Crafty Mommy Monday- Ocean Animals #2

If you haven't seen last week's post, please check it out for links to and information about many of this week's activities. 

Campbell and I have both really enjoyed this week's unit.  She really liked the "ocean".  An idea I had but unfortunately never made time to complete was to google pictures of each animal and have her match each animal from her ocean to the picture.  Oh, well, next time. 

I printed the ocean animal matching activity from this Tot Pack and learned that it was too simple to only expect her to match them.  So I used them to begin teaching her how to play a Memory or Concentration game.  Here is a video of one of our games...you can obviously tell it's a new concept ;)

"The best laid plans"...

This picture shows perfectly that no matter how cool I think something is, kids always surprise me.  I found all of my beautiful ocean scene thrown to the floor and Campbell then asked "Caterpillar story, please."  (see this post if you don't remember the caterpillar felt board story)

To continue working on her colors, I printed and cut out this matching activity. (Please ignore her mis-matched clothes...that's what happens when Daddy dresses her.)

This week we'll be at the beach learning about these things first hand.  We're especially excited to go to Campbell's cousin Zachary's birthday party at Ripley's Aquarium where she will actually get to see some of these ocean animals!  

Next week the blog post will be about the follow up activities that we will be doing for this unit.

Ready for the beach!

The girls are ready to head to the beach this week!  We'll be staying at a condo in N. Myrtle Beach with my parents, my nephew Ethan, my sister Sara, and my sister Julie and her family.  We are very excited!

Campbell looks super-cool in her shades, hat, and new rash guard swimsuit.

Maggie is ready for flip-flop weather (ok, I know it's pretty much always flip-flop weather here in SC, but I couldn't think of anything else to say).

And just for fun...Campbell loves to help entertain Maggie during tummy time!

We ♥ Speech Therapy!

This is Campbell's Speech and Language Pathologist, Mrs. Susan.  She has worked with Campbell for the past year and we have seen amazing growth in Campbell's language. This week she re-evaluated Campbell's speech and language and the difference from last year to this year is AMAZING!

This time last year, Campbell said 2 words "hi" and "Daddy".  She couldn't point to pictures of familiar objects, identify body parts, or imitate words.

This year, Campbell has a vocabulary of approximately 300 words and can string sentences with 4 to 5 words.  She talks, and talks, and talks...

Here is a comparison of her scores:  

Last year's age equivalence: 

Receptive Language- 10 months  Expressive Language- 11 months

This year's age equivalence: 

Receptive Language- 2 years, 8 months  Expressive Language- 2 years, 9 months

That is a growth of 22 months!!!!!!!!

Last year's standard scores (average scores are between 85 and 115):  

Receptive Language- 76  Expressive Language-  83 

This year's standard scores (average scores are between 85 and 115):

Receptive Language- 114  Expressive Language- 114

Important note about the standard scores:  

Last year we adjusted for her prematurity so she was compared to peers 3 months younger.  If we had compared her scores last year to her actual age peers, her scores would have been even lower.  This year we didn't do that so she was compared to peers her actual age.  So, the difference in scores is really even bigger than what we see!

Way to go, Campbell!  What a testament to the value of early intervention and quality speech therapy!  We decided that we will continue with speech therapy but instead of weekly, she'll be seen twice per month.  This is to monitor and make sure she maintains this progress, to continue to build upon skills, and to address some articulation difficulties Campbell has.

Priceless

Many people have asked how Campbell feels about her new baby sister...I think this picture from our newborn photo session with Ashley Gillett says it all...  

Love it!

Crafty Mommy Monday- Ocean Animals

I am so excited about this week's unit.  We are heading to the beach next week so I thought it would be fun to learn about ocean animals.  We'll probably continue this unit after we get back as well. 

I love what we made for the felt board!  Campbell loves it already, too.  (and I have to say I'm quite impressed with how my felt cutting skills are coming along ;)  )

I also changed the sensory box for this week.  I tore up blue tissue paper and added the ocean animals from this Ocean Toob (bought at Michael's).

 

 

I bought Swedish Fish for us to make this snack...should be fun!

