Happy Spring!

"For whatever we lose (like a you or a me), It's always our self we find in the sea."

Kitchen tour

In keeping with our theme for March I'd like to share a tour of our kitchen. Here is our space:

And another angle: 

We love this room. It's a bright, sunny, beautiful space for nurturing and play. The best part is that it's baby proof, so there's nothing within Bee's reach that can harm her and no reason for us to limit her access in the kitchen. I've written about baby proofing here and here. I believe that a safe place for a child to freely explore is an essential need, and it's one of the core values our home decorating and layout is based upon. 

In the kitchen, we've provided Bee with several areas of interest as well as eliminated some of the common kitchen dangers. We don't have anything dangerous in the bottom cabinets and we store our cleaners in a different room. This allows her to really get into everything and she spends so much of her day taking things out and putting them back - pots and pans are a favorite! So, let's take a closer look:

We've painted the outside of our pantry with a black chalk board paint and have given Bee her very own space to use for artistic expression. She delights in scribbling! When she's done, we put the chalk away inside the cabinet and out of her reach.

We have dedicated the bottom drawer in the refrigerator to provide her a space for healthy snacks that she's able to help herself to throughout the day. I try to prepare two options each morning for her to select from.

We purchased an inexpensive child table from ikea and it is the perfect spot for Bee to enjoy her snacks. I also found this beautiful child sized pitcher which I fill with water in the morning and place it on the table so that she's able to pour herself a drink throughout the day. She is becoming so great at pouring! 

Sometimes allowing a child to practice helping themselves means there are messes to clean up, and that's okay! It's all a learning process. 

I've hung a towel for spills at her level. She is not at a stage yet where she cleans up her own spills, but given the opportunity, she loves to help! 

This child set broom and mop set is another wonderful way to foster independence and encourage keeping a neat space I made the stand by cutting cardboard, wrapping it in wrapping paper, and taping magnets to the back. It works perfectly and looks great! 

Montessori in the kitchen

We are busy settling into our new home, and while we do I'd like to make a series of kitchen themed posts over the month of March - I hope you all enjoy them!

I know many parents, myself included, who struggle to find a balance between housework and parenting in their day. I have set up my kitchen to help with this challenge and I'm thrilled to share some of my strategies here. For Bee's first birthday, her father and I built her this great learning tower. These wonderful towers help put the child at counter height to foster their desire for independence, and it's enabling Bee to become quite the little helper! One of our favorite activities is preparing meals together.

Before I start, I'll clarify that this stove is not turned on, and the pan is not hot. We're using the pan as a large mixing bowl to prepare our lasagna in a crock pot. Look how thrilled Bee is to be included in this activity! By allowing her to help at meal time, I've been able to strike a balance between giving her the attention she requires and also cooking dinner.

This is the face of someone truly delighted in their work! Preparing meals is such a sensational task for toddlers. It allows them to mix, stir, pour, fill, empty, rinse, dry, taste, scoop, and more! 

Here she is taking advantage of the opportunity to taste new things - frozen spinach! I love the way that cooking together builds her sense of curiosity, she has such an inquisitive nature and really takes the time to inspect our ingredients. 

Beach sensory tub

The best thing about living in Florida is the year round sunshine and ability to spend days at the beach in February! The constant sunshine and warmth is easy to take for granted, and today was one of those days. We have been enjoying such beautiful weather lately that I woke up this morning ready for a beach trip with my sweet bee only to be greeted by thunderstorms upon leaving our home. Should have checked the weather channel!

Luckily, I have some rainy day activities stored in my bookmarks folder and was able to bring the beach to us - and you can, too! I have been meaning to try this wonderful "cloud dough" recipe for quite some time and the dreary weather gave us the perfect excuse.

Sweet hands agree - this stuff is completely fabulous! I used wheat flour to give it a more sandy color, and the texture was absolutely perfect. It feels and behaves exactly like wet beach sand! It can be scooped, poured, molded, and made into sand castles! There could not have been a better way to spend a rainy day.

