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It's been a little while since our last What's Working, so here are five things that are working really well right now:
It's been a little while since our last What's Working, so here are five things that are working really well right now:
1.) Belly Cream
also known as Fermented cod liver oil beauty balm
After bath, both girls now request "belly cream!" This soothing, connecting, densely nutritive ritual is now a vital part of our nighttime routine.
Our skin is a living, permeable organ. This lovely, preservative free, way of adding the nutrition of fermented cod liver oil for even the pickiest of eaters, has been a boon to the health of our girls.
2.) Pottying on the go
We starting Elimination Communication with C when she was a couple weeks old. She would pee all over the changing table every time we took her diaper off so, instead on getting peed on, we got a little potty and held her up on it.
Here's C, at four months old, on a potty that is propped between my knees.
With A we started when she was only a few days old.
The biggest challenge at such a young age is figuring out how to hold them securely so that they feel comfortable - which gets a lot easier when they can hold up their own noggins.
C stopped wearing diapers during the day at 18months, A at 19, but that's mostly because I wasn't really paying attention. She could have stopped earlier.
Now we have a potty in the back of the car and offer before and after every leg of a ride. I dare say we have fewer accidents than when they were in diapers!
Because this is widely considered "early" in our country, we've enjoyed "catches" (in a potty or toilet) or "misses" rather than "accidents."
The idea of thinking of "potty training" mainly as the practice of getting the girls comfortable using a potty or toilet instead of a diaper has been so helpful.
3.) Busy bottles and other activities for an upcoming road trip.
We've made Velcro-building-sticks, calm-down-bottles, splurged on some tegu blocks (let me know if you'd like a $20 off coupon), some new (old) books, and snacks. Lots of snacks.
4.) New digs for the chicks!
We've (almost) decided to convert part of an existing shed into a coop rather than build or buy a new structure. $800 for a 4x8 shed seems like awfully expensive eggs (and that's low!). As we will let them roam free a lot of the time we need to worry less about palatial digs. They're so happy with the new space even if the girls are thwarted in their attempts to climb in. At least so far.
5.) C's Favorite Poem
Dandelylions.
You know what's great about dandelylions? Aside from their incredibly nutritious leaves, their sunny cheery blooms, and the fact that just about nobody minds of you pick them? ALL of them?
Blowing the seeds and making wishes.
Our skin is a living, permeable organ. This lovely, preservative free, way of adding the nutrition of fermented cod liver oil for even the pickiest of eaters, has been a boon to the health of our girls.
2.) Pottying on the go
We starting Elimination Communication with C when she was a couple weeks old. She would pee all over the changing table every time we took her diaper off so, instead on getting peed on, we got a little potty and held her up on it.
Here's C, at four months old, on a potty that is propped between my knees.
With A we started when she was only a few days old.
The biggest challenge at such a young age is figuring out how to hold them securely so that they feel comfortable - which gets a lot easier when they can hold up their own noggins.
C stopped wearing diapers during the day at 18months, A at 19, but that's mostly because I wasn't really paying attention. She could have stopped earlier.
Now we have a potty in the back of the car and offer before and after every leg of a ride. I dare say we have fewer accidents than when they were in diapers!
Because this is widely considered "early" in our country, we've enjoyed "catches" (in a potty or toilet) or "misses" rather than "accidents."
The idea of thinking of "potty training" mainly as the practice of getting the girls comfortable using a potty or toilet instead of a diaper has been so helpful.
On our way into the dmv, with a to-do basket.
3.) Busy bottles and other activities for an upcoming road trip.
We've made Velcro-building-sticks, calm-down-bottles, splurged on some tegu blocks (let me know if you'd like a $20 off coupon), some new (old) books, and snacks. Lots of snacks.
C saw what I was doing and so, rather than putting them together and then away, to save them for the trip, I let the girls assemble their own. And then do it again. And again. :)
4.) New digs for the chicks!
We've (almost) decided to convert part of an existing shed into a coop rather than build or buy a new structure. $800 for a 4x8 shed seems like awfully expensive eggs (and that's low!). As we will let them roam free a lot of the time we need to worry less about palatial digs. They're so happy with the new space even if the girls are thwarted in their attempts to climb in. At least so far.
But they can go in, with some help.
Room to roam, to jump-and-flap, and to see (again) who's actually taller, this time.
5.) C's Favorite Poem
In my research on homeschooling, how schooling used to be done, the modern options, etc. I repeatedly come across the concept of children learning language through long form poems, stories etc. Hearing words they might not know, in context, greatly improves their vocabulary, understanding, even memory.
More than a year ago I started reading poetry to the girls. This has been one of C's favorites from the start. She even recited part of it when my mum asked her if she wanted to go to the brook. And yes, they then collected a pail and a can.
Dandelylions.
You know what's great about dandelylions? Aside from their incredibly nutritious leaves, their sunny cheery blooms, and the fact that just about nobody minds of you pick them? ALL of them?
Blowing the seeds and making wishes.
One of the thing that always make my heart sing is tiny hands, filled with flowers, running toward me with beaming faces and twinkling eyes of their bearer saying "Mama! For you!"
Few things are better.
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A "bouquet" of flowers!
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