A Little Science Fun

When Jut is away for the week, we need to get a bit creative to keep things running smoothly at home.  Otherwise the days get long and everyone gets a bit crabby.  So the week Jut was gone this month, I did some thinking and planning to keep us busy.  E has been wanting a 'science' journal and to do science experiments.  So, I decided to let her start this week with some 'Gooey, gooey, glop'...aka cornstarch and water. 

If you have never played with it before, it is a great example of a colloidal suspension.  It acts like a solid when force is applied to it, and yet it acts like a liquid without added pressure. However, we didn't talk too much about all that 'sciency' stuff...we just had fun making hypothesizes about the nature of the goo and then observations about the behavior of the goo.

The kids had fun observing it with the magnified glass.  Stirring it up with a spoon...trying to make hand prints, etc.  We tried to cut cookies out of it with our playdough accessories.  E thought that it was going to act like playdough but decided that it was even better than playdough! 

The kids did make a bit of a mess with it, but it was an easy clean up that E did most of the work.  She had a great time.

X got in on the fun too.  He liked running his trains through it and covering them up with the goo and then sending them over to the 'wash down' aka the sink.  E had a good time with that too.  I think my little guy can turn any activity into a Thom*as the Train playtime. 








His train habit did get a bit excessive, I think this picture has at least 3 engines that are 'stuck in the mud' waiting to be rescued and sent to the 'wash down'.












To end our experiment, E wrote all of her observations into her science journal.  She did a great job!

Since we finally started our 'science' journal, we've done a couple other experiments for fun.  I've got two great little scientists on my hands!

And so it begins...potty learning

About a month ago, X got really excited about using the potty.  He really, really, really wanted some Tho*mas the Train undies.  So, we loaded up in the car (I'm all about getting this little guy using the potty...two in diapers is going to drive me insane!) and searched Alma for some Tho*mas undies.  However, our local merchants let me down.  No one carried any such undies.  I hated to stifle his enthusiasm so I bought him some trainers at Penney's.  He was very excited initially to have some undies.  But, they weren't Thomas and so he really wasn't too keen on them.

A few weeks later, we headed up to Tar*get for a few things.  We struck gold.  I wasn't even thinking of looking there for undies but we happened to wander by and X notices all things Thomas...and he pointed them out.  So, now we are the proud owners of 7 pairs of Thomas undies.  Yippee!

Wearing Thomas undies is fun for about 5 minutes.  Then, he wants to go back into his diaper.  Oh well.  As much as I would love him to learn to use the toilet, I'm not going to push.  He'll do it on his own schedule...I'm just hoping it is sooner rather than later.  Washing diapers every day is going to break my hold on sanity.  We are having weekly successes.  He generally wakes up dry from his afternoon nap, and if I wake him up I and put him immediately on the potty, we almost always have a success. So, the signs are there that he's getting ready.  There is a light shining into the diaper tunnel...although it is still a fairly dim light.

 

As much as I'd like him to wear them on his bum, he is a boy...and thinks they make a great hat.  :)

Groundhog Day

Did the groundhog see its shadow?  I'm not sure about Punxsutawney Phil, but my groundhogs liked seeing their shadows and scurrying back to their 'burrow'.  We had lots of fun today with groundhog themed activities and we even learned a few things about groundhogs as well.

If you look closely, you can see Groundhog E with Baby Groundhog E emerging from the tunnel from the burrow.  X is anxiously waiting to see if they will see their shadow or not.  He didn't understand the whole shadow idea but he certainly had fun following E's lead.

My precious groundhogs checking for a shadow from their 'hole'.  They had a tunnel to connect to the 'burrow' where their 'nests' were located.  Its amazing how much fun a box, a tunnel and tent can be when they are turned into the groundhogs home.  The kids played for hours in the groundhog's home.

We even had a groundhog popping out of its hole for lunch...or aka hots baked inside biscuits.  They were surprisingly taste.

We rounded out our Groundhog Day by playing "Find the Groundhogs Shadow".  Jut cut a groundhog's 'shadow' from black paper and the kids spent the evening hunting and finding the shadow all over the house.  Who knew a black piece of paper could provide so much entertainment?!  I think sometimes we try too hard to find activities that they will enjoy...Seriously, today involved hotdogs, biscuits, a box, a tunnel, a tent and a black piece of paper.  Does it get much more simple?!

A side note:  We also celebrated the coming of spring by playing outside and riding bikes/trucks for a little bit before supper.  Punxsutawney Phil may say 6 more weeks of winter but it hasn't hardly felt like winter yet and we are enjoying it!

My Little House Girl Dressed Up

 E got "Laura" dress up clothes for Christmas.  The apron and bonnet she received on Christmas morning along with a tin cup, slate and paper doll set.  I never thought she'd love those paper dolls as much as she does but she plays with them almost every day.

The 'elves' didn't have time to finish her 'Laura' dress for Christmas morning.  They were late in getting started as they didn't think of the actual dress until 10 days before Christmas and had little time to work on it prior to the big day.  G'ma had to do the finishing touches the week following Christmas.  But, it was worth the wait and E LOVES her Laura dress.  On Sunday, she asked if she could wear it to church.  She's got big plans for wearing it this summer.  She so funny and excited about it.  I'm glad that she likes it so well.  I'm so thankful she's my Little House girl.

C at 3 months

Three months have flown by...but things are finally starting to get into a pattern.  C's on a very predictable 3-hour schedule of eat, play and then sleep.  Playing usually entails watching X and E run around, but he's getting much more interactive and fun.

C gives the best smiles.  He's such a happy guy when he's fed and not sleepy.  He's talking a bit more all the time but not tons yet.  He started drooling this month.  Last week I started putting a drooling bib on him occasionally to keep his clothes dry.  Its not a constant thing yet but I'm sure it will get to be, if he teethes anything like his older brother.

