Ivy Grove of Lexington
Director's Note cozy log • week 9
Our family grew to five and we baked our first birthday cake ✨
Hi mamas & papas —
Week 9 had two big heart moments.
First, please say hello to our fifth child, Theodore! He walked in with curious eyes and left with four new friends. Five little pairs of shoes on the steps, five bowls at lunch, five voices at circle time. Our family is getting bigger and warmer.
Second, Friday we baked a cake from scratch for Tangtang's second birthday! Strawberries, blueberries, soft cream, and little hands helping sprinkle. It was our very first birthday celebration at Ivy Grove. We sang, we clapped, and Tangtang gave us the shyest biggest smile.
After nine weeks, the days just flow now. Morning flash cards, puzzles, books, dancing on the farm rug, backyard adventures, healthy lunches eaten all up. They play hard, eat well, and learn a little more every day.
"We grow slowly, like ivy — one new friend, one birthday at a time."
Five friends on the steps, hello Theodore! 👋
The steps outside our blue house have a new story. Five friends sitting side by side — one holding a yellow block like a phone, one with a white bucket ready for treasures, our new boy in blue crocs smiling next to his sister. Theodore joined us this week and slipped right in. Five shoes, five smiles, one bigger family.
Five learners, flash cards, and puzzles 📚
Top: Morning circle with letter A — five little hands reaching, five little voices trying. Bottom: Puzzle table with animals and fruits, concentrating hard to fit the tiger and the apple slices. Numbers, letters, animals, fruits — a little every day. Daily rhythm is smooth now, so learning feels easy and fun.
Eat healthy, read happily 🍚📖
Five empty bowls every day — that's how we know lunch was good. Then books come out, no prompting needed. LeapFrog pens tap the page, fingers point at tigers and apples and trucks. They eat well and then they read. That's the rhythm we built.
We baked a cake for Tangtang's second birthday 🎂🍓
Left: Our kitchen moment — teachers and four little bakers around the strawberry and blueberry cake, hands adding berries, eyes wide. We baked it ourselves Friday morning. Right: Happy birthday banner on the wall, Numberblocks 2 on the TV, five friends watching and waiting for cake. Our first birthday at Ivy Grove, and it tasted like joy.
Dancing on the farm and building together 🧱💃
Left: Four friends laughing so hard they are barefoot on the farm puzzle rug, tractor and barn under their feet. Pure joy, loud giggles. Right: Two builders at the round table, magnetic tiles becoming a colorful castle, hands working together. They can dance wildly and build quietly — both are play, both are learning.