Exploring with our senses: Hearing

Yep, we explored the new music shop in town.

Making noise,

making music,

listening to different sounds,

touching different instruments,

and hearing mommy talk about it all!

He had a BLAST using the drumsticks.

A child-sized drum kit!

Little c was fascinated by the pedal for the bass drum. He eventually kept somewhat of a beat.

boom. boom. boom. boom.

But his absolute favorite place to be...

with the guitars.

quiet.loud

Pencil Drop Box

I've been trying to get a little more organized lately...

so I bought myself a cute box to file some of my paperwork.

Little did I know that I got a two-for-one deal! It's a filing box and a toddler toy!

I found Little c putting pencils through the hole on the side of the box.

 My paper organizing adventure has been put on hold for now...

 . . .

 . . .

 . . .

He opened it up on his own to find a surprise at the bottom... more pencils to put through the hole!

I'm thinking up a couple of ways to extend this play.

Maybe make him his own drop box?

Mark Making

.

two markers + a pencil + a giant pad of paper = our first floortime mark-making experience!

Little c spent about a minute putting markers and pencil to the paper. 

Then he noticed the caps to the markers in my hand. He took them and tried (succeeding a few times) to put the caps on the markers.

so concentrated.so focused. 

He seems to like marking with the pencil more than the markers. 

Markers are for capping for now. :) 

Pajamas at the Park!

I have so much to write about! So many ideas to explore...
but for now, I only have the energy to update a bit on our nature exploration.

In pajamas at the park!

Little c started walking independently about a month ago. It's such a beautiful feeling to watch him discover so many new sights, sounds, smells, (and sometimes tastes) while we're outdoors.

This stick is smooth. This one's rough.

Exploring bark.

You hear the Ice Cream Truck?

A Year

My little guy is a year old already!

I have so much to say. So many feelings to express. I can't seem to get all of the words out.

(Yes, he ate this for breakfast on his birthday. Yikes!)

I am astonished that a year has gone by.
I am fortunate to have a healthy, energetic, gracious, ... child.
I am proud of myself for being able to nurse beyond his first year.
I am aware that I will make mistakes, I can only try my best to do what I feel is right for myself and my son.
I am learning so much on this journey!
I am blessed.

[little c is 12 months old]

Behind!

Celebrated my brithday this past weekend... I had a beautiful time with my family.
Now I'm preparing for Thanksgiving & planning little c's first birthday party (It's less than two weeks away!)!

I promise I'll catch up. :)

Day 15: Playing with Junk!

 I recently read Beautiful Stuff!: Learning with Found Materials by Cathy Weisman Topal and Lella Gandini for my ECE Art Class and fell in love with the idea of using recycled materials for enriching play and art with children!  

 I gathered some of the materials that we didn't use while exploring the contact paper and set it out for our playing with junk challenge. Here's what I set out for little c to explore:

This is some beautiful stuff!

• Paper grocery bag ripped into large pieces
• Paper towel tube cut into various sizes
• Yellow paper cut into strips
• 2 yellow cookie cutter stars
• Orange cardstock cut into circles
• 2 large orange plastic rings
• all set in the cookie packaging seen used as a water toy here.

Little c...

dumped the stuff out of the container. ripped the paper. smashed the tubes. mouthed the tubes. held the small star in both hands. mouthed the small star. looked at the small star. smashed the plastic container (he really enjoyed this for a while). crinkled the strips of paper.

I sat back and watched for the majority of the time. He seemed so focused on the materials. He would look up at me from time to time and I would comment on what he was doing. I'm trying to find a balance between talking too much that it interrupts his play and not talking at all because I don't want to interrupt.

We both had a great time. I love setting materials up for him and watching him interact.

This is a learning process... for the both of us!