Baby Tech Tray

Some days I feel like all I do is lift Ethan off furniture(the higher the better) and take cords and other electronic accessories out of his hands.  He is all boy.  The other night I was at the end of rope (or cord as it were) and decided I needed to find an outlet for Ethan's obsession.

So I dug through the bin in my closet that holds all the bits and pieces that come from owing electronic things.  Mostly, these are things that we have from living in Korea and the cords we needed to make them compatible.  I tried to pick out things that move and come apart.  

On the tray: An old mouse that comes apart into 4 pieces, a cord, battery charger,
a USB cord that comes apart, a plug with a Korean adapter.

He LOVED it.

I have never seen Ethan so focused on something.

He was jiggling the cord and watching the ends dance.

Hannah wanted in on this tray as well.

Ethan taking apart the mouse.

Practical Life:Laundry

We worked on (played) at a practical life skill this afternoon.  Hannah loves all things chores right now so I am trying to capitalize on her interest.  She has helped me lots in the past with the laundry but today she worked her way through all the steps.  Not only that but Ethan played along also.

Hannah chooses an article of clothing.

Ethan rolls in the pile of laundry and then chooses something to take to the washing machine.

Run and see who makes it to the washer first.  (We started with the pink stool but it was too rickety so I put down an upside down hamper  to climb up on.)

Throw it in and pose for mommy.

Look and see if there is any room left.

Fill it up.

After everything is washed and dried, fold neatly.

Make sure the corners are all matched up.

Finally,  match all the socks up and sort them into each persons pile.


All done, time to relax!

Practical Life- Pealing and chopping an Egg

As another E activity, I showed Hannah how to peal and chop a hard boiled egg.  She loves to help out in the kitchen and so this activity was right up her alley.  Lately, she has been asking me to bake in the kitchen.  Even though she didn't get to bake she did have fun. 

Carefully pulling off each piece of shell.

Hannah loves to do things that require precision and fine detailing.  She was meticulous at  peeling the egg.

Next, she chopped the eggs using a pastry blender.

We also did an egg craft as an extension of our kitchen work.  When I prepared this activity I cut out a piece of white card stock into an egg shape and drew cracks on it with white crayon.  Then when Hannah painted the egg, the crayon resists the paint and stands out.  The egg looks "cracked".

Getting started.

She discovered the cracks right way.  She asked what the lines were and I explained that the egg was "cracked".  She  looked at me seriously and said "No mama not broken".  

Her finished egg.

Chocolate Banana Tarts

Hannah and I made a fun and easy dessert; Chocolate Banana Tarts.  Yummy.  Is was also a good opportunity to teach Hannah how to hold a knife and cut banana slices.  When I asked her if she wanted to help me cut, her eyes were so big in surprise.  It felt really good to let her do something I would have normally told her no to doing.

She was so careful as she held the butter knife and was so proud to show mommy and daddy how well she cut.

Next we put a slice of Banana in each pre-cooked tart shell.

Yummy, I had to stop Hannah on more than one occasion from eating them.

We mixed up some instant chocolate pudding.  Look at those whisking skills.

Hannah put the pudding on top of the banana slice.

At this point Hannah could no longer resist eating our dessert so she got kicked off the counter.

Mama added a dollop of whipped cream.

I asked Hannah if she liked it but she was to busy eating to comment.
But I think she did, there was nothing leftover.

It was clear that Ethan enjoyed both the dessert and the facial.

Yes I think he did.

Hannah's Shelves

 On Hannah's bookshelf I rotate in different activities and things for her to play with and try.  It is in her bedroom and, since Ethan also plays in there, he too grabs things off the shelf to explore.  This is both good and bad.  Good, because I really enjoy watching the two play together. Bad, because now that he crawls and puts everything in his mouth I need to be very selective about what goes on the shelf.

Hannah's Shelf

You can see on the shelf that there are different trays and baskets for each of the different activities.  This works really well because Hannah usually knows that she can do one activity at a time and know exactly where to put it back.

Usually not always.

Hannah does her activities on a blanket to give her a defined workspace.  It is funny, we have been doing this for awhile, so if daddy or I forget she insists that the blanket be spread out.  Ethan's favorite activities are wooden toys and the musical instruments.

Ethan and his noisy tambourine.

Here are some of Hannah's favorites at the moment:

Shape/Shadow matching game.

We usually play it as activity where each person takes a shape on their turn.  She also does  it independently.

Marbles with a ice cube tray.

I think she would do this all day long.

I am very careful with the marbles ever since we had a bit of a scare; Hannah decided to share her marbles with Ethan.  He was very close to putting them in his mouth.  I was just glad I pre-counted the marbles.  Since then, the marbles are kept in an old vitamin bottle, that has a child safe lid.

Washing Dishes

Hannah loves to do chores.  What 2 year old doesn't.  They don't even know what work is yet.  Its all play time.  Some of Hannah's favorite chores include washing bottles with Daddy, folding laundry, dusting and sweeping.  She LOVES sweeping.  In fact, she cries when its time to stop and I need to hide the broom.

Last week, I gave her a bowl of warm soapy water, a brush, and some plastic containers to play with on her little table.  At the last minute I stripped off her clothes and let her go.  She really liked the activity and didn't stop at washing the dishes.  She washed the table, the floor, the chair, and even her own legs.

Scooping and pouring the water.

One happy girl.

Washing the floor.

I don't know how she can sit like that without falling over.

I just told her we were finished and that it was time for lunch.