Chicks, Ducks, and Wheels on the Bus!

It was week four of the library’s Drop-In Story time.  Ms. Nancy’s theme this time was “Chicks and Ducks.”  We read:

The Chick and the Duckling by Mirra Ginsburg
“A chick and a duckling hatch at the same time.  The chick can imitate the duckling except when the duckling goes swimming.”

Just Ducky by Kathy Mallat
“A lonely little duckling looks into the pond and sees its reflection.  The duckling thinks that it has found a new friend.”

Peep! by Kevin Luthardt
“A duckling follows a boy home.  The boy is sad when the duckling is ready to be reunited with other birds of the wild.”

Wee Little Chick by Lauren Thompson
“Other farm animals comment on the tiny size of the little chick.  Little chick is proud of everything that it can do.”

We sang and danced to:

FiveLittle Ducks from Raffi in Concert with the Riseand Shine Band

  And, we recited a few poems:

Baby Duckling
One baby duckling, he’s brand new.
Here comes another.  That makes two.
Wait, here’s another.  That makes three.
Three baby ducklings waddling across the floor.
They meet a little friend, and that makes four.
Four baby ducklings, watch how they dive.
At last they see their mother.  That makes five.

When a Yellow Duck
When a yellow duck walks down the street (hold up hand)
Quack! goes his bill (open and close thumb and fingers)
Waddle! go his feet (waddle hands back and forth)
He comes to a puddle and with a bound (pretend to jump into a puddle)
In goes the yellow duck and he swims around. (pretend to swim)

The Little Chick
This little chick heard a loud horn (hold up index finger)
This little chick ate all the corn (hold up middle finger)
This little chick saw a big ball (hold up ring finger)
This little chick said, “Please don’t fall!” (hold up little finger)
But this little chick said, “Peep, peep, peep!” (hold up thumb and wiggle it)
Please be quiet, I’m trying to sleep!” (wiggle thumb)

Each time we saw a picture or read about a chick, Shawn and I would whisper, “Just like the chicks at Oma and Opa’s house!”  Maybe next time we visit they’ll have some chicks for Shawn to see up close.  (He and Abby got very good at quacking and cheeping and peeping during story time today!)

At the end of naptime, I could hear Abby chatting to herself for a little while.  At one point, I think she was trying to sing Ring Around the Rosie! I also heard her say, “Abby awake!”  Before I went to get her out of bed, there were strange rustling noises in Shawn’s room.  Here is what happened when I went to check them out:

In case you need an interpreter, Shawn’s phrases included:

“Momma, go see Abby?”

“It’s really bright.”

“Let’s go find out!”

“Ready? Watch!”

“Shawn opened the door.”

“I have a good nap, Abby.”

I guess it’s time to go play some more!

After Abby went home, Shawn and I took Baron for a walk.  (Or did Baron and I take Shawn to the park?)  Shawn loves climbing on the playground equipment, but he prefers one particular corner…

Never knew that playground equipment could double as a performance stage, eh?

Shawn and Abby were very playful at breakfast this morning.  They both made their fair share of silly faces for the camera.  I can’t say that a whole lot of eating was accomplished though!

We went to Music II and Family Gym at Gymboree today.  In Music, there’s an activity we call the “Ba-Bas” where the Miss Elizabeth leads us in an echoing exercise of simple vocal rhythms (a.k.a. Ba-ba!).  The kids’ favorite part is that she uses a play microphone to show whose turn it is to say the rhythm.  She starts us and the parents echo in unison a few times.  Then we go around the circle.  She starts, the parent echoes, she repeats, and then points the microphone at the child… who may or may not repeat the rhythm.  No matter what the child does (says, “Ba-ba,” points at the microphone, smiles, leans forward, hides his face, whatever…) Miss Elizabeth is always beaming with praise for the effort made.  Anyway, Abby shows no shyness when it comes to “Ba-Bas.”  She waits for her turn, but then confidently chimes in “Ba-ba,” right on cue - and pretty well in rhythm with Miss Elizabeth’s lead!  Shawn isn’t quite as interested in performing for others.  He follows along and he waits for his turn (sometimes he’ll even whisper “Ba-ba” while we’re waiting!), but when it comes to saying “Ba-ba” into the microphone, he clams up.  Sometimes he’ll smile as he hides his face in my arm, but he just doesn’t seem to like being the center of attention.  I don’t think it’s the toy microphone that bothers him because Diego uses one in Spanish class and Shawn loves playing with it.  It took him a while before he’d speak in Spanish class, so maybe he’s just not ready yet.  Regardless, both kids did a great job listening and following directions throughout class – whether they were vocal or not!

