Baby Bugs

I made the decision earlier in the spring to sign Lochlan up for some summer classes to help get him out of the house and expose him to new things.  One of the classes we signed up for was called Baby Bugs.  It was a four session class for children 18 mos-3 years old offered this summer at the Dallas Arboretum.  Though Lochlan fell right in the middle of the age range, his skill levels are behind the group but since it is a parent-and-child class, we figured one of us would be there to assist him with activities anyway.

Originally I was going to take him to these Arboretum classes, but Sachin ended up doing them as I was still working the first week and later had my hands full enough with the other class we signed him up for.
So I don't really have much information to offer about the Baby Bugs classes since I wasn't there, but Sachin took a few photos from a couple of the sessions.  Each week has a theme, like "Marvelous Mud."  Basically, the Arboretum staff does a song, a nature craft, a hands-on activity, and a nature walk.  The "nature walks," according to Sachin, were kind of the low point because the toddlers were all less than thrilled about going out in the heat.  (The course we attended was during month of June and it started to heat up pretty early in the morning!) From what Sachin told me, the sensory components were interesting to Lochlan.  Working with different textures and getting his hands messy is appealing to him.  I have a Pinterest board full of sensory activities- I better get on that!

Overall, I like the concept of the summer program offerings at the Arboretum, but I'd be more likely to participate in them if they were offered during fall or spring weekends.

*Kudos to Sachin for taking Lochlan to these classes and being the only dad there!  

Here are the unedited smartphone pics that Sachin took.

C.R. Smith Museum

We had a busy Fourth of July weekend.  Sachin's mom and uncle came over from North Carolina and spent time visiting with us and Lochlan.  
We decided to take an afternoon trip to the American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum in Fort Worth.  I had heard that it had some activities for young kids and we are always looking for things to do with Lochlan so we thought we'd check it out.  
There is a Lego exhibit at the museum that Lochlan enjoyed.  He dove right into the bins of Legos without hesitation.  He did, however, get a little nervous about the crashing sounds coming from a racetrack at the exhibit where kids can send Lego cars racing down ramps.  Every time a car crashed at the end of the ramp, Lochlan did a weird little marching hop.  I've learned that he does that when he is nervous about a loud sound, which really isn't that often.  I guess we are lucky that his sensory issues aren't too bad right now.  He is generally more of a sensory seeker than a sensory avoider anyway.  
Side note-- Lochlan's issues have really led me to examine my own history, and I am starting to realize that I have had sensory avoidant issues in my life, albeit on a milder level, relating to smells, textures, and sounds.  When I was a child, I really disliked working with crayons and avoided PlayDoh at all costs because I hated the way they smelled.  I can't stand scented candles and have a hard time being near anyone wearing perfume.  I never wanted to put on Chapstick or Vaseline on my lips because of the greasy way they felt and never wanted to use sunblock on my skin for the same reason.  And I recall on several occasions having to leave concerts because I felt that they were too loud for me to deal with.  Maybe we all have stories of sensory issues or overload such as this, but like I said, Lochlan's experiences have made me go searching in my past..
  
Anyway, back to our little outing.  I think Lochlan's favorite part of the museum was an open area on one side where there was room for him to run around.  His grandma had fun playing with him there, too.  That part of the museum had beautiful lighting so of course, I took a lot of photos.  
The museum has some other cute features too- a part where you can do rubbings with crayons of different aircraft, a big board where you can test your knowledge of all the 3-digit airport codes (I admit, I choked under pressure), and a really nice gift shop.  I hope that one day, Lochlan will start to like pretend play better.  When he does, I have my eye on a cute little airplane/airport set for him!

Here are some pictures from our visit to the American Airlines museum.

CRASH!

Lochlan likes to press anything that is a circle.