Tot School

Another week of life school over here at Ranching Jeans, but more planning and organizing and paving the way for smoother life come September!  I'm back into the routine of rotating the toys weekly, and of course, the boys really appreciated the refreshed selection!

The pull toys were big hits this week!  I have the Pull-Along Snail and the Dancing Alligator from Plan Toys (whose toys I love!) and it's very fortunate I have two of these as both boys had a great time with them!  The pictures I did manage to get of Oliver using one aren't very good, as he traveled so fast I was just lucky if I got a shot at all.  The speed at which he's picking up walking and now running continue to amaze me.

Another big thing with Oliver this week has been hats and sunglasses.  He'll bring both to me, begging me to put them on.  Then he'll walk around the house with a big grin until he decides it's time to knock them off.  Then he'll pick them up and bring them to me again.  He'll do this over and over throughout the course of a day.

His other favorite toy I've had out this week has been the shape sorting hippopotamus.  While he has no clue as far as the shape-matching concept goes, he does realize that the shapes are supposed to go in the holes.  His favorite part is spinning the shapes out of the hippo's mouth and if necessary, he'll just stuff the shapes back in the mouth so he can spin them out again!

Saturday is my usual baking day but because the weather's been so hot (of course, because it's summer!) I haven't been doing much.  It has now cooled right off and we made up for some lost time by making a double batch of bread, a double batch of banana loaf and some breakfast cookies.  The boys love to help measure and pour, but by far their favorite part is the clean up!

Silas's make believe games have really taken off lately, and it seems like this laundry basket plays a big part.  He's now started packing things up to go on a trip in his airplane, car or train (all played by the laundry basket).  You can see him with his basket of books and toys he's packed for a trip above.  This laundry basket is also often his crib when he's playing baby, or his boat if he's catching us some fish for lunch!

We spent our usual time at Grami's house (my mom) this week, and this time I had my camera with me.  Here she is reading the boys a book by Bill Peet (one of my own childhood favorites!).  Of course, Oliver is more interested in the pictures of animals, while Silas takes in the story as well, but a good time was had by all!

On Saturday night, we attended a family barn dance on a ranch across the river.  Potluck style, no charge, kids welcome with great entertainment!  What more could a family ask for?!  Here's a photo of Silas playing on some unoccupied hay bales with his own best friend  (my best friend's daughter).  When it comes to dancing, Silas is pretty intimidated by all the tall, tall adults two-stepping around him, he loves to be held and danced with over and over!  Unfortunately, at this point in his life, it pretty much breaks off my arms to do it too much, but we did enjoy a few dances together!

Please see more tot school fun at 1+1+1=1