Words!

A few month back, Mack surprised me by showing me she could write not only her name, but mine ( mom). Today, she did it again, this time writing the word " Box" all on her own!
Mack invented a new game. It doesn't have a name yet but it's a fun one: Mack shouts out a letter and I write it ( both the capital and the lower case " If you know it" as Mack said). Then it's Mack's turn. It was pretty fun and Mack's letter's are becoming more and more legible every day! I, on the other hand, was writing upside down so it's only slightly easier to read mine.

The three year old's guide to spaghetti

Start off slowly with just a small taste. Being a lady is important but....

Slurping is allowed.....

And it's FUN!

Use your fingers when absolutely needed for the little pieces.

Take an occasional break to decide if you're full.

Don't forget to clean up when you're all done.

Cleaning your plate , while helpful, is not necessary.

Scenes from the home front

My mom is coming to visit for our birthdays( her 50th and my 30th) ! We needed a reason to " count down!" Check out Mack's letter work on ours:
Mack is just too adorable in this jacket!
Mike had our cat, Sydney, all mellowed out. Wanted to try my new camera with her pretty eyes:
I found this super neat puzzle at Borders at Christmas time and tucked it away for a rainy day. It's a regular puzzle of a house scene on one side ( complete with reusable clingy stickers) and a wipe -away colorable on the reverse. Great find in the bargain section!
Angie, the girls and I hung out in Ann Arbor last Sunday. We had lunch together and cruised around Kerrytown. Of course we did a good job of trying out every toy we came across.
Mack found these bracelets and wanted to entertain Mia. Mia seems mildly interested in tasting them.
Mack and Hannah LOVED these little bug scooters. They could have taken the place by storm if their mommies weren't there!

Birds Galore!

Each month, I pick a theme, or something to "study" with Mack. Last month was hearts and "doctor" type stuff ( since she had her well child exam coming up). This month was " Birds" Here are a few quick snaps of bird month:

Hand print bird:
Home made nest ( from one flamboyant bird!)
Feather bird:
Robin:
We visited the aviary:
Mack got up close and personal with this finch:
Stay tuned to find out what we learn about bugs in April!

One tantrum, comin' right up!

It's not the most polite thing to take pictures of someone who is in the middle of a tantrum but she was putting on such a good show, I couldn't help it.

What started out like this:
Ended up like this:

Our little preschooler

I contemplated the idea of sending Mack to preschool for MONTHS before I finally made a decision to registrar her for fall 2011. My decision wasn't based on the academics of preschool, rather the social aspect of being in a classroom. Not only that, the kid gets nothing but " the mommy channel" 24 hours a day 7 days a week. There is nothing wrong with that, we all love it, but she craves time with other kids. So, the day finally came- preschool open house. She was so excited to check it all out though slightly disappointed when she found out there would be no school bus riding involved with preschool.
She explored every inch of the place,

introduced herself to her teacher and even spruced up a bit:
The three year program is play/center based learning which is perfect for us since we enjoy doing lots of the more academic stuff at home in the form of games and projects. The teacher , Ms. Barb, is wonderfully enthusiastic about her job and the program seems to be a good extension of what we do at home. Do we have to wait for fall to start?

Happy Birthday, Mike!

Mike celebrated his 32nd birthday this week. To start his day right, Mack and I made him breakfast. Check out that bed-head!

Then, he spent the day following his whims, something he doesn't get to do very often. He had lunch at his favorite place in Ann Arbor, took his time wandering through Best Buy and getting the tattoo he's been wanting for a long time.
We ended the day with dinner at Famous Dave's and cupcakes at home: