Artist and Explorer

AJ has been doing some interesting craft projects and drawings lately, and has also become really interested in exploring. Recently I was drawing some of his favorite "Cars" characters for him on his magnadoodle, and then asked him to draw one for me. He usually just scribbles and makes circles when he draws, but this time he was making more deliberate lines and dots and assigning them to parts of the car. Pretty cool, I thought! Since it was not on paper, I couldn't save the drawing, but I took this picture instead. The dots and vertical line on the right are McQueen's eyes and mouth, and then on the left are 4 wheels (the dots) and the rest AJ said is the car... Exactly. I see it, don't you? :)

I also found a small pair of blunt scissors and taught him how to cut with one hand and hold the paper in his other. He did really well and was very proud of himself. I was just happy he was not trying to cut his t-shirt with one of my pairs of scissors! So, he did an art project while I finished a few more of Elizabeth's announcements (yes, you'll get one soon, I promise). He stamped on paper with his washable inks and my stamps, then cut up the paper and glued it down to another sheet of paper. He also loves his new glue sticks that "draw" purple and then dry clear. This type of gle stick is genius for getting kids to understand how to paste and where the glue is. That white thing on his face is a sticker...of Flo from Cars, no less. He put it on his cheek himself as a fashion statement, and wore it most of the day. Fyi, Ramone was on the other cheek.

AJ has also been big into exploring. One day while G'ma Cheri was in, she stayed home with Elizabeth and AJ and I went to the Conservatory and strayed from our usual path. First, they were harvesting the bananas from the banana trees in the "sugar house", something we'd never seen them do before!

We shared one of the tree's tiny bananas and here is a picture I took of the it after about 2 bites. The whole thing was about 3 or 4 inches long, and the inside of it was almost peach-colored. It was very tasty, too! We ventured outside to find the compost boxes the employee spoke of to toss our peel... and here began our explorations:

First, when we walked outside,

we came across a little gravel maze in a grass opening. It was just barely drizzling so AJ was holding my umbrella and walking along the maze's path. (It's a really cute area and the following week we had a picnic lunch there with some of our friends. We moms got to relax for a few minutes while our kids played follow the leader winding all around on the gravel path.) He got a real kick out of walking all around under the umbrella and insisted on holding it himself.

Then, near the compost area, AJ found this little thatched hut. It was the perfect size for him to fit through the opening and have a seat on one of the log stumps inside. Not so much my size I found, as I squeezed in. But AJ wanted us to both be in "together". Then we walked a little further and found a good sized garden where the Conservatory was growing everything from Swiss chard and squash to tomatoes and green beans. We checked out all the vegetables and I felt jealous of their setup and sun exposure! Then AJ spotted something like a Tee Pee skeleton. This structure was much easier for me to fit into, so we sat on the stumps and hung out for a little while playing the "what can you hear?" listening game...bees, airplanes, cicadas, birds, a train, etc. He's getting better at focusing and picking out different sounds, so this is one of our favorite games lately. Well, okay, maybe it's one of MY favs since it gets him to be quiet and sit still for a few minutes! Hahaha!

The exploring continues when we walk to the parks or local restaurants, since AJ does not always ride in the stroller anymore. This way he is free to stop and look and check things out. He now has his own little magnifying glass too, so we've got a little observer in the making, I guess! (Kim & Mom, does this sound familiar? Didn't you wonder if I'd ever make it home from school!?)