we love school!

We went to our first "parent-teacher conferences" this past week. I had no idea that toddlers get conferences, but why not!?! Adelaide is thriving in school, making friends, keeping up with her tasks, learning the patterns of the day. But no surprise to us; she brings her lessons home and applies them to life at our house. Yesterday I gave her a new ("new-new" as Ada would say) puzzle game with multiple puzzle boards and colored shapes to fill them in. She took it off the shelf, set out the pieces and delicately figured out how to set them in the correct places, and when she was done packed it all away, color coding the pieces into their respective sections, and put the box back on the shelf where she got it. Not to say that I never have to clean up after her (far from it!), but I'm amazed that a 19-month old can understand that every project has it's place, and it has to be put away when completed. I take no credit for her precociousness; Montessori is amazing. Turns out that when you teach kids to respect their items, they do!! Who knew?!? (Now how do I teach this lesson to my husband?)

language explosion!

This has been the month of language development. Adelaide's vocabulary has more than quadrupled in the past few weeks. As you'd expect, her favorite topic is food; she names most of her favorite snacks, and frequently asks to go to Costco! We're not sure if she finally decided she was ready to talk, or if she's been inspired by her classmates. (She's fully settled into the school routine now and loves to get going on school mornings.) When we pick her up from school, she introduces us to her new friends. She likes to clarify who gets to "go" along whenever we get ready to leave (and who has to stay home). And cutest of all, she sings along with her favorite songs. All those months of intense listening are finally paying off!