Teeny Tiny Tot School - 12.5 months

J-jo is 12.5 months and soon I will be calling this post regular Tot School again.  It will be strange when he hits 18 months and I can look at all my old Bear Tot School posts for ideas.

(Sorry for the blurriness)

This is J-jo's shelf.  His favorite things are here.  

Top row: hammer and block, alphabet puzzle.

Bottom  row: shape sorter with only 4 shapes inside, Duplos in a jar, a homemade toy (he drops a ball in and it rolls out), and a stacker.

Hi favorite activity is to take the letters off the puzzle and stick them in the empty tissue box.  He does this sitting down when I pull the puzzle off the shelf for him, but also standing up while the puzzle is still on the shelf.  This is something Bear was doing as well at 13 months (when we got the puzzle for her) and this is when I started telling her the sounds the letter made every time she picked one up.  Since this worked so well with her (she could find any letter sound I called out by 16 to 18 months, I am obviously trying my method the second time around.  So far, he can find "j" for his name and "n" for Bear's name.

He loves to look at books.  I'm finding breakfast a great time to read to him as he will stay still while eating.  Otherwise, he runs away!

Last week we focused on the color red.  This is something I never did with Bear.  I never focused on one color at a time (except for a one time yellow day).  I got together some red items and put them in a basket and put only red Duplos in his jar (he dumps and puts back - it works motor control).

This week, I removed the red items and put only orange items in his basket.  I traded the red Duplos for orange ones in his jar.

His consignment find xylophone is truly a hit.  (And it plays the correct scale, unlike the brand new one I had to return.)

J-jo always tries to get into the drawers of tiny math manipulatives, even though I have taped them shut.  This day, i decided to let him explore the large, but not large enough, buttons under very vigilant supervision.  He tried many times to put them in his mouth.  It was exhausting, but he loved picking up a handful and letting them drop to hear the tink sound.  He also put lots of them back in the drawer.

We had a very small joint party for Bear and J-jo.  I set up art activities for the children and J-jo enjoyed playdough for the first time. 

These last photos were taken in Quebec where we spent a lot of time outside at my parent's house.  Bear enjoyed looking at snails and toads in her bug viewer.  J-jo spent a lot of time with his cousin (and with our vintage Tonka trucks!).

It was our first time meeting Baby C and we most likely won't see her again for another year, so it was a very special time.

To see what other tots are doing see 1+1+1=1