I am going to print these to use with her Dot Paints.

I found this Magnetic Story and Play Scene at TJ Maxx.  I think she'll enjoy playing with it!

I also will be using the books and matching activity from this Tot Pack.

In addition to the Ocean Animal activities, we are continuing to work on basic skills.  Campbell is still struggling with colors, so I created this color sorting activity using a set from 1+1+1=1.  Although she can sort colors independently, I will use it to identify colors with her.  I like these pictures a lot because they are real objects but still very clear photos.

Happy Father's Day

Campbell and Maggie are two lucky little girls.  They have one of the best daddies in the world and he loves them so much!  Robbie is one of those "hands on" daddies who enjoys being a daddy.  He isn't afraid to change diapers, give bottles in the middle of the night, and soothe crying babies.  He and Campbell love to play, go to the pool, and do other fun things together. I can't wait for Maggie to get to enjoy those same fun things and create wonderful memories with him.

Happy Father's Day, Robbie!  Thank you for making my job as a mommy easier and a lot more fun.  We love you!

Maggie- 1 month

Maggie is 1 month old today! 

(Thanks to the Karczewski family for the adorable tutu!)

Today she weighed 8 lbs, 1 oz.  The doctor was a little concerned that her weight gain has slowed down pretty significantly so we will be working hard to put some chub on our tiny princess.  But otherwise she is doing very well and every day she's more alert.  We are all enjoying getting to know her and learn her personality...so far she's a lot like her big sister and not afraid to voice her opinion! :)

Proud Babywearers

Chances are, if you've seen me with Maggie recently, you've seen her either nursing (her #1 favorite thing to do) or in my new Baby K'tan carrier.  I am in love with this carrier.  I love that it's easy to put on, I can use a variety of holds as Maggie grows, and that I currently can use it to hold her in an upright but cradled position.  Maggie loves it too and will usually go straight to sleep in it.  When she's fussy and I can't make her happy any other way, chances are if I put her in the Baby K'tan, she'll quiet down quickly.  I've recently been learning all the things I can do while carrying her...

  

 When I had Campbell I knew I wanted to have a good carrier...what I didn't know was how colicy she was going to be and how often I would need a carrier with her.  I definitely didn't start out to be a "baby wearer" despite all the great benefits of baby wearing.  I've become a baby wearer more out of necessity than anything.

I started out with a Baby Bjorn like everyone else.  I then started reading more about infant carriers and read some things that concerned me about the Bjorn (it can be bad on baby's hips since they're basically hanging from their crotch).  Add that to the fact that I didn't like it and now Robbie is the only one who uses it. 

I did some investigating about baby carriers good for preemies and newborns and heard about the Moby.  I loved the Moby and Campbell did too.,.except it was a pain to put on and had tons of fabric that would drag the ground when putting it on.  That made it hard to put on in public places but was great for around the house.  Here's Robbie with Campbell in the Moby.  I liked the Moby because I could have Campbell upright and cradled at the same time.

As Campbell grew I wanted a more structured carrier so I got the Beco Butterfly II.  I really liked it and will use it when Maggie is bigger.

**Recently you may have heard about slings and carriers being recalled.  The carriers I use were not part of those recalled.  The ones recalled were poorly made and the babies were worn in a way so their chins hit their chest.  It is for this exact reason that I use an upright hold.**

So, now we've come full circle and I'm raising a new generation of baby wearers :)

Crafty Mommy Monday #9

This week we have begun our 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed unit.  We haven't had as much time to work on it as I would have liked due to Campbell starting a summer session of preschool (9-12) and a baby who's been quite demanding...  But we have done some fun activities.

We have started letting Campbell use watercolor paints.  It's actually something she's kind of independent with now (with Robbie or I repeatedly saying "water, paint, picture" to help her remember the order).  She really likes it because it's "painting" and I really like it because it's minimally messy.   Of course this week she painted pictures of monkeys.

The next activity is a counting and number recognition activity.  Since Campbell has done so well learning the alphabet and can now count into the teens, I decided to start working on identifying numerals and even more importantly, matching those numerals to quantities of objects.  I found this serving tray at Dollar General and velcroed the numbers.  I used velcro so I can move the numbers around and change then numbers.  Campbell and I identified the numbers together and then I helped her count out the correct number of monkeys.

