We are loving...

squirrels! Seth is infatuated with these little rodents. He still loves the monkeys, but squirrels are all the rage this week. The other day we spent a solid hour watching the creatures out Seth's back window. Up the tree. Down the tree. On the fence. On the ground. Scampering all over the back yard. Today at the park, we watched the squirrels almost as long as we played on the playground.

Then I taught him a song that I learned in preschool and my mom and I have sung many times growing up:

Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel, Swish Your Bushy Tail
Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel, Swish Your Bushy Tail
Wrinkle Up Your Funny Nose
Hold a Nut Between Your Toes
Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel, Swish Your Bushy Tail

He looks so cute scrunching up his nose!

I picked up Earl the Squirrel at a thrift shop for about two cents. It's a really cute book by Don Freeman, who also wroth the Corduroy series. I looked up some info about the book and found out some interesting things. The book was shelved for over 50 years! It was originally passed up and Don Freeman's son found it in a file after he passed away. The art work, which is all black and white except for Earl's red scarf, is all scratchboard. The story is really cute and Seth asks for the grey squirrel book several times a day.

He has been asking, "What squirrels do?" Now I find myself researching the behaviors and habitats of squirrels to whisper to him as he falls asleep at night. Did you know there are over 300 species of squirrels?

Stay tuned for squirrel art!

We are loving...

wooden puzzles. Santa brought Seth a dozen wooden puzzles with a rack that keeps them all neat and organized. Mimi has some similar puzzles, but this is the first time I have really done puzzles like this with Seth. He is really good at the ones where each shape is independent and quickly learning to do the more complex puzzles where the pieces come together to form a picture. Each day since Christmas he had said at least once, "Want to do puzzle." And I am more than happy to oblige. We both enjoy it! The other day I put one puzzle out for him and was looking through the others. By the time I got back to the table - less than a minute later - he had already completed the puzzle. What a little smarty we have.

We are loving...

We are loving Lisa Loeb and Elizabeth Mitchell's Catch the Moon. It's 13 tracks of children's music that Mom can enjoy too. Instead of a regular CD cover it comes in a little board book full of delightful watercolor paintings. It has classics like Oh Susana and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, tracks in other languages (French, Spanish and Japanese) and even a Bob Dylan cover. It is very soothing and I am happy to say that it has been nearly a week since I have had to listen to Dalmation Plantation nonstop in the car! Seth loves Little Red Caboose and especially digs saying "Choo Choo" along with the children in the song. I love Free Little Bird, with it's sweet folksy sound. When we're traveling down the road, jammin' to our tunes everything is right with the world!