Sunday, December 13, 2009

Tot School

~James is 33 months~
This was our lightest week of Tot School so far! I almost decided against even writing up a post, but since we did do a few things, I figured I ought to share them.

Music:
Our last Kindermusik class for the year. James had so much fun during these classes and I think they really helped him come out of his shy little shell, too. Here he is making "snow" with the parachute......and getting a sticker from the wonderful Ms. Suzanne. {I edited a Santa hat onto him just for kicks. :)}

Letters:
James played with our bottle cap puzzles. I drank a LOT of water so he could complete several name cards at once. Oh, what us mommies will do. :)

Practical Life:

I set up a self-care station in James' bathroom complete with a little mirror, and a tray with a brush & comb, a toothbrush & paste, some soap, a little washcloth, and a cute little duck just for fun.
I wish I had taken a picture of his face when he first saw it all. He LOVED it! We are big on independence in our house and while it's bittersweet to see James needing me less and less, I know it's important for him to learn how to care for himself, too.

Holiday activities:

James enjoyed all of the holiday activities I put together for him last week. Click here to read my post about them.

He also had a blast with our Christmas sensory tub. He was smiling ear to ear when he saw the Santa and tree boxes and the jingle bells. He has so much Christmas spirit - it's really so precious. He walks around the house singing "Jingle Bells" and "Frosty the Snowman" and keeps telling me excitedly that "Christmas is coming very soon!". :) Oh my goodness that kid makes me smile.

Nature:

We spent lots of time outdoors this week. James got together with his BFF a couple of times and the two of them had fun feeding the ducks at the Botanical Gardens. They also explored this ginourmous tree - the oldest in Bermuda!

Life School:
One afternoon I found James in the office "pretending to be Daddy". He had himself all set up at Paul's desk. I gave him some crayons and paper and he was "ready to work". :)

Thanks to Susan, I received a TON of buttons (as well as a bunch of other goodies) this week. James loved helping me "sort" them. I write "sort" because what actually happened is this: I sorted them by color and James sorted them by whether they were buttons or not, which means they were all dumped out and put into one big button pile. Sorta like how they were in the first place. ;)

The highlight of the week came when we attended the Annual Boat Parade party at Paul's work. The company he works for is so family oriented, it's fantastic. They gave free bubble guns to the kids. (side note: I felt so weird about saying the word "gun" to James - I know, I know, I'm being overprotective, right?) The boat parade is held in Hamilton Harbor and it's quite a sight to see all those boats decked out in twinkling lights. Unfortunately, I couldn't get any good pictures of them. At the end of the night there were fireworks. James talked non-stop throughout the entire display! ("Ooooh a big red one, mama! Ooooh very loud! Ooooh good job, fireworks!") I loved every minute of it simply because he was sharing his every thought with me.

Hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season!!

Click the button to the left to see what others are doing with their children.

9 comments:

Jo Shabo said...

Hi Mari-Ann! What did ya'll do with the "snow" and parachute at Kinder Musik? I am having Scarlett's birthday party next week and we have one of those parachutes and I have been wanting to use it (kids just LOVE those!) Was there a song or anything that went with it? Thanks for anything you can think of! :) Ya'll have been doing such cute stuff lately!

sbswtp said...

What a fun week!!! I love the picture with him at the desk :)It looks like you fit in some great activities :)

Our Little Family said...

Oh girl, I love YOUR blog! You know, when I wrote my post about using trays, I totally meant to link to you but completely dropped the ball. Every time I read your blog, I get so inspired. You are such an amazing mom and I feel blessed to have "found" you through the blog world! :)

And, I've been wanting to get Maddie into a music class. I think she'd really like it (and I love the added Santa hat! Ha!).

-Jill

Susan-Chasing Marcus said...

Your self care station is brilliant! Although Sophie is much younger than James, she is extremely independent and I love filing these things away for later. We hit the ground hard with potty training after the first of the year. She is ready, not sure Mom is...=)

Anonymous said...

oo I think you got a ton done this week! WTG! I love that he "sorted" the buttons.. sounds like something Sammy would do :-P

Tilly said...

Luke and I used to go to Kindermusik. We loved it! The teacher couldn't get enough people to enroll though, so she stopped offering it:(

I love the self-care station. Such a cute idea!

Elise said...

We also did Kindermusic and my children loved the parachute.

Your Christmas themed sensory tub looks like so much fun.

Counting Coconuts said...

Thank you for your comments!! I love hearing from you guys!
Jo, I just sent you an email. :)
Jill, you are SO sweet!! No worries at all about the tray link - I read that post and it never occurred to me that you would link me. Thanks for even thinking of it!
The self-care station has been a HUGE hit with James. :)

Jen said...

Ok, supermom spill it. I know how busy you are, how do you have time to put together all these cute activities for James? Seriously I need to know your secret!
You are smart to urge James towards independence... too many moms baby their children for too long (speaking of yours truly) and suffer the consequences later! LOL

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