I still take a lot of photos- on the DSLR if we are at home and on my phone if we are out and about. Maybe not as many as I used to though.

Here are my favourites from the month of January.

Shion got the tunnel for his birthday – both boys love it! I made birthday cake for their birthday party so I didn`t make cake for Shion {or Noah`s} actual birthday but we bought some strawberry cake the day after Shion`s birthday because it was a Saturday. Noah did not want to get his hand dirty- hence trying to eat with his mouth although Shion was not at all shy about eating with his hands!!

We are not really doing Tot School right now either {although hope to get back into it this month} so I don`t take many photos of the boys day to day but glad I am still capturing some memories!!

Yochien is 5 days a week- usually with 5 or 5.5 hours a day with a shorter day one day a week- Wednesdays in most schools I think. The reason we have considered keeping Noah at home another year is 1. Language development in English and 2. It might be easier to start the boys at the same time seeing as they are only one school year apart and I think Shion would be so bored if Noah went to school the year ahead of him. I worry that it might be hard for Noah to adjust though if all of the other kids have already been there for a year and also because at least at the moment his English understanding skills definitely outweighs his Japanese understanding.  Anyway we have until October of this year to decide.

Yochien forms are released October 15th and applications are accepted 1st of November. Some really really popular places have parents lining up at 3am to get forms and hand them back in. Insane! It is just the general enrollment forms that are released those days {for the nensho, nenchu, nencho programs}

Anyway, today I walked about 2km to a yochien that I had heard good things about thinking I might get some information about their “play” program. Lots of yochiens now have play programs for kids the year before they would enter yochien {so they have to be 2 by April and then start in April or May}. Anyway this yochien is relatively new but from the local mothers I had heard it was supposed to be good although I do not know anyone that actually sends their kids there. It was up a giant hill and I pushed the double pram up the hill so it was my exercise for the day. In hindsight I probably should of just rung them {or bothered to read their website instead of just looking at the pictures!} but hey, at least I did manage to get some exercise.

Noah & Shion are already down to go to play at one yochien from this year starting in April- it is about 500m away.  I have been there a couple of times and – the style is more “us” and I like that it has a montessori feel to it in many aspects. They also do not focus so much on academics but instead on play/leaning to do things by themselves {ie, life skills} and lots of outdoor and music time. Art & craft time also seems to be self directed in that they will make something but there is no “You must make this craft to look like this”.

The really close one to me is also pretty relaxed but to be honest I just don`t seem to like it as much and it might be a bit TOO close. It is less than 50m from our new house….They can also go to this local yochien for “play” as well as it is not so popular and they have several “play” classes. The yochien that is closest to my house is where my husband and his brother went.

Anyway I have heard lots of things from local mothers and mums that go to my rhythmic class. It seems that the one I visited today is quite popular and two others were mentioned as well- neither of which appealed to me because of their academic focus {and also cost. One of them is insane. It is contacted to the private school and university. Beautiful grounds and not so far away but I had heard that if you don`t go to “play” then you DEFINITELY can`t get in and the play application forms were due last year anyway}. The rhthmic mothers asked me recently which places I had the boys down for “play” and I said I hadn`t decided yet whether we would do any play or which yochien I might send them too. I think they were a bit shocked!

Turns out the place I went to today is also not accepting more “play” applications. They closed them last year in November as well. Who knew it could be so competitive? Or that you had to book six months in advance.

I have applications for one other place relatively close to me. I am not sure if we really want to do “play” at another place or not though. It is all so confusing! Even though “play” only happens once or twice a month I have rhythmic class with Noah and work at least one weekday a week as well as English playgroup once a month. I think it will be too much for me and for the boys!

Apparently if you want to send the kids to private elementary school then yochien can be a big deal and make or break for some places. We will be sending the kids to the local public elementary school so we have no problems there- they have to accept them . It does seem that in this area though that 50% of the mums I meet plan to send their kids to ritzy private elementary schools. I was asked recently if I was worried they wouldn`t be able to get into private junior high and high school if I didn`t send them to private elementary as well….must be getting more competitive. Shun & his brother went to private school from junior high even though they went to the local elementary school and they both got into private universities too. We would like to send the boys to private school from junior high but we are not 100% sure of that yet or anything {and have absolutely NO IDEA where!}

Anyone in Japan want to share their yochien experience? What about others in other countries- is it similar where you are?

