Raising a Nature Lover

Daddy Monster and I are both big nature lovers, we love to be outdoors and we especially love to explore. We've gone SCUBA diving, camping, hiking, kayaking, sailing, we've trekked through a jungle, climbed trees, jumped off a cliff, bathes in a waterfall and explored caverns. And that's only the beginning, we hope to have a lot more chances to explore nature and raise Kaleb to love nature as much as we do. Unfortunately, it's not very practical to go hiking through the jungles of Costa Rica and white water rafting with a two year old, so we start off small.

Living in South Florida, Kaleb's been around water since a very young age. He's enjoyed countless trips to the beach, a local atoll pool and beautiful ocean views. Whenever he looks out into the ocean he always says "Wow!", it never fails. We may not be able to trek through Costa Rica, but we do have a Kaleb sized rainforest in Miami. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens, we've been members since Kaleb was born. It's a beautiful place for a picnic and a great place for Kaleb to experience nature and explore the beauty.

He could watch the streams all day

But his favorite are the waterfalls

He apparently liked this plant, because he turned around and posed

 

We always bring a picnic blanket and a couple of books to enjoy in the shade

Lots of water is a must on hot days and a Daddy to give you a lift

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Tropical Storm Isaac

Tropical storm Isaac has come and gone, luckily it was pretty uneventful. Lots of wind, lots of rain but not much more than that. It was officially Kaleb's first tropical storm, we've lucked out and managed to avoid them for years now. Though the threat seemed minimal we still made sure we were prepared.

Saturday it rained for most of the day but it wasn't too bad, we went out to the children's museum in the morning. We didn't go back out afterwards since the rain picked up quite a bit. Since there wasn't any lightning during the day, we spent a lot of time staring out of the glass doors on our balcony. Kaleb even learned to say "rain", he'd been signing it for a very long time. Saturday night and Sunday morning was the worst of it, at least in our area. Heavy rainfall it was hard to sleep through, though Kaleb managed to just fine. We stayed home and did a lot of nothing. It's a welcomed change from puzzles and planned activities. We just sat around hanging out together. Kaleb would come up with all sorts of ways to stay entertained.

 Kaleb sat on Mommy and said "Hello! Hi!" really loud an inch from her face, he does that a lot these days. 

He decided to play hair dresser

 He was VERY proud of his work

Classes were canceled for Monday so Kaleb got to stay home with Daddy. Mommy however had to go into work. Kaleb's first storm was a breeze. We'll feel a little less paranoid about storms in about a month and a half. We'll be enclosing out balcony to create a playroom for Kaleb and we'll be FINALLY be installing hurricane shutters once that's done. 

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Sensory Saturday

As you probably already figured out, we're huge fans of the Miami Children's Museum. We go at the very least once a month. We weren't planning on going again until September, until I came across information for their "Sensory Saturday" which we went to today. It's an event they're running one Saturday every month where the museum will be closed to the general public from 9am-11am. They setup the museum to be the ideal environment for children with special needs. Part of the prep is sending parents a map indicating noise levels in different areas of the museum, a storybook that you can show your child in advance so they know what to expect when they go and you have to register for the event to keep crowds low.

When we went there were few people (I think the stormy weather had a lot to do with that) and Kaleb got to run around like he owned the place. The staff was very helpful in explaining all of the areas and activities. The lights were dimmer and the sound was also adjusted. They had a couple of special areas set up for sensory activities. Story time, art, music, yoga, light tables, sand tables and more. They even had quiet rooms for kids who needed to calm down. Kaleb really enjoyed all of the extra activities and he also loved not having to compete with crowds of older kids to play in some of his favorite areas. Some days he can be around a lot of kids with no issues, other days he'll avoid doing anything just to keep his distance.

He really enjoyed playing in the yoga room, though we went between the activities since we knew he wouldn't do yoga. He got to work on his balance, try out a scooter board and play with some balls. The yoga instructor was incredibly enthusiastic and very patient with Kaleb. After we hung out in the room for a while, Kaleb finally warmed up to him. They even did some signing, anyone who signs with Kaleb is awesome in my book. He also loved the light room, he's always loved a lot of visual stimulation. He'll sometimes move back and forth to light and dark. He'll squint his eyes, shake his head, etc. He also tries to stare at lights, flashlights, etc a little too closely which we try to avoid. I'll leave you with some pics of our fun filled morning.

Kaleb enjoyed playing with the light table

He even signed light for the first time

He loved staring at the different colors on that ball

This was playing music and making different patterns

And of course who wouldn't be fascinated by the glow

He played at the sand table, it was moon dough which is much more fun than regular sand

We drove some boats

Anytime there is paper around Kaleb demands that we draw a cat, then a dog, in that order

Walking around like he owns the place

Having fun

He loves this wall

And this is why

But he's afraid to put the balls in himself

Plays awesome video that you can play forward or backwards at any speed at the turn of the wheel

Kaleb the cop

Kaleb the firefighter

Kaleb the vet

Kaleb the champion

 

Kaleb the doctor

He was checking Mommy to make sure she was okay

Daddy asked if she needed medicine. 

