Lilttle S goes shopping

It has been increasingly difficult keeping little S in a cart now that he is getting closer to two. He wants to run and explore and I can't blame him. Today at trader Joe's I handed the child a kid cart and let him help. This was so much fun for both of us. Sure it meant I needed to make a big waving motion to the other adults who may have gotten in the way to let them know my little S was coming fast with a cart, and of course I had to take things out of the cart that we really didn't need, and I even had to stop a melt down when the cashier wanted to check us out and little S didn't want her to take his things but I highly recomend this method of shopping any chance you get.

It makes him a big helper, teaches him what things are ok to have in your cart, teaches the process of grocery shopping and you'll both get plenty of exerscise.

Easter 2014

This is little S's second Easter and the first time he really has gotten to participate in a egg hunt although his first Easter the bunny did leave some really large eggs and he got to take a bath with them; this year the bunny hid eggs all over the backyard!



Little S's Easter Basket - the basket is a Dragon Pail and could be used as a room trashcan it's that big at any rate we'll use it for tons of things I'm sure. He also received Cotton Tails (white cheese balls),  Orange M&M's, lollipops, a ruber ducky wearing bunny ears, two puzzles, a kite and several books.

M's Easter basket - Jelly beans, Peeps, snicker eggs and chocolate egg candies

My Easter gift - It's complicated for holidays sometimes because I'm Paleo and do not consume sugar or grain... I received a pink bunny from the Easter Bunny and a very nice card from M and little S.

Egg Hunt!

no bake energy bites for a quick project

Little S and I today took a few minutes and made some no bake energy bites as a quick hands on project in the kitchen.


These little babies are packed with fiber and sticky goodness and as a bonus little S loved them.

In a medium bowl mix together all ingredients then chill 30 minutes.

1 cup oatmeal
2/3 cup coconut
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup flaxseed
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla

Using a small scoop, scoop and roll into balls. Store in the refrigerator in a sealed container up to one week.
 Makes 20-25

Give a child a book day - Feb 14th

February fourteenth in addition to being Valentine's Day is also International Give a child a book day. This year to celebrate that tradition and carry on the lesson of giving back, saying thank you and helping others Little S and I decided to donate some new board books to a local hospital for their waiting rooms.



We went to our local Dollar store and chose all the board books we could find for both girls and boys that we could donate. The selection for boys was very limited and we ended up with two of the Spider man books, but this way little boys will not need to share.

This was our haul. Little S looked through them all when we got home just to make sure they were good books.

The next day I gathered all of his bathtub friendly books and ran him a reading bubble bath. He had a ton of fun reading (he doesn't actually read yet.. well not in English. he looks through the pages and talks through them or laughs at the pictures) He also liked to wash the bubbles off of the books in the running water.

I try to tie together the concept of what we are doing to a bath, lunch or event to help stick the idea. Kids learn better through action and play.

Thank a Mail Person Day

Feb 4th is Thank a Mailman day and what better way to teach Little S kindness and thoughtfulness other than showing him.


I got out a thank you card and wrote inside:

"We are mothers, and fathers.And Sons and Daughters, who everyday go about our lives with duty, honor, and pride, and neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Ever"

(The above is the text that appeared on the United States Postal Service commercial after 9/11.)

I continued with:

All of which would be so much easier in Hawaii rather than Wisconsin!

Thank you for being our tough and determined mail person.

We wrote Happy Thank a Mail Person Day Please Enjoy on the front of the envelope and attached the card with ribbons to a XL Hershey bar.

Then we went outside and decorated our mailbox with streamers, and a balloon sign. We put the gift inside the mailbox for the mail person.

In honor of today Little S had a mail inspired lunch:

Main: A slice of bread decorated with food color markers to look like a letter, with a freeze dried strawberry for the stamp, served with a mini silicone cup of strawberry jam to make a self serve sandwich. Sides: Baby carrot, diced pear, corn chips and a silicone cup of Mommy's Lime in the Coconut - coconut chips.

Building Fine Motor Skills with Cheerios

I wanted to give little S a chance to play with a sensory bin that was both a tactile experience as well as something that would develop his already great fine motor skills. I had a box of expired Cheerios and put that into our sensory play container, I added valentine colored pipe cleaners, and chopsticks with a kid helper attached. the thought was that he could thread the cheerios onto the pipe cleaners and play with the chopsticks trying to pick up the Cheerios to build muscle strength in his hand.

