Every morning between 7:30 to 9, Hudson & I have the house to ourselves. Danny & his dad have gone to work and danny's mom is usually out walking. Our mornings between this time are almost always the same & very routine. After Hudson wakes up & gets his diaper changed we head downstairs for breakfast. While I'm making his breakfast he either plays in the toy closet, the pantry or clings to my leg signing "more" because its been 13 hours since he last had food. While hudson's oatmeal is cooling, he munches on blueberries while I make myself some warm tea, knowing it wont be drinkable until after he's done eating. Once his oatmeal or whatever else I'm cooking is ready for him to eat,we sit down together, bless our meal & have breakfast. After breakfast is usually our "guided play" time. This is when hudson actually sits down with me and we look at books, practice pointing at picturs & naming objects. We try to work on puzzles or learn something "new" to do with the toys we play with every day. We work on problem solving skills & a lot of communication skills. This usually last for about 20 to 30 minutes, which I think is a very long time for a 13 month old. The last 30 minutes before nap is usually "free time" hudson does a lot of exploring during this time. He crawls under the table, opens up cabinets, plays with his toys, throws his ball around the room, pretty much makes a mess. This 30 minutes is one of my favorite times a day. I usually am curled up on the couch, drinking a warm cup of tea, wrapped up in my robe and i just become in awe of my son. I use this time to really observe Hudson & the little toddler he is slowly becoming. I use this time to think about my quiet time, which is really kinda of ironic...haha i use a quiet time to prepare for my quiet time (which takes place during his first nap). Hudson has really figured this little routine out and for the most part does great! I'm amazed at how well he cooperates with our "teaching" time and then how well he does just playing on his own.
Today I started thinking how between 7:30 until about 9:30, I really do not get that much accomplished, but I realized that is simply a lie. That 2 hours is very sweet to me & i look forward to that time every morning. And though that first two hours is at the top my list, i have to admit that the next 2 hours (nap time) are even sweeter for this momma. ;)
precious moments! I can't think of a better way for you to be spending your sweet time! Hudson has a rock star mama!
ReplyDeleteWhat sort of problem solving/ communication skills do you do? Do you have a sort of lesson plan that you follow? Just wondering- I have an eight month old and we haven't really started anything like that yet. I am wanting to teach him signs, but just a little unsure where to begin.
ReplyDeletehaha thanks shea!
ReplyDeletemandy- for communication i do a lot of pointing at object/pictures and naming them...giving him about 3-5 seconds to respond, we also work on signs for "music," "all done" "please" & "thank you"...the only one he is has really mastered is "eat" & "more." Books & songs are a great way to get your child to communicate and signs are a great bridge to get them to vocalize. I talk in short sentences with hudson & emphasize certain words on certain days for example today we really worked on "dog" "up" & "book"...i probably said those 3 words 400 times today haha! he will now say "up" and "da" for dog.
as far as problem solving, we work on a lot of in & out...putting stuff in something & then taking it out. I work on staking things "up" such as blocks, books...anything. Putting puzzles pieces in correctly and also learning the hand motions to certain songs such as itsy bitsy spider, wheels on the bus etc. Simple concepts really...in & out, open/close, up & down, too big/too small. =) hope that helps!
A great place to start is when they are eating! =)