A Partial Floor & Other Stuff

I didn't put up a photo of the whole room, I want to save the before and after until it is complete, but if you look you can see a strip of carpet under the shelves. That is where the wood is missing. I have to say, today went much better than expected. I set up the other side, our messy area, with some toys on the shelf, books, and the old sensory table. Then I put all of Little Man's toys in our Family Room and we just used those rooms instead. We didn't get to have our regular circle time, but we did have one in the Family Room and the novelty of having it in there made it seem like an adventure. Little Man actually sat with us and listened to some of our story. We read, The Night Before St. Patrick's Day, by Natasha Wing. We love all her books and this one was no exception. We have decided that tomorrow we will make a couple of Leprechaun traps and see if we can trap one of those pesky leprechauns. We are all excited about that. So, as much as I am annoyed that my floor isn't finished, my kids and I made the best of it and had an adventure anyway!!!

Little Man loves his freedom (as all mobile babies do). He loves to move around and explore the environment thoroughly, so I try to strategically place toys, equipment or boxes, I think might interest him, or rather KEEP his interest for more than a millisecond. We have this little froggy table that seems to be the PERFECT height for him when he stands up. It is sturdy enough that he can pull himself up on, and then play with whatever I have put up there for him. Of course, most everything gets swiped off the table quickly, but thankfully I have enough little helpers that find this game, of swipe & pick up, to be fun. Lately though, Little Man has been very interested in this lock puzzle from Melissa & Doug. He hasn't figured any of the locks out yet, and he even has a hard time opening the little doors, but that doesn't stop him from trying!! He concentrates for a long time, looking at the locks, touching them, and closing the doors (that one of us has opened for him). I am excited to watch this process of learning, and can't wait until he succeeds.

(Don't You Just Love the Haircut)

I put out the easel today with a shamrock penciled on it. The kids enjoyed painting it. The shamrock led to a discussion on shamrocks and where they come from and why they are significant for St. Patrick's Day. We took out our trusty laptop and Googled "St. Patrick's Day Shamrock" and read about the history of the shamrock. It was a fun learning experience, I just wish I had a nice big screen, because even with just 3 little ones plus me crowded around this laptop was to much. Oh well, that will be on my wish list for some day :)