Tot School on The Road (Week 7)

Caeden is currently 24 months.

We got a little bit of Tot School thrown into our chaotic week. Caeden and I traveled with my parents to Dubois, Wyoming for my cousin Ben's graduation. I honestly was dreading the long drive since Caeden does not sleep in the car like he used too as an infant.

I tried to think of how to best entertain a two year old without both of us going crazy. Here are just a few things that got us through the 15 hour drive.

1. Portable DVD player: I loaded a small CD case full of his DVDs. The one that he loved the most, was of course, The Wonder Pets. I now have the theme song in constant replay in my brain, and will be putting my child through TV detox for the next week ("This is serious!"). :)

2. Magna Doodle: I wasn't sure if he would stay interested in this tool for very long so I was prepared to waste the $6.00 I spent on it (I do not own the one that I linked too). I browsed through Walgreens' toy section and found one that I thought may be durable enough to withstand it being thrown, if that happened, which is didn't. They didn't have a travel size one, so I had to settle for the one that took up most of his lap.

3. Snacks: We went with the staple in our household...Goldfish.

4. Ipod touch apps: I put a few free apps on my Ipod and then purchased ones that were recommended from Carisa at 1+1+1=1. These were useful while waiting in a restaurant for food, or even sitting through a graduation! :)

4. Kiddie music: The times when I had decided not to continue to fry my child's brain out by watching DVDs all day...my dad graciously shut off his talk radio to put some children's music in, or a lullaby CD in. I brought a few that I knew would have Caeden smiling...Toddler Action Songs by Cedarmont Kids, and Veggie Tales: Veggie Tunes, and to try and help him sleep in the car we put on Baby Einstein: Lullaby Classics. I was so bummed that I forgot Caeden's favorite CD, Veggie Tales: 25 Favorite Sunday School Songs...he LOVES this CD!

So what did we accomplish during our Tot School? Well...with our Magna Doodle, we worked on our letter for the week which was "O". We practiced sounding it out, I drew the Uppercase and Lowercase, and came up with some things that started with O. Then I just let Caeden draw on it for a while.

I am also including our singing in the car as some good Tot school activities...and swimming at the hotel!

When we got to my Aunt and Uncle's house, my cousin's little girl Victoria did such a great job of playing "store" with Caeden. C doesn't interact much with other kids so I was very pleased to see him "playing" with Victoria. She was very patient with Caeden, when he obviously had no clue what playing store was. He was able to identify different foods, put them in the basket, and then give them to different people.

Like I said earlier, we really didn't get to a lot of our regular activities, but we did have A LOT of 1:1 time together doing different things while in Wyoming. Caeden loved being outside and the while the weather was a bit cold at times, it was just warm enough for him to be out running around. He especially loved picking up the rocks!

And taking in the beautiful scenery...

We also went on a walk with my cousin Sarah and one of her little girls. Caeden was excited as you can see in this picture...but that excitement wore off when a dog came to see what was going on. I got a workout carrying him for much of the walk...in the cold...and at a much higher altitude than I am used too.

Here are a few of my favorites from the trip:

Going up the steps...and down...

Reading books with my mom before bed. My mother is battling metastatic cancer, so these moments that she has with Caeden are very special to me. You can read about her journey with cancer here.

Tuckered out from the long drive...

Once we get more settled around home, we will work on our letter "O" for his ABC book, and hopefully get the other activities I wanted to do done. So this may be a 2 part week!

~Jamie