Wednesday, November 30, 2011

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…
Check out what other tots are doing with their moms here

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

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…
Check out what other tots are doing with their moms here

Thursday, November 17, 2011

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…
Check out what other tots are doing with their moms here

Monday, November 7, 2011

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…
Check out what other tots are doing with their moms here

Thursday, November 3, 2011

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.

Check out what other tots are doing with their moms here