Reagan sings Frosty The Snowman
Showing posts with label Reagan: skills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reagan: skills. Show all posts
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Hopscotch Just Like Elmo
In one of Reagan's books, Elmo is playing hopscotch and the picture is of him balancing on one foot while reaching down for the stone so that was the most important part for her. I don't actually know all the rules to hopscotch, so I sort of made things up, but here's Reagan trying it:
In one of Reagan's books, Elmo is playing hopscotch and the picture is of him balancing on one foot while reaching down for the stone so that was the most important part for her. I don't actually know all the rules to hopscotch, so I sort of made things up, but here's Reagan trying it:
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Soccer Practice
I decided to give Soccer a try when I found out about the Parent & Me class. It was fun and she was always excited to go, but just as excited to play on the playground after the 25 minute lesson. Not worth it again until she's over 3. She had just turned 2, it was in April and May for 8 weeks.
Action shot.
Reagan, still in the green, listening to Coach Al ... or watching mommy & daddy behind him.
I decided to give Soccer a try when I found out about the Parent & Me class. It was fun and she was always excited to go, but just as excited to play on the playground after the 25 minute lesson. Not worth it again until she's over 3. She had just turned 2, it was in April and May for 8 weeks.
Action shot.
Reagan, still in the green, listening to Coach Al ... or watching mommy & daddy behind him.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Catch Up From 2007
December 17 (Happy Birthday Grandpa Kalkman):
At bedtime, Reagan tried to start a "throw my passy out of the crib and whine "pah-ie" until Mommy comes back" maneuver. The 2nd time I went back, I gave her a nice long explanation of how it was nite nite time and Mommy was going to sing some songs and then not come back, so she better keep her passy with her or she won't be able to sleep with it. I would not be back until morning. She fussed for a minute after I left that time, but no passy throwing anymore.
December 19: Counts to 10 and sings part of Wheels on the Bus song!
So she skipped 4, but our jaws were hanging open. We had just pulled out her new art desk with 10 markers and she counted the markers ... one, du, vree, ive, ix, eben, eight, nine, ten ... just like that, it was crazy! She has yet to go all the way to 10 again, but often does 1-5 (still skipping 4) or will do eight, nine, ten sometimes. Her song went a little something like this: "baby bus wah wah wah to town".
December 17 (Happy Birthday Grandpa Kalkman):
At bedtime, Reagan tried to start a "throw my passy out of the crib and whine "pah-ie" until Mommy comes back" maneuver. The 2nd time I went back, I gave her a nice long explanation of how it was nite nite time and Mommy was going to sing some songs and then not come back, so she better keep her passy with her or she won't be able to sleep with it. I would not be back until morning. She fussed for a minute after I left that time, but no passy throwing anymore.
December 19: Counts to 10 and sings part of Wheels on the Bus song!
So she skipped 4, but our jaws were hanging open. We had just pulled out her new art desk with 10 markers and she counted the markers ... one, du, vree, ive, ix, eben, eight, nine, ten ... just like that, it was crazy! She has yet to go all the way to 10 again, but often does 1-5 (still skipping 4) or will do eight, nine, ten sometimes. Her song went a little something like this: "baby bus wah wah wah to town".
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Copy Cat
Reagan stood intently watching me snap my fingers today, then acted uninterested and walked away, but a few steps later, facing away from me, stopped and attempted it. She managed to sort of touch her finger to her thumb for a few seconds, but it was interesting how she decided to go off on her own and try it rather than in front of me where she could see another example.
She also copies the turning around part of Hokey Pokey by spinning in circles during the song. She touches her head to Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and also 5 Little Monkeys (one fell off and bumped his *head*). She has a sign for "music" now and asks for it mulitple times a day. It's kinda nice cause I don't always think to put music on and now she reminds me to do it! Between songs, she'll sign "music" again and look at me like, hey, I said I wanted music, why did it stop?
Dancing Queen
The other night, Cam was reading her a book on the couch and her music was on in the background. A particularly favorite song came on and she excitedly sat up, pointed toward the stereo, and motioned to get down on the floor. She then stood there bopping her knees to the beat. It was like a real person going "ooh, my favorite song, hold on, I gotta dance to this"!
