Tot School and Tiny Tot School

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Avery is 31 months old and Parker is 8.5 months old

TOT SCHOOL
We didn't really have a theme for this week but we still had a lot of fun with Tot School. 

Monday we started Tot School by making some play dough.  Avery helped me do all the measuring and pouring (no pictures, it was a little too involved to have a chance to take any).  Then, while we waited for the play dough to cool, we decorated some clothespins for a project I am working on (I want to make an area for Avery's artwork to hang and/or dry).  I painted the clothespins over the weekend and then Avery glued on different things to decorate them.  I let her choose what she wanted to use (feathers, jewels, sequins, and foam shapes) and they turned out really cute! I can't wait to see how the project comes together!

Of course we had to spend a little time just playing with and checking out the clothespins

The finished product

When we were done with the clothespins, it was time to play with the play dough. I let Avery raid my Tot School supplies and choose some materials to use with the play dough.  She decided on marbles, jewels (they are the flattened marbles but Avery has always called them jewels), stones, shells, and some plastic fruit shaped ice cubes.  She had a lot of fun sticking the different objects in the play dough.  I had hoped that the objects would make cool impressions in the play dough but it was a little too gooey for that to work.  Avery even ended up renaming our play dough, instead of play dough it was gooey dough.  It stuck to everything!  Although it wasn't what I had intended, it was still a really cool sensory experience that Avery loved!

What a mess! But it gave me an idea for a work on Wednesday. She loved the table washing work we did last week so much, I figured we could do another washing work, this time a dish washing work with the objects from our gooey dough playtime instead of dishes.  

We started by adding some dish soap to the water and Avery whisked it until the bowl was full of bubbles.

Then she got to work washing

and rinsing.

After that we read a couple books and played with the Wedgits for a while.  My dad came over Friday morning so we didn't get to Tot School that day.


TINY TOT SCHOOL
When Avery goes down for her nap, Parker is up for about an hour before she is ready for her afternoon nap.  So, we have started using this time for Tiny Tot School.  


We played with a balloon!

We also played with our new ball treasure basket.  Check out the post on our first 2 treasure baskets here.  When Avery was 17 months old, we did this work.  My mom made the pompom and Avery would practice throwing the balls in the basket.  Well, it has always been a favorite so we have kept it out all this time (plus I love having balls in the house that are soft enough that they won't cause any damage if they hit someone or something).  Over the last few months Parker has really gotten into it.  Then for Easter she got some really cool sensory balls that we just threw into the basket with the pompom balls.  Over the weekend I decided to go around the house and find all the balls that I could and add them to the basket, thus creating our ball treasure basket.  Since I took this picture we've added a couple more balls too (Avery loves helping us find more).  

Like the other treasure baskets, she loves it and it keeps her attention for so long!

Sometimes the basket is just as much fun to play with as the balls  : )

She also loves to practice closing this toy.

She spent a lot of time trying to learn to crawl, which she started doing on Saturday.  And a lot of time practicing pulling up and standing on her own.

Linking up to:
 1+1+1=1
No Time For Flashcards

Toddler Table Washing

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This morning while I was nursing Parker, Avery made a bit of a mess at her art table.  She ended up taking the inside ink tube of a marker out and then getting blue ink all over herself and her table.  Without even thinking I helped her clean herself up and then I cleaned up her table.  As I was cleaning the table, it dawned on me...why not have her clean her table herself?  While I don't think she is ready for the all out out table scrubbing work, I did remember another version of table washing we did when I was an aide in a Montessori classroom.  It involved shaving cream, a sponge, a towel, and a bowl of water.  So, when Parker went down for her morning nap, I scraped my tot school plans and Avery and I got to work!


First, we covered the table with shaving cream and Avery spread it all around (and then played for a while of course).  She was a little hesitant at first, which totally surprised me cause she usually loves shaving cream.

But then she got into it!

Once the table was good and covered, it was time to wipe it up with the sponge.  She would wipe the length of the table with the sponge and then rinse it out in the bowl of water.  Then she would wring it out before wiping the table again.

