Archive for the ‘Parenting’ Category

Christmas Sensory Tub

Sunday, December 5th, 2010

Mikayla loved her fall sensory tub so much, I decided to put together a Christmas/winter tub.  I added in some scoops for her to use this time as well!  Here is the completed tub.  I hope she has as much fun with this as she did the fall one! 

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Here are some close ups of what I included this time:

November 045 Cotton balls (for snow) and scoops

November 046 Candles that "light up" and textured snowflakes.  Turns out Mikayla is not a fan of the scratchy texture!

November 047Tinsel garland and jingle bell bracelets 

November 048   Tiny clay ornaments

Any suggestions for a January tub?

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Guess Who??

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

I bet you can’t guess who is lurking in the cabinet? 

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Any guesses yet?  Here is a clue:  She is the cutest blue eye, blond headed 18.5 month old…

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Peek A Boo!  I see you!

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As Mikayla would say, "Mor" or in English "more"!

November 019This child is starting to get a bit of a pot belly! 

This has become one of Mikayla’s new favorite games.  Along with snack, candy, chips and of course reading her books.  Can you tell daddy stays at home with her?  Just kidding, I am pretty sure I indulge in her requests as much as (if not more than) Ben!  Here are some more cute snapshots of Mikayla.

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This girl loves her bubbles!

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She is turning into quite the "shaggy" girl!

On a non-Mikayla related note, I made these fantastic Fiesta Beef and Black Bean Enchiladas the other night.  They were easy and surprisingly tasty.  The only thing I altered was to add some bell peppers (red, yellow and green…all leftovers from a previous meal) and onions.  As well as a dash or two of cumin, oregano, and black pepper.  If I were to make them over again I think I would use the Queso Blanco from Nice and Cheesy (off brand of Velveeta found at Kroger) instead of traditional Velveeta.  The cilantro on top is a must, as it adds a little extra kick to the dish.  We served with chips and Mexican rice.  It also warmed up pretty good too!  This is a definite keeper in our recipe box!

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18 Months Old

Sunday, November 7th, 2010

Have 18 months really passed since Mikayla was born? 

Mikayla 006She wasn’t very happy here, just moments after her arrival!

November 003Much happier here.  Side note – she is sporting a hat made by the one and only Brittany.  You can purchase one too for $10!

It is crazy how time flies!  Dr. F said Mikayla looked great at her check up on Tuesday.  At 18 months she was 32 inches long, weighed in at 22 lbs and her head was a whopping 47 cm.  She has grown 3.5 inches since her one year appointment…the nurse was super impressed with this growth.  I mean I knew she had grown, but wow!  She is still below average in weight and head circumference, but is above the red average line in height.  She is also talking more, not sentences yet, but she is putting "I" in front of a lot of statements.  For example "I poo poo", "I eat", etc.  She is also signing more and communicating with us when she has gone to the bathroom.  She doesn’t usually tell us beforehand that she needs to go, but almost always tells us after the fact.  I believe we are on our way to potty training this little baby!  She still only eats one good meal a day, but apparently that isn’t stopping her from growing!

She took her two shots like a champ at her 18 month checkup!  As a reward we went to the park for a little fun, including Ben attempting to fly his homemade kite!

November 028 Sensory tub update.

November 029 Mikayla loves her tub!  I am already making plans for a winter themed tub.  Any suggestions?

November 032 Daddy’s kite!

November 036 Her concentration face!

November 038Making mommy a snack! 

November 042 Sliding with daddy is so much fun!

November 054 A somewhat successful self portrait.

November 056 Mikayla, what did you do when you were 18 months old?  Oh I just hung around!

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A Little Fall Leaf Action

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

We don’t have very many leaves in our yard, but I wanted Mikayla to get to experience playing in fall leaves.  So, we headed north to Smiths Grove to play in the leaves with Lylah and Lara.  I think the girls had a good time, and as usual Mikayla was her typical comical self.  We ended the day with a delicious breakfast for dinner and story time at the local library.  Mikayla loved dancing around with scarves and got extremely tickled when I painted her hands to make a hand turkey. 

IMG_9597 She was so excited to play in the leaves!

IMG_9598 Whoa!

IMG_9599 Seriously, look at that expression on her face!

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IMG_9605 She thought it was great fun to lay down in the leaves.

IMG_9606 Lylah, on the other hand, didn’t really understand why we were laying down in the leaves.

IMG_9607 Mikayla buried in the leaves!

IMG_9609 A failed attempt at capturing both girls sitting still, smiling and looking at the camera!

IMG_9613 A cute girl in fun fall leaves!

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Hopkins Hop

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

In case you didn’t know, Ben and I have been working on teaching Mikayla sign language since she was about 6 or 7 months old.  She knows quite a few signs and it helps her communicate with us and us with her.  My friend wrote a great post on teaching children sign language hereSigning Time is a DVD series that we use a lot with Mikayla.  I was first introduced to it when I worked at KAP last summer and reintroduced this year by our special education teacher at school.  Mikayla loves the DVD’s and is now asking to watch them!  Hopkins is the frog mascot they use in the series to help teach signs (along with a few other main characters Alex, Leah and Rachel).  Here is Mikayla doing the Hopkins Hop!

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Sensory Tub

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

I have been wanting for some time now to put together a sensory tub for Mikayla.  A blog I follow, Counting Coconuts, makes a different tub for her three year old every couple of weeks.  I am blown away with her creativity and thought I would try my hand at it.  I love the idea of giving kids toys that stimulate creativity, sensory integration, and are made from common household items. 

When she was younger I tried my hand at a few simple toys like a water table and a fine motor toy where she stuck chopsticks in holes.  You can read about them here.  Then a few weeks ago I made playdough.  I thought a fall sensory tub would be the next best project!  I had plenty of items lying around the house from my scarecrow costume and picked up a few last minute additions at the store today.  It is simple and (hopefully) fun!

