Tot School is Back!

Since Bryce just celebrated his first birthday, I figured it was time to start up some good ol Tot School with him. I looked back at my original Tot School post with Brennan and we did some of those same activities this past week. Tot School at Bryce's age is really just playing and trying to incorporate some learning in there too. It's not easy being the 2nd child and I know he doesn't get nearly as much attention as Brennan did at this age, so it was fun making sure I really focused on him. And it makes me get my camera out a lot more too!

I wasn't sure how it would go because Brennan was still completely immobile at this age. Bryce isn't walking yet, but crawls and cruises everywhere. He's rarely still for long, but I was impressed that these activities seemed to keep his interest.

I pulled out this Melissa and Doug shape puzzle which was new to him. He's actually close to getting the shapes into their correct spots already, but also enjoyed dropping the shapes into his new red car.

He's always liked pulling the Leapfrog Fridge Phonics magnets off the dishwasher. I made lots of attempts to point out the letter B to him this week so he can hopefully start identifying it.

This hippo toy was waiting for us when we got back from Disney last week (thanks, Auntie Lala). He's enjoyed playing with it and just the other day learned how to put the shapes in the hippo's mouth independently. It's a really cute toy because it tells you shapes, colors, and names of food depending on the mode.

This red car was his birthday gift from us and he loves it. His favorite part is putting the balls into the hole. It's neat that he can actually get in and out of the car by himself, which Brennan would have never been able to do at this age.

He hasn't shown as much interest in these Little Einstein ABC books as Brennan did, but we did pull them out to play with a little this week. I like them because it gives three words that start with each letter.

Brennan got these Toobers and Zots for Christmas and we played with them this week. They do have some small pieces, so I had to watch Bryce carefully. He mainly just wanting to carry pieces around and chew on them. They're great for imaginative play with older kiddos.

Bryce can often be found pulling books off shelves. Here he is in his brother's room looking through the library books we checked out. I hope Bryce loves books and reading as much as Brennan does.

I don't want to leave Brennan out, so here are some of the things he worked on this week! He's about to turn four, so I'm going to have to come up with some more challenging ideas for him. These pictures were taken on two different days even though he's wearing the same shirt. He's a little obsessed with his "goggly eye" shirts right now.

I bought him a new game called Blink. It's an attributes card game similar to Uno. It says it's for ages 7+ on the box, but when I read the directions I knew he'd understand. He is so super good at it too. He's very smart!

We did lots of "Dot to Dots" this week!

And also did bowling for the first time in awhile. The teacher in me pulled out his sight word domino cards and however many pins he knocked down, he had to read that many sight words. He's a pro at them!

Carisa's blog is where I first got my idea to start Tot School. You can check it out for tons of great ideas!

They Grow So Fast

If you're tired of seeing pictures of Bryce, just stop reading. :)

Take a look at Bryce's giraffe pictures from one month - eleven months! I'm totally a slacker and haven't taken an official one year shot yet and today the camera is packed away for our trip.

CAKE!

Check out the pictures of Bryce's "cake smash" yesterday. We will have professional pictures taken after our Disney trips, but I'm happy with how these turned out.

As you can probably tell, he liked the cupcake!

Dear Bryce,

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Bryce
Happy Birthday to you!

You are one! It's so hard to believe that it's been a full year since you came into this world. The time really has flown by. I thought we had a deal that you weren't going to grow up, but I guess you've broken your promise. You just keep growing and growing. You're still my lil peanut though weighing in at right around 20 pounds I think. We won't see the doctor until the end of next week for your official stats though. You still wear size 3 diapers and I had your foot measured the other day and it's a size 4, but you don't wear shoes yet.

We are having a low-key birthday today and then on Wednesday I'm taking you and your brother down to Disney. Unfortunately Daddy can't make this trip, but we will see GeGe and GaGa there! I know you're pretty young to enjoy Disney, but I love going and I think we will have such a good time. Plus I cannot wait to be in 70+ degree weather instead of sub-zero temperatures. I'm still undecided about doing a party for you when we get back. We will probably do something small to celebrate with a few friends.

You continue to do well with whole milk and take 4 bottles a day. At some point soon I'll start the transition to a sippy cup. You still like the milk to be warm. You occasionally drink a little water from a sippy cup. You are eating all finger/table foods now. You aren't a huge eater, but are starting to try new things. You love yogurt and love graham crackers. You eats lots of Gerber crunchies and puffs. You also love getting to eat Cheerios at church. You like blueberries and pears. And you like corn for a veggie. You like feeding yourself pizza crust and bread. And you love sweets: cookies, doughnuts, cupcakes.

I mentioned in your last update that you finally had some nights where you slept 12 hours. Things got a little hairy around Christmas with being off schedule, but for the most part you are sleeping through the night now. Most nights you will fuss a little on and off from bedtime until 10pm. Nothing I even have to go into your room for, just little cries here and there. You've been waking around 6:30. I am hoping you start stretching that until 7 because I haven't been coming into your room until then to get you up. Most days you take two good naps a day.

You are still great in your car seat. It's funny because as soon as we put you in there, you rip your socks off your feet immediately. I'm talking stealth-like speed. You will not wear socks in the car. You are also great in the stroller. I haven't been using the Ergo much recently since you're getting bigger and more fidgety. You love bath time and are less crazy in there now than you used to be. Most of the time you sit nicely in the tub splashing, but sometimes you do prefer standing.

You are still a super fast cruiser, but haven't taken any independent steps yet. I'm fine with that. I thought you were going to be a super early walker, so I'm happy you're still not there yet. You can stand independently (sometimes) for about 3 seconds. You have made a change from army crawler to almost 100% crawling on all fours finally. Often you sit up on your knees instead of on your bottom when you're playing.

You are much better at playing independently now. You will crawl or cruise right over to what you want to play with and don't need Mommy right there. You enjoy playing with the workbench, your new Pocoyo train track, and Brennan's bucket of tools. You also like Mommy's iPhone and know how to turn it on already. You also love the baby Jesus from the Little People's nativity and the baby Jesus magnet from the fridge.

We haven't worked on anymore signs yet. I need to be working on them more. You do "all done" pretty consistently still and sometimes use "more" and "please". You still don't have many truly recognizable words. You babble all the time and do so very loudly; especially at restaurants. I'm excited for more words to come!

You seems smart to me even though you're not talking. You pull shoes out of Brennan's shoe bucket and try to put them on his feet. You know at restaurants I always have snacks for you in the diaper bag. You know how to use a brush and how to "talk" on the phone.

You aren't the snuggliest of babies, but lately you've been wanting to cuddle more and I love it. You give good hugs and great sloppy kisses. You love to play with (pull) Mommy's hair when you're taking your bottle.

I know I forgot to mention last month that you have six teeth. And I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff this month too. Like I said, time just flies by so fast and you're changing so much. I love you very very much!

Bryce back at 11 months

Bryce today at 1 year old! I'll get a giraffe picture later today, but this one will have to do for now!