Preschool

Well, David came home from work yesterday and asked me if I was really busy right now. I told him, "Yes... it's midterms at the college, etc..." Then I wanted to know why he was asking. He then informed me that Eva's been doing lots of cute things and I haven't been writing about it on the blog and I still hadn't put up the pictures I promised a month ago. So, sorry... I have been very busy and am only getting the chance to write now because I'm multitasking while giving an exam to my organic chem students. They are very intent at the moment.

Eva is such a little girl anymore, and not a baby. She is a delight simply to talk to and carry on a conversation with. The other morning, she was telling Baba what she wanted for breakfast. I commented that David was letting Eva boss him around a lot, to which Eva pipes up, (very loudly) "I a bossy woman!" We all agree, and fortunately for her I happen to really like bossy women. If I didn't, I'd have a hard time liking myself or any of the women in my family.

She is delightful to watch dancing, she gets her whole body into it--wiggling, bouncing, swaying, waving her arms. She also will sing along with songs only she misses half the words and the ones she gets are in the wrong order and well are mostly wrong. But it's really cute and she sings them enthusiastically.

So, Eva started pre-school this week. Yes, she is young for pre-school. She is 8 months younger than the next oldest child. However, she is responding very well to it. She thrives on structured activity and learning. Her teacher says that her knowledge is on par with the other students, and that she has a great attention span. She will sit and listen to the entire story and look at the pictures, she will stay at the station and finish her project instead of wandering off. I am told her attention span is better than that some of the older kids have. Also, her teacher says she is very well mannered and polite. I was also told that Eva's favorite part of the agenda was the music. The other kids enjoy her and one of the little girls even gave her, her phone number (granted it was a bunch of random letters, but still it was sweet). They all greet her when she comes and say goodbye when she leaves. I think that Mrs. J trained her really well for pre-school with her story time etc. Also, Mrs. J worked with Eva on her shapes and numbers, letters and colors a lot. Eva knows all the shapes short of a parallelogram and the equivalent. She still gets mixed up on her colors, but she can count to 5 really well and understand what the numbers mean. She is forever counting her toys now and telling me how many she has of something... I try not to get tired of hearing it. She is very good at matching and doing puzzles. At church this weekend, she informed Granny that she was sitting at a table that was a circle. Granny told her that she was correct and asked her what the shape of the table next to her was. First Eva said, "I don' know," but then immediately added "It rectangle." (Which it was) Then she looked around and noticed that "There lots of rectangles Granny." When we were walking into Walmart last week, I was holding Eva's hand and watching for cars when Eva comes to a complete stop and I hear a voice say "Mommy, you step on triangle." I'm thinking, "What in the world?" When I look at what she's pointing at and sure enough, there was a triangle painted on the parking lot. She's very observant when it comes to her shapes.

I have been told it is normal, but Eva talks from the moment she wakes up until she goes to sleep. She does not like the cats to sleep on her things or play with her things. She's still quite competative with the cats. Some time last week, Eva decided that her Baba was her favorite person, so she's been spending all the time she can with him. They particularly enjoy looking at train catalogues together and watching Thomas the Train on TV, which is far and away her favorite program. In fact it is the ONLY program she will watch all the way through. She's been making me read her "Shoaoy and Dot" before bedtime each night, which is a story about Chinese adoption. On one page of the book there are pictures of babies in these little walker, high chair things that they use in the orphanages in China. I've never talked with Eva about them before, but the other night we're reading the story and she is studying that page. I was going to turn the page when she put her hand on it and looked up at me very seriously and said, "Mommy, I have one of those." I said, "You did?" Eva replied, "Yes, I think so. I sit in it, sometimes. I play with my toys." I believe her and I think she actually remembers being in one of those, which is amazing to me anyway. Nothing else would explain her statement, because it's not like she's around them nor have I ever talked to her about it. Have I told you what an amazing brain that little girl has? In any case that is her favorite book right now and she will tell me what is going to happen before I get there. In fact, Eva loves to give commentary. She also gives commentary on her Thomas the Train shows. Granny finds them delightful.

So, David (significant Dave?), as pertaining to your comment to the previous post, I apologize that I only have words for you to read. I find them interesting, anyway, even if no one else does. I will work more dilligently on posting some pictures. My O. Chem students hare half an hour into the test and no one has shot me a dirty look yet... I think they're still too busy. It is a hard exam.

This is october and at the end of this month Eva will be 2 and a half years old. She wears a size nine shoe (which is getting too tight for her) and a 4T top, with a 3T bottom. She will have been with us for 16 months and it feels like it has to be longer than that. This being a mom business really is the best thing going. I am very much in love with this family that God has given me.