Tot School

Tessa is 27 months old

A lot of things to post this week, since it has been two three weeks since my last Tot school post.  Things have been a little crazy for T Bear.  Since our nanny is out on maternity leave and Grandma Linda could stay for only part of her time off, Tessa had to go to an in home daycare for the past two weeks, and she hated it.  She would cry and beg us not to leave her.  And it didn't get better with each time she went, it only got worse.  It wasn't that the daycare was bad in any way, it was a change.  And for a toddler that has oatmeal for breakfast, then yogurt for a snack etc... every day, change was NOT good.  Luckily she only went a total of 6 days (and I know if she went longer it would get better) but our nanny returns this week :)  And we will be happy to have our happy Tessa back!

Onto the week - 

We played grocery store a lot.  She picked the oatmeal out every time.

A tray I put together:  both sorting and fine motor.  I had two of each coins in the dish if she wanted to sort them (which she never did) but she loved to put them in the piggy bank and then start all over again. This has created a money monster of her, as any change she sees lying about is "MY MONEY!" (Sorry Papa)

We have the first cylinder block from Montessori Outlet.  She is good at it.  Too good.  I think it is time to pick up the second.

We found a lot of activities to do with her hands these past few weeks, and I could see her mood change instantly.  She had a hard time with this activity because she couldn't/wouldn't press down hard enough to really juice the orange, but she loved going thru the motions none the less. (and the juice was good!)

She also prepared the muffins for dinner with my parents one night.  I will ask her to put her apron on (a free pattern from Sew Liberated) when we are cooking, and she usually has to remind me to put MY apron on, too.  How easily I forgot that she is learning from me.

We did get a good rain this past week and we were happily playing in it until it started to thunder.  Her face in the picture is actually shock of the loud noise.  She refused to come back outside and look at the rainbow when it was all over.

More outdoor activities included staying on the line with her tricycle and going on nature walks, where she insists on picking up a seed pod for each person.

The glitter glue sticks are her new favorite art medium.  While she was doing it for the first time, she remembered she had seen a bug on he ground earlier.  She proceeded to find it again, pick it up and bedazzle it.  

We tried to make crayons as well.  Tried.  First mistake - I bought cheap crayons.  Second mistake - why did I think Tessa could participate in an activity that involved a large knife to cut up said cheap crayons (nothing happened, she was just bored)  Third mistake - I ruined the silicone molds.  IF I do this project again I will be using cupcake liners.  The cheap crayons came out dull and brittle.  They made a huge mess if you tried to use them (on your hands, on the table, on the floor).  They went in the trash.

Our Play-Doh kit came with these scissors.  They are much easier to use than her real scissors!

Hammering golf tees into Styrofoam.

Hammering nails into wood (I started them all).  My parents cut a few trees down in preparation for a pool in their back yard, and I asked my Dad to cut up some of the larger pieces to make stacking blocks. She loves them!

We took advantage of the open backyard before the pool people start to dig and played in the mud!  She didn't know what to do at first and was concerned that her hands were getting dirty.  Thirty minutes later she looked like this:

Check out more tot school posts at 1+1+1=1