Holy cow, we have had a crazy couple of weeks! Between a sick toddler, a STEM conference, a sick Mommy, two Halloween parties, Halloween, a couple of exams, and a birthday party to plan and execute, Xander's school did not exactly happen as planned. The original plan was to do two full weeks of a Halloween theme, instead, this is what we did.
A trip to the pumpkin patch...
Halloween sensory bin. He absolutely LOVED it! I used black beans as a base and just a bunch of little toys left over from last year's goodie bags. He literally spent hours scooping, pouring, and making a big mess. :)
We read lots and lots of Halloween books!
Carving a pumpkin.
Making play dough monsters with play dough, google eyes, and spiders.
Making a pumpkin window decoration. I taped contact paper to the table with the rough outline of a pumpkin. Then I let him use tissue paper to decorate it. Covered with another piece of contact paper and hung in the window.
Supposed to be decorating cards for Halloween gift baggies, instead, decorating himself.
Making a giant trumpet with pegs and unhappy to have his picture taken while playing with Hexie-Snaps.
At the STEM conference I picked up some fantastic My World of Science books for him. One of them was Soft and Hard. To go with it, we observed what sounds different objects made when hit with a spoon.
Birthday number three! Happy Birthday, Munchkin! Goodness, why does a three year old seem exponentially older than a two year old? I still call you my baby, and you frequently ask me if you're still my baby (particularly after you have been scolded... talk about pulling on the heartstrings!). You are one of the most vibrant people I have ever met. You are positively BURSTING with personality! You make me smile every day, and usually have the same effect on everyone around you. The other day we had a long wait at the post office. You were pretending to be a bear in a cave and then singing songs, got everyone else around us smiling also. In fact, most check out lines are improved by your presence!
You are a very musical child! Everything is an instrument to you. Your silverware often becomes a trumpet, flute, cello, or violin. You are constantly dancing, and usually singing. I have even had to make an explicit rule that you cannot dance while I am trying to change your clothes. When we had professional pictures taken last week, she had such trouble getting you to only smile! You kept shooting up a hand or doing a little wiggle while saying "CHEESE." I LOVE that life is a dance to you. You have also been asking me for a cello for almost a year now. I've always told you I would get you one when you got bigger. Over the summer I took you to the park and you ran up to me asking me if I saw you go down the big slide all by yourself. I said "yes, you are such a big boy!" You immediately asked "I'm a big boy?" I said "yes." You asked "I'm a big boy, I can get a cello!" I have since learned that I have to be very careful how I phrase it when I say you are getting big!
April 2013
You are very "in" to super heroes. You frequently "fly" around the house saying "super heroes are here to save the day!" or "I'm SUPER XANDER!" When you're in your super hero phase, you also refer to me as Super Mommy. You frequently wear the cape I made you for Halloween last year, so it has had to be patched up a little. You love to help me, or Janet or your grandpa. Sometimes your help makes things considerably more difficult, but I am still grateful for the positive attitude!
You are still a little wary and reserved in new settings or with too many new people, but once you warm up, you think everyone is your best friend! You seem to prefer the company of adults, but get along with other children very well. You get very sad whenever anyone cries, which was particularly a concern when a new baby started at daycare. You definitely have not lost your independent streak (and I hope you never do). You still want to be able to do everything. More than that, you want to know and understand EVERYTHING. I cherish your quest for knowledge, even if I sometimes get tired of answering all of the "why" questions! You are so smart and make such great connections, which lead to great conversations. You are always surprising me. The other day you said to me, quite indignantly "Why did your breaks squeak?! It didn't rain!!" which lead to a nice little talk about condensation. One day you were asking where grandpa worked, where I worked, and then where you worked. I told you your job was to grow up and learn as much as you could. Since then you've been calling your school activities your "work." You usually enjoy doing it and even get upset sometimes when you want to do work before daycare and we do not have time. However, as much as you like schoolwork, you really seem to hate coloring. You'd gladly do piles of worksheets, but never touch any coloring pages, regardless of how many types of crayons and markers I buy you.
You LOVE words. You have been reading books independently for almost a year (although you still enjoy being read to as well). I absolutely love listening to you read aloud to yourself. You enjoy games with words and are always reading any writing around us. I have learned that if you tell me you see a word, you really do, I just have to find where you're looking (not always easy in the car). You also get mad when things do not make words. You hate acronyms like CVS. When we go by you keep telling me that you do not know that word and want to know what it says. You have a tough time believing me that it does not actually say anything. You also do not really like when I have you put things in alphabetical order, because you really want the letters to make words. A week or two ago your grandpa asked if you'd rather go to ToysRUs or Barnes and Noble. Without hesitation you chose Barnes and Noble (although that is partially because they have stools and you still have an obsession with stools and ladders). I had definitely passed along my book addiction to you!
