Learning Poster

I don't really make "resolutions" because if I call them that they don't get done. =) But I did think about some things I want to improve and very near the top of the list was being a better mom. I decided that was a little too broad and that list a little too long so I narrowed it down to being better at teaching my kids. My sister told me about this poster that her sister-in-law, Linda, did a long time ago and I finally got off my rear and put one together for Weston. I decided to share it to help save other mom's the work, because it was a lot of work! All the credit for this goes to letteroftheweek.com. That's where all of this material was found. Here is the final product. I originally was going to laminate everything so that I could could reuse it but it was just too expensive. So everything sat in my closet for a week or two until I came up with the rather brilliant idea-if I do say so myself-to use my millions of sheet protectors and make little pockets to put everything in. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Then I made myself a binder that has everything in one sheet protector for each week and a list of the weeks in the front, just in case things get mixed around.

I changed things around to have "snow" be the theme for week 1

since there was lots of it and I plan on starting this at the beginning of next year for Saydi too since she'll

be 1 1/2. So to start the week off

Weston and I bundled up and head out to play in the snow. Which he had mixed feelings about since he couldn't really walk in it, but once we got his stroller down for him to push in the driveway just like he did all summer, I couldn't get him to go back inside. We also headed to the library to get a bunch of books about snow. Since Weston can be hard to tame at the library I've just been reserving them before we go and then our trip is much shorter and I don't have to look everywhere for books on whatever the theme is. For the pictures on the poster I just did a google image search of the word and found tons of pictures to choose from.

Day two Weston added the word "snow" to his vocabulary as I told him it was poster time. I could not have been more thrilled

that it was already catching on with him! We worked on the number one so I made rice krispie treats and had him put the marshmallows in the bowl one at a time. This was difficult for him since he wanted to just grab them all but when I told him to just put in one he would let go of the other ones he had grabbed and just put one in. I cut them out to look like the number 1 when we were finished. Weston had these flash cards that have the numbers up to 26 and the whole alphabet. I loathe picking them all up after he scatters them around everywhere so I figured this was a good way to retire them and still get good use from them. Linda found some cards at the dollar store though so that's another option.

Each week we will alternate either a shape or color. This week was "square" and Weston added that word to his vocabulary also as we found coloring pages and traced around the squares in each page (another idea from Linda).

For the letter A I just made some block letters that he could trace the inside of (which he didn't) but he did enjoy coloring all over them as I repeatedly pointed out the letter A and listed things that start with "A".

Letter of the week has nursery rhymes but I decided I wanted to incorporate a church activity so we will alternate doing primary songs and learning the articles of faith. I chose songs that Weston is singing in nursery to help him enjoy his time there more and this week we of course did "Once There Was a Snowman".

We did this little snowman craft and I sang the song to Weston using my little snowman as a prop. He usually just grins and watches me make a fool of myself rather then joining in when we sing songs but hopefully he'll learn it even though he doesn't participate. =) He got a little bored of the craft because I wasn't letting him use his glue stick as chapstick. Go figure. Anyway, each week I've decided we'll do a craft of some kind (yet another idea from Linda) to help him learn something from the week.

For the vocabulary word I found coloring pages that had snow flakes and pointed out the flakes to him. Some of the vocabulary words are way beyond him, and some of the other things on the poster too, but I didn't change them because I thought that would keep him interested so that next year when we do it again with Saydi she can learn the simpler things and Weston can work on the harder things.

So far Weston is really loving it. We just spend a short amount of time doing these things each day (sometimes as little as five minutes if his attention span is not so great) but he always gets excited when he gets up from his nap and I tell him it's poster time. I have all the stuff for the poster (except for the numbers and letters) saved in Word documents so if any of you other mommies are interested in doing this you can leave a comment with your email or if you'd rather not leave your email on here you can send me an email at jenn.carlson@gmail.com. I'm going to make a link on the side of my blog so that if your kids are younger and you want to wait or if you change your mind later you can easily find this post and send me an email. And now I have a lot less guilt when Weston wants to watch a show because I know we have a scheduled time each day to learn something!

Musings of a Mother

My house is trashed - TRASHED - like you wouldn't believe but rather then cleaning it while my two little ones sleep I decided my time would be better spent blogging about how special they are to me and how much I love them.

