Little Lessons and Life

As summer vacation nears an end Rachel and I decided to resume tot school with a month of activities revolving around pond animals.  I found a blog with lap book printables geared toward toddlers.  In case you don't know a lap book is basically a file folder with activities glued inside.  Rachel's pond lap book includes a pocket with letters to spell her name which we use to sing, "there was a girl who had a name.." (the BINGO song), a counting mini book, a who lives in ponds mini book, and a coloring directions worksheet.  Each day we do tot school we start with her lap book.  Then we do a craft or coloring activity followed by either a bible story or other story about pond animals.  Rachel knows the routine, and if I try to change up the routine she lets me know that it isn't right.  Rachel loves routines and schedules.  When I ask her if she wants to do tot school she yells out, "tot school" and runs to her table to start.  I love that she is developing a love for learning.

Rachel is also learning to use the potty.  She has been super easy to potty train and has given me unrealistic expectations regarding how easy it is.  Rachel had been interested in the potty for months, so we finally headed to the store for a potty seat to fit on our toilet.  We soon noticed that while she really liked it her success was limited by her petite size.  Even with a stool she was just too short to reach the potty or the sink.  I broke down and bought her froggy potty chair which she loves and made a sink extension from an old lotion bottle (yet another great idea from pinterest).  About every 30 minutes she sits on her potty and goes.  At this point she primarily relies on me to remind her to go before it is too late.  In fact, the little stinker loves her potty so much that if she doesn't like what is for lunch and dinner she will claim she has to go potty and go sit down on it with a book.  There is now a rule of no books when you go potty during meal time.

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:

 

From Life with the Bjorks

We took Grandma and Grandpa to Fairytale Town when they visited.

From Life with the Bjorks

We had a tea party and she helped all the dolls by eating their cookies and drinking their water.

From Life with the Bjorks

Isn't she adorable!  As you can see we are still battling a rash that appears to be caused by the heat.  Only a month or so more until it should start cooling down.