Everett's school pictures

Everett was a bit grumpy on picture day, so his pics didn't turn out quite as well as I'd hoped. I do like the last one.

Everett has blossomed so much since he started his new school just 5 months ago. At the time, I could hardly understand a word he was saying and this challenge of communicating resulted in much frustration ... both for him and me! Now he has really progressed in using short sentences and is even so polite ... almost always saying "please" when requesting something. At least once a day I hear "Mama, can I have some milk please?" And when I bring him something, without even being prompted, I often hear "thank you Mama". Yes, I have become "Mama" ... except at bedtime when my name is often shortened and I am simply "Ma" ... usually in the context of "I love you Ma". Be still my heart.

Potty training continues to be a bit of a battle. Mostly because I don't think he likes to be told what to do (wonder where he gets that?) and so some days he does his "thing" and sometimes he doesn't. We've tried the usual bribes which sometimes work, however now he's come to expect it. He often leaps and bounds out of the bathroom while joyously proclaiming "I get CANDY!". Last night he found some stickers and I heard him asking Pryce if he'd like one. I exclaimed, "I'd like a sticker, can Mommy have one?" ... to which he responded "if you go pee pee in the potty you can!"

We had E's very first parent-teacher conference last month. The first thing Miss Brandi said about E was "he's so shy!". It's funny because nobody would guess this kid could be shy if they saw him in his own comfort zone at home! Luckily, it usually doesn't take him long to warm up to a new situation and new people.

During the P/T conference, we went over a long "report card" that indicated what level he was at for various tasks. The levels were
I = Introduced
B = Beginning
D = Developing
M = Mastery

I thought I'd share what his teacher says he has mastered at the beginning of age 3:
- Plays cooperatively with other children (I beg to differ when the other child is his brother!)
- Plays alone for extended periods of time
- Stacks 3-6 cubes
- Strings large beads
- Walks with confidence
Some other notes from the teacher:
- Everett has a good grasp on simple matching of shapes and objects, big and little
- Everett has begun to verbalize his wants and needs more frequently. He has done an awesome job on Share days.
- Everett really enjoys all our art and music activities.

We really love Miss Brandi and are really pleased with all Everett has learned! He's always so happy when I pick him up from school.