Wilson Ramblings

Nathan is currently 20 months old

The last two weeks of tot school have been a bit different than most... why? Well we were on vacation one week and this last week, Nathan has been absolutely pitiful dealing with a nasty virus. Hopefully next week we'll get back on track with more planned learning activities. All in all, they were 2 education weeks, as I look back at the pictures.

Going to the Charleston Aquarium...eagles...

bear walking through a huge log

learning about camp fires...hot hot hot...

baby alligators...

"look at all de fish"...

being sized up by an emperor penguin...

lots of things to touch!

Beach school... learning about starfish.

sensory experiences on the beach

transferring water from one bucket to the next, as well as following directions, "pour the pink bucket into the yellow bucket"

LOTS of gross motor such as scooping

digging

throwing

squatting

and just being cute - that's got to be a gross motor skill right?

digging with daddy

running and chasing = a toddlers dream!

The Battery in Charleston provided more opportunities for gross motor work... like hanging in the trees...

pushing a stroller and learning to obey directions like turn, stop, wait, and go...

learning to handle freedom yet still obey!

The water fountains were awesome and were quite a sensory experience even for me. The air was a muggy 98 degrees and the water coming out of those fountains was very chilly! It also had a lot of water pressure so when it hit your back it tickled!

No week is ever complete for us without swimming!!!

Last week, thanks to a trundle bed, Nathan and daddy got to play in the "cave" under the bed!

Coming home from Charleston with a sick tot proved a bit challenging, but some of his favorite tot school activities and a few new ones helped to pass the week rather quickly! This is Nathan's new stroller (thank you Izzy for sharing one of yours with us!). Nathan loves to push it. This is working on his ability to steer around objects as he runs full speed through the house with the stroller. He WILL NOT put a stuffed animal or anything in the seat. :)

Wonder Pets also helped us through the week, and we learned several new animals and lots of directional concepts. Also, I often hear "go wonder pets" right before Nathan jumps off of something! :)

When your kiddo is miserable and he begs to go outside, you happily oblige, and then turn it into tot school! Swinging the bat, both into the air...

and into the pool!

Pouring water from the pool into the spinner.

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More musical instruments!

And the favorite backyard sensory tool... the rice bucket.

Bath time, another favorite for our kiddo... working on kicking and splashing...

Coppertone kid, eat your heart out, Nathan is way cuter!

back to tub school... blowing bubbles

learning breath control and body part identification as he poured water on various body parts... like his forehead...

shoulders, and a few others! This was also a great way to work on 2 handed activities and crossing the midline!

This is a squirty fish and Nathan has learned how to fill it himself. He loves to watch the bubbles come up to the surface and then squirt the full fish all over the bathtub. This challenges his ability to squeeze the fish and let go under water to fill it up, and then to listen to my direction as I ask him to squirt different things. It's a really fun game!

More traditional tot school activities took place later in the week as Nathan began to feel better. Coloring was a must several days this week. He still loves for me to color the parts he requests in the colors he requests and I do the same for him. :)

Sorting playdoh colors

Using the fun factory! I've had this for months and finally pulled it out! Loads of fun, although it's really hard for him to push that lever down by himself. This was a great calm, quiet, activity and we'll certainly pull it out again soon!

Nathan discovered these as I was clearing out a "too small/too young" closet. He enjoyed linking them together and pulling them apart.

FINALLY, finally, I became addicted to my morning coffee and have finished off a bottle of liquid flavored creamer. Okay, I'm not addicted, but I have learned to enjoy that cup of coffee, and Nathan enjoys the container from the creamer!

Pipe cleaners of various sizes into a shaker container. Great for color identification, fine motor, as well as learning which is bigger and which is smaller.

No week in our house is complete without puzzles!

Nathan has really been into his megablocks lately - thank you daddy! he loves to build different things with them. This week the theme has been boats. He will build several and ask you to play boats with him. So cute. He will not (unless asked) mix the colors. His creations are always in one color. I find this interesting!