Splish Splash

We got a small wading pool today. We've only filled it a little bit, just enough for Xander to walk around in and splash. At first he wondered what the heck Daddy had put it in the back yard.

Then Ryan tried to convince him to get into the pool.

He wasn't too sure about this.

But then he figured out that he could splash!

Hey, this pool is fun!

I'm sure we'll be spending a lot of time in the pool this summer!

Tot School Post #15

(Xander is 15 months)

We're still working on the letter B this week, and still haven't made one. Rather, we started it but it didn't work out so we'll try again next week. Things we did accomplish, for starters we finger painted for the first time.

 

What Xander really liked about finger painting was rubbing the paint all over his hands. Putting the paint on the paper didn't really interest him. He was having a great time until he rubbed his eye, he was fine but paint in the eye freaks Mommy out and ends all the fun!

Later in the week were my doomed activities with cotton balls. I had set up a transferring activity using a tea bag squeezer as tongs to move the balls with. Unfortunately Xander couldn't squeeze the tongs so that didn't work out, then I thought he could paint the letter B using cotton balls but he wasn't too interested and refused to keep the paint to the paper so I had to take it away, then I tried showing him how to glue the cotton balls to the paper but he wasn't the least bit interested. As I said, the day was doomed.

We had better luck later in the week when we played with Playdoh. Xander received some new stacking cups from my aunt and they have  symbols on the bottom so I was using them to press shapes into the Playdoh. Xander thought that was pretty neat. He wouldn't stamp them himself but liked looking at the shapes and poking at the Playdoh. He also had fun tearing the dough apart and putting it into different cups.

I think Xander's favorite activity of the week was eating his first ice cream cone. Ryan brought home a box of mini drumsticks and Xander LOVED it!

We've got a nice morning routine down where we get Xander a bowl of dry Cheerios when he wakes up and he sits in his chair and nibbles on those a bit. Then he starts bringing me book after book to read, it's really cute. He has also started eating more solid foods and he has started wanting to feed himself. That's great with the banana (he is so cute stabbing each slice with the fork), but it is so messy with his oatmeal. He doesn't have the spoon feeding down right, keeps flipping the spoon upside down when it gets to his mouth so most the food goes down his front. I'm torn between wanting to let him practice and wanting him to get fed and not make a mess.

That was our week, thanks for stopping by. Please drop in at Tot School to see what other tots are doing.

Tot School Post #14

(Xander is 15 months)

This week we were going to be doing B is for ... but I am going to end up spreading out B over two weeks. It wasn't a good week for us. We started off with B is for belly ache and baby and ended the week with B is for bleeding (hope this isn't TMI). Xander had a upset tummy and I was nauseated at the start of the week which meant we didn't do much Tot School. By the end of the week Xander was feeling better but I had started cramping and was feeling down because I was sure I was going to miscarry again (I miscarried at 6 weeks last December). We ended up spending most of Saturday in the hospital, not because my miscarriage was life threatening, but I needed a Rhogam shot (I'm Rh-) and of course the OB's office is closed on the weekend. For some reason I thought we could just go to the emergency room and get the shot but of course they don't work that way, they want to run all sorts of tests which took hours and that only could tell us that yes, I had miscarried. It was a very long day!

Xander finding fun (and things to get in to) in the hospital.

Anyway, we started off the week with tantrums. We finally got compost for our garden bed, so Ryan mixed it in and started planting seeds. First he had to put up a fence to keep the dogs out of the bed. Why the tantrums? Our garden bed was Xander's digging hole and mud wallow, he was NOT HAPPY when the fence went up!

We got out the Playdoh again, all Xander wanted to do was put it into the tub and take it out again, over and over.

I was inspired by the butterflies I saw on Hart 2 Hart, but instead of making large butterflies I made small ones to use on Thank You cards for the grandparents. Xander scribbled on the paper and then I did the cutting of the ovals and gluing them onto a card. Then I mailed the cards and kicked myself later in the day when I realized I hadn't taken any photos of the finished cards!!! Here is Xander drawing on the paper (it's some Origami paper I had, I thought it made pretty butterfly wings).

We also did a coloring page for Earth Day! This was Xander's first time with a printout like this.

B is for Blue Balloon! I had put a "blue balloon" on the shopping list last week. Xander was so happy to get it. He just loves balloons!

I've been trying to do some color sorting with Xander. He doesn't know his colors at all. Right now I am just focusing on two, red and blue. I'm taking pieces of felt and putting them on the floor and gathering different red and blue toys and putting them on the matching felt piece. I'm trying to get Xander to help me find the correct color toys but for now this is all me, I'm hoping he'll catch on. Here Xander is sitting by his blue toys, he's all in blue too which was NOT planned. I'm pretty sure that was his 4th outfit of the day (I told you he had an upset tummy this week! Ick! Lol, this picture shows that I was trying to bulk up his diapers to catch everything, poor little guy.)

"This toy looks tasty."

"I am so done with this activity!"

Xander got some Earth Day gifts from his paternal Grandparents. He had fun opening the package.

He really liked all his gifts but what he liked most was the piece of yarn. It was so cute. He played with it all afternoon.

My favorite photo of the week. We stopped to grab a bite to eat at McDonald's. Xander has been trying more solid foods so I went ahead and got him a Happy Meal, thinking he might eat the chicken nuggets. Wouldn't even taste them (made the dogs very happy!) but he LOVES the toy he got. It is a little cell phone. We've had lots of phone calls this week. Here he is calling Daddy to tell him that he ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich!

That was our week. We'll Be Back with more B activities next week, thanks for stopping by. Please check out what other tots are doing by visiting Tot School.

Printers, laminators?

So I am thinking about getting a color printer and laminator, anyone have any recomendations or warnings on brands? For the printer I think I'd want one where I can refill the individual color ink cartridges rather than have to change out all the colors at once-- that seems so wasteful.

I've never had or used a laminator, do most of you use pouch or roll laminators? Hot or cold? I had no idea there were so many choices, and yikes, the prices go sky high!

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.