Our Little Prince

Okay, so your crown is a simple paper plate craft, but that didn't stop it from being totally magical :)

Our Growing Toddler

So, we finally pinned up The Growing Tree the other day.

And you, my boy, are 38" tall at 2 1/2 years old :)

Lions and Tigers and .. er, Birds, oh my!

Your little craft folder is filling up fast, little boy :)

But it does look like you appear to enjoy doing these different crafts, no matter how simple.
Maybe it's because you get to smear glue all over the plate, and tear up pieces of paper, AND get to play with Googly Eyes and bits of ?chenile pipe cleaners.

Afterwards, I let you "practise" using the scissors for a few minutes..

Paints were made to be freeeeeeeeee

Okay, so at first we started "safely" with the "paint in the ziploc" painting angle...

But then you weren't really very into "safe" painting and so I thought, "oh, well" and broke out the paints and the ( LOL ) apron.


You experimented with different ways of holding a paint brush..There was a lot of pointillism going on..

You experimented with painting on your hands,

and with your hands,

and your fingers...

and eventually, using your own face as a canvas. That's some thinking outside the box, now :)

And of course, you HAD to threaten to taste the paint, otherwise, this painting session would have been, as we say in Malay, "tak sah" aka "invalid"

It was hilarious too, that when you decided you were done with painting, you fell onto the floor, and started laughing loudly on your back, just like what they do on Peppa Pig!

Literally ROFL :)

Hurray for Chopsticking!

Okay, so technically, it's more like tongs than chopsticks, but at your age, that's pretty major :)

Happy Birthday, Max

We were at Max's 3rd birthday party last weekend, and you had lots and lots of fun...

There are a lot more photos over at Mama's OTHER blog,

but I wanted to post this one here because it's such a sweet one of you and Max exploring in Mamo's backyard. ( and not running around like mad men : } )

And these two, just because. :)

Scooping, Spooning, Pouring

I am no Montessori Mum by any stretch of the imagination,

but this was a means of keeping you occupied and close by while I cooked :P

p/s : Your daddy gets empathy pains just watching you sit in that "W" knees configuration. :)

A Typical Morning Mashup Post

Okay, so I had some photos that were sitting in a folder, just waiting to be posted.

But I waited a little too long, and well, I thought that I would just put them all in one post, and call it the "What the little boy gets up to on a daily basis... kinda" post.

Of course, this doesn't cover EVERYTHING that you do every morning, and you don't do all of them EVERY morning, but for this moment in time, these are some of the activities that you do a lot of.

Usually when you get up, you'll have your milk and a waffle, and then you run off into my study/your playroom, and dive headlong into play play play.

We got some "junk" mail in our mailbox the other day, that had Disney stickers in them, so here you are, happily sticking Nemo, Mickey, Pooh Bear and others onto a piece of construction paper. I noticed how you were quite particular about spacing them out :)




We got some wooden magnetic alphabet and number sets from Dollar Tree, and you often play with them, on an extra cookie sheet that we have.




Yes, you have known your ABCs - both uppercase and lowercase for some time now, as well as their sounds, and their order.




And you can spell your name. Not bad for a not quite 2 1/2 year old, eh? :)
Of course, our trick was using the B.I.N.G.O. song with your name :)




Another activity that you can do all day long is your puzzles. We have some Melissa and Doug, as well as some Dollar Tree jigsaw puzzles, and you are already able to tackle the 25 count ones by yourself at amazing speed.




Of course, how can a morning go by without a snack ?On this day, you were in the mood for peanut butter crackers.




Sometimes, we will make some attempt at potty training. A lot of the time, you will sit on the potty, but not actually GOING, and then go in your diaper. Sometimes, you are hesitant to sit on the potty at all, for some reason. We aren't rushing you just yet in this respect.

And, for the life of me, I cannot remember why you look rather distressed in both these pictures. You WERE watching something on Nick Jr. both times, though.




We've been doing some art and crafts when I am able to muster up some courage to let you play with paints and whatnot, and most of the time you are really good about not making a big mess ( maybe I just don't give you the opportunity to? ) and always ask for a wipey when you accidentally get some paint on the table or your hands. Of course, sometimes you USE your HANDS on purpose :)




And yes, every time we break out the paints, you STILL threaten to taste it.
One of these days, I just may let you do so.





Then, there were the couple of days when we played with pom poms from Dollar Tree :

Painting with Pom Poms




Gluing Pom Poms




Sorting Pom Poms




Gluing and Pattern making with Pom Poms




Stamp Art using Foam Stickers on Bottle Caps






I also got a pair of scissors from Walmart, that was supposed to be for 3+, with some springy mechanism thingy, which I thought might be useful for you to practise using scissors.






Usually by 1 pm, you are ready for a nap :)



And when you get up from that nap, the cycle picks up again!

What a bundle of energy you are, boy. :)

Imagination

Sticks and Stones...

Artsy and Crafty

Last week I thought it would be fun to have a little bit of "structured" learning play.

I broke into my art supplies, which had been sitting neglected for a few years now, and thought, "Oh well, those are replaceable."

Anyway, you had a blast exploring with the paints, using little cotton swabs as paint brushes.

Of course, being the multitasking toddler that you are, you belted out the ABC song as you worked on your masterpieces..

AND I had to keep a watchful eye on you, not because I was afraid that you would make a horrific mess, but rather because you kept on threatening to EAT the paint. :) I know you wanted a little taste to get to know the paints ( I mean, that's how you use all your sense to explore something new ), but STILL.

At one point, you decided to get 3 cotton swabs together and make a three-fer swirl :)

After we were done, of course, I tried to encourage you to participate in the putting away and cleaning up process. You gotta start em young, I tell ya. ;D

You had lots of fun, and we've been doing some other kinds of crafts, which I'll try to put up ASAP :)

What you didn't see on the Other Blog

Here's what didn't get on Mama's blog post on the West Texas Fair and Rodeo :)

a.k.a. The Focus Is On Jaxon

This one is where we are kind of strolling up and down the street where we are parked, just sort of hanging out waiting for the parade to start, and you start getting really antsy.

So, out comes the smart phone and the Kids Piano Lite App.

But of course, we are out and about and no toddler should have to remain strapped into his stroller and messing with technology! :)





Can you tell you are rather curious as to what lies behind them glass doors?