Preschool Hunting and Pretending

Dear Isabella,

We started looking for a preschool for you and we've only toured one so far (we have another tour scheduled next week) but it was so perfect and you loved it! The Early Learning Center (Seagull Schools) was so great! You got to play with a few classes and when the tour was over you didn't want to leave. The kids all shared nicely with you. You played with homemade play-dough with the older (pre-kindergarten) class, played outside with a 4 year old class, and played with the toys at the 3 year old classroom. All the teachers and staff seemed so enthusiastic and welcoming. It made me excited to think of you as such a big girl but also a little scared! What happened to my bald little wiggle worm?

When I asked you if you wanted to go to school there you said "yesh." It was interesting to see you so fearless also. When we first got there all you could see was the playgrounds so of course you wanted to go "pay" (play). And when we checked in at the office the security/maintenance man tried to talk to you and play a harmonica for you but you became very serious and turned your head away. But when we started talking to the director and walked near a group of kids playing you asked to go down and when we let you down you walked right up to the kids. Then when we went to another classroom where the kids were all sitting on the carpet facing the teacher you walked right into the group and didn't freak out when the teachers and kids started talking to you.

Speaking of talking - you talk a lot now! You even say two and three word "sentences." Like "Daddy work" or Mommy cook." And you know how to tattle on people. Haha, I'm only joking because I found a blood blister on your finger and asked you what happened and you said, "Oh no! Car seat. Gwapa [Grandpa] peech [pinch]. Yah. Oh no." Grandpa confirmed your finger got accidentally pinched in the car seat buckle. You can almost tell a story now!

You also love pretending. You put your doll on the chair, put your monkeys from your Barrel of Monkeys under the chair, and use the comb to pretend you're brushing and cutting hair. You also "read" to yourself - you open a book and babble and turn the pages. With the books you're really familiar with I hear you saying the words related to that part of the story - like saying "hi!" and "hat" in the parts of Go Dog Go where the two dogs say hello and talk about the girl-dog's hat. Also you pretend to rock your baby dolls and make your toys walk and say "walk walk." Of course you also love cooking in your kitchen at Grandma's house.

You also like cleaning. You insist on wiping the table, and you like sweeping, folding clothes, and washing your bath baby. Let's hope this love of cleaning lasts!

Just today Grandma said you started (all by yourself) trying or pretending to draw letters! She said you drew circles and lines and said, "A! Y! O!"

I know I say this every time but it's astonishing how fast you are growing up.

Love,
Mommy

Isabella-isms

Dear Isabella,

Here are some of "your" words:

Heppanin - help
Uppanin - up (please pick me up, please help me up)
Mookanin - milk
Runinnin - running
Weedanin - reading
Sitannin - sit
House-anin - house (in reference to your castle)

You add "annin" not necessarily to make a word an active verb (like saying "ing") but often just for emphasis. So if you REALLY mean it you add one or two more annin's. Like "mookaninnin" or "sitannininin".

You're so funny.

Love,
Mommy

"-inin'"

Dear Isabella,

I forgot to mention your other "-inin'" words - upinin is also accompanied by "heppanin" (help - not helping, mind you, but help as in please help) and "yappanin" (lap) and "hide-inin" (hiding). There are others. You add "-inin" to almost anything.

Also, you say "talk" when you see a cell phone, and point to whoever is holding it. Only thing is you replace the "t" sound with a "k" sound. So far you haven't done this in public. I hope you learn to say the "t" sound for this word soon!

Love,
Mommy

Holidays and More

Dear Isabella,

This Christmas with you was so fun! You still don't quite understand but you were into it anyway. You loved the lights everywhere, and ripping open presents, and I think you liked all the excitement and electricity in the air. You got so many presents! These are just some of your favorites: clothes (you're such a girly girl!), castle, chair, letter factories, kitchen.

You're growing so fast and your vocabulary is just too big for me to keep up now. But one thing that is so cute and unique is that you add "inin'" to every verb. So if you're sitting you're "sit-inin" or if you want to be carried you say "up-inin". Singing is "sin-in" and reading is "weed-inin."

You're also so particular - you want things to be put away in their place and if we change it you get a little perturbed. Does this translate into you cleaning up your toys without being asked? No of course not! But once we do clean up, it must be done properly.

Also lately you've been hiding ("hide-inin") your face if you get scolded. It's hard not to smile or laugh when you do that.

Happy new year my angel! 2013 is going to be another great adventure of learning and growing!

Love,
Mommy

Talkin Monster

Hi Isabella!

I think maybe you said your first sentence yesterday. Or I could be imagining it. But it sounded like you said, "I sit down."

Although I guess even if you did say that it still wouldn't be your first sentence because you've been saying, "It's Daddy's" for a while now.

Some other words I may have forgotten to mention:
Lights
Ernie
Please
Dirty
Shi-shi
Doodoo
Home
Go go
O (pointing to the letter)
A (pointing to the letter)
E (pointing to A...)
More
Teeth

And just now I handed you two pieces of sandwich and asked you how many and you said "two!" How did you learn that??

I love you!

Love,
Mommy

Vocabulary Explosion

Dear Isabella,

I can't keep up with your vocabulary - I suppose at some point I'll have to stop trying! But here are some of your latest (if I repeat what I've already written that means you say it a lot!):

Monny (Mommy)
Dah-ee (Daddy)
All done
Cheese
Peese (please)
Shoes
Ernie
Baby
Bubble
Wassee (washy)
Ba-pa (Grandpa)
Yay
Ashes-ashes
Apple
Doodoo (yeah..)
Go-go
Agua
Nai-nai
On
Off
Up
Ees (it's - as in "ees dah-ee" for "it's Daddy")
Halph (help)
Beep
Pop
Beed (bib)
Ah-tee (aunty)
Unko (uncle)
And probably more that I can remember right now!

You ask for what you want (and you certainly know what you want!) and your body language is more and more like a kid and less and less like a toddler every day. If something is out of place or out of order you are quick to point it out.

It seems like you're also developing certain fears - like it seems like you're becoming afraid of the dark and of unexpected noises. I guess that is a sign of growing up but I hope you're not terrified of the dark like I was when I was a kid (and a teen..and adult..haha!).

You're very mature in certain ways - when you're starting to descend into a tantrum or meltdown I've been trying to teach you to "breathe" and calm yourself down. So far you don't really get it but watching me take deep breaths really seems to calm you down. It's actually kind of amazing.

Also you're more and more spontaneously affectionate - and we love it!

Oh, and you got your first jewelry present from a boy! Yikes! At Mommy and Daddy's vow renewal ceremony, Camdyn gave you a little butterfly necklace. It's so cute on you!

You are such a joy. I love you!

Love,
Mommy

Rain

Dear Isabella,

Do you want to know how smart you are?

Yesterday we were walking from the car, and it had rained so the ground was wet. You pointed at the ground and said, "Uh-oh!"

So I said, "Uh-oh it rained!" And you pointed at the air and said, "Agua!"

How did you learn that? You amaze me every day.

Love,
Mommy