An example of Natalie's weekly "report card"

Natalie's daycare sends home a sheet every week on which they have evaluated her behavior every day. It's titled "How Well I Do With Classroom Rules." Here is last week's report - the portion where the teachers have added their comments. It's a mixed bag of a report for the week, which is pretty typical for her.

Monday
Enjoys and participates in the morning meeting, though reminded to stay with the group and wait for her name to be called.

Tuesday
She's a little bit fussy today. She whines whenever things doesn't get her way (sic). Reminded to use words to say what she wants.

Wednesday
She cuts with scissors so well and able to follow lines while cutting. Reminded to wait for instruction before moving to another activity.

Thursday
She always show (sic) pride in her accomplishments by demonstrating it to teachers and friends. Though reminded to keep hands to self when others don't agree with her.

Friday
No notes

Yep. She's her parents' daughter!

Struggling to understand how things work

Earlier this month, I went to Orlando for a few days on a business trip (I was grateful to get a few bonus days of summer). Sarah and Lexi drove me to the airport late on a Sunday afternoon. Lexi seemed to understand what happens when you bring someone to the airport. She knew that I got on a plane and left for a few days and that I came back on an airplane. But now she seems obsessed with airplanes. She has talked about airplanes almost daily since then. She asks if I’m going on an airplane again or says that she’s going on one. We’ve explained that I will not go on an airplane until I can go with her and Mommy together – that we’re all going somewhere next month – to spend Thanksgiving with Sarah’s family. But Lexi seems very excited about going on a plane herself again.

Something else that Lexi has become obsessed with – or at least speaking positively about and fairly regularly about – is going to daycare. She’s even gotten to the point of asking to go to daycare on weekends! We need to work on getting her in the pattern of a five-day work week followed by two weekend days. I guess she expects to be taken to daycare every morning and doesn’t understand that on the weekends, she gets to stay home with us (maybe staying at home is no longer desirable!). But this seems to indicate that she is finally comfortable with daycare. She seems to be enjoying herself there and even talks about a friend, Jamon.

We see evidence of other benefits of daycare. Her vocabulary is developing well. We often hear her repeating phrases that she can be hearing only at daycare:

• “Sit down” (which she commands her dolls and stuffed animals to do)
• “Wait your turn.”
• When asked once a couple of weeks ago what she ate at daycare that day, she said “meat.” Until recently, you might have believed that Lexi was a vegetarian, but she suddenly took a liking to chicken and one or two other kinds of meat.
  

This improved vocabulary and picking up of new words, especially in songs, has helped on long car rides. We went through a long period in which Lexi did not like riding in the car for long periods of time. But this past weekend we went away to Shenandoah National Park and spent many hours at a stretch in the car. She was a patient girl most of the time, and we spent a good amount of time entertaining each other with songs. Lexi has a good repertoire of songs from daycare as well, but she really enjoys having someone sing with her - she forgets all the words to the songs and needs someone to follow. Lexi really gets into singing together, and if we happen to stop, she will be kind of bossy and order us to sing: "Daddy, sing! Mommy, sing!" And then: "Clap your hands! Mommy, clap your hands!" Her repertoire includes:

• The ABC song (to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star")
• The Wheels on the Bus go 'Round and 'Round
• Jesus Loves Me
• This Old Man
• Old McDonald Had a Farm
  

Lexi is about to go through her first real Halloween. Although she’s 2 and has been around for two Halloweens before, we were living in countries where this holiday isn’t really celebrated (in the American way, at least). We’re getting all the elements together. We’ve purchased a costume for her, we bought a pumpkin, and I’m sure she’ll catch on very quickly to the main purpose of the holiday on Saturday itself – getting free candy from strangers. Otherwise, it has taken a bit of work on our part to get her to understand what this holiday is all about. It took several days to familiarize her with the pumpkin, for example. When you have to orient someone to things like this, when you have to explain these traditions in their fundamental elements, it all does sound kind of bizarre and makes you wonder why we have such strange customs. But we are looking forward to experiencing these fall and winter holidays back in the U.S. with her now, where we do them “our” way (the way we as Americans are used to having them done) and fully, and when she’s getting old enough to understand and appreciate them.

Learning her own songs

For grace before meals at home, the three of us hold hands, and sometimes Sarah and I will sing (something like "Be Present at Our Table"). Because Lexi doesn't know the words to table prayers or can't sing a standard grace, the holding of hands is something she can do and is her way of participating.

Since I picked her up from daycare after work today, Lexi has been in a good mood. She must be feeling better from her cold and ear infections and/or is starting to enjoy daycare.

Tonight in the middle of dinner, Lexi extended her hands and said, "Hands." So we all held hands again in a circle. Then she started singing a short song - all by herself (of course it was words that we didn't understand). When it was over, she said, "Yay!" and clapped a little. Then I commanded her as she often commands us: "Again."

So we joined hands again, and she repeated her song, complete with the "Yay!" at the end. She must have learned her song at daycare today. Yay!