Catching up-22 and 23 months

I openly admit that over the last couple of months I've totally been neglecting taking pictures of my children.  Yup I have been so busy taking a million and one pictures of my needle felting creations that I have forgotten all about my children.  Well almost.

Here are a couple pics of things LJ has been up to.

Playing with his Very Hungry Caterpillar story stones.  LJ loves to tell bits of the story with the stones and the one with all the food on he calls Saturday.  Too cute.

Table setting.  This is a favourite.  It's hard to see but I traced all of the items in the place setting with a black sharpie so LJ know where to put them.  

He then gets to take out his leek and pretend to eat it.  Too much fun!

Land and water.  I simply cut land and water shapes out of felt and put assorted animals in a box for LJ to sort.  He enjoys this but knows them too well.  He is such a joker that he loves to put the wrong animals in the water on purpose.

Of course decorating Easter eggs.  He was so focussed on his work!

Not a lot documented.  We've been playing with a lot of new "toys".  I was lucky enough to do a toy swap with Sweetpea's mom.  She has some really cool things.  I will try and take some pictures of them for an upcoming post.

LJ at 21 months-activities and practical life

LJ is turning into quite the little person.  He is a major chatterbox just like his sister and has to be part of every conversation!  

He is also a total jokester.  His favourite joke is to change the words of songs.  One of our favourite songs to sing is Mama mama I want a Mango.  At the end the song goes kiwi, kiwi, kiwi, kiwi, quince.  Well he thinks it's the greatest joke going when he sings kiwi, kiwi, kiwi, banana!! or apple or any other type of fruit!  We also are big into the potty humour.  Everything has either chicken poo or pee or panda poo on it!??

I'm also pretty positive he knows most of his colours but  if you ask him he will deliberately tell you a different colour!  If he chooses to name them he does it correctly.  Seriously cheeky little monkey!

We have been doing a few works but mostly practical life activities.

Here are a few activities LJ had on his shelves.

Magnetic and non magnetic.  LJ really enjoyed experimenting with which objects stuck to the magnet and which ones didn't.  At this point this was just an activity of experimentation and discovery.

Tonging.

I wasn't sure if LJ would get the hang of this but after a few tries he did get it and enjoyed moving the objects back and forth.

Placing beads onto a bath fish thingy.  Yup those little fingers are somehow always wet and sticky and they were just too wet and sticky to release those little beads so it ended up being a bit frustrating.  He did stick with it for a while but I had to help him get the beads off his fingers sometimes!

I seriously love this age because they are SOO enthusiastic about housework!!  I really wish it would stay.  L has seemed to have lost that lovin' feeling!

While L was vacuuming the house LJ was desperate to help so I got out the dust buster for him and he loved being able to vacuum along side his sister.

 I needed to do some serious cleaning in the kitchen so I set LJ up with a scrub brush and a small container of soapy water.  He was super serious about this job and scrubbed down his chair for over HALF AN HOUR!!  My guy loves to wipe and scrub!
L didn't want to be left out so she got out her own scrub brush and water and scrubbed down the rest of the chairs.

Thanks to some Itty Bitty Love inspiration LJ is also now very successfully pouring his water at every meal.  I also find it very surprising that he doesn't just pour the whole jug into the glass but pours a little bit at a time and drinks it and then pours in some more!

20 months Practical Life

Water works -20 months

 I had all these big plans for doing so many works and activities with LJ after Christmas and so far I've just been a total slacker!

I did manage to set up these water activities one afternoon while I was trying to clean the kitchen to keep LJ occupied.

This is the first time he has experimented with pouring water other than the bath tub.  I put two jugs into a baking pan with about 1/4 cup of water and a cloth to wipe up spills.  Funnily enough it took him a few tries to figure out he had to switch containers each time he emptied out the water.  He kept trying to pour out of the same container even though it was empty.

 He also enjoyed just pouring the water into the pan so he could wipe it up. 

I showed him how to squeeze the water from the cloth back into the container.

