April 22, 2010

Daddy and I shredded a magazine to make confetti!

This entertained her for quite a while

Proudly showing off her first art project from the Nature Center (I wish I would have kept it, but I let her play with it and now it is confetti, too)

Why stand at the Move and Groove table when you can sit comfortably in your chair and play?

The bottle was intended for her baby. She usually feeds herself...

...but sometimes she feeds the baby and its absolutely precious

When Riley doesn't want to eat she purses those lips together so tightly. Look at the determination on her face!

This week Riley and I attended our first Toddler Time class at the Sulphur Creek Nature Center. We are lucky to have a resource like this just down the street. They take in injured animals and help them heal and rehabilitate while creating a learning opportunity for the public. The ranger who led our Toddler Time was so energetic and great with the little ones. The kids each sat on their own carpet square arranged in a circle while she described the plants, flowers and animals that are active in the month of April. It was very hands on, we got to pet a tortoise, a hampster and a dove and watch a gopher play in a tube. Afterwards the kids colored a picture of a flower and taped a butterfly and other enhancements to the page. While Riley is on the young end of the spectrum for this class (the range is 1-3 years old) and needed help with the art project, her attention span was amazing. She sat and listened to the ranger talk and waited patiently until it was her turn to pet each animal. Most of the other 1 year olds lost interest and ran around the other room after a bit, but Riley stayed the entire time. I wasn't sure if she would enjoy a class like this but she certainly did.

Her newest words are "Oh wow!" (said with lots of enthusiasm when playing with toys or watching Seamus) and "Uh Oh!" (said when things fall down, especially when "accidently" dropping her cup). We've also noticed that she always orients her book correctly these days. Before she would read them any which way but now, even if we hand them to her upside-down, she flips them the right way before she starts to read. Smart baby!