In the last month he seems to have hit a bit of a language explosion. He is definitely still behind his peers with his language {of course he is not going to catch up overnight} but since turning 2 I would say he has over 50 words right now. Most of which he will use by himself unprompted- he also attempts to say a lot of words if we ask him. For example today I said “Time for a bath. Can you say bath?” at first he said “No” and shook his head and then I said “No, you should try. Say bath” and he stopped, thought about it and then said it perfectly with the th at the end and everything.

I think the highlight of having him start talking more has been him starting to say almost all of the words he used to sign {he still signs as he says most of them though} like car, cat, drink, eat, more, banana, bye bye, book, bird, duck etc. He still can not say train or airplane which is a shame as he makes me say those words for him 50 million times a day…Well he say “chhhh” for trains and “aaaa” for airplane and has fluked saying airplane properly a couple of times but as I said, pretty sure they were flukes or me mishearing. He attempts a lot of animal sounds and has mastered woof woof, quack quack and moo moo {although he had moo down for awhile}

He has his first Japanese word {that wasn`t un, baba or jiji}- Ooishii. He only says it if we say it though.

He strings words together. Today when I finished my lunch he said “mama eat fished” …he signed “finnished” and that is the word he meant.

Another highlight is having him say I love you. Every night when I put him to bed I say “Night night Noah. I love you. I will see you in the morning”…..I have done it since he was a teeny tiny baby. He now responds with “Night night. Love you”…..of course it has that 2 year old feel to it and is pronounced nigh nigh wuv you but still it melts my heart.

He really struggles with S words. He can make an ssssssss sound like a snake but will not attempt to say words with S in them. L`s too.

His favourite word right now is “No”. Typical 2 year old! He says no even to things we know he would want/like. We have to remind him that he probably means yes and then he says “essss” and shakes his whole body up and down instead of just his head.

I am not sure if it is anything we have done specifically that has prompted his language to take off but we have been giving him larger bits of food to eat, making him do funny faces/sounds and move his mouth and tongue around and we ask him to try to say a lot of words. I have upped our reading as well and we now read 20 plus books a day- some of them are the same books over and over again. I love reading with my kids especially now as Shion is getting super interested in books as well and is no longer trying to eat them {well not as often!}. Both boys will pull books from the shelves and flick through them by themselves as well.

Shun does a lot of work getting him to sound and say individual sounds {like the Japanese alphabet sounds- a i u e o, ka ki ku ke ko etc} and Noah loves copying his daddy.

When he says a new word, and practices it over and over again, Noah is so proud of himself. He is very deliberate in what he does try to say though and will not attempt things that he doesn`t think he can say {like elephant etc, if i ask him if he can say it or try to say it he just says no}

Noah has a long way to go before he catches up with children his own age- he is still six or so months behind but I am just so relieved that he has started talking more and is now adding new words each and every day as well as the words he has are becoming clearer. It is hard to believe that a month ago he had so few words and now seems to have so many.

Now you are two!

Yes that is you in both pictures. Hard to believe huh?

Happy birthday koala munchkin.

I was so busy though I didn`t get many photos of the decorations etc but we had yellow/red balloons and streamers and decorations, wiggles plates and cups, a wiggles mat playing music that my mum sent and signs for the food which related back to a lot of The Wiggles songs. Invitations, while not home made this year, were also Wiggles themed! Also Wiggly party bags with wiggles themed snacks, balloons and party horns.

Both boys had a great time- Noah running around the park and Shion devouring everything in site. Lots of lovely people came to help us celebrate too!

Some shots from the day….

Hard to believe my boys are almost 2 & 1 though!

The party was a success and I think both boys had fun!

I have been trying to write this post since last week but with all the birthday party prep I didn`t get to it. We had Noah`s follow up assessment regarding his speech and possible signs of ASD.

After our original meeting where we had a home visit they had pretty much ruled out ASD {Autism Spectrum Disorder} – any of his “quirks” are more what seems to make him him and in the last 2 months some of the things that were concerning us have gotten less and less common. The Child Psychologist we met Wednesday also said that she saw no definite signs pointing to an Autism disorder and that she thought we had nothing to worry about. If we have the same concerns in a year or something else then we should have him reassessed then.

As for his speech- he definitely has a speech delay. Speech therapy in Japan though is non existent til 4. I was shocked! In Australia and I know also in America, it is all about early intervention but here they say just socialize your child and then if they are not talking at 4 or still behind at 4 then they start therapy.

