Vocabulary Development

As a teacher, I have seen what happens when kids aren't exposed to a lot of different language experiences when they are young.  A lot of times when that happens, the kids don't like to read.  And it makes me sad.

So, obviously, I have tried really hard to instill a love of words and reading in Callie.  The girl loves books.

And lately we have been playing a lot of word games.  Her favorites are listed below.

1) The Categories Game- I list 3 or 4 things that go together, and she tells me the category.  For example:
Me: Okay...car, truck, boat.
Callie: Things you ride in!
I like this game because I can teach her big words like transportation or accessories. Every girl should know a fancy word for necklaces, bracelets and rings, right? :)

2) The Doesn't Belong Game- I list 3 or 4 things, with one that doesn't belong.  She has to guess which one doesn't belong.  It is fascinating to watch her think about it- you can literally see connections being made in her brain.  For example:
Me: Are you ready?  Fork, spoon, cherry, knife.
Callie: (thinking for a few seconds) CHERRY!
We take turns on this one, which is pretty hilarious.  She doesn't quite get the concept of making sure something doesn't belong.  For example:
Callie: Okay Mommy.  Fridge, spoon, grapes, table!
Me: (thinking of possible connections to make between the random objects) Um...
Callie: (thinking for a few seconds) None of them belong!
But even though she still doesn't quite get it when it is her turn, she totally nails it every time I give her the words.  It is a great way to help her understand how things relate to each other.

3) The I'm Thinking Game- This is by far our favorite.  We take turns giving each other clues so the other person can guess what we are thinking of.  I took a video of how this game usually goes.  It is pretty funny.  And we can go for a long time without getting bored. 


I'm Thinking Game from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

I love how it teaches basic problem solving skills.  Again, I love how I can see her wheels turning as she is putting all the clues together in her mind.  I also love her voice inflection.  She says her clues like that every time.  SO adorable.

So there you have it.  If you know of any other fun word games, feel free to send them my way.  She's getting so smart we're going to need to up the rigor soon. :)

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Memorial Day Weekend Wedding Edition

Happy Memorial Day everyone!  We were fortunate to spend the entire Memorial Day weekend out east with my mom's side of the family celebrating my cousin Karl's wedding.  Karl also happens to be a veteran, as he served in the Marine Corps.  It was wonderful to spend such special time with family members who we don't get to see very often.

We left on a 7am flight on Friday morning, and everything went fairly smoothly considering the 5am wake-up time.  Callie was a stellar traveler and even helped us pull our suitcases.



She rocked the jammies until we got to Connecticut!

We gathered at my Uncle Joe's house for lunch with him, Aunt Margie, Uncle John and Aunt Jenny.  Then we all headed to Sturbridge, MA where most of the weekend festivities took place.  Friday evening and Saturday morning were spent hanging around with family...mostly indoors because the weather was cold and rainy. 

But we had fun anyway!

Karl and Erica's wedding took place at a very special church in Holden, MA: Immanuel Lutheran.  It just so happened to be the church that my mom's dad (Grampy) was the pastor at for four years (1955-1959 I think), and also the church that my mom was baptized at. 

The ceremony was lovely.  My mom and Laura played a couple duets, and I ended up reading some of the prayers during the ceremony.  Karl and Erica were so happy and excited- it was so much fun to witness.

Their wedding colors?  Red, White and Blue!  What else would you expect from a former marine? :)

After the ceremony we wanted to take some pictures outside of the church, since it is a significant place to my mom and her siblings.  They found the picture of my grandpa on the wall, so the siblings got a picture with it.

Joe, Margie, Polly, John

We also got a family picture in front of the church.

We won't be a family of 3 for long!

We then headed to the reception for the evening of fun times, good food, and even some revolutionary war actors!

On Sunday we headed to the National Basketball Hall of Fame!  It was fun...lots of very large shoes and basketball playing, obviously.

Fun times!



Checking out our wingspans against Kevin Durant's.

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out with family: mini-golf, playing with ducks, ice cream, and hanging out and playing in the hotel room.

We headed back this morning and got home in time for nap time.  Traveling with a toddler and being 32 weeks pregnant was exhausting, but we had a great trip.  I'd love to have a weekend to recover from our weekend, but no such luck!