A Real Memory
It's not always "out of sight, out of mind" anymore these days. Yesterday, I sat down on the floor to read her a book and as usual, she situated herself on my lap to get ready. As she got situated, she was trying to grab the pen and paper in my hand, so I quickly set them on the floor just under my leg, out of her sight. She continued sitting on my lap and I thought, cool, that still works, she's forgotten about the pen and paper. 2 pages into the book, she pushes the book aside, gets up off my lap and walks around my knee looking down under my leg for the pen and paper. So, not only did she not forget that I had put something forbidden down there, but the book wasn't even distracting her ... she was apparently too consumed with the lingering curiosity that she couldn't forget about!
Reagan stood intently watching me snap my fingers today, then acted uninterested and walked away, but a few steps later, facing away from me, stopped and attempted it. She managed to sort of touch her finger to her thumb for a few seconds, but it was interesting how she decided to go off on her own and try it rather than in front of me where she could see another example.
She also copies the turning around part of Hokey Pokey by spinning in circles during the song. She touches her head to Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and also 5 Little Monkeys (one fell off and bumped his *head*). She has a sign for "music" now and asks for it mulitple times a day. It's kinda nice cause I don't always think to put music on and now she reminds me to do it! Between songs, she'll sign "music" again and look at me like, hey, I said I wanted music, why did it stop?
Dancing Queen
The other night, Cam was reading her a book on the couch and her music was on in the background. A particularly favorite song came on and she excitedly sat up, pointed toward the stereo, and motioned to get down on the floor. She then stood there bopping her knees to the beat. It was like a real person going "ooh, my favorite song, hold on, I gotta dance to this"!
A Real Memory
It's not always "out of sight, out of mind" anymore these days. Yesterday, I sat down on the floor to read her a book and as usual, she situated herself on my lap to get ready. As she got situated, she was trying to grab the pen and paper in my hand, so I quickly set them on the floor just under my leg, out of her sight. She continued sitting on my lap and I thought, cool, that still works, she's forgotten about the pen and paper. 2 pages into the book, she pushes the book aside, gets up off my lap and walks around my knee looking down under my leg for the pen and paper. So, not only did she not forget that I had put something forbidden down there, but the book wasn't even distracting her ... she was apparently too consumed with the lingering curiosity that she couldn't forget about!
Friday, May 25, 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Happy Mother's Day!
We went to Marie Callendar's Mother's Day Brunch Buffet ... yum. For the first time, Reagan ate 100% restaurant food without us bringing anything from home for her. As we digested, we decided to catch some of her baby sign language on camera :-)
"Outside" (supposed to pull fingers out of hand, but she pulls her thumb ... close enough)
"Please" (actually a rubbing motion, but we taught her to just touch her chest ... easier)
"All Done" (I don't think we taught her this, just reinforced it. Babies seem to do this when they want out of whatever they're strapped into)
"Water" (I think this is the sign for bottle, but she has a bottle so rarely that she didn't need a sign for it, so we used it for water, which is what she drinks when she's not nursing)
"More" (already seen on the blog ... taught this one wrong unknowingly, but that doesn't change it's affect of course)
"Book" (the hands are supposed to open, which she sort of does, but ends up separating her hands so much, it looks like "all done", so we're settling on just putting the hands together)
"You're Funny" JK :-)
Saturday, May 5, 2007
PedicuresAfter watching me clip her toenails over time (not easy without majorly distracting her for each side of each toenail), she decided this is something else she does on her own now and will tirelessly grab at it until I give in and give it to her. She then touches it to her toes so it can work it's clipping magic. Independence, here I come!
So then I asked if she could do Mommy's toenails.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Fearless Bather!
After several months of refusing to sit down in the bath, we have a seated bather! I tried a gradual strategy; a few nights ago, I took a bath with her and pointed out over and over again how Mommy was in the water, the duckies were in the water, the cups were in the water, the balls were in the water ... can Reagan go in the water? ... and I got her to sit with me! Progress!
A few nights later, which was last night, I coaxed her to touch her toes, touch the water with her fingers and splash and make bubbles, grab the washcloth ... but she wouldn't sit down on her own. I guided her down and got all excited and told her to clap with me and she did, but would promptly stand up again. This repeated a few times and then she decided to stay there a little longer.