               

               

Sensorial sorting

'Since feeling is first...'

Sorting games can be a wonderfully engaging sensorial task for children who are developing their desire to create order. Maria Montessori believed that sensorial experiences begin at birth, and designed exercise groups to classify the eight different types of sensory work. These classifications are visual, tactile, baric, thermic, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and stereognostic. You can read more explanation about these groups and their importance in child development here.

Beyond incorporating almost all of these sensory exercise groups, this sorting game also serves as an introduction to basic math concepts like numerical grouping and sets!

Here, I have selected three items which vary in size, shape, weight, color, and texture. These happened to be bottlecaps, sea shells, and floral beads. You can use almost anything, though, including bigger items for the children who like to explore with their mouth! I placed these items into separate jars and sat back while I watched her work.

First, she enjoyed taking the items out of each jar and moving them into the other jars. Eventually she became frustrated at the jars being too deep for her hand to easily reach into, so I helped her empty each one - that's when the real fun began!

She loved picking up the items and putting them in the jar. She focused intently on the different sounds they each made when dropped in, and really seemed to enjoy the differences in texture.

These smooth, blue floral beads were definitely her favorite. They were cool to the touch, heavier than the bottle caps and shells, and made the loudest noise when dropped into a jar. 

This is the face of an individual who is completely absorbed in her work - I love it! 

A year in review

"One's not half two. It's two are halves of one"

Sweet Bee, today I paid close attention to how it feels to hold you in your sleep. Your warmth, the way your breath feels on my chest, your hand on my face, how soft your hair feels. The way you look, the way you smile and sound and feel. Like love. I know these days are fleeting. You are one now, and you are incredible. You have blossomed into such a spirited and strong willed toddler, and it happened so quickly! 

Your first year brought so much joy to your father and I. It was full of ups and downs, but most of all it was full of learning experiences. You've introduced us to each other all over, and of course to you. You've also reintroduced us to ourselves. We feel so complete with you, and so in awe of this learning experience. I could write an entire book about all of the ways we've grown, but I want this to be about you, and your first year. 

You are captivating and intense. Everywhere we go people comment on how beautiful you are, on your eyes, on how happy you are, or how clever you are. They're right, and they don't even know the half of it! You sat up for the first time at 12 weeks old, you started scooting just before 16 weeks, and you were an expert at crawling by 5 months. You were standing up and walking across lengths of furniture and walls at 6 months, and standing completely unassisted at 7 months. In your 8th month you started walking, and your steps were so wobbly and uncertain. You have since graduated to running, and you love to dance. 

For your first Christmas, you were given a beautiful doll, Penelope. We call her Penny, and she's one of your favorite things. You love to carry her everywhere, holding her close to you and giving her kisses.

For your first birthday we built you an activity tower so that you can work with me at countertop height, helping to wash vegetables and prepare meals.

You are completely sure of yourself and you are so independent. You have the confidence and security to walk away on your own without ever even stopping to look back!

You love to take baths with your dad at night before bed time, and he loves to spend that time with you. It's such a special way to share your evening together playing in the tub. I can hear the two of you laughing and splashing and it never fails to make me smile.

You love books, you bring them to us every day and want to read the same books several times. We never turn you down. You love to read 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', 'Oh The Places You Will Go', 'The Cat in the Hat', 'Are you my Mother?', and 'Cuddly Animals'. You gasp with excitement at your favorite parts, point to the pictures and smile at the pages. 

You love music, and have all your life. Now you can join in and sing and dance and shake and play your instruments! Your favorite song is 'Someone Like You', by Doris Day. I've sang it to you since before you were born.

You love your dog, Violet. You clap excitedly when she's in the room, you read her books. You sign 'dog' every time you see a dog. You love to give her hugs and kisses, and she is just as taken with you. The two of you are best of friends, and I hope you will be for a very long time to come. 

You love your milkies, and I love to nurse you. I am so proud that we've made it to a year. 

You are one now, sweet bee. And you are incredible.