Today marked the day that I officially started Alan's school work here at home.We are starting with the theme "all about me" and made a book that included his name, his age, the color of his eyes and hair, the colors of his shirt and pants, and the number of hands, feet, eyes, and ears he has (2). The last page we did was picking "this or that" pertaining to him, so the choices were "girl or boy", "sad or happy" (he picked sad.  I think it is just because he seems to be more fascinated with sad faces for whatever reason), and (age) one or three. He was proud when I helped him hold up three fingers and he managed to do it himself after I showed him. :)

We also are doing the letter A sound for the whole week, so now he's going around saying, "a, a, apple." :) We tried practicing drawing and tracing the letter a. He likes tracing the raised flashcards with his finger, but is having a lot of difficulty tracing letters with a writing utensil so far.

 We also need to work on circling a picture better, because he doesn't get this concept. He also doesn't get that when gluing something, like we did in the book today, he shouldn't put the pictures upside down or overlap them with another image, so we can't see the other image. But this is all okay, because today was his first experience with us doing something like this, and he's only been 3 for a month now.

The best part is that he was so proud of himself after he completed those book pages, and I was so proud that whenever I asked him his name, he said, "Alan!" which is a HUGE accomplishment for him. I'm so happy he finally understands name. He also responded that he was three today, which was also a first, so I am so happy. The other big accomplishment of the day was that I asked him, "are you a girl or a boy?" and he said "boy", then he said, "you a girl, Mama". He understands opposites like this quite well, so I was happy that he indicated that I was a girl, and he was a boy, because in the past, he's called me a boy. :P

I will post the photos of the pages of the book we made soon!

Here is the video we watched today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xChg1vBZVuo&feature=my_liked_videos&list=LL7ApVFcuKxx_U3fahWhrLDA

About Me and Excitement, Then Back to Chores

I found some "about me" blog questions online that I want to answer, but if anyone reads this and has any more questions, ask away. I am a truly honest person, so I answer all questions honestly. So here are the questions, as well as my answers:

1) What is one of your favorite ways to spend a Saturday?
This is a great question, since today is Saturday. I like both being able to go out and do something on the weekends, either with my son or my fiance (or both), or with friends, and I also like "lazy Saturdays" just sitting around watching TV and hanging at home. Sometimes, my fiance will get up with our son on Saturdays, as our son is an early riser (I mean REALLY early!), and let me sleep in, but sometimes this just occurs on Sundays. Today I got to sleep in. Today is a productive Saturday, though, because I have chores that I'm doing to get the apartment acceptable looking for my in laws coming in for a visit tonight. Speaking of which, let me go switch over the laundry. I'll be right back. ;)

There, look, I'm back! It doesn't even seem like I was gone, does it? Oh, the magic of blogging. ;) Anyway, continuing with the questions:

2) List your top three favorite TV shows.
1) I would have to say my favorite one is Parenthood. It is returning for its 4th season on September 11. I became obsessed with this show when it was in its second season (I've still never seen all of the first) because I just decided I had to watch it since Lauren Graham from Gilmore Girls (a former favorite show) is in it.  http://www.nbc.com/parenthood/
2) My second favorite currently is Bunheads. I don't watch TV on TV usually, I normally watch my shows the next day online at hulu.com (or on the show's website, as the case may be), so I missed the first episode of this show, and hulu takes videos down after a few days. I was on vacation when the premier aired, so I'm only getting caught up as hulu is reposting older episodes again. I've seen the first 3 episodes now, and I'm already in love. It was written by the people who wrote Gilmore Girls, so you can see again how obsessed with Gilmore Girls I still am. http://www.hulu.com/bunheads
3) I guess the third favorite that I am watching right now is Teen Mom. The original girls are in their last season, as their kids are getting older, and they couldn't keep up with one of them because she keeps ending up in jail. I like to watch this because I was a teen mom, so the stories are relevant to me and I have been watching the show the whole time it's been on, so I like to know what's happening in their lives, but go ahead, judge away. I can take it. ;) I watch teen mom on mtv.com every week. http://www.mtv.com/videos/teen-mom-season-4-ep-8-the-next-step/1690886/playlist.jhtml
I also am excited for Grimm to come back very soon, and I watched season one of Once Upon A Time, and I can't wait until that comes back on. The other guilty pleasure I watch is Dance Moms, and I like watching Awkward on mtv also. Some of my other favorite past shows like Gilmore Girls that I used to watch constantly were Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Full House. Okay, so I've listed more than three shows. Sue me. Well actually, don't. ;)

3) Would you rather be in pictures or take them?
Definitely, definitely take them. I am an amateur photographer, and I love taking photos. After having my son, I have gained a bit of weight, so I really hate photos of myself now. So definitely, taking photos is what I prefer. Oh, and here is where I post my photos: http://sandyandi146.deviantart.com/

4) Why do you blog? 
I've tried blogging in the past, and felt like I had to really keep up with them, and then got discouraged when I went months between posts. I never got anyone to read or follow my blogs either, but now, I don't really care. I'm just writing this more for me and my family because I am going to post things about homeschooling my son in preschool this year.

5) Share five websites you visit regularly…
1) My homepage is MSN.com, so I read through the headlines every day when I go online to see what's happening in the world. I also check my email from there. http://www.msn.com/
2) Facebook. I am addicted to facebook. I check it like 9 million times a day and post pictures, and play games.... ugh. I am a facebook addict. http://www.facebook.com/andrea.seiden.7
3) Deviantart. I posted my deviantart page in question 3, because it's where I upload my photos, as well as other art projects I occasionally make. http://www.deviantart.com/
4) I guess since I've shown you my photographs I have to show you the website I go on to edit my photos. It's http://www.picmonkey.com/.
5) I guess this is going to be my 5th website that I visit regularly, now that I've started this blog! ;) http://andreahandsonmom.blogspot.com/

I have realized that I'm a wordy person, so these answers to the questions are longer than I thought! I guess I'll make this a part 1, and post 5 more tomorrow! :)

My son's birthday party is tomorrow, and he is so excited! I am excited to decorate and celebrate with him! Pictures will definitely go on here from that! :) Okay, back to chores for me. Goody... ;)

August 3, 2012

It is August 3, 2012. I am starting a blog about my life learning and growing each day, and about my interaction with my son, especially as I am homeschooling him for preschool this year (which is why I started this blog). Hello! I will write more soon when I have some more time ;)