I changed it up a bit for him by giving him two bowls and a sponge.  I added a drop of purple food coloring to the water to make it a bit more interesting and for him to be able to see the water he still had to soak up a bit easier.  He transferred the water from bowl to bowl several times before we moved on to the next activity which was pouring into a funnel.  This actually turned out to be a many step activity because he had to remove the funnel and pour the water back into the jug and then place the funnel back onto the container which was quite a challenge.

I remember at this age L was pouring her own drink at meal times from a tiny jug.  I think LJ needs a lot more practise before I'm going to let him loose with any unsupervised water!!

The Montessori Payoff

I wanted to write a post to record a special moment that happened in our house the other night. 

L has been helping in the kitchen since she was a toddler and has been a Montessori child almost from the start.  Sometimes it has been supremely challenging and exhausting allowing and including her in everyday events such as cooking dinner.  Granted she does not always help. Sometimes she just plain doesn't want to and sometimes I'm just way too tired and don't have the patience but for the most part she does something.

Over the past year I have tried to give her more and more responsibility when making meals.  The other night all of the hard work and perserverence came together.

 

One of L's favourite dishes to eat and help make is soft tacos.  In the past she has grated the cheese and carrots, chopped spinach and put the tortillas on the plate.  Recently I have taught her how to use the can opener and cook the refried beans on the stove.

This specific night I was super tired and just couldn't get my but off the couch to start dinner.  I asked L to get the beans and can opener out. She yelled at me from the kitchen that she's done it and I still didn't feel like getting up.  I asked her to get the carrots and cheese out of the fridge.  All I could hear was angry protests from the kitchen.  I relaxed for a few more minutes.

 

When I finally got my but off the couch and dragged it into the kitchen I was blown away.  L had opend the can and had the beans cooking on the stove.  She'd gotten out the grater and had grated all of the toppings and put them on a plate and had gotten the tortiallas ready.  In a nutshell she had made dinner for herself and her brother ALL BY HERSELF without being asked.  She took the initiative and just did it.

Ahhhh I was soooo proud and so was she!

Practical Life - 17 months

I'd forgotten just how wonderful this age is.  LJ wants to do everything for himself and I am trying to give him as many opportunities as I can.  I can remember L at this age being the same.  It must be so wonderful to have every experience be so new and novel and so exciting to realise you can now do so many new things by yourself!

 

Helping to prepare carrots from the garden.  LJ is scrubbing and taking his job very seriously and L is topping and tailing.  I find LJ is always much more focused when he is working with his big sis.

 

 

This used to be L's cupboard but she's now tall enough to reach everything if she uses her stool so it's been passed over to LJ.  I have set it up so he can set his own table.  On the top shelf are all of the items he needs for his table setting and the bottom shelf holds all of the aprons.  I have to admit that just like the Montessori shelves I only allow access to this cupboard at meal times and keep it closed with an elastic the rest of the time or he'd be in there constantly.

 

LJ loves to be one of the family and put his dirty dishes in the dish washer then push the drawer in and close the door.

 Now that Sweetpea is not with us LJ eats all of his meals at the big table with me or the family.  He is still able to set his table.  He brings over the items and at the moment I arrange them for him but soon I will introduce a place mat that he can put his setting on.

 

I got this super cute little laundry basket for LJ's room.  He can carry it himself when it is empty and he's been putting his dirty clothes in there for a while now.  So many times when I come in to his room after his nap he is in there trying to put on all of the clothes in the basket and has probably been awake for ages!

The going out area.  I set up this special area especially for LJ in our laundry room.  He can reach the hooks to get his jacket and is able to put on and take off his own boots.  I help him with his jacket and start the zipper for him and he is able to finish pulling the zipper up or down.  Every little bit he can do himself makes him feel so proud and confident. 

I just bought the super cute stool for him to sit on but he's still not quite big enough so at the moment he is more comfortable sitting on the floor.

