February

Did February really just fly by? I know it's a short month, but woo! That went fast. :)

We have been going to the park almost every day, soaking up the nice weather before it gets beastly hot. I got a jogging stroller a few weeks ago, and have been religiously walking/jogging just about every day -- we do our walk and then play at the park. It's a lovely way to spend the mornings, especially if our walk happens to take us past a Starbucks. :)

Natalie has been working on the letter "A" lately. She is getting quite good at writing the letter, and we talk a lot about all the things that start with A. I think we may move on to "B" soon.

She also is working on her cutting skills. I picked up a Kumon cutting book at Target, and she has a grand time trying to follow the lines to cut whiskers on the dogs/cats, or to cut apart a picture so she can rearrange it to make it look like a boat or whatever the picture is that day. It's a wonderful book - I highly recommend it!

Here she is concentrating hard on the cutting:


I am starting to think about the summer months. Spring is covered with the outdoor play - the zoo, the parks, my moms groups - but summer is a whole other animal. We can't just go run to the park without passing out within a few minutes. So I'm pondering what to do - dance, gym, swimming... getting the piano tuned and teaching her some notes on there. What's good to do for a 3 year old? I want to keep her entertained, and keep the sanity. She and I both go a little crazy when we are stuck inside with crafts for more than a few days at a time. We actually spent a morning yelling at each other (yes she was yelling at me!) at the beginning of January because we were both so tired of being cooped up with her being sick. I would like to avoid that happening again! :)

I also have officially decided - no preschool this fall. So we'll be doing other activities and probably ramping up the learning factor - I got a lot of great books from Target. They have a wonderful educational book section. But mainly, we will just continue with PLAYING. Their younger years go by so fast, they need to play! I'm a big fan of just hanging out while she rides her tricycle, plays in her sand/water table, and quite literally smells the flowers in the backyard. :)

Alright, I'm off to enjoy the weather! This week is gardening week - cleaning out the flowers/leaves and getting ready to plant the veggies!