My little Savanna is seriously BRILLIANT! ;) I started noticing this a few days after her SECOND birthday when she brought me one of the magnetic letters from our fridge and said, "Look Mom! It's a G!" And it actually WAS a G! She kept bringing me letter after letter, and she knew ALL of them! On one of them, she said "This is a S...no, it's a Z!" and it was a Z. She knows all the letters and numbers, upper and lower case! It's crazy!
Then, not long after that, we were going on a walk and she saw a yield sign. The little genius exclaimed, "Look, it's a triangle!" We spent the rest of the walk pointing out triangles, circles, and rectangles.
She totally must have learned everything from Super Why or Team Umizoomi, because I've certainly never taught her anything about shapes, letters, and numbers. I'm actually not a huge fan of kids knowing EVERYTHING before they start school, because then they'll be bored out of their minds all year long in Kingergarten (like I was). I'm also not trying to say that watching TV is good for kids! I really think that she just has excellent retention skills, because I don't want to name any names...but one of her siblings that has yet to start school watches pretty much the same TV programs and doesn't know NEARLY as much as Savanna does. I'm just hoping that she continues to enjoy school subjects, because I don't know if I have the energy to constantly nag yet ANOTHER child about doing their school work.
This fridge magnet set is one of her favorite toys. She likes to line all the letters up into rows. Where did this organized child with an excellent memory come from? She certainly didn't get it from me! I always did pretty well in school, and was able to learn things easily. However, as all of you know, my memory STINKS, and let's just say that my organization skills...could use some work.
She also is great about remembering lyrics. She sings all kinds of songs in the car with me, and most of them I know she hasn't heard more than a couple of times. She's even pretty good at faking it if she doesn't know the words.
Other cute things worth mentioning-
* Savanna is obsessed with her Build a Bear Piggy. If she's not holding it, then she's wandering around saying, "Have you seen my piggy? I can't. find it. everywhere!" She also still loves babies and "Teggy Bears."
* Whenever she's not feeling like napping/going to bed (every. single. day.) she comes downstairs a few minutes after being tucked in and says in her most groggy voice "I wake up" accompanied with a stretch and a yawn. If that doesn't work, then she sometimes tries the "my tummy hurts" excuse to get a little extra snuggle time before being tucked back into bed. And if THAT doesn't work she can ALWAYS say "I old (hold) you a minute?" and I just HAVE TO give in.
* Savanna can be a bit of a sassy-pants drama queen. Whenever I get after her about something she always says: "I know, Mom! Stop tellin' me!" She's also a fan of "Uuuu-uh! It's not fay-er!,"It's not a toy!," (I guess she figures since I say this to HER all the time, she might as well reciprocate...whether it makes sense or not.) and "Stop it Mom! I not doin' any things!" Every time she gets in trouble she juts out her bottom lip, folds her arms, and walks dejectedly out of the room. Fortunately, she only sulks for a few seconds before she realizes how boring that is, and starts hopping around the house again.
* This one isn't particularly cute, but it's somewhat unique in my family so I guess I'll mention it. Savanna is a wanderer. She's been lost:
at Temple Hill campground - When we go camping we occassionally bring the laptop and let the kids watch a movie before they fall asleep (I know, I know... it's against hard-core "camping rules" to bring electronics). Anywho, the kids were all in the tent watching a movie and Randall and I were sitting outside
in our neighborhood (a couple of times) - I'm pretty sure I've already mentioned on here how the kids left the door open when I was in my morning sick phase of pregnancy and she wandered over to my friend Peggy's house. But she has also wandered down the street when we were planting a tree in our front yard for family night, and (SCARIEST of all) wandered down the alley behind our house when I sent Carter to get everyone into the car before school. Sadly, that time I didn't notice that she wasn't in the car until AFTER I dropped the kids off. I couldn't sleep for WEEKS thinking about how I could potentially have run her over if she had walked up behind the car after I loaded Lydia in... Ugh.
at the movie theater - We watched Despicable Me 2 with my parents last night, and when it was over, Randall took Cameron to the bathroom. My Mom and I were chatting about the movie when he returned and asked: "Where's Savanna?" Of course I had no clue, so we searched the arcade, the big, long, movie theater hall, the parking lot... and I FINALLY found her with a nice little family in the doorway to one of the theaters.
and even at our own house! - Randall always goes up and checks on the kids before he goes to bed to make sure they're covered with a blanket, that they don't have a TV on, that they're actually sleeping and not messing around, etc. A few days ago on his nightly rounds he couldn't find Savanna ANYWHERE. It's not unusual to find her on the floor somewhere, snuggled in the fetal position with her bum in the air, but she wasn't there. FINALLY he found her on the floor between my side of the bed and the baby's cradle. REALLY happy that I was sleeping through all that, rather than having a panic attack!
I don't know how many times I'm going to have to lose her before I get it through my thick skull that I should NEVER TAKE MY EYES OFF HER! It's just SO unusual for me, because all my other kids would NEVER even think of wandering off alone...especially at a pitch black campsite! She's one brave, independent girl, and I'm convinced that she is determined to turn me into a CRAZY PERSON!
* Savanna loves to play. One of her favorite games is to run up and hit someone, then say: "Tag! You it! Times!" She also LOVES Ring Around the Rosies. When I was a little girl I also used to love Ring Around the Rosies. My Mom says it was the funniest thing to watch me because I had these short little legs (unfortunately, I still have 'em), and I would just kick them straight out ahead of me and fall flat on my bum at the "all fall down" part. I actually still remember thinking "Why does it take everyone else SO LONG to fall down?" as my arms got ripped off because they were still standing. Savanna doesn't quite have my instant fall down yet, but she's pretty close.
* Savanna is OBSESSED with diaper changes. Her baby dolls must have the cleanest bums in all the world, because she's constantly bringing them to me and asking: "Baby change a bum?" She also loves to be my big helper when I'm changing Emma, by bringing me a diaper and wipes, and throwing away the old diaper.
* Savanna is very polite. Whenever I ask her if she needs to go potty, if she's ready for bed, etc. she usually answers "No dank you."
(In high-pitched
He-yo?
HI!
How's it Goin'?
Goo-ood!
Mmmm-hmmm
Mmmm-hmmm
Bye Baby! (Yes, I call Randall Baby on the phone.)
See ya!
I LOVE my little adorable Savanna Baby SO MUCH!
