Helping

Give me a kiss, Noah

Today would usually be Kindergym day, but we've had a fairly hectic week so far, so I decided that some time at home would be a good idea. I like Felix's and my days at home together. It gives me a chance to really pay attention to all the new things he is learning, and to spend lots of time with him, one on one. Our quiet days are some of my favourites.

Felix showed me how much he is learning about helping, and following instructions. He is fascinated with our recycling bin because it is often full of empty bottles, jars and boxes; quite appealing to a two year old's eyes. Very often I catch him pulling an empty soft drink bottle out of the bin, and walking away with it. Usually if I take it away from him and put it back in the bin, he will take it straight back out again. This morning I tried something different, and asked him to put the bottle back himself. It worked. He walked back over to the bin and put it inside. I clapped my hands and told him he'd done well, and he was happy with that and walked away. Job well done!

Yes.. you've got water in your bucket!

I came back down the hallway, after putting some washing on, to find that Felix had pulled a pile of his books off the book shelf. I don't mind because usually, he does actually read them so it's a 'creative' mess! Today he wasn't terribly interested in looking at them, and had pulled them off the shelf because he was bored. I started to put the books back on the shelf when Felix came over and began to help me. He picked up a book and put it on the shelf, in the correct spot, and made sure it was up the right way and pushed in nice and straight. I was pretty impressed, but thought it might have been a fluke. I pointed to another book on the floor and he picked that one up and did exactly the same thing, putting it perfectly on the shelf. He continued until all the books were neatly put away. I could get used to this tidiness!

I'm making some of these with Felix and Noah's handprints.
I hope they turn out just as well as these!

Felix helped me with a few other things today. He passed me the wet washing so I could hang it up to dry. He helped me push our big, heavy coffee table to get it ready to put the Christmas tree on (giggling the whole time). He even turned around in the trolley seat at the supermarket and passed me all of the groceries he could reach, so I could put them up on the counter. It sure beats what he used to do, throwing the shopping out of the trolley and onto the ground! One thing he wasn't so helpful with was wrapping up a Christmas present. He seemed to think it was great that his head fit underneath the wrapping paper. A few repairs later and the gift was finally wrapped up. I'm enjoying my new little helper. I hope he still likes to help even when he realises that it's something he has to do all the time!