No definite reason why his speech is delayed or hard to understand but she said she did notice he didn`t open his mouth very wide and used his hands a lot to communicate {more than the average child his age} without necessarily even making any sounds. Noah is still very drooly even at almost 2 so she thinks perhaps his muscles in his mouth/tongue are a little weak. She asked questions about how he eats {for example does he take bites then chew a lot then swallow or try to put everything in his mouth etc} and said that it might be better to give him large pieces of bread so that he has to use his jaw/teeth/tongue to bite bits off and eat that way instead of cutting things smaller.

He is not completely non verbal either, can say things that everyone can understand {mama, dada, ball, jiji, baba, go,, uhoh, nannan, and some others} and there is no sign of a hearing issue {which we already figured out as he has no problems responding to requests/his name/hearing airplanes or trains far off}. These two things mean that with time he should completely catch up with his speech.

The Child Psychologist made some good suggestions- she even suggested that because Noah is with me and I understand his signs/what he wants without him having to say clear words that perhaps putting him in an English class with other kids a similar age might encourage him to try and say words and things more because the other kids would be doing it also. It seems a bit strange to put my child in a class to learn English when I know he already understands things but when I thought about it what she said made sense. Not something we are planning on doing now but something to think about. There is also therapy offered once a month {to anyone that applies if they have had assessment though the hokken center like we did with Noah} for children that have communication issues. It is not speech therapy but more teaching kids how to communicate better with the skills they do have. Shun will ring up about this and we might look into it for the new year.

Other things we can work on at home include making exaggerated movements with out mouths including sounds {Ahhhhhh oooooo etc} and getting Noah to try and copy so that he moves his mouth more.

In Japan it definitely seems to be more of a wait and see approach. It still hurts to see other kids a similar age talking so much more but I have to stop letting it bother me I guess. I am still worried but there seems to be some things we can work on at home which of course I am open to doing- socializing him with other kids that talk, reading a lot, talking to him and listening to him talk back are all things I do already but the larger food, exaggerated movement with our mouths are things we can work on.

He is coming out with more “words” each week. I am looking forward to the day it will be more “words” each day.

We have been doing some Christmas themed tot school but probably no post this week! Will try to do one mid week perhaps or if not wait til next weekend! Lots of photos to upload from the party and from our recent activities!

Where the hell has this year gone? I mean this time last year I was already in Australia, had an almost one year old and was pregnant with #2. It does not seem that long ago. In fact, while it is a a cliche, it seems like just yesterday.

What also doesn`t seem that long ago was giving birth to Shion…I mean he was early so of course it was unexpected but I can`t believe he is now on the verge of walking {he took his first unaided step last weekend, another 2 in a row today but he seems to be content with doing one here and there and crawling the rest of the way. Oh well – I am in now hurry for him to walk!}. Noah turns 2 on the 19th……I will no longer have 2 kids under 2….

Shion is now fine for sleeping. He goes in his bed, he settles himself without crying/tears and sleeps better because of it. He went into bed at 7pm and has not woken up at all since then so far…where as before he would of been up at least once, usually two or more times by now {It`s almost 10pm}……we are also down to one feed over night, usually around 2am but he often wakes 2 other time either before or after but a quick cuddle and a pat on the back and he is fine to resettle himself. It took less than a week of being consistent and there was a lot less tears/crying than I thought there would be. I would like to cut off the overnight feed by the time Christmas rolls around but we will see. I am also looking to wean him…I am all for breastfeeding but I guess because I weaned Noah quite early {before 9 months}  that I just feel extended breastfeeding is not for me {although I admire those who do. I guess I am a bit too selfish! Plus Shion keeps biting me and nothing seems to deter him} and want to wean Shion around the time he turns one. I think the best time will be just before he is one over the new years holidays so that Shun can be around to help as I am sure it will not go smoothly.

Noah still doesn`t talk but still trying not to let it get me down too much. I am trying to get him to use his “words” to communicate but we still just get a ton of pointing, grunting and crying. Recently though he has started to say “mama” a lot when he wants my help without prompting {after weeks of me saying- “Noah, if you want me to help then you have to say “Mama, help”}…..he tends to sign “help” though.

I have a lot of Christmas activities plannned to do with Noah and some things we can involve Shion in as well- I have already decorated our flat, planned Christmas eve feast and bought all the boys Christmas and birthday presents {except 3 things I have to pick up from Ikea on Monday}. I still have to shop for my brother, his girlfriend, my dad and Shun though. My mum and the boys though, done! I am hoping “santa” brings me a new computer but I am not liking my chances. I guess an ipad would be my second choice and if that is also a no go then a new wallet would be nice.

