Walkers and Talkers

Today was our first day of Walkers and Talkers. It felt a lot different than Tiny Tots. For starters, there are fourteen kids. So total there were 32 people crammed into the room where we used to have eleven. I couldn't believe how many people kept piling into the room in the first half hour of class when I kept assuming everyone that was going to be there was already in the room! It felt very crammed and overwhelming.

The format to the class is a lot like Tiny Tots. We start with half an hour of play time. There are art projects and science projects set up. This week's science project was putting squares of colored tissue paper into beakers of water and stirring it to see what color it would turn. I felt really bad for Caden because all he wanted was to drink the water. It's hard to put a glass of water in front of him and expect him to know he can't drink it. Then the art station was set up with paints of different colors. We used real paints (washable) - a step up from colored corn syrup from our last class. Caden wouldn't cooperate with wearing the giant painting bib and threw another fit at that station.

After play time the moms had a discussion time. Today it was mostly just introducing ourselves and our kids. I think there were six boys and eight girls. Most of the moms seemed to already know each other from taking this class in the last session. The class age ranges from 16 to 23 months and most of the kids seemed to be around 20 months. We recognized Jack and Elise from Tiny Tots and another girl Olivia that we've met at a few moms club events.

Snack time followed the discussion. We had to pull the tables apart to make enough room for everyone. Caden joined in with everyone else wildly signing for more cookies over and over again. It was pretty funny looking around the room and seeing almost every child making that sign. It must be something they learn from each other pretty quickly.

After snack time we had circle time and sang a few songs. The kids always seem to like that part best. After singing we did something new - gym time. We walked through the school to a small gym that was filled with every kind of small bike, scooter, and toddler moving toy imaginable. There were also mats, balls, and hula hoops. Caden tried out a few things and spent most of his time in a little car.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about the class. It might have been because he just started the day out crabby, but Caden seemed very overwhelmed by the amount of people. He threw A LOT of tantrums while we were there. It was funny, though - I think he and Jack recognized each other because they kept being drawn to each other in the crowded room. I feel like the class size is really too big. It felt unorganized and definitely hard to have a discussion with yelling and screaming kids everywhere. But it was only the first day. Maybe things will be better in the future.

In other news, Caden seems to be picking up signs from people other than me! I've only thumbed through a signing book once and realized he's actually making a lot of correct signs. He does the diaper sign when he has a poopy. He knows how to do the hungry sign, which I never realized he was doing until this morning. He's used "more" many times today during breakfast, class, and lunch. He also makes a panting noise when he sees dogs which is actually baby sign language for dog. I was impressed! In the book I glanced through I read that most kids just develop their own sign language for things and it's up to the parents to figure out what they mean. So I've been trying to watch him a lot more closely and he really does seem to be communicating quite often through his actions. It's exciting to see while we're still anxiously waiting for real words to form. Hopefully those will start coming soon.