Fun Things We Did in January 2010 Part 3

I'll write a post about our pinecone bird feeders shortly, but for now I wanted to include the above picture. Jared found so many different ways to stuff the pinecones into different objects in the house. Both kids had a much better time playing with the pinecones than actually making the bird feeders.

I've written before about how dress-up play is really big around here. I LOVE the above picture! He came in swishing his sword around and saying, "I'm a knight, Mommy," and he really did look like a knight!  I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but he wrapped a belt around his neck to make the knight's hood. Of course, Alexa had to get in on the action, too.

Alexa has been helping me cut carrots, potatoes, onions, and other foods for dinner for about a year and a half now. Jared's never seemed that interested until lately. Now, he'll spend a half hour at a time just cutting up carrots. He's asked three or four times for several weeks now. I really believe each kid has a built in timer that goes off when they are ready to learn a new skill. Their interest is at a peak, and then, if someone will let them, they will practice that skill over and over for hours on end until they have a sense of accomplishment. The problem is most adults are too busy to stop what they are doing and help kids by taking out the knife, scissors, tape measure, or whatever it is they want to learn how to do.

My mom bought Jared the Geo Africa puzzle for Christmas. Jared had a huge puzzle obsession from about 1 1/2 until he turned three, and then his interest in puzzles died down a little. But since he received this puzzle, he's much more interested in them again. What's more amazing is that Alexa wants to do puzzles now. Well, actually she really just wants to do this puzzle.

While Jared could put together a 50 piece puzzle by himself by 2 1/2, Alexa has never wanted to do puzzles, not even a five piece one. She dosen't do this one by herself, but she loves figuring out where the different countries go. I really think it's because the puzzle is a map. She's always loved maps. She was the one who could correctly point out 2/3 of the United States on the map before she had turned 2 1/2. It's just so amazing to me how each child has his/her special interests, and also when those interests show themselves.  

This month Jared's been loving writing letters in the snow, which surprises me because Alexa is the one who can read pretty well. I had thought she would show interest in writing first. I've never asked either Jared or Alexa to write any letters before. It's so true that if kids just see you writing, they're bound to be interested in copying what you are doing sometime.