2011 is really hitting me with a bit of a bang. As I realize this is the year that my darling Monkey will go to Kindergarten! How is that even possible!
In February my Darling Alligator will begin preschool 2 mornings a week!
Check back, as I will post my new years resolutions tomorrow!
One of our main causes of tantrums lately is because Alligator can’t tell us what he wants. So, Alligator’s speech therapist recommended making a book of some of his favorite foods. That way we can use it to learn the names, but also to point to a picture when he wants something.
I owned this “look book” from Sassy for awhile now. It had pictures of Alligator’s family in it (meaning us and grandparents). But I decided to switch out the pictures for ones of food.
Here are the pictures I took. I have added a caption so you know what we call each item.
Fruit: (either it is peaches or mandarin oranges, easiest just to say fruit)
Cracker
Goldfish
Yogurt bites
Sippy
I have also made a cover for the book that says “Alligators favorite foods” and it includes the following picture, cause he is eating!
First let me say I am not a specialist. I learned this activity from our speech therapist, and wanted to pass it on.
Today Alligator and I were in the doctor’s office waiting. He was in a good mood despite being sick and I needed something to entertain him. I happened to find a sticker that was stuck to the inside of my purse. First I showed it to him. He thought it was pretty cool and immediatly placed it on his hand. So I said “hand”. He took it off and placed it on his other hand and I said “hand”. THen he gave me the sticker so I placed it on various parts of him, stating the name of the location. He laughed and laughed.
Then I asked him to place it. (a-ha, he had to follow a 1 step instruction) Which he did pretty well. Then he dropped it. So I asked him to “pick it up and put it on the chair” (see…a 2 step direction). And he did it, most of the time.
We had a ball, kept busy, and had a language lesson. All while waiting for the doctor. Which we then discovered Alligator has a double ear infection. OUCH!
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Around here our mornings are CRAZY! I am a natural night owl, I don’t fall asleep easily, and end up staying up till at least midnight most nights. Monkey follows in my footsteps and is impossible to get to bed at night, and almost near impossible to wake up in the morning. Alligator is pretty good at going to sleep and is usually awake around 7, assuming he isn’t sick or didn’t have a bad night (meaning he wasn’t up for 2-3 hours in the middle of the night).
So our mornings are hectic. We are all running around crazy, trying to find things; mittens, hats, coats, shoes, socks, sippy-cups….
So I created our Morning Bins. Each child has their own. These are plastic bins that are see-through. Monkey and Alligator each got to decorate their own with stickers. Then every night before bed, I place all the things they will need the next morning in them.
Monkey’s bin contains:
Clothes, underwear, socks, shoes, hat, mittens, coat, and a loaded book bag.
Alligator’s bin contains:
Clothes, diaper, wipes, socks, shoes, hat, mittens, coat and a clean sippy cup.
I can’t tell you what a difference this has made in our mornings. After breakfast, when it is time to get ready for school I grab the bins, and get one child ready at a time. I don’t have to be running around asking where things are…I just get them dressed. In fact, it has even helped Monkey do some of his own preparation in the morning.
I was not born-organized. So I need these little systems to get me going in the morning. I have also added two other bins to our lives the shoe bin, and the hat/mitten bin. When we come in from outside shoes and hats and mittens go in the bins. Then I am not looking for them all over the house.
Don’t you just love ORGANIZATION!
So yesterday we decided to take our family Christmas picture. The pictures below tell the story!
My darling Alligator loves to color/scribble. I guess it is scribbling since he doesn’t actually color in shapes, but makes designs on paper. In fact, most of the time if you give him a paper with a design on it (like a coloring page) he won’t color it. But he loves a crayon or marker or pencil, and some clean fresh paper.
Well, today he grabbed the paint and a paintbrush and brought it to me. So I figured he wanted to paint. (duh…right). Normally painting isn’t something he loves.; But I think I found the secret.
1. He has to have a brush. He WILL NOT finger paint! Better yet give him 2 brushes, one for each hand.
2. Squirt the paint directly onto the paper. If I try to squirt it into a bowl for him to dip, he will color the bowl. So I squirt directly on the paper.
3. I only squirt a little at a time. He will point at the paint and tell me when he is ready for more.
4. Offer fresh pieces of paper often. Who doesn’t love a fresh start?
Here are all of this mornings creations! We had fun!!!!!
