I Need To Brag :)

Just a warning - if you hate bragging moms that boast about how smart their children are, then you might want to pass by this blog entry :) Makenna has amazed us lately. Last week she participated in a screening that was set up for all the kids in the school district that will be entering kindergarten the same year she will be. They were going to check vision, hearing and developmental milestones to make sure all the kids were on track and doing well. So we went and I am so proud of Makenna for how she did. In short, she passed with flying colors. They said that she is above average for her age. When they do the vision screening she was the only child all week that was able to actually read all the letters on the vision test! She was the youngest child they tested all week and she was the only one that could do that! When the lady asked her her name she said "Makenna, M-A-K-E-N-N-A". The lady said that she was extremely polite (always saying thank you and your welcome without being prompted), talks in very VERY long sentences (she stressed this part ;) and is very clear in her speaking. They only expected her to know the number 1, and she can count to 29, identify all the numbers, and actually count (not just repeat the numbers). The lady said that she stayed on task the entire time, followed directions perfectly and was appropriately social. They said that they are glad we went ahead and sent her to preschool despite the fact that she is a summer birthday because she is obviously ready for school. And to just add to my already braggish post ;) this morning Makenna added to my amazement. We are currently doing a rewards chart (see description below) with Makenna and she needs to get 10 stickers on her chart to receive a sticker. Well this morning she got another sticker and counted up the seven stickers she has on her chart currently. She looks at me and says "I have seven stickers mommy." Then on her fingers she counts "Eight, nine, ten. I need three more to get to ten!" Okay correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it's typical for a three year old to be able to grasp the concept of addition at this age!

Back to the rewards chart, Makenna has been potty trained for a long time now but she is getting kind of lazy about it. It seemed like every time she'd go to the bathroom she'd forget a step (ie. flush the potty, shut the door, wash her hands, etc). So I made a cute little checklist with pictures that I hung by all the potties in the house to remind her to do everything on the checklist. Every time she completes the checklist without being reminded she gets a sticker on her rewards chart. When she gets to 10 stickers she gets a reward (right now it's an ice cream cone :). It is working unbelievably well. Of course with as smart as she is, the first few days we put this into place I would find her sitting on the potty straining and she would tell me "But mommy I don't have any pee left in me, how am I going to get another sticker?" Luckily that stage has worn off and she just seems to be doing better at remembering all of the potty steps. Most of this was prompted due to the fact that I found MarBear in the bathroom playing in the toilet one day a few weeks ago after the bathroom door had been left open. That was enough to gross any mother out and make her take action :)