Not So Fast There

So I was (joyfully) wrong about Ambree entering her terrible two's. It appears that her blurp in behavior was probably caused by me having an 8 month old in our house for most of February. (Even though Ambree loved playing with her friend, it did eat away some Mommy time). That's the only thing I can think that was different and may have been attributing to her change in attitude, because as soon as it came, it was gone!

She still wants to say no, but if we remind her, say 'yes, Mommy!' she excitedly hurries to obey. There is joy in her obedience and I rejoice that we are still in such a teachable phase.

Something new we just started yesterday is 'Circle Time.' It's an activity created to prepare toddlers and preschoolers for preschool and hopefully in our case will prepare Ambree for sitting in church. My friend Crystal suggested this website because she knows we are contemplating home-schooling: preschoolersandpeace.com. I've only looked at a few pages of the site, but so far I've found it pretty helpful.

So we started 'Circle Time, ' which can consist of anything where you and your children are sitting in a particular spot with the intention of learning something and practicing sitting. For us right now it includes a fun song, going through her catechism (we're only on question four but its a tough one) and playing with flashcards. At first she was entirely uncomfortable with the idea of sitting on a blanket with Mommy just looking at her and talking. She asked for her barn and toy house to sit with us, and after that she became a little distracted, of course. I was discouraged, looking at the clock to try to decide how long to drag this out. But then she saw the flashcards! What I had been saving for last because I thought it would be dull for her, was the highlight of Circle Time. They are just pictures I drew of shapes that she knows with the addition of the long 'Big A' and long 'Little a,' and her first memory verse (a shortened version of Colossians 3:20). She loved it, and quickly picked up her new letters and what sound they make. After nap time she asked for 'circle time' again.
It's nice to have these new elements of structure in her day. Next week we may try story time at the library!