Phoebe had her debut musical performance, playing the xylophone and tambourine in a school concert. Despite a mostly full auditorium, well-lit for some reason, she didn't have even a touch of stage fright. She was all smiles before, during and after. 
Tessa enjoyed the evening in true annoying little sister fashion, by stealing the hearts of everyone around when she yelled out Hi Phoebe! when she came on stage. She also announced to the auditorium when daddy reappeared from the bathroom, Daddy! We're over here!!! Then after the show, climbed on the back of Phoebe's chair and rode it like a chariot. 
Tessa is a fast learner but I admit that there are some things I have not wanted her to learn, like cutting with scissors. Too bad for me that after a couple days of school she became proficient at it. There was, however, a teacher's evaluation that came home in January surprisingly off from what I would expect it to be. One example is "shows an interest in books and reading" was checked as "not yet". Huh?!? She has half the books on her shelf memorized, she "reads" (recognizes letters or shapes of entire words) everything from street signs to video jackets. I think the problem is that in the school setting she doesn't behave the same as she does at home (which can be both good and bad). The teacher reads to the class during Circle Time, so if Tessa doesn't like to sit during circle time the teacher may think she isn't interested in the book. My plan is to wait until the next evaluation, and if the same concerns are there, I will approach the teacher on how to make the classroom a more effective learning environment for her. This is exactly why I wanted her in preschool to begin with - to learn how to use her energy and intelligence to an advantage without her getting bored and consequently falling behind in grades where it will count. She does do well behaviorally, as she brings home a card with her name on it and three happy faces every time. She proudly pulls the card out of her backpack to show us. A couple of nights ago she had the card in her hand and was showing me her name. I asked her what each letter was and she read her name off the card. She then saw a pen (usually in hiding in our house) and asked to write her name. I turned the card over for her thinking she was about to scribble meaningless doodles, but she drew one line across, one line down and proudly announced she had drawn a T. (center of photo) She then drew a few more lines as she said each letter of her name. Before the T disappeared, and being a little shocked it turned out so well, I turned the card around and asked her to draw another T (appears upside down on left). She did it! My three year old is a genius! Seriously, though, the girls' got some mad fine motor skills. 
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She has been totally addicted to it since she got it for Christmas. It is a great bribe (after we do X you can play your game) and a major source of meltdowns (turn it off now, now, now, okay I'll turn it off - result - screams). I am relieved she actually gets the games though, because they are recommended for ages 4-8 and I was worried it would be a waste of a gift. I had to watch over her shoulder to believe it, but she really plays the games and gets the answers right most of the time. Like I said, genius! My beautiful, amazing girls!
