A Little Dab Will Do Ya!

 

Dracula Gus and his many daubers

This afternoon, just after having lunch, I decided to check online and see what dauber sheets I could find for Gus. While at the Dollar Tree yesterday, I picked up all the colored daubers that they had (they only had five different colors) for this specific purpose.

Gus was super excited to come to the table and create some pictures with the daubers. We started with an apple picture and he was very careful when using the dauber.

He really enjoyed the daubers and so we decided to work on another picture. This one was a pumpkin.

After the pumpkin, we decided to do some counting. This took longer than I had anticipated, because Gus couldn't decide on which colors he wanted to use for his different number pictures, and he didn't want to go in number order.

The last picture that we did was of a tree. Gus had started yawning while we were working on this one (WHOO HOO!!!) and so I knew he was due for a nap soon. He did a great job with the tree picture and then was very excited when I hung his pictures on the pantry door for display.

 

All done and ready for a nap!

I realized four things during and after this activity.

1) The bingo daubers are great, but there are specific ones made for this kind of activity. It's worth the money to get some (so I did). We'll have ten different colors, they won't bleed as much, and should dry faster.

2) I need to set up an area to display Gus's art work. He's getting an easel for Christmas and we'll have more and more items to be shown. I need to talk to Steve about some ideas/options for this.

3) I need to start doing more of these structured activities with Gus. He's almost 2.5 and that's when I said I'd start doing more. I'm planning on actually planning out daily things for us to work on (things like what we did today). I'm glad I've got a ton of things pinned on Pinterest for me to look back upon and start getting prepared!

4) Time has passed too quickly. I was looking through some older pictures and I just can't remember Gus being so tiny. Seriously. I'm not just saying that I can't remember, I really cannot remember what it was like to have a tiny baby, a boy who was not walking, running, and climbing, and a toddler with his own opinions and the love for expressing them. 

I'm vowing that when there's a second baby in this house, I will be 10000% present and I will cherish each moment with them. I feel like with Gus, I was so excited for him to reach milestones and to keep getting older... and now I want to freeze time. I would love to go back in time and tell myself to savor each minute because they pass too quickly.

Sigh.

I used the following websites for their free printables!
3 Dinosaurs- Fall Pack  
Teaching Heart
THANK YOU!!!

A Year of Gratitude #118

 

A Year of Gratitude #118: Back to Our Routine

Steve came home last night and I'm glad to have him back. I'm thankful that our routine can get back to normal and we can enjoy him for the next three days. Then he's back to NYC for the week. 

I'm grateful for the next three days as a family.

A Year of Gratitude #65

 

A Year of Gratitude #65: Routines

As a teacher I lived by a schedule. I knew how much time I had for morning work, reading, math, science, social studies, recess, snack, read aloud, silent reading, writing, character education, lunch, and packing up at the end of the day. Having a routine not only helped save my sanity, but it helped my students know what to expect and gave them a sense of calmness and serenity.

When things are not routine, it can be VERY chaotic and crazy. I learned that you can't be too focused on maintaining the schedule and you must be somewhat flexible for the "life happens" moments. However, there was always an over-all plan in place and it helped everyone involved.

I feel like teaching for ten years has totally prepared me for motherhood. There are definitely times when I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing, but for the most part, I have it under control, and there's a plan in place.

We have a daily schedule that we follow during the week. The weekends are a hot mess because Steve's home with us and he adds a different dynamic to our day. When Steve's not with us, there's a set routine that we follow and Gus has adapted to it quite well. It's like clock-work and runs beautifully.

I'm thankful today, that I took the time to establish a routine with him (from the time he was born) and have stayed with it. As he's gotten older, the routine has pretty much stayed the same, but there's been some adjusting. He no longer takes two naps, and is down to just one. That's been the biggest adjustment that we've had to face recently.

I have a schedule for the day on the fridge and so far Gus has been too little to understand it. He's still a wee bit too young, but in the very near future we'll be able to use it as it's intended.

I like having a plan in place for the day and knowing what to expect. I think Gus does too and it's helped build his trust that he's safe and secure. He never has to feel like there's no stability and things are changing from one minute to the next. I try to keep a calm household and one where he knows that we can adapt our schedule as needed, but that we have something in place for our sanity.

I'm thankful for our routine. I'm thankful that at 1:00 he starts to yawn, and will go to the stairs because he knows it's nap time. I'm grateful that I've been able to provide a sense of routine into his life. I hope it's something I can maintain for a long time to come... the world is full of routines!