Crafty Links

We just played with Play-Dough for the first time yesterday at a playdate. Lorelai did try to put it in her mouth a few times, but that's expected. I really want to give these a try:
*Kool-Aid FingerPaint
*Peanut Butter Play Dough !!!!

And I could totally do these: Alphabet Magnets - made out of felt. I actually just bought some ABC magnets at a sidewalk sale ($1! I thought I was getting a great deal, but then I spotted them at the dollar store and Michael's as well!) - we haven't broken them out yet, but with the tutorial I could make those and just not put the magnets on. I think I even have felt!

Muffin Tin Monday (First Try)

A few weeks back I came across a blog that caught my attention. Her Cup OVerfloweth has some great ideas and I immediately added her to my blog reader. One of the ideas that stuck with me is "Muffin Tin Monday" - Lorelai is not a true picky eater (she ate green beans on her own last night and asked for more!!!) but she can be selective and I feel like I end up giving her the same things over and over again.

For this week's "Muffin Tin Monday" there was not a theme so I decided to give it a whirl with baby steps - just a few things in a few muffin cups inside a bowl.

One mistake is probably that the items are too squished together, but at the sight of the banana, toast, cheerios and blueberries, Lorelai seemed interested!


I do believe she has a cheerio in her mouth for that shot.

However, she didn't want to stay at the table and within 5 minutes she found her way into a cabinet and asked for snacks.

She decided she wanted Teddy Grahams.

Oh well.

I will give Muffin Tin Monday another shot this week. Seriously, green beans! There's hope!

Water Toys

We have a very small kiddie pool for Lorelai this year. Small but just right for her - she likes to stand in it and splash a bit (although yesterday she lay down on her belly and stuck her feet out behind her and moved her arms as if she were swimming - all on her own! Of course I didn't have the camera for that.).

We don't have many water toys - some odds and ends I have around the house. Yesterday after a trip to the dollar store I made Water Sponge Toys from Makes & Takes - easiest craft ever! I think it took longer to cut apart the sponges than anything else. I had two packages of 4 sponges in each package and made 4 toys - I had one sponge left over because I was so excited about this craft that I completely over looked that there was one left! 30 - 45 seconds tops! These would be great in the bathtub and for even littler kids - they are so easy to grab and squish, and they float!

Library Books

Here's a peek at the books we took out from the library this week:

How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Friends - I can tell you that I really enjoy when a popular book series has a board book companion(the Pigeon books do too!). Lorelai can read from a big kid / paper pages book, but she's not gentle enough for them all of the time or without supervision. I picked up this book as a last minute grab and we have read it umpteen thousand times since we have had it home. My favorite part is when you get to the part of the book that is finished asking all the questions about how do dinosaurs play with their friends and it shifts to "No, a dinosaur...." is friendly and kind. Lorelai will pipe up with "No". Cute.

The two baby books are also popular, especially Baby Food (Look Baby! Books). Little in terms of storyline - photo on one page, word on the other (banana, spoon, cracker, resting, eating, etc) - lots of close ups on the baby faces. So when we read these over and over we practice identifying parts of the body.

Kipper's Book of Numbers: Kipper Concept Books I thought would be a bigger hit as it is about a dog but Lorelai just isn't interested in this one. Oh well. That's why you get more than one book out of the library!

Books!

I love when the house gets quiet (but not the "it's too quiet and some little toddler is getting into trouble or making a mess" sort of quiet) - and I look over and Lorelai is so involved and absorbed into her books.

We have a pretty good library started for her and I plan to review / share them with anyone who is reading this blog. But that will have to happen later as it is time to get the wee one.

Happy Reading!

Meals on Monday (eventually)

I've been pretty lucky in that Lorelai has been a good eater, mostly. Usually. If she's in the mood. I am pretty sure that every parent feels that way at some point. Lately we're in a rotation of plain, white carbs - white pasta, white bread, teddy grahams, cheerios... Not that there's anything really wrong with that. She's a kid, she knows what she likes. I get very excited when she will eat something else!

Last night I put a little dab of ranch dressing on her plate - to go along with the chicken fries and maybe the carrots. Of course, she went right for it and enjoyed smooshing it and playing with it on her hands. I think she might have gotten a taste, but she was more interested in playing with it. I need to keep reminding myself that this is not going to be a neat process until she's much older.

She did eat a baby carrot last night, yay! I had sliced it into thicker than matchstick style carrots, and it took a bit of encouragement from her mom and dad, but she ate the whole thing! We've also been trying Mint Pea Pops - she will eat it with me and seems to like it. They do smell like mint chocolate chip ice cream (though I could totally tell it was cream cheese and peas when I ate it). I don't want to be sneaky about fruits and veggies, but for right now I think it's ok to present them in a different form.

I used the Super Baby Food book when she started on solids and should take another look into it for other ideas. Have you seen this website, Muffin Tin Monday on "Her Cup Overfloweth"? I forget how I originally came across it - but really want to give it a go at some point. I was probably thinking about this when I added the ranch dressing to Lorelai's plate.

Happy Eating!

It's a New Phase

First post of a new blog and a quick introduction. I'm Becca - currently a stay-at-home mom for my daughter, Lorelai, who is 19 months old. I am a knitter and do have a blog that was focused on my life "in a nutshell". As I read more blogs and Lorelai gets older, we are definitely out of the baby phase and moving into toddlerdom. I read a lot of blogs and spend a lot of time online and have noticed a lack in the toddler topic area - too old for the baby stuff, too young for the true kid stuff. It is my intent in starting this blog to focus on age appropriate activities, try out new ideas / projects I have seen online and to showcase a few of my favorite things.