Taking every opportunity!

~Bug is 21 months old~

Bug was a trooper this week as we worked on a variety of unstructured and not very well thought out Tot School activities. We were very busy working on the non-profit this week and the planned activities went to the wayside for just the things that Bug wanted to do himself.

Bug loves stacking his cups and is getting so good at placing them on top of each other in the order that they should go. As we work in his Look and Find book and has begun saying the item as he finds it on the page.

Cookie Monster has been helping us learn to count. Bug has been placing the cookies as Cookie Monster and I count and he is finally starting to say the numbers himself. It might help that after this particular activity we always have a snack with cookies. 

For St. Patrick’s Day we made some puffy paint (thanks to No Time for Flashcards) and painted a shamrock. It took Bug a minute or so to realize that the paint was staying on his fingers. He prefers to have clean hands so immediately afterward we had to go clean up. It now has a place of honor in our new wall of artwork. 

Bath time is never part of Tot School but we had a really good opportunity that Bug initiated on his own with sorting his bath toys. So we took advantage of this and sorted his ducks, gators and puffer fish accordingly. He was so proud of his accomplishment that mommy got a little bath herself.

Cleaning up is a game we like to play right before daddy comes home. This week’s favorite picture comes from Bug deciding he didn't want anything but himself in the basket.

Next week will be exciting as we go outside and explore some new places and try some new skills.

So until then…

Check out what other tots are doing with their moms here

Gor ri rila and the Color Orange

~Bug is 21 months old~

This week started with some oldies but goodies. Bug enjoyed playing with his butterfly puzzle and we have added saying the color names as we put the puzzle pieces in their place. He also enjoyed playing with this sorter and although we are missing the green ring he is very happy to continue sorting.

Bug is currently in a destructive mood so during our animal identification this week we stacked the animals on top of his cups. We used this multiple ways in that it allowed us to stack but also to see size relations. When I asked for a certain animal Bug would kick down the tower the animal was sitting on and grab it and run it to me. His favorite animal is the “gor ri rila”

Orange was the color of the week and one of the ways we worked with that was to gather all the orange balls in house. We don’t have many so a balloon and a square shape found their way into the pile. There are no pictures of Bug actually gathering these as he would run off with them just as I would get ready to snap the pic.

There is a certain satisfaction with opening and closing things. Here Bug is using his momma’s concentration skills by sticking out his tongue as he concentrates.

In honor of Dr. Seus birthday we put together his new puzzle. Bug still isn’t allowed to read his Seus books on his own (thanks to his destructiveness) but he laughs at the Cat every time we read them.   

For a rare treat we took an excursion with daddy who happened to be off. We went out to lunch and then to a really nice park where Bug played with mommy and daddy for quite some time. That’s where this week’s favorite pictures come from… sorry I couldn’t pick just one.  

Next week we will introduce a few new things… so until then.

Check out what other tots are doing with their moms here

Week 22 - Busy little bees

~Bug is 20.5 months old~

Busy… busy… busy. That is the only way to describe our home this week. Bug got his first Cat in the Hat set and loves to carry it around in the little tote that came with the order. It also came with matching cards and a nice little puzzle, both of which have been put up until we pass this destruction stage he is currently pursuing.

We actually had a few reading opportunities where Bug didn’t feel the need to flip through the pages. I think he was very interested in the rhyming in the book. It might have helped a little that mommy used different voices too.

Bug’s stacking pegs are of great interest these days. We are using them for multiple purposes since he is so interested in them. We have been counting on a daily basis up to the number five. Here we stacked the pegs with color and height and Bug pulled them away as I said the number. 

We also used the pegs as a color sorting option. His favorite color is still blue and will bring me things that are blue as he says “boo” so that I know he understands.

This week we also worked on his animal sounds… not really something that you can capture in photographs, especially when Bug will grab his animals and take off running with them. We have the Little Peoples Zoo and he has several of the animals. We’ve been hiding them around the house and asking him to find them. He will bring us the animal and either makes its sound or try to say its name. He can say gorilla, bear, and gator and although we know he can say lion he prefers to growl.

Music is always a part of our home. We sing in the car and at bedtime and play our instruments whenever the opportunity arises. The instrument that received the most attention this week was his xylophone. It came into play during laundry time and dinner time and even during potty time. 

 We got to spend some time at daddy’s work during their big career day and someone snapped this week’s favorite picture. Not sure if Bug wasn’t impressed that he was getting his picture taken or just not sure if mommy could hold him much longer.

Looking forward to what the future holds… so until then.

Check out what other tots are doing with their moms here