I love this time of year but as I was telling a friend recently a cold Christmas is just not the same- for many {well, half the world!!!!} a cold Christmas is the norm but I grew up with swimming and seafood and long summer school holidays at this time of year and I do wonder if I will ever get to the point where having Christmas here is as good as having it at home. Perhaps it is also the fact that Shun doesn`t really “get” why I like Christmas so much and try to make it so special. He has been in Australia for 2 Christmas`s but I guess it still hasn`t rubbed off on him yet….

At least this year it is on a Sunday so he has the whole day off {plus the 23rd, a public holiday, and of course the 24th is a Saturday}….3 days of Christmas cheer!

The next month is hectic though! Next week we have trips to Ikea, Cost-co and the embassy planned as well as our regular rhythmic class, possible coffee date and work planned. I am FINALLY apply for Shion`s official Australian passport {his emergency passport expired last month} and last week I applied for his Japanese one so he will soon be officially able to travel! I have work the next couple of weekends, a Bonenkai {end of year party}, Rhythmic class Christmas party, the boys birthday party {11th…Wiggles themed!}, a friends son`s birthday party and then Christmas followed closely by New Years. Yes. Crazy like.

We have Noah`s follow up assessment {for speech delay and ASD} on the 7th and then numerous other plans.

This was technically our last “free” weekend day actually. Tomorrow we have some professional family photos scheduled but today we originally had no plans so decided to have a real family day with a trip the local zoo {was great!}, play in the park and okonomiyaki for dinner. Today was awesome actually. It was Shun`s idea to go to the zoo and I am so glad we got up and got going early- Noah loved roaming around and it wasn`t so crowded so he could go where he pleased. He enjoyed patting the Guinea pigs, the regular pigs, some goats, chicks and a sheep as well as seeing a ton of other animals. This mini zoo is a 10 minute drive from where we live but we had never been before {and neither had Shun despite having lived in the area for um…30 years1}. Shion was a bit grumpy but he is at that age where he wants to be held by me…ALL THE TIME. He sat on the top of the pram though and had a good view while Noah ran around. They also had a mini train you could ride and a park so Noah had a blast! It will be nice once Shion is walking and climbing in that sense because all he wants to do is play and follow his brother but it is not always possible {at the local park I usually let him crawl around but he is still in the mouthing stage so he tends to eat a lot of grass or chew on inappropriate things. The other day he also kissed a poodle!}. We ate lunch there before coming home for naps {and I went to do the weeks food shopping} and then went out to the local park once the boys were awake! Such a nice family day, just the four of us.

I have a Tot School post coming although we haven`t done much the last two weeks although we have spent a TON of time outside and made lots of “new” friends at the park. There is a little girl Mao-chan, about 9 months older than Noah, and they have a blast running around together. She is always like “Noah-kun to asobitai yo” {I want to play with Noah-kun} when we arrive at the park if she is already there or if they come after us she yells from her mum`s bike “Noah-kun, Noah-kun, Mao-chan da yo” {Noah-kun, Noah-kun, It`s Mao-chan}….she calls Shion “Noah no akachan” {Noah`s baby} and always wants to touch his cheeks. They play really well together and it is fun to watch!

We had our Jichinsai { Shinto land blessing} on Friday- slab gets porn this coming week. I will post photos soon. A house update in general is needed I guess since everything is now decided and building is starting. Shun`s parents house is now completely cleared from the land and our house outline is marked out with string. Seems so strange to stand on there now and think “wow, we will be living here next year” – exciting though as well!
Well I guess that is all- just felt I hadn`t blogged an update in awhile. Lots happening but nothing terribly exciting! Have an early start tomorrow {we all have to be up about 6am so we can leave at 7:30 to get to Aoyama for the photo-shoot} so best sign off and head to bed!

I was {unfortunately} a bit short with her and I replied with “He doesn`t say anything”. I felt bad afterwards…her son is 3 months younger than Noah and already saying quite a lot in both English & Japanese. I don`t think he is stringing two or three words together yet though. She was just asking but it is so hard for me to see other kids improving on their language skills each time I see them when Noah isn`t- he communicates by screaming at me or crying or signing or saying “du” and pointing.

