Loving School

Madeline's school is called ChildRoots Center for Young Children.  Children from 6 weeks to 6 years attend this center and we think it's a great environment for Maddy.  There are a total of 9 kids in her class, all within about 3 months in age of each other.  It's been fun watching the kids grow and learn new things together.  The teachers promote learning at one's own pace and they model good behavior for the children.  ChildRoots is an Arts and Science based learning environment and there are new "sensory experiences" for the children every day. They also try to go outside every day, rain or shine. 

The water tub is a big "sensory experience" hit with the kids. They love to splash around!

A stroller built for four

 

 

 

Modeling good behavior - learning to brush those little teeth

Krystal (Maddy's primary teacher) and Maddy with her water cup

The kids all eat at a table sized perfectly for them.

Maddy showing off her bottle holding skills

The new climbing structure (no wonder she learned how to climb our stairs so quickly!)

Nap time!  The children sleep on mats and are free to move about as they please.

May 2012

Mother's Day was March 13, 2012 and we celebrated at the Oregon Zoo. The zoo put on a nice Mother's Day brunch which we all enjoyed very much!

We became zoo members this year and we look forward to spending lots of time visiting the animals and attending concerts.

Springtime is here and the Farmers Markets have begun!  Steve, Madeline and I enjoy visiting our neighborhood Farmer's Market where we can listen to music, buy fresh fruits and veggies and visit the local vendors.  Hopefully the milk booth will be back this summer - they have the best chocolate milk ever.

I have planted our garden in the back and it includes: Cherokee Purple tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, zucchini, cucumber, spinach and yellow peppers.  Our blueberry bushes are looking good - hopefully we'll get more than a handful of berries this year.  It's been raining a lot, which means I haven't had to water at all (trying to find the bright side of all this rain).

Madeline is 13 months old now!  On May 2, 2012 her first tooth came in (bottom right)! She's grown so much and is now more a little girl than a baby...funny how that happens all of a sudden (or so it seems).  She loves to make me and Steve laugh.  She still does her move where she holds out her fists and cocks her head to the side and vibrates - we used to call it her "Pterodactyl" move but now it's silent so we renamed it "Beavis".  (Those of you who watched "Beavis and Butthead" back in the day should understand.)  We're still trying to get a good video of this, but if we do I'll be sure to post it!