~Bug is 18.5 months old~

This week presented a little attitude and some destructive tendencies. Not sure if Bug was ready for Christmas vacation or what but we were able to get a few things done.

We worked on sorting his blocks by color. He still needs a little encouragement to get them started but once he gets moving he works right through them. However, once he was done… they went everywhere.

Bug finally mastered this little timer. He has been trying to turn it for weeks now but hasn’t quite gotten his fingers to cooperate. We worked really hard and finally he understood where he had to place his fingers to get it to turn. He took his new skill and mastered the screws. 

Bug spent a lot of time reading this week. He read some on his own and some with me. He will pull them all out and meticulously go through each one until he finds the one that he wants. Then he will crawl up in my lap and ask for 'more." He likse to point out items in his color book and tell me what they are. We did this a LOT.

 Daddy got to participate with some apps this week. Bug can now turn on the IPhone and use a few apps. There may be an IPad in our future.  

In preparation for our annual Christmas party, Bug took pleasure in helping stir some of the cookie mix. Pretty sure he enjoyed eating them more but it was fun sharing a tradition and can’t wait to continue it through the years. 

We are officially on Christmas break and will start again after the New Year. So until then…

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Week 13 and Week 14 - Wow

~Bug is 18 months old~

Letter:      Pp

Week 13-14 has been combined due to the shortness of both weeks. Week 13 was short due to our vacation to Disney World which was really nice and week 14 was shortened due to the unexpected arrival of Bugs new cousin.

We finally picked up a cookie sheet for Bug to play with his Leapfrog doghouse letters somewhere other than the kitchen. He loves that he can stick the letters to something other than the fridge.

Bug can now sort his eggs almost all the correct way. He still doesn’t understand that the faces are different but he now knows that each egg has its own place in the carton.

We did get in a little work on the letter P. He likes it when I help him trace but still prefers to color with the bottom of the crayon. We are hoping to get some Dry Erase markers for Christmas.

Thankfully Bug really likes for us to read to him but he also likes to read to himself. With all the shuffling back and forth he was content with reading in his car seat to help pass the time.

These colored shapes that I picked up at the Dollar Store have really gotten their money’s worth. Bug plays with these multiple times a day. Although we haven’t really gone over the color yellow (officially) that seems to be the color that he always wants. We are working on saying the colors as he takes them out of the bag but yellow is still a little difficult.

Another Bug favorite is his cube sorter. He concentrates really hard as this toy actually has similar holes but each shape only fits into one hole. He will take a shape and work diligently until he makes it fit the correct one.

With all the craziness of the last two weeks we decided he needed some play time and took him to an indoor play area at the mall. He loved climbing on all the toys and gabbing with the other kids.

Looking forward to a slow week coming up. So until then…

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Bug's Disney Trip

Bug had his first trip to Disney World this week. Here he is just relaxing after we arrived at the hotel. No TV, no computer or IPhone, just chillin.

Apparently he had a lot on his mind in preparation of seeing the big man himself, Mickey Mouse. Or as he prefers to call him... Mou Mou. Shortly after this favorite shot of mine was captured we were able to locate the Disney vacation channel and wowed him with the things we were going to see.

Upon arriving at Disney World we did what every family should do... we got our picture taken in front of the castle. We were very honored to have this photo taken by the artist who does the aerial shots for Disney World. Our little IPhone was very inferior compared to his lovely cameras.

Mommy had the honor of taking Bug on his first Disney World ride and we decided (for the safety of all involved) that it would be something easy and that we knew he liked. The Carousal.

Daddy took the next one... the longest line but certainly the biggest smile. Dumbo.

 

We participated in the Street Dancing Parade where Bug got to see Mickey Mouse for the first time. No fear but we didn't get too close either. He was happy just watching from afar. He did dance with Chip and Dale for a moment or two.

We were able to add the Haunted House, and Monsters, Inc as well as a nice lunch before the clouds opened up and ended our trip a little early. All in all it was a great time for the family and we can't wait to take him again when he is a little older. For now, it satisfied Daddy's need to share the mouse with his little man.

Week 12 - Happy Thanksgiving

~Bug is 17.5 months old~

Letter:      Hh

Theme:      Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from Bug who learned how to say “gobble gobble” in honor of Tom Turkey.  Due to the holiday and our personal family vacation Tot School was abbreviated this week.

We made a turkey from Bug’s handprints with the help of our friends at www.dltk-kids.com  Bug wasn’t too impressed with the stickiness of the glue but did pretty well with placing the pieces where I showed him. He was very excited to show daddy his turkey when he got home.

We continue to work on his shape/color sorter. Some days he gets it right and others he just wants to mix them all up.

We are very thankful that our goddaughter is back in town after her daddy was stationed across the country. She took some time to join Bug for some Veggie Tales learning.

Next week is vacation time and some life experience learning. So until then…

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Week 11 - Happy Thoughts

~Bug is 17.5 months old~

Letter:      Hh

Theme:      Happy Thoughts

This week we talked about feelings and happy thoughts. This came about after a few tantrums and our Tot School toys being thrown around the room.

