Due to illness and the craziness of everyday life, I have neglected the blog more than usual over the last couple weeks it seems.  Here is a little bit of catch up of what we've been up to...

Branna has continued to excel in all her school work.  She loves to read and is currently reading through her first novel based on her favorite movie: Astro Boy.  She also got a cute book from my mom called Three Stories You Can Read to Your Dog.  She was very excited to read them to her dog, Cooper!

She has done really well with her math work and has surprised me at how quickly she catches on to things.  Recently, we started counting by 2's. (She already knows her 5's and 10's.)  After our first day, she was able to count by 2's backwards from 100!  And I didn't even prompt her to do that...I was impressed!

(A side note:  She has recently wanted to start "posing" for her pictures.  She wants to act like she's doing something and then have me take her picture.  Here she is "acting" like she is counting. :) )

Here is another pose for the family tree she put together:

For math one day, we used Easter eggs for patterning:

I used a simpler version of this with Atlie where I gave her one card and she had to find the matching egg top and bottom.

Branna loves to help out in the kitchen and I was very excited to find this easy cookie recipe we used when we talked manna.  (I replaced the egg with oil to make it for safer handling for the girls.)

Atlie has also recently become fascinated with scissors.  I think it's partly just that age and she sees Branna using them, but I also think it's due to her recent experience at the doctor's office.  Over the Christmas holiday, she ended up with nurse maid's elbow and had to get a soft cast while we waited for the diagnosis.   When she got the cast off, the nurse had to cut it off.

 Since then, she has loved to pretend to put a band aid on (usually a long sticker or piece of tape) and then cut it off.  But, I really think this has helped her cutting skills!

I also had her work with tongs to enable that coordination:

By the end of the first week with the tongs, she was able to cut paper! (See the aftermath below...)

The sticker alphabet pages we did a few weeks ago were such a success, that I made another sticker activity.  For this, I labeled a each letter with a different colored sticker (you can see in the picture E=green, F=orange, G=pink, H=yellow).  Using this legend, Atlie identified the letters in the upper portion of her worksheet with the corresponding color.

We also took some time out for a little bit of good old fashion painting.  Branna wanted something "better" than paper, so she painted a box.  I found out later that she intended me to hang it on my wall...

Aisley at 3 Months (February 17)

This month you have really become more aware of you surroundings. You laugh when Branna makes a silly face at you and give big smiles when others get your attention.  I love hearing you coo and babble and to see all the expressions that go with it!

You have continued to sleep through the night and I'm starting to see more of a schedule
in your day as opposed to a routine.

And, as I predicted you rolled over from your tummy to your back this month!  You are getting so strong and I know it's only a matter of time before you are running around, playing with your sisters.