Christmas Morning 2007

At first Sara didn't quite know what to make of the stocking/gift thing. She learned pretty quick! Plus she was in no hurry to get up this morning to open the presents so we were able to sleep in until about 9 AM.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Kiddie Table

On Saturday we had friends over for dinner (Chris and Izzie). While the big people were at the big table, the young uns had a grand time at the "fun table". Matías is a great friend for Sara and has an infectous laugh.
Chris and Izzie are Chilean but grew up in Canada (they are Mac-Guires).

Hot tubbing in the Andes

Dec 15 we headed up to Colorado in the mountains just east of Santiago. It is a ski center and our friend Ute has access to an apartment up near the slopes. Of course, there is no snow now but it is a great weekend getaway!

Final Show 2007

Sara's final show with the kindergarden was tonight (Tuesday). We were a bit nervous because the last show in September was less than successful. Sara cried when she saw us in the crowd and refused to participate...not this time! Yea, Sara! In case you couldn't get the obvious thematic clues, Sara's class' topic was "Happiness".

Well, the Christmas calendar has now been going for two generations. It is a highlight of Sara's day. She gets so excited and then each night counts from one up to the current day...14 last night.

But boy are those pockets small...Mom, how did you ever get three of each thing into the slots?

Sara's report card for the second semester

We picked up this 8-paged document last week from the kindergarden. We thought we would give you a brief run down on the key points.

Introduction: Sara has grown a lot and developed a lot over the past few months. She has stopped biting people when frustrated because she has learned other ways of expressing herself. She now says (in Spanish) "No, I don't like that". She initiates activities with other kids and adults - especially songs.

Socially: When a problem arises, Sara is able to verbally identify the problem before trying to solve it. Ex. Her milk falls over and she will tell the aunt, "Ohhhh, the milk fell down."

She is very independant to the point of doing some tasks completely alone (washing and drying hands).

She has learned to take turns and to cooperate. Once she has put her backpack and snack away, she will automatically help the other kids put theirs away.

Fully potty trained!

While Sara used to have a tantrum if faced with a difficulty, this rarely happens now as she can express herself in other ways.

Social Relationships: Good relationships with both other children and adults. She is starting to interact/play with other kids spontaneously. She reacts to others pain or discomfort of others. If a kid is crying, she will try to comfort the boy/girl.

Creativity: She can take on a role when playing and use objects to represent other things. She will make or draw something and name it. If she is playing with playdough, she will roll out a long piece and then call it a worm. She can describe photos.

Movement: She can run, climb and jump... most times without bumping into other kids!

She can manipulate small objects easily.

She loves to follow instructions especially with music. And she loves to dance.

Language and communication: Sara can listen to and then respond to an instruction sponteneously. At the beginning of the year, Sara could use one or two words together, now she can string four or more together to construct a phrase.

In the first semester, Sara usually only listened to Spanish and could/would respond in English. Now she responds freely in Spanish.

In respect to bilingualism, there appears to be no negative effects of learning two languages at this time. This is quite a feat.

Exploration and logic: She can use tools to complete tasks - like a paint brush or a broom.

She can count (in both languages) accurately.

She can follow a routine.

She can remember what she did the day before at a certain time (when going out to the patio, she will recall that they played with the balls the day before on the patio).

Conclusion: Based on this, Sara is wonderful (my words). She has made some significant developments and has some great abilities.

We agree completely...don't you think?

Learning to do a summersault

Gifts

On grandma's OK, we opened one of Sara's presents early. Grandma feared that perhaps Sara might out grow the dress before Christmas.

Of course, being a good female (and Mcguire), Sara ran immediately to the mirror to check herself out.

Sara in December

Hello everyone! This is my first attempt at a blog and I have a feeling it might be your first encounter with one too!



I hope to keep everyone up to date on our activities during the Christmas season and our summer holidays.



And I hope you will check in often!