The next activity is another counting and number recognition activity.  I found monkey stickers at Target.  She and I identified the numbers together and then I helped her stick the correct number of stickers next to the number as we counted.

Even though our topic is Monkeys, we continue to work on general skills such as this name letter matching activity.

Check back next Monday for even more Monkey fun!  The week after we'll start an Ocean Animals unit in preparation for our Beach trip!

Crafty Mommy Monday- 5 Little Monkeys

Campbell and I are starting a new book unit this week.  We will be reading Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed and doing activities going along with it.

I have found some fun activities for us to do this week!  We will be using our felt board to re-tell the story, and I printed two of the little books (Monkeys and colors, and How Many Monkeys?) from this Tot Pack. 

I bought this Barrel of Monkeys game and we will use it for counting as well as playing the game.

I found a cute monkey craft activity in the $1 aisle at Target (don't you love that place?) and I also bought monkey stickers at Target and we'll use those for several learning activities as well. 

Check back next Monday to see pictures of our Monkey fun!

Maggie's Newborn Pictures

Love them!  Thank you Ashley Gillett!

Maggie Elizabeth

Make a photo album

The girls' new ride

I have been blessed by a group of women who just happen to be fellow preemie moms. These women have supported me through Campbell's premature birth, her NICU stay, and the 2 years since. When I became pregnant with Maggie, these women rallied around us and were as excited as we were as we hit each new milestone. These ladies surprised us with a very generous gift card to Buy Buy Baby and adorable matching shirts for the girls. We went this week to Buy Buy Baby and used the gift card to buy this awesome wagon for the girls. We went on our first walk and it was a huge hit!

A big thank you to Sara, Shana, Laura, Corey, Ivory, Karen, Katie, Jackie, and Tricia. Love you girls!

Crafty Mommy Monday #7

This week's post is about Melissa & Doug Wooden Alphabet Letters.  (Can you tell I just had a baby and have been having to get creative with the items we already own rather than make any new materials?)

Campbell has really shown an affinity for learning the alphabet.  Right now she knows about 20 uppercase letters.  She loves these magnetic wooden letters and will often just play with them on a cookie sheet.  

For this activity we were matching lowercase letters to uppercase letters.  She and I first put out all the uppercase letters as she/we named them.  Then I showed her the lowercase letters 1 at a time while I named them.  Then she (with help) would look for the uppercase letter to match.  

The next activity is one for matching the letters of her name.  This is to help her learn how to spell her name and is a precursor to writing her name.  I simply photocopied the letters and she matches the wooden letter to the letter on the paper.  I did have to buy an extra set of letters since she has two "L"s in her name but I figured I'll need more letters one day anyway when we start using them to create words.

If you have any creative ideas for activities using magnetic letters, I'd love to hear them!

Sneak Peek

We had Maggie's newborn photos taken yesterday by Ashley Gillett.  Here is a sneak peek...

Crafty Mommy Monday #6

My post this week is about Dot Art Painting.  I got these paint sets because I *thought* they might be neater than regular paint and brushes.  

I printed some cute dot art pictures for Campbell to use. She really enjoyed the activities even though she had a hard time understanding the idea that she should just put a paint dot on the circles on the coloring sheets rather than using it like a big marker.  But, she had a lot of fun and it reinforced the colors that we've been working on.

But remember when I said I *thought* it would be neater?  Apparently I was wrong...and although the bottles say "washable" they mean clothes, not skin...

Maggie's Homecoming

We, including Maggie, were discharged today around 11am. Check Miss Maggie out in her coming home outfit.

Here she is being fitted for her carseat

Here is Martha playing dress-up with the sleeping little girl . . .

We're happy to know that our house is relaxing for her . . . wait until Campbell comes home tomorrow . . . we'll see how peaceful it really is! (Campbell has an ear infection and ran a fever yesterday so the doctor wanted us to leave her at Nana's for another day . . . . THANKS Nana!)

Here she is checking out her new surroundings