I know deep down that eventually Noah will talk. I also know that I shouldn`t compare him to other kids as it is not fair to him or to me. I feel like it is my fault though. What is that I am doing wrong? Why doesn`t he speak?

There are two other boys born the same month as Noah at playgroup- one is from a bilingual home and the other is full-Japanese but both parents can speak English as well. Both kids speak quite a lot- the first in both English & Japanese and the other in just Japanese. People say “boys talk later” or “bilingual children speak later” yet these two boys are fine. It is just mine that isn`t. I feel like people look at him and think he doesn`t speak because of something I have done or not done. They probably aren`t thinking that but I am almost certain some people are…

I am sick of people asking me “Is he talking more yet?” or “Does he say________?”

As I write I have tears streaming down my face for the words my son should be able to say but can`t. He should be pointing things out to me and yelling their names but he just points at things and grunts or says “aa” or “du”…

Today we had rhythmic class…I did not translate for Noah but I didn`t speak to him in Japanese either. It kind of meant that I was pretty much silent most of the lesson. The teacher spoke to me before class and said she had spoken with a foreign friend about it {She said she takes English lessons from an Australian guy married to a Japanese and they are expecting their first baby} and he had said that he also thought I should not speak Japanese to my son if I always usually spoke English. She kind of apoligised for suggesting it but still asked that we see how Noah go trying to understand the teachers without me telling him what they said and i said fine. she said if it didn`t work of it distressed him we would think of something else He went okay I guess- he copied the other students but he also looked blank a lot and when he gets frustrated he lays down on the floor and bangs his own head against the wooden floor {the back of it}- I try to stop him or put my hands under his head before he does it but sometimes I can`t.

At home he does the same thing. Or he scratches at his own face. Or mine. Or kicks me. I am not sure what I should do.

Noah has been doing rhythmic class now for 2 months and he seems to enjoy it. It is all based in Japanese but a lot of it is about listening the music and moving to the music as well as the occasional art activity mixed in with using musical instruments.

Noah is the youngest in the class by 3 months and the oldest is almost 3 {I guess she will move to another class next year as this class is from eighteen months to three. There are 6 kids in the class and that is the max.

I started this class with Noah so that he & I could have some one on one time as we leave Shion with my in-laws for the hour we are gone. Since the first class Noah has gotten better at listening to me during the class and following the other students. The other reason we looked into rhythmic class was because it is sometimes used with kids with ASD and we were still quite concerned about Noah. I wrote about how we recently started the process of having him tested here and we have follow up in early December. I also touched on our concerns here & here. Mainly speech regression and the fact he is a late talker coupled with some other quirks. Thankfully some of the quirks have almost disappeared {He would insist on his left shoe going on first, his drink been in the same place everytime, the white and/or black legos going back in the box last as well as his purple crayon going back into the box last as well- these no longer happen as often as before}.

Anyway there are two teachers in the rhythmic class. Today they pulled me aside after class to say they were concerned that Noah doesn`t understand what they say to him. I always sing in Japanese but I talk to him in English during class. I always speak English to him. I don`t want or plan to speak Japanese to him. Sometimes I will repeat what the teacher says in japanese then say it in English for him as well. They want me to stop doing this as they are worried that when he goes to yochien/kindy he will have problems. I said he lives around Japanese all the time- I am the main English input in his life but Shun speaks a mix of both languages to him and his grandparents here speak Japanese. If we go to jidokan or something he hears Japanese, he hears me speak Japanese a lot {just not directly to him} and he watches a Japanese kids show on tv some mornings.

I am not sure what to take of this. They asked me to stop “translating” for him in class. Ie, when they tell the kids to put the instruments back they don`t want me to say “Noah, put your tamborine back please” or when they ask him what colour he wants for me to say “Noah what colour do you want”. He always looks to me to tell him what to do while the other kids will do what the teachers ask because obviously they are full Japanese from Japanese speaking homes plus they are all older than Noah.

I said that if they didn`t want me to speak English in class then perhaps we should finish up with rhythmic class as I was not going to be comfortable speaking to him in Japanese and I was not going to speak Japanese to him during the 45 minute class each week. I like the teachers I do, I like the class too- none of the mothers have made a big deal over the fact that Noah is not full-Japanese and I always speak to their kids in Japanese and to them as well.

