The goal was to drive up to Willard Peak. The leaves were varying shades of yellow and red, and it was quite a lovely drive. At least until we ran over something and started to hear the hiss of the front tire deflating. Joe and his brother quickly changed the tire, but we decided to head back. Toward the end of the mountain road, we took a short hike. I like hiking better anyway.
This is my explorer. He climbed up onto the counters, into the cupboards and foraged his breakfast while mommy got ready. His choice of jumbo marshmallows didn’t fly. Mommy moved them into a different cupboard. Undeterred, he moved the stool, climbed up and got them again. There were many tears when the marshmallows were firmly put away in the highest cupboard and he was offered cereal for breakfast.
I actually got both kids looking at the camera, smiling! The project idea came from here.
My brother came home off his mission. This is PB waiting at the airport. Did I actually bother to get a picture of my brother? No. Sometimes I am enjoying things too much to remember to take pictures.
I love hiking with little people. We probably made it only a half mile, but the kids point out many things I would fail to notice: imaginary snakes, acorns, ants, small waterfalls. Some of the leaves were even beginning to lose their green.
When PB hears a new word, he doesn’t always get it right. The carnival was a carnivore. He wanted me to turn the shovel off of his music.
He is often frustrated because he wants to do things but can’t always figure it out. One day we had a good half hour of tears because he couldn’t cut out animal pictures. When he does do something challenging, he breaks into a big grin saying, “Mommy I can do it now.” His accomplishments he is proud of include drawing a square and rectangle, getting dressed by himself, and finally cutting out a picture.
Here is a video of my wild children.
Eating loads of taffy, and sitting on asphalt makes for two messy, but happy kids. We had a blast at Peach Days last week: riding rides, watching parades, and not going to the car show. I sent Joe and PB and stayed home while Mr. C napped. I don’t really care about mustangs or corvettes, although my car loving kid is making me notice them.
PB is in his first year of preschool, and instead of any formal preschool we do activities at home, like this:
It is a face, that went along with this book
I’ve been trying to get school to go a little smoothly, and a lot of it is just good preparation. Me trying to force PB to do something is not very effective. What works is setting up everything beforehand and letting him lead. This is what the setup look liked today:
The unused dish drainer worked perfectly for organizing school. Both the boys had fun with everything. Mr. C loves playing with the markers and managed not to bite off any of the tops today. We took the sensory bin outside where it was fought over a bit and then eventually abandoned.
We went down to the park with a friend, and found these giant schools of baby catfish. They would move much like the school of fish in Finding Nemo. Fun to watch.
Liz Braithwaite 