At the Park

Here are some pics from the other day. Grandma "Abi" took Lizzy to the park and had lots of fun!

Little Chef

Lizzy loves to pretend to cook. Here's the little chef:

Dinner and a Makeover

Dinner is always messy but this time Lizzy decided to give herself a little makeover by styling her hair with Alfredo sauce!

Education Around the World

I watched a couple documentaries of teachers in Japan and India that were quite inspiring and I thought I would share if anyone is interested.

Children Full of Life

Wings of evolution - Click title to watch.

Tidbits of Summer 2010 Photo Book

I love shutterfly photo books! I use to do a lot of scrapbooking but with a toddler it is nearly impossible to do unless she's sleeping and it's quite time consuming not to mention all the expensive supplies needed so instead I make photo books which in my opinion is easier and just as enjoyable. They have many backgrounds and layouts to choose from and they turn out nicely. There is also online scrap booking sites such as scrapblog where you can use virtual stickers and tags to make more detailed scrapbook pages online to print. Here is a shutterfly photo book of tidbits of summer 2010 I made the other day in less time than it took to upload the photos:

Click here to view this photo book larger

Fun in the Sand

More Summertime Fun

Fall is just around the corner, but we just got settled into summer! In Houston we have about 2 more months of warm weather so there's still time for some warm weather fun. Today I took Lizzy to the water fountains at Kemah and we were the only ones there! A week ago there would have been at least 20 kids playing there but school's in, so more fun for us!

Lizzy had lunch with her godmother Stephanie

I feel lucky to be able to spend my days with Lizzy doing various things.

Summer Corn

Lizzy helped me shuck corn today, I would offer her one shuck at a time and she would yank it off and put it in the waste pile. Lizzy was so delighted when she saw what was inside.

Here is Lizzy enjoying corn on the cob for the first time!

Being goofy with the corn. Lizzy has a real sense of humor she likes to make us laugh.

Open Ended Play: Waldorf Playstand

As I mentioned in previous posts Lizzy has outgrown many of her "baby" toys now that is she walking and playing on her own. So... I have gone on a baby toy purge and sold or given away all the baby toys she has outgrown, plastic toys, and toys that make unnatural noises. I did keep a few toys that were either plastic or made unnatural noises for now because those in particular were gifts from close family for Lizzy and I want her to appreciate that and play with them if she chooses to.

From the proceeds of the toy purge we invested in a waldorf playstand. A playstand is a simple wooden structure which supports children’s open ended play. It can be whatever they want it to be! A puppet theatre, a shop, a house, a boat, a castle, a cave, a house or whatever they want it to be. This toys grows with the child and their imagination. Lizzy is loving it so far, here she is:

It's only Natural...

Lizzy has a real strong urge to be outside she absolutely loves it but when we don't go outside in nature she can get a bit crabby. There has been a heat advisory in our area for several weeks now but Lizzy could care less. As her mother I know the dangers of heat but I also know the benefits to letting her play outside even for 20 min. So...I choose to lather her up in sunscreen and take lots of cold water with us while we play for 20 min but I can't wait until it starts to cool down some so we can have more fun outdoors.

Here she is:


Here is a video of Richard Louv author of Last Child in the Woods describing the benefits of nature in a child's upbringing and the risks of being nature deficit which include behavioral problems and obesity. I have seen firsthand that Lizzy is much more crabby when she hasn't been outdoors in a while but when we go outside even in the heat it's actually refreshing to both of us. Please watch this video to learn more (Click Here)

Making Wings Tutorial

Materials

• Two Wire Hangers
• Pair of tights
• Duct tape
• Ribbon, flowers, etc to decorate between wings

First bend the wire hangers into the shape you want the wings to be. Then, Lay them flat and use the duct tape to tape the two together.
Cut the tights from the knee down and use this material to cover each wing. Tie the two pieces of tight material together in the back to secure them.
Where the tights are tied together in the back you can add the arm holes which are made of two segment loops from the left over tights material. Tie these segments to the tight material in the back. I also glued it to secure it better, then added some black ribbon to cover the knots.
You can use flowers, ribbon or whatever kind of embellishment to put in between the wings. I also used a puffy fabric paint pen in gold color to put designs on the wings.
This is the finished product. Lizzy tried them on and ran all over the place laughing. I'm planning ahead for Halloween this year. Lizzy will be a bee and I will be making her costume so I started with the wings so far. I asked Lizzy what she wanted to be for Halloween and she said "bee"!

Practical Life Activity: Stitching Block

The stitching block encourages hand eye coordination and concentration. This block was recommended to me for Lizzy but I think it's a little advanced for her. In any case she sure was concentrated on it.

