2nd Tooth Falls Out!

Ally’s remaining lower front tooth had been hanging on by a thread. It was really gross. We skyped with Grandma Barbie and Aunt Martha in Florida to show them how loose it was.

At school the kids all tried to get her to pull it out. But she resisted and said “its not ready yet” well on Saturday morning February 8 it fell out all on its own!

There it is the night before. Then, in the baggie we put it in that morning.

Before bed Ally wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy.  (Dear Tooth fairy I lost my tooth it fell out today. Can you bring me something. Love Ally)

In the morning there was a note and a gold $1.00 coin from the fairy.

Random Stuff

 

Ally drew a masterpiece on her white board.

Just cause I think she is beautiful.

Spelling word flashcards. Spelling in English continues to be a bit of a struggle. I spoke to Ally’s teacher about it and she said Ally keeps defaulting back to sounding things out. Even with words Ally knows. Recently she wrote a sentence and spelled if ef and of ov. Just because she is in the habit of writing like things sound! The teacher suggested helping Ally recognize the correct spelling as a way to help her remember the correct spelling. So I made flashcards with 3 wrong ways to spell a word and 1 correct way on the front, and on the back is the correct one with its #. Ally then tells me which one is correct. I am pretty silly about it and go “ding ding” in a sing song voice when its correct and make a nasty “ehhhh” sound like a buzzer when she is wrong. We’ve only tried it for one week, and I’m hoping it will help. Ally is starting to get frustrated about it, and expressed recently that she is a “bad writer” I had to explain that she is and always has been a great writer, she right now just isn’t a great speller. And spelling and writing are two different things. We’re hoping that we can work with her so that she doesn’t get discouraged about the spelling and then start not liking writing. She takes pride in her writing abilities, and she is great at it.

Her teacher said this is the time in 1st grade when then pick up the pace a bit and the expectations of “rightness” start to come into assessment.

Sometimes being a parent is tough.

But sometimes, like when all your hard work pays off with a huge improvement on your daughter's spelling test, it's very rewarding!

Nice job Ally!

Mother and Daughter Fun

It seems recently we’ve been splitting up with Ally. I have been really busy with work, so sometimes at night I have to do some work, and then on weekends, Ally and I hang out so Becky can get her grading and planning done.

Ally has been getting tired of eating the same things and asked to try some new things. We suggested Ants on a Log – you know the peanut butter on celery with raisins on top. Turns out Ally did not like that, but she did like another creation “Ants on a Table” it’s a slice of carrot, with a dollop of peanut butter topped with a raisin. Who can figure out this palette?


We made cupcakes the day after our 2 birthday parties last month, because none of stayed long enough to get dessert at our parties!

I think its clear Ally loves sprinkles.

I have been trying to get back to the gym and reintroduce exercise into my regular routine. I find its hard to find time. So Ally and I have started going swimming together after school one day a week. It was brutally cold our first day, and Ally complained about going in the car ride there. But I explained about how mommy (and Ally) need exercise and so we should go and do it together. I think she really got the point and then stopped complaining and had a blast. We swam for an hour. The picture on the right is a paper Ally brought home from school. It says in Spanish “I go sledding with my mama” Becky was so touched, and pleased. And that is something Becky and Ally do together.

Ally and I saw the D.isney movie Frozen one Sunday – it was lots of fun, and yes Ally brought her special penguin with us – Snowi is a favorite right now.

An unusual first

Recently I purchased a curling iron. Ally’s hair is getting pretty long, and she still does not like to wear it pulled back much or in braids. Since Ally does not like the hair dryer either, but tolerates it most mornings to do her hair, I thought a curling iron and curling it might be an option.

wiggling her 2nd loose tooth in the mirror while I curl her hair

Smiling in the mirror because she liked the way it looked. I thought it was a huge success. Then I left to go to church, and Ally and Becky met me there, and Ally had pulled her hair back into a pony tail. She asked Becky if it was alright, and pulled it back herself. She told me she “didn’t feel comfortable” with it the curls and asked if next  time I could do it not so curly!
I did not get a picture of the finished do – but trust me it was not that curly. Just long waves and a few long curly-cues.
This beautiful daughter of mine is so resistant to change. Oh well – we’ll keep trying.

Glider Golf

For Christmas Ally got one of those old fashioned wooded gliders in her stocking. She loves it! At first we had competitions to see who could get theirs to go the farthest. But soon Ally wanted something more complex. Becky came up with Glider Golf.

That pink basket was the hole – and they moved it around the house to try and throw the glider into it.

This is the scoreboard from a game they played when Aunt Beth was here – I love that AB (Aunt Beth) and MB (Mama Becky) were Ally’s opponents.
Such fun from such a simple toy.

Gymnastics

Becky took Ally to open gym on Sunday, and was pretty impressed with how much Ally’s skills have improved. And at how independent Ally has become at the gym. I take Ally to her weekly practice, and Becky almost never gets to watch Ally in the gym, so it was great for her to see Ally in her element.

Ally has really been enjoying the balance beam lately. Get on, stand up.

Ben over into a handstand

Legs go straight up together for into the handtsand

Then swing your legs down, and your body off the beam.

Hands up to finish. (Hard to get it all photographed on a phone.)
But here is a short video

Beam

Although the bar is still her favorite. I’m not sure why, since she is still really scared to do a one leg spin (mill wheel). But as long as she likes it that’s all that matters.

Front Handspring

Snow Day #3

Its Ally’s 3rd snow day and Becky’s 4th. Becky and I are recovering from colds so we hired people to shovel us out and clear off our cars this time. (Thanks Gwei!)

During breakfast I suggested that today might be a good day for Ally to work on her Valentines for her class. She was super excited! And then proceeded to sit and write out all of them. 24 classmates and 3 teachers. I was pretty impressed. She had a blast.
Then it was time to build a fort and then outside to play in the snow.


They came inside, Ally ate lunch and with some hot cocoa in her special cocoa cup Becky made her, and then went in her room to play. I checked on her after a while and found this:

Ally asleep in her bed! I checked on Becky and saw this:

Becky and the cats asleep on our bed.
Well I could use a nap too, but I am finally caught up on this blog after 11 posts today! Now Ally is awake and I’m going to watch a movie with her and snuggle on the couch.