Le-go my LEGOS!

"

"Mamaw from her house" (what the boys call my Mom vs. their Mama from Florida) came over one day toward the end of January bearing treasures. She had a single-hole punch, which I had asked to borrow, a book of the Berenstein bears, which the boys love, a heart-shaped pancake mold (so excited to try it!) and a big starter Lego set for the boys. They were THRILLED! I explained that these are special to play with, and we'll keep them cleaned up when baby Ryan is playing with us. But, we can build and explore while he naps.

So, on Saturday, January 28, we opened them all up as the baby slept and started organizing all the various legos by color. Then we put each color into its own ziploc baggy. They're easier to find as we're building when they're organized, and it gives the boys a specific way to clean them up. This set is HUGE so there are lots of pieces (thanks, Mom!). We used the little book that came with it to build some things together.

First, we made Joshua's airplane. He didn't want to take it apart after we were done, so I let him keep it out. He'd hand me the pieces and we'd count dots together to build it. Fun!

I asked him to model it for us, and he was happy to do so!

Then, Caleb asked for the house. This is a 20-page instruction guide on how to put together this thing! But, that's what he wanted so that's what we did. He needed more help than the Bean (showing their age difference) and lost interest as I was finishing it, but he was SO excited when it was done. I loved the windows and doors and all the neat things that are part of this set. Caleb called it his gingerbread house and didn't want to take it apart either. But, as he was carrying it around the house, he tripped and the pieces went flying. That was a good excuse to put it away for another time to rebuild again.

They are enjoying the legos. Joshua said that he has a big boy set like his cousin Jordon. :) And, we've seen all sorts of things that you can add on to a good basic set as the boys get older. It definitely helps their critical thinking and reasoning as they build new structures and play with them. So far they've been good about cleaning them up when they're finished as well. Thanks for this generous gift, Mamaw!