In Family Gym, it was the second week of the transportation theme.  This time we were using the different modes of transportation (train, plane, car, boat…) to go on a trip to Gymbo’s house.  We had to pack a bag (of scarves) and then we did an activity on the equipment that represented the different vehicles we had to take to make the journey.  We also played a game of Red Light, Green Light while the kids “drove” mini-hulahoops as cars.  Shawn and Abby liked that game, though I had to help them stop for the red lights!  On the way home, we practiced saying, “Red light means STOP!  Green light means GO!” whenever we came to a stoplight.  I have to agree with the kids, green lights are much more fun!

When we got home, they kids know to take off their shoes and coats and to put them away in their baskets.  They’ve gotten pretty good at knowing the routine, but with all of the cold weather gear on, it can be a little tricky to get it all off on their own.  Abby’s showing that she wants to try to do it, even if she needs a little help sometimes.  Once we get their shoes, hat, gloves, and coat off though, they’re both pretty quick about tossing them into their baskets so they can go play.  I love watching them become independent.  They look so proud when they finish their “jobs”!

Choo-Choo and Brrrrr-brrrrr!!!!

We went to Gymboree for music and family gym classes. Hardly anyone else showed up today because of the weather. Something about a -25 F wind chill today! Hmmph – that’s not going to hold us back! (Well, to be honest, it almost did, but we thought we’d give it a try and if we decided to turn around when we got out of the garage, so be it. That didn’t happen, so we got to enjoy the luxury of having Gymboree almost to ourselves!) We bundled up until the kids could barely walk, I parked in the closest parking spot I could find, and we didn’t hang outside for any longer than necessary. After all of that, I really didn’t think the cold was as bad as the news was reporting, but I also wasn’t walking more than a few dozen feet!

The gym area was set up for a transportation theme. (It’s hard to tell what the theme is if you just go to open gym times. The ramps, tunnels, boards, slides, and foam equipment obviously change configuration, but you really can’t tell that the new set up is supposed to represent an airport, a train station, a boat, a highway, etc. unless you go to a gym class where they tell you.) Today, class started with “What’s in my big blue bag?” and Miss Elizabeth pulled out a set of toy car keys, a plush truck that rumbled its engine when you squeezed it, and a picture book that showed everything from hot air balloons to trains to boats to bicycles. (I wish I caught the name and author of that one!) Shawn and Abby loved the pictures and pointed out the various things they knew – choo choo train, truck, airplane, bicycle, balloon… They’re not as vocal as some of the slightly older kids in class, but they scooted up close to Miss Elizabeth as she read so they could get the best seats in the house! Luckily, there weren’t many other kids there to compete for the good view. After the story, Miss Elizabeth gave us a tour of the equipment. There was a choo-choo train to climb on where kids could wave through the multi-shaped windows or play with the giant wheels on the ground. They could “drive” hula-hoops on a highway made of ramps, tunnels, and boards. They could board an airplane using ramps to climb up, go through tunnels that represented the fuselage, and then slide to get down. (There were a couple other modes of transportation too, but I can’t remember them now!) Shawn was in heaven. On the way home, he announced, “I ride the choo-choo train at Gymboree!”