Monday, February 6, 2012

Birdie Boot Camp - Guidelines & Session One

If you've been following along in our little "learning to play" saga, you know that this weekend marked the official start of Birdie Boot Camp.

Just so we're all on the same page, I wanted to share a couple of decisions Ryan and I have made in the last couple of days.

First, Birdie Boot Camp will take place on Saturdays.  And that's it.  During the week, Lily's been in school all day and no one really feels like doing much of anything around here in the evenings.  Besides, between getting everyone fed, showered, ready for bed, and then getting organized for the next day, there's not much time for anything else.

Secondly, what we will be working on during the week, along with Birdie Boot Camp, is some "life skills".  We're going to start with having Lily bring her plate and cup to the sink after mealtimes, as well as put her napkin in the trash can. I think if we begin with a few small things, I'll see quicker progress.  Once that has become fairly routine, then we'll add another skill to the mix.

And lastly, we will still be using the iPad, just on a more limited basis.  That lovely little device gives all of us moments of respite throughout the day.  

And now, without further ado, I give you Session One - Painting with Yogurt.  You might notice in the first picture that we started off using some Q-tips to spread the "paint" around.  Those were quickly set aside in favor of using fingers.


Here's Lily checking in with Dad to make sure he's watching her work so hard.


It didn't take the Bird too long to discover this was some pretty tasty "paint".


And since every artist must sign their work, Lily personalized hers with a lick.


The finished product.


Next up on the agenda:  a nice, long walk on Town Lake.  This is one of our whole family's favorite Saturday activities so Lily was more than happy to participate in this portion of Boot Camp. 


Next up, we just fooled around with dominoes, little spinning tops, and some one inch colored cubes left over from my teaching days.


All in all, I would say that it was a good start for us.  Lily was sometimes happy to participate and sometimes took part very grudgingly.  It helped that we were sitting there painting and stacking alongside her.

She did wonderfully well at bringing her plate and cup to the sink and throwing away her napkin.  Of course, there was much cheering and hoopla when she did so I'm kind of surprised that she didn't attempt to throw away every single piece of trash she could find.

Don't you think she looks pretty doggone proud of herself? 


It may be a long road, this learning to play, but with a smile like that, it's worth every minute!

Be sure to check in tomorrow because we did one more activity that was the clear favorite and I've got some pictures you don't want to miss!


11 comments:

  1. she's such a cutie. Lily loves her yogurt WAY too much ever to paint with it.

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    1. I would say there wasn't much paint to clean up afterwards!

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  2. Love that little happy face! I think it says, "Hey, Mom figuring out all my secrets isn't all that bad!" Way to go, Lilly :)

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    1. I agree - I think she could learn to like me having her figured out...

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  3. She does look so proud. I can just see the smile on your face as well!!!

    On a totally unrelated side note, I love the Bob stroller! I'd take mine to bed with me but right now its filled with kids...

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    1. It was a pretty good day! And oh my gosh, I'm so happy with our Bob stroller! We had a Jeep one until recently - just got the Bob off Craigslist a couple months ago. It's awesome!

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  4. She is so beautiful, Lana. I just love that last picture!

    I can't wait to see your next edition of birdie boot camp :-)

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    1. Thanks, Karla! She is a total mess but since she's so cute, we let her stick around! :)

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  5. Love the yogurt painting. I think I'd want to eat what I painted too. Oh - wait a minute. That's the diet talking...

    This looks like such a fun way to spend a Saturday. The cubes are cool - can I come over and play?! It just looks like so much fun.

    (And not only is Lily adorable - your whole family is adorable doing all these fun things together!) You are quite an inspiration.

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    1. We did have a good Saturday. And it takes the whole family to engage that baby girl! Playing alongside her makes a big difference in how long she'll play.

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  6. Having her do stuff, like bring her dishes to the sink, is GREAT! We started late doing that with K, but now she just does it on her own. I went through a big self help thing last year, and had her start washing her own hair/body in the shower, dressing, and doing all those sorts of things on her own, too. I help if she needs it, but I decided I probably was doing too much for her at the time, and that's probably why it seemed like she couldn't do a lot of things. It makes life a bit easier.

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