Inside Joke

Pretty sure this is the first, but not the last, time I'll wonder what inside joke these brothers are laughing about.

 

Farewell Inner Kate Gosselin!

Sensory days at our Building Blocks Coop Preschool used to be my most dreaded. Apparently I was channeling an inner Kate Gosselin, unable to see past the mess, or mess potential, to reach the learning opportunities sensory play provides. Before becoming a mom myself, I used to shudder watching her stress about the mess her sextuplets made while fingerprinting or pumpkin carving, and thought, "Relax lady! Let them be kids!". Well that was before I had a boy whose favorite activity at the sensory table was throwing or dumping cups of rice all over the room.

Thankfully my fellow teachers were more courageous and patient, and taught both Ethan and me the joys and benefits of sensory play. By months of repeating, "Keep it in the bin Ethan. Okay, let's play with something else then and you can try and do it right later (and then letting him!)," Ethan neatly plays with the sensory materials inside the container (most of the time!) and even attempts to sweep or pick up the times he doesn't.

Honestly, I didn't think we'd ever come that far and would have banned the sensory table from the class if it were up to me.

"Look at the goooo!" exclaimed Ethan at school.

And my fellow teachers not only taught me the ways of coaching him how to play appropriately, but how to coach further learning. By saying descriptive statements, like "that cup looks full of beans now!" instead of the vague and overly praise heavy "good job!" I'm helping learn new language. You'll still catch, me saying good job sometimes (why is that so ingrained?!), but now I know what to try and do instead.

So now that I have seen success with sensory play for both of us in the classroom, I was inspired to bring it home. But not enough to pay full price for a professionally made one! So here is how I constructed my own sensory table with interchangeable bins- no tools required!

First I started with a clearance $7 Ikea Lack end table.

(My little apprentice)

I bought two plastic storage bins with lids. My plan is to be able to prepare the next activity to replace an old one he tires from ahead of time. And this way I dont have to wait until a bin is cleaned and dried to shift activities.

Velcro was chosen so I could wash the bins in the sink or with a hose without the cumbersome table. My boy needs the bin stuck to the table so dumping the entire contents in one push doesn't become the activity.

I stuck adhesive Velcro to the base of the plastic bin. Put together both pieces so when you peel off the other backing, it sticks to the table lined up to the bin perfectly.

Place sticky adhesive tape on your table and you have your own sensory table!

This morning Ethan has played with his "Play Bin" a total of an hour and a half! That is an eternity in toddler minutes!

I stockpiled a bunch of options for exploration, inspired by my Pinterest Sensory Bin board (much more creative options I hope to someday tackle can be found there). For now I have two items I plan to enhance with food coloring; rice and different uncooked pasta. I also grabbed a bunch of clearance Easter basket grass to hide objects in, mand some plastic bugs to start with.

 

Brought To You By The Letters...GW!

The shirt says it all...

(best way to get a still shot of his shirt)

The University and workplace where husband and wife, and now Mommy and Daddy met...George Washington University!

Our Easter Weekend

We had a wonderful Easter weekend!

Saturday was a unique mix of family and friends. Two good friends of ours wed at the Jefferson Memorial and Chris, Gavin, and I celebrated with them at a reception on a cruise of the Potomac.

Here we are indulging in some famous Georgetown Cupcakes on the boat!

When Gavin wasn't sleeping (which was 90% of the time) he was making other other police officer buddies ohhh and ahhh. (Seriously did not ask these policemen to pose for this, a genuine moment! :)

Chris didn't mind showing off his newest "stud" son he'd been bragging to all his buddies about!

Meanwhile, Ethan was having a blast at a friend's Easter Egg Roll party. Our good friend Leslie brought him along to join the festivities. Best part of the day?

Coming home to hearing your friend say "Ethan was an angel today." Made my whole day! Good job buddy!

Easter Sunday we spent the whole day together, starting the morning with seeing what the Easter Bunny brought the boys while they were sleeping.

Gavin's (obviously). Rattles and teethers galore.

Ethan's (obviously). The boy's obsessions in a basket. Firefighters, balls, Thomas the Train, and musical instruments (flutes and whistles are the current fav...groan!).

The Easter Bunny returned during naptime and left Ethan a ton of eggs hidden in the backyard!

What was inside all of the eggs?

Chocolate? Skittles? Gummi Bears?

Ha! Not this year Mr...

Stamps!

They were a hit and entertained all dinner when we dined out.

How many years do you think I can pull this heist off?

 

Gavin Giggle in Slow Motion

 

Thank you Grandpa for my new chair! I'm clearly loving it!

 

Turning Pinterest into Action!

For those of you who have heard about it, started to dip your toe into the world of Pinterest, or have been spending way to much time on the site, I too have been pinning away for the last couple of months.  It's a wonderful escape into a pictorial fantasy of what you wish your world looked like.  I finally decided to make it more than an escape and turn it into the inspiration that I intended it to be! 

Here is the first try...

Below is the "Pin" that I put on my "Boys are Bored Indoors" board:

Here's our attempt at putting the inspiration into action!

 Ingredients, Tray to mix with, whole milk (any milk will do, but whole was reported to work better), a container to hold dish soap, food coloring, and a stick to mix with.

 Lactaid is unnecessary ;)

 Pour the whole milk into the tray.  Then place a couple of drops of the food coloring into the tray.

 Dip your stick or toothpick into the dish soap.  Then proceed to mix the milk paint with the stick.

 The food coloring will dart away from the stick, having a magical effect.

As I learned in our Building Blocks Cooperative Preschool though, sometimes they find something completely different exciting about the process.  Ethan's favorite part? Dropping the sticks in and fishing them out!

And making bubbles! 

 I have to keep reminding myself "Process over product, process over product." That's how my preschooler learns.  It's a little easier for this perfectionist when it's a product that will be dumped down the sink instead of hung on the wall, but still hard!

Two Months Large and in Charge

As I shared before, every month we're taking photos of Gavin on the 14th (the day he was born) with the same teddy bear on the same chair.  By using these constants, we can compare his growth and developments.  So here we are with month two! (Note, this was taken on February 14th, but I've been a bit busy to post them... he's even bigger now!)

Stats:

Weight: 11lbs 3 oz (gained 5lbs and 10 oz since birthweight of 5lbs 9oz)

YES! THAT MEANS HE DOUBLED HIS WEIGHT IN TWO MONTHS!!!

Height: 23.5 inches (grew 5 inches since birth!)

This month, Gavin's eyes have really popped open, spending at least a couple hours awake at a time, during the DAY!  He is starting to look more and more like a brunette version of his big brother.  His eyes are turning more blue and his arm and leg movements have become more smooth. He holds his head steady and sometimes pushes his whole chest off the floor with his arms. He developed a little herniated belly button, which you can see here.  It's a typical development for an early baby, not a concern, and it's already started to reverse on it's own so you'll see less in his March pictures.

Just chillin' with my bear.

Speaking of the bear, compare month one and two below... he used to be the size of the bear, if not smaller!

You ready to look as surprised as Gavin? At his two month old appointment, the doctor put him down on the table belly down.  Gavin kept his chest and head off the table and ... ROLLED OVER!   What?!  As the doctor said, "You're in trouble Mommy!"  I agree!