Go Kiddo!

• All three of the Montessori-inspired play baskets were a huge hit, and so far he hasn't eaten any of the coins or the batteries. He can't quite figure out the flashlight assembly past the batteries, but the other two baskets were developmentally on target and he loves them. He actually likes piling the half-dollars in a jam jar that's just the right size and carrying them around the house, in addition to doing the "proper" lid matching and coin-dropping.
• He's mastered the nesting bowls after doing it just a couple of times. He's figured out how unstack and restack the whole pile, adjusting for incorrect size placement. I can see his little gears whirring as he does it: "Oh, that's a big one on top of a small one, so better remove the small one and put in the big one. Ah, that's better..."
• I was fishing around in a drawer for an Emery board to fix a hang-nail and the kid swiped it from me. He pondered it for a while and then went over to his pile of texture boards. He held up the sandpaper board next to the Emery board and announced, "Rough." You get on with your bad self, kid. Inspired by this Infantino Colors and Shapes Matching Puzzle, I think I'm going to see if I can find any wallpaper or fabric scraps somewhere that would illustrate "polka dot" or "plaid" or something.