Hamsie update: She is 32 weeks!  That means (hopefully) less than 8 weeks left.  Hamsie now weighs around 3.75 pounds and is about 16.7 inches long.  She will gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next seven weeks...holy moly.  She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair. 

The amount of stuff we will be doing in the next 2 months is insane to think about.  So I try not to look too far ahead, and instead just focus on a week at a time.  There are 2.5 weeks left of the school year, though I will be working throughout June as well to prepare for maternity leave.

Crazy!  Crazy!  Crazy!

Hope you all had a great long weekend.

QOTD- Daddy's Sarcasm

Earlier tonight we were watching Sydney and Kylie for a bit.  Kylie started fussing, and this came out of our daughter's mouth:

Callie: Uh oh!  Somebody better call the WAM-bulance!

All we could do was giggle.

We're going to have a whirlwind weekend with my cousin's wedding, so my usual weekend posts will be delayed until Monday.

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

41-Months-Old!

This little punkin in the "flowers" is 41-months-old today.  41 MONTHS.  That is crazy.

Thanks for the picture, Boom!

She is equal parts sweet, sassy, and a little LOT stubborn when she wants to be.  Lately, we REALLY hope for the sweet, but the sassy and stubborn have been coming out more.  I'm guessing it has something to do with all the changes that she is sensing around her.  The fact that in less than two months her world is going to be ROCKED.  On multiple levels. 

But dang it, no matter how sassy or stubborn, when I hear her little voice say "I love you Mommy," my heart melts every time.

Weekend Wrap-Up

When I was younger and pictured myself having kids, I always pictured having girls.  Probably because I grew up with sisters.  And then, as a teacher, I found out that my favorite kids were actually always boys.  You know why?  I have NO time for girl drama.  Seriously.  My patience for girl drama is, and always has been, nonexistent.

While I'm ecstatic to have a daughter (and another one on the way) and we are now well into the threes, our toddler's flair for the dramatic is coming out FULL FORCE.  Especially this weekend.  Holy Moly. 

Maybe it was partly because she got another cold and wasn't feeling that great.  Maybe it because my patience level is L-O-W.  Maybe it was the pouring down rain that happened throughout the weekend.  But whatever it was, the weekend attitude was a little rough.  Probably on both of our parts.  But the DRAMA and TEARS and LISTENING REFUSAL...oh my.  Oh my, oh my, oh my.

Anyway...on to the weekend.

Saturday
We woke up to a really cool thunderstorm and spent some time in the morning watching for lightening and listening for thunder.

Notice the lovely piles of dirt and construction things?  Yeah, that is what our street will look like for the next month.  Thanks St Paul.

In order to minimize the damage to our clean and organized house, Chris took her to G-ma and G-pa's house for a bit and she got to have quality bonding time with Kona.

Callie: I LOVE YOU KONA
Kona: HELP ME, DADDY

Then we met the Knutsons for lunch and Callie practiced her big sister skills by entertaining Baby Avery.

"Reading" to Avery

Next, there was a nap that was WAY too short, as I saw this face after only about 45 minutes.

This does not bode well for the evening plans

The evening plans consisted of a BBQ at Brent and Bethany's, in which she showed everyone how truly dramatic 3-year-old girls can be.  And here is photographic evidence.

Charlie- just being a ninja
Callie- being a drama queen

Sunday

Thankfully today was fairly less dramatic.  We started the morning early feeling Hamsie hiccups for the first time...so fun...and then Sunday school.  After a nap at the condo, we headed to Anna's graduation party in the pouring rain!  But someone had a smile despite the crazy weather.

Rain Rain, Go Away!

Congrats Anna!

We ended the evening watching "Baby Dance," a video that Cal got for Christmas (or maybe birthday?) from Boom and Bops.  It is a video that has a half dozen different "dances" led by a very exuberant Miss Theresa.  Callie normally just likes to watch and occasionally tries to do a couple of the moves.  But tonight she was TOTALLY into it.  And it was adorable.  So of course, I had to take a couple videos.

Baby Dance 1 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Baby Dance 2 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Isn't she talented? Hahaha.  As someone who LOVED dance classes from when I was a 4-year-old all the way through high school, it makes me so excited to start her in dance class in a year or two. And as someone who endured thoroughly enjoyed a couple of my dance recitals in high school, I'm sure Chris is also thrilled for the many dance recitals to come.

