My baby is learning so much! Today I had to take a half day at work. Well I was in such of a hurry when I left that I forgot my purse in the closet in my classroom. Of course it had to be a Friday and I would defiantly be needing my things for the weekend so once school was over, I took Emily with me to go get it. My goal was to just be there for a minute but that never happens. Emily wanted to stay and play. She was busy sorting some plastic colored animals that I had at the math center. When I went to check on her I couldn’t believe my eyes. She had sorted them by color! How crazy I thought! What was more crazy was when we finally were leaving I tried to get her mind off of the fact that we were leaving so I asked her if she wanted to count the frogs on the lockers (they’re the locker name tags for one of the 2nd grade classes). I expected her to go to 7 since that’s what I’ve heard her do at home but to my amazement she counted to 11 and with one to one correlation! (meaning that she pointed to each frog as she counted it)
In addition to counting to 11 and sorting by color she can identify colors and names of shapes (circle, triangle, square, heart, star and diamond). Now before anyone starts questioning how she knows all this, listen up, we haven’t taught her any of it! She’s basically learned it on her own and even though I’m ashamed to admit it, Noggin has had an influence too. I’ve been selective with the toys that we’ve bought for her, lots of simple things that encourage her to learn these skills on her own. Em is also a great artist! She loves to draw and paint which has taught her the colors and shapes. I can’t wait till Christmas. I’ve got some great ideas of what I’d like to see her get!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Here We Are
Ok, so we’re not really all that Krazy. But I’ve been wanting to get a blog up and running and decided to stop struggling to come up with a clever name. And yes, I know its spelled wrong John but it looked good with our last name! So here we are,The Krazy Kildahl’s.
It’s September and with that comes the start of a new school year for me and back to the sitter for Em. But before we go there, I wanted to take a look back at some of the fun we’ve had this summer……
We went on our 1st camping trip as a family in June. Actually it the first for John and I together. I still can’t believe that he agreed to go. Thanks goes out to our friends for convincing him it would be fun! We went up to the Peninsula State Park in Door Co. for 4days/3nights. Staying in a state park was a 1st for me too. As a kid we always went to the luxury campgrounds like Jellystone which offered all the amenities. Never had I stayed at a site the had no grass, not even as a Girl Scout. But we made the best of it and all the dirt/mud that came with it.
We had a blast! I still can’t believe that Em was able to sleep all night and take naps in the tent! She had so much fun hangin out with our “extended family” as I like to call them. They are all too good to her! (Especially her “uncle” Steve!)
One of the things on our “to do list” while camping was to bike the trails. It was a good thing the park rented out bikes because for one thing we would have had no place to put them to get them there and for a second, yeah, neither of us owned a bike let alone a trailer for Em. We made it a whole 4 minutes on the bike and Emily was having a nervous meltdown. So John and I started riding back while our friends Steve and Sara continued on the trail. I finally convinced John to just catch up to them and do the trails, that there was no reason for both of us to skip it. So we switched the bike trailer onto my bike and Em and I gave it another try. It didn’t take me long to figure out that the only thing she didn’t like about biking was the rough trails. As long as she was on paved ground she did fine. By the end of our 2 hours she was worn out from all fun. John was worn out too……He never ended up catching up to our friends. Instead he took the trail by himself and ended up on the opposite side of the park, which was about 4.5 miles away. We figure he must have biked over 10 miles that day and let me tell you, we were all resting well that night! Needless to say, we came home and bought bikes and a trailer and have been riding all summer!
It’s September and with that comes the start of a new school year for me and back to the sitter for Em. But before we go there, I wanted to take a look back at some of the fun we’ve had this summer……
We went on our 1st camping trip as a family in June. Actually it the first for John and I together. I still can’t believe that he agreed to go. Thanks goes out to our friends for convincing him it would be fun! We went up to the Peninsula State Park in Door Co. for 4days/3nights. Staying in a state park was a 1st for me too. As a kid we always went to the luxury campgrounds like Jellystone which offered all the amenities. Never had I stayed at a site the had no grass, not even as a Girl Scout. But we made the best of it and all the dirt/mud that came with it.
We had a blast! I still can’t believe that Em was able to sleep all night and take naps in the tent! She had so much fun hangin out with our “extended family” as I like to call them. They are all too good to her! (Especially her “uncle” Steve!)
One of the things on our “to do list” while camping was to bike the trails. It was a good thing the park rented out bikes because for one thing we would have had no place to put them to get them there and for a second, yeah, neither of us owned a bike let alone a trailer for Em. We made it a whole 4 minutes on the bike and Emily was having a nervous meltdown. So John and I started riding back while our friends Steve and Sara continued on the trail. I finally convinced John to just catch up to them and do the trails, that there was no reason for both of us to skip it. So we switched the bike trailer onto my bike and Em and I gave it another try. It didn’t take me long to figure out that the only thing she didn’t like about biking was the rough trails. As long as she was on paved ground she did fine. By the end of our 2 hours she was worn out from all fun. John was worn out too……He never ended up catching up to our friends. Instead he took the trail by himself and ended up on the opposite side of the park, which was about 4.5 miles away. We figure he must have biked over 10 miles that day and let me tell you, we were all resting well that night! Needless to say, we came home and bought bikes and a trailer and have been riding all summer!
