The Final Philly Chapter Begins

The days continue to fly by. Only 5 weeks until the closing date on the house and a lot is happening before then.

I just turned 24 this week. Unfortunately I caught the flu bug that was going around and was recuperating from that all day. Thankfully I bounced back quickly.

Things with Matilda have been going good. I have decided that I am going to depart Philadelphia, as much as I love it, and join them in their new city... Wherever that may be. Bring on the new adventure.

Tomorrow Mat and I are driving out to Linvilla Orchards in Media, PA to pick strawberries and Raspberries. From what I've been told, this means I'll be doing the picking and Matilda will be doing the eating. Mat did inform me that we have to bring enough home so she can have them with pancakes on Saturday morning.

As classes are wrapping up we will be going on more Adventures. Mat is really excited to go to the Philadelphia Zoo and ride the camels, swan boats, train, and zoo balloon. Talk about a full day. I keep telling her "soon we can".

Lastly, Mat's first Philly friend, Jackson, moved to Albany this week. Mat keeps saying that she misses him, which is really sad to hear. You'll even see a picture below of them holding hands. It was the first time EVER that Mat SUGGESTED holding hands with a friend. We were at the zoo and Jackson didn't want to hold his mom's hand so Mat said that he could hold her hand. It was precious.

Berry Picking at Linvilla Orchards

Matilda and I went to Linvilla Orchards in Media, PA to pick berries. They were advertising strawberries and raspberries with the potential for peaches. The strawberries were pretty picked over but there was an ample supply of blueberries. It was a good day over all. Mat was even asking to go back again, which I'm not sure will be possible before the move as I only have 1 more definite full Friday with her before that point. Now that classes are ending we will have more time for exploratory adventures.

Mat was very excited to be in her wagon

These are the actual berries that we (I) picked. Matilda ate her pickings.

Caught in the act

Linvilla has a great playground for kids to play on

We got to ride in a hay wagon to get out to the berry fields

Matilda was having her own rock concert on the iPad during our drive to Linvilla.

Eating more berries again

Looks like home

Awesome picture

When we were paying for the berries after picking, Matilda asked me where her strawberries were. I then explained to her that she had eaten all of her berries; easily a quart worth.

Hey June

Alas my favorite month of the year has arrived. June hosts both my birthday and the first day of summer.

I probably say this every month, but I cannot believe how fast May passed. June is sure to fly just as quickly. All of the classes that Mat is currently enrolled in will finish this month and we aren't going to put her in any summer classes. With traveling and moving, there's really no point. We are trying to get her into one-on-one swimming lessons. This week she did really well in swimming but the past two weeks haven't been the best. Lots of tears due to cold water. She has now realized that she can stand in the shallow end of the pool which makes her feel much braver. A sense of control is what she needs in order to feel safe.

In reflection of my May goals, she has made some progress with getting dressed and undressed. I need to put more focus on this. Many times we are changing clothes in such a time crunch that I don't want to wait for her to fight with her clothes. She's pretty much a pro at putting her running shoes on. I think sandals are a challenge even for adults.

Her sight word vocabulary hasn't expanded at all. I'm trying to work on momma and daddy, but every time she sees any word she says it spells Matilda. She's at the phase words are just pictures.

I've had a lot of fun teaching her about money. The day after my first money lesson she opened my wallet and took out my white debit card. Clearly she remembered that that piece of plastic is worth the most money in my wallet.

She's really expanded in her story-telling ability. In April she would add a noun or verb when prompted, but now she will tell her own 5-6 sentence story! Most of her stories are animal characters having conversations with their friends. It's awesome to hear what she comes up with.

I'm excited to see what this month has in store. I need to do some research before I establish my June goals.