Baby Girl is getting big enough to sit, grab items, put them in her mouth and explore everything she can get her tiny hands on. Therefore I’m being inspired to get back into the Montessori groove at home. It’s always here. Since my girls have been in Montessori school since they were two, the philosophies are part of life and it oozes in everywhere. I’m grateful for that.
My Little Middle Girl, who is 6 and officially kindergarten age, had a “mommy day” last week. She decided to set up “lesson shelves” for baby girl in the living room. It’s cold now so most of our baby play happens by the cozy fire. Little Middle first set up small baskets with one toy in each basket. She soon learned that was a bad plan because baby girl just grabbed the baskets and put them in her mouth. This is what she came up with. It’s a temporary set up for now. We are planning on creating her own real Montessori infant shelf in her room for Spring.
We skipped the jumper seats and exersaucer seats with all the connected toys, lights a jazz for her. She has enough stimulation in our house. But I did need a practical place to put her when she wants to be upright and part of the gang. She can sit unassisted for small bouts of time surrounded by pillows but when things need to get done in the kitchen, mom needs to shower and the girls are having dance parties – she sits in this plain and simple walker. We can give her one toy at time. Or I just pass her a spice jar to shake like I did here. She gets wheeled over the house observing everything around her. Soon enough she’ll be crawling all over. I’m savoring the stationary play for now. It was the perfect Christmas gift for her, from grandparents.
We have a weaning table and chair on order for Baby Girl, being made by my dad. I don’t like that term. Because she is not weaning any time soon. But when she is ready for food, she’ll have her own little table just her size. I suppose that is officially the beginning of the weaning phase. BUT my babies have nursed into toddlerhood. I have a love for child size tables around our house. There was a time when all the bigs were all little and we had one in every room of the house.
This one was my husband’s as a child. It makes me so happy. 
When Little Middle had her “mommy day” she already had her lunch packed. She sat in the kitchen and ate it at home. She lined it all up. She’s totally a little Montessori kid.
My Oldest Girl brings home lost of Montessori influences that I love. At the end of the day they have a time where they explore different forms of “games, exercise and music.” The general time is known as GEM. She has learned to knit, do origami, henna and recently her teacher brought in her a book about making sun bread on snowy days. My oldest girl brought it home and instantly went to work baking the bread. She has so much independence and confidence in the things she chooses to do. She teachers her sisters and they share the similarities and appreciate her passing on what she learns. She gave me the okay to share about this here.
The Middle Big Girl was home sick yesterday. She was super bummed she missed the annual Chinese celebration at school. Her favorite part is making Chinese lanterns and decorating for their Chinese lunch they have catered by a local Chinese restaurant. Last night we took our usual Monday taco night and turned into a Chinese celebration. Both big girls surprised us with all the knowledge they shared about Chinese culture and the New Year. I couldn’t believe we pulled it all off and I hope to write a full post about it. We just happened to have five sets of chopsticks, asian spices to add to the tacos (hehe) and gold coins (never mind they were American money). I haven’t been able to pull off something like this on the fly since baby girl was born. It was a great child-led dinner. My Montessori kids made it happen. It warmed my heart. 
To temporarily take attention away from the truly great big life stuff you’re talking about here, seeing those gorgeous little low-back Windsor chairs made my entire day. Beautiful post in several ways.