Two Gentle Girls

Down by the Riverside

A lovely day for a wander by the river. Every day I walk by the river (which, given that I have two dogs, is every day), I am grateful to live so close to such beauty.

As you can see the hats have made their reappearance. Now that it's summer, we need the protection. Now that they're all thoroughly mobile, I need to be able to find them quickly. These bright hats make the constant head count so much easier! (And get us so many compliments, too!)

Outing, Part 3: Stella Luna

 On your marks...

Get Set...

 

GO!!

Addie had white chocolate-something fruity (I forget).

Dries had Rich Chocolate.

Ella had Pomegranate-Blackberry Sorbet.

Good to the last drop! 

Slurp!

Outing, Part Two: Tiggywinkles

Outing, Part 1: Glebe Trotters

The toddlers and the shoes.
I can take them shopping, but it should be noted that I am an exceedingly
efficient shopper. I think my tolerance for shopping is about the same as a toddler's.

Even when they are exceedingly cute and well-behaved toddlers. Who sat on their bench and stayed sat, for a good 15 minutes. They did consult frequently about the shoes in question.

They were very helpful. I even managed to find a pair I liked -- and which met with their approval -- before they were not so helpful any more...

Fostering Independence, Reducing Risk

Digging in the dirt. It doesn't tend to hold them for too, too long, but it's pretty nearly always their starting point.

Nora goes UP the slide. Very exciting. It's a challenge, isn't it? And one I allow when we're the only ones on the play structure. Otherwise (recite with me, boys and girls), "You go UP the stairs and DOWN the slide".

Dries loved, loved, loved this wheel. He spent a solid 25 minutes standing here before snack, and went right back to it afterward. Brrrmmm!

Whoo, Ella! Great extension. This girl has the makings of a dancer, or a gymnast, or, given her personality, maybe an acrobat??

On this trip to the park, Addie mastered the climbing wall! My rule for climbing apparatus is that "If you need help, it's not safe for you." This is in part to spare my back the pain of having to lift a child repeatedly, or the tedium of assisting them up a ladder seventy-gazillion times in a row, but it also happens to be true.

I will show them how to do something a few times, but if it remains beyond them, I step back. At that point, a few things could happen. They could decide to do something else. They could persist in trying, and what usually happens then is that they manage part of the task, but not enough to harm themselves. It's good practice, though! Or, they might actually figure it out on their own.

I watch, of course, but unobtrusively. I want the child to think they're on their own. (In part to preclude demands that I help, but also to give them the autonomy to pursue this to their own satisfaction.)

(They could also throw a fit and demand you help them, but that's the subject of another post...)

Addie needed to be directed a couple of times, and after that she was independent. I spotted her when she was moving from the top of the wall to the platform, the riskiest bit, but she pretty much has that nailed, too.

It is my firm belief that children who are lifted up ladders, assisted continually, who are hovered over and micro-managed and never allowed to risk a bump, bruise, or tumble become children who can't manage risk.

If you get halfway up a climbing wall, and then slide down, giving your chin a whack on the way down, well, that's not pleasant, but it's not life-threatening. And then you learn that hey, maybe I need to put my left foot in the holes on the left. Whether or not you can articulate the ideas, you learn something about balance and grip and centre of gravity. And next time, you are far less likely to slip. Eventually, you trip, fall, tumble and face-plant far less than the child who was never allowed to take that unpleasant slither down the climbing wall.

Addie's climbing wall, Ella's uber-extension, Nora's trip up the slide ... they're all small risks. But you know, when they're allowed to take them, kids are remarkably good at managing risk. Yes, they're inexperienced, uncoordinated and clumsy, but ... Think of how inexperienced and uncoordinated they are, and then think how rarely they get a goose-egg or a bruise. They do pretty well, and only get better with practice!

Benched!

Two little girls on a bench, pretending to nap. (They weren't instructed to nap. This is a game of their own making.)

Pretending to nap, with their babies. In buckets. (Though Ella does look veeeeery mellow in this picture.)

Babies in puppy-chewed baskets. Sigh...

Friends

They really are learning to love each other. This one makes me smile, every time.

Doggie Love

Generally speaking, the only child who pays much attention to the dogs at all is Dries. Showing remarkable good sense vis-a-vis dogs, Dries prefers the much calmer Indie, even though she is so much larger. Today, though, they all decided to pet Indie.

