Rain.

"One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other..."

Language-Sensorial-Categorizing Alike and Not Alike-

reading and writing prep, visual discrimination, ability to problem solve

This is a Montessori For Everyone's free resource-What Doesn't Belong? When you click on the link, you can see all of the pictures. There are four sets of four pictures. One picture in each set does not belong. The object is to put an "x" over the picture that doesn't belong. For more advanced levels, as the directions explain, you can discuss why the object doesn't belong with the others.

This almost to Hannah's level of ability.

When I walked through the cards and explained them, she was easily able to see what didn't belong with 3 out of 4 cards with no question. However, when I was only observing her, watching and hearing her process, I could tell that she didn't fully understand. That's okay! It's something to grow into, and thankfully, there are lots of things to practice with discovering which object don't belong.

And, all I can say is, I only think of the Sesame Street Song from waaaaay back when: "One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other". Enjoy.

Dressing Frames

Practical Life-Dressings Frames

I decided the day that I recovered my ottoman that I would use the left over fabric combined with spare buttons I had around the house and make my own dressing frames. Pain-in-my-behind. I would do it differently next time. Part of the reason why I didn't want to use an old shirt was that I wanted to learn to use my button options on my still-new-to-me sewing machine. It took forever. Although I am happy that there are so many buttons (large, medium, and small), I definitely have different plans for the tying, velcro, snaps, zipper, etc. frames in the future. If anyone wants to donate theirs to me please let me know and save me from the hassle!

This is perfect for Hannah right now.

She can get some of them but not all.

I think this is something she'll go back to for some time.

There are four large buttons on this one...

This is taking lots of concentration...

Seven on this one- 4 medium and 3 small...

Bedroom Edition

I've been working on the bedroom for forever.

This is what it looked like before. We had painters come and paint the interior of our home back in the beginning of April. I decided on two different shades of blue for the bedroom (khaki for the bath) as opposed to the green and LIME green (you can see a close up if you click on the picture) that was in the bathroom.

At an antique mall in Marietta, I found not one but TWO of these headboards from Pier One. One is in our bedroom, the other is in the guest bedroom. (Bad iphone picture quality here.)

I was delighted to see in the latest edition of WestElm had this headboard for $399 plus $75 for shipping! I got TWO of them for under the cost of shipping alone. I felt like I had "considered a field and bought it" that day ;)

I wish we had gotten before shots of all the furniture. Two of the pieces looked like this before and two of them were a dark cherry.

We replaced the knobs to match and found a great deal at Home Depot.

I have yet to put the knobs on this one...

I couldn't get a good picture of this but you get the idea.

Our bedroom always seems to be the last room to get attention. It's finally a place of rest and relaxation for us (okay, more for me :)! Yea!

Fun Fun Fun

I've discovered a new favorite pastime... pressure washing!

This was incredibly instantly gratifying leaving me wanting to do more but, unfortunately, I had to stop because my back started to hurt!
Some friends of ours graciously let us borrow their gas powered pressure washer for the week.

I knew it was dirty, but I didn't realize how much...

It's just like a pencil eraser...

Check that out!

The green just wiped right off...

Two sides...

We don't get a lot of sunlight on our concrete which is why we are getting black residue (a type of mold, I think) on our concrete.
We still have a little bit more to do, but should be done by round two.

Later on during the day we had our naps.
Hannah read to hubby while they were playing up in her room (she likes to pretend she's the mommy putting us to bed) and he passed out!
She came downstairs and I asked where Daddy was and she told me he was sleeping in her bed.
I went upstairs to wake him later to find what will only be a familiar sight living with all girls :)

Belly Pics.

I found this photo of me at 29 weeks when I was pregnant with Hannah.

I think I had a belly photo for almost every month.

This is me (today) at 26 weeks.

It's my first preggo picture of this pregnancy!

Funny how things change when you are a little preoccupied by a toddler ;)

Hannah wanted to get a front and side picture, too.

I think she's the cutest of them all!

Geometric Solids-Introduction

I found these geometric solids at a garage sale.

I introduced them today and (surprisingly to me) she was intrigued by them.

Shamefully, I had to learn the names of them, too.

Here's our lesson plan.

We'll be building upon it in the future.

Food Preparation: Breakfast

Practical Life

I like what Montessori Primary Guide says about PL:

"Because Practical Life Exercises are meant to resemble everyday activities, it is important that all materials be familiar, real, breakable, and functional. The materials must also be related to the child’s time and culture."

Hannah helped to make her own breakfast this morning.

We went over the mechanics of the oven, the hot burner, hot to tell if it is on or off, and what happens to the pan when it is placed on the burner.

First, she spread her oil in the pan (pan and utensils were child-sized).

Then, we cooked her own egg (I had a separate pan for mine).

Then we toasted some bread.

Next, she practiced her spreading with a knife that she learned another day to spread butter and jam onto the bread.

Not only was this fun and meaningful, it curbed the hungry Hannah monster in the morning while waiting for breakfast to cook!

Potty Trained.

