Fun with Thad

Losing my job was definitely a blessing in disguise. Not the circumstances I would have chosen, but clearly the right thing for me. Slightly stressful for the sake of the ol’ finances, but nothing that we are too strapped for at the moment. Since I am no longer working, I get to spend lots of time with Thad, which has been so awesome. If I could choose anything for my life, staying home with kids would definitely be my choice. However, my 22 year old self decided to go to (very expensive) Optometry school, which requires me to work, if for no other reason than to pay off my loans. And that’s fine, but I intend to take every advantage of my prolonged time off these next couple of months, and then we will see where God takes us when it’s time to go back to work.

In the meantime, Thad and I are having fun together, and will have EVEN MORE FUN when Thatcher gets here. Obviously I have always loved my child dearly, but he keeps getting to be more and more fun as he gets older. The more he can communicate with me, the more confidence I have that I am doing things correctly with him, and am able to make him happy. I am always looking for fun things for us to do together. Pintrest has been an awesome source of projects, activities and learning ideas. More than we could ever find time for. And of course, we always come up with our own things to do depending on the day and the mood.

One of the things that I really like the idea of are Sensory Bins. Bins of various materials that you use for sensory and motor skills. I originally got the idea from this blog:

http://domesticsimplicity.com/2010/03/30/playingwithbeansandric/

Making colored rice has been on my to-do list for a long time. I finally did it a few weeks ago, and made a ridiculous amount of colored rice. Which has caused one disaster after another! First disaster was Thad pulling the bin off the shelf, and it’s entire contents spilling onto the floor (like, about 3 gallons of rice). I keep trying to get him to play in the bin with measuring cups, funnels, teaspoons and bowl, which seems like a grand time to me, but he will NOT keep the mess contained. We have tried the bin on the floor with a sheet under it, at the kitchen counter, at the table, the rice in the big bin, the rice in a smaller container on a cookie sheet. EVERY time, he dumps the rice on the floor, even though I tell him where the rice needs to be kept. And I guarantee he knows and understands what I am telling him. The little turkey will just not listen to me.

Oh, yeah, that looks like good fun, yes? How about a wider angle view….

And let me tell you, there was a lot more on the floor. It’s great fun to get down on your hands and knees while 9 months pregnant and sweep up hundreds of little pieces of rice. Great fun. These pictures are from our most recent rice endeavor. There will be no more pictures of rice for a while. At least not until his listening and obeying skills improve. In the mean time, I’m just going to keep him packed away where he can’t make any trouble.

That ought to hold him for a while…..