The Vieves

Hi all.... it's Charlene.

It seems as though the last few months, it's been all about Bella and all the wonderful accomplishments and adventures she's been on. It was starting to feel as though Vivi was getting lost in the shuffle, so I wanted to take a minute to write about her.

Vivi has been through an amazing journey these past few months. She seems to have gone from my toddler, to a little girl. Her vocabulary is outstanding. I forget that I'm speaking to a three year old sometimes. A typical conversation will go something like this:

VIVI: Mom, I don't know why Bella doesn't like chocolate. I know it's not healthy, but it's so tasty. I love it. I don't know why Bella doesn't like chocolate.

Her musings really are priceless.

Today, when I picked her up from preschool, there was a Development Assessment waiting for me. Her school does one every few months for every child. It's basically a form which observes a child's progress with her cognitive, language, social, emotional and physical development based on her age. The observations range from 'O', meaning observed regularly, 'E' which means emerging/occasionally, and 'N' meaning needs more time.

Vivi got 'O's all the way down.

I kind of knew all of this as I've always felt that Vivi was way advanced for her age (and that's not just me being a proud parent.) She did everything so much earlier than Bella, it was no surprise that she was doing so well at her preschool.

But here was my favorite part of the evaluation. There's a section for teacher's comments. Her observations described Vivi PERFECTLY. Here's what she said:

Vivi is very independent.

She adjusted quickly when she went up to Rainbow Fish. (Vivi's class). To her, it was just like going up one step higher, and that was that. She instantly made new friends.

She is also firm in doing things on her own. If Vivi does not agree with what you are saying, she will give you her signature 'stare' - a long penetrating one that speaks.

Vivi is very smart. Her knowledge of letters and numbers is a plus. She is able to match similar letters or numbers and recognizes each of the them. In doing her art, she quickly follows directions. If she does not understand, she will always ask help from the teacher. She does not need to be told twice. It will be a pleasure watching her progress more and more in the months to come.

I am so proud of Vivi and the young lady she's becoming. It's hard to believe (and to accept), but I don't have babies anymore. The days of baby talk, baby smells and baby food are long behind me. Now my little ones speak (and argue) like adults, smell like sunshine and play and order from the big kids menu when we go out.

Everyday the two of them just grow smarter and more independent. I only hope that I can continue to instill in them kindness, empathy, responsibility to themselves and others, and openness to new ideas along with all that wonderful intelligence they already possess. If I can manage half of all of that, then I think I would have done my job.

Judging from what I'm seeing from Vivi, I think she's well on her way...

Just don't want to lose this one

I helped her with the spelling (even though she forgot a letter or two... takes after me), but she figured out what to say.
Pretty cute- pretty cool. I'm sure the reply is posted on here somewhere (scroll through the achieves).

Other than that- The girls are great! Bella has been enjoying some summer activities, and is loving her enrichment classes at St. Francis with Mrs. Wargo and Mrs. Vitali.
Vivi is excited for her swim lessons towards the end of summer and is getting ready to go back to 3 days a week at SWCC for preschool:)

All is good...


Here's Bella's first written letter to Santa (from12/2008)

KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION???

Kindergarten Graduation, huh?

REALLY???
Really.

So after kids finish a year of playing with blocks and coloring, we need to have a "Cap and Gown" ceremony for them?

Really.

Well, that's what I thought at the beginning of Bella's school year. I was actually kinda secretly mad about it.

"Oh great- I'm gonna have to go and waste my time celebrating a minor milestone in my child's life just because some yahoo decided we should."

Then the school year began.

Bella was one of the youngest to enter kindergarten, and boy did it show. She was wonderfully polite, quite eager, and very smart for an almost 5 year old (yeah.. she technically started kindergarten at age 4), she just wasn't developmentaly up to the speed of her classmates.

Although preschool introduced writing letters that year prior, she really had just been introduced to the process. But, her kindergarten class began learning how to write each letter of the alphabet properly (upper and lowercase) while also practicing the sound they make. Their homework (yes homework: 3-6 pages per night) had them practicing their numbers, finding words that started with the the sound of whatever letter they were working on that week, and learning to cut paper with surgeon like precision, (ok.. a little exaggerated, but it sure seemed that way at first). They also worked on listening skills and learned how to stay in control and in their seats when told. I'm sure they also played with crayons and paste, ran on the playground, etc. etc., but they did A LOT more work than I could have ever imagined.

Concerned that the class might be too advanced for Bella, we did some research, asked our friend Dr. Dousette, and met with Bella's teacher, Mrs. Wargo. They reminded us she was almost the youngest in her class and assured us that Bella was going to click in, and just work a little harder with her a long the way. and to just give it time.

I began doing flash cards of sight words, and made up letter and sound flash cards, too. We would practice on STARFALL.com nightly and I'd draw pictures to have her color and cut out gluing to other papers to make fields of flowers, all just to try and help things along. Plus, on the opposite end of the spectrum, Lynn continued to guide her with her homework and helped instill the right kind of approach needed to excel in that department.

Then, in what seemed like over nght, it happened: she popped through into the next level of development.

And in true Bella fashion, better than anyone else her age (even better than some of the older students.)

You see- Bella is VERY intelligent.

Besides having her wonderful disposition, her beauty and her miles of charm, she is SO very smart.

I was so proud of all the hard work she put in, and it blew me away to see all the efforts pay off.

So, when we came around to her kindergarten graduation actually happening, I had to cave.

She DID accomplish a pretty hard task, and put in great efforts to reach this goal.

So yes, on the day of her ceremony, I stood there on the sidelines, taking picture after picture.

Being as proud as I could possibly be of my graduating kindergartener.

Way to go, Bella! I'm so proud of you and I'm certain this is just one of the thousands of times I'll be saying that.