Indie gives me the anxious look. "Are you sure they're safe??"

Indie relaxes. (Aw, look! Her head is in Dries's lap. I think those two have a bit of a Bond.)

Indie checks in with me again. "We're okay with this, are we?"

She's a gentle and long-suffering dog. Good thing, because this was an irresistible photo op!

Indie completely gives up and goes utterly submissive. "Okay, you win! Rub my tummy??"

Dandelions: Our Favourite Activity

In a Wee Funk

Three children, contentedly munching their morning snack. Except there were four children here. We have Nora, Ella, Dries...  Where's Addie?

Well, Addie was feeling a little anti-social today. She would far rather sit on her own, thank you so much,

On her own, but not toooo far away...

She did eventually recover her cheery good humour,

and in not too long, she was playing with the others once more.

Menu Monday

Monday: Vegetable-cheese pie
All in all, a hit. Addie called this "pizza"  and ate four servings. Dries had three. Nora had two. Ella managed to reluctantly ingest one, with the help of a glass of water.

Tuesday: Veggie burgers
Across-the-board hit. Everyone had multiple helpings, which never happens. There is always at least one hold-out.  (Burgers, which, as it happens, were in the form of balls).

Wednesday: Chicken (or tofu) basil coconut curry on rice
Addie and Dries had three or four helpings each. Nora had two, Ella finished one helping. I ate the rest. Nom.

Thursday: Black bean soup, cornbread, broccoli
The soup was greeted enthusiastically. By everyone. Twice in one week! How's about that?

Friday: Lentil-beet salad, pita
Lentil-beet salad, long a daycare favourite, was greeted with midding enthusiasm today. Toddlers...

It's called "Pre-Math"

Also "sorting", or "sorting by attribute" ... in this case, the attribute being colour.

They found it pretty interesting.

The two-year-olds needed more initial assistance/direction than the threes, but they all got it (more or less) in the end. Dries liked the wee bears.

Absorbing work, sorting.

They stayed at this task, trading the toys around the table, making lines, then piles, then sorting them into little bowls, for probably 20 - 30 minutes. Fun, fun.

New Table!

I spotted my neighbour across the street packing this very cute toddler table into the back of her truck. Thinking it was a coffee table (I hadn't spotted the wee chairs that went with it), I complimented her on the nice table, discovered it was a toddler table on its way to Boomerang, and then, a few seconds later, she had offered it to me. To us!

The children were very excited. We used it RIGHT AWAY, for snack!, right there in the living room. It has subsequently been moved to the kitchen, where it has seen much activity as a puzzle table, a colouring table, a sorting table, and a cooking and mixing table.

Ready to Go!

The whole lot of them, ready for an outing.

Nothing special about the picture, really ... except its subjects!

They sure are a cute bunch.

Menu Monday

Monday: Chicken-veggie casserole
Tuesday: Peanut Stew, biscuits
Wednesday: Veggie-cheese pie
Thursday: Tofu stir-fry on rice
Friday: Vegetables in peanut sauce on vermicelli

Head and Shoulders...

Dries appears to be stuck, Ella gets it, Nora wanders offscreen, and Dominic has Important Things to say about his Daddy (and love his happy dance at the end!) ... but we managed to get through to the end! Sort of...

Oh, they're just so cuuuuute!

Bounce!

They're getting big enough to play cooperatively, and this bouncy toy is great practice. The three-year-olds have pretty much figured out the idea of balance on this thing. If there are only two bouncing, you need to be opposite each other.

It takes some cooperation to make the thing bounce effectively. You can't all push at the same time, you can all pull. You have to lean forward and back, push and pull, alternatively. I don't put it in words for them. I let them work it out and then I put words on what they've experienced. Words without substance mean far less at this age than words that describe what they're doing.

A lot of the time, I don't say anything at all. I don't have to be talk, talk, talking at them all the time for them to be learning! Learning ... and just having plain old, agenda-free fun.

Whee!

Note to self: when trying to take on-the-fly pictures of children, take their caps off. I took a dozen shots of the children on this thing, and in not one single shot did I manage to catch Ella's face...

Happy Birthday to Nora!

 I love the happy, cheesy grin!

 Poof! The candle's all blown out. She must be three now!