Big Wheels and Ferris Wheels

Guess who’s ready fro her first big girl bike!?  If you guessed mommy, you are wrong.  I took Zoe to the toy store to waste some time one afternoon and decided to try a 2 wheel bike (with training wheels of course).  She just learned to pedal around May/June but all of her little playmates have 2 wheelers and she is always wanting to ride one.  This is a 12inch one and she of course chose the Buzz Lightyear one.  She rode around the store singing for almost an hour and could steer pretty well.  No children or animals were hurt in the filming of this production.

And it is fair time of course.  Zoe has not been to one (well not counting the one when she was 8 months old) so off we went with Grammie and Grandpa.  She rode several rides and was only scared on one, but I was a little shaken up myself.  It was a kiddy rollercoaster that was very violent with the turns and she kept slamming into the side of her seat.  A few more rides and ice cream later, she’s all better.

Phoenix Montessori Academy

Last year we started looking at preschools for when Zoe was 4.  She had been in a traditional daycare for half days since about March of 2009, and while they had a curriculum, we were looking for a calmer more academic environment to start preparing for school.  I have loved the idea of Montessori for years.  When I worked with Autistic children in college, one of the siblings was in Montessori and occasionally I would pick her up when our therapy sessions were close to her school.  She was a bright, independent 3yo at the time, and while some of that was her personality and expectation from her family, I just loved the idea of the Montessori teachings.

Zoe is very smart but is also very caring and motherly, so when kids at her daycare would be rambunctious, crying, hitting, or otherwise just being loud, Zoe would get distracted and worried about them.  This caused her main focus to be on what everyone else was doing and we just felt she wasn’t learning a ton there, or more importantly not enjoying it either.  So we started our search at a local Montessori school at my urging and Lar fell in love with it as much as me.  So that was decided and we just had to narrow it down from 3 local choices.  We settled on Phoenix Montessori Academy in Cornelius NC (about 10 miles from us).  They wear uniforms and follow a school year calendar, so that is big change for us, but she started on Sept 1st and absolutely loves it.  The premise behind Montessori is hands on learning, repetition, self responsibility, individual learning and being good stewards of their self and environment.  It is hard to describe on paper, but she has blossomed here without all the distractions and we could not be happier.  Here are some pics of her first day.

In her uniform eating breakfast. They have to wear “room shoes” or slippers in the classroom

 

Checking the mailbox for her classroom

 

We were worried she would not make her first day, which was a Wed, because she was sick Sun and Mon with fever and GI issues.  We have been very blessed that she has only been that sick 1 other time.  Pretty good for being in daycare.  This time it lasted about 24 hours and she was downright pitiful.  Here is a pic of her sleeping with me, and even though she is sleeping you can see how exhausted and sick she was. 

9 Holes

We repeated our golf outing for last year but this time Grammie joined us.  Grammie, Grandpa, Zoe and I enjoyed 9 holes in August before school started.  Zoe drove the cart some, pretty much by herself with a little help on the gas, and learn to putt.  She enjoyed running out and getting/picking up clubs and tees for the grandparents.  Maybe this will be an annual event.

PA trip

Slightly behind, I guess but we have been so busy the last couple of months.  At the end of July we went to visit the great state of PA for a week.  Here are a few shots form our trip.