You are also a very particular child. You like things the way you like them and it is very difficult to convince you to settle for anything else. We have had big meltdowns with tears because I cut your apple when you wanted it whole, or because Grandpa turned on a light when you wanted to do it. If you choose two cereals for breakfast, I had better pay attention to which one you wanted on top! When you sleep, your brown blanket has to be under you, and then you usually direct me about how exactly you would like the other blankets placed on you. We also have to be very careful what we tell you, because you will remember! I cannot tell you we will do something later or tomorrow unless I actually plan to, because you will definitely hold me accountable. If your grandma visits and tells you can do something next time she comes, as soon as she walks in the door you're asking about whatever it was, even if it has been weeks. I definitely cannot fault you for these traits, you get them from me. :)
Your do not watch all that much TV or very many movies, but you are currently obsessed with the Wizard of Oz. You will sit through the entire thing and have watched it more times than any other movie. You walk around turning people into "bad witches" or asking me to wave my wand and turn you into a flying monkey. You often get a broom out of the closet so that you can pretend to be the witch. For Halloween you chose a Tinman costume and were SO excited about it! As soon as we tried it on for the first time you said "Now I have to do my Tinman dance!" and started dancing away. You asked for a Wizard of Oz cake for your birthday and love playing with the figurines. I cherish these unique little interests you have!
Xander, I could keep writing for pages and pages! Everyday I look forward to what funny or sweet thing you will say, or what new thing will capture your interest. I wish I could remember every tiny moment of every day I have had with you, but I also look forward to making new memories. I absolutely love the caring, inquisitive, nerdy, sweet little boy you're becoming! Thank you for making me the luckiest Mommy in the whole world! I love you, Munchkin!
As a refresher, I gout out our book States of Matter again. I was very surprised that Xander would randomly pick it up and read himself a page or two. I also picked Matter and Motion, Magnets and More from the library. For both I had just planned on reading him the sections about gases, however, he insisted I read the entire Matter book.
We've been talking about changing states of matter a lot. Mostly the conversation started when my brakes squeaked one morning and he asked "Mom, why are your brakes squeaking?! It didn't rain!" (Not sure why he seemed so indignant about it). Anyway it got us talking about how the windows on the car were all wet from condensation. Then we noticed some other examples of condensation, and the conversation basically progressed from there into melting, freezing, boiling, etc. We've been talking about these ideas for a couple of weeks and he is starting to build some understanding (although he still needs some practice). Since he is interested, I made this little diagram for him to see if it would help solidify things (oops, pun wasn't intended initially, then I left it in). We definitely aren't done with states of matter in our alphabet, so I'll probably make another one again eventually.
Fun with Balloons
Since letter F was float and G was gas, I combined concepts with balloons. We started with empty balloons and talked about how they were flat because they were empty. I blew one up and asked him what made it round (gas). I also bought a helium filled balloon and we talked about how it had a special gas in it. That gas was lighter than the air and made the balloon float up to the ceiling. He compared the two balloons and discussed why one floated and the other did not (it is heavier than the air around it, so it sinks). I'm not sure if he understood the sinking and floating concept, but he did get that the balloons were filled with gases.
Gas Balloons
Materials:
Soda bottles (I used the mini ones), Pop Rocks, effervescent antacid tablets, vinegar, and two balloons
Procedure:
I left the soda in one bottle and added Pop Rocks, then immediately covered the opening with a balloon. Xander helped by pouring the candy into the bottle using a funnel. I repeated the procedure with an empty bottle, 2 antacid tablets, and some vinegar. I asked him to compare the balloons, and then tied them off for him to compare further (and play with).
The Conversation:
What I really wanted him to get out of this was that the balloons fill with gas and that more gas means a bigger balloon. I started by asking him what was inside the deflated balloon (nothing). We started with just the soda and candy. Once the balloon started filling, I asked him what he noticed. He said the balloon was getting bigger. I asked him what was going into it to make it bigger. He also noticed that it was making a lot of noise. He had a great time listening to the reaction! I basically asked him the same questions with the vinegar and antacid tablets. Once both balloons were done filling, I had him compare the two. I asked him which one had more gas and how he knew. I was very happy that he answered correctly that the yellow balloon had more gas because it was bigger.
Making those all important observations!
Round Two
Comparing the two investigations.
Gas Baggies
Materials:
Two baggies, water, vinegar, baking soda
Procedure:
We put two tablespoons of baking soda into two different baggies (4T total, but you the amount isn't super important). I then had him put some water in one bag and vinegar in the other using twisty droppers. I tried to keep the bag while he squirted. We eventually ended up just pouring in the water and vinegar to get a bigger reaction. Then we compared what happened with both bags.
The Conversation:
This activity was perfect for a review of solids, liquids, and gases, since it involved all three! First I asked him about what was in the two (empty) baggies. After adding each ingredient I asked him if there was a solid, liquid, or gas in each bag. I asked him to make observations and tell me what he was noticing. When we had both bags at the end, I asked him to compare them. He could feel the difference between the one that had gas in it and the one that didn't. I asked why he thought the one was full and squishy while the other one was empty.
