Parent Teacher Conference

A few weeks ago, before Thanksgiving Mom and I had our first parent teacher conference. This conference was with one of Alyce's teachers Ms. Mary. Alyce's other teacher is Ms. Kit.

This being our first parent teacher conference we didn't know what to expect. Maybe she was going to tell us that Alyce's coloring skills are sub par and we can cross Harvard off the list of possible schools. It turned out to be nothing like that. Ms. Mary talked to us about what they were doing in class and Alyce's level of development. We are happy to say that Alyce has mastered all aspects of physical development for a kid her age. Other skills like penmanship and coloring are also age appropriate.

Ms. Mary, Mom, and Myself went on in length talking about how Alyce likes to do jobs in the class. Every day in class the teacher pulls out a name and assigns a student to specific job like the line leader, caboose, cleanup inspector, and song picker. Ms. Mary was telling us that getting jobs is Alyce's very favorite part of class. She went on to say that she gets so gigged up for a job that she is crestfallen whenever her name isn't picked. I applaud Alyce's willingness to help out. When we ask Alyce after school what her job was that day and she didn't have one she says that she "had the day off".  The picture below is a scan of the inspection report submitted by Alyce to the rest of the class.

There was one area that Alyce is exhibiting some problems, speech development. Ms. Mary said that Alyce's speech development was not where it should be. She described Alyce as knowing what she wanted to say but would dance around the word she was trying to get out. Sadly I knew exactly what she was talking about as both my mother and I suffer from the same problem. Whenever we are in a stressed environment our minds lock up and we know the word we want to say but just can't seem to get it out. Another aspect of her speech problems is that her speech is very melodic. I'm not sure why melodic speech is a bad thing. Perhaps it is warning sign relating to other issues. We have a follow up visit with the special school department that should be able to determine whether this is a problem or if she is behind the curve. The overall effect of Alyce have decreased speech ability is that she isn't keeping up with the other kids in her class and is still playing by herself. I've these behavior occur on repeated occasions. After I drop her off some mornings I look at Alyce through the window to see what she does when I'm not around. A few times I've witnessed her standing there, watching the other kids, and waiting for something to spur her into action. After a minute or so she seems to have taken everything in, decides on a course of action, and joins in an activity.  It pains me to see her standing on the sidelines but it doesn't seem to bother her as she is always looking forward to going to school.

Green? Where are You?

Alyce has learned a lot.  A lot of what she has learned has come from school and other knowledge comes from that place that knowledge comes from.  Maybe it is repetition, mimicking behavior, or maybe it is time.  Regardless she has acquired a lot of knowledge.

One thing she has learned is what a stop sign looks like and what it is for.  She also understands the significance of stop lights and that the green light is much preferred over the red one.  I'm guessing she picked all of this up from school or watching how Mom and I drive.  She took that knowledge and applied it to some other time where she witnessed Mom and I talking to each other or no one in particular to create the following funny scene.

The whole family was sitting at a stop light waiting for the red light to turn green.  Coming from the back seat came the following "Green?...  Green?...  Where are you green?".  Mom and I roared wondering where exactly that came from.  Stuff like that is what makes being a parent great.

Back From San Antonio

Yesterday Mom and the kids got back from San Antonio. Mom was just taking the last car seat out of her parents van as I pulled into the driveway. It looks like everyone made it through the adventure unscathed and with their sanity intact.

Walking into the house I was greeted by a "Daddy!" from the living room as my little girl comes running toward me with outstretched arms. I picked her up gave her hugs, kisses, and held her in my arms for quite a while. I had missed my little girl. I think she missed me too. After I let her down to run around the house she came up behind me, hugged my legs, and said "Daddy I missed you". That wasn't the last thing she said either; not by a long shot. I think while I was gone someone stole Alyce and replaced her with a duplicate. This little girl that came back from San Antonio was a little chatter box. Once she started talking she wouldn't stop. And her talking wasn't just babble or saying random words. She was describing the world in full sentences. Going upstairs she saw her room and said "That's my purple room". She looked at my gym back and said "Daddy's bag is red". I'm not sure what changed over those 10 days. Maybe it was just that I wasn't there to see the gradual improvement.

The trip both to and from San Antonio seems to have gone better than I expected. Both Alyce and Luke handled the trip well and didn't ever get fed up with being in the car. Two years ago around this time we took a trip up to Minneapolis to see my brother and during the return trip we had some issues with Alyce. This time Mom had a secret weapon, her iphone. This phone has the ability to play movies, video games, and stream cartoons over the airwaves. If you have kids and don't have one of these devices go get one now and finish reading this when you get back. I don't know the amount of time Alyce spent watching movies but I know she watched both Cars and Wall-E at least twice each. So that is 8 hours out of peace an tranquility for those in the car.

Lodging also went rather well. Mom, Alyce, and Luke all shared a room during the trip. I give Mom lots of credit. It couldn't have been easy to get both kids to sleep in the same room and not have one wake up the other. As a bonus both kids slept through the night every night.

Mom and the kids got some time in the water with the whole family. Alyce got to wear her new life jacket we picked up and I think she was a big fan. Alyce doesn't have a healthy respect of the water yet, or the ability to swim so some form of flotation device is a necessity. They picked up some water guns too which I'm sure led to some good water gun fights. I don't think Alyce had to coordination yet to fill it up but I think she was able to shoot a few people

The family also spent a day at Sea World. While there they got to see a water ski show that scared Alyce a bit, Shamu the Whale or as called it "Shampo", and a seal show. I think there is one more but it escapes me. They saw a few other animal exhibits but I don't think they rode any rides.

The final observation I had about their return was how much Alyce and Luke seemed to grow. I'm sure they grew very little but it didn't appear that way. Alyce seemed to be taller while Luke seemed to have lost weight

Me Too

On a happier note Alyce did something new and fun today.  I was talking to Mom via the telephone today when Alyce wanted to say hi.  Mom put the phone on speaker and I got to have a conversation with Alyce.  Typically these conversations center around me asking Alyce questions and her responding with yes, yeahpuh, or uh-huh.  Occasionally I will get a one or two word response.  Today was different because Alyce expressed agreement.  I was talking to Alyce about her breakfast and what she ate.  Her response of Fruit Loops was common enough.  I responded to her that I liked Fruit Loops and she replied "me too".  I was kind of awestruck / dumbfounded.  Here was my little girl agreeing with me. 

More and more it seems like the lights are turning on up there and she is turning into a little person and no longer is a toddler.  I look forward to those times where she asks questions about how or why something is or works and I can explain to her.  I know that it will eventually get kind of tiresome but it will be cool to hand down my knowledge to the next generation.

Me Out

On Saturday Alyce had another language milestone checked off. She referenced herself in a sentence. Normally Alyce will use single words to describe what she wants like juice, outside, or slide. Saturday, Alyce was in her room by herself and behind the baby gate. Apparently she didn't want to be in there anymore because she stood at the gate and proceeded to tell me "me, out". While it wasn't a proper sentence like I want out or hey dad come get me she did make reference to herself and what she wanted. She repeated "me, out" a couple more times to make sure I got the message. I eventually did get her out and I praised her for using her new word.