Last day of school

Today was the last day of preschool. Nursery Class is over for Camila, and Kinder class is over for Gaby... We are looking forward the great things this summer will bring!!

Mother's Day presentation at school

Our local mother's day is the last Sunday of May (which is next Sunday) and today was the Mother's Day presentation at school. The first act was Camila's grade as they are the youngest of the school.

Camila knew the songs by heart, but as soon as she saw me the crying started and she ended up in my arms instead of the stage... After the show was over, she gave me some gifts that she did for me:

After the Toddler and Pre-K class was Gaby's presentation with all the other K kids.. She was also intimidated with my presence and even though she sand all the songs beautifully, she refused to say the sentence that she was suppose to say by herself.

At the end, she also gave me the gifts she made for me.. She was very sad that she didnt said her line:

1st Camila's Trip from School

For some reason the girls never go out of the school on any trip... Camila's grade had their first trip of the year... It was to a Supermarket that has a Pet Shop on the second floor.. They actually gives tours and give t-shirts to the kids.. Here are some photos:

At the Supermarket





At the Pet Shop... Looking at the Iguana

Cute puppies

LOVE this photo!

Looking at the fishes

More pups

Fishes:

Birds:

School Pictures

Mia and Gaby had their school pictures taken back in December. We are finally getting the proofs of the photos to choose the ones we want... There were taken by a photographer called Ana Conde, and I think she did a nice job. Each one has 4 shots plus the group shot... I havent seen the group photo yet, but it is included in the package... Here is the samples of each girl....
Gaby:

Mia:

For Mia Im choosing #2, but for Gaby Im still unsure between #2 and #4. Next week will be Mimi's school pictures. She is not attending school every day anymore, but I want to continue taking her at least one day a week because she loves her school so much.

Field Day @ School

Today was the school's field day. Each grade had to be dressed with their color (Gaby is in Kinder Purple, and Mia in Nursery Blue). Each grade decorated their shirts, and they turned out VERY cute. Gaby was very excited about the field day, especially because of the shirt. She loved it. Parents and guests were suppose to dressed with the same color of their kids. I was wearing Purple for Gaby, and Ernest was wearing blue for Mia. Mimi got to wear the same outfit from the other day because it was purple with blue: how fitting. However, she made a mess out of it!

I have been very emotional the whole weekend due to a very sad situation PLUS I have been sick the whole week, so it really made me feel better that I got to see my girls having such a great time. The photos will talk by themselves!

Gabriela spent most of the day in this "thing"... She loved it:

After a bit of running around, Mimi got tired and fell asleep in the stroller:

Here is Mia watching the Talent Show:

After the Talent show, there was a Dora, Diego and Boots show for the little kids:

Gaby started watching it, and was having fun at first:

Mia watching the show (notice her haircut from yesterday).

Mimi watching the show:

After a bit. The lady that was with Dora, Diego and Boots started doing activities with the kids, and Gaby was not much into it, so she decided to continue playing in the playground. Mimi and Mia were not participating, and they lost interest... So, we didnt watch the show in full. Im sure they would have enjoyed a "concert" type of show more, and not a "game" type of show.

After the show, we went to grab something to eat... We ate pizza.. Notice Mimi's green hair:

Here is Mimi with three ninth graders. They love my girls very much:

Here is Gaby during a game they had.... It was Kinder Pink VS Kinder Purple:

Here is Gaby after the game was over... I seriously LOVE this shot:

Gaby's grade won! Here are the ones that participated from her grade and her two teachers.... This photo made me realize how SHORT is Gaby compared with the other kids... I never noticed this before. I asked the teacher, and she told me that she is the shortest of all including the ones that didnt attend the field day. She is also the youngest girl in age, and there is only one boy that is younger than her. Most of the kids from her class already turned or are turning 6, while Gaby "just" turned 5.

Ernest and Mimi playing in the grass:


Mia in being cute... How I love this shot:

Mia in a VERY high slide... I was scared!

At the end there was a contest to see which grade made the best decoration of their shirts... The price was Ice Cream for the kids. The judges decided that they were all winners and that all the kids were going to get Ice Cream on Tuesday (tomorrow they have the day off to rest). Here is Gaby while showing of her T-Shirt with her best friend... They look so cute holding hands....

