Absolutely Awesome

Today was the first day of the letter A week.  It was also our first day including Mason into our routine.  It went far more smoothly than I could have hoped.  They shared well, they played together, they all behaved remarkably well, and they had a productive and happy day.  When Mason got here, they all played with trucks until the Cat in the Hat came on.  While watching that, they all ate and drank some milk.  After the show, we talked about the show, and they were all able to tell me about what they learned.  We then sang the alphabet, and looked at all the letters.  I explained that this week we will be talking all about A and we sang the letter sound song.  The A says /a/, the A says /a/, every letter makes a sound the A says /a/.  We did this for all the letters, and we will sing it each day to reinforce.  We went upstairs and colored the letter A, and circled pictures whose names start with A.  We reviewed the letter A poster, and added words to it.  We talked about animals whose name begin with A.  We colored an apple and an airplane.  We named foods that begin with A.  We sang The Ants Go Marching, while they marched around the play room.  Then I had them play with any toys they liked, while I took them one by one and sat down with them to do a worksheet.  It was matching the numbers 1-10 to the picture of that many ants marching.  They all did well.  CJ was excited to do it, but both Mason and Eliza didn't want to stop playing to work with me.  For each of them I just sat them on my lap and told them that they would be able to play, but that it was important for us to do this together first.  CJ was great, telling them that it was fun, and it didn't take very long to do.  After that, they each sat with me and did a fantastic job identifying the numbers, counting the ants, and telling me which ones matched.  I held their hands to draw the lines, but they did great!  With CJ I had to adjust his grip a few times, but he did it with almost no help from me.  Then together we made a number one poster, with one terrific turkey stenciled on it.  After that, they played in the kitchen in Eliza's room.  They all have great imaginations and they played together so so well.  Mason pretended to make mashed potatoes for everyone and kept giving us a taste, while Eliza pretended to make ice cream for dessert.  CJ pretended to wash the dishes and warm the milk in the microwave like Mommy does.  We came downstairs and watched Sesame Street, and played in the living room.  After Sesame Street we were able to play outside for awhile before it started to rain.  Then while they ate lunch they watched Dinosaur Train and everyone took a nap.  I had to wake Mason up so he would be ready when Miria got here, but CJ and Eliza I let sleep till they woke themselves up.  When they got up they helped me make dinner, and we played with their animal habitat magnet board.  It was a wonderful and productive day.  Tomorrow we are going to continue with A, and 1, and do some activities with circles.  CJ and Eliza are excited, and I hope Mason is too.  I really felt like today was great for all three kids, and I know it was great for me.  What a great leg of the journey, changing our dynamic in such a positive way.