Architecture 101: Introduction to Block Towers

My son is finally figuring out the fine art of building a tower. Up to this point, Nick has only been interested in demolition. He's shown absolutely no interest in architecture or construction. I am a firm believer in toys that encourage creative play, so Nick owns at least four types of blocks, which are usually used for chucking at the cats or his mother. When I take out the wooden blocks, he smashes them together or tries to break things with them. Nick sees the plastic blocks and thinks, "Those must be for chewing." Building with them did not occur to him before today, even though I've been encouraging block play for months. Kids, I've learned, tend to develop at their own rates, and when they're ready to do something, it just happens.

Today Nick was ready. I am proud to announce that my little boy figured out that towers are for building, not just for kicking over. Note the intense posture he's assumming in the photo above. He actually paid attention while I was building and then copied me. Perhaps it was the way I clapped for him every time he added a block to the tower. Nick got to four blocks! The squishy blocks we were using stay stacked very well, so he had some architecturally unsound structures that miraculously stayed together. His attention span wasn't bad, either--we were using the blocks for a good 20 minutes before he lost interest.

 

I'm very proud of Nick's newly discovered aptitude for building. Perhaps he will support his father and me in style one day with his wages as an architect. Or maybe he'll buy us a cheap bottle of wine with the wages he earns as a demolition man.  ; ) Because, you see, he still prefers knocking the towers over. But at least he's building his own towers now!

Adorable. . .But Full of Mischief

This is what happens when a baby meets a roll of toilet paper. It's my fault for leaving it on top of our cocktail table. We're out of kleenex, so I was improvising. Nick decided that he'd rather tear it apart and chew on the toilet paper. Sigh.
I'm a pretty tolerant parent, but I draw the line at letting him slap my computer. I use a sharp "No" when he slaps the computer, but Nick really doesn't like the word no. I do believe he's figured out what it means, because as soon as I say no. . .

This is the pitiful face that I get.

As soon as he gets distracted by the next thing, though, he's happy as a clam. Now if I tried to take away the toilet paper tube, it'd all be over. As a parent, I have to choose my battles.

It's been rough week. Nick has been especially crabby and does not want to be changed, dressed, or undressed. Distraction doesn't seem to work, and he flails around, screaming and crying and hitting and trying to turn over. I'm not sure what the problem is, so I've just been trying to be patient and firm. I guess the words on his onesie are very true: "little monster." But a cute little monster. One who makes me laugh.

Nick was excellent at the grocery store today. His eyes were glued to any kids he saw, and he kept grabbing things out of the cart to play with. He particularly liked chewing on a box of pudding. For some reason, Nicholas is always better behaved out in public. I guess he probably gets bored at home, even with me playing with him and providing hundreds of toys.

I did have a very productive day at work today. I was out for a conference last week for two days, and it's hard to get caught up on planning and grading after an absence. As a teacher, there are some days when I feel like I'm running on a treadmill, and I can't quite find my groove. But my students were really happy to see me. They worked very hard, and I feel like we accomplished a lot. When I see my students really excited to work on a project, it reminds me of why I became a teacher. :)