This morning, just after waking up, Rowan was lying on our bed waiting to get changed. Richard was in the bathroom and apparently Rowan did not realise this. When Rowan heard the shuffling of feet coming from behind the closed door, he gasped and said: "Who's coming? Ssh!" So we kept quiet and the anticipation was building. "Ssh!" he said once more as his body started wriggling around with excitement and as Richard opened the door Rowan shouted: "My Baby!"

Now we understand where Rowan's obsession with babies for the last week or so was coming from. He kept pointing out the babies everywhere we went. I thought he just really liked being able to say the word and therefor used it every time he had the opportunity, but then the other night while Richard and Rowan were playing, Rowan kept saying "my baby" and we just couldn't understand it because there weren't any babies in sight. It turns out that I am the instigator of this new name that Rowan has chosen for his Dad since I have been calling both of them "my babies" when I want to show my affection for them. What a nice way to start the day.

Here is a cute photo of Rowan and his "baby" being silly.


This afternoon we were very lucky to have some sunshine again and decided to spend some time outside.

When the sun is very low one's shadow gets very long. Rowan had some fun running around and jumping with his shadowy friend.

Just a happy kid enjoying the cool fresh air.

Since Rowan started going to school I have been planning several different activities for us to do in the afternoons when he gets home. I have been gathering materials here and there. Sometimes items that are meant to be tossed in the recycling bin get rediscovered and re-imagined. You will be amazed at just how many different uses one object can have when you put your mind to it.

When Rowan walked in this afternoon he started going through the drawer that has all my play/work materials in it. He found three hand-made wooden bowls and inspected them for a while. Now I know how things go with toddlers. It seems the first use they find for an object is usually the only use they will find for it for a long time. So before these bowls turned into really cute little hats or perhaps stacking objects I decided to show him what I intended for them.

They are sorting bowls. The idea is to gather many objects over time, natural and human-made, to be sorted into the bowls by various criteria. Today we sorted some glazed clay rocks by colour.

It might seem like such a simple task, but Rowan really gets a kick out of being able to complete it. Just look at the concentration on his face.

His favourite part however is pouring them back into collecting bowl. He then thought that it was time to do some pouring from one bowl to the next. I asked him to do some sorting one more time and he did. After that he could pour as much as he wanted.

When the sorting activity was all tidied away Rowan found the cardboard tubes that I have been saving, so once again I seized the moment to help him make a rhythm shaker using tubes, dried beans and painter's tape.

I am so glad that we have reached the point where he and I can work together on projects and tasks. There are so many wonderful projects and activities that we can do and I am very excited about them.

The sun decided to make itself seen and felt late this afternoon after it has been hiding from us for over a week now. So we decided to take Rowan to his favourite play ground and enjoyed some fresh air.

We got Dad to join in the fun too! Here Rowan seems to be doing an impression of the sun hiding and revealing itself.

Rowan has learnt that running around and around the play structures is also lots of fun. I think they do it at school. Now I understand why he is always perspiring when I pick him up from school. It takes him quite long to cool down.

Well, everyone, we hope you have a blessed week. Thanks for checking in on us.

Okay, so I can't let another day slip away without a post of some sort. The thing is that sometimes there is just not that much to talk about especially on a day like today where I didn't get to spend very much time with the guys.

I stayed home today in the hope that with some rest I will be able to get rid of the flu a little quicker. Richard and Rowan went off in the morning to spend some time in and amongst the trains at EnterTrainment Junction since the rainy weather washed away all possibilities of enjoying the annual apple festival. As always Rowan was very happy being able to see the trains and had a great time. I appreciated the effort that they made to give me some peace and quiet around here but I will say that because I wasn't really keeping myself busy, I started to miss them. So when they arrived back and Rowan excitedly said: "Hi!" when he saw me, I felt much better.

In the evening we had to drive quite a distance so that we could buy some homeopathic flu remedies. Our poor little guy was not too happy about being stuck in the back of the car again. He did however manage to enjoy some of the scenery on the way to our destination. As usual the sight of construction vehicles was something to behold. He also pointed something else out for the first time. As we were driving along a particularly boring road Rowan gasped and pointed up at the sky and actually said: "Look! Sky!" He couldn't keep his eyes off the clouds that were now, after a weeks worth of grey cover, parting and revealing the brilliant light of the sun. "Wow!" he said as the darker clouds moved across the sky and gave us some hope of a sunny Sunday to enjoy to the fullest.

I'll let you know how it turned out. I promise.

Unfortunately I do not have much to blog about today since Rowan was feeling a little under the weather and we spent most of the day at home doing things you have already heard about a couple of times. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little bit more exciting. The poor little guy really does not like being sick.

Every morning when we arrive at Rowan's school, we pull the car up to the front door and one of the teachers comes out to greet us and walk with him into the class room. There is one particular teacher that Rowan seems to have become attached to. No, actually, this boy is completely smitten with her. She has long brown hair and speaks with an English accent. I like her too and it is very comforting to know that she will be his preschool teacher next year.

So, when Miss T comes walking through the doors, Rowan's eyes get really big and he starts waving saying "Hey! Hey!" with the biggest smile ever! The other day he even started giggling with excitement. So when I help him down from his car seat, he immediately takes her hand and can't say goodbye to me quickly enough. I don't mind. Really!

On occasion, Miss T is busy helping some other children to the door when we pull up and I can see the disappointment on his face when Miss ? comes towards us. Can it be that our little boy is already experiencing his very first crush? Hmm... I wonder.

The Montessori Method of teaching relies heavily on what is called a work period. During this time the children are given the opportunity to engage in any activity of their choosing without interruption. In this way the child learns to concentrate on one thing at a time, thereby allowing more intense exploration of the subject. All the while the child learns about the world and everything in it and more importantly develops independence and self-control, the ability to make decisions and an eagerness to work hard.

In other words, when we as parents refrain from constantly interrupting our children's work with trying to teach them everything we know and by constantly praising them for every little thing they do, we actually are giving them the opportunity to develop and grow in a much more productive and healthy way. This is something I had to learn through experience. Before Montessori, I was one of those mothers that would praise him for everything he does. In fact I am still that mother and it is quite hard to break the habit of saying: "Well done Rowan!"

So today I tried my very best and succeeded. I let Rowan go about his work and I am amazed with how much he concentrated on every little task. He spent an entire hour playing at the kitchen sink just pouring water from one container to the other and trying out many different types and combinations. He even knew to wipe up when he made a mess.

Below are pictures of Rowan putting pegs around the walls of a bowl. It is a very simple task yet there is so much to learn from it. At one stage Rowan had all the pegs on one side of the square based dish and the weight made it tip over. When he moved some of the pegs to the other side it didn't. So just to check he tried moving them all to one side again and again it tipped over. At this point he got frustrated and just packed it all away. I can't wait to see how he tackles this specific activity tomorrow.

So having seen how well he goes about his work when I am not interrupting him, I am going to try even harder not to open my mouth every time a thought pops into my mind. I think I will save them for the end of the day when I can express them through the blog and for that special moment in the evening when I tell him calmly and without too much excitement just how proud I am of him for all the good and hard work he has done throughout the day. Yes, I think I can do it.