Letters Everywhere!

For the last couple months, we've been working on letters with Leah. We write them with chalk, we play with the magnetic letters on her easel, we play with an electronic Sesame Street letter game, or we sometimes watch Leapfrog's Letter Factory. She is doing so well! Lately, she loves when I write a letter and ask her what it is, or similarly, ask her to point to a particular letter on the Sesame Street toy. She clearly loves the praise when she's correct and is proud of her accomplishments.

There are only a few letters (N, V, Z) that stump her. I found that one of the best ways for her to remember her letters is to give her a familiar word or person/dog she knows that she can associate with it, such as C is for Cookie or H is for Hud. So, if anyone has any fun suggestions for N or V, let me know! I'm trying zoo/zebra for Z.

The other thing I really love about her interest in letters is that she notices them everywhere now. On storefronts, on posters at the library, on someone's shirt, etc. Last summer, she did the same with her colors. She pointed out various ones she saw, which gave her a lot of practice and helped her master them. It's really awesome to see her doing the same with the alphabet.

Wiggly Party & Winnie the Pooh

Last Tuesday, we took Leah to see The Wiggles perform in Atlanta! We all had so much fun. Dan took the day off of work and we went to their 2:30 show. From watching The Wiggles' live concert DVD, along with info from friends, we learned that many kids bring roses for Dorothy the Dinosaur (Dorothy's favorite thing in the world) and bones for Wags the Dog. Naturally, we decided we must do the same. ;)

When we arrived at the theater, Leah was a bit apprehensive. For the couple days before the show, I believe she thought she was going to meet The Wiggles; she told us who she wanted to hug when we saw them. So, I think as we walked inside, she expected them to be right there waiting. We checked out the merchandise table, where Leah decided on a plush red guitar with the line, "Play your guitar with Murray" embroidered on the strap.

Our seats for the show were amazing - 5th row! Again, Leah got a bit nervous as each Wiggle came out onstage. I pulled her onto my lap, started singing along with the songs, and pointed various things out to her and within no time, she relaxed. She did a few dance moves to various songs and overall really enjoyed the show. I was so glad!

Truth be told, I had an excellent time as well. I've enjoyed watching The Wiggles on DVD or YouTube with Leah and was really looking forward to the show myself. They are so talented and put on such a fun show for kids and parents alike. I think I snapped a gazillion pictures!

This past week held another new experience: Leah's first movie in a theater. We took her to see Winnie the Pooh! She really did great. When the previews began, and a few were super loud and intense, I noticed that she grabbed Dan's arm and was a little freaked out. Then, when the lights dimmed way down for the start of the movie, she came and sat in my lap again and remained there for the duration of the movie. About halfway through, she asked me if we could turn on the lights. ;) Other than that, she seemed to enjoy the movie and was so excited as each character appeared onscreen. Once we got home, she immediately gathered up all her Pooh stuffed animals to play!