 

Allowing LJ the opportunity to do so many things for himself really makes him feel like a part of the family and a capable human being.  I find that the only limitations he has are from me.  These pictures represent the "ideal" or the good days.   It does take a lot of work to keep the home environment "prepared" all of the time and sometimes it just doesn't happen.   I don't always have the cupboard neatly stocked ready to go and a lot of the time Daddy will get LJ ready for bed and all of the dirty clothes will be left in a pile on the bathroom floor(and cloth diaper for that matter!). 

 I think the important thing is to be aware of  our little persons needs and capabilities and try our best to let them experience that feeling of being able to "do it themselves" even if it isn't all of the time.



Montessori Shelves-Table Work

LJ is in a good routine with his Montessori shelf works.  I first introduced only works done on a floor mat to him and he has been really good at getting out the mat and unrolling it (with some help) and also putting it back at the end of his work cycle.

 

I thought it was time to add in some table works to the mix.  I added a small place mat to his mat box.  I like the idea of using a work mat for all of his Montessori works so he can differentiate between those and other toys he has.

I placed this spooning work on a small tray.  It consists of a wooden bowl, plastic container with lid and a large measuring spoon.  I used Heritage O's for the spooning because he still loves to put everything in his mouth and I thought it would be safer than beans.  I also couldn't bear to think of the clean up if we used rice!

When he was first introduced to the work he went to eat one and I quickly said "Let me show you" and demonstrated how to spoon.  He was delighted and from then on was only interested in spooning and not eating.  He did this work the first time for about 20 minutes.

 After several days of spooning I introduced pouring.  He gets the idea but is not overly interested and does it a couple of times and then messes about with the Heritage O's. 

 

The ever favourite pom poms in ice cube tray.  LJ loves this one.  I only put one table work out a day and always put it on the same tray so LJ knows which is a table work and which is a floor work.  There still is some confusion though sometimes as LJ wants to do all of the works at the table.  It is a work in progress.

 

 

I was surprised at how well he can manipulate the tray.  He hasn't had one spill.  I think it is because of the high edges.

 

 

Linked up to Living Montessori Now's Montessori Monday.

Toddler Practical Life-Pita Pizzas!

Tonight LJ and L made their own pita pizzas for dinner.   It reminded me of when L used to make her own pita pizza. Seems like ages ago. This was the first time LJ has done this and I was amazed at how well he caught on and the lack of mess.

 I had L set up a little table in the middle of the kitchen.  It is the perfect height for LJ to stand and L to sit at.  I prepared all of the toppings ahead of time and put them in little bowls. 

 

 

Cleaning up after.  My little guy loves wiping so much that he kept on going wiping down his chair the oven and the cabinets.

 

LJ's first pita pizza.  A little Master Chef in the making I think!

Little J 15 months activities

Phew finally midway through September and I am just now able to catch my breath!  Where did the end of the summer go?  It seems like August just started and the next thing you know L is in school and the leaves are changing!

Here is a catch up post on what Little J was up to in August at 15 months.

 

Scrubbing apples.  We have a wonderful apple tree in our yard.  Both L and Little J enjoyed eating the apples from the ground as well as helping to make blackberry and apple sauce.  This picture looks so civilised but it quickly turned into chaos as Little J decided it would be way more fun to tip out all of the water and roll the apples off the side of the deck!

 Painting al fresco.

 

On the shelves.  We didn't really have any strict "works" over the summer.  I found it way too hard with L around as she always wants to interfere with what ever Little J is doing. 

From the top left we have:

The shoe basket.  LJ is still obsessed with shoes and dressing himself.  We also have worked on sorting the shoes into pairs.

Stacking boxes, shape sorter and then the ever popular open and shut basket.  I keep rotating different containers in this basket.

Bottom left is a emergency vehicle puzzle with little knobs to develop the pincer grip.  An etch-a sketch type drawing board which we had when L was little.  It is great fun to draw and then push the lever across to erase all of your work! 