Hamsie Update:  31 Weeks!  According to Baby Center, she measures over 16 inches long and weighs about 3.3 pounds.  She can turn her head from side to side and is getting plumper.  My doc said she'll gain about a half a pound a week until the end.  Yikes!  I feel like I'm already huge, so the thought of adding 4 more pounds of baby in there seems CRAZY.  Sleep is definitely getting harder as I have to toss and turn a lot to stay comfortable, but tossing and turning is a feat unto itself.  That usually is accompanied by groaning.  Or grunting.  I'm the absolute opposite of dainty these days, but I'm okay with it.  I'm clumsy and bump in to things with my stomach a lot.  Including students at school.  When I teach, I usually sit on a bean bag with my student(s) and it is getting more entertaining for them to watch me get up.  I am getting short of breath- when I'm sitting and reading with Callie, I have to take breaks with her squishing on my lap and Hamsie squishing my lungs.  I'm slow going up stairs, but can still make it down stairs pretty quickly.  Despite all the weird things, it's all good.  Hamsie moves around like crazy and I'm happy despite the crazy stuff that is going on with my body.  

This upcoming week is going to be crazy busy.  I have an overnight trip to Arizona for work, and then my cousin Karl is getting married next weekend!  Can't wait to see all the crazy Ekebergs!

Favorite-Things-Phone-Dump Friday

Happy Weekend!  It has been another crazy week so we're ending it with a movie night with a toddler who got yet another cold.  She's all sniffly and cough-y and eye watery, so we are just taking it easy. 

On to the pictures...

Favorite Thing #1: Construction on our street for the next month
Okay, that is definitely NOT a favorite thing, but it is a picture I took, so there it is

Favorite Thing #2: Weather warm enough for playing in the sprinkler!

Favorite Thing #3: Swinging with Grandma

Favorite Thing #4: Hamsie
Couldn't resist posting this picture again...look at those cheeks!

Favorite Thing #5: ANOTHER day nice enough for the sprinkler!

Favorite Thing #6: Watching my big girl climb up the playground with the big kids.
She's the one at the top.

Favorite Thing #7: More climbing!

Favorite Thing #8: A shadow bump

A Letter to Hamsie

Dear Hamsie-

You poor second child, you.  I hope that you don't feel like you already are playing 2nd fiddle to your big sister.

When we were pregnant with her, this blog was started and completely focused on me, our pregnancy, our thoughts and feelings about every little thing happening, etc.  With you, we didn't even acknowledge your presence on this blog until the pregnancy was half over, and you just get a little blip at the end of each of my weekly wrap-ups.

Luckily, I know a number of 2nd and 3rd children who are pretty darn fantastic, so I'm thinking that you'll turn out pretty darn fantastic as well.

But I want you to know that, even though it may not seem like it, there are SO MANY PEOPLE who are SO EXCITED to meet you!  You are on my mind constantly as your are pretty much kicking and jabbing me constantly in my belly.  I LOVE IT.

Your big sister talks about you all the time, and is still convinced your name will be Hamsie when you come out.  I promise we won't do that to you, but I can't guarantee that she won't call you that as a special sister nickname.  We'll just have to see.

It has been a stressful few weeks for us as we have been working on figuring out where we want to live.  But know that your dad and I (and the rest of our family!) have been working hard to figure out the best place for you to come home to once you are born.  We want to find an amazing home for you to grow up in, and I think we're getting close.  So I'm sorry if I've been running around too much or making you feel too stressed out because of my stress.  I hope it will be done soon.  I know you're okay because I have had regular doctor visits and they say you are perfect. 

Speaking of doctor visits, I got to see you today.  I had an ultrasound and the technician got a pretty fantastic picture of your sweet little face.



30 weeks 3 days

Looks like you have big cheeks- just like your older sister.  I can't wait to meet you and see how else you are like her, but also how you aren't.  I can't wait to see how your eyes and your hair and your temperament develop.  I can't wait to see if you will have a gigantic head.  (I'd prefer it if you didn't, but I think it is meant to be...I saw them measuring your head circumference today on the ultrasound and it was measuring 2 weeks ahead of everything else...oh well!)

Anyway, just know that I can't wait.  We can't wait.  But please, just so you have the opportunity to grow as big and strong as you can INSIDE, stay in there for another 8 or 9 weeks at least.  We still have A LOT to do to get ready for you.  Sound good?

Love you,
Mom