Tate Tuesdays

I love having off most Tuesdays this semester. I only have a one credit class that meets four times the semester so I plan on making the most of the rest before I join the rest of the 9-5 world. Most Tuesdays it will probably just be the older nephew since I have a booster seat for him and he doesn't need nap times, but we'll try to include the little man as much as we can. My friend Ashley and her son may come over some Tuesdays too. It's kind of nice to get quality time with the kiddos and their moms while the rest of the world is at work and I probably should be doing homework.

In any case, Tate is getting older and smarter and even more fun than ever. He tore through most of the toys/games at my place on Tuesday and had fun, but we spent the most time on the puzzle cube pictured above, building a block tower to match the one on the box, and making "cookies" out of play dough. The timeless classics have it. It was so fascinating to watch his brain work in making three of the puzzle options and at times I thought he might give up, but he worked so hard and was so proud when he got them (as was I). The tower was the most complicated I have tempted but we made a game out of his getting the blocks and I kept praying Sammy would not knock it over.
Can you see his brain working in this picture and that cool tower next to it?
He is so funny. He started making all of these funny faces with the playdough mouths instead of making playdough creatures. He is very methodical as well and had a distinct pattern about which cut outs to use and when we were done.

It looks like my semester will be manageable after getting all of my syllabi on Monday and it was kind of nice to see my friends again and know that we are all in the homestretch now. 98 more days until I am done with school/my internship. I will also be thankful when tomorrow is over. It is going to be a long packed day but at least Friday is a teacher work day so I can stay at home and catch up on paperwork, then go shopping and to the Caps game with my love.