I think I can safely say that Hannah is pretty much potty trained and has been wearing underwear since the 9th of June. I wish I could take credit for this and give you the step-by-step how-to plan, but really, it's by the grace of God (thank you, God!) and Hannah taking the lead that the toilet is now our new friend. Here's the story of how it happened:

Let me start by saying that of everything concerning parenthood this was the thing I was dreading and was in denial was going to happen. I wanted to do it before the baby came along but kept trying to push it closer and closer to that date (late October) because, honestly, I didn't want the extra work of laundry, accidents, finding a restroom, etc. And, in almost every other stage of child rearing, I have scoured books, contemplated how I wanted to do things months in advance, and asked multiple people tons of questions on how they did things first before I took action myself. Not this time. Complete denial. I only know one story of how my SIL did it and thought I might do something similar, but again, I was in complete denial and didn't even want to think about it.

Back up to the middle of March. We started putting Hannah on the toilet before she got into the bath because she would always go in it as soon as she got in and I wanted to not have to drain and refill it every time. Instead of her falling in, we just purchased a potty seat to go on top. Both sitting on the potty and going was a TOTAL novelty to her. She loved to read magazines and do something new and big. "Oh no", I thought, "what have I done?" I didn't want the process to start and bad habits to form. I wasn't ready!

Then came pull ups. I bought them because she wanted to take off her diaper all the time and sit on the toilet! Again, I wanted to make the process simpler so she could do it herself. It's so selfish, but really, it was so much extra work that I wanted her to learn to do it by herself so that I would not have to sit by the toilet all day putting on and off diapers. Again, pull ups were a novelty. She was thrilled to wear "princess diapers" (princess characters on the front) and so we would wear pull ups during the day and regular diapers at night. BTW, the only motivating factor for me to get her out of those is the fact that she started to get a rash in them. She has been rash free up until then and some bumps were starting to get infected. I thought, "I've got to just bite the bullet and do this before she gets into habits I have to unbreak." My excuse to delay further still came because we would be traveling for two weeks with long trips in the car at the end of May through the first of June. Right before we left, we got a package in the mail from Grandma...

Panties! She was so excited to be able to come back home to them and couldn't wait to wear them. I told her we would put them on and, with the exception of naps and bedtime, we would no longer be wearing princess diapers during the day. And, when the diapers ran out, we weren't buying any more. I think she had one accident in her panties before she decided she didn't like that! When we started the first couple of days in them, I was paranoid that she needed to go but just wasn't telling me. I asked her all the time if she needed to go and she would get so frustrated with me and basically let me know that she was frustrated and that I was asking her too much. I thought if I pee so much (like every 30 minutes being pregnant) surely she has to go! Nope. After that first accident, she now let's me know when she needs to go and runs to the toilet on her own. And, she's got great control. She can hold it longer than I can! We also noticed that she only wet her diapers at night once or twice. I was still scared of having to do tons of laundry (can you hear this being all about me, yet?) and made the diaper stash last as long as possible, but one night, hubby put her to bed with underwear and we've never gone back. She's had an accident at night on her way to the bathroom, but never in her bed yet. Oh, how thankful I am! Praise God!

The other thing that has added to this whole situation is that, I think, Elmo taught her what to do in the bathroom (seriously). Our next door neighbors (love to you!) let us borrow Elmo's Potty Time and, since she loves Elmo, watched(es) it over and over again. It's a whole video on what to do in the bathroom. We even laughed one day as she was wiping the sink up with a towel from the water she had spilled from washing her hands realizing one of the girls in a segment of the video does that. If your child likes Elmo, this is a good video to watch.

So, that's our story. I am thankful it happened the way it did which, to my surprise, was much more easy than I thought. There have been a handful of accidents, but really nothing to complain about. In fact, I think that most of them were my fault rather than hers. In retrospect, I don't think I will see it as such of a nightmare and might welcome it next time since the reward is getting out of diapers and on the road to independence! I do know that it typically takes boys a little bit longer than girls to develop those muscles for bladder control but I didn't think that Hannah would be closer to two rather than three before she was out of diapers. When some people told me they trained their girls at 18 months-2 years, I think I just flat out didn't believe what they were saying was true (sorry, people)! Maybe this will give some other parents out there a little bit of encouragement that it's not so scary :) I give God all the credit for this, for the blessing of Hannah, and thanks for His grace of sparing me many nightmarish memories of potty training!

*Toilet image from here.

New Blog For Infants & Toddlers

My Montessori House has a new blog for infants and toddlers (finally, someone did it!). Check it out! BTW, I get newsletters from them on the year one and year two age range for a small fee that is really helpful.

*This photo came from their new blog.

I'm Making The Switch!

I cannot believe it. How many things in my life am I doing that I said I would NEVER do? Too many to count. Well, here's another one. I am going to be making the switch over to cloth diapers. Yep, I said it. Cloth Diapers!

Before Hannah was born, I was asked if I would ever use them. ARE YOU CRAZY?! No way! Well, about a year ago in Germany at a MOPS, I watched a presentation by a mother of five who not only uses cloth, but makes her own and has used them on all of her children. I had no idea what they were like (how cool they really are)! The ones made now are not your grand-mamma's diapers!

