Now that Jonas is 2, we've found that having a "schedule" for him really helps pass the time and keeps all of us from going crazy. :)
Jonas typically wakes up before 7am (lucky us) though we don't let him get out of his bed until 7. (We're hoping to move him to a toddler bed soon--scary!) We quickly fall into our morning routine, with snuggling our boy in our bed until breakfast at 7:30, then "tv time" for half an hour or so around 8, and then Jonas goes into his room for "room time." Though it was difficult initially, Jonas now knows that he's expected to play in his room by himself during the duration of a CD of his choice (usually it's Animal Collective's "Merriweather Post Pavilion"-- yes, our son is super hip.)
Then, we have what used to be the dreaded late morning, from 10am until lunch. I used to dread this time because it always seemed to pass so slowly, especially if we were stuck at home, but I've been teaching Jonas various "learning" activities that make this time a lot more enjoyable. Some of the things that he likes to do so far include...
...playing/sorting/creating with pattern blocks!
...playing with his trains! (he likes to do this a lot in general but especially likes it when I interact with him while he tells Thomas stories with his trains)
...stickers! (I've found that this is really good for developing his fine-motor skills.)
Basically, it's like setting up centers (like I did for my kindergarten and first grade students) for the hour. He also likes to read books, color with crayons, and work on puzzles. In the next couple of weeks I hope to add letter work (nothing too intense, just letter puzzles and recognition activities), matching activities, and pretend play. If you have any other good ideas for us, send them our way!
That takes us to 11ish, when we'll go outside to run around, go to the library, run errands, etc. and then we have lunch around 12. And then, my personal favorite time of the day, nap time! :)
(Pictures of the apartment will be up soon... we're still "settling in" and getting things on the walls and setting up the kids room.)
