Noticing that MQ and I wear bras, she wanted one. She wears it quite proudly. :-)

Oh a cute funny, the other day I spied EG out playing when she was supposed to be napping. I got tied up with a daycare child coming or going and couldn't interact with her immediately. Well, she came into the house, made eye contact with me and made a shy gesture. I said, "You know that you are supposed to ask before going outside." She said, "I'm going outside again before I get in trouble." AND SHE RAN. :-) It was just so cute! Since she had taken her nap but just didn't lay still until the others woke up, I was only going to say what I said and nothing more but she thought she was "in for it". :-)

And a not so cute but still adorable child... We were at McDonald's. I bought a sandwich that she and I were going to share and needed to be cut in half. She got VERY LOUD as MQ attempted to cut the sandwich. It sounded as if she was being tortured. EVERYONE looked in deep concern. I was getting water for everyone, left the cups at the fountain, cut the sandwich and returned to finish the cups. Before I got back to the cups, she had stopped crying and began joking and such. I'm glad she turned around quickly so that the on lookers could see that all was fine.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT:

Elizabeth Grace has 2 adult lower teeth. The dentist took x-rays of her upper teeth and is shocked that they are still hanging in there. The top 4 have no roots and the incisors are so ready to come out. She is finally showing signs of a loose tooth in that it hurts to crunch or something but it's not hanging or anything.

When it comes to dressing, she prefers to be left alone but when she's cold... "Please help me!" :-) She's been able to skip for a long time. It's cute how she remembers NO RUNNING in the house so she SKIPS. :-) She can stand on one foot for at least 10 seconds. When we play ball, she often can catch it whether it's bounced once or not.

She's been riding a two-wheeler since last summer, mid-4yr old but just now got the hang of steering it. She's still not learned to pedal backwards to stop. I made the mistake of taking her to the parking lot (the only place to ride without the need of much steering) with NEW SHOES. She kept dragging her feet to stop. I put her bike away. I was NOT going to have to replace shoes.

She uses a fork and knife but not too well. She SCOOTS the food rather than cuts it. It's not because of left or right hand problem, I don't think. She is strongly right handed.

Her going downstairs still keeps me alert. She is now willing to go down w/o the handrail even with my insistence to do so. She loves to do her "GYMNASTIC" moves such as summersaults and flipping over bars and such. She does not dance near as much as MQ did. It's just not in her blood as it was MQ's. :-) She still does not tie laces but doesn't have any to tie and has little interest. She copies words and draws pictures daily.

EG's 40.5 inches tall! She's 38 pounds! That's A LOT MORE THAN one pound 10 ounces and 13 inches! :-) She sleeps about 10 hours at night and usually naps during the day. She now sleeps in MQ's room and feels so grown up. :-)

INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT:

She talks in long sentences though full paragraphs, I'm just not sure about. I do not pay THAT much attention. She sounds very grown up. She just learned her phone number!! Next is her address. She memorizes stories and the "reads" them to her friends. She REALLY reads simple books and is on book number 8 in her curriculum. This is SITE reading and will be learning more phonics for her first grade.

She is enjoying the Left/Right games ("Hokey-Pokey" or "Looby-Loo"). I think she is really trying to "get it".

She uses scissors really well cutting close to the line. She enjoys telling real stories for me to write down.

EG has just begun enjoying counting. She counts EVERYTHING. :-)

A LIST OF HER CHORES:

1). Picking up after playing with her toys or coloring. This is done before changing activities or eating and such.
2). Help with pet care.
3). Throwing her own laundry down at the end of the day.
4). Throwing the household laundry down in the morning.
5). Use hand vacuum to clean stairs and benches.
6). Assist me with loading and unloading of dishwasher.
7). Help put away groceries.
8). Clear and wipe down the table after meals.
9). Dusting around the living room but not on a schedule.
10). Take a shower after I adjust the temperature. I do need to brush her long hair for her after she works out some of the knots.
11). Brushes teeth.

Upcoming chores:
1). Empty all wastebaskets in the house.
2). Sort and fold laundry and put them away. She does some now.
3). More pet chores
4). Scheduled chores from above list but done more routine.

SCHOOL:

We started kindergarten before her 5th birthday. I would not have chosen this route but she did. :-) I told her that she could have her pencil, the one pictured in her preemie pictures, and start kindergarten if she learned to write her entire name without help. I didn't expect this to happen before 5yrs old.

We will be staring first grade by the first week of Sept. Our primary curriculums will be Five in a Row, Math-U-See, Draw Write Now and Bob Books. Feel free to look them up on the computer to see what EG will be learning and how.

READING - -

Sounds out three letter words with my assistance but remembers them quickly. Has about 50 words memorized. She can tell when she's read a sentence (about 4-5 words long) wrong. Reads with expression. Has learned what a ? mark is. I think she knows what letters are vowels and the every word must have at least one, sometimes Y. :-) She copies words and sentences but does not write w/o something to copy.

MATH - -

Counts to about 15
Knows to use a ruler or tape measure for inches Knows the names of many shapes. That squares have four corners and a triangle has three.
Knows many of the two digits that add up to 10.

SCIENCE - -

Shares about simple experiments and the findings. Uses simple scientific language and understand some charts and tables.
Recognizes and names common animals as well as many exotic animals (Thanks MQ)

ART - -

Each day we use Draw Write Now. She is learning to draw pictures then writes a sentence or two about it. This is her current favorite subject but we've not started the Five in a Row as of yet.