I sat down with him and showed him how the Cheerios thread onto a pipe cleaner and he came right over sat down and took all the Cheerios that I put on the pipe cleaner off. So I filled four pipe cleaners and he pulled the Cheerios off one by one putting them into the container with the other Cheerios. I showed him the chopsticks and how to pick up a Cheerio with them but they were cooler apart rather than stuck together so he removed one from the kid helper and stuck it back into the bin of Cheerios.

For those keeping score that makes this week

1 win for the cardboard box
2 losses for camping and Cheerios



                                     

Invitation to Play Camping Picnic

It has been so cold out that we have not truly spent time outside in months. We have had snow on the ground, falling or below zero temps since November and I miss one on one outside time with little S. On my phone I have a picture of him on our last well truthfully only picnic - it was a mommy and son day. We went to the library and chose a bunch of books, then I drove us to a park we had never been to before and put out a blanket, snacks and gave him a bottle while I read all our books from the library to him. We played on the swings and slide and spent time in the quiet park together. He collected leaves and handed them to me. At first I thought he was cleaning up the park that his OCD had kicked in but soon I realized these were treasures that we needed to bring home and I put them in our bag with the library books. It was such a great day and one I know I will always treasure. Today I wanted to recreate that sort of with a invitation to play.

I made a camp fire (we didn't have one on our original picnic but its about 60-70 degrees colder outside than it was then) using some toilet paper tubes and a paper towel tube, colored construction paper and some red and glittered tissue paper. Considering I can count the number of times I have been camping with a camp fire on less fingers than I have on my left hand and I have not been in maybe 30 years I think I did a pretty darn good job.  I grabbed a jean duvet cover as it seemed the most appropriate for the event and laid it out. I added two meals from his play food.

meal one: bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich

meal two: bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich

I then put out a basket of play fruit and filled one of his cooking pans with mini marshmallows. I twisted together 2 pipe cleaners to form each of two sticks. Not for the first time in the last two months have I said to myself  "man I wish I had brown pipe cleaners" each of the times I have said this to myself I have stopped and taken a moment to think: I am so blessed to have this problem. I never thought I would need a pipe cleaner in my adult life having almost given up hope of having a child this little miracle has brought so much into my life. I hope I can be a good enough Mommy to deserve him". Not having brown I had to settle for orange. I twisted them together and then added a marshmallow or two to the ends and place them near the fire.

When he saw it after breakfast, he promptly cleaned up his toy food, set onto the couch the marshmallows on a stick, threw away the other marshmallows and got back inside the box from yesterday to color. This invitation to play apparently was  to teach mommy some you win and some you just do for the memories.

Invitation to play cardboard masterpiece

I have been feeling pretty guilty this week about the amount of time I am spending during our day on work. I work a twelve hour day from 2am to 2pm but normally there is downtime where I can take time to make and have breakfast with the men, make lunches for them, do some housework, and spend time with little S. For some reason this week between being needed more at work, his dad being gone on his days off and things around the house needing to be done; I feel like I have been letting little S down. He is a fabulous kid who I don't send  to day care so he has been having a lot of alone time playing with his toys and not a lot of me time.

I decided to make an effort to give him some invitations to play either with me or without me that are special for him.

This was super quick to put together - I grabbed one of the boxes from our Christmas in January day and opened it up. I wrote on a piece of paper.. Can you color the whole box? Mommy thinks you can. I then put it in the middle of the living room where we spend our day and added a box of washable crayons and washable pens, and his two easy grip crayons. The flat box would be great for kids of any size.

Little S caught a glimpse of this as his dad brought him downstairs for breakfast and couldn't wait to check it out. He refused to get into his high chair, refused his milk, he wanted nothing but to go check it out. So we postponed the breakfast which was getting cold on the table and I let him do his thing. I read to him what the paper said.. and showed him that he could use a color crayon on the cardboard or the paper. That's all it took and he was scribbling away. After a quick examination of what it was and how it worked he was hungry, and we had breakfast. After breakfast he went right back to playing with the pens. I knew the pens would be his favorite part we just started playing with them the other day and he loves putting the caps on and taking them back off. Since these are washable when he gets it all over his hands or face it comes off with a baby wipe.

I happen to get a delivery of our Amazon Subscription today that came in a larger box and thought he's really liked the flat box but he's small enough to get inside this box. I put the pens away and added the crayons to the box and then put him in it. SCORE one for mommy. This has been something he has enjoyed playing with for a week since I first gave it to him. He's scribbling on the sides and learning to close the box and likes the in and out process because it involves mommy lifting him both ways. This box has been a great toy and is still box shaped after a week.

