Playing with the Alphabet

I bought some of the clear glass gems that lots of people use in flower vases or fish tanks and tried to recreate a project I found in a magazine. I believe the magazine was Family Fun, but I couldn't swear to it. I searched through some old magazines and cut out letters of appropriate size and glued them onto the backs of the gems using regular school glue. As soon as I buy them, I'll glue circle magnets onto the backs of the alphabet gems.

The kids are very much enjoying playing with them already even though they don't have magnets yet.

I had some extra glass gems leftover after I had finished my alphabet, so I found some suffixes and blends and made those as well.

If the children were a little older, they would have enjoyed helping to find and cut out the letters. My little ones just played with cutting up the pages of the magazines I didn't need.

And to give credit where credit is due, my cousin participated cheerfully in much of the project helping to create at least a third of the alphabet.

The Weekly Review: Week 24

Blog Post Idea I Like

I liked this idea a lot. Ok. So, maps aren't really my thing. I'd rather do something a little different, but the idea is a great one. The children are often anxious to get to the table before the food is ready. Ava climbs up in her chair and then sits impatiently with nothing to do. It would be nice to have something there just ready to play with and discuss. Now, what else could go on the table besides a map?

The Weekly Michael

"I had a great day at school today!" These were the first words from Michael's mouth when I picked him up from school yesterday morning. They were said with enthusiasm, earnestness and sincerity. May he hold on to this sentiment as long as possible. Apparently the great day was due to the watercolor paints, orange play-doh, and new play-doh tools he got to use today at school.

On a completely different note, for the second week in a row Michael is only taking a nap on average about a third of the time. This happens periodically. Just about when I decide that his afternoon nap has disappeared, he starts taking the nap regularly again for another couple of months. However, having said that, I think this may be the beginning of the end of the nap. We'll see.

Ava this Week:

There's so much going on with Ava right now.

We've started OT and that's stretching her tolerances for sensory experiences.

She is becoming more independent by the day. I hear, "Do it ON MY OWN!" many, many times a day. I have to take a deep breath and remind myself to be patient. I try to remember that independence is a good thing and skill at it requires practice. And so I let her put on her own shoes and take off her own underwear and generally do lots of things herself that I could do 10 times faster, but that isn't the point.

She's also a tiny bit more appropriate in public. She still doesn't initiate interactions with other children, but she is retreating less when they encroach upon her space. I figure that's progress.

On the other hand, she didn't get her school pictures taken because she refused to go down the hall with the photographer. So be it. At least I don't have to worry about her being overly friendly with strangers (knock on wood). Silver lining: I won't be tempted by the crazy expensive prints. School pictures are such a racket.

The Weekly Visit:

As I've said, my cousin (Ava's godfather) is in town from New Orleans this week. The visit isn't over yet, but it has been wonderful. The kids adore him. We've been to Six Flags, the Botanical Gardens, a children's museum, and we're still planning on the going to the zoo. The children also just enjoy his company around the house. I've enjoyed having his company too. We've watched a little television and played some games. The company of another adult during the day is nice. I'll be sad to see him go on Sunday.

Resistance

Today we went to the Botanical Gardens and spent all morning in the Children's Garden. We climbed rope ladders, went over rope bridges, played on a splash pad, dug in a sand pit, built huge towers from wooden blocks, and generally had a great time.

The very last thing we did was visit the gift shop. My children think gift shops are places you go to play (gently) with the store's toys and then leave those toys behind for the most part. We only purchase something on "special occasions". Ava found an adorable hat. It fit her perfectly. She loved it. I loved it. It was incredibly cute. However, the hat cost $20 and we already have a hat for her. So when it was time to go, I resisted. I told her we needed to put the store's hat back and we left.

But I'm still thinking about that hat. Darn being a grown up and resisting things we don't need.

Isn't it adorable though?