Montessori Mornings

The child becomes a person through work.
-Maria Montessori

Emmie is at such a fun age right now. For the past few days we've set aside some "work time" in the morning for Montessori activities. I put together some works and she has been having a ball! I'm amazed at the level of concentration such little ones have when they are given a task they can be successful with.

These are just some of the works Emmie's been doing:

Button Drop

Spoon Transfer

Pouring

Clothes Pinning

I love how pleased she is with herself at the end - it makes me smile.

Other quotes from Maria Montessori that I love:
“Whoever touches the life of the child, touches the most sensitive point of a whole which has roots in the most distant past and climbs towards the infinite future.”

“There is in a child a special kind of sensitivity which leads him to absorb everything about him, and it is this work of observing and absorbing that alone enables him to adapt himself to life” (Montessori, 1967, 62).


p.s. Before work time Emmie had spilled her breakfast all over herself...hence no shirt...and hey what the heck...If I were a toddler I think I would like to run around with only skivvies on! What freedom! I figure she should enjoy it while she can!

"The Force" - A New Game

"Don't underestimate the power of the Force."

"May the Force be with you."

Our Summer Afternoons (and sometimes mornings too...)

Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. ~Henry James

(Henry must have lived somewhere with mild summers...But I still like the quote...)

This is how we've been filling our summer afternoons....

Pedicure party...a rare treat!

Trying out Mascara for the first time

Taking an afternoon nap....because it's just too hot to do anything else

Doing a little cleaning...

Crank you neck to the side for this one...it's a little dark...but totally cute...Uncle John has been teaching Emmie some Karate Kid moves and she thinks it's a fun new dance!






So...Emmie's Cranky when she wakes up usually (she gets that from me) This is her not wanting a bath...it was just so sad and cute all at the same time - I just had to post it. I thought she was going to say her new sentence "No. I don't wanna" but, alas, I have yet to get it on film.

Some other doings are on our CRAFT BLOG...go check it out!!

Before I Forget

after a delicious dinner of Chicken Noodle Soup...she fed herself

Emmie Grace: 21 Months

These are all the things Emmie Grace is saying...I know if I don't write it down I will definitely forget and that would be sad...She's so funny right now - I want to remember all the little quirky things she's saying!

Family:
Mommy, Daddy, Dadoo, Mammy, Dohn(John), Nana (Dana),
Addy (Adam), Anna (Ceri)

Things Emmie Loves:
Banket/Bankie, Shoes, Socks, Elmo, Nemo, Cheese, Soup, Uk (milk), juice, book, TT (TV), Minga (treat),
Phee (Nany McPhee), P (Peter Pan), Bolt, bears (Care Bears), Cookies, Cakers,
Cak (Strawberry Short Cake), baby, tiky tiky (tickle), stick (tape)
*The girl loves her Movies...what child doesn't? We have to be very creative to get her away from the TV without having a melt down about it...I blame myself - I've always loved having the tv on just as background noise...


Expessions:
"Ooah Poop", Wet, Stinka (stinky), No, Yah, Stuck, Whoa,
Wow, ooah, "Whered it go?", "Dare is", "I Don't wana", "Das a _____"


Animals:
Monkey, Neh (Horse), Woof (Dog), Meow (cat), Ish (Fish), bug

Video Catch Up

This one is Emmie waking up after the fireworks. I was trying to get her to say "whoa" of course it takes forever...but the rest is cute.

This is Matt and Emmie in the ocean - I love it!

Emmie loves talking into the fan...and knock on wood she hasn't tried put her finger in it...I've been trying to get her to say "Luke" partly for Heidi and then partly because it's a talking in to a fan classic. She's only done it once...it was adorable!

Lime-Made

Ceri and I have joined forces and instead of competing with each other on who can post what first (it's that sisterly competitiveness that we probably won't be able to shake, no matter how old we get) we've made a blog so it wont matter anymore. So head over to limemade.blogspot.com and check it out. I don't guarantee how often we'll update - it may be slow to start...we'll see.

Whoa!

mom: "Emmie, what do you think about your totally awesome, jimmy-rigged entertainment center?"
emmie: "Whoa"

quietest car ride EVER

mom: "Emmie, what do you think about all of this sand?"
emmie: "Whoa"

Emmie thowing the sand

mom: "Emmie, how do you like the ocean?"
emmie: "Whoa!!!"

a girl after my own heart

mom: "Emmie, what do you think about this totally rad boat ride?"
emmie: "Whoa"

mom: "Emmie, what do you think about these fire works?"
emmie: "WHOA WHOA WHOA!!!!!"

I didn't take this picture...I googled it

Emmie's comments were great the whole trip. The funniest were her "whoa's". Sometimes they were yelled and sometimes they were spoken in hushed tones. funny girl. Needless to say she was very impressed with Coronado. Our 4th of July was wonderful. A perfectly relaxing vacation.

So...since Ceri and John got a super swanky camera I've been slacking on my photo taking...They have a whole bunch more pictures from the trip....maybe they'll post them soon. If not I'll need to steal them and post them here!

Celebrate

It's Independence Day!

Look at those red little cheeks!!! It's too hot here...good thing we're in California! Got to love Post Options!! Hope everyone is celebrating happy!