Ballerina Princess - And an Amazing Discovery!

Peeper and I went over to T's house this afternoon for a Sophia the First house party. It seems she's a Thing, and all the little girls know about her, and she had a full-length movie coming on the Disney Channel this evening. Peeper didn't know or care about any of that, but she did have a good time.

It was a princess-themed tea party, of course, complete with a story and games. We went with Ballerina Princess, since Peeper doesn't have any other princessy costumes. She was thrilled, and was begging me to get in the car and go, thirty minutes before the party started!

On our way to the car (we stopped at the mailbox first).

Eating a princess cupcake. Look at her nose. She has a cold and it's gotten quite boo-boo. Poor baby!

Listening to Mrs. T. read the story.

Cheese and pretzel magic wands!

But the best part? When we got there, Mrs. T. asked her to "autograph" the Sophia the First story book. She sat her down at a little table, gave her a Sharpie, and we said, "Can you make the E?"

Yes. Yes, she could. And all the rest of the letters, too. Well, Mrs. T. helped with the little e at the end.

Later, she was coloring a picture of Sophia, and T asked her to put her name on the back. She did this one all by herself!

I seriously almost cried when I saw her do it the first time. As I've mentioned before, fine motor skills are not her strong suite. She still really struggles with even tracing straight lines, and the concept of coloring within lines is completely foreign to her.

At school, they have laminated sentence strips with their names in dotted-letters, and Velcro on the back. When they arrive in the morning, they take them out of their cubbies, trace their names, and stick them on the "at school" flannel board.

When I've asked her about it, she tells me that "the teacher helps with the little e," but when I've asked her to "show me how you write your name at school," she just scribbles and refuses to do anything.

Just a few days ago, I asked our friend J, who's subbed in her class several times, whether she writes it herself at all, and she said no, they help her with the whole thing.

So I really had no idea that she could do this!