Weston is changing every day. I thought that mostly happened in the first year but I'm finding that it doesn't slow down. At any given moment throughtout the day you can find him with a bouncy ball. (See above picture for proof.) He is obsessed. He has about a half dozen because whenever I take him with me to my doctor's office I get him one to keep him occupied while he waits for me. He will collect all of them and play with them. And believe me, he knows when one is missing! He's started to say "uummm" when you ask him if he wants something. I love it. He screws his little face up into the deepest concentration as he contemplates whether or not he wants cheese or if he wants to color. Some of life's deeepest questions. He is continuing to say new words daily and even though is vocabulary is still pretty limited I'm impressed with how much progress he's making. He uses a little blue Care Bear as his very own baby. Yesterday he took it to the potty and then I found it sitting in his booster seat as he offered it the remnants of his afternoon snack. Adorable. As soon as I get him out of his car seat he reaches up and says "hand" and he wraps his little fingers around mine. It doesn't get much better then that. He's such a good boy and I love everything about him.

This is the face Saydi makes right before taking a deep breath, raising both her arms, and then flinging them down as she squeals in delight. She is certainly fitting her nickname, "Precious", these days. She now sits completely on her own and will often just sit on the floor and play with toys as she watches her brother play too. Sometimes for as long as 30 minutes. She is completely obsessed with food. When she sees me getting it ready she pounds on her high chair and her eyes look like they're going to pop out of her head. And don't even think about getting up once you've sat down to start feeding her. Oh my. Let's just say, she has her mommy's lungs and it's pretty much the end of the world if a feeding session gets interrupted by a ringing phone or brother needing to go potty. She now is sleeping for about 11 hours. I feed her at about 7:30 and she doesn't wake up to nurse again until about 6 or 6:30. Mark and I sure do love having both our kids to sleep by 7:30!! Saydi's starting to babble and "sing" more and there's no greater sound in the world. She is such a blessing to us and even though it was so hard to have two kids so close together at first it is getting easier every day and we have never once regretted it!

As much as I love each of my kids for who they are, seeing them together is what really makes them even more special to me. Yesterday I found Weston jabbering away at Saydi, then he pointed to Mark and informed her that that was "Dada" and continued his monologue without missing a beat. I would love to know what he thought he was telling her about "Dada"! As soon as Saydi sees Weston she is all smiles and if he even LOOKS like he's coming near her she kicks and flails and gets so excited. She already has an idol, I'm sure. It's hard to believe that Weston is 2 and Saydi is 7 months already. Time is flying by and we are definitely enjoying every last minute of it.

Now about the house... =|

Weston + Saydi = CUTE

Amidst all the sickness and crazy work schedules we have been having some very fun, camera-worthy moments around here. I thought I'd share a few.

Sometimes I'm not the best mom. I see things I think might be fun for one of my kids and I do it disregarding the risks. For instance: letting Weston push Saydi in his shopping cart. Don't get me wrong, I was right there by him the whole time. But wow, it could have gotten ugly. =) You can see how much Saydi enjoyed herself though.

Saydi loves to sit up and since she still topples frequently I often put her in her high chair to play while I make dinner. She's becoming quite the smiley girl.

Weston got to play in the snow with daddy and cousins the other week and he sure loved it! Mark used our swimming pool (which I had mixed feelings about) and put holes in it to add rope and use it as a sled. Wes loved it. Here is a picture of him right after his first sledding incident. He toppled right out and didn't even care!

Our tiny little baby girl is in the THIRD percentile for her weight! So I'm supposed to feed her solids three times a day and try to get her weight up. I think it's working but whether it is or not, Saydi sure loves to eat!! She cries every time when I give her the spoon because she knows there's no more food for her to eat. Even when she's eaten a TON of food! The whole small baby thing is new for me since Weston was already in a forward facing car seat by 7 months. I guess that's how girls should be though, right?

Daddy was "watching" the kids the other night while I ran an errand and when things became quiet he went on a search for Weston and found this:

And after Weston got caught he did what he always does when he knows he is in trouble or has done something naughty:

So, other then cute kids and fun times not much is new around here. Mark is almost done with his 8-day work streak and we are so glad! Weston had to go four whole days without seeing his Dada and it was rough for him! We're so grateful for our kids and how fun they are and the love they have for each other and us.