Today L spent an hour in deep concentration at the play station I had set up for him after his nap.  I put out dried beans, dried pasta, lemon scented green water, paints, an empty milk jug with a funnel, and plenty of scoops and spoons.  I thought this would be a huge hit since he's way into scooping and pouring now, I was right!  The first thing he did was to grab a gravy spoon and scoop dried beans into the water bin.  He did that forever and I think it was his favorite thing haha.

He then grabbed a measuring cup and began experimenting with the water, he liked adding water to the muffin tin that the paint was in.

L is always challenging himself so he saw an opportunity and ran with it:  trying to spoon water into the milk jug.  Of course, he had to remove the funnel in order to get to the opening of the jug.  :P

After working a little more on scooping the beans he became interested in the paint!  He enjoyed painting the rock bed with his hand and mixing the colors together to see what happened.

We ended up with everything mixed together from scooping and dumping and it was a blast!  I think this has been his favorite play invitation yet!

Cooking

L is really beginning to be involved in a lot of the cooking and cleaning.  He uses a stool to help him put laundry into the washer and then to transfer it to the dryer.  He always helps me put clean dishes away and dirty dishes into the dishwasher and he always loves to do dishes in the sink with me.  He's great about putting his toys away now in the playroom, I still remind him a lot but I'm surprised at how many times I don't need to remind him!

Cooking is an area that we are working really hard to incorporate him into.  It can sometimes be difficult because we can't let him get too close to the stove without risking him burning himself.  We always try to let him help us mix together ingredients and we try to let him explore as many food items as we can.  He loves to get in his learning tower and watch the food cooking on the stove too!  The other day we made bread and he really seemed to enjoy mixing all the items together for the dough!  He's really into the scooping and pouring phase now so I included him on some of the flour pouring.

He liked touching the dough while I was mixing it together, it was a new texture for him!

Recently, I made a marinade for some tofu we would be cooking the next day and L loved the opportunity to explore the marinade and learn how all the ingredients mix together in the bowl!

Tonight at dinner I snapped a couple pictures of L exploring different food items that we would be cooking.  He intently watched his dad shuck the corn and loved the opportunity to feel and explore the dry corn before it went in the pot to cook!  I also let him explore an onion before I chopped it up, I'm pretty sure he just thought it was a weird ball or something though haha.

On a side note, L has begun pretend play and I'm so thrilled!  Ironically his favorite thing to pretend is cooking haha.  I have never been happier that we didn't babyproof our house because he has free range to the kitchen and the utensils (I have doubted that decision many times in the past lol).  During our free play he loves to run to the kitchen and get a pot and a large spoon, he brings it back to the playroom and pretends to cook with it.  He always gives me turns and watches intently as I pretend to cook with it as well.  Today he found some pipe cleaners and a few little felt pieces and threw them in the pot and began stirring them all together!  It's so beautiful to watch him play!

Outdoor Waterbed

Last weekend we made an outdoor waterbed.  We used plastic sheeting and duct tape to hold everything together and just filled it up with water.  For L it was a short lived thrill but he absolutely loved it while it lasted.  He liked to run and stomp across it and my husband and I would take turns running across it with him.

It was an excellent way for everyone to cool off on a hot day without getting wet!  My husband and I really enjoyed it as well!

L really had the most fun hitting and stomping on the waterbed and making waves!  I got down with him and made some waves myself too.  :)

This was an excellent sensory activity and I feel pretty confident that we'll be repeating it throughout the summer!

Easter gifts

L got a lot of neat things for Easter.  One of the things he got were these capsules that become sponge animals when placed in warm water.  He had a great time playing with the capsules and the water and didn't seem all that surprised that they turned into animals haha.

He also got an outdoor easel that my husband made him and the weather finally warmed up enough for us to enjoy it today!

We were also able to put together a car he got and of course he loved helping out!  I think we're going to take him and his car to the park this afternoon so he can try it out.  :)

He had a great time exploring the backyard while his dad finished up the car and I was able to capture a few great shots.  We currently have two cats and L loves them dearly.  He calls them "Cacky" and smiles so big whenever he sees one.  He loves to pet on them and follow them around the yard.

One evening at bath time my husband gave him a Mason Jar to play with in the tub and L discovered suction. He had a great time and learned quickly to submerge the jar then turn it upside down before pulling it out to get the full suction effect.

A few other updates:  L is beginning to talk more and he's even putting words together.  His favorite phrase is "It's a car"  which makes sense because he has a car obsession.  Last night I told him that I loved him and he said, "Lub woo" and I have never experienced my heart melting quite to that extreme.  Today he was looking for his dad and went up to a closed door, began knocking on it and repeatedly yelled, "DAAAA OOO DER?"  This little boy is such a blessing to us!

Rainy Day Fun

We've had a few stormy cold days in a row and I think we're all going a little crazy to get out of the house for a while.  We've made the best of it though and had a great time.  Yesterday at dinner we had an impromptu sensory experience.  It was so much fun, my husband and I had a great time watching L play in peanut butter!  He would put his hand in the jar and bring it out with a fist full of peanut butter...and it got everywhere!  That was probably the most fun family dinner we've had in quite some time.  ;)

His little peanut butter beard cracked us up.  As you can see in the next picture, he really enjoyed rubbing the peanut butter on his head lol.  It was so funny, when he actually wanted a bite of peanut butter he would pick up his spoon and scoop some out to eat, as if it mattered at that point haha.  He had so much fun squishing it and rubbing it everywhere.

Today has been rainy and cold so far so we pulled down the attic ladder and L loved climbing up and down it.  He is such a monkey.  After a while he enjoyed exploring the attic and found some pine cones and balls to throw down to dad at the bottom of the ladder.  He would crack up if he startled his dad lol.

This little guy is so much fun to be around, I feel honored to be the one that gets to raise him!