A trip to the library

Sunday we took a trip to the library, little S and I. We spent more than an hour together while he played with the other kids, ran around, and played on the computers. He picked out a few books as soon as we got there and then enjoyed the time. There was this girl who had to be nearly 7 that approached him while he was playing in the toy kitchen and asked if she could play with him. I let her know he would love to play with her and that he is very little and is just learning to talk. She was so sweet with him and as I hovered near by he played with her and in his own way complimented her on her jewelry. She had on a necklace that he stopped and looked at then pointed to she told him what it was a picture of but I didn't overhear and he smiled at her. All that might seem very normal to most moms; to me it's amazing. My son is most of the time an only child and when his half brother and sister are here they are a lot older than him so he doesn't have a lot of time playing with kids near his age or that are strangers. I hovered nearby to ensure he was playing nicely but also gave him some space to play with other kids.  I didn't know if she was going to really play with him or just take over where he was playing, when he went to touch the necklace I got really worried would he pull it, would she scream, would she push him, I didn't know how the parents would react to my son touching their daughter, and I couldn't have been more amazed. The little girl was so sweet and kind to him, she told him about her necklace and didn't freak out that he was touching it, her dad who looked up didn't give it two seconds of thought likely because she was calm, and my son just smiled at her and let the necklace go. He just had a  connection with this stranger who took the time to let him get to know something about her with patience and grace, and it touched my heart. Honestly it still brings tears to my eyes. 

This little wonder that I brought into the world after ten months of putting him together just experienced another human connection and I couldn't have been more thankful for this little girl. He wasn't bullied, teased or pushed aside because he couldn't talk or didn't know how to share very well, she cared for him and was tender and calm and sweet. They played together a few more minutes before he went to explore something new and realized our library has a ton of computers.

We found a computer in a quiet area and i let him bang on their keys for a while, and almost lol stopped him in time from rebooting their system. He even let his OCD out... someone had left two books on the couch near where I sat down so he could play some more in the kitchen area, he grabbed the books and put them away. I don't mean he shoved them wherever. He literally took them to where that book went. He put one book in section 9 and the other book in section 4, three books back from the front. It was like he had memorized where all the books were when we chose the books as soon as we got to the library and put them back where he remembered them being. It was such a him move I laughed. 

We had a great time and he left under protest. I don't want to overload him and I wanted to keep to our schedule for dinner; also leaving while you still want more is a great way to ensure he'll want to come back and do it again. 

We checked out eight books, two that he chose and six that mommy chose with the next  letter of the week in mind. He fell asleep on the five minute drive home so I call that a successful outing. 

Week B also meant spending a lot of time with our Books.

One of the things I make sure we do is read everyday. Some days we are busy and it may only be one or two books here or there; other days it could be an hour of mommy sitting on the floor reading whatever book you hand her. I also make sure on the days daddy has off he reads at least a few books too. I want reading and books to be a big part of his life because like I've said before if you can read, you'll never be lost, lonely or without adventure and the knowledge you have is the one thing no one else can take from you. I don't just stop at Mommy and Daddy, I rope in the big kids when we  have them also. I have H read her books out loud to me so I can check for understanding, pronunciation and answer any questions she may have. It also acts as a way for her and I to spend time together while I'm working that benefits all of us. A doesn't usually bring a book as he has an aversion to reading like his father that I am trying to avoid in Little S; so I have A read Little S's books to him. I want it to sink in deep inside that everyone he loves reads and that makes it important also it helps build his vocabulary.


These were the most popular books of the week.  I read them so many times this week I have them all memorized and many of these are new ones, obviously not the Easter Bunny book which I can recite in my sleep and we use to play another game. This book in particular I may have mentioned before is one of his favorite books and since I have it memorized he can turn to any page and Mommy reads (tells him) what is on the page. It's super fun to slam the book shut or open it to another page and Mommy stops mid word and changes to the new page or just waits for him to reopen the book to start from the top. One day we must have done this for hours... slam the book Mommy stops reading, open the book and Mommy starts over this was apparently very hilarious. This seems to be the only book he associates with this game, which just means he hasn't yet noticed Mommy has all the other books memorized also. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is one of my grocery store songs/stories if he is starting to lose interest, which seems to tie into a alphabet obsession I am just recognizing in myself.

grocery shopping play

One of the coolest things Little S got for the holiday was a metal shopping cart. His cousins Neil and Nash sent it to him and it's perfect. Because it's metal it is super sturdy and with the red seat and handle it really looks like the carts we use at the store.

