The Kavanaugh Report

There are some letters that just aren't that fun to create work for, but the letter F isn't one of them. There are so many great ways to explore the letter f, because there are just so many great f themes. Here are some letter f tot school trays that we worked on with Henry. 
Henry is 36 months.
On our first tray was the button flower color matching work that I used in our spring unit last year. It was a set of felt flowers, corresponding button stems, and a corresponding color sheet. Henry still loved this tray this year and had a bunch of fun again matching the colors. He was much better this year at getting the flowers around the buttons.

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The second tray was a set of 3-part farm cards with different farm animals. I paired the cards with our set of Schleich farm animals. Henry still struggles with matching the words on his own but enjoys matching the cards and animals.

The third tray was a set of cards which asked the kids…

3rd Trimester! 3rd Trimester, People! Time to panic! This baby is coming and coming fast. 
Me, on the other hand, I'm getting slower and slower. I'm really starting to feel it when I overdo it these days. To be completely honest, pregnancy was a lot easier when I wasn't also running around the house pretending to be a lizard/dinosaur/lion or lifting a toddler in and out of a carseat. And, ugh, the heartburn. After I stopped eating dairy, all of my heartburn problems went away -- well, they are back in big way now. Thank the Lord for zantac! But, overall, I'm healthy and feeling alright.


Good news at this month's doctor appointment was I passed my gestational diabetes test! Woot -- pass me a Peep to celebrate! However, my hemoglobin levels are really low and I need some follow up blood work. Hopefully its nothing and will just require an iron supplement -- which is exactly what happened at this point in my pregnancy with Henry. And, remember last month when the doc…

Our latest Montessori project has been to finally complete Henry's closet. Ever since we completed his Montessori toddler bedroom, the closet has been sitting empty -- except for a few toys that I rotate in and out for his quiet time. During this time, his clothes have still been in the baby dresser in the closet of our tot school classroom.


Since we need the baby dresser for baby things, we finally had to get the motivation to finish up the closet. I'm so happy we did, and so is Henry. For the short time that the closet has been done, he has loved picking out his outfits. Henry always had the choice to pick his outfits before, but it was significantly harder to see all the choices when things are folded in a drawer. 


For this renovation, we moved an Ikea Expedit shelving unit into the space. This unit holds everything that can't easily be hung up. Baskets make it easy for Henry to get what he needs and to help put away his own laundry. Everything on the shelf is complete…

Just before Henry's 3rd Birthday, we held his Yo Gabba Gabba birthday party. If you follow me on Instagram, then you are well aware of Henry's obsession with all things Yo Gabba Gabba. This party was fun and pretty easy to put together -- since I could purchase some things and make some fun details. 


I made the banner over the fireplace, the gift bags, and the picture banners. All were made with simple scrapbooking tools and plain card stock. We kept the menu pretty simple -- mini hotdogs, chips/salsa, veggie cups with ranch, and fruit salad. Of course we had some dairy-free cupcakes. And, Henry's favorite -- juice. 


The look on Hen's face when he woke up and say everything was pretty amazing. He loved every second of the day. In the morning we had a party with some of his friends. Henry did great until everyone sang Happy Birthday, where he proceeded to get super upset. He also refused to open any presents, but people seemed to understand. 


In the afternoon, we had o…

When Henry was a baby, Morgan and I had no idea what Montessori -- or any other natural learning philosophy -- was. We just sort of went with a more commercialized and {this might not be the right word} "typical" American view of baby raising. This included a lot of plastic, noisy, light up baby toys. 
So, with baby Nora we are going to try a new direction, and purging the baby toys. Baby toys that light up, make noise or otherwise serve no purpose but to entertain are out. I don't think we will get rid of all plastic, because that's not in our budget, but some of it may go too.



1. Minnesota Teether
2. Wooden Teething Rings
3. Bell Rattle
4. Wooden Baby Car
5. Knitted Nesting Bowls

6. Rainbow Stacker
7. Clutching Toy
8. Ball Cylinder
9. Triangles
10. Wooden Keys

Anyone else use mostly natural toys or Montessori friendly toys with their baby? Are there products you would add to this list?\

Don't Miss: A Montessori Approach to Purging Your Toys

Henry is officially 3-years-old. SOB! How is this possible?! I feel like its been a lifetime and a flash all at once since he was born.
Henry's 3-year check up isn't until April, so I don't have updated height/weight. At his last check (at a sick visit) he was right around 26 pounds -- or 6 percent for his age. I'm sure his height is about the same percent. He's pretty tiny -- wearing most 2T shirts (although some 3T are starting to fit!) and mostly 18m pants. He has started to wear the occasional 24m pants but they are long and way too big in the waist. He's a size 6 or 6.5 shoe. 


But, for what Henry lacks in physical size he makes up for with his giant personality. Henry is so funny, charismatic and goofy. He knows exactly how to work a room and make everyone notice him. In particular, he loves little girls -- and they love him. But, he is very shy in new situations and needs a lot of transition time. However, he does NOT do well with separation, especially …