Toy Shopping

Buddy has not been happy about everyone going back to work. We had his crate down in the unfinished part of the basement so he wouldn't set off the motion detector, but he really didn't seem to be handling it well. Since we obviously don't want him to spend his day in a state of total anxiety (and we don't want to have to wash his bedding everyday) we moved his crate up to the living room yesterday. It's working really well so far - which makes everyone happy!

Now we just have to get a slightly smaller crate, this one takes up half the living room. And as you can see, he doesn't really use most of it.

I spent the morning at work picking out some books for my room, which hopefully won't be ripped to shreds instantly (they're not board books). Hopefully I'll get to order some more durable books soon. I also got to pick out a bunch more toys for the room as well as some paint smocks and bulletin board borders.

It was really fun to go through the catalogs and find things I know the kids will like and also have educational elements to them (letters! numbers! fine motor skill development!). I tried not to go too crazy, and the director gave my list the ok so it's getting ordered.

I also went around and took pictures of all the toys because everything still has to get labeled with words and pictures. Here are some of the fun things in my room.

Peg boards:

Dinosaurs!

Blocks (I also just ordered some of the big heavy duty cardboard blocks that look like bricks):

Cars:

Trains:

Cute but creepy baby dolls:

Some of the adorable dress up clothes:

And the bulletin boards are up!

A parent chatted with me a bit at pick up to express her concerns about where she thinks her daughter should be in different areas. Nothing like trying to talk about your curriculum plans before you actually have any official ones! I think it went well though and now I know what things I need to be aware of (all were totally reasonable for her age) in my class.

I've totally failed at running this week, getting back in the swing of things with work is really tiring me out. Plus it's totally dark when I get off work. Maybe I'll make up some miles this weekend.