Song of the Solomons

Saturday, August 18, 2012

August Activities

I have a few pictures of some of our August activities, below. Last week the boys got a cold and have been getting their molars in (Jack has one of his bottom molars already - so weird to see a full big tooth down there!) so we didn't go out as much. Here's just a little of what we've been doing:

Pipe cleaners in the colander - this was sort of fun, though they made this game their own by turning the colander over half-way through and just put all the pipe cleaners inside, then took them out, and then put them back in. Just as much fun as putting them through the holes!

I saw an idea on Pinterest to put up an oil drip pan to use as a magnetic board if your fridge isn't magnetic - it works great! The boys liked it before I got it up on the wall and have played with the magnetic letters every day since. They've also already lost the "E," which makes it hard to spell Ben. Sigh.

We used straws to blow balloons. Or just played with straws and balloons individually, whatever. Then we used our pool noodles to hit the balloons like a golf ball. Fun!!

This was a favorite - any time I leave the dogs' water bowl down, the boys make a beeline for it and start splashing. They love making a mess in the water! So when I put down some towels and a little dish of water with some small toys for them to splash and have fun, they had a ball. Until the water was all gone, anyway.

Since we were playing in water that day, we also painted with water, too. They loved the paintbrushes, and when they were through with their masterpieces (which unfortunately dried by the time daddy got home - I still had them taped down and when I showed him, he was like, "what?" haha!) they went ahead and painted the rest of the house, too.

We did a great fine motor activity I got from Pinterest of pushing golf tees (plenty of those, thanks Daddy) into floral foam. The boys loved this one too!

Aw, I hate to end on an "activity fail," but here we are, so I guess I'll go ahead and end it here. Haha, this was pretty bad. It was supposed to be a contact paper art activity, where I taped contact paper to the window and let the boys stick stuff to it. Nope. Did not happen. They were much more interested in taking it down off the window. You can see where it got stuck to Ben's foot and Jack's hand. They did enjoy tearing some tissue paper for the activity and exploring the glitter puff balls. So maybe I'll call this a sensory activity success :)

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Silly boys

This week, Jack has been walking around with his little hands clasped behind his back. When I first realized what he was doing, I was a little worried - had he pulled a muscle? (Can babies even do that?) Was he trying to stretch his arm? Ben had bitten him on the shoulder blade, was he trying to move his arm around to ease the muscle? I didn't have a clue! So I just watched him, and it seems like he's fine, he just likes to walk around with his hands behind his back. Is that a sign that he is going to be a little mischief-maker, or what? "Who, me?" - Jack, innocently

I love any picture I can get of the boys interacting - it's so hard, because: a. I want to enjoy their play time, not have to worry with the camera and getting a good photo, and b. they move so quickly it's hard to get a good shot! Their new favorite activity is the big Lego blocks (especially dumping them out of the basket) and after a while, Jack started playing with the basket on his head, which Ben thought was pretty silly.

Finally, I had to put together some toddler "busy boxes" - many ideas from Pinterest, but a lot of these items were either from Lakeshore Learning (love that place) or toys we already had. The reason for the boxes is that Ben & Jack are having difficulty with the concept of "sharing" right now, as well as the concept of "no, stay out of that drawer." So making dinner was becoming a bit of a headache, trying to keep them out of the snack drawers (they don't want to eat the snacks, they just like to throw them down on the ground and crush them) and tupperware drawers (mommy is tired of washing all the tupperware every night), or break up fights over a particular toy. (It doesn't matter that we have two red balls, Ben often wants both. Sigh.) Anyway, I'm pretty proud of them! Every one has a different sorting activity, since that's what they're really into right now, and a couple of books, and a sensory or small play object. So far they have loved them! They will bring me the sorting jar/etc every few minutes or so to empty for them so they can start over, but they have definitely kept them entertained during dinner-prep, which is what I needed them for. :)

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Little Monkeys

Yesterday I discovered that Ben & Jack know how to "ooh-ooh-ah-ah" and scratch under their arms like a monkey. We have been making that noise when we come to the "gorilla" page in The Grouchy Ladybug book (a recent favorite - they love those pages!), but had no idea that they had picked it up until they just started doing it. Hilarious! Jack started it, which is why the video focus is on him, and in the process I realized that Ben knew how to "be a monkey" too! I tried to take a second video of Ben, but by that point they had made it into the kitchen and wanted to get into the ball pit. Silly little monkey boys!

Recently Jack has been lifting his arms in the air when he starts to dance. CUTEST THING EVER. I think it's adorable and try so hard to capture it on film, but he's very quick about it and I often miss it. I did include a quick video below where I got him as he was dancing to a Sesame Street song.

The boys think Buddy is their "at-home Little Gym," and climb over and over and over him. He's usually a pretty good sport until a knee hits him in the belly, and he has growled at them once or twice. Poor Buddy; I have to discipline him when he growls at them, but sometimes I'll put him in his crate just to get him away from the boys for a breather.

I love the expression on Jack's face as he's looking at Buddy, like "Are you awake? How far can I push you?"

Ben going over!

Littlebit has also had to have more crate-time lately, as she is enjoying "snack-time" a little too much. I looked down the other night and noticed that she is becoming rather round! If I'm not careful she's going to be a little sausage, so we are going to be limiting her intake by crating her during meal and snack times. The boys love Bit, though, and laugh when she licks their hands.