Tonight, she still wouldn't sit on her own at first, but stayed down for a long time when I sat her down ... and even stood and sat again on her own a couple times. She spent almost the entire bath sitting and sticking foam letters to the side while I poured water over her, even dripping it over her eyes several times! She tensed up like she wanted to stand, but I reassured her with a few "it's ok's" and she decided to let it go and keep on playing. Major progress!
Standing Up On Her Own!
As of Sunday, we suddenly noticed she doean't need a wall or a leg or a chair or anything to get to a standing position now. She goes from ape to human in a matter of seconds. It's like a Darwin flip book!
After several months of refusing to sit down in the bath, we have a seated bather! I tried a gradual strategy; a few nights ago, I took a bath with her and pointed out over and over again how Mommy was in the water, the duckies were in the water, the cups were in the water, the balls were in the water ... can Reagan go in the water? ... and I got her to sit with me! Progress!
A few nights later, which was last night, I coaxed her to touch her toes, touch the water with her fingers and splash and make bubbles, grab the washcloth ... but she wouldn't sit down on her own. I guided her down and got all excited and told her to clap with me and she did, but would promptly stand up again. This repeated a few times and then she decided to stay there a little longer.
Tonight, she still wouldn't sit on her own at first, but stayed down for a long time when I sat her down ... and even stood and sat again on her own a couple times. She spent almost the entire bath sitting and sticking foam letters to the side while I poured water over her, even dripping it over her eyes several times! She tensed up like she wanted to stand, but I reassured her with a few "it's ok's" and she decided to let it go and keep on playing. Major progress!
Standing Up On Her Own!
As of Sunday, we suddenly noticed she doean't need a wall or a leg or a chair or anything to get to a standing position now. She goes from ape to human in a matter of seconds. It's like a Darwin flip book!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Reagan's A "Big Girl" :-)
Self feeding:
Reagan has decided she feeds herself now and is doing a pretty good job at it. She'll actually refuse the spoon from me, grab it, re-dip it in the bowl, then eat the bite.
Doing chores:
She has successfully learned where her shoes go and loves to put them in the basket when we take them off. She also brings a shoe to us when she wants to go outside ... and will get the matching shoe, sometimes after a couple tries, when we tell her to go get the other shoe. I credit my mom for thinking of designating a spot for her shoes. Great idea, Mom! I'm trying to think of other things that double as chores that she can learn now.
More signing and learning body parts:
She seems to be learning things at light speed now too. I taught her the sign for "please" the other day by physically making her hand do it, then giving her what she wanted - my glasses. Ever since that moment, she does the please sign on command. Also, in her bath the other night, she started grabbing her legs and saying "uhh", which basically means "tell me what this is called" and we started going over the names of several body parts ... belly, belly button (which she was particularly intrigued with, especially mine .. and she'll try to lift my shirt to see it), legs, arms, pee pee. After the bath, when I was getting her dressed for bed, we quizzed her on a couple ... belly and belly button ... and she got 'em! What a sponge.
Loving music:
For a while, she's been bopping her knees along to music and will now "dance" on command. We've also noticed she attemps to sing along to songs by saying "uhhh" in a more long, drawn out fashion. She also tries to mimic the hand motions of songs like Itsy Bitsy Spider and she claps along to Patty Cake and If You're Happy and You Know It. She loves, yet is a little frightened of, the talking, singing puppy dog that Auntie Erin got her for her birthday.
Showing affection:
She started showing a lot of interest in my old Cabbage Patch Dolls sitting up in her closet. When I let her play with them, she gave them hugs and attempted to walk around carrying them ... even though they're about as big as her. She also points to all their facial features. She has really gotten into the hugging thing and will randomly walk up and hug us if we're at her level or when we pick her up ... and I mean real hugging; her arm wrapped around our neck (other around our oposite arm) with a nice tight hold and her head on our shoulder on the other side. We always say "ohhh, thank you" when she hugs us and now she's saying "uhhh" when she hugs. I find her randomly hugging stuffed animals by placing them near her neck and saying "uhhh". SOOOOO cute! When I was watching another little girl this week, (Anya - 18 mos.), the first thing they both did was hug each other ... it sort of knocked Reagan over though since she's smaller and not as steady on her feet yet.