Summer recap Part 2
The rest of our summer was filled with simple fun around town. Emily and I found our new favorite picnic spot. It’s a nice shady park tucked away here in Racine that’s only 
about a 20 minute bike ride from our house. We discovered it when we went to a Kid’s Event with RFC (Racine Family Club). Since then we’ve gone a couple of times and was even joined by some of Emily’s friends too. It’s funny, every time we go to that park now, she asks if her friend Neela will be there. And if John takes her, she goes on and on about the time they were there together. We just get such a kick out of her memory. It amazes us how she can remember the tiniest detail that happened a month or two ago.
We did a lot with RFC this summer. Maybe, too much. You see I just go through these periods where I feel guilty that I don’t spend enough time with Emily. So when summer comes around I end up trying to do too much. Our July calendar had something on it everyday. We had play dates at the park, crafts with friends, backyard get togethers. The list can go on and on. I know she had a good time but I always second guess myself about if I’m over stimulating her.
We decided to get a membership to the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum. If you haven’t been there you should really check it out. They have all sorts of hands on things for the kids to do. The museum had a special exibit this summer having to do with Mr. Potato Head which Emily loved! Her other favorite t
hing there is the pretend city. She pretended to be a news anchor in a studio (ok, so she didn’t really know what she was doing but liked being on tv and having a microphone, go figure!) and also played for a long time in the supermarket they have. I just love how children can learn through play. She was busy telling me what she was shopping for naming each item as she put it in her cart, using her manners as she gave her groceries to the little girl who was pretending to be the clerk at the register and the best aha for me as a teacher was when she took her cart to go put everything away and had to sort through all the groceries as she was classifying and matching up the food to the pictures on the shelves ! All we can say to that is Awsome! (One of her new found words :) )
Em and I went on some zoo outings too. We did the Milwaukee zoo with her best buddy Aiden. I swear those too are hilarious when they get together. They are both so happy to see eachother it’s almost scary! Emily just loves her Aiden and talks about him all the time. It’s a good thing fall is here and she’s back at the sitter’s cause now she can see him everyday.
We also got to feed the new giraffe at the Racine Zoo thanks to our friends Shannon and Cameron. Em and I talked about it for days before we actually went and she was so excited! But what do you
know, when the time comes, she just wanted to leave. So I convinced her that we could do it together. 
One of our last outings for the summer was going to Fired Up in downtown Racine. It’s a ceramic place where you can paint a piece of pottery and then they glaze and fire it in a kiln for you. I wasn’t sure how she’d do but I really wanted to give it a try and I’m so glad I did! She had a blast! We picked out a piggy bank and then I let her pick out whatever colors she wanted. She did such a great job and wanted to keep painting that I let her do a second piece that I picked out, a pencil/pen cup for my desk at work. It can be costly to go there but I’d still like to go every once in a while. I can’t wait till she’s old enough to participate in some of the art classes at the art museum. She just loves doing arts and craft things
at home. 
about a 20 minute bike ride from our house. We discovered it when we went to a Kid’s Event with RFC (Racine Family Club). Since then we’ve gone a couple of times and was even joined by some of Emily’s friends too. It’s funny, every time we go to that park now, she asks if her friend Neela will be there. And if John takes her, she goes on and on about the time they were there together. We just get such a kick out of her memory. It amazes us how she can remember the tiniest detail that happened a month or two ago.We did a lot with RFC this summer. Maybe, too much. You see I just go through these periods where I feel guilty that I don’t spend enough time with Emily. So when summer comes around I end up trying to do too much. Our July calendar had something on it everyday. We had play dates at the park, crafts with friends, backyard get togethers. The list can go on and on. I know she had a good time but I always second guess myself about if I’m over stimulating her.
We decided to get a membership to the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum. If you haven’t been there you should really check it out. They have all sorts of hands on things for the kids to do. The museum had a special exibit this summer having to do with Mr. Potato Head which Emily loved! Her other favorite t
hing there is the pretend city. She pretended to be a news anchor in a studio (ok, so she didn’t really know what she was doing but liked being on tv and having a microphone, go figure!) and also played for a long time in the supermarket they have. I just love how children can learn through play. She was busy telling me what she was shopping for naming each item as she put it in her cart, using her manners as she gave her groceries to the little girl who was pretending to be the clerk at the register and the best aha for me as a teacher was when she took her cart to go put everything away and had to sort through all the groceries as she was classifying and matching up the food to the pictures on the shelves ! All we can say to that is Awsome! (One of her new found words :) )
Em and I went on some zoo outings too. We did the Milwaukee zoo with her best buddy Aiden. I swear those too are hilarious when they get together. They are both so happy to see eachother it’s almost scary! Emily just loves her Aiden and talks about him all the time. It’s a good thing fall is here and she’s back at the sitter’s cause now she can see him everyday.
We also got to feed the new giraffe at the Racine Zoo thanks to our friends Shannon and Cameron. Em and I talked about it for days before we actually went and she was so excited! But what do you
know, when the time comes, she just wanted to leave. So I convinced her that we could do it together. 
One of our last outings for the summer was going to Fired Up in downtown Racine. It’s a ceramic place where you can paint a piece of pottery and then they glaze and fire it in a kiln for you. I wasn’t sure how she’d do but I really wanted to give it a try and I’m so glad I did! She had a blast! We picked out a piggy bank and then I let her pick out whatever colors she wanted. She did such a great job and wanted to keep painting that I let her do a second piece that I picked out, a pencil/pen cup for my desk at work. It can be costly to go there but I’d still like to go every once in a while. I can’t wait till she’s old enough to participate in some of the art classes at the art museum. She just loves doing arts and craft things
at home. 
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