Less-Words Wednesday:Mazes and Pumpkins!

Last weekend we continued our celebration of fall by visiting a corn maze and pumpkin patch.  We had such an amazing time!  Q-ball loved running through the corn maze, and we actually made it through the first maze following her intuition alone.  However, by the second maze, Q-ball was getting a little worn out.  In this post, I quoted Dr. Montessori and talked about how young children can run forever.  Well, I think we found Q-ball's point of exhaustion as she started to stumble aimlessly into corn stalks.  

We said "baa!" to the goat.

Leading the way!

Exploring the corn stalks.  And, starting to get a little tired.

Q-ball was very excited to take a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch!

Selecting the family's pumpkin.

Less Words Wednesday: Socks

  When we are just hanging out at home, Q-ball is typically minimally dressed.  Frankly, thanks to potty learning, she's typically not dressed at all.  So, we really haven't bothered with socks since the newborn phase.  But, lately there's been a chill in the area (ok, it was 60...), so I decided we needed socks!  Q-ball found the Thomas the Train socks at the store and has been very proud to wear them ever since.  She runs around the house (carefully, of course- socks, we've discovered, are slippery!) saying "choo-choo" and making her version of the sign for train.

Still a little groggy. No one likes pictures when they first wake up!

Awake enough to show off her socks.

Less-Words Wednesday: Ah, Fall..

We just returned from a wonderful vacation where Q-ball was able to expereince a bit of an actual Autumn. 

Coming home is hard!

Less-Words Wednesday: Camping with Friends

  We've been fortunate recently to get to take lots of short trips and explore our area and the outdoors.  This past weekend, we went camping with several other families.  Despite the months-long drought, it rained nearly the entire time! As you can see, Q-ball was able to fall into the river prior to rainfall. Fortunately, there was a nice house on the property for eating and cleaning up. Sleeping in the rain in a leak-free tent is rather calming, especially if Daddy is the one cleaning up the tent in the pouring rain!

Still dry.

Still dry, but getting closer to the water.

Still dry.

WET! (Why does Mama always leave the towels and swimsuits at the campsite?!?)

Less-Words Wednesday: Little Rebel

  Since we have set up Q-ball's Montessori inspired closet (since the camera has not yet made it that way--basically all clothes are at her level, so she picks out her outfits), she has loved picking out this "Little Rebel" shirt.  It has worked especially well the past few days as a face-first tumble left her with scratches all over one side of her face.

Less-Words Wednesday: Line Up!

Twice a week, when I vacuum and mop the floors, I always move the chairs from around the table, lining them up in the center of the room. (This may surprise Daddy as the floor under the table always seems to be covered with crumbs...)  A few weeks ago, as I started moving the chairs, Q-ball went over to her table, grabbed her chairs and also started to line them up in the middle of the room.  Since this time, she's really  enjoyed this activity.  Yesterday, she started lining up her chairs on her own, moving the one from the front of the line to the back, sitting for a bit, and then starting all over again.  Quite the worker (hence the blur...)!

Opa is visiting and got to play, too!

Less-Words Wednesday: Train Ride

Since Q-ball's uncle brought her a train last month, she has loved trains.  So, we took a special family trip to ride a real train last week!  Q-ball loved it!  We had never actually used the phrase "choo-choo" when referring to trains, but as soon as she heard the train make the noise, she loved saying it.  She is also working on her social skills and practiced waving to most people we passed.

Less-Words Wednesday

Q-ball has loved playing with shoes for awhile.  This week, however, she has been very intent on wearing and walking in Mama's or Daddy's shoes.  It's cute and fun at first, as seen here.  However, this game quickly spirals into extreme frustration with tears, throwing of shoes, and screams as she realizes that the shoes do not stay on her feet.  Ah, toddlerhood. 

Less-Words Wednesday

Yesterday, Q-ball made her first edible creation (although she didn't eat the final product- just picked out the grapes..)  Grape-apple-carrot-bananas-Cheerios salad! It required several bowls and utensils to get it just right, of course.  Maybe we should have tried some!  

Where has this Learning Tower been all my life?!?!?

Less-Words Wednesday: Happy 4th of July!

Q-ball loves music!  So, she was very happy to celebrate America's birthday with a band!  She was so excited that she finally broke out of her chair and ran on stage. She pretty much stole the show as she jumped on stage and danced to all of the songs.  Even the conductor had to move out of her way!  She especially loved The Battle Hymn of the Republic, just like Daddy.

The pictures are a little blurry, but she was moving too quickly for anything better.  She was finally so dizzy and exhausted (it was 2 hours past nap...) that she literally fell off the stage into Mama's arms.

Less-Words Wednesday: Just Like Daddy

Q-ball loves putting things around her neck- it's not uncommon to see her walking around the house with a measuring tape draped over her shoulders that she discovered in a desk drawer.  Perhaps we'll finally have a seamstress in the family!  

She also loves draping Daddy's ties over her shoulders.  A few days ago Daddy actually tied a tie for her- what a treat!

Less-Words Wednesday Flags!

Q-ball has started to love flags.  It's fun for me to see all of the places she spots them.  As an adult, I find that I so often have tunnel vision and don't notice all of the bombardment/excitement around me. But, my curious child finds beauty or interest in everything! We see flags at the grocery store, church, on houses, in department stores, pretty much every place we go!

Here, she was very excited as she was surrounded by tons of flag poles with huge flags on top!  And, yes, it was very hot that day, but this is one thing she doesn't seem to notice!

Less-Words Wednesday

It's been a few weeks since I've gotten to share photos through this post!  We've been busy!  Because of the heat and sun, Q-ball and I have been trying to go to the park first thing in the morning.  Here are some shots from this morning's fun!

She is enjoying the swing more than she used to!  She loves looking around!