Self feeding:
Reagan has decided she feeds herself now and is doing a pretty good job at it. She'll actually refuse the spoon from me, grab it, re-dip it in the bowl, then eat the bite.
April 21
April 25 - getting better ...
Doing chores:
She has successfully learned where her shoes go and loves to put them in the basket when we take them off. She also brings a shoe to us when she wants to go outside ... and will get the matching shoe, sometimes after a couple tries, when we tell her to go get the other shoe. I credit my mom for thinking of designating a spot for her shoes. Great idea, Mom! I'm trying to think of other things that double as chores that she can learn now.
More signing and learning body parts:
She seems to be learning things at light speed now too. I taught her the sign for "please" the other day by physically making her hand do it, then giving her what she wanted - my glasses. Ever since that moment, she does the please sign on command. Also, in her bath the other night, she started grabbing her legs and saying "uhh", which basically means "tell me what this is called" and we started going over the names of several body parts ... belly, belly button (which she was particularly intrigued with, especially mine .. and she'll try to lift my shirt to see it), legs, arms, pee pee. After the bath, when I was getting her dressed for bed, we quizzed her on a couple ... belly and belly button ... and she got 'em! What a sponge.
Loving music:
For a while, she's been bopping her knees along to music and will now "dance" on command. We've also noticed she attemps to sing along to songs by saying "uhhh" in a more long, drawn out fashion. She also tries to mimic the hand motions of songs like Itsy Bitsy Spider and she claps along to Patty Cake and If You're Happy and You Know It. She loves, yet is a little frightened of, the talking, singing puppy dog that Auntie Erin got her for her birthday.
Showing affection:
She started showing a lot of interest in my old Cabbage Patch Dolls sitting up in her closet. When I let her play with them, she gave them hugs and attempted to walk around carrying them ... even though they're about as big as her. She also points to all their facial features. She has really gotten into the hugging thing and will randomly walk up and hug us if we're at her level or when we pick her up ... and I mean real hugging; her arm wrapped around our neck (other around our oposite arm) with a nice tight hold and her head on our shoulder on the other side. We always say "ohhh, thank you" when she hugs us and now she's saying "uhhh" when she hugs. I find her randomly hugging stuffed animals by placing them near her neck and saying "uhhh". SOOOOO cute! When I was watching another little girl this week, (Anya - 18 mos.), the first thing they both did was hug each other ... it sort of knocked Reagan over though since she's smaller and not as steady on her feet yet.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Reagan's First Baby Sign
Can you guess what she's saying?
It's "more"! We've been trying to teach her this one and she got it ... her first sign other than "hi", "bye", and "clapping". Turns out she's really saying "again", but we're using it for "more". In this case, it was more strawberries. She definitely gets it because she'll ask for more even though she still has tofu and veggies on the tray, but is out of fruit or avacado.
Can you guess what she's saying?
It's "more"! We've been trying to teach her this one and she got it ... her first sign other than "hi", "bye", and "clapping". Turns out she's really saying "again", but we're using it for "more". In this case, it was more strawberries. She definitely gets it because she'll ask for more even though she still has tofu and veggies on the tray, but is out of fruit or avacado.Friday, March 2, 2007
Reagan Masters Stairs & Understands Light Switches!
She correctly descended the stairs twice this morning! She has figured it out. She's pretty proud of herself too. She also points to the light, says something with an "i" sound, and looks and reaches toward the switch. Cam showed her how to flip light switches the other day and she has now made the connection that something happens when they're flipped (well, at least the one in our dining room. Other rooms may still be confusing). She will also look and point at the light fixture if I ask her where the light is. I can't believe how much she can understand and how quickly she learns. I just read that at this age, it's time to start teaching them concepts about objects they know, like hot/cold, wet/dry, in/out, and colors.
She correctly descended the stairs twice this morning! She has figured it out. She's pretty proud of herself too. She also points to the light, says something with an "i" sound, and looks and reaches toward the switch. Cam showed her how to flip light switches the other day and she has now made the connection that something happens when they're flipped (well, at least the one in our dining room. Other rooms may still be confusing). She will also look and point at the light fixture if I ask her where the light is. I can't believe how much she can understand and how quickly she learns. I just read that at this age, it's time to start teaching them concepts about objects they know, like hot/cold, wet/dry, in/out, and colors.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
More Reagan Skillz
She made somewhat of an attempt to go down the stairs backward today, the way I've been trying to show her. Before today, it was just ...
