Naming and Narrating EVERYTHING

On school mornings, I first see Anna Claire right after her blueberries and yogurt with Daddy, and after I am finished getting ready for school. She will usually tell me what she had for breakfast, "deddy!" (berry), who fed it to her, "Daddy!" and what is on TV, "Bill!" (Little Bill).

This morning, when I was putting her in her carseat, I said, "Seatbelts, so we can be safe!" She picked up on the reference and said, "Doda!" (Dora).

On the way to "school", Anna Claire is narrating, grooving, and smiling. "Chee!" (tree) "ights!" (lights) "Whoa whoa!" (she sees lots of birds).

Anna Claire's favorite thing to do right now, is to sit with either me or her daddy, and name animals and objects in her new coloring book from "Nene". It is an animal coloring book that Momma gave her last Sunday, along with a set of crayons, that included a PINK crayon. She was happy to have pink, but even happier with the bold, electric blue crayon. It really is a pretty shade of blue.

Anna Claire will also try to emulate me when coloring. When I color, and make long strokes, so will she. When I write words, she likes to practice making little marks. Whatever I am coloring, she needs to put her mark on. However, I usually color one page, while she colors the opposite page. She is able to read outloud any YBCR word that I write on the page, and many words she has seen just from being read to.

Anna Claire has a little ABC book, that has been a favorite of hers since she was 6 months. I bought it from the Salvation Army for a dollar. Was that ever a dollar well spent. We looked through the entire book today. I always let her go first, then I name the items she does not know. For the first time, she named more of the items than I did, so she knows more than half. I'd say there are about 4 words per letter in the alphabet, so that's a good fifty words that she knows, to include non-YBCR words: popcorn, helmet, carrot, mittens, and robot.

Anna Claire LOVES Blue's Clues. When she tries to say "Blues Clues" it comes out "poo poo," which Larry thinks is hilarious. I have been putting paw prints on things around the house, and she gets so excited when she finds one. Like tonight I put one in her "Notebook" and on  the shower wall during her bath. She kept telling me "Coo! Coo!" She does have her "Notebook that I made her. I drew the Thinking Chair on the cover, and she asks for me to sing her the song, "Blues Clues" several times a day. She will groove to it when I start singing.

I just reread this post and it just sounds like she watches a lot of TV to me, but she really doesn't. Blues Clues only comes on on the weekends, and we only catch five minutes of  Little Bill while I fix her hair, and 10 minutes of Dora at night after bath.  Just saying.