Ridiculous

This weather we've been having has been ridiculous... as in, ridiculously amazing.  70 degrees and sunny on February 5?  Seriously? 

Needless to say, we have all been enjoying the warmer winter weather.  Here are some fun pictures from our day today:



PS- Mother Nature, if you can read this... I really am okay with this weather.  Please don't make up for warm times by bringing in a March blizzard.  Thanks!  Your friend, Brooke

One Smart Cookie

Sydney's teacher stopped me in the hallway at her daycare the other day, saying, "I need to talk to you about something!"  Of course, my first reaction is, "uh oh..."  She assured me that it was a great thing.

She proceeds to tell me that she was doing individual assessments with each child in her room to see what they have learned so far, halfway through the school year.  She said that Sydney was so smart!  She said she barely had to look at the flash cards to tell what letter/number was being shown.  She gave me the sheet where she marked what Sydney did/didn't know.

This is what she can do:
-Recognize all the letters (upper and lowercase)
-Can sing the ABCs
-Can recognize numbers up to 12
-Can count to 30 (really, she can count to over 100 now, with guidance on the order of 40/50/60/etc)
-She knows all her colors
-She knows all of her shapes (including crescent, star, and heart) with the exception of an octagon.
-She was rated excellent on social skills, including:

• Overall interaction with other children
• Overall interaction with other adults
• Sharing
• Showing kindness
• Showing respect for others
• Being helpful
• Making good choices
• Independence
• Staying on task
• Following directions

-For motor skills, she can:

• Hop on one foot
• Run
• Skip
• Walk
• Hold pencil/crayon correctly
• Color in the lines (well, this seems to go along with her mood to color)
• Beginning writing skills

**The one motor skill she needs help with is holding scissors correctly.

I am so proud!!  This is the first official "report" I've seen for Sydney.  Of course, I see what she can do at home but you never know how it translates at school.  Plus, now I know to work with her on recognizing numbers over 12, how to cut, and what an octagon is.

Oh, and one funny thing... whenever Sydney finds one of the excess monkeys, we say it is monkey's cousin from Africa.  Sydney's teacher said the other day, they were learning about continents, and the teacher pointed out where Africa was.  She said that Sydney said, "That's where monkey's cousin lives!!"  I had already told the teacher about it, so she said she had a good laugh. :)

Go Sydney!

Bumpety Bump

We discovered that Taylor loves the bumpy area your cart goes over when you leave a store.  We were leaving Buy Buy Baby last weekend when Stephen captured this.  Check out Taylor.

14 Months!

Taylor is 14 months old!!!!

2-1-2012

Taylor has had a big month of growing into a... toddler.  I don't know a better word to describe it.  She has become feistier, she's trying to communicate more, and she is trying to do "big girl" things.  Some examples include:

• Trying to "talk".  She really doesn't really say anything more than "mama", "dada", and "uh oh" on a consistent basis, but she is definitely babbling more using more syllables.  It's like she's trying to tell us something, we just can't decipher.  I swear I've heard her say "hi" and "Diddy" when I asked her to say Sydney.  But, jury is still out on those words!
• Taylor has started to do the sign for "more".
• Having RSV and being sick for about 2 weeks. :(
• Is becoming a little aggressor- she has been hitting and pulling the hair of the other kids in her class!  So hard to teach a 1 year old to not hit.
• Got her first bite mark from a fellow classmate.  Gotta love the one year-old class.
• She is growing out of her 18 month clothes and is pretty much in almost all 24 month clothes!  She is a head taller than all of her classmates.
• Climbing on anything her height... stools, small chairs at school, the refrigerator. 
• She mimicks others emotions... if you pretend to cry, she actually will cry.  She'll laugh with others, too. 
• She has really started to use things appropriately- for example, she will pick up a brush and try to brush her hair... she will drink out of play teacups, she will out sunglasses on her face, etc.

That is about it for this past month.  Check out some recent pictures of Taylor!

This always cracks me up... Taylor's hair sticks out of her crib at nighttime.

My sleeping beauty.

Hanging with Daddy.

Loving this warm January weather.

Spaghetti face.

A Tribute

A man recently passed away who had a significant impact on my life... even though I didn't know him that well.

Dr. Bob Daria passed away at the age of 40 this past Sunday night.  He was the epitome of health, from what he outwardly showed, and he had a sudden heart attack, went into a coma, and never recovered.

He lived in our community of Loganville and was Assistant Superintendent of Walton County Schools.  He dated a former co-worker of mine.  But, I still didn't know him that well.

So, what impact did he have on me?

Almost 7 years ago, he took a chance on a 24 year-old girl who had a huge desire to teach, but had no clue what she was doing.  He was the principal who hired me back in the summer of 2005 to be a special education teacher at Cousins Middle School in Covington, GA.  I met him at the job fair and he brought me in for an interview.  He was so nice to me, he was so excited for me.  He gave me the chance to be someone that I had discovered I wanted to be.

At that time, Bob was at the end of his reign at the middle school, and was about to start at the nearby high school as principal when he hired me.  I never officially got to work for him.  But, I saw him at a bunch of local events, we were even in contact last spring when he was in the role of Asst. Superintendent in our county.  He would probably recognize me, but that's about it.

If Bob could hear me right now, I'd like for him to know that he probably has no clue how important he was in my life... but that I am so appreciative for him having the faith in me I didn't have in myself.

Rest in Peace, Bob!

http://waltontribune.com/news/article_a1e7d9da-46a7-11e1-accb-001871e3ce6c.html

But on the flip side...

I had my first mammogram done last week, and I actually got a good report (which was extra nice, with all the sicknesses going around our household lately).  The letter that came in the mail stated, "We are pleased to inform you that the results of your mammography examination show nothing suspicious for cancer."  Woohoo!

Sickness, Sickness, GO AWAY!

Uggh, 2012 has been a year so far of illnesses in our family.  The last few months of 2011 were pretty bad for all of us, so I had hopes that this new year would have us all feeling better.  So far... nope.

For me and Stephen, it's been more nagging things- runny nose, sore throat, cough, etc. 

About 2 weeks ago, Taylor spiked a fever in the middle of the night of 103.6.  She was really cranky, too.  I called the nurse line and told her some other little symptoms, and they recommended going to urgent care the next (Sunday) morning.  We did, and the doctor said her tonsils were almost swollen together (hence all the choking episodes she's been having lately), called it tonsilitis, and gave her some antibiotics.

Sydney spiked a fever two days later.  I took her to the doctor the next day, and they said her tonsils were swollen, too, and she had two full-blown ear infections.  They also did an RSV test on her, which was sent away to come back in two days.

Two days later... RSV test = positive.

So, doctor is saying she's pretty sure Taylor would have RSV, too, since it is so contagious.  That week, we split having the girls at home between my mom, myself, and mostly Stephen. 

Meanwhile, Taylor wrapped up her 10 day antibiotic and was seeming so much better, when, wham!  She spiked another fever.  She also sounded really congested when she breathed (even though she was getting breathing treatments).  I took her to the doctor again (this time the pediatrician), and the doctor said she sounded horrible when she listened to her chest.  She even said she couldn't tell if she had pneumonia (which she suspected) because her wheezing was so loud.  She gave her another antibiotic, a steroid, and she did an RSV test.

One day later... RSV = positive.

So.  This has been our last couple of weeks.  Meanwhile, I'm feeling like crud lately, too.  Hopefully we can recuperate this weekend.  And maybe February will be a new beginning of wellness.  PLEASE!

I don't feel very good... :(

Dressing up as a princess makes me feel a little better!