1. dangle feet off step
2. scoot butt forward
3. reach for mommy and expect life to be saved.
Today, there was a mixture of trying to go backward with hands down on upper step along with reaching for me to save her and a little of just hanging onto the railing and plopping onto the next step butt first facing sideways.
She definitely has moved beyond sitting timidly at the top of the steps, she goes for it now. We have a gate in the hallway separating her room from the top of the stairs, but I found out today that she knows she can go through the bathroom which leads to our room which leads to the stairs from the other side. She left my side today and headed straight to the stairs the long way without being sidetracked like I thought she would by opening bathroom drawers. She means business. I can't take my eyes off her for a second and she's not even walking yet!! Yikes!
She made somewhat of an attempt to go down the stairs backward today, the way I've been trying to show her. Before today, it was just ...
1. dangle feet off step
2. scoot butt forward
3. reach for mommy and expect life to be saved.
Today, there was a mixture of trying to go backward with hands down on upper step along with reaching for me to save her and a little of just hanging onto the railing and plopping onto the next step butt first facing sideways.
She definitely has moved beyond sitting timidly at the top of the steps, she goes for it now. We have a gate in the hallway separating her room from the top of the stairs, but I found out today that she knows she can go through the bathroom which leads to our room which leads to the stairs from the other side. She left my side today and headed straight to the stairs the long way without being sidetracked like I thought she would by opening bathroom drawers. She means business. I can't take my eyes off her for a second and she's not even walking yet!! Yikes!
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Closer and closer and closer and closer to Crawling ...
Reagan is endlessly fascinated by knocking down this stack of cups. She does a combo of actual crawling (for like 2 seconds) and tummy scooting/flopping (in between 2-second crawling bouts). She's also very ticklish in her armpits and ribs ... just like a human! Who knew she was a real human! I thought she was just a baby! :-)
Reagan is endlessly fascinated by knocking down this stack of cups. She does a combo of actual crawling (for like 2 seconds) and tummy scooting/flopping (in between 2-second crawling bouts). She's also very ticklish in her armpits and ribs ... just like a human! Who knew she was a real human! I thought she was just a baby! :-)
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
Gross Motor Leaps and Bounds!
She went to this position from sitting ... don't get excited, this is so 5 minutes ago ...
What? You're trying to go BACK to sitting! This is advanced core training!
Wait, let me move the "house of toys" out from under your butt ... ok, go ahead, don't give up!
Throwing the upper arm back to get upright ... what a kinesthetic genius :-)
YOU DID IT!!!!! I got so excited at this point, she was just staring at me for a minute trying to figure out my reaction... then she got excited too ... she knew she did something cool :-)
A few minutes later, trying to pull to a stand grabbing my leg...
Stay tuned, the gross motor skills are coming at light speed now ...
She went to this position from sitting ... don't get excited, this is so 5 minutes ago ...
What? You're trying to go BACK to sitting! This is advanced core training!
Wait, let me move the "house of toys" out from under your butt ... ok, go ahead, don't give up!
Throwing the upper arm back to get upright ... what a kinesthetic genius :-)
YOU DID IT!!!!! I got so excited at this point, she was just staring at me for a minute trying to figure out my reaction... then she got excited too ... she knew she did something cool :-)
A few minutes later, trying to pull to a stand grabbing my leg...
Stay tuned, the gross motor skills are coming at light speed now ...
Monday, November 6, 2006
Diamond Reagan :-)
Every day, she gets closer to crawling and pulling up. She can easily get to her hands and knees from sitting and will even attempt to pull her knees in, but gets frustrated at that point and tummy flops. Before it was just pull forward, get toy, go back to sitting; now it's pull forward over to hands and knees to get toy, move knees in a little, then tummy flop ... baby steps :-)
Every day, she gets closer to crawling and pulling up. She can easily get to her hands and knees from sitting and will even attempt to pull her knees in, but gets frustrated at that point and tummy flops. Before it was just pull forward, get toy, go back to sitting; now it's pull forward over to hands and knees to get toy, move knees in a little, then tummy flop ... baby steps :-)
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