Noah`s Japanese understanding is very poor. His English understanding is excellent. Especially considering he doesn`t speak much {so it certainly is not a hearing issue although we will have his hearing checked soon as part of the ASD and speech issue checking}. Shun could ask Noah to sit down in Japanese and he wouldn`t do it but if he repeated “sit down please” in English he would. I am not worried really that Noah doesn`t understand much Japanese- i know that once he hits kindergarten his Japanese will probably become his stronger language which is why I am working so hard on making English is first SPOKEN language and why we read so many books, watch mainly English media and try to keep English inside the home.

What would you do in this situation? Would you speak Japanese for the 45 minutes during class? They have asked me next time to try not to translate what they say for Noah and try and to see how much he understands- they don`t mind if I don`t speak Japanese. If I am talking to Noah about something else then English is fine. Am I making thing harder for him in the long run by translating for him?

Noah is 22.5 months old & Shion is 10 months old {today!}

We continued on with some autumn themed activities, halloween themed activities and some general montessori type activities.

We were sick the first week but surprisingly this meant we got a lot done since we were home. Most of the below is from the week before last as this past week was spent catching up on everything we needed to do but we still got some things in.

We don`t have a set “school” day or anything- I do activities when we have time, when Noah seems like he would be interested and/or depending on what it is we plan to do then I will try and do it while Shion is napping {as it is a good time for Noah & I to have some 1 on 1 time without distraction as well}

I have split our work into categories below but some cross over into another category as well {for example a lot of what we do does help with fine motor skills but I would usually put it in sensory or maths}

Art & Craft

Salad spinner art with autumn coloured paint. This was a bit of a flop {from my point of view} but Noah loved it which is the main thing. I had seen this type of thing done before but I didn`t really look up how it was done and just cut a circle of paper, popped it in our salad spinner {which sits on a shelf and the boys can reach it anytime as they like to take it apart and put it back together anyway} and some paint and showed Noah how to hold the lid on and spin {which he loved}- the art we made was a bit of a flop but it was still cute. I think I should of watered down the paint a bit more.

Noah decorated a pumpkin then stuck face on- I directed him by saying “Do the eyes first, then nose, then mouth and he helped me put the glue on but he was really interested in the glue so I let him put some on a different piece of paper and ripped up some orange and black construction paper and he did an impromptu collage. I loved this and so did he! He enjoyed having the control over the glue himself {I got this glue sent over from America- up until now the glue has not been something he could really manage himself but this brand/bottle is great for toddler hands!}

Noah doesn`t talk much as most of you know so he can`t tell me what it is he draws but he gets really into it, chooses different colours, makes marks, thinks a bit, then does some more. He has started to do circles with what look to be eyes/mouths inside too which is so cute. He does “coloring” everyday- sometimes several times a day.

Plus some regular “colouring”- L is for Leaf!

Birthday card for a friend

Leaf, autumn coloured tissue paper and sticker collage

Regular halloween stickers- we do sticker work every week without fail. It is one of Noah`s favourite things!!

Practical Life & Fine Motor Skills

I tried to introduce a towel folding practical life work to Noah but he was uninterested {the folded ones to his left are ones I folded} – instead he enjoyed throwing them around the room. I tried larger tea towels as well. Oh well- we will try again in the future! Perhaps I didn`t introduce it to him properly.

Actually a lot of the practical life and fine motor activities I set up did not interest Noah this time around. Lacing {an apple!} was no good and even beading was not a hit this time around unless I was holding the pipe cleaner or lace.

The beads were orange and red for autumn!

One practical life activity that was a hit was a new open and close basket { well open and close box} – this time I put laminated leaves and pumpkins inside the items for him to find and try to match up to another sheet. He was not so interested in matching up but he loved the fact that they were in there.

By the way- since we don`t have extra shelves or a classroom I often just put 2 or 3 activities for Noah to choose from on our bottom step. He can then carry them to the sofa or the mat on the floor to work on. He is supposed to take them back when he is finished- this is something we are working on. I can`t leave these things out full-time due to Shion but eventually I would like to have another set of shelves set up with things the boys can take down and do themselves anytime they like.