It was a great activity for the girls, and Im pleased I got to see them enjoying themselves so much....After it was over, I was sure they were going to get home sleeping and that it was going to be difficult to shower them.. WRONG!!! They got home to play that Gaby was a "puppy" and that an old Amazon box was her cage.

After a while they started fighting over who was going to be the dog, so Gaby decided to get a small box and show Mia in a very funny way that she will play in the other box even if she doesnt fit, just to make her happy... She was actually laughing and did it in a very mature way.... That's one of the things that I love the most about her:

Bedtime wasnt earlier than any other day, but tomorrow a great day is ahead of us because they are staying home with me. I was suppose to go to the school tomorrow to sort out a few last minute things as I couldnt go my last day, but I have nobody to take care of the girls for me, so I will have to go to the school a day that the girls have class.

Safari Day @ School

They had a Safari day at school today because of the Scholastic Book Fair. They had a blast and I have to confess that I had a great time putting their outfits together.

I was ready to buy a "Zoo Keeper" costume that was on sale (it was actually 20 something at that moment), but that was when Camila got hospitalized and I forgot to buy it on time. By the time I remembered, it was already 30 something plus the shipping was going to be too expensive to have it on time... Also, they never had a size for Camila, so I was ordering one from a lady on Etsy, but the same thing happened: It got too late, and the shipping was going to be too expensive.

What to do? What to do? As they have khaki pants, I decided to look online for a cheap khaki shirt (if it was very very cheap, I was going to be able to pay a fast shipping), and also decided to look for boots on Amazon, as I have Amazon Prime, which means I have free 2nd Day shipping. I found the most gorgeous romper in Old Navy. It was JUST perfect, and it was only 10 bucks each (it is 15 already... boo). I got 3T and 5T, and even though I was taking the risk of Gaby not fitting, I decided to give it a try and find out later if it didnt fit. Then, I went to Amazon and got a couple of boots for the girls.. Snow boots that is, but oh well, those were the cutest ones that I found at a low price.

A few days later when I got the rompers and the boots, I found out that Mia's boots didnt fit (they did fit, but she didnt liked how they felt), and that the rompers where too small for both girls... I was expecting this with Gaby, but not with Camila... This is the second time that this happens with Old Navy, and I really need to learn my lesson and buy 2 sizes up when I buy at Old Navy.

Hubby had the idea of putting them apart and make them look as a short and jacket, and to put them a white shirt underneath. I asked my mom for her opinion and when I told her about Ernest's idea, she thought it was a great idea, and instead of leaving them apart, to instead put them back together with another fabric... The time was very short, and I had no idea where we were going to do this, and then I remembered that the school's nurse loves to sew, so I asked her for her help. A day later, and only 6 bucks later (yes, SIX BUCKS... including the fabric), I had two gorgeous Safari outfits!!! She even decorate the pockets with a little bit of the same fabric. The only thing I couldnt solve was Camila's boots (Mia's lost, is Mimi's gain), so I look for a pair of fleece boots that had "boots" face (meaning Dora's friend) .. Somehow, they came home without the sole (wonder how that happened), but that doesnt matter... What it matters is that they had fun and that they were stinkin' cute!

Love hurts...

I got a call this morning from the preschool campus. Mia was playing with one of her beloved friends, and suddlenly her friend decided to express her love to Mia and BITE her on the cheeks!!!!!!

When Gaby was 2 and even after she turned 3, she was THAT kid bitting every other kid alive. It was really bad, and painful cause other parents knew her as the girl that bites (which means: keep her away from my kid).... Sometimes I couldnt understand why the other parents acted like that with her... She is just a kid, but I was always scared of picking her up because I KNEW I was going to hear another bitting history....

So, now, with Mia, I get to have the kid that has been bitten. This is really the first time that happens so BIG, and I feel so sorry for her... It looks anything else, except for a bite... She has red in the middle and purple all around it... I kinda stroke in black around the purple area cause it is hard to tell...

Mia's "Preschool" days....

Im a very thankful to be able to give Mia this awesome gift. Being able to socialize with kids her age, and being expose to so many activities, makes me feel really blessed. Mia's first period's evaluation was last week, and even though I know everything that you can do (and what she cant), it is great to hear it from other people who happens to be experts in small children's development.

They evaluated her social skills, cognitive development, motor skills and vocabulary. Each part had several aspects that were evaluated. In general, Mia got "Meet Expectations" in mostly every aspect.

