| For a Spell |
09/09/2008 |
Katrina’s just learning more & impressing us with every passing day! Of course, we knew she loved school, even prior to this year. But, it seems with first grade, you get to learn some new skills & one of her favorites this week has been spelling! She had a list of ten words that they brought home & we got to practice each evening. She loves playing the game of putting together cards with each of the letters on them to spell a word, especially. Even though she got them all correct during our “practice runs”, she missed one on the actual test they had on Friday. But, 9/10 isn’t bad for someone who’s just learning! She’s happy about it & excited to continue learning more. They have 10 more words this week – 2 which are from last week & the rest are new. We’re so proud of our eager little scholar!
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| Vision for the Future |
09/02/2008 |
Katrina had a regular check-up with her eye doctor this past Wednesday. She has grown accustomed to them over nearly the past 2 years. For those that may not know, she was diagnosed with a condition called Amblyopia, when she was 4½ years old. It is more commonly known as “lazy eye”. We took her to the eye doctor on the notion from her teacher at the time, who noticed that Kat would color slightly to one side of the shapes on the papers she was given & that she tended to look at things further to one side than they actually were when they were pointed at. Neither of her eyes ever actually “wandered”, so it was difficult to even notice, really. But, the eye doctor, after screening her vision, one eye at a time realized that the left one was seeing things extremely differently. At that first visit, her eyesight was 20/70. So, we began using a patch over the “good eye” (her right one), in order to make the vision in her left one stronger. She also got her first prescription for glasses at that time, as well. We have been back every couple of months & Kat has grown significantly & her eyesight has improved a great deal, since then. At this past appointment, we were pleasantly surprised to find that it is now at 20/25! Her prescription lenses were changed once more, but she is still wearing the original, cute, purple frames she picked out almost a couple of years ago, now. We feel blessed that she has shown so much improvement & continues to go on. She has such a great personality & attitude toward the whole thing, too. She has never had a negative comment about wearing glasses & she is very good about keeping them on, during her waking hours. Here’s keeping the faith that she will continue to progress toward 20/20 & that her next appointment, in 6 months will be even better! :)
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| Our Big Biker |
08/26/2008 |
Well, Katrina’s been making more progress on becoming “mobile” this week! Her Dad took her to the schoolyard to ride her bike the other day. They had a great time! She was turning corners & going all over the place on that thing like a pro! So, we decided it was a good idea to go ahead & take her training wheels off. This was a much harder thing for us, than for her, it seems. She was all excited about it, we just weren’t sure if any of us were quite ready. So, we took her to a local park that has a little walking/biking trail around it. The whole thing I’d estimate is only about ¼ - ½ mile, or so. Jeremy & I took turns, helping her balance while riding. Whichever one of us was not helping Kat at the time was pushing Alyssa in the stroller. She got to pedaling rather well & got up to speed where her Dad & I had to jog to keep up, but the entire time, it felt like she was leaning one way or the other, rather then balancing on her own. We each let go a handful of times, but only for a second or two, before we felt the need to grab on & let her use us to lean on… She’s getting there, though. A couple more times & she’ll probably be going around on her own, with no training wheels. We’re proud of her for trying her best & for trusting us & not being apprehensive at all! It’s a great first step! :)
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| Big First Grader |
08/19/2008 |
Katrina just loves first grade, so far! We are so proud of her, too! She is extremely responsible! Even though they’ve only been back in school for like, 5 days now, she already has “homework”. This week & next, she is supposed to wear something & bring something to show her class that is the “color of the day” & she’s doing really well, so far. On Friday, she made sure to tell us, “Mom & Dad, you need to read the note in my backpack about special color days.” So, yesterday was “red day” & today was orange. Tomorrow will be yellow, and so forth, until the 6 major rainbow colors are done, then there are a few more to fill in the other days. She is enjoying it, so far. She has even made little paper hearts & colored them & given them to her teacher & a few of her friends (this wasn’t something assigned, just something she wanted to do, out of her own creativity). We are so glad she is loving school & hope the trend continues for years to come!
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| Back to School |
08/12/2008 |
Katrina is sooo ready for school to start! Good thing her first day back is tomorrow! She went with me last week to Wal-Mart to finish fulfilling her supply list. We also got her a new backpack, new shoes & some new clothes. She picked out some new headbands for her hair, as well. All of this is really exciting to a 6-year-old, of course! While finishing our shopping trip up, we bought groceries together. This included “fun” things to put in her lunch pail, such as apple slices and Raspberry Zingers, too. This weekend, we went to get a booster seat for her, because she’s outgrowing the 5-point harness carseat she was sitting in. She got to pick it out & of course got a pink & purple one, with flowers all over it. She’s been enjoying riding in it & can strap herself in with the seatbelt really well, already. Today, we went to meet her new teacher & see where her first grade classroom is. We’re excited for her, of course, but we also see our little girl growing up before our eyes & wonder just where the time went… We look forward to the future adventures of our sweet first-grader, though!
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