Today you are 41 months old.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, you are loving school and are thriving there. At the end of your very first day, your teacher mentioned to me how impressed she was with your numeracy. Your literacy is coming along well, too - you are very clear that letters combine to make words, and love to read out each letter in a word and then ask, "What does that spell?" You also love to point out your favourite letter (G) and your favourite number (3) at any opportunity.
I couldn't be happier at how well school is going for you. You seem more social, more confident, and more yourself as days go by. Last month, I commented that I hoped you would be able to tell me what you did at school each day: admittedly, when asked an open-ended question, you are not likely to give detailed answers. However, I stumbled upon a fun and fascinating way to get info about your school day: we role-play! You are always asking me to play House or School, and when I play either game with you I learn a lot about how you see these environments and the people in them. When we played School a few nights ago, you told me to be the teacher but you still led me through the activities ("Is it time for Circle Time now?"), which I loved. Your questions let me know what you expected of Circle Time, Snack Time, and so on. For example, when I confirmed that it was Circle Time, you asked where your name was in the circle. When questioned, you revealed that you have to find your name in the circle and sit at it - the same thing happens at Snack Time. I had no idea!
You have a great new hobby that I am so excited about. A few weeks ago, we watched an episode of "Blue's Clues" where Steve, the host, told a story using some ASL signs. You thought this was fantastic, and you started telling the story yourself, along with the signs. I started teaching you other signs that I remembered from my long-ago ASL class, and told you that when you were a baby and couldn't talk, you used to use sign language to say "more", "please", and "thank you". Well, you started asking me the signs for everything under the sun! When I didn't know the sign, we would look it up on the internet and learn it together. You really love using signs and you are pretty good at remembering them, too. You don't really use them to communicate - you are a much bigger fan of talking - but you think they are cool and love to show off your knowledge. In fact, for your very first Show and Tell you showed your classmates some signs you'd learned. I've been trying to encourage you to show your signs to your teachers and caregiver, as they also know many signs as well, so that they can share your enthusiasm.
Your gymnastics class has started and you really enjoy it. Your dad, who took you to the first class, told me that you were really good at waiting your turn. You followed the instructions pretty well, and had a lot of fun. I think gymnastics is a great class to use up that incredible energy you have! We plan to get you into something long-term when the time is right. I'd like to get you back into music class, as well.
A big event this past month was that I took you out to the theatre to see The Backyardigans live show. I didn't even tell you what we were doing until we got to the lobby, just said we were going to do something special. Even when I said we were going to see the real Backyardigans, I don't think you knew quite what to expect. When the theme music started and an adult-sized Pablo came out onto the stage, though, your eyes lit up like lightning. It was such a magical moment! I had a lot of fun watching you while you watched the show. I was so glad we could share that together! I also thought it was adorable that while we were waiting in the lobby amongst hundreds of kids clutching Backyardigans merchandise and wearing Backyardigans shirts, that you said, "Oh, they brought their Backyardigans stuffies from home! And she has a Backyardigans shirt!" How marvellous to have a child old enough to enjoy the show, but not yet old enough to realize she can beg and whine and plead with Mommy to walk over to the counter and plunk down a ridiculous amount of money for her very own overpriced souvenir. Gwen, you are the best!
It's amazing how independent and competent you are becoming, Gwen. It seems such a short while ago that I bemoaned your inability to play alone, but you are now quite content to play on your own provided certain conditions are met first. For example, I have rearranged my day a little bit so that I do errands before I pick you up from school/daycare, and I even go home and put all the groceries, dishes, work stuff, and so on away before I go get you. That way, when I walk in the door with you, I can focus entirely on you instead of all the little tasks that need doing. I find that if I give you 15-20 minutes of dedicated attention and playtime together, your tank is full and you are then able to entertain yourself for a while so I can get dinner ready. It's such a simple change, but it has worked really well for both of us.
You are also ready to take care of many of your own self-care needs, like toileting and grooming. I think it helps that you are mostly expected to do this on your own at daycare and preschool (not that help isn't available when you need it - but I've noticed that when you expect a child to be competent, and make that expectation clear and positive, it usually comes true). It's now "your job" to take off your pajamas and pull-up in the morning, and put them in the laundry/diaper pail before going to use the potty. I can see this as the first step towards you doing your entire morning routine yourself someday. It's exciting to see you growing up and looking after yourself!
Since we're on the topic of grooming, though, I have to mention your extreme dislike of having your hair combed. I insist on combing through it (with the assistance of anti-tangle spray) every morning, and every morning it's a battle. Your hair is mad curly, and moments after I've combed it you can't even tell it was done ... but I do it anyway. Partly it's to get both of us used to the neccessity of that habit; partly it's to be able to say, "yep, I combed her hair," and feel like a competent mommy. I would say it's also partly so that you have a well-groomed appearance, but like I said, I don't think anyone can tell your hair was combed unless they actually watched me do it.
Well, as always, Gwen, I am so grateful that you're my daughter and that we get to share this adventure together. I love you so much and am so proud of you, every day!
Love,Mama
