Wordless Wednesday

For more Wordless Wednesdays, check out 5 Minutes For Mom.

Shutter Love Tuesdays: Blue

This is one of my favorite shots from my daughter's first trip to the zoo. She has always loved fish, and it was fun to see her reaction to seeing them at the zoo!

Baby Brother

As of September 23rd, Ella's baby brother, Troy, is officially here!

Wordless Wednesday: Stuck!

Learning to fear the water and asking for help

Watching the learning and growing process of a child is an amazing experience. It is hard to believe that almost twenty months ago Ella was a tiny baby who could only cry to express her needs and couldn't even hold her head up. Now Ella is this little person, who can communicate with words (among other ways of communicating), and who is currently running in circles around our living room (well, at least she was when I started writing this post). She has learned so much in the past twenty months!

Something little that she has recently learned really intrigued me. Over the past few weeks there have been a couple of times that Ella has slipped in water on the floor (whether it was a drip of water or she walked where we had just mopped). She hasn't been hurt when she slipped, but these experiences have still been very traumatic to her, so much so that she has learned to fear the water. Now, when she walks in our kitchen she looks on the floor for spots of water, and if she sees one you can see the fear in her eyes - she doesn't want to fall. In fact, there are times she will not move once she sees the water. Instead she asks us for help - whether that be by crying, raising her arms up for us to carry her, grabbing our hands to hold when she walks, or even saying "help, help."

So, what is so interesting about the fact that she has learned to fear the water on the floor? For me, it has been interesting to see how many things she put together in the whole situation. First, she has figured out what caused the problem in the first place (the water). Secondly, she figured out that she needs to avoid it. Finally, although she hasn't quite figured out that she can walk around it, she has figured out that she can ask us for help - and that part absolutely melts my heart.

I love her so much, and I cannot wait to see what she will learn next!

I Heart Faces: Smirks

One of my favorite "smirks" from my daughter. I actually caught this look when I was trying to capture a photo for the "Over My Head" challenge (a photo that I never got, by the way!).

Be sure to check out all the smirks this week!

Tot School

In my effort to find more things (aka "purposeful activities") to do with Ella (my "tot"), I came across something called Tot School (via the blog I mentioned before). There are tons of great ideas on this site, plus a weekly linky where other moms can share what they have been doing with their tots each week. I'm really excited to explore the activities that other moms are doing with their tots. I know it will be a great way to learn more about activities that I can do with Ella, and perhaps even spur my own creativity!

There are a couple key ideas behind tot school. First, the activities should be fun for your toddler. Secondly, allow things to go with the flow - things may not go exactly as planned (really, consider the fact you are working with a toddler!), but that doesn't mean it isn't time well-spent.

Tot school isn't school at all in the traditional sense, but rather it is all about having a purposeful playtime everyday with your toddler - using the playtime to expose your child to different learning opportunities. So, what exactly is purposeful playtime? At first thought you might think it requires specific materials or curriculum to complete - but it doesn't. The idea behind the purposeful playtime to think about how toys or other things you already have around the house can be used to expose your toddler to learning opportunities.

For example, consider this bucket of animals we have for Ella. Purposeful play with the animals could include the following activities:

• Identifying the animals.
• Identifying the noises the animals make.
• Identifying the colors of the animals.
• Identifying the body parts of the animals.
• Counting the animals.
• Practicing standing the animals up on their feet.
• Lining the animals up.
• Sorting the animals (by type (e.g., cows) or size or color, etc.).
• Putting the animals back into the bucket, and dumping them back out (I think Ella's favorite thing to do with the animals!).

It isn't about following a strict "lesson" with the animals, but rather, as Ella plays and interacts with the toys, taking the opportunity to do things like asking her to identify the animal or counting aloud as she drops the animals back into the bucket.

Although I'm not sure when I'll officially start writing the posts (pending baby brother's arrival), I do plan to participate in the weekly linky at the 1+1+1=1 blog, and I look forward to checking out what other moms are doing with their toddlers!