when he's grown

when he's grown

i will miss his sticky fingers
and ticklish toes


when he's grown
i will miss the way he looks at me
as if i put the stars in the sky


when he's grown
i will miss that sweet smell
he has when he first wakes up


when he's grown
he'll no longer let out that
honey-coated "momma"


when he's grown
he'll no longer graspy my first two fingers
in his sweaty little palm


when he's grown
i will miss all of these things
and grow sad at their disappearance


but when he's grown
i'll love him even more...
because of who he made me

crayola window markers

the writing isn't on the wall...it's on the window!

when i was 2, i took it upon myself to “decorate” a piece of the wall in my great-grandma’s house with cRaYOn.  my mother and i lived there at the time, so she immediately reprimanded me, gave me a bowl of soapy water, and made me start scRuBBinG.  my Gram came home from work, and saw me there with tears falling, remorseful eyes.  being the protective and loving woman she was, she skipped over me and asked my mother what she had done to her baby.  heh heh…those marks were still on the wall when my Gram sold the house many years later. 

all that being said, when Bear drew on our sliding glass doors with a crayon at about 16 months of age, i handed him a wet wipe and made him “help” me clean it off.  when Bear started using markers, we had the usual “only on paper” conversation.  i’ve seen the Crayola Window Markers in the store numerous times, but have always been hesitant to buy them.  well, i finally did. we’re stuck in that odd transition between winter and spring.  it’s too cold to go outside and play…but the view from the window looks like it’s 70 degrees. 

we broke out the markers at about 11:45.  at 12:45, Bear was still going strong.  i made him take a break for naptime, but he went right back when he got up. the marker came right off of the window with a baby wet wipe.  over the past few days since then, he has gravitated back to them over and over.  best $5 i've spent in a while...

simplifying a puzzle

stickers are awesome!!  

i found this ABC puzzle for $1 in Target’s doLLaR sPOt and picked it up along with a coordinating number puzzle also.  Bear has plowed through all of his wood ones and is in need of ones that are more advanced.  this one is a bit too advanced though. 

so to help him with letter and number matching, i placed alphabet scrapbooking stickers in the corresponding spots on the puzzle board.  that way he can match the letter piece in his hand to the letter on the board. 

are there any toys or activities you change/adapt to meet your child's current abilities?

paper plate fish

it’s seems i’m off to a slow start.  you may notice that many of my early projects are my adaptations on tried and true versions many of today’s moms did when they were children.  i love classics.  also, there are so many things i’ve always wanted to do “when i had a kid.”  well…now i do.  and i only get one chance.  many of the items i use in projects are everyday items.  i think this helps children to look at things creatively and develop their own interpretations; rather than abiding by the societal rules for the object. 

this project was originally inspired by our MOPPETS lesson.  the lesson was about when Jesus fed 5000 people from 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread (Matthew 14:13-21).  the two year old group that i work with made their own versions of the fish that Jesus used to feed the people. 



Adaptations

One Fish, Two Fish... by Dr. Suess:  Create multiple fish using like colored paper    
The Rainbow Fish:  Add “scales” made out of torn pieces of aluminum foil for the Rainbow
                fish appearance. (as shown above)

Literary Connections

The Beautiful World That God Made…Rhonda Gowler Green

Fish is Fish…Leo Lionni

The Rainbow Fish...Marcus Pfister and J Alison James

Ten Little Fish…Audrey Wood