We introduced a few new things this week… the first was sidewalk chalk. Bug loved drawing on the ground and showing me the different colors. We even did a drawing of his body lying on the ground. This was a little challenging considering his furry siblings kept trying to lick him while he was laying there.

With daddy’s birthday coming up the next thing we introduced was some homemade finger paint. At first he carefully dipped his fingers in, unsure of what he would find. I showed him how to put the colors on the paper and then he was off. It didn’t take long before curiosity overcame him and in his mouth the finger paint went. Thank goodness for the homemade recipe.

We worked more on shape sorting and he is getting much better at figuring which shape goes into which hole. We have a few of these toys and sometimes the shape he has doesn’t go with the toy he is using. But that doesn’t stop him from making it fit.

Bug is getting better with his sensory bin. Although we didn’t have any turkeys to add to it, he did pick out the leaves and rocks and left the ghosts.

He spent a lot of time on his laptop this week. He prefers to use the Spanish numbers which counts to nine with his favorite being the 8—oco is what he says.

Next week is Thanksgiving and will be a short week with so much to be thankful for in our family.

So until then…

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Week 10 - Ducks and Doodles

~Bug is 17 months old~

Letter:      Dd

Theme:      Ducks and doodles

Tot School was back to normal this week with lots of classroom time. Bug loved every minute of it and even tried getting daddy to take him in a few times.

We tried dot painting for the first time and with a little guidance he was able to get the hang of putting the paint on the paper. He did try to taste the paint a few times but thankfully it came right off with a baby wipe. He also tried tracing the letter Dd but wasn’t as interested in using the crayons.

We worked on using his spoon to transfer his pom poms to the ice tray and used his pincer grasp to take them all back out again. His favorite toy this week was his sorter… but he only wanted to play with the green and blue shapes.

Bug enjoyed playing with his Pepsi and pasta box and still continues to try to reach in the holes to pull the pasta back out. We also added a Pringles and pipe cleaner tool to the mix. He pushes the pipe cleaner into the holes in the Pringles lid.

We got to spend some quality time with daddy and went on a roller coaster simulator. He was watching so intently and then I’m not sure what scared him but he quickly covered his eyes and I was lucky enough to catch it on film.

We have a few new things that we are going to try next week as we take on a new letter and some turkey fun.

So until then…

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Week 9- Chaos

~Bug is 17 months old~

Letter:      Dd

Theme:      Chaos

This week was a challenge as mommy had a very big event to prepare for which left less time for Tot School as I would have liked. Pictures are lacking as what little time I did have I didn’t want to waste a second.

Bug loves his new shape box and will now open it and take out just the shapes he knows and will show them to me and then put them in the correct spots. We do this a few times throughout the day since it is one of the toys I have let come out of the classroom this week.

Bug started working on his first “look and find” book this week. The finding part is pretty easy for the animals he already knows but the matching part a little more of a challenge. He really has his butterfly down and always wants to point that out.

We also revisited the color blue this week as Bug pointed out several things that were blue… or “boo” as he would say.

During all the chaos I am a little embarrassed to say that he got way too much tv time. The good news is that it was all Veggie Tales and Leap Frog shows so at least there were lessons behind them.   

So until next week…

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Week 8 - Coping with Change

~Bug is 16.5 months old~

Letter:      Dd

Theme:      Shapes

“As for God, His way is perfect” (2Samuel 22:31a) is our verse for this week and appropriate as our plans changed so much. Mommy spent some time at the ER and then bed rest so we had to change up Tot School this week. Bug was a trooper and we even turned the ER visit into a learning experience in patience. Considering we didn’t have a breakdown for the entire five hours, we called it a success.

Thanks to a very special aunt for sending a new sorting toy we were able to keep moving forward with our shape learning and sorting skills.

Bug has become very interested in his circle stacker and is actually beginning to stack them in the correct order.

At our visit to the pumpkin patch we had a lesson on choosing one over the other. Bug wanted both pumpkins and had to make a decision (he chose a completely different one plus daddy got him a mini pumpkin) which was not easy and took a little coaxing.

As we went through the week we had some impromptu learning lessons like how to open and close containers and pick up his toys without mommy’s help.

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Week 7 - Fun Fun Fun

~Bug is 16.5 months old~

Letter:      Ff

Theme:      Squares

We introduced a few new things this week in Tot School. The first was a sensory bin with his square shapes. Bug was more interested in throwing around and eating the rice then actually discovering what was inside the bin. We learned that this is a good tool to use outside.

Many thanks to our Tot School friend, Red, who showed us how to make a sun catcher. We used squares and rectangles to continue with our shapes of the week.  Bug really enjoyed the stickiness of the contact paper and how it would stay on his hand if he pressed hard.

Bug worked hard at pushing the straws through the wiffle ball and looked so cute concentrating. This was a rough day as he has some teeth coming in and he didn’t really want to do  much.

Bug had fun this week with a trip to the fair. It really was a nice coincidence that the fair was here during the letter ‘F’ week. Bug played and won his first fair game so we’ve added to our ball collection. He also tasted his first funnel cake and had his first Fun Foto.

Until next week… love and hugs!

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