Happy girl

Living Simply with Children

Lizzy has been busy doing things with family but I haven't documented it because I dropped my little camera that I take everywhere in the pool and since then it hasn't recovered so I haven't taken pictures of our adventures. I have a larger more bulky camera that takes better pictures I just don't like to carry such a bulky camera in addition to my bulky diaper bag. Lizzy is getting to an age where she doesn't need much when we go out so I maybe just keep a couple essentials in my purse and say goodbye to the diaper bag so that I can carry my camera comfortably. In talking about simplifying I will give a review of a book I read recently called Living Simply with Children.

This book talks about living a simpler life by getting rid of consumerism, excess and waste to live a simpler life that allows more time with your family. It contains lots of resources, and it's very informative for those wanting to start living a simpler family life.

In my experience so far Lizzy has more toys than a 1 year old needs. Since even before she was born I have purchased all the latest baby toys that are out there and she's also received many gifts in her short life. Being native I thought the more flashing, talking (educational) toys the better but now I know too many toy choices are overwhelming to a child and do not allow the child to play with one toy very long or use their imaginations. Lizzy has actually outgrown most of her baby toys so I have slowly been giving these toys away. Now we mostly have simpler, more natural toys that can be used in different ways so that they are able to grow with Lizzy. In any case we still have way too much stuff compared to most of the world. For a better world we must live simply and be a conscious shopper. Find out if the item was made fairly meaning the worker and environment was treated fairly. So much excess is at the expense of abused workers and a polluted earth. I'll get off my little soapbox and close with this quote I love:

"Live more simply so that others may simply live" Gandhi.

Tiny Helper

Lizzy Helping sweep up all the little crumbs she leaves on the carpet after snack time

Such a little helper

Mommy and Baby

Lizzy and I on the couch watching Yo Gabba Gabba!

Corners of our Home

I had seen a picture of a mobile somewhere with hanging wooden hearts that looked so cute and easy to make, it inspired me to make my own mobile for Lizzy's room. I used an embroidery ring that I took apart for the hanging base, little wooden spirals that I painted with watercolor, and rainbow yarn to pull it all together.

I hung it above the rocking chair in Lizzy's room. Here she is getting attacked by the snake:

Here she is again just rocking in the chair:

Lizzy

I usually don't post much on the weekends. That is my time to disconnect but here are some pictures of Lizzy being Lizzy. Enjoy and have a nice weekend!

Toddler Yoga

Yoga is a great way to relax and be active at the same time. With a toddler it's a fun activity to do with them. I have done yoga with Lizzy since she was a small infant and now that she is a toddler it's a lot different. With a small baby you put them in the positions and move their limbs for them and as a toddler they choose if they want to imitate the positions you do in front of them. Many of the yoga positions are named after animals and resemble animals, this is a great way to get toddlers and children interested because many kids like to imitate animals.

We haven't been able to make it to the mommy and me yoga class in our area because the class is taught very early in the morning and Lizzy is use to sleeping later. For reference we use baby/toddler DVD and books which are great. I recommend the Little Yoga books for toddlers which have very simple pictures for toddlers to see.

Lizzy is very energetic and as soon as I got the yoga mat out she was running up and down the mat. She reminded me more of a little gymnast than a toddler yogi. Maybe we will try gymnastics when she is older. Here she is on that mat letting me snap a quick picture:

Toddler Foods

Now that Lizzy is off pureed foods I have to be creative and find good healthy food Lizzy will eat.

Lizzy and I have breakfast together every morning. Breakfast is simple because we eat the same thing and she usually eats pretty good. For breakfast we usually have either cereal, oatmeal, bagels, fruit, eggs, toast, or yogurt.

For lunch we eat together and Lizzy usually eats sandwiches and quesadillas. Ham and cheese, PB& Jelly, grilled cheese, grilled peanut butter and bananas, tuna, and cream cheese sandwiches. Other things we have for lunch are different kinds of rice, pasta, mac and cheese and left overs.

We had rice for lunch today:

For dinner our little family eats together and Lizzy eats whatever I fixed for dinner. Since dinners vary so much it's a win or lose situation. Lizzy may like what is for dinner and eat everything and want seconds or she may pass on it.

Lizzy has snacks throughout the day. Her favorites are goldfish, graham crackers, cheese, soups, pretzels, fruit leathers, yogurt, ham, and fruit and veggies.

Eating can get messy so we put a rug under Lizzy's chair to catch the mess. Bella also helps clean up. Lizzy can eat with a fork and spoon but it's hard for her to get the food to stay on the spoon or fork on its way to her mouth. The joys of toddler hood. Bon appetit!

Cooking in the Kitchen

Lizzy has been imitating me cooking in her little play kitchen area. Here she is cooking something up:

Preparing

Stirring

Flipping

I just ordered a little chef's hat. I can't wait for it to arrive!