First Math Lesson

Hunter had his very first math lesson today!

I showed him numbers one through five and played around with them a little bit. He then proceeded to teach his numbers to Barney and Elmo!

It was a great start, I'm very excited!

"Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day."

Psalm 25:5

Hunter is 2 years, 5 months old

Duplo Train

"...for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:"

Ruth 1:16

Hunter is 2 years, 5 months old

Leaf Bug

Tonight we found a leaf bug in the breezeway, and it was really funny to see Hunter's reaction to it.

He was carefully watching it, and would occasionally work up the courage to get really close to it, then it would fly away to some other location, and he would then watch it from there.

We talked about how God gave it a body that looks like a leaf so that he can hide in trees and birds will think he is a leaf instead of a bug, so then he won't get eaten! He thought that was really funny.

"...the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind."

Leviticus 11:22

Hunter is 2 years, 5 months old

Fear the Light Saber

"Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people"

Psalm 149:5-7

Hunter is 2 years, 5 months old

Learning to Peddle

This evening I got some picture of Hunter riding his tricycle.

Our driveway it pretty cracked up but after closing hours we have a huge, smooth parking lot nearby that we love to play at.

He got this trike for his birthday a few months ago and LOVES it. As you can see from these pictures, he was having a blast peddling around in circles. And on top of being great fun, it's good for his brain development, too.

"Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers: Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing."

Job 8:21-22

Hunter is 2 years, 5 months old

Sink or Float Experimenting

Today we played a little science game and discovered more about the concepts of "sink" and "float" and why certain objects do one or the other.

We used a bunch of toys and threw them in a sink full of water to see what would happen to each.

We talked about why, this one sunk because it had holes in it, and see how it lets the water in? And this one floats because it is full of air and is has a lower density than the water.

He really had a fun time and after just a few times, I was surprised to see how accurate his hypothesizing became on whether or not a particular toy would sink or float.

"I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me."

Psalm 62:9

Hunter is 2 years, 5 months old

Learning Left and Right

I made this little poster for Hunter to help him learn his left from his right.

The first thing I did was trace his little hands and cut out the blue paper outline.

Next I made arrows pointing to the right and the left, glued them on a piece of construction paper, and wrote in big, red letters "left" and "right" underneath.

I laminated it and hung it on the side of his dresser, next to the door, and it serves as a little visual of the concepts of a left hand and a right hand, a left direction and a right direction. We've also started talking about the concepts a lot, for example, asking him to give me his left foot to put a shoe on or telling him to look to the right to find his truck.

It's all new to him but I'm sure he'll be figuring it all out in no time at all.

"And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left."

Genesis 24:49

Hunter is 2 years, 5 months old

Eye Doctor

Hunter had his first appointment at the eye doctor today.

There was nothing wrong with his eyes, and I didn't have any concerns, but it was just one of those well-child check-up sort of things.

Leading up to it, we talked about how to listen to the doctor when he gave instructions, how to sit still and pay attention, and how to use a quiet voice. He brought his little doctor's kit with him, and had a fun time playing with it while we waited.

His eyes were just fine, he had perfect vision from the tests they took, which is such a blessing.

"Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal."

Psalm 17:2

Hunter is 2 years, 5 months old

Number Line

Tonight, while Hunter was sleeping, I made this math display and hung it above his bed to use for playing math games. I hope he'll be surprised!

"In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction"

Job 33:15-16

Hunter is 2 years, 5 months old

Barnes and Noble Story Time

Today we went to toddler story time at Barnes and Noble, featuring the PBS character Arthur. They read some Arthur books and then, out came the character himself, in costume.

He doesn't really watch TV but we heard about this little event a few days ago and went to the library and got a video of Arthur episodes so he would know who it was.

Hunter loved listening to the stories and was absolutely thrilled when the big Arthur character came out. I'm so glad we went and am looking forward to going to more community events like this from now on.

"And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient."

Exodus 24:7

Hunter is 2 years, 5 months old

Afternoon at the Fair

Hunter had a great time at the county fair today.

We got cotton candy, an ice cream, a giant Spiderman toy, and a ride on the trucks (definitely his favorite part!)

It was one of the last days so I'm really glad we got the chance to go!

"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

Genesis 8:22

Hunter is 2 years, 4 months old

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Hunter has had this adorable habit of constantly presenting me beautiful little wildflowers that he has picked. All. The. Time. Like every time he sees a dandelion, thistle, anything (which around here is all the time).

It's so sweet to hear his little voice run up to me time and time again saying, "Look Mommy! A pretty flower!"

And yes, we all know that dandelions are technically "weeds" but it just serves to remind me that truly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple."

Psalm 27:4

Hunter is 2 years, 4 months old

Anthony Signing "More"

My nephew Anthony, age nine months. We are teaching him sign language (just like Hunter learned as a baby) and I'm so excited that he is finally doing them back!

"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"

Matthew 7:11

Anthony is 9 months old

Alphabet Song

"Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel."

Deuteronomy 31:19

Hunter is 2 years, 4 months old

Painting Together

Today Hunter and I worked together on painting the basement floor.

I always love doing projects with him, bringing him along side of me and teaching him things, and he had a really fun time going at it with a paintbrush.

Since it was just the basement, it didn't matter much if the paint looked "perfect" so he really got to have a fun time with it.

"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour."

Ecclesiastes 4:9

Hunter is 2 years, 4 months old

Potty Time

Hunter used the potty for the first time when he was 19 months old.

At that time I was really just introducing it to him, and hadn't started anything too serious, but he did really good and has been using it on and off since then.

This past summer, though, I've been getting a little more serious about it and have been trying everything I can think of to get him to tell me when he needs to go. I put him on the potty several times a day, such as after meals, before and after nap, etc. He usually goes at these times, and is becoming has told me quite a few times that he needs to go.

I've been trying to motivate him with stickers (he gets to put a Barney sticker on his potty every time he goes), and more recently, we've put a pull up on his stuffed Barney (who keeps his stars dry and always goes in the potty).

It's been working pretty well, and he's been going a lot lately. Now if only I could figure out a way to get him to go number two...

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

Joshua 1:8

Hunter is 2 years, 4 months old

Making Crayon Wafers

Hunter has a crayon box that has quite a few broken, tiny pieces of crayons in it, which many people just throw away, but I got an idea of something creative to do with them.

So today when his cousin came over, I had them take the box of crayons and sort them all by colors into different sections of a muffin tin. This was a good activity in color discrimination, as some of the color crayons were hard to tell (i.e., some of the purple ones looked almost blue).

After they sorted out all the colors, we put the muffin tin in the oven at 200 degrees and kept checking on them until they were melted. Then, viola! Crayon wafers that you could color with.

The only problem was that when they were done cooling, the wax had sort of separated itself, almost like the oil and water effect, meaning that the top half of the crayon can't really be colored with because it's almost pure wax, no color. So next time we recycle old crayons, I'll make sure that when I take them out of the oven I stir all of the colors every minute or so so that as it cools, it doesn't get the chance to separate.

Also, I would definitely spray some cooking spray in the bottom to make the crayons easier to pop out, cause they sure didn't come out easy! But all in all, it was a really fun activity and a fun way to reuse old things.

"Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud."

Proverbs 16:19

Hunter is 2 years, 4 months old