There are all different kinds with accessories: one sized, all-in-one, pocket, fitted, pre-folded, covers, inserts, liners, doublers, and fasteners, just to name a few. I am not going to explain all of them but only tell you what we've decided to start with (I've linked to other great posts on cloth diapering at the end that you can read for yourself, if your interested).

1. Why are we making the switch? First, and mostly, money (plus, they are so cool and waaaay cuter ;) With disposables, you spend about an average of $2,400 per child. With cloth, depending on which ones you buy and if you take good care of them, you can cloth one child and many more on about $200-$600. And, Lord willing, we don't plan to stop with baby number 2! Second, there's a little bit in me that thinks it's pretty sick that landfills are sitting with diapers that are non-biodegradable. Gross. Thirdly, health. I don't think my child is going to die for using disposables (Hannah used them and I will still use them limitedly), however, there are some heath concerns I do have in the back of my mind like the fact that they have certain certain chemicals such as sodium polyacrylate (gel crystals) that were removed from tampons due to toxic shock syndrome and tribulytin that is hard on the immune system and hormonal system-especially to boys regarding fertility. Read more here for basic starters and do your own research.

2. There are hundreds of options and price ranges. Here's where we are starting (I'll do more exploring as time goes on)- the middle of the road- one sized pocket BumGenius diapers. It's one step down from an all-in-one (which is just like a disposable except you wash it). The one sized pocket is a diaper you can use from 7 pounds to potty training. It has a waterproof outer layer and a pocket that you put an insert into that can hold up to 15 oz. Double it up and it holds 30 oz (that's almost four cups). When you change your baby simply remove the insert and wash the diaper and insert together in the washer and you can use it again! Fabulous. The GREAT thing I've learned, is that a breast fed baby's poop is entirely water soluble which means that it all comes out in the washer. So, basically, the only difference between the disposable and resuable diaper for me is the fact that I wash it and use it again vs. putting it out on the curb for the garbage man to pick up on Wednesday.

This is what one diaper looks like when it is small vs. when it is at it largest fitting...

This is the cuteness of the girl diaper...

This insert is made of microfiber and holds 15 oz. of liquid and snaps into place.

Okay, now, do your own reading.

Good posts:

Passionate Homemaking: Is It Worth It? Guest Post #1 and Guest Post #2

Keeper of the Home: Cloth Diapering (Even For The Faint Of Heart) Pt. 1 and Pt. 2

The Diaper Diaries

The Cloth Diaper Whisperer

Good stores (you can register here, too!):

Jillian's Drawers (this is where I registered)

Kelly's Closet (the best package deals are here for BumGenius)

Cloth Diaper Clearance

Nicki's Diapers

Baby Because

My Three Favorite Reference Books

After doing a lot of reading this past year on the Montessori method, these are my three favorite books that I like to use for reference and would rather have on hand to make notes. These are all for the 2 1/2-6 years age range (although there is a little infant dipping on the last one).

Teaching Montessori In The Home: The Preschool Years

• very simple and easy to read
• black and white pictures
• brief method intro before each subject
• some easy do-it-yourself options for those attempting this at home

Teach Me To Do It Myself: Montessori Activities For You And Your Child

• in color
• adds a few extra activities than just the basics (like science)
• also has easy do-it-yourself ideas
• slightly more comprehensive with activities but does not teach method

How To Raise A Child The Montessori Way

(I have yet to have this in my personal library!)

• color pictures that are very easy to flip through to search for activities
• written by the President of The Montessori Foundation
• includes infant material

Montessori Highlights Over The Past Couple of Weeks

Here are a few highlights over the past couple of weeks:

Practical Life-Three Finger Grasp-squeezing clothes pins around an object.

Hand-eye coordination, control, preparation for writing, concentration...

Sensorial-Sorting By Color-

hand-eye coordination, concentration, control, order, etc.

Language Presentation w/in Practical Life-Bead Stringing w/Control Object or Card-

ability to follow a pattern from left to right (how you read in our culture), writing prep, hand-eye coord., concentration and control,

This isn't an "official" practical life lesson, but I count is as such since it mimics a real-life scenario of home activities that is meaningful and there is an order to it...

Practical Life-Diapering A Baby

order, concentration, preparation for siblings (!)

Practical Life-Spooning-Three Finger Grasp

Order of left to right and reverse, concentration and control, ability to transfer objects, cutting and writing prep

Practical Life-Taking Care Of Environment & Wrist Turning-Dust Pan & Broom

order, hand eye, coordination (it takes a lot!), writing and cutting prep.

Practical Life-Handwork-Cutting (Coupons)

order, coordination, concentration, etc.

*She just learned how to use scissors (the real kind) maybe two months ago. She figured out on her own by practicing how to cut up and through a page. Hence, by following her, I knew she was ready to cut lines and coupons were a perfect way to do this...

Science-Environment-Bugs & Living Things

Very simple, learning about a slug (slime, color, what they do, etc) that had crawled into our house.

Practical Life-Wet Pouring Pitcher To Pitcher-Wrist Turning

Ability to transfer liquids with control, concentration, hand-eye coord., prep for writing

Art-Painting