First, I will say that I wish my camera photos were better
because this really was a funny day.
While Gabriella was homeschooling at the little table this morning,
I gave Amaris her "homework".
Amaris' "homework":
String ALL the RED beads. When you are done, let me know.
Shouldn't be too hard... In my mind, I am thinking that
if she doesn't organize them by shape first,
she SHOULD be done in less than 3 minutes.
I forgot ONE thing though.
Amaris does things her OWN way.
(I can totally see my mom smiling down from Heaven right now)...
My camera couldn't capture all of the things Amaris did
with just 6 red beads to go... but, here's a glimpse.
Amaris stood on the media chair you see in the background
(on the arm rest)... until she lost her balance.
She went to grab her stroller and microphone
to race into the other room... The forbidden room.
The dog chased her.
Amaris returned after being asked
what she was supposed to be doing.
She got pretty close to her red beads. See the photo below...
Do you see the pile of beads in the top right corner of the photo?
She has already strung the majority of the beads.
BUT, instead of stringing those last 6 beads,
she decided to hang off her trampoline
and pull her legs up and down as though
she were at her Gymnastics class on the bar.
Amaris decided to return to the beads... well, with a little prodding.
She looks at them both in front of her and behind her.
She contemplates for a mili-second what she should do.
Lunch is about to be served and
it has been over an hour of sheer delight... uh, for her that is!
Getting her "homework" finished
does not appear to be on her agenda anytime soon.
Despite the fact that she LOVES "homework".
She even throws a fit if I don't give her "homework".
She leaves the stroller because she got a glimpse of her princess ball.
She proceeds to put the ball behind her back and throw it
as far as she can.
Gabriella giggles from the table.
Amaris has something to work with now.
She has got the attention of her jie jie.
And, Amaris LOVES attention.
After she throws the ball a couple times,
I look to change her attention back to the beads.
I march her little Chinese toushie back to her "homework"
and show her that she only has SIX MORE RED BEADS.
Gabriella is now enjoying her lunch...
Amaris notices, but is not concerned in the least bit.
Instead, she encourages the dog to eat her lunch... the dog's lunch!
I share with her that Gabriella and I are now both
enjoying our yummy lunch,
that her lunch is on the counter,
and that she can come join us when she is done with her "homework."
She crawls through these two chairs and opens and closes a container of diaper wipes.
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE ACTIVITIES,
she has NEVER DONE BEFORE...
I give. What is so special about today?
She sees the dog carry her (the dog's) special "bear" stuffed animal.
She chases the dog and grabs "bear" from her and starts to run.
The dog catches her and they begin to play tug of war.
Sigh.... my camera battery was low, so I missed this funny scene.
But, I am sure you can see this little monkey in action.
It truly wore her out. But, she was happy.
After her nap, we talked again about her "homework" and
what needed to be done.
Something we had done perhaps 20 times in the 2 hours
before nap time.
I asked her to show me the red beads and to finish stringing them.
She proudly held them up. She did it! It took her mere seconds.
She had the biggest smile on her face.
We counted her beads together.
I could tell she was having lots of fun. She won!
How could you not love a monkey like this?
And, when Baba came home today, he asked,
"So, what did you do all day?"