I've set up our wall unit before to be a store for Little S but today was the first time he could use his shopping cart to carry more items. We use boxes and bottles from our recycling bin, washed out in the case of the bottles and tapped shut in the case of the boxes, in addition to our pretend play IKEA food. I set up different sections for different types of food - like a produce area and a beverage area and he goes shopping.


It is a lot of fun and it teaches gross motor skills, colors if I ask him to get me a red tomato or a green onion, and it is food recognition. Little S loves to cook with me anytime I am in the kitchen for over a minute he's pushing a chair into the counter corner and climbing up to help. It's a mommy and son thing that we can share and enjoy and teaches so many skills. Right now he stirs things, adds things if I give him little containers of stuff like the do on TV shows when they cook, and tastes things for me. Later I'll have him measure (math and science) and  cut things (building up hand coordination and muscles for writing). If he hasn't been all that excited about eating something in the past the easiest way to get him to eat it is to have him help cook it.


These are some pictures of the wall unit and the shopping cart:

One nice day! Car Wash Bathtime

During the entire two weeks around the holidays we had a lot of snowy days and ones there the cold goes through all the layers of clothes you have on; but we did get one nice day. It was sunny, clear and 40F!!! That's practically T-shirt weather in southern Wisconsin, so I set little S up with a Car wash themed bath.

His sister H was looking at me strangely while I gathered up all the plastic toy cars from the toy bin and hauled them to the bathtub. Little S has figured out now that if mommy takes toys and things to the bathroom its time to get naked and so he started stripping down while I decorated and since he is pretty fast he beat me. I can't help but laugh because when he decides he wants to be naked he strips everything off (diapers slow him down but not long enough) and he RUNS.. I mean RUNS through the house completely naked and I have Calvin and Hobbs flashbacks from comic strips when I was growing up. All you see is naked boy butt run bye.


I did a quick mix of red and blue food coloring with shaving cream to give me some bathtub paint and made a quick sign since I was on borrowed time (no diaper = bound to have at least one puddle)

This was so quick and easy a less than 5 minute assembly.

Car wash 5 cents - written with shaving cream paint
Cars - from the toy bin all in need of a good bubble bath
Bubbles - can't have a car wash without bubbles

Snowing outside Play a game inside

Since it is still snowing I decided we needed a game to keep the kids moving. I layed down an outline of painters tape on the floor and broke out the container of pompoms. I gathered several lengths of cardboard tubes - and got the game going.


You could chose you pompom and your tube.

Items needed:

long tubes - gift wrapping insides
medium tubes - paper towel rolls
short tubes - toilet paper rolls
tiny tubes- Cut one paper towel roll into pieces about half the size of a toilet paper roll.
pompoms - I added a handful of different sizes and colors to a small container


The Game-

Get your pompom down the track, around the u-turn and back over the finish/start line first without touching your pompom with any part of your body or a tube. If your pompom went off the coubirse you needed to get it back to the course where it went out you couldn't move it ahead.

We did this several times while H (age 8) tried to determine which length of tube worked best. Although there was some cheating (blowing your pompom ahead when it went out) and some blocking (so sorry your pompom can't pass me because my body is taking up the whole course) it was a lot of inexpensive fun.

If you didn't have pompoms you could do the same with a piece of paper, wadded up clean toilet paper, or foil.

Snow Day Bath Time

Keeping with the snow day theme I enlisted the help of the big kids A and H to help me set up a snow day bath for little S. A kept an eye on the stripping S while H and I decorated. I pulled out the shaving cream, food coloring and some craft brushes and we made snowflakes.

I use sensitive skin shaving cream but any kind of "foam" cream will have the same effect. Just add a few drops of food coloring and mix to get a paint that washes right off. (Note RED lingers- it takes a little scrubbing to get the red paint off all the way)

We made blue, purple and white snowflakes all over the shower/bath stall.

 I then grabbed a package of blue necklace length glow sticks and once glowing added them to his bath. The final addition was the while bubbles to give him a blue and white winter wonderland and glowing bath for our Snow Day Theme.

1. 

Quiet one on one connection time

Again we took a few minutes out of our normal routine to connect with an activity. Little S's participation is really more of a what are these? can i play with the bag? what did you make? let me take yours apart and Oh no!!! something hit the floor.