 

X and E love him to pieces.  He's not always such a fan of their affections.  They like to 'help' feed him a bottle and he has a squeaky giraffe that X loves to squeak constantly right in his face. 

 

He's getting so big.  He was 16.5 lbs last night when I weighed him.  He is almost outgrowing his bouncy seat.  The outfit in the above picture is a 9-month outfit.  I know he didn't start out small but I wasn't ready for him to grow this fast. 

 Sleeping issues are much better this month.  He likes being rocked to sleep.  He's actually sleeping in the bassinet during the day for an hour in the afternoon.  Morning naps are typically in the Moby Wrap, as we are out and about.  Night sleeping is sometimes wonderful with only one waking in the night...and sometimes it is horrible with wakings every two hours all night long.  However, I blame congestion and growth spurts on the wretched sleep and LOVE the peaceful nights.  Typically he's only up once or twice...with the second time being after 5:30.  So, he really is doing pretty good, I think.

I've figured out that dairy bothers his tummy and that was what lead to all the gastrointestinal distress in the previous months.  So, I've said 'bye-bye' to dairy for now...however, if I splurge occasionally it doesn't seem to bother him.  I'm hoping he outgrows it soon!

That's life at 3-months. The official 'newborn' stage is over.  In a way, I'm thankful.  It is a hard stage but in other ways it is bittersweet to see it pass so quickly.  He'll be a year before I know it.   Its amazing how quickly babies change.   

Things I love about age 2...

X is so fun right now!  I love the 'terrible twos'.  He's so curious and inquisitive. He says the cutest things as he tests his new vocabulary. He runs everywhere in that no-so-efficient toddler run. He sends himself to time out.  He makes messes without end.  He falls continually...smiles constantly...and loves every moment.

 X chases E all over the house and mimics everything she says and does.  When he's not repeating her, he's ordering her around...and she does what he demands.  They crack me up when they aren't exasperating me.

I don't remember E being obsessed with a particular toy like X is.  Everything is trains, trains, trains...Thomas the train in particular.  Today at Wal*Mart, he was looking up at the rafters in the ceiling and talking about them being 'train tracks'.  He always wants to go chasing trains when he hears their whistle coming through town...we did chase a steam engine earlier this fall and he hasn't forgotten it.

I love listening to 2-year olds master the English language.  X is always saying the cutest things.  He puts inflections at the funniest places.  He came up to me yesterday and said, "Mom, it disAPPeared!"  I don't remember what disappeared but he was very excited about something. 

Watching the 2 year old imagination grow is fun also.  I enjoy watching and listening to his imaginative play expand and evolve.  Since December, E and X have been playing with an imaginative giant M&M that lives in our house.  E has mainly lost her interest in the M&M but X still 'sees' him and plays with him.  X plays with his trains.  He started out just saying things like, "Hello, Thomas" when he was playing with Thomas.  Now, its evolved into exclamations like, "Oh no!  Stuck in the mud!!"  One engine will be off the track and the other engine will be standing by.  I don't always follow his conversations, but what I catch is interesting.

X is a wonderful older brother.  He gets very concerned about C when he cries.  The other morning, C was in his bassinet asleep when I jumped in the shower.  When I got out, X was on our bed 'comforting' C who was not happy to be in the bassinet.  He was squeezing his toy giraffe and sticking his fingers into C's mouth trying to get him to stop crying.  He said, "Momma, just feeding C...just feeding C" when he saw me.  He hears C starting to cry before I do...He's always saying, "Momma, C crying" and a few seconds later, I'll hear him.  He loves to give him toys and kisses. I think he spends more time with C than E does.  He's such a loving little guy.

 The age of 2 has its challenges...the 'no' phase starting...the boundary testing...the potty training...but there is so much fun that goes along with it.  It makes all the challenges able to be taken in stride.

E's Letter to Santa

I just 'found' this picture.  It reminded me of how far E's handwriting skills have come in the last year.  She's grown up so much.  Last January, our dear friend, Lindsey, joined the Peace Corps and left for Thailand.  E was so sad.  So, we started writing Lindsey letters.  E could write the letter "E" and that was all.  She wanted to learn how to sign her name at the bottom of her letters.  Consequently, we started 'school' in the afternoons while X was sleeping.  Now, I'm not very scheduled (I blame pregnancy and a newborn) and we don't 'do' school nearly enough.  I wish I had the energy/time to do it more, but she is progressing.

For Christmas, she was bound and determined that she was going to write Santa a letter by herself.  So, I spelled out the letters for the words and she wrote Santa a letter and addressed the envelope.  She was so excited.  The envelope says, "Santa Cla North Pole".  I didn't take a picture of the letter because I was hoping to do the old bait and switch at the post office and never send it and take a picture of it later.  However, she insisted on going to the post office to mail it and insisted on putting a stamp on it and insisted on putting it in the drop box herself.  We thought that the post office might just return it to sender and Jut did think to put our return address on it.

The post office did not return it.  Instead, "Santa" wrote a letter back to Miss E.  It was very nice.  She loved getting a letter from the North Pole.  I didn't know Santa wrote back to good little girls...but he did.

E didn't get anything on her wish list to Santa for Christmas.  She didn't seem to mind.  All of her wishes came out of a catalog that is very similar to American Girls and revolved around things for her dolls to play with...Santa had other ideas in mind for Miss E...that she could play with.  Thankfully, she hasn't complained or questioned one bit about her wishes not being granted.

It is amazing to see the changes that happen within a year's time!  Bring on 2012...especially if one of the changes means C sleeps all night!!!  :)