Playtime

Impromptu Nature Hunt

Posted by

35

One day, a week or so back, Daddy forgot his lunch. Monkey and I wandered over after we had eaten ours to take him something. Can’t have Daddy starving and luckily he only works a few minutes walk away. We stayed for a natter and a play and then headed home again. Monkey decided he wanted to walk rather than buggy it home, and I have no problem with that, although it took a little longer than normal, as he also decided it was time for a bit of a nature hunt!

It started off by looking at the flowers, then he decided he wanted to keep the pretty yellow flowers (aka weeds but who cares) so they got popped in his pocket. It was one of the wet cooler days so he had on his little raincoat and needed a bit of help opening the velcro pockets (especially when also clutching a stick in his other hand) but he very much liked patting them down again once they were safely inside.

Then he spotted some daisies, and well he has always loved daises, so a few of those got popped in his pocket too. As we wandered more and more got popped in his little pockets, including pine cones and twigs, and pretty soon we had quite a haul!

nature hunt

 

Just a cute little habit or the beginning of kleptomania? 😉 I’m only kidding.

We have done nature hints before but they very much led by me, so it was lovely to see him taking an interest himself. Plus it was a nice way to occupy him for a while!

Do your little ones like nature hunts?

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

theordinarymomentsbadge

 

#BabyBabble

Our Mini Helper – 26 months

Posted by

32

I’m not sure if it is toddlers in general or just him, but Monkey loves helping. He can be getting in the way and under my feet but if I give him a job to do, he is so excited. He doesn’t always actually help that much but it certainly keeps him busy while I am getting something done, and he does look cute while he is helping! Plus I figure it helps him learn life skills. For example he likes cleaning up after himself when he has spilt something on the floor or on the table.

So anyway we were doing some tidying in the front garden last weekend, which involved a bit of chopping but mainly weeding. Rather than Daddy doing it all and me trying to entertain Monkey elsewhere, we figured we could get Monkey involved. His Granny & Granddad bought him some gardening bits for his birthday, which have mainly been used in the sand pit so far, and it felt like the perfect opportunity to do some gardening with them!

Continue reading →

An ‘Okay’ week

Posted by

20

Our word of the week this week is “okay.” Not because it necessarily sums up our week, though it has been an ok week (you can read some of what we have been up to here), but because it is Monkey’s favourite word at the moment. It basically replaces yes.

The funniest thing about it is that he says it with the voice of a bored teenager, like “okaaaaay” if you insist mum, if I have to, if you really want to. Even though I know what he means is Yes! Yes! Yes!

A few examples

Shall we go on the swing? “Okaaaay” while running off clapping his hands

Him: “Chocat” Me: You’d like some chocolate? Him: “okaaay” Me: Sorry but no.

Continue reading →

Ice Painting – 26 months

Posted by

49

Ice Painting is a fantastic summer activity for so many reasons. It is a great form of sensory play with all of the learning experiences that go with it – talking about how temperature, texture, colours etc. It is also another way for a little one to express their creativity. Plus, the really obvious fact that it is cold, which makes it a perfect activity on a hot day!

Ice Painting

Continue reading →

Supernanny’s book and the Dawn of Discipline

Posted by

37

Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means I would receive a small commission if you were to purchase the item by clicking on the link. There is of course no obligation to do so and any income goes towards the upkeep of this blog.

We knew this day would come, but it would seem that the terrible twos have arrived. I’ll be honest I don’t think he is actually that terrible but there is definitely an edge to his behaviour lately that we haven’t seen before. The tantrums are worse than before and there is some serious defiance going on – so it is definitely time for some firmer discipline.

But what discipline? We are not fans of smacking, it just isn’t for us. I have blogged recently about Monkey’s love of counting, so counting to 3 in the hopes he stops before I reach 3 failed miserably the once I tried it as he then just started off counting on his fingers!

Continue reading →

Lots of Learning – Mini Milestones 26mths

Posted by

44

Monkey seems to be at an age where he is learning so much- and just soaking things up like a sponge so I thought it was a good time to write another Mini Milestones post to write it all down somewhere. I also feel that a fitting word for my word of the week, is Learning.

Speech & Cognitive Development

This is the biggy at the moment really. His speech is, all of a sudden, coming on leaps and bounds. As a slightly later talker I have worried in the past and been frequently reassured that one day it will just click and there’ll be no stopping him. I wanted desperately to believe this but there was always a seed of worry and doubt at the back of my mind that it wouldn’t happen that way. But, well, everyone was right! Something has clicked in his brain and the words are flying out of his mouth.

 

Continue reading →

Learning to Count – 25 months

Posted by

66

Monkey's wall stickers

Monkey’s wall stickers

Monkey loves numbers. Loves them. He’s been fascinated by them since he was tiny really. He has some ‘Hungry Caterpillar’ themed wall stickers in his bedroom, which include the numbers 1-5 which are positioned above his bed, and he has found those numbers fascinating since he was very small. He also loves clocks and watches and many times has nearly pulled a relative’s arm off (well maybe not quite off but given it a good tug) to see the numbers on their watch.

 

Continue reading →

Playing with Granny

Posted by

28

A few weeks ago we had a little impromptu family BBQ. It was partly to christen out new garden furniture, but mainly just an excuse to have a get together. Not everyone could make it but it was only informal so no big deal.

Monkey always loves having his family around and he always gets loads of attention from his aunts, uncles and grandparents. They all love him to bits and he is so lucky to have that. He had lots of fun with everyone there but I just wanted to share this lovely little moment of fun he had with his Granny. Running around the garden doing aeroplane arms. He loved every second of it and it was very lovely to watch.

WP_20140629_17_29_09_Pro

Continue reading →

A Toddler’s Anxiety

Posted by

18

It’s not the most positive word to sum up our week, but unfortunately there has been a lot of Anxiety in our house this week.

We had such a lovely weekend last weekend and started off the week feeling good, tired, but good. On Monday hubby had taken the day off from work to help me catch up with a few house jobs, (my pelvis isn’t helping me at the moment so I really appreciated it!), plus it was nice for him to have an extra day off after a busy weekend before going back in to work. My parents came and took Monkey to his usual Monday Rhyme Time session at the library and all seemed well.

Continue reading →