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.

Trying to figure it all out...

 

 In keeping with the Montessori method, Hendrick is learning how to drink from a glass that is just his size. He finishes off each meal with a little glass of water. It is beyond cute. I love watching as he tries to figure out how to drink out of a cup. It generally involves a lot of water on his bib and a lot of "nursing" the cup as opposed to drinking. My favorite is when his thumb gets in the way and so he just starts sucking it. Then he realizes what is going on and tries to fix it.

Food glorious food!

Hendrick has been watching us eat meals for weeks now and finally he got his turn to try some food. We figured he has two teeth and a keen interest in what we are eating so why not give him a taste. It started with a little watermelon. He found that very interesting. Soon I got paranoid about Hendrick managing to break off a chunk of watermelon and choke so we moved on to rice cereal.

Hendrick eats his rice cereal at a little table and chair just his size. (We are very thankful to Kate for giving us her daughter's weaning table. Hendrick loves it!) His meal is around dinner time because that is the time when my milk production is the lowest right now so it seemed a natural
time to introduce solids.

The first meal was a huge success! Hendrick loves food!



After a few weeks of rice cereal we have moved onto sweet potatoes. Once we have passed the 4-7 day waiting period (to make sure he has no allergic reaction) Hendrick will get to try bananas and then avocados. Jason and I have decided that we are going to try to make most if not all of Hendrick's food at home. So, we are employing the freeze food cube method. We make a batch of baby food and freeze it in cubes to be thawed when Hendrick is ready to eat. So far things are going well. I can't wait to see what his reaction is to the different foods he will get to try over the next several months.

Adventures in floor beds

In keeping with the Montessori method, Hendrick sleeps on a floor bed as opposed to in a crib. He can look around the room and when he is mobile he will be able to get in and out of bed when he is ready to get up or go to bed. (For those concerned about safety, the floor bed method requires the room to be completely baby-proofed. We are in the process of baby-proofing so that the room will be ready when Hendrick starts to crawl.)

Up until recently there has not been much excitement around the floor bed but now that Hendrick can roll around there have been a few mornings when we find him on the floor in various positions. Regardless of the stance, we always find him chatting to himself and we get a big smile when we come into the room.