Monday, October 20, 2014

ECFE's 40th birthday!

ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) has officially turned 40 years old. Governor Mark Dayton pronounced October 20-25 as ECFE week so all ECFE groups across Minnesota are encouraged to host "birthday parties" during this time or at least by the end of October. 

My mom's in the pink; front and center

I have been lucky enough to be apart of ECFE as a child, when my mom brought us there 20-25 years ago back in Crookston. She built lifelong friendships with several of the moms who still go out for lunch every week. They even threw one of my baby showers! I am now back to attending ECFE, but now as a mom, and it is an even better experience on this side of the fence. Classes are facilitated by an early childhood teacher, and I get to watch my child interact with other kids while bonding with other moms, sharing stories and offering tips to each other. 

Duluth simply has a great ECFE program! The location we go to has a beautiful "ECFE wing" and the school is currently fundraising to build a fence and a playground specifically for ECFE. 

I encourage anyone who has ECFE available in their area to make it work with their schedule so they can attend. Both Mira and I love it! (Adam has gone too ;)) 
Sunday, October 5, 2014

19 months


Toddlers at this stage soak up SO much information. Everyday Mira is learning new words, phrases, and new ways to "help" us. She's started saying phrases with 2 or more words together now.

We have also started giving Mira TV time. My goal was to wait until age 2, but the couple times I let her watch it while I wasn't feeling well really helped my sanity. Then I realized, how bad can a 1-2 hours a day be? The shows she watches so far are Mickey's Playhouse, Barney, and Clifford.

New words Mira says on her own, without being prompted, associating with the actual things:
"bike", "seekle" (motorcycle), "Miwa" (Mira), "house" (dollhouse), "gone", "phone", "home"(when we arrive home), "again!", "down", "up?" (when she wants me to pick her up), "bus", "cart" (shopping cart), "My spot" (claiming a place on the couch), "no way", "opeen" (open), "potty" (letting us know when she *thinks* she has to go potty), "Mouse?" (when she wants to watch mickey mouse), "dacket" (jacket), "foak" (fork), "spoon", "baby Anna" (her little doll that SHE named), "owie" or "ow" (when someone or something barely touches her), "muppin" (muffin), "Ready, go!", "windy", "help", "peet" (feet), all her friend's names at nursery school ("Brice", "Cocoa", "Harper", "Saiah" (Isaiah), "Ebie" (Evie), and "Sydney" just to name a few. Her best friend is Cocoa and she talks about her at home all the time. She used to talk about Sydney a lot until Sydney moved into the 3 year old room.

These definitely aren't all of words she knows. It's hard to keep track! 

Mira can:
• count to 3, and recognizes when she has 1, 2, or 3 of something. She always asks for two cookies/crackers when we try to give her one.
• say part of the ABC's
• follow basic directions (Adam utilizes this to the fullest when he needs her to bring him something he doesn't feel like getting)

Random anecdote:
Mira pooped in the tub last night and once Adam and I said something to each other about it she looked down and was just taken aback and got panicky. She then started crying and I thought it was because she was grossed out and just wanted to get out. Once I started getting her diaper and pajamas on she kept repeating "poopy tub" with a heartbroken look on her face. She kept saying it over and over and it made me realize she wasn't just grossed out or upset that the tub had poop in it, she was embarrassed that she did it. This was the first time my one year old felt shame about something that she did and it broke my heart. Adam promptly cleaned it up and said we have to go show her that it's clean. So I went over and told her "see? no more poopy. all better" and I think that helped. What a sweetheart she is though. I love her to pieces :)

Those who came for pics, here's a photo dump of the last month:
My child likes salsa, yes we know this is weird. But cool :)
One of the unique ways Mira tries to help. Not sure of the goal here,
but she brought me all my bras while I was going to the bathroom. 

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