General Update: October

NAME/ALIAS: AGE: Piper, 3years 1 month

PSYCHOMOTOR STUFF: Finally got brave enough this last month to ride her 16in bike (even though she rode her 12in one with no problem) She’s had it forever, but I think she was scared because it wobbled a bit when she’d get on it. It still a tad bit too tall for her, but she did great. We also recently acquired a Wii system, and she is all over it. She loves the swordfighting game especially.

COGNITIVE STUFF: She’s finally ready to do puzzles on her own. Nothing amazing since she’s only doing 12 piece ones independently, but I am so proud of her for finally having the patience and drive to complete them. Previously she would only do them if I helped her and gave her hints about turning the pieces, and would throw a fit if they would not fit exactly. She will work on 24 piece puzzles with a lot of encouragement.

I always type out her update in Word before I post it. I realized that last October’s update was in the same folder so I opened it up and this is what it said:

“Piper has discovered YouTube on the iPhone and looks for favorite videos. She is really good at the puzzles on it even though she struggles with regular ones without help. She gives up too easily when frustrated because a piece won’t fit perfectly even when she knows where it goes.”

Funny that I was talking about her frustration back then too!

ACADEMICS: I’ve noticed more patterning with her blocks. She is a whiz on the computer now and it’s a fight for me to be able to get on it myself. I got her the Jump Start cd’s for Pre-school and kindergarten, and it will be interesting to see how she does on them. I’ve observed her trying to teach Stella to do things like use my iPhone and turn pages in books. Other than a couple of sight words, there’s no real reading yet. I’ve made her a couple of books to hopefully encouraqe her. She’s been very interested in the Scrabble Jr. game lately though, and also in copying my writing. She will only write her name by herself if I bribe her however.

CREATIVE OUTPUT: Lots of drawings- more birthday cakes, an aquarium with fish and a castle, has added eyebrows to her people drawings.

EMOTIONAL ISSUES: Very strong-willed and independent right now. Is having difficulty with jealousy over any of Stella’s new milestones. If someone is excited that Stella can crawl, then Piper immediately has to show us she can crawl too.

SCHOOL UPDATES: n/a