The 'New' Playroom

It's 1:30am.  WTH am I doing up at this time??  Cleaning, that's what.  Hurricane Nicholas came through today will full force leaving behind a disaster zone that makes Katrina look mild.  These past couple of days have been rough, he's been acting way out of character for him and by the time he is in bed I have been too exhausted to attempt cleaning up.  Today I had a little extra energy, we had a surprisingly ok evening after his nap, so I went to work before FEMA has a chance to try and 'help.'  

Cleaning up, while it took almost an hour, was a breeze!!  All thanks to my new set up and system (yay!).  I didn't move too much of his things around but did take out my bookcases from the playroom (aka living room) which has left an incredibly nice space.  Moved a couple of things around and I have been incredibly satisfied with the result.  And since insomnia has kicked in, I shall tell you all about these changes.

This is where the bookcases are now, in the area that is suppose to be for the dining room.  It works.  These are my things and I should be able to access them.  Since they are not in his play space he isn't as tempted to take stuff off of them.  Also, since he has to pass me in order to get to them I can deter easily.  I caught him trying to climb it a couple of times and that really scared me since they aren't tethered to the wall.  He has no business past the the carpet line and he knows this so I do not worry as much having them here.

The area between the desk and the couch, which was still messy when I took this picture, now houses his books.  This works for three reasons.  One, it separates them from his toys so they do not run the risk of being treated as a toy.  Two, it is much easier to read to him since I can easily read to him from my desk, if I am there, or the couch instead of having to go across the room to decide on a book, travel back to the chair, read, and then travel back to put the book back.  This gets tiresome if he wants several books.  Finally, it has completely eliminated the book dumping he had been doing since he was able to reach his books.  He comes over, choses a book, and puts it back.  It's out of sight when he gets into his dumping trance and dumps all his toys.  That is the best part of having them there.

My desk!  I have a functioning desk again.  This had become a dumping ground and now it is useable.  While I am not playing with Nicholas I can be here on my computer, out of his way but close enough to still be available to him on demand.  I don't have to leave my computer since it's right next to his space.  If we are playing I can still come back during breaks easily.  And if he has decided I am no longer fun I can sit here and still be with him.  And not more computer getting in the way of or our play!

This table used to be where the books are now.  This table ended up being an extension of the dumping ground that my desk was and hated that I was using a table that had such great purpose for that.  It is now between his kitchen (to the right) and my CD storage (to the left).  It is a perfect fit so even though the table has casters he has not moved it.  The surface is large enough to hold all his puzzles and give him a large free space to use them on.  This is a very busy table holding the large puzzles, four small puzzles, a dress up puzzle, the dress up doll, a box with letters, and the bag with geometric shapes. Yes, they all get dumped sometimes.  But they tend to remain contained in this general area which is great for picking them up.  I simply toss everything onto the table top when I am cleaning and leave it for the end when I sit and sort on the table.  Very quick.

The ottoman is one of those things I never thought I'd need so much.  It is not only a sitting space but houses all the balls.  Out of sight, out of mind, right?

Playing with shapes

His interpretation 

He consistently places the trapezoid upside down 

I thought that once he saw the guides that he would not figure out how to make stuff on his own.  He has but always destroys it before I can get a picture :(.

I find his attempts at dressing the doll all the time.  These were some early ones and his skill has much improved.

These are still in the same location but there are some minor changes.  The biggest is that the bins are now sitting on the rails rather and slanted.  The bins all overflow and having them slanted caused everything to flow out.  Another change was putting on the kitchen items in one bin and taking out all the tracks so that there was space for stuff that was being stored on top of his kitchen.  The legos (on the middle shelf to the right) were also brought down from on top of the kitchen.

These are train items, loose vehicles, and blocks.  The blocks used to be under the TV but this area keeps them more contained when they get dumped.  The vehicles used to be on top of the kitchen and he can now easily dig through the tracks.  Large train items are in the Thomas bench.  Even though this takes up floor space it is safer.  Having things on top of the kitchen meant he tried climbing it to get to it instead of asking for them.  While he cannot tip it over (I tried and it was difficult for me) he could easily fall over.  

This area is what makes cleaning up so easy.  Everything gets contained in this one area right were they all belong instead of all over the room.  The angled table gives him just enough space for him to walk through between the couch and the kitchen so the toys don't spill over.  Also, I removed the legs of the couch so they don't end up under it either.  Another change is that I have not set up the train tracks.  He enjoys building them himself anyway and it gives him an extra surface to use his cars, blocks, dishes, and all those other toys.  Because that area is small he ends up getting frustrated with the mess and puts stuff away on his own sometimes.  Always a bonus.

It is now past 3am and *now* I am ready for bed.