Building with blocks

There is not too much going on here since Christmas. Our family has had 2 viruses since Christmas. It's a good thing our family got Theo lots of new toys to play with since we have been home a lot. Theo also had an ear infection.

One afternoon we did a barn puzzle from my parents. I didn't have a voice and so had to mutely help Theo, tapping to show where to put the pieces.

I have put a few cough drops next to the rocking chair in Theo's room since I kept coughing as I tried to put him to bed, which then woke him up. Theo keeps finding them and bringing them to me. It was driving me a bit crazy since I really wanted them to stay there. And then last night I started coughing while I was in the kitchen. Theo ran into his bedroom and came back and handed me a cough drop. He was taking care of me.

The other evening I told Theo it was time for bed and he told me, "I'm hungry."
"Oh good. What do you want as a bedtime snack?"
"Chicken and rice!"
"I'm sorry, we don't have any chicken and rice right now."
Theo thought a moment. "Curry and rice?"
"I'm sorry. We don't have that either."
Someone wanted rice.

One of Theo's new ideas for playing came from YouTube. There are lots of videos of adults playing with toys as a preschool teacher might play to teach her kids. Several of them involve alphabet blocks, which the adult puts in order as they build towers and trains and things. Well now he always wants to "build ABC tower" and insists that we find the letters in alphabetical order. He also often remembers that there are 2 As, and 2 of all the vowels, so we have to find them as we build. It is both cute and annoying since our play can be derailed if we can't find a certain block. Blocks can be hard to find because of his exuberant smashing of the towers at completion.

I told him last night that in 2 minutes he had to stop watching YouTube. He responded, "No. Keep learning!"
He is 2 and already is learning the art of a persuasive argument.
The videos have definitely helped him learn some phonics, it's true. He can tell you each letter sound. But many videos are from Canada and he explained to me the other day that Z is called Zed!

Disclaimer: While he is very insistent on building the blocks in alphabetical order, he is less good at keeping them in good order when he builds. Also, although he can recite the alphabet, he sometimes needs help in the middle of building to remember each letter. What I'm saying is that Mommy helped.

Intent on building. He is very intent on things.