When all (or almost all) of the shaving cream was gone, it was time to wipe the table dry with the towel.

And then we had a nice clean table!

Avery is 31 months old

No Time For Flashcards

A Lot of Randomness

Pin It Now! Things are crazy here and I have all kinds of thoughts running through my head so I figured a totally random post was in order. However, I will divide it up into categories for you!


The Party
Doing well on that front.  Finished the cupcake stand and photo banner (even though I ran out of ribbon and had to go get more).  I didn't finish my other project with the polka dots and haven't decided if I'm going to or not.  Yesterday I deep cleaned the whole basement (playroom/family room, guest room, and bathroom) and today I plan on tackling the master bed and bath.  


Tomorrow I'm going to do a test run of the cupcakes for two reasons.  First, I want to see how the rainbow color thing works out.  Second, so many of my friends have had mixed reactions  from their kids the first time they are given cake (some are totally scared, others don't know what to do, etc) that I want to have Avery try it first without all the pressure of tons of people watching her!  Wednesday night is the evening my parents come over for dinner each week so I thought that would be the perfect time to give it a shot.  Hopefully then at her party she will know right what to do and we'll get some great photos...or not, who knows!


One thing that I forgot to mention in my last post was that I do have a great birthday outfit for Avery.  I wanted something custom made so I looked around Etsy but couldn't find exactly what I wanted.  So I got on fabric.com and found the perfect fabric. It has polka dots in the exact colors of the decorations.  So then I got back on Etsy and did an alchemy.  Never did one of those before but you submit a request for anyone that would be willing to make you a custom item and you explain what you want.  I had a bunch of people respond, picked one out, and she made us the most darling outfit.  It is perfect and didn't cost as much as I thought it would.  So excited about it!


Sleep
Since Eric got back from SF, Avery's sleep has been great (knock on wood).  Three nights she has slept until 6:30 or 6:45, I give her a quick 10-15 minute feeding and then put her back in her crib until 7:15/7:20.  She usually doesn't fall back asleep but plays quietly.  Well, this morning she slept until 7:10, which is almost her wake up time anyway.  I was so excited!  Now, if only I could sleep through the night!  Haha!  I find myself starting to wake up at about 4:30 or so (which is when she usually wakes up for a feeding) and then sleep restlessly, waking every 30 minutes or so, until it's time to get up.  This morning I couldn't fall back asleep after 6:30 and finally gave up at 7:00.  Oh well, that too will come!


However, as much sleep as she got last night, she was one grumpy girl this morning, which is not like her at all.  She was whiny, cried a lot, and very clingy.  Not sure what was going on there, as I sit here while she's at nap, I'm wondering if she might be teething.  She almost 1 and still doesn't have a single tooth so it could very well be that.  When she gets up I'll see how she is doing and might give her a teething tablet if she's still cranky.  


A Great Loss
Yesterday morning Eric's former boss and the father of his best friend past away (we'll call him J for this post).  He'd been living on machines for the the past month after having multiple strokes.  He was an incredible man and will be greatly missed.  


Eric and I owe so much to him!  Eric got his degree in finance but has always had a passion for computers.  J knew this and when he started looking for an IT person for his company, he hired Eric even though he had no experience.  It was a small company and Eric was the only IT person there so he got to have complete control over everything.  J let him do a lot and he experimented with some very cutting edge concepts.  Due to all the experience J gave him, Eric was offered another job that paid twice what he was making and as hard as it was to leave, Eric knew it was what was best for our family.  J completely supported Eric and was so happy for him. They even gave him a PS3 for a going away present.  If it hadn't of been for J, Eric never would have gotten his job and I never would have been able to stay home with Avery.  Like I said, we owe him so much!  He was such a wonderful man!




I have many more things running through my head but I won't bore you anymore and plus I think I hear Avery starting to wake from her nap.  Off to make lunch and then run some errands.  Hope you have a great week!