Feeding A Toddler

I got this great idea from a post for a Matryoshka (I've always wondered what those dolls were actually called) themed birthday party at On To Baby.

Well, anyways, I thought this was a great idea for a toddler meal, since my little girl loves to graze and really only likes to eat what she can pick up with her fingers.

But what I did was I used the bottom half of an egg carton instead of an ice tray. The holes are a little bit rounder, and it's way cheaper to use something you're going to have to get rid of soon anyway than to buy a bunch of ice trays! Also, it's recyclable if it starts to look like it's seen one too many toddler lunches.

What's In My Toddler's Lunch?

• Grapes
• Mixed Veggies
• Bunny Grahams
• Colby Jack Cheese
• Blueberries
• Pretzels
• Cheddar Bunnies
• Banana Slices
• Strawberry Slices
• Raisins
• Yogurt Melts
• Green Beans

It's fun, it's colorful, and best of all it's healthy! Every good food group is packed into this lunch! And I have never seen Adrianne eat green beans willingly until this idea came around. It doesn't take long at all to put it together because you're mostly just grabbing things from here and there. 

Adrianne doesn't usually finish every last bit, but at least I can rest assured that she has had a healthy and well rounded lunch when I give this to her! Well...Happy feeding!

Playing With Blocks

Blocks are such a simple toy. But doesn't it always seem like the simplest things are able to entertain your baby more than any number of flashy, noisy, blinky, battery-eating toys can anyway?

Stacking blocks is great for motor development. Your baby will slowly learn how to manipulate objects with his or her hands. Stacking blocks on top of one another will teach your baby how to be careful and deliberate.

But not only should you encourage your baby to stack the blocks on top of one another; you should show your baby how much fun it can be to knock down a tower, too! This will make it less discouraging for your baby if she is trying to build a tower, but it keeps falling over. She may even stack blocks more eagerly simply for the sake of being able to knock them down!

Try to see what else your toddler can come up with to do with the blocks. Adrianne loved taking a block in each hand and smacking them together to make a nice rhythm.

She also likes to dump out her box of blocks so that she can put them all back in the box. Don't discourage your baby from doing things like this, even if it just seems like making a mess to you. Your baby is learning and growing with every action. Let your baby experiment! After all, babies are the world's greatest scientists, always testing, observing, and discovering.

Fear Of Releasing On The Potty: The Bathtub Method

Well, now that I can pretty much say that Adrianne is "potty trained," I feel the need to make a post dedicated to the one and only struggle we ran into throughout the whole process. The reason is because of how extremely difficult it was for me to find any information on the subject whatsoever.

What I did find, however, was a whole lot of moms and dads pleading for help over the internet on the same issue. So I feel it's important to address, for the sake of all those parents out there who need some help.

"She knows when she has to go to the bathroom, but when she sits on the potty she grunts and strains trying to hold it in. She even runs around the house crying because she has to pee so bad but no matter what, she won't do it. Now she is just leaking everywhere because she is past her holding point, but she just can't release on the potty!"

Is that you up there?

That was me while I was potty training Adrianne. She was showing all the signs of readiness. And she was obviously physically ready because she could hold it in for hours! I was so scared and exhausted from chasing her around, trying to get her to pee, that eventually I did the ultimate no-no: I put a diaper on her. That's when I knew I was in trouble, though, because she still would not go pee. She wanted to give up diapers like a big girl, I guess. But it only made me feel even more lost and confused.

Let me tell you, it's not easy watching your baby suffer like that without having a clue what to do. I know what that's like. But I also know that giving up and switching back to diapers is not necessary. At least not until you try this. Backing off of potty training when your toddler is showing the signs of readiness will only send mixed signals and make potty training more difficult when you return to it later on.

Instead, try the bathtub method. This is the solution I came up with in my desperation, and I read afterwards somewhere of a few other people using this method. It worked like a charm for us, when nothing else did. Here is what you do:

Put your baby's potty chair inside the bathtub and run the warm water. Sit your baby on the potty and use a cup to pour the water on your baby's feet and ankles. The sound of the water and the feeling of it will help to force your baby to relax and pee on the potty chair.

With Adrianne, the first time we did this, she strained and whined for a good two minutes even with the water on her feet before she finally couldn't hold it any longer. I could tell immediately that she had gone because her legs went from rigid, trembling boards to soft and relaxed, just like that.

After the first time, the time it took for her to relax after the water hit her toes went down to nothing by the end of the next day.

However, for a week or so, Adrianne would still insist on being in the bathtub to go potty. If your baby does this as well, don't worry. Let her take her time. Eventually, you will be able to slowly ween your baby out of the bathtub. Start by placing the potty chair next to the tub while running the water. Adrianne was completely able to pee without running water and without being in the bathtub within a week or two of starting potty training altogether. This method was a miracle for us.

If you don't have a bathtub that you can put the potty chair in, perhaps you can try CAREFULLY putting the potty chair on the counter next to the sink and doing the same thing. Just make sure you hold on to both the potty and your baby and make sure there are no falling accidents. Or you can try maybe using a large bowl full of warm water in front of the potty chair on the floor and use a cup to pour the water on your baby's feet and make the pouring water sound.

Good luck and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I will do my best to help you.

