Daredevil

Something his little is not, daredevil. He loves being thrown, jumping, swinging. These types of activities bring instant laughs and giggles. The first time he went on a swing was pure joy. He grabbed on to the swing with a big smile on his face. Ok so maybe there was one "Oh Sh**" look but after the initial shock he didn't want to get down. He loves to be outside with the wind blowing, the smell of fresh air and all things the gets to see. Walk inside cry cry cry, walk outside silence. It is interesting how different he is when he is outside. It looks like camping, hiking, biking is in future.

5 Year Ago Today!

5 years ago today I married who has become my best friend and the love of my life. It is amazing how much you can grow together in just 5 years. We are great co-workers in our family and with every child we have become that much closer. I say co-workers because truly that is what two parents are when leading a family. We work together to find the best solutions in the raising of children, we plan short term and long term goals for our family unit, we lean on one another to get through busy/tough times, and we celebrate together when our work pays off. A marriage is a full time job and in order to succeed at it you must work at it. I am privileged to have a partner that feels the same way. And in that I have a happy marriage, forever evolving as our family ebbs and flows. I am so thankful to look forward to my husband coming home every night because I get to spend time with him and being excited for the weekend so we can hang out together. To you honey, I love you so much and can not think of a better way to walk through life but standing right next to you.

Sand Play

Stinky has been asking to go to the beach to play with her "whale". (It's a sand toy that makes whale figures.) I figured it was time to change up the sensory tub. She has been playing with rice for the last two months and it appears she has lost a little interest. I added sand to her sensory table. The digging, filling, dumping, scooping and all else that can be done with this open ended sensory activity has been the object of her interest almost daily for the last few weeks.

Pluggy is at a different stage in his development and has enjoyed picking up the sand, tasting the sand and seeing what happens when he fall into the sand. Falling into the sand has been his favorite type of exploration as noted by the giggles it produces every time he flings his body back.

Children from the day they are born are wired to learn through their senses. Providing a sensory experiences whether through nature or a sensory tubs can give children the opportunity to easily engage their senses. Exploring different textures of materials through touch, listening to the sounds they make as they are manipulated, the smell of the different materials and sometimes (more often then I want) through taste. What does sand taste like? Come on we all taken in a handful of sand probably more than once. It is a part of the scientific process developing an idea of how a new object (sand) tastes like, looks like, feels like, smells like, sounds like, testing this idea and then forming conclusions.

Blocks, You Can Do Anything With Blocks

I love love love blocks. I can not say enough about how enriching blocks are. The are the greatest open ended toy spanning over every age group. Blocks are a great tool for developing language. They facilitate story telling, using objects representative of real life experience, they give children the opportunity to retell real life events acting out problems and facilitating solutions and they give children the opportunity to explore language that is useful in peer situations. They provide opportunities to explore spacial awareness; using patterns, symmetry, geometrical shapes, colors, textures and other forms of tactile situations. They help children explore mathematics through spacial understand and reasoning. Children explore science to gravity, properties of materials, theorizing, predicting, and solving problems. They provide creativity through mapping, building, and planning. There is so much learning going on when children play with blocks. It is so simple to add new ideas into blocks as well. Animals, people, cars, even simple recycled materials can add new dimensions to the play. Children start by stacking and knocking it down. Their play leads into lining blocks up and then structures are erected. Blocks provide endless amounts of play and the play becomes more intricate as they get older.

Stinky recently pulled these soft blocks out and began building little pedestals for each animal to stand on. When she was finished she enjoyed knocking it down. We picked them up and put them away only be re-introduced ready for an entirely new experience at a later time.

"My kitty Coco"

While visiting family we were informed that one of our family members had a cat who had kittens in their back yard. We went to look at the kittens and Stinky fell in love with them. When she said, "Daddy take one home" I knew we were taking one home. I love cats and have been longing for another cat since our cat had died 5 years ago. I picked most of the kittens up and this little kitten was so sweet. It reminded me of a cat I had growing up. I hoped with a little persuasion that she would pick this kitty. And she did! When we asked her what she wanted to name her, she first said Pink, the second time we asked her she said Pink Flower and the third time we asked her she said Coco. We asked her quite a few more times and Coco was the name that stuck. Stinky has fallen so in love with her. She feeds her everyday. When we come home from being out the first thing she says is, "Coco Stinky is home". When she wakes up she says, "Good morning Coco". We have taught her how to carry Coco around and she loves to hold her, dance with her and give her kisses. She constantly says "I love my kitty Coco ". When people come over she is so excited to introduce her kitty. "This is my kitty, kitty Coco." I love seeing her love on her kitty and take care of her kitty. It brings back so many memories of my kitty Melissa when I was a young child. I think it is so important for children to have pets; to learn to take care of them and to have something to love and interact with. I look forward to allowing Coco to sleep with Stinky as soon as she gets a little bigger. I look forward to watching them grow up together and Coco being a comfort to Stinky when she has had a bad day. This is the beginning of wonderful friendship and experience that Stinky will take with her for the rest of her childhood. Memories that she will remember far into her adulthood.

Flubber

Children learn through their senses. I wanted to provide a new sensory experience for Stinky; Flubber. Instead of making it and introducing it to her I decided to include her in the cooking process. Cooking can be a great way to provide opportunities to enhance pre-math skills. Children learn the idea of measurement, volume, fractions, counting. Together we followed the recipe and Flubber was born. Flubber is really cool. You can bounce it, cut it, roll it and then it sticks back together to form a big blob. It starts out white but it's inevitable that little hands will eventually turn the Flubber a little brown. So the next step is to experiment with color and what happens when you add/mix color into the Flubber.

This activity as also given Stinky a new opportunity to practice her cutting skills. Flubber has a different consistency and depth then paper and provides a totally different experience in cutting.

If you want the recipe leave me a comment and I will send it to you. Flubber is pretty cool stuff.