Farm Week 1

During nap time, aka, break time for MamaRach, I found this website: Everything Preschool .  It has a few sample lesson plans and lots of ideas.  I was so thrilled that I attempted to follow their lesson plans titled "Farm Week".  I made my own changes since my charges (nanny kids) are on 1.5 years old. 

Little People Barn and Farm Animals

Above:  The boys LOVED these!  I was lucky enough that there were 2 barns.  Even with both barns there were times that we had to work on sharing and 'gentle hands'.

Coloring a farm picture

We also worked on fine motor skills through artwork.  Here, I had the boys color a picture of a farm.  As they colored we talked about the the objects in the picture and the sounds each animal made.

It snows on the farm too!

Too cold to play outside?  Bring the outside in!
Honestly, I had high hopes for this but it just didn't work out as well as I had hoped.  Although my oldest charge (5.5 years old) loved it!  The plan however was to have the boys play in the snow with the Little People animals.  Next time I will set up cookies sheets with snow.  The little guys (1.5 years old) just couldn't reach the animals in the tub.

Painting a horse

Don't interrupt.  He's very focused!

I love texture play, and the easiest way to do that is with paint.  Dump a little paint into a bowl.  Give the kids paint brushes, a picture to paint and you have an instant master peice!  (This is also good for fine motor).
*tip: Use painters tape to hold pictures in place

'P' working on his puzzle

Little Man working on the puzzle with 'P' there for support.

These Melissa and Doug puzzles from Target proved to be a big hit.  I specifically like that the are thick for little hands and have the picture on the puzzle board.  It only took one or two times of working with the boys before they started figuring it out on their own.  'P' was able to complete a whole puzzle by himself!

Mama Rach



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1st Family Vacation

We took our 1st family vacation July 1-3, 2011 to Duluth, MN.  Since Jackson is not fond of car rides over 10 mins, and that's pushing it, we decided to leave right before Jackson's bedtime Friday night.  He slept almost the entire time.

Brent had mentioned that he wanted to go to the Glensheen Mansion (pictured on the left), so on Saturday morning we bought tickets to tour the estate.

Glensheen sits on 7.6 acres of land on Lake Superior no less, and has 38 rooms!  The house remains decorated the same as it was when the Congdon's lived there and while it was interesting to see how other people lived, it was the 7.6 acres that impressed us.

Naturally, we headed towards the old boat dock and pier.  A storm had destroyed the pier many years ago and the boat house was off limits but quiet impressive.  We were told that the top of the boat house is where they would sunbathe and that they had bands play during outdoor dinner parties.

The picture above and below were taken beside the boat house which you can't see.

Reaching for the leaves while we wait for our tour to begin.

Saturday evening we had dinner at Fitger's.  While our table didn't have a view of Lake Superior, we were seated in the 'family area', (seriously, there were all infants and toddlers on the 2nd floor!) so it really didn't matter if Jackson was a little loud. 

After dinner we walked outside and caught this picture of the lighthouse reflecting the light on Lake Superior:

Sunday morning we headed to the tourist area of town.  There were lots of things going on there.  Ships coming into harbor, the rising and lower of the bridge, dogs and kids running around, families riding the horse and buggy, seagulls being feed, and much much more!

Cargo ship coming into harbor.

The bridge is at full height. 

Watching to see if the ship makes it under the bridge.

 

Watching the bridge being lowered.

 

I have a feeling that Jackson is going to like boats just as much as his dad does!

The next 3 pictures are moments between father and son.

As the day began to warm up, we decided to find a shady, grassy place to eat our ice cream and let Jackson play.  We ended up resting and playing here for several hours!

 

When we were planning this trip I told Brent that I wanted to go swimming there, but that was before I learned that the AVG. temperature is 40 degrees!  Even so, I was determined to get in.

Jackson isn't so sure about getting his feet wet.



The rocks are cold too dad!



I believe this seagull, and many others, were after Jackson's dinner.  A little too close for comfort!

Jackson learned to stand on his own while we were in Duluth.  He was walking to me and then to Brent after dinner.  Then he started to get brave.  Before we knew it he was letting go and standing for a good 5 seconds before laughing and falling to the ground.  I was able to catch these shots of him standing:

If anyone was looking for a nice family vacation spot, I would highly recommend Duluth, MN.  There is plenty to do for all age groups!



Mama Rach

A Batch a Day and Other News

So as you know, we've been making our own baby food.  We were making several batches at once.  My husband has no problem with this, but I tend to get overwhelmed.  This week I decided to make a batch a day.  This allows me to make the food while Jackson is awake, without taking too much time away from him, which in turn leaves me nap time to do my school work.  So far it's working. 

In other news...

Jackson has learned how to crawl up the stairs! 

While I was looking at The Toddler Calendar, Jackson was playing by the stairs, just out of sight.  It became too quiet, and then I heard a noise I've never heard before.  I walked around the corner and didn't see him.  The bathroom door was closed.  I quickly looked over the baby gate to see if he had somehow climbed over it and fallen down the stairs (as if he could really climb OVER the gate..haha!).  My heart sank!  Where was he!?  I heard the noise again and then I found him....HALFWAY UP THE STAIRS! 

As you can imagine, I spent the next 15 mins baby proofing the house.  Sockets, check.  Baby gate in new location, check.  Locks on cabinet, check.

I can get up, but I can't get down

Little man just fell asleep for his 1st nap of the day.  By the way, it's 1:15.  He has figured out how to sit and stand up in the bed.  When I laid him down he immediately sat up in frustration.  I laid him down.  We repeated this process several times before I decided he would have to figure it out.  Well, it didn't go as planned and I finally just brought him downstairs to play.  Before trying again I changed him diaper, gave him Tylenol and baby orajel, feed him, nursed him and gave him a sippy cup of milk.  All bases covered. 

He once again repeated the flip, sit, stand, but this time I noticed he was only flipping to the left.  So I laid him back down beside to railing in hopes of him having a harder time flipping over to sit.  I walked out at this point so I don't know what happened but 5 mins later this is what I saw....

And yes, I will take tips on teaching him how to lay back down himself.  What do you do?