Gardening with a 2 year old

One of the great things about our new home is the yard space. Ever since H was a baby he has loved the outdoors. Although it is wonderful to go out on walks, play soccer at the park, etc....it is really great to be able to occupy H with planting and weeding in the backyard. Two weekends ago we took advantage of the beautiful fallish weather to plant a few mums and bushes. (The fall is a great time to plant bushes and trees because they are are sale at nurseries and have the entire winter to take root before the spring again.)

We have come up with these steps for gardening with a young child to both get the work done and have fun doing it.

1. Loosen the soil. H loves this part. He gets a hand held rack and goes to town while we dig up the soil.

2. Dig a hole. (Who doesn't love doing something so concrete. )

4. Pour water at the bottom of the hole.
5. Loosen up plant and place it in the hole.

6. Fill in the dirt. 
7. Water to your heart's content.
8. Sweep away the excess dirt from rocks and surrounding walls. (H got a huge kick out of this step.) You can pick up a small dust pan and broom from almost any hardware store and it can serve as the outside brush. Provides hours of entertainment and beautifies your space. This is a win-win in my world.

The Biggest Weed Ever!

One of the exciting parts of having our first home is the yard work that comes with it. H is beside himself with happiness. Constantly, we hear requests to weed and mulch. And who are we to say no to such a request? So we get our shoes and our gardening gloves on and head out into the yard to do just that. Lucky for us there has been a fair amount of weeding and mulching necessary. (Note the slight hint of sarcasm.)

One day in particular produced a most exciting find...the biggest weed ever. J and H were out working in the yard while I was working inside and from outside I heard excited voices calling for me to come out and see "the biggest weed ever." So, I came out the front door, camera in tow, to document the moment. And now all of you have been witness to it as well.

Happy Saturday!

Starting over...

Well. I have been gone for a while. The past year was challenging. Lots of highs and lows...and changes. The biggest change was leaving California. So, here we are starting over. New jobs, new state, new house. New everything.

This summer we moved from our tiny apartment in California to a really sweet little house in Pennsylvania. J got a new job and I found a new job, and H now has a new school and we are all just trying to settle into new routines and better habits. Of all of the changes, the ones we are most excited about is our new house that both ours and a house, and the seasons. We both have roots in places where fall is cool and crisp and full of falling of leaves and winter is snowy and white. I cannot wait for seasons again.

It has taken an inordinate amount of time to unpack (which is still not done) and try to settle into a brand new city. Although we do not have friends or family in our new city, we are now in driving and easy flying distance from our family and many of our closest friends. It is a really lovely feeling. So, over the next few weeks I hope to give you a little house tour and show the different areas we are setting up for ourselves. Now that we have such a big and beautiful space to live in it is fun to take photos. Because now, not only do we not have a bedroom that doubles as a living room but we have THREE bedrooms! It is amazing! And a living room, and a dining room, and a garage, and a storage shed...you should here all of the new vocab that H has picked up with all the new rooms.

Here a few quick photos...more to come soon, I hope.

Our new living room...

Dining room...
 

Backyard...notice boys hard at work.

Making friends with the potty

So, H is not quite ready for to learn how to use the toilet yet but we are getting acquainted with the potty. We went to a toilet learning talk at H's school a few weeks ago and although H is not showing all of the indicators that he is ready for toilet learning it was suggested we make a potty available and a couple of pairs of training pants to explore. H thinks the whole thing is very interesting and fun.

For the record...

...the kitchen is spotless (for now) and I am headed to bed. This small miracle was made possible by the help of J, trusty husband and dish washing champ.

New art space

The kitchen needs some serious attention tonight but I am avoiding it through blogging. As soon as I write this post I am off to clean dishes and scrub the floor, I promise. I figure blogging is for a good cause, right? Saving memories? Maybe telling a few people about a fun thing you can do with your kids? Helping remind myself of fun ideas for future brown trout babies?

Today we set up an art table for H. In keeping with the Montessori method I tried to keep the space simple so as to not overwhelm H. The idea is if you give a young child too much, i.e. 50 crayons, they won't be able to focus because the choice of colors are too overwhelming. So, I found a little box that I have had for at least a decade and placed in on his art table. Inside there are three crayons, purple, orange, and green. (I can be very OCD with these things, so I will rotate out the colors initially in groups of primary, secondary, or tertiary colors to help H begin to organize information (colors) in meaningful groupings.) Also, on the table is a pad of sketch paper from my art days long gone.

Once the table was set up, I showed H how to take out a crayon, draw on the paper, and then put the crayon back in the box. He was thrilled and spent the next ten minutes taking the crayons in and out of the box. It was only at the end of the ten minutes that he made some marks on the paper.

Now the challenge will be switching out the art materials every couple of weeks. Ideally, I will have a few different art activities for H and I will rotate them out so that he does not get bored. Now I just need to come up with a few more art activities...


We helped H right the box of crayons after his excitement in the video
and then he was ready to make some marks on the page.

Saturday afternoon candids...

On...Off

There is a light in our new apartment which is perfect for Hendrick. It has a little handle and the pull chain is just the right tension for Hendrick to pull and get results.

Jason recently showed H how to make the light go on and off and so now every so often they go and try it out. It is so cute to watch H absorb the concept of the light going on and off. He is completely focused on that little chain and the lightbulb. He pulls and then pauses. Pulls and pauses. On...off...on...off.

Eating laundry

This morning while we were getting ready for the day Hendrick sat on the living room floor. He was thrilled to discover a basket of clean laundry within reach. He spent the next ten minutes pulling his clean clothes out of the basket one by one, tasting each piece, and then putting it on the ground to get another one from the basket.

Cute photos....what more needs to be said

I want to touch it...

Bath toys are fun, but the faucet is even better...

Teething fun in the bathtub...does it get any better?

Family photo

Baby vs. Ball

Hendrick is now happily in his sixth month of life and is rolling, squirming, and practicing sitting. At this point in his development it is suggested that you introduce a ball if you have not already. The ball's motion encourages a desire to crawl. (The ball moves, the baby wants to get the ball.) Ideally the ball would be made of cloth so that it could not roll away too fast or far, just enough to keep H. interested. But on grandma's recent visit she gave H. a non-cloth ball and he seems to be enjoying it quite a bit. Sure enough when he first saw the ball rolling toward him and reached out to touch it it rolled away and he started working on getting his butt in the air and limbs moving. He has yet to figure out what to do with all of his limbs in order to crawl, but I am confident that he will figure it out eventually.

Moonlit nights...

Recently, I have been tip-toeing into H's room at night before I go to bed. I lay next to him and watch him sleeping. It is during this time of day that I let all of the worries and preoccupations fall away and I am just left in a dark room looking at my son in amazement. That Jason and I brought this little being into the world is still awe inspiring to me. At times, it is hard for me to believe that the little boy sleeping in that bed is the same baby we gave birth to at the beginning of March. Time passes so quickly right now. I guess my night time visits are my way of trying to slow things down...even if just for a moment.