Melissa and Doug tool box.  Hammering is the number one favourite at the moment.  Little tow truck with wooden sorting shapes.  The tow truck has a magnet on it to attach the shapes to.  This is from Ikea.

 

These are just a few of the things that Little J got up to this summer.  What is not shown is LJ's love of climbing.  He will climb anything and everything.  The number of times I've been out of the room for two seconds and when I come back he is actually on the kitchen table searching for scraps!!  He certainly keeps me on my toes!

Little J 14 months

Summer is such a wonderful time to be 1!  Little J is taking full advantage of the beautiful weather and exploring and experiencing the world around him with tremendous enthusiasm and joy.

 

Every Day Life

He loves to be one of the big kids and just jumps right in to join in the action.

Little J adores the water just like his sister.

Checking out the baby piglets at the petting zoo.

 

Practical Life

 Little J is at the age where he is understanding so much and is able to follow simple directions.  He likes to take books out of the book basket for me to read and then will return them.  Now that he can walk confidently and can carry things at the same time we have started "putting things back"  We will start to put the stacking boxes back into each other and I can ask him to go and find the missing ones in the kitchen. 

We keep his shoes on a shelf in his bedroom and if I tell him we are going out and ask him to get his shoes he will get them and bring them to the living room and start trying to put them on.

 

Little J likes to help to unload the dishwasher and will pull out the plates and cutlery from the bottom drawer and hand them to you.  He also enjoys pulling the clean diapers out of the bag and handing them to me as well as the laundry.

This guy is a born cleaner.  If he sees a sponge or cloth he will get to work wiping.  He is also obsessed with the broom and will sweep the deck and kitchen any chance he gets.

He is using the watering can to water the bushes and flower pots on the deck as well.

 

We've come to the conclusion that Little J has a shoe fetish : )  Any shoes he sees he will try on and if successful will try to walk around in them.  He also loves to dress himself.

 

On the shelf-activities

 

I have introduced a mat to Little J.  I have two activities that are on a higher shelf which we do on a mat now.  He cannot access these himself and we have been so busy that we haven't done them much but I think this is the way we will go with the mat until Sweetpea returns.

Putting pieces of spaghetti into a sugar container.  I like this activity because it not only works on fine motor control but also has a great control of error.  If he is not very gentle the stick will break.  Little J enjoys putting in one stick and then taking it out again until it breaks small enough to drop into the container.

Lacing chopsticks.  I wasn't sure if I was going to be too early in introducing this one but he got it right away.  

Brings me back. It seems like yesterday that L was doing the same activity.

 

Little J has always enjoyed this activity but he surprised me today when has showed me he was able to put the pieces back on the right pegs.  So he can either sort by color or shape now.  I'm guessing a bit of both.  This has inspired me to add more sorting activities to the shelves.

 

Language

 

Little J has always been super vocal and loves the sound of his own voice no matter how loud! He is a great communicator and can now say several words:

mama, dada, door, uma(for Granny), ya, eye, keys, doll(for ball), da(for bath),clo(for clock),dog,go(for goat) DO DO DO!!! for bird with a vigorous pointy finger and car.

However the most amazing word that has totally opened up his little word is more!  He has realised he can ask for more and also point to things he wants and say more to get them.  Yes he has also realised that this word can be totally abused!

Car rides are also hilarious as our conversation every time we get in the car goes like this

LJ: mama

Me: Yes LJ

LJ: car

ME: yes there's a car

LJ: mam

Me: yes

LJ: car

This goes on for most of the journey unless he sees a dog, deer or bird.

 

 

Yummy Kale Chips-a family affair

We have an over abundance of kale in our garden so we decided to make some yummy kale chips.

L and Granny picked the kale and L washed and tore it into bite size pieces. 

 

Baby J helped to wash.

Spinning the kale together.

 

Adding the dressing.  This was L's least favourite bit.

I put them in the dehydrator for several hours and the result was lovely zingy kale chips.

There are tons of different recipes around the Internet.  We used this one from Soma Studio.  They ended up being really tangy.