In the Socio-Emotional Development, here are the things were she "Meet expectations":

* Says her name when she is asked; when asked, identifies and says her gender; when she talks, she refers to herself by her name; says the names of her classmates; call the teachers by their names; play with other children; share with others when asked; express caring feelings with her teachers and classmates; shows awareness of somebody else's feelings; follows the classroom routine; seeks for help when she needs it; shows friendship towards other kids.

In the Cognitive Development, here are the things were she "Meet expectations":
* Answers simple questions; uses simple sentences to express herself; follow instructions; observe and reproduce simple patterns using objects; counts from one to five using objects; seek and found an object when she is looking for it; gribbles freely; gribbles inside of a giving figure; sort objects in different positions (up, down, in, out); names the action of an image; put puzzles together, recognize the different between “much” and “few”; identifies and names some parts of the body; identifies and names objects around the classroom.

In the Motor Skills Development, here are the things were she "Meet expectations":
* Builds towers with blocks; uses books going from one page to the other and going one by one; tears paper freely; shows her dominant size of the body (right on her case); prefers to use her (right on her case) hand; holds the crayons to color; stands on one feet for a few seconds; runs after a balls and kicks it; crawls easily; rolls her body with support; can climb (oh boy, dont we know about this?); alternate her feet to go up the stairs; moves her body to the music; responds to a simply rhythm using a musical instrument.

In the Vocabulary that they have worked on, here are the ones were she "Meet expectations":
* My School; myself; my community; city helpers.

In the Socio-Emotional Development, she only "Needs Improvement" in "Shows her age with her fingers". In the Cognitive Development, she "Needs Improvement" in Identifying and naming all the shapes for her level, and some colors. For some reason they were not specific. I plan to ask her next week. In the Motor Skills Development, she only "Needs Improvement" in "Uses playdoh to make balls".

There are some areas that were not evaluated this time, so we will see more of that in the Spring Evaluation. Here is the comment that the teacher wrote:
Camila, with her friendliness and kindness, has conquered us all. She shows a positive attitude in the accomplishment of the activities and interacting with her classmates. She express her emotions and feelings on a clear way, although sometimes she does not make use of the verbal language and cries, which is why we are trying to speak to her in a low tone of voice and motivating her to do the same.

She is doing a great job with potty training and has been “dry” most of the time: Good Job, Camila! She still needs more reinforcement in this area, and we are sure that we will be able to accomplish this with the help of the house. Shows very good motor skills development, showing it in “free traces”, “sorting out patterns”, in addition to “going up the stairs, walk, run and jump”. Her favorite activities are: story time, sing songs and put puzzles together.

Camila is a very special child and having her in my classroom enlightens up my days.

First Evaluation from School Year 2008-2009

The girls had their first evaluation report for this school year. The had an adaptation report that the school issues after a few weeks that the school starts so the parents can know how adapted s the child to the new school year, but this is the first evaluation per se.

I didnt go because Im still on bedrest, and honestly I was not disappointed for not being able to go. With all the things that has happened with Gaby, I feel like I already had enough of the dose of "complaining about your daughter" that I can take for a bit, so I think I needed a break. Dont get me wrong, I still want to know how she is doing at school, but it is just so difficult to understand how she is behavnig so "bad" in school when in the house she is behaving better and better at the house, and stays most of the time in green. She hardly ever goes to yellow, and much less to red.

On a positive note the teacher wrote in the comments that Gaby has the best communication skills among ALL the students, which makes me very proud. She is talking in full sentences in English, and is able to maintain long conversations totally in English. I cant wait for my friend Cara to come back so they can have a loooong conversation!

Mia had an awesome evaluation as she meets with mostly all the things that are expected for her age. They also cant stop saying how much they love her and Im very happy for that. She is so easy to love because she is fun and unpredictable, and you just never know what would be her next thing. I know it is not easy to punish her as she will try to get the fun out of time out and crack you up!

I also had a VERY long talk to her pediatrician, and she is not worried AT ALL about Gaby. She says that she will referred me to have all the tests done, but that she is sure that everything is going to come back negative as she has spend a lot of time with Gaby and that she will have noticed earlier. I have to call her back tomorrow morning to her cell to make sure she was able to get me the pediatric neurologist to see us for thing next week.