Tot School Post #13

(Xander is 15 months)

We started off our week by playing with Playdoh.

I brought some of his wooden blocks to squish the dough with but what Xander enjoyed doing was sticking his fingers into the dough making little indentations all over.

Then he started tearing the dough into little pieces, it was really cute the concentration this took.

Later we worked on transferring with spoons. I set up a container full of popcorn kernels, a spoon, and an ice cube tray. I actually set up two, I worked alongside him.

This was really hard for Xander and very messy (pocorn everywhere!) but he was so proud when he got a spoonfull into the tray!

This is something he really needs to work on so we'll be doing it again and again, but I've learned he has to be the right mood. We tried it again later in the week when he was tired and all he wanted to do was dump the popcorn all over.

I decided it was time to start doing a letter of the week. At first I wasn't really to sure about this, I'm not really sure that he's getting much from it. It's really hard to know what he is understanding and what he isn't since he doesn't talk and only does a few signs. But after we were done I was so glad we'd done it. I don't think he has clue what A is, and he probably doesn't really understand what an apple is-- he's played with ones but he refuses to eat applesauce so I can't really make a connection there. However, he was so PROUD when I hung this on the fridge, he goes over and looks at it. So cute!

So, we started out at the beginning of the alphabet with A is for apple. I wrote an A on a page and then let Xander decorate it. He had fun scribbling and is working on taking caps off the pens.

All done drawing Mommy!

When he was done I cut the letter out, and the apple and leaf, and glued them to a sheet of paper and hung it on the fridge for everyone to see.

Xander had been done drawing but was intrigued by the cutting and glueing. I don't have any kid scissors yet and even if I did I really don't think he'd be able to cut but he could try glueing. Unfortunately all I had was a bottle of glue and he couldn't squeeze it hard enough to get glue out so I put down glue drops on the paper and showed him how to put the paper on top (I had cut up his leftover scribbles).

He kind of freaked when the paper stuck to his hand cause he had glue on it. I wiped down his hands and we continued.

He kept wanting to pull the pieces of paper back up.

But eventually we got all the pieces of paper glued down and we hung Xander's first collage on the fridge. He really does love looking at it. We also bought some glue sticks so next time he can do the glueing part too.

We had several sunny days this week which meant we were out exploring. One day we went to the back of our orchard and I sketched while Xander collected rocks. He just loves ROCKS!

Friday it was warm enough that I thought he'd enjoy playing with water. So I set him up in his dirt area with digging tools and a bowl of water. Hmm, water and dirt becomes what? MUD!!!! First he had a blast splashing the water in the bowl.

Then he dumped the water all over himself and the ground and made mud.

Mud boy!!!

Saturday was a day of confinement for Xander. He was pretty much in my lap, in the highchair, or in his playpen the whole day. Why? Cause Ryan was building a new home for our chicks. They were quickly outgrowing their cardboard box. Ryan would take breaks and let Xander come explore the tools and wood but for most of the afternoon he was just watching. Toward the end of the week he had really gotten interested in watching the little chicks in their box and now he can see them so much better. Plus they have room to really move around now. This is Xander looking at the chicks in half of their new home (we ran out of staples), the other half is finished so now they have a huge amount of space.

That was our week, thank you for stopping by. To see what others did visit Tot School.

Tot School Post #12

(Xander is 15 months)

We spent a lot of time this week playing with his new sorting eggs, he isn't sorting them yet but loves taking the shell off and making them squeak. Xander got a lot of new books for Easter and we've read them all over and over again. He's started to get books and bring them to us to read. He will also go get a book if we ask him to, very cute. 

Several of his new books and books we had checked out from the library have chicks in them, which is perfect timing cause we have chicks!

They are so cute. Cute but messy, and that heat lamp is HOT! I am so glad they are in Ryan's study and not next to my desk.

Of course our dogs are much more interested in them than Xander is. The other day I brought Xander into the room to look at them and pet them after I had cleaned their box and was getting ready to put them back. He did glance at them but didn't want to pet them, nope, unrolling the paper towel roll and ripping it up was so much more interesting!

We've had a weird week weather wise, hail, snowflakes, rain, and some sunshine. During those brief bits of sun we try to get outside. Friday we walked to the back of the property and Xander explored rocks and grass. While digging he decided the dirt looked tasty and put a whole handful in his mouth! He looked so shocked that it didn't taste good. I used his shirt to wipe it off his tongue and felt so bad that I hadn't brought water with us. We came back inside and he got to gnaw on his Easter bunny some more to get rid of that dirt taste.

Saturday we had hazy sunshine, so out we went. Earlier in the week I'd let Xander play with a bowl of water and little cups inside and he loved it so I thought I'd let him do that outside too. I set him up in a dirt patch with a bowl full of water, some containers, and a spoon, while I mowed the lawn nearby (a push mower so no danger to him). He had a blast! First he made stone soup, then he dumped the muddy water all over himself, he sorted his rocks, moving them from the bowl to a smaller container, and when he'd get bored with the rocks he'd take a walk on the grass. Just lots of messy fun.

Looking for rocks.

Adding dandelions and grass to his bowl of rocks.

Then he climbed up onto my chair. First time he's ever been able to do that. He was so proud of himself. He'd get down and climb back up over and over. So happy that he'd learned a new skill (while giving Mommy a heart attack as I stood there trying to prevent him from falling or toppling the chair over!).

That was our week, thanks for stopping by. To see what other tot's are up to visit Tot School.