A few weeks ago I had used my cookie cutter to put together some quiet bags - activities that this year we could do together which were holiday themed and next year when he's bigger could be a  creative project. Today I took out the gingerbread package.

I sat with all the items in front of me asking him if he knew how to make a gingerbread man.. and could he help me put his little hat together. Today I didn't get a ton of help. He watched me put together the gingerbread man while playing with the baggy and then handed me button pieces for the next man but did not make one himself. Once both of mine were done and I started asking him if he could do it he decided it was time to clean up. He helped me put all the little pieces back into the baggy and for the three that had fallen to the floor he went to the pantry door to get a broom. Instead of making gingerbread men we bonded over sweeping the floors (something we do at least once if not four times a day)

There is always next year.

Sea Creature bath

I try to make bath time fun my thought process is that with my son being a little ocd on the clean side now.. if I can instill in him that bath time and shower time is fun then somewhere in the back of his mind later in life getting him to not stink will be easier.

Today we had a sea creature bath. I recently turned in a bunch of pampers points for another reward - our first reward was a Melissa and Doug puzzle that we play with constantly and this time I chose bathtub stickers. When they arrived they are really the same kind of foam creatures we have in his alphabet and numbers set just with pretty sides so I got out our sea creatures from the alphabet set and mixed them in to have a bunch of sea life. I stuck some to the wall and the rest I had waiting in the tub.

He likes to splash them around and once he noticed the ones on the wall would come off if you tried we had a new game. Mommy tried to get them to stick to the wall faster than he could get them all off. He was laughing and stomping and splashing and smiling from ear to ear which makes my world a brighter place and touches my heart in ways nothing else does so we played for a while. He started knocking others off with the ones he was pulling off so that he could get more than just the two in his hands off at one time. I cheered when he got them all off and he was so proud of himself. We finished the bath like normal with him pulling the plug when he's ready (sometimes this is 2 minutes into the bath sometimes this is 10 minutes into the bath) which means it's time to get clean. I turn on the water so it pours out of the faucet and he splashes. Then I turn the shower head on (its removable) and we alternate those two steps while he gets soaped up and cleaned off. It never takes very long but it is always a fun time.

ABC matching

I am not even sure little S was born yet when my mom his Omi sent him the abc bag; I know it's been put away most of the time we've had it so he didn't try to eat the pieces. This is a quiet bag it has a separate pocket for each letter and inside the pocket is a soft item that starts with that letter and has it's name embroidered on it.  The labels have proven helpful because I never would have guessed rabbit and not rat when looking at the little animal.

A little history when I had little S I had him by C section and was medicated, I wanted to sing my new baby a lullaby but couldn't think of any. The only songs I knew were the abc's, twinke twinkle, and the bologna jingle from when I was a kid so I sang those to him, I continue to sing those to him every single night. I have his name on the wall above his downstairs changing table and spell his name to him. He has always tried spelling it back.. for a long time he would pat his chest and say er er er er er er er. His name is Spencer and S P E N C ER turned out how I generally said it to him so the part he could remember and say was the last two letters. The alphabet has been a large part of his life from day one and continues to be. When we repainted the family room where he and I spend most of our time I put the alphabet on the wall. They are decals that each have a different picture with the letter and spell the word so we can do site words, alphabet and other things as he get's older. 

I took out our quiet abc book and went through all the letters chosing the ones who's little pillow item matched the picture on the wall. Like I for ice cream or star for S and left in the book the ones that didn't match like our wall has N as nest and the book has it as nail. Since the pictures do not match I didn't want this to be super hard. I held each of the little pillow pieces from the book up to the wall picture said the letter and the name of the item like I ice cream and tapped the pillow to the picture. After showing him a few I asked him where the whale went.. where do the pictures match? He surprised me sticking with this longer than I had thought and matching better than I suspected he would his first time out.

Then he took some time to dump out all the little pillow items from the book and check them all out. Mommy's OCD kicked in and not wanting to lose any I made sure at clean up that they were all back in the right spots. Oddly I couldn't find the frilly pillow that goes in P and I couldn't even remember what the P item was since it didn't match the wall where P is pear. I looked all over for it, I went back through the book checking all the pockets then I frisked my son. I found the little pillow inside his pj top. I smiled and told him it was a very good thing he had kept that one safe because mommy had no idea what letter P item she was looking for and pillows are much softer than either pears or penguins.