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Fall Sensory Tub

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Fall colored flowers and berries (all fake so they will last longer).

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Fall leaves (some real and some fake) and pine cones.

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Bandana scraps tied together to make ball things, ribbon, and rope.

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Wooden spoons and tongs for picking up and exploring items.  Piece of burlap sack, pumpkins (real and fake) and a straw brush made from raffia tied together.

When Mikayla wakes up from her nap she will get to explore the tub.  I will try and post pictures later!

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Homemade Playdough

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

When Mikayla had some friends over for a play date a few weeks ago, we decided to try our hand at homemade playdough.  I am so glad we did!  It was easy peasy, smelled yummy, and not nearly as sticky as regular playdough.  Plus, if Mikayla or her buddy so desired they could eat it.  That’s right, edible playdough!  In school, when we studied spiders, we always made edible playdough.  The downside to this playdough was that it included peanut butter, something Mikayla couldn’t eat yet.  So naturally I went to Google and found this website with a lot of different playdough recipes.  We decided to go with the one posted below for our trial run.  I am so glad there are crafty people out there who think to mix up common kitchen items and create fun things like playdough for kids!  If you have never made your own playdough, you should very soon!  So much better than the store bought stuff.

Kool-Aid Play Dough
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
3 teaspoons Cream of Tartar
1 package Kool-Aid Mix (any flavor of unsweetened)
1 tablespoon cooking oil

Mix dry ingredients together in a large saucepan. Slowly add water mixed with oil and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens to dough. Turn out onto a heatproof bread board or counter top and knead until cool enough for children to handle. Dough will be the color of the Kool-Aid mix and will smell like the Kool-Aid mix. (Can be stored in a tightly covered container for up to six months; however after about a month it tends to get a little stickier!)

Here are some pictures of Mikayla and the playdough, just ignore her unruly hair it was right after naptime!

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Another Busy Weekend

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

We had a big weekend full of visits.  On Friday we met up with some close friends for a night of relaxation and a backyard fire.  It was great to be around friends, sit back and relax!  Three day weeks are hard! 

Ben’s mom came to town Saturday and Sunday.  While in town we hit up Jackson’s Orchard for some fall fun.  Mikayla got to go on a hayride, pick out her own pumpkin, drink some more apple cider slushies and experience the mad rush that is Jackson’s on a Saturday in October!  Then we enjoyed a nice dinner at home.  On Sunday we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  I love me some Cracker Barrel breakfast (or food in general)!

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October 009 Corn maze

October 011 Mikayla would grab a pumpkin and set it down.  Then go grab another pumpkin and add to the group.  This went on until I finally stopped her.  I am pretty sure she would have kept going all day.

October 031 Her stash

October 037 Posing with Grandma

October 045 Mikayla’s Uncle Tim, Aunt Chel and Grandma Kickert came along for the fun!

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On Sunday, Mikayla and I hit the road to Somerset.  Way back in 2000, my high school basketball team one the Class A State Championship.  For most schools this isn’t a huge deal, but for smaller schools like SHS, it is huge!  Our high school now has a Hall of Fame and so our team was inducted into it on Sunday.  It was fun to catch up with some old ball friends and really special to have our team picture hanging just below my dad’s baseball team picture which has also been inducted in the Hall of Fame.  It was a quick trip, but a fun one.

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The old team, minus a few who couldn’t make it.

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Halloween Themed Play Date

Monday, October 11th, 2010

Mikayla had one of her best buds over today for a play date!  We began the day by getting all decked out in our Halloween/pumpkin gear.

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Then we played some dress up and enjoyed the bubbles for awhile.Lylah Playdate 007

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When Lylah got here Mikayla was so excited, she ran up to the car.  The girls played outside for a bit and then headed inside for some homemade play dough action.  Lylah lasted a total of five seconds, but Mikayla played for quite awhile while the mommies prepped our lunch.  Unfortunately, I did not snap any pictures of Mikayla and the play dough, but will try to get some later.

For lunch we had Pumpkin sandwiches (ham and cheese sandwich cut into the shape of a pumpkin with cheese for the eyes and mouth), Frankenstein fingers (cheese stick with peppers for the fingernails), Skeleton Bones (Gerber Veggie sticks), Brains (broccoli), and Eyeballs (grapes).  For desserts we had Ghosts (frozen bananas on a stick covered with whipped cream and raisins or frosting for the eyes and mouth).  The girls ate it all up.

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Ghosts on a stick

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Frankenstein fingers and brains!

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Pumpkin Sandwiches

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They loved the ghosts!

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We ended our date with craft time.  Lara put together fun Jack-O-Lanterns for the girls to make.  They did awesome making them, but while we were trying to snap some pictures they promptly tore apart the craft!

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We had a great day, thanks Lara and Lylah for coming to play!

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Celebratory Ice Cream

Saturday, October 9th, 2010

Can you guess why this chica is eating an ice cream cone all of her own?

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This beautiful big girl and her yummy ice cream…any guesses?

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No guesses yet…

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Want some help?  Well, let me spill the beans on this celebratory ice cream.  My 17 month old went "poo poo" in the potty today!  Such a big step deserved an amazing treat like mint chocolate chip ice cream!  We aren’t officially potty training, but we aren’t discouraging the use of the potty either.  She acts interested in the potty when we go, so we bought her a potty seat and occasionally sit her on it.  Today she came up to me and was farting. Then she said "poo poo", so I took her into the potty and sat her down with her book (already in her hands).  She sat there and while reading her book she went "poo poo" in the potty.  We were such proud parents!

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