Kaleb gave Mommy a kiss on the cheek and she felt all better.

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Random Adorableness

I was going through pictures to start a post and realized Kaleb is very expressive. Some of the faces he makes are incredibly adorable (though I suppose I am somewhat biased). I decided to make a post about nothing, I leave you with some quick and random adorableness.

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"Every child is an artist"

Though both Daddy Monster and I are artistically challenged, we make sure we give Kaleb plenty of opportunities to explore different types of art. He still has a lot of trouble controlling pencils and crayons, but he still enjoys drawing with them. He loves to draw on his chalkboard wall with sidewalk chalk, it's the perfect size for him to get a good grip. Play Doh and Moon Dough are both a big hit with him. He's still a little freaked out by Aqua Sand, but he's enjoying it more and more each time. He also loves to paint. Daddy has an aversion to any fun that will get messy, but I convince him to go along with it every time. We try to keep things from getting to messy so Daddy doesn't panic too much.

Kaleb wears a Crayola smock to keep his clothes clean, though all the paint is washable

We have a thick tablecloth we bought at a dollar store we place on the floor

We use an old Ferrero Rocher liner to put small dollops of paint into

Then we back off and let the artist do his thing

Kaleb sticks his tongue out anytime he tries to focus... seriously

We identify some colors and try to get him to repeat them, any time is a good time to work on speech 

He sometimes gets a little messy

But it's an adorable messy and easy enough to clean up

We're left with a priceless masterpiece each time

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Helicopter for "Kaleb"

So the other day we accidentally came across a remote control helicopter on Amazon. Daddy decided it would be great for "Kaleb" and that we should buy it since it was very cheap. I pointed out that it's for 14+ and Daddy volunteered to pilot it for Kaleb's amusement. I just love how he's willing to sacrifice his time to play with a toy ;)

Daddy's  Kaleb's new toy

Quick clip of it flying around the house, Kaleb is very amused by it. He tells it to stop, go, up and of course uh-ohs when it crashes into the floor.

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First Day of Preschool

Today was a very special day. Kaleb's first day of preschool! While Kaleb slept soundly last night, his Mommy and Daddy tossed and turned. We kept talking about how nervous/excited we were for his first day. We wanted to get all the anxiety out without Kaleb being able to see or hear about it. 

The morning did not start off well, once we mentioned we were going to school he started crying. Not a normal cry, but a full blown I hate everything I'm going to cry and scream about everything. "Kaleb do you want milk?" "AHH!!" "Kaleb are you all done with your waffle?" "AHH!!!!" "Kaleb we have to go outside now." "AHH!!!!" "Do you want to stay inside?" "AHHHHH!" Oh boy did that make this an interesting morning.

Toddler tears in action.

During the drive over Kaleb peeked out the window, read some books and finally calmed down. Once we got to the parking lot he was calm and even wanted to wear his backpack.

He was very cautious and suspicious about what was going on

Once he arrived he recognized the classroom since we had already taken him on a tour.

We each gave Kaleb a hug and then he gave us each a kiss on the cheek. We told him to have fun in school and that Daddy would pick him up later. We said goodbye, then his teacher walked out to the patio area with him. We reluctantly left the classroom.

His teacher told us that once it hit him that we were gone he freaked out. He was crying inconsolably. Our poor little monster. He barely touched breakfast because he was so sad. Luckily they went out to the playground and he calmed down. You want to make Kaleb happy? Take him to a playground. 

Once he was calm he participated in circle, enjoyed some music, hung out with his new classmates and ate almost all of his lunch. He then went down for his nap. He needed to be soothed a little bit, but fell asleep pretty quickly. Crying your eyes out for an entire morning will tire you out!

When Daddy came to pick him up he found him wrapped up in his blankey

He happily picked up his gear out of his cubby

This big boy is all done with him first day of school!

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Buh-bye Evelyn

As you already know, we're all very excited about Kaleb starting to receive his therapy services at the school. The only bad thing about that is he can no longer see the two therapists that were coming to our home to work with him. His favorite therapist, Evelyn, is his Infant Toddler Developmental Specialist. Kaleb has been seeing her every week since the beginning of February and he's grown really fond of her. We were sad to have to say goodbye. She of course has the information for Kaleb's website so she can keep an eye on him from a far. 

Kaleb picked out a gift for her, orchids and bromeliads

We personalized it a little and left her a card with a thank you message on the back

Evelyn saw him weekly for half a year and watched/helped him progress from 4 verbal words to the 27 that he knows now. She will be missed, we just hope that Kaleb will bond with his new therapists as well as he did with her.

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