Big Belly, Big Belly, Big Belly

Writing on the blog used to be a stress-reliever for me and now I've realized that I'm not a talented writer, I Just enjoy sharing pictures of what we do all day. So I'm taking the pressure off myself to be witty (which I'm not), clever (that either), insightful (nope) or fill-in-the-blank and will just post short little blurbs about life in the Byrne household.  

Our days are characterized by lots of learning. J has been learning more body parts including legs, knees and belly button! He learned how to bake cookies (pictures coming soon), water his tomato plant from Mrs. Speasmaker, bring his dishes to and from the table and use a napkin.  I just read a book on Montessori education from 0-3 years old and really resonated with it. It can seem overwhelming to think about doing everything with your child (which we are not going to do!) but I realized I have already been following some strategies of M education by asking J to be involved in all parts of his day. 

We've got lofty goals for the next few weeks (and we hope to make this 'work' fun!):

drink out of a little glass

set the table with placemat and his dishes

assist with part of getting dressed, probably putting his shorts on

folding easy parts of the laundry

Will keep you all posted on how things go!

Sometimes Jonathan will grab a quick breakfast on the couch before going out for a run. Jackson (and Lincoln) has been known to sidle up and try to steal some second breakfast

Nose

hair

(large) belly

I managed to convince mom and dad to come down for a day trip a few weeks ago and we had a great time. They surprised us by arriving early and with many goodies in tow! The brought J a real drum (but it's quiet!), fireman rain boots to match his raincoat from BB and Granddad, a train whistle and Roadmap rugs for his room. He loved hanging out with them at the zoo, staring at the birds and touching a 'hair' from an elephant tail. We can't get enough of grandparent time and are so lucky to have all four so close by! 

The learning continues...

We read the Jesus Storybook Bible each morning but it's not long enough to take us through all of breakfast. So I made bags of colored shapes and each morning we'll pull out one or two and learn colors, shapes and pictures. He's doing pretty well with pictures like fish, trees and firetruck and he is picking up on triangle and circle. Hexagon, octagon, rectangle? Well, those might take a while :)

Gotta' guard Daddy's new shoes...you never know what sneaky neighbor might come take a box!