Monthly review: July 2018

Posted: - Modified: | monthly, review

  • Field trips: It was a busy month with lots of going out. We went to Maker Festival and friends' parties, took the bike trailer to Vermont Square park, and went to nature classes.
  • Motor skills: A- figured out how to climb up the twisty slide barefoot, and she enjoyed imitating yoga poses from a storybook we read together. She practised riding her balance bike and buckling and unbuckling her helmet.
  • Sensory: She discovered the joys of splash pads and wading pools, and ranged further and further afield. She made handprints with tempera paint.
  • Self-care: She practised picking out her clothes and occasionally dressing herself. She dealt with big emotions ("I hate everything!") and we patiently helped her figure out what she really wanted. She skinned her knees and got them patched up.
  • Household: She helped with laundry, mopping, and groceries.
  • Social: She learned how to ask librarians to request books, and I made a book about the process. She showed her grandparents lots of things she could do, and started preferring to spend time alone with W-.
  • World: She enjoyed eating grape tomatoes and strawberries from the garden. She played with her shadow and her reflection.
  • Language:
    • On reading My World: "He's looking at his watch to see if it's bedtime for the kid in the crib."
    • New protocol for reading: she signals when to turn the page. This gives her room for lots of observations when she feels like it. It would probably be better for her to turn the pages herself, but she'll get there someday.
    • A- asked for something and said, "I would be happy."
    • "I'm not awesome. I'm brave."
    • Planning for tomorrow: "The park with the big swings. Tomorrow, let's go there." (4.6 Temporal)
    • Making a request and providing a reason: "Nanay, take your glasses off so I can brush easily." (3.2.2 Sentences)
    • "I think I will have some blueberries."
    • I took A-'s dry diaper off as soon as we woke up. A- said, "I am practising toilet training."
    • "Ow." "What happened?" "I want kneepads."
    • W- was trying to teach A- knock-knock jokes. "Knock knock. Now you say, 'Who's there?'" "Who's there?" "Interrupting cow." "Moo cow!" … I guess that works too.
    • W- told A-, "After we dry my glasses, I'll brush your teeth." A- replied, "Savvy."
    • A- was laughing. Then she said, "Hahaha, I'm laughing so loud, hahaha." This cracked us up, of course. Then she said, "Hahaha, we're laughing together, hahaha."
    • A- experimented with describing people, identifying herself as "someone in a yellow dress" and me as "someone in a blue shirt."
    • A- now makes up songs and stories while waiting. She sang, "Avocado, avocado, what do you see?" and a few other stanzas, and then said, "Once upon a time, there was a little girl named A- who wanted to eat an avocado but Mama said it was not yet ripe."
  • Pretend
    • W- made a Duplo flower shop and roleplayed that with A-.
    • A- wanted to ride her balance bike with a pretend bike trailer.
    • A- pretended to be a dead bird, so I brushed her beak while she lay on the floor.
    • A- picked a Duplo figure to represent W- – the one with a cap. She pretended all three of us were on an airplane, and she also pretended he was pushing her on a swing in the playground. (4.7.2 Representation)
    • Someone had dug a small pit near the edge of the sandbox, so A- had fun pretending to be a dinosaur trapped in the pit. Also, we picked up a bunch of free IKEA kid's cups on the way to the playground, and they made good sandcastle molds.
    • A- wanted to pretend that W- was the ocularist. The post-appointment toy chest was definitely her focus.
    • A- started pretending to be S-.
    • A- pretended to be a cat. She wanted to lick pretend wet food (yogurt) off a saucer on the floor.
  • Kaizen
    • I drew and printed visual routines for walking up, daily chores, and weekend chores on index cards. I covered the cards with contact paper to protect them.
    • I made lots of red bean buns, and I experimented with making red bean rolls. The rolls were easier to make, but the buns were prettier.
    • I shifted to drawing more while waiting for A-. It's a good way to use time.
  • Us
    • I returned my old work laptop after setting up the new one.
    • I made a book about asking for books from the library.
    • Somehow I managed to find time to write and draw. It's hard to imagine that now, since we're in a bit of a time crunch because of changing routines, but maybe we'll figure it out again.

Blog posts

Sketches

Time

Category Previous month % This month % Diff h/wk Diff h/wk
Sleep 29.8 35.1 5.3 61.0 9.0
A- 42.9 47.1 4.2 81.8 7.1
Discretionary – Social 0.9 1.6 0.7 2.8 1.2
Business – Build 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.1
Discretionary – Family 1.1 0.9 -0.2 1.5 -0.4
Business – Earn 2.3 1.7 -0.5 3.0 -0.9
Discretionary – Play 1.2 0.2 -0.9 0.4 -1.5
Unpaid work 6.5 4.4 -2.1 7.7 -3.5
Discretionary – Productive 5.0 2.8 -2.3 4.8 -3.8
Personal 10.2 5.9 -4.4 10.2 -7.3

Hmm. This says I got an average of 8.7 hours of sleep a night, and that childcare still managed to go up. Interesting. I think some of it can be explained by leaving the tracker on Childcare instead of switching it to track that I'm walking when I'm out on a walk with A-. Less discretionary time, but it feels like better use of it. I should try prioritizing sleep again and see what happens.

August: A couple of medical appointments, the end of nature class, and general summery things.

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