Noah is far from learning how to write but in order to give him the skills to have a good dexterity in his wrists/hands and also to start teaching proper pen/pencil control I laminated this sheet for him to practice tracing. He loved the sheet and the dry erasing but of course is not quite at the stage that he can trace the lines- he will eventually be able to though. I will have to print and make some more…

I am starting to work with Noah on teaching him how to dress himself- so far he can get his own shoes and socks off and put most of his shoes on {at least one shoe}. He can also take off his own pants but hasn`t quite mastered putting them on. He loves clips and buttons and can put clips together but not undo them {like on the pram, ergo, etc}. Quite a few months back I bought this puzzle as dressing frames to teach kids how to do zips, buttons, snaps, velcro etc are a montessori work that is seen in many montessori homes and schools. I couldn`t justify purchasing these works but thought this puzzle would make a nice addition to our collection. It stays upstairs most of the time but I bought it down this week and both boys had fun playing with it {even though neither actually did up or opened things really}

We are doing a lot of “care of self” work lately as well- Noah will try to brush his hair and he is working hard at washing his hands {loves the water running…not sure how clean his hands are getting though} but he hates to dry them when we are done. Any advice to encourage him to do this himself rather than me to do it for him?

Math & Sensory

I cut some pumpkin shaped felt pieces and some face parts out of black felt and let Noah play with it. I had a couple of pictures of Jack -o-lanterns up so he could refer to them if he wished. He enjoyed this and I pulled it down 3-4 times for him over the week.

Noah saw the counting bears in the cupboard one evening and asked for them so I pulled out the number cards again as well as the pattern cards. He had a ball! As you can see he is in his PJs and when I told him we would have to put him away as it was time for some stories and bed he threw a bit of a fit.

What was supposed to be a practical life pouring exercise {it flopped since he wanted to just throw them around. I had not had this problems with beans so next time will stick to harder substances} turned into a pom pom colour sorting exercise with some plastic stacking cups. Noah did this over and over again several times.

The narrow to wide puzzle came out again {much to Noah`s delight- this has become a fav!}

Halloween sticky window gels

On a different day…Shion really wanted to join in as well but sadly just kept trying to eat them so I had to move them out of his “grabbing” range.

We played a game where Noah would throw the dice and show me the card that represented the number he threw on the dice- he didn`t really understand so instead we had fun throwing the dice and talking about the different numbers and pictures. Since he had seen a lot of Jack -o-lanterns that week he seemed very drawn to them.

One to one corrospondance with marbles. This went much better than last time!

Music & Language

I made a P is for pumpkin letter box. Both boy played with this a couple of times. Noah also did some coloring sheets found in it and a sticker sheet {the sheet is actually for magnets but the round stickers we have are perfect for it}

Exploring

Shion played too!

We also had a couple days where we had a music jam with our instruments {and pots and pans on another day!}- I sang some songs and the boys tried the different instruments. These are out, down low, for them to play with anytime {in a basket}.

We didn`t have many Halloween themed books so we continued with some of our Autumn themed books but mainly I just let Noah choose any books he wanted to read and I tried to spend even more time than usual reading with him. Most nights before bed he would manage to con me into a ton of stories before we went upstairs- I think on one day we read 11 books before bed despite having read before nap and also at a couple other times of the day. What can I say? We love books!

Other Tot School & Life School

Noah enjoyed an apple snack {although of course he did not eat the apple…he is an extremely picky eater} and a lots of walks outside {once we were feeling a bit better}

The ears on this face are chestnut bread- he LOVED that part of it!

Oh, he found one!

Baby School

I try to include Shion where possible- he adores his big brother and wants to try and do whatever he is doing so some of our things I wait to do when he is napping. Other times I try to have something else set up for him.

Here are some pictures of baby school for Shion.

A autumn themed sensory basket {with an added slinky!}

A wagon ride with big brother

Exploring outside

I put a couple of alphabet magnets in a slice tin after he woke up from his nap one day {while Shion was still sleeping}- he loved this but it was no surprise as he loves pulling them off the fridge too.

I put out a couple of things for Shion, again after his nap but while Noah still slept, to give him a choice of what he wanted to look at/taste/touch.

While Noah did some art another day I put a couple of our dining room chairs out in a row for Shion to practice his standing and walking. He liked this {and Noah wanted to stop to have a go as well!}. I think Shion will walk before he is one!

Printables seen in this post came from 1+1+1=1, Making Learning Fun,  Confessions of a Homeschooler & Homeschool Creations.

Linking up to 1+1+1=1, Montessori Monday, & Living Life Intentionally.

Nothing organized really for Tot School for the next couple of weeks- the theme will be feelings, family and body but we were so busy this weekend and late last week I had lesson prep for my Saturday classes so nothing organized yet. We might just wing it- will try and think up some fun art activities and get Noah involved in some more practical life aspects of his home life as well as some other Montessori style works.