Tot School Time!

Another busy week! I hope you enjoy our learning activities; for even more, check out the Tot School blog!

I'm excited to share this because Maddie has loved doing it. I got the awesome template from RockerMom and added some counting dogs and cats (although, when we used it at the doctor's office, I used small erasers that I had in my purse). She loves putting the manipulative in the box and I love to hear her count (Blogger is just NOT cooperating with uploading the video I have of her "counting").

Maddie had her two year check up last week (yay for a good appointment!) and I brought a whole bag, full of new activities and games. This one was downloaded from here, but I can not, for the life of me, find it again. Anyway, she had to sort the M&Ms on the appropriate colored fish. It was fun and really came in handy because we let her the candy after her shots.

It's in my pile of things to be laminated, since the chocolate doesn't always melt in your mouth. :)

So, when I go shopping, I'm always picking up random odds and ends (usually because they're cheap or on clearance). I don't always know what I'm going to do with the item, but I'll stash it in my, "Waiting for Inspiration" drawer until something hits me.

Long story, I know. But, I bought these wooden pieces in the Lakeshore outlet and just recently got them out and glued magnets on the back. They're furniture pieces and she loves setting up her house. :)

Here's a better picture of the pieces. She uses them on her magnetic whiteboard. They're sturdy and fun (though I do wonder for what they were originally intended). I like how she's trying to grab it from me. Ha!

She also had a renewed interest in her magnet basket this week. It's filled with little disks and balls. I also added a wand, which was highly entertaining.

Sometimes magnets, when they snap together and make too much noise, are not so much fun.

I bought this (again, on clearance, at a teacher supply store) months and months ago and just recently got it out to show her. She loves sitting and lacing it and chose it several times this past week. I think it's really nicely made and she's able to do it pretty smoothly. I highly recommend this one.

I absolutely love reading blogs and gathering ideas; I can spend hours sifting through it all. I've recently found this amazing blog and was intrigued when I saw that she had her kids spear their grapes with toothpicks. Being as Maddie had stopped eating grapes, I thought it'd be a fun way to get her to try them again. Sure enough, it worked and she's been gobbling them down ever since. Next up will be small pieces of cheese and other finger foods. Thanks for the great idea (and a fine motor skills activity, too!)!

Maddie got to plant her first flowers in the front yard last week. She's been diligently drowning watering them ever since.

One of my favorite pictures to date. Michael was working on the sprinklers and stopped to show her how they work; she was fascinated. She later grabbed a screwdriver and went to work (I'm fairly certain I saw several very necessary pieces of plastic go flying).

This is another inspiration from RockerMom, and it sent me straight to the dollar store so that I could pick one up too. It's one of those wooden games with the pegs. She loves pushing them in the tiny holes. In this picture, she was taking them off. When she saw me get the camera, she threw a fit and refused to keep working. Oh well. She does like it.

On a (sorta) related note, she is really mastering the use of the fork. She fed herself eggs and pancakes when we went out for breakfast.

Not sure if this is a huge coincidence (or if we need to send the Magna Doodle to the MOMA), but a couple of days ago, she called me over to tell me that she drew a whale. I was shocked that, to me, it really looks like a whale! Am I crazy?! Ha! She pointed out the eyes and smile and said he was a "very happy whale." Neat, right?!

She also got her basket of tiny shells (which is plentiful, thanks to Uncle TT!) to sort in her pill container (dollar store!). She loves, loves, loves the little doors of the pill box and I like watching her categorize the shells. She told me that in one box, all the "little party hats were playin' together." :)

And finally, we had another fun play date with Miss Kylie (who is the proud owner of this much loved ball pit). I was sifting through pictures and found a shot of their very first play date together, about two years ago!

So, I think that was our week (or at least, what I could capture on camera! I recently realized that I take so many pictures everyday!). Check out the Tot School blog to see what everyone else was up to this week!