First River Day of the Year

Every year, as spring progresses and the days heat up, my little eskimo children begin to complain unendingly about how hot it is and ask if we can go to the river.  Sunday it got up to 80 degrees and so off we went for the first time since last year.  It's not a nice river.  It's rather murky and shallow, but my kids don't care.  They love the little frogs and crayfish they can find and they love the private little spot we always go to.  It was so fun to bring Peter along this time.  Last year he was just a little infant who could only sit and watch, not even crawl yet.  This year he walked along the path with us and got right into the fun.  Well, not at first.  At first the sight of the water and mud being flung around made him nervous and he stood close by my side for a while, observing.  Eventually, however, he dared venture out and he ended up having a great time.  He never went so far as to get into the water, but we gave him some buckets of water and mud at the river's edge and that made him very happy.

Bella kept pretending she was going to dump things on Peter's head to see if he'd notice.  He was too busy playing to notice except once when she actually did dump some water on his head.  He very adamantly "told" her to knock it off.

Kelly asked me to buy a potty seat for Peter because he wanted him to start getting used to having it and trying it out whenever he showed interest.  I think we're a looooong way from potty training, but I obliged because it certainly can't hurt.  When I brought it home, Kelly sat him on it on the toilet and although he didn't 'use' it, Peter liked it so much, he decided it needed more use elsewhere.  The next time I saw him, this is what I found:

He'd gotten his toy calculator and his blankie and the seat and made himself comfortable in the kitchen.  He's clearly been watching his daddy very carefully. :)

 

Peter loves to drive around the house in his car.  I think its adorable when he drives around as I cook dinner.  That comes with risks, though.  Check out what he's got in his "trunk."

I had spent several minutes looking for that whisk thinking I'd lost my mind because I'd just had it when I discovered it there.  I have to watch him like a hawk.  The other night, after a long search, I found my toothpaste and my phone inside another one of his toys.

The recorder isn't the only instrument Peter enjoys.  Besides the piano, he also really enjoys Benjamin's xylophone.  When Benjamin's at school, I bring it into the kitchen for him and he loves to bang around on it. Often I'll take one mallet and he'll take the other and we'll do little duets.  I've been trying to see if he'll imitate my rhythms or melodies, but nothing so far.  He has learned the hand motions to several songs, though, such as Wheels on the Bus and Five Little Monkeys.  He also makes the cutest animal sounds during Old Mac Donald.  He made up a sign for "music" that he makes whenever he wants me to sing or play music on my phone. His favorite time for music is when he's eating.  He loves toddler songs the best, but he also really likes music he hears on the radio.  He always get excited when I play music in the car.  It's been fun being able to share music with him since I love it too.  He enjoys my classical music as well and we listen to Bach a lot since that's my favorite.  So far his language still only consists of a few words - cheese, up, on, off, and yes, so I'm hoping that the desire to sing along to songs will be a catalyst for language acquisition.