Tot School

Lucas is 35 months. Gwendolyn is 13 months.

::Blue links we built a parking lot with the blue links. Lucas loved parking all of his cars and lining up all of the little people. We talked about how each of the cars and people were waiting patiently in line for their turn. Gwendolyn liked coming and swiping various pieces of the parking lot :) She learned a valuable lesson in waiting patiently for her turn to play with a toy and not taking things away from Lucas - something we've been working on alot lately! I let her take a couple of pieces to play with, but then told her she had to wait for the rest until Lucas was done playing. And encouraged her to be happy with what she had. She is getting very good at either sitting patiently and waiting for her turn or finding something else to play with in the meantime.

::String both kids love to untie knots. I often leave various, knotted strings out for them to untie. They are both so proud of themselves when they got the knots out! And it's so great for teaching problem solving, patience and fine motor skills!
::Nesting cats I recently found these nesting cats for the kids to play with. Lucas is able to take them apart, line them up and put them back together easily. His favorite cat is the smallest one that doesn't come apart. He often tells me stories about the 'little kitty cat.' Gwendolyn has a hard time taking the cats apart the 'proper' way, so she throws them on the floor and they all pop open. *ahem* we've been practicing being gentle, too. She can put the largest cat back together and gets the concept that they all fit back inside each other somehow, but hasn't quite mastered putting them all back in yet.
::Stacking caps because who doesn't love stacking bottle caps?? Lucas was making a fence for Gwendolyn in this picture.

::Metal lids we had fun putting the metal lids into little metal snack containers and shaking them. Lucas did 'experiments' to see how putting different lids and different numbers of lids in the containers changed the sound. We also filled metal mugs with the lids and the kids liked seeing how the lids went flying out when the mugs were shaken :)

::Music time with Daddy Tim has been teaching Lucas how to play the trumpet and read music. I don't think they really get it, but they sure do enjoy the music and the special time with Daddy!

::Stacking rings no week would be complete without stacking rings :)

::Car table Lucas has been driving little cars around on the car table (it's the duplo table, but it flips over to a road on the other side) He tells all sorts of stories about where the cars are going and what they will do when they get there. It's so great for his imagination!
::Reading We have been reading lots of books lately! Lucas is reading more and more of them to us. I'm still not sure if he's able to read them or if he has a *really* good memory and is reciting them word for word.
::Weather We have been observing the weather at least once or twice a day. Lucas has such a fascination with it! I've seen the idea for a weather station on quite a few blogs lately, so I thought I would make up a simple one for the kids. It has four cards that say sunny, cloudy, partly cloudy and rainy. Lucas gets to pick which most closely matches the weather and change it. He loves it!!
::Outdoor play so often when I see Lucas playing, I think 'not it's intended purpose..'

::Life skills Gwendolyn is learning to be happy in a carrier!!! She has loudly protested the Ergo from the time she was very small. But a couple of weeks ago, she saw Lucas in it and then asked for a turn. And she tolerated it!! Awesome!! It may not seem like a big deal, but the new baby will arrive when Gwendolyn is 14 or 15 months - still an age where she will need to be carried quite a bit. So her happily tolerating a carrier will be a valuable life skill :)

Lucas is getting so much more friendly and talkative. He loves talking on the phone now and telling people stories!
Lucas learned how to properly use a stud finder. And he also learned that his sister *does not* contain studs.
Gwendolyn is learning generosity :) She loves sharing her things with Lucas. It makes them both so happy!