watched a little bit of "Wizard of Oz" but turned it off when the monkeys came on... I forgot how freaky they can be. Gabby also learned some Christmas songs, including Frosty the Snowman, Deck the Halls, and We Wish you a Merry Christmas.

The rest of the trip was spent running around and visiting with people, so we ate out a lot. I think Travis and I got our fill of Mexican food and pizza while we were there!

HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR TRIP: Travis and I driving down to Portland for tax free shopping, babysitting the Zarling house and taking advantage of their On Demand cable, Tahnee, Langston, Gabby and I visiting w/ Renee in Bellevue and going to to KidsQuest, trip to see Carmela and Joey, seeing Aunt Kitty, dinner with the Zarlings and Jen, and the numerous impromptu gatherings with the family....

Although it never feels long enough, we had a wonderful visit.... until next time... :)