Boo-boos and Cool Glasses

The other day Adrianne noticed a teeny tiny little bruise on her leg. She poked it a few times and was so weirded out by it that she almost upset herself. I told her I'd give it a kiss to make it feel better and of course she liked that very much.

Well, now every time she sees her boo-boo or hears the word bruise or boo-boo, she has to come up to me and lift her leg up to my face so I can kiss it better.

In other news, Adrianne has also begun to develop a little bit of vanity. She has discovered the magic of mirrors, not to mention her beautiful face.

Sometimes she will drag me into her bedroom and ask for a hair clip for her hair. So I put one in for her and tell her how beautiful she looks. Then she has to run out and stand in front of Daddy until he compliments her. THEN she comes back to me and asks to be taken to each and every single mirror in the house several times each so she can admire herself.

Last night, she discovered how totally cool she looks with her sunglasses on. We had to run around the house from mirror to mirror for an hour or so!

She also found it hilarious that she could play peek a boo with herself in the mirror by pulling her glasses on and off! It was hysterical.

Sometimes, she really is just too adorable.

Speaking of adorable, another thing I want to remember is how last night a couple hours after she went to bed, she woke up and told me she had to pee. So I carried her into the bathroom while she sleepily laid her head on my shoulder. I put her on the potty chair and guess what! She fell asleep sitting there!! First, she wobbled around a little. Then she just nodded off and I practically had to catch her! She was so tired, it was so sad but so, so, so cute!

Well, anyways...You know me. I just can't go for very long without ranting and raving about my daughter. =)

Adrianne's First Sentance!

Last night before bath time, Adrianne sat down on the potty and went to the bathroom. She wasn't in the bath tub this time, so it was kind of a big deal.

When she got up and saw that she had successsfully gone on the potty, she jumped for joy and shouted "I DID IT!"

Her daddy and I were so surprised that she had said that since she hasn't really said much of anything at all other than "mama" and "dada." We weren't sure if she was really saying it or if it was just a coincidental moment of baby babble.

Then she was so pleased that she sat on the potty and did it about ten more times. (I have no idea where she got all the pee from...)

Each time she shouted "I did it!" Although, her words got progressively more and more slurred and hard to distinguish. But still...SHE DID IT! She spoke!

Other words she has been saying are "shoes" which sounds a bit like "joooz," "cheese" which sounds like "sheeeze," "beep" which sounds like "bop," and "boo" which sounds like "bah." So she may not be a master yet, but she is making progress!

Yet again, I am mostly documenting this for my own future self, who is sure to forget most of what happens throughout the next few years by the time I actually want to look back and reminisce.

Little Things...

I love all the little things I found around the house that Adrianne does when for a split second I am not looking. I'd like to name off a few of them just so I don't forget them.

• The little statue of Buddha that we have sitting next to our TV on the entertainment stand is often times left facing the TV rather than sitting next to it.
• After I clean an entire room and put Adrianne down to sleep I find a stack of a few blocks sitting in the middle of the room.
• I walk into the room with a table much taller than Adrianne to find a row of stacking cups lined up and teetering on the edge of the table.
• I go into the bathroom and find Adrianne's baby doll sitting on her potty chair.

These are just a few of the things she does. I love how it's always the little things that never cease to amaze me. How she has been jabbering for days in a language no one else knows but her and suddenly goes potty and exclaims "I did it!" in a baby-ish tone. How she asks me to put a hair clip in her hair so she can she how beautiful she looks in the mirror and then show her daddy. How she can lay down on her belly and "write" on a piece of paper for an hour, mumbling away as she does so. How she will hold a phone to her ear and have an imaginary conversation with someone in baby language.

She is the most brilliant creature I have ever met. I love her!

Potty Training: Day 7

We've made it one week! And nothing really too out of the ordinary today. The potty has become a regular old part of the scenery around here.

One thing though, is that Adrianne went public for the first time today since we started potty training! We went grocery shopping and she made it the whole time without an accident. Although, she didn't even seem to have to go potty until about 30 seconds before we arrived home.

But that does mean that our diaper bag has officially transformed into the portable potty seat bag, with an emergency pair of pull-ups and panties (and pants) as well. I don't expect to ever need them, though. As I've mentioned yesterday, Adrianne hasn't had an accident since the very first morning.

We are still working on getting her out of the bathtub, but still I am in no rush to get her out of it. I want potty training to go how she wants it to go, especially since she is cooperating so angelically. If she wants to take it slow, that's fine by me.

I'll probably stop documenting her progress daily now though, since we've hit the one week mark. But I'll update occasionally as she hits some bigger milestones! Thanks for all the support!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!! How could I resist dressing Adrianne up and posing her with some pumpkins? Poor thing.

She sure did love her props though! I gave her a cute little flower and carrot from when she was a baby. Actually the carrot was the prop that came with her costume from last year, she was a bunny!

Flashback! Look how adorable she was! Obviously, she still is.

She makes a pretty darn cute gnome too, though. I recently saw a trailer for the movie "Gnomeo and Juliet" and I have a feeling that's what this costume was based after.

This little cutie loves her pumpkins. She plays with them all the time! And look how cooperative she is. She sat still for me, played with the props I gave her, she even smiled! What a good sport!

And off comes the hat and shoes...Well, it