I'm posting this one really late because I was too excited after our appointment on Monday to wait to announce our pregnancy and really wanted to post all the bumpdates as well. I had so much fun with our theme last week. There were so many activities to do and Carter had a blast with all of them. I'm going to share the
activities we did throughout the week, highlighting what area they fit
into: field trip/interactive experience, crafts, songs, make believe,
movement, and special snack. I will also share our book list for
themed-related reading throughout the week.
Listed below are the objectives I am
focusing on for the themed weeks. The highlighted objectives are ones
Carter received exposure to during our theme this week:
Know the names of and be able to point out body parts.
Know names of objects and be able to point to them when asked.
Sort objects based on size or color/Match like objects together, for example match a circle with a circle.
Play make believe.
Speak in short phrases and 2-4 word sentences. (He's done some 2 word sentences already!)
Follow simple instructions.
Activities/Movement:
We practiced jumping, hopping, and skipping. I would do each and then ask Carter to do it. His version of skipping was hilarious. He basically ran with a little hop thrown in every few steps. I was pretty impressed he was able to even semi do it. I didn't think he'd be able to attempt skipping as I always had a few 1st graders who couldn't skip.
Carter also practiced swimming during our trip to Florida. He also enjoyed some time in a floaty, kicking his legs.
We ran races down the hall. I would say, "On your mark, get set, go!" and we would take off down the hall. Carter sure loves to run! This weekend we were visiting my parents and their neighbor kids were outside playing. The little girl ran races with Carter down the sidewalk and they'd even hold hands and run. At one point he kept running after we'd hit our turn around spot. I told the little girl to turn around and Carter would follow her. Instead she yelled, "Carter I'll never leave you behind!" and took off running toward him. So cute!
I held Carter while I hopped, skipped, and jumped. I wanted him to feel what it was like and I also verbalized what I was doing with my body as I did each of the movements.
I took Carter on stroller runs and wagon walks.
Enjoying a wagon walk to the library with Jake.
We sat on the floor and rolled a ball to each other. I talked about how we were pushing the ball and how the ball was rolling.
Carter did his puzzle with the words "over, under, up, and down" with pictures to show each word. I also used these words a lot throughout the week as we played. We practiced over and under with chairs, tunnels, equipment at the park, etc.
We played up, down, side to side. I hold Carter and swing him down while saying "down", then swing him back up while saying "up", and when he's down low swing him side to side while saying "side to side". He thinks it's hilarious.
I got out a mat we bought a while back at a garage sale and we practiced moving on it. I would ask Carter to go across the mat while doing different motions and he would do it. I was quite surprised. I said, "Hop across the mat." and he did. Then I said , "Roll across the mat." and he tried. I was surprised that after all those months of exclusively rolling he wasn't super great at it and mostly scooted across the mat while laying on his back, using his legs. I showed him how to do a somersault and then helped him do one. He thought it was a lot of fun and wanted me to keep doing it. So we did it for a while. After we'd done that for a while I let Carter do whatever he wanted and he spent most of his time running from one side of the mat to the other.
Attempting to roll across the mat.
Crawling across the mat.
More "rolling" across the mat.
I pulled a 2x4 Ty had laying around in the garage to use as a balance beam. Carter immediately went to it and walked with one foot on the beam and one on the floor. I showed him how to do it with both feet on the beam. Then he alternated between doing it with one foot and doing it with both feet. He was cracking me up! We started with it on the carpet and then moved to the linoleum in the kitchen. I was kicking myself for not starting in the kitchen because the board wobbled on the carpet so he lost his confidence and didn't want to do it with 2 feet anymore once we moved to the linoleum where it didn't move.
Craft:
I cut a piece of paper to fit in our small, square cake pan and put a marble coated in finger paint on the paper. I showed Carter how to roll the marble in the pan by putting his hands on each side of the pan and slowly lifting one side at a time. He had a blast doing it although he sometimes grabbed the marble and manually moved it. I would ask Carter which color he wanted to use and he would tell me which color he wanted next. I was so impressed to hear him verbalize the color he was looking for. If I point to something and ask what color it is, still nothing. But when Carter wants to express what color something is or what color he wants, he knows the colors. It was so cute to hear him say "geen", "boo", "puble", "red", "bink", "ownj" (this goes for both yellow and orange), and "brah". Initially I tried to dip the marble into the paint container, but after dropping the marble into the orange container and having to fish it out, I came up with the idea to roll the marble in the paint on the inside of the lid after taking the lid off. It was much more efficient.
I want "geen"!
Rolling the marble the special way.
Grabbing the marble to make the tracks on the paper.
The finished project was so cute!
