Hooray for Shapes!

At Niva's 15 month appointment, Dr. Mouser asked if she was able to sort shapes. No, she was more interested in eating shapes than sorting shapes back then. I am proud to say that today is the day she sorted circle, square, triangle, and star on her own! I gave her about 100 high-fives and wanted to shout, "Hallelujah!" from the hills!! What will I do when she walks across stage with her Ph.D. in Astrophysics??

Chill out, Ma! You're making me nervous!

I knew I always had it in me!

Storytime Bust

On Friday, I was so excited to go to a toddler storytime I recently discovered at a nearby library. The librarian had all kinds of cool stuff-- a funny whistle, a Clifford the Big Red Dog puppet, felt boards... all of which we got to enjoy for about 1 whole minute. Librarian said she was going to keep the door open in case anyone had to leave. What did that mean for Neejay Bonzek? A free for all! While all the other children sat obediently in their moms' laps, Niva ran straight out the door screaming. She almost made it out the emergency exit...twice! In my old age, it's taking me longer to get up, chase her, and catch her. When I did, she told me she wanted to go to the pond (she saw one on the way into the library). So we did...

But Ma, those kids were a bunch of squares!

This is where I need to be...

Can't tame a wild horse!

Cousins at the Zoo

Niva's Cousin Brian (almost 3 years old) has moved to Austin and it is so cute how much they love each other! Yesterday, we went to the zoo. They greeted each other with hugs and Brian helped Niva watch her step on the rocky pathways...

 I love my new pal!

Bonus Pictures of the Day:

Rainy afternoon on the way to music class = first opportunity to wear the yellow raincoat! 

For the 30 minutes that I eat my (very late) lunch and cook dinner, Niva gets "P.T." aka Private Time. This is how I found NJ Post-P.T.

Elephants Never Forget

Since Niva hit the 18 month mark, she has been quite the chatterbox. And in addition to an explosion in her vocabulary, I have learned that she has a great memory too! Below are a few examples to illustrate her sharp memory:

• We have played with chalk outside twice in Niva's life. The first time was a couple of months ago and I drew her a cat, a dog, and hopscotch. When I proposed that we play with chalk again last week, Niva immediately requested: "Meow meow" (cat), "goggie" (dog), and "hop hop" (you get it)....how did she remember this from so long ago?

• Last week, we went to the Wildflower Center where Niva discovered that it was so fun to throw pebbles in the pond. I told her that was not okay because the "fish were taking a nap." Now every time I refer to the Wildflower Center, she says, "Fish nigh nigh...pah (pond)". This little image must have made quite an impact on her!

• Today, we went to feed the ducks. Niva pointed at a birdhouse and said, "buh...ha". I mentioned this birdhouse to her only once a couple of weeks ago...geez kid, do you forget anything??

It seems that I've got quite the little elephant on my hands. It is becoming more and more obvious that I better check myself before I make any false moves!

Watch your back...

...cuz little pitchers have big ears!

Family Portrait

We got our family portrait professionally done for the first time! The background is a bit cheesy but Niva is giving a magnificent smile thankfully:

It ain't no Olan Mills Circa 1990 though...

I think I know exactly what look Niva will be sporting as a teenager...the boys will be running for the hills!

Taking pictures can be tiresome. Here is Niva Post-Portrait back at the house:

Man, I should have done this hairstyle!

Ahhh, who cares!

I know I look gOOd anyways!

Progress

After 9 months of trying to implement some discipline into Niva J, I think we have progress! Today, during our lesson-- the "Match Jar"-- Niva decided to take all of the stuff I wanted her to match and throw them on the ground. "You know that you are going to have to pick all of that up, don't you?" I told her sternly as she appeared to ignore me. When it was time to clean up, she ran away to play with Momo. "Niva, you better get back in here and pick this up or you will go Timeout!!" And how did she respond to this? "No! No!" she pleaded and got down to business, picking up every little item on the floor! YES!! Later this evening, I pulled the same threat when she was about to start jumping on the couch...same response and she corrected herself immediately. The fear is slowly being instilled!

Today's lesson...

...and here are some of the items before they were strewn all over the floor.

*grumble grumble*

Okay dear Mother, I will do the right thing. (I wish!)

Bonus pictures of the day:

Niva attempts to kiss and hug every dog that she sees. After playing with chalk outdoors today, I found out that drawings of dogs are no exception:

Not so cuddly but I still love him!

Treasure Hunt

All week, I've been excited about today's activity on the lesson plan...the Muffin Tin Treasure Hunt!

So, in the little cups, I put different items (mainly food because that was easiest)-- like goldfish, Cheerios,  apricots, Pirate's Booty, stickers, flowers, and Play-Doh. Then, I covered them with the various items you see. When, Niva woke up from her nap, she had a mini-Easter celebration as she dug her way through the muffin tin. She tore it up and loved the food carnival that was her afternoon snack!

The start of the treasure hunt

Nom nom nom...

...and she keeps eating

...and eating

...and eating!

Fun treasure hunt!

Awww man, snack over?

Good Manners

We are trying to teach Niva her "good manners" starting with the word "please." Check out how she fares--the "please" is barely audible and she only directs her good manners at one person.

By the way, this child LOVES blackberries...can you tell?

Lesson Plans

Now that Niva's about to hit the big age of 18 months, one of my new year's resolutions is to be more structured with Niva's "projects". At the beginning of every week, I intend to write a "lesson plan" with 3 activities for the week. So, how did week #1 go?

Lesson #1: Color Wheel. Verdict: I pointed to yellow and Neevz said, "Quack quack!"...Success!

Lesson #2: Pasta/Pipe Cleaner bracelet. Verdict: She was fascinated for about 30 seconds...then she stuffed uncooked pasta into her mouth. Choking hazard, yikes!

Lesson #3: Sticking Body Parts on Mr. Potatohead. Verdict: She was interested in this for about 7 seconds...

...and then NJ thought it would be hilarious to stuff Mr. Potatohead's body parts into her mouth as fast as she could.

I thought this would be a project I would be able to reuse but I guess I was wrong.

Just as some lesson plans in teaching 7th graders math are a bust, I learned that the same can happen with an 18 month old. At least this time I have only one student so it's easier to improvise when things go awry. I already have next week's lesson plans written out and I'm so excited to prepare them for her!

Almost forgot to add the Bonus Picture of the Day!

We're the 2 best friends that anyone ever had!
 (that's Momo Pancake that Niva is hugging...in case you couldn't figure it out!)

Happy 2012!

To ring in the new year, Niva devoured her black eyed peas at dinner...

Wondering about the mess that is Niva's shirt? Read on...

turned the page on her new Puppy Calendar...

and already acted upon her resolution of updating the decor in her room...

What a masterpiece!

You can leave me with a bag of markers in the room by myself anytime!