Hello Nana!

Nana has finally arrived! And we could not be happier. Cayman and I were waiting outside to greet her when she and Ian drove up in the driveway. Cayman gave her a great big hug, and warmly greeted her with his familiar and famous, "I TWO!" :)

Cayman acted really silly for her and showed off all his tricks for a good 45 minutes. Then he really got down to business and ate his snack! He and Daddy did school time together (something new I've been trying with Cayman to get him to SIT and focus for a few minutes each day) at the table with Nana. Cayman did so good! They sat for about thirty minutes, counting blueberries, working with and writing the number 2, naming objects, etc. (I found Pre-k workbooks in the dollar bin at Target.) A good majority of their time at the table was spent getting Cayman to say the #4 while counting. For some reason he's been skipping #4 while counting, so Ian finally got him to say it the right way, and we all cheered!

I know that Cayman is not ready for Pre-K workbooks. He can't trace numbers or letters. He is learning to count objects, and I've been very proud of him for that. But I didn't buy the workbooks because I want to speed him along in his learning and make him a genius. I just know that a 2 year old is capable for sitting for a short "circle time," thanks to my time at the daycare. I also want to introduce him to a time where mommy teaches and he learns because we will be homeschooling eventually. So far, he seems to enjoy sitting at the table with me and working in the workbook. I will be working on finding different activities for us to do so we can work on his listening skills and fine motor skills (holding a writing utensil and getting it to do what you want it to do!)

Nana brought Christmas gifts in her suitcase! We got to open presents all over again! The kids got some really fun toys. Cayman got one of those "Follow Me" Thomas trains. You hold a "lantern" that shines a light in front of Thomas and he follows it wherever you shine it. It's pretty neat. He also got Dora and Boots (beanie babies) and a Dora book as well. Charis got one of those balls that rolls all over the floor all by itself - it lights up and plays music. She loved it - and true to its name, she really did crawl after it everywhere. And she got a rain forest musical toys with a dancing monkey. And of course she got some more clothes - finally the child has some more pajamas! :)

We are so excited to take Nana exploring this week! I know we're going to the beach one day, and we'll probably take her to go see the manatees! Later in the week, we're going to see our niece (her granddaughter) in a gymnastics performance up in Sarasota. That should be fun!

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