Special Snack:
We did a scavenger hunt for Carter's snack. I took pictures of 5 different places in our house and printed a scavenger hunt sheet. I numbered the pictures so we would go in order, starting in the kitchen and ending in his bedroom. Then I put small snacks in 5 different containers and put them on the item in the picture. I used raisins, Cheerios, graham cracker, cut up strawberries, and cheese as the snacks. I put the cheese on the last item because I knew once he found the cheese the game would be over! I figured I would have to help Carter with the first couple of pictures before he got the idea, but I told him I had hidden snacks for him and we had to find them. I handed him the scavenger hunt sheet and pointed at the first picture of the car. I asked him where it was, he exclaimed "car!" and took off for his car. The next picture was harder for him because he didn't recognize it so I walked over by the counter, showed him the picture, and asked him where his next snack was. He got so excited each time he found his snack and would dance around and squeal. I thought he'd eat his snack as we went to the next spot, but he wanted to sit down and eat his snack before moving on. He recognized his toys I'd used in the pictures, but I had to help him with the other places in the pictures. I'd walk to the room where the item was, show him the picture, and ask him where his next snack was. He started to lose interest a little bit at the end, but once he realized the snack was cheese he was very excited. Carter loved this activity and it was so much fun to see him get excited. I think 5 places on the hunt was too much for him and would go with 3 next time I do it. There are so many ways to make it more challenging for older kids and to change it up to go with different themes. We will definitely be doing a scavenger hunt again!
The scavenger hunt sheet.
Studying the sheet.
Finding his first snack.
Eating his first snack and figuring out where to go next.
Discovering his 3rd snack.
Found his strawberries, the 4th snack.
Checking out the last spot.
He found cheese!
So excited for the cheese!
Make Believe:
We read numerous different books about how animals move. On each page I would act out how the animal moved, pretending to be that animal. Sometimes Carter would do the movements along with me, sometimes he would just watch and laugh. It was so much fun!
Songs:
This week I used songs on CDs we owned more than I utilized Youtube. We listened to Move and Freeze and Watch Me Listen off the CD Brain Boogie Boosters by the Learning Station and Becky Bailey. Carter really liked Move and Freeze. He would dance during the music although not doing the movements the song asked for and then would freeze in place when it said, "freeze". We also danced to Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes off the CD 100 Sing Alongs Vol. 2. Another song we danced to and Carter loved was Tooty Ta from the CD Dr. Jean and Friends.
Upside Down by Jack Johnson:
Shake Your Sillies Out by Raffi was his ultimate favorite:
Field Trip/Interactive Experience:
One of our field trips was going to different playgrounds. While playing I really talked up the movements Carter was making. I talked about how he was crawling through the tunnel, climbing over the stairs, walking under the equipment. Carter enjoyed bouncing on the teeter totter toys.
Playground fun!
Bouncing on a toy.
Another field trip was to the Children's Museum. Carter had a blast
going through the tape tunnel. We took some foam toys and made a
balance beam for him to walk on. There is a whole section for different
movements using toys on a half-pipe. Carter bounced on a ball, slid
down the side of the half-pipe in a toy and on his stomach, balanced on a
special toy, and ran all over the place!
Crawling through the tape tunnel.
Bouncing on a ball in the motion area.
Walking on our balance beam.
More tunnel fun.
Books:
We had a lot of fun with the movement books. With most of the books we got up and did the movements in the books as we read the pages. Carter especially loved the Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes books! Any chance he gets to point to his nose makes him very happy!
Saturday morning Ty decided he wanted to run with me so I had Carter wake him up once I was ready. Paul had gone out kayaking earlier in the morning and was returning as we were leaving. He decided to come with us. He and Ty ran up in the sand and I ran down in the waves as they splashed up on the shore. The waves were much bigger than they had been the other 2 days I ran. On Friday I was down much lower on the beach so I could run along in a little bit of water as it splashed up. There were small walls spaced out on the beach with about 4 segments. I was jumping over the 2nd segment of the wall on Friday, but on Saturday the tide was so high I was able to run to the side of the wall or jump over the 4th segment. With such a high tide I didn't see any cool sea shells like I had previously and was a bit bummed because I brought Carter a sea shell back from both of my previous runs. We did see a couple jellyfish washed up on the shore though.
Back at the beach house we were discussing whether we wanted to spend the morning at the beach or find an attraction to check out. Paul reminded me of the big waves and I figured Carter would be afraid to get in the water, so we decided to check out an Alligator Attraction. There were lots of 1-2 year old and 2-3 year old alligators and one big 10 year old alligator. We even got to see some 2 week old hatchlings. They had poles with bits of hot dog for us to feed the young alligators and Carter loved it! When we'd seen everything there was to see we decided to drive around for a bit and came across a playground. We stopped to let Carter play and after a while he decided he wanted to check out the beach where he was amazed by the waves and we saw a jellyfish washed up on the shore.
Feeding the alligators
Playing at a park by the beach.
Walking across a bridge to the beach.
After Carter's nap, Ty and I took him for a walk on the beach. He walked some on his own, stopped and searched for sea shells, and I carried him into the waves with me. We ate Mexican for dinner and then got in the pool at our beach house when we got back. Carter floated in a special toy his grandparents got him and laughed as his grandma went under the water. I took him up for a bath after swimming and Uncle Paul brought glow sticks up and turned off the lights so Carter could play with them in the bath. I put Carter down in grandma's bed and he was going to sleep with her, but he woke up when she came to bed and couldn't fall back to sleep so he came to bed with me and Ty.
Ready for a walk on the beach with mommy and daddy.
Tuesday morning I again got up and went for a run. The day before when we walked to the beach I realized it was a short enough distance that I could run barefoot to the beach and then run along the sand in the water as the waves washed up. It was less than a tenth of a mile across pavement before I reached sand and it was so worth it to run barefoot so I could get down into the water. There were short walls every once in a while on the beach and I enjoyed jumping over them and landing in water on the other side, pretending I was running the steeplechase. I found a huge shell which I tucked into my shorts so I could take it back and show it to Carter. He was in awe!
After my run we ate breakfast and played in the pool for a while as everyone got ready for the beach. Carter hadn't slept very well and woke up multiple times during the night to play with my hair and roll around. I thought that contributed to him being afraid of the water when he hadn't been the day before. He spent most of his time in the sand. I finally made the connection that Carter had the most fun when Ty was in the water with us the day before so I asked Ty to come out with us and sure enough Carter was back to splashing and laughing rather than crying and screaming for mommy to pick him up. I totally get it, there's just something about your daddy that makes you feel safe!
Trying out a beach chair in Amanda and Paul's beach tent.
Love his little legs crossed!
Such an amazing view!
Getting all the sand sprayed off before going inside.
The highlight of the day came in the evening as we were making dinner. I took Carter outside to watch Ty grill and Paul said he saw a dolphin in the ocean right by our backyard. We had seen dolphins in the water, but never up too close. Paul went running for the dock and I looked out at the water realizing the dolphin was right up against the pier by our beach house. Rocky carried Carter and we all stood around watching as the dolphin swam up and down the pier. As it would surface we got a good look and were even able to make out scars on its side. At one point the dolphin surfaced and blew water out of its blow hole right by Carter, startling him. It was so cool to hear it blow water and to watch it swim. We were all transfixed and even sat and waited for it to return long after it was gone. I was too busy enjoying the moment to take any pictures. I thought about running for my phone to get a video, but I didn't want to miss out on seeing it for a single moment. Before Carter went to bed we watched family videos from when Ty and Paul were little. Carter stood right in front of the tv and would point at the screen saying "baby!"
Snuggling his blanket during naptime.
Watching daddy as a baby. He couldn't get close enough!
Thursday morning I woke up with Carter cuddled against me in the bed. As I rolled out of bed to go to the bathroom, Carter rolled over to snuggle up to Ty. It was adorable! I came back to bed and worked on a blog post until Carter woke up. Then I got him ready and headed out for a 3 mile run. I took the road leading from our beach house up to John's Pass, ran along the pier and then down onto the beach. It was so cool to run along the ocean with the waves splashing up onto my shoes. I saw a horseshoe crab and a jellyfish washed up on the beach and even picked up a seashell for Carter. It was the most fun I've had on a run since Washington D.C.!
Carter all snuggled up into daddy!
I came back to Carter wandering around in Uncle Paul's shoes. We ate some delicious French Toast Casserole Amanda made and then prepared for the beach. I was so excited to see what Carter thought of the ocean and the sand and couldn't wait to get there! We were the first ones ready so I took Carter out to the swimming pool as we waited. When it was time to go Carter cried because I made him get out of the pool. I explained where we were going would be even better!
Trying out Uncie Paul's shoes.
Doesn't get any cuter than that!
Ready for the beach!
Carter immediately loved the sand. I had put his swim shoes on because I figured he wouldn't like the sand on his feet. We might try it barefoot later. It took him a long time to get to the water because he would stop to grab handfuls of sand and throw them in the air. When he finally made it to the water he laughed and his eyes bugged out as he got hit by waves. Anytime Ty swam by he laughed and when Amanda would swim away he would yell auntie after her.
Grabbing hand fulls of sand.
Running out to grandpa in the ocean.
Not sure about the waves at first.
He loved the water when it was calm.
He preferred to have a hold of someone on each side.
After a while in the water he got distracted by birds on the shore and took off chasing after them. It was so cute to watch him run along after the birds. Once he was in the sand again we played with some sand toys Leina and Rocky brought for Carter. He had a blast using the sifter to find seashells in the sand. It was getting close to lunchtime at that point so we headed back to the beach house, ate lunch, played in the pool, and then Carter went down for a nap.
Chasing birds.
Screaming typically lets them know to fly away.
Digging in the sand with toys grandma and grandpa packed.
Grandpa helped him build a sandcastle.
When Carter woke up we played around for a while and then headed back out to John's Pass to walk around, shop, and eat ice cream. I let Carter pick out a sea urchin and a starfish at one store for souviniers and Leina bought Carter a shirt. Leina and I got ice cream and were walking back to meet up with everyone else when a sea gull dive bombed at Leina, attempting to knock the ice cream out of her hand so it could eat it. Back at the house Amanda made vegetable chili for dinner and then Carter and I played in the pool while everyone else went to a wine tasting at a local liquor store. While we were in the pool we saw lightning in the distance so we got out and headed up to the balcony to watch, hoping the storm would roll through and we could get back in the pool. Unfortunately it was time for Carter to get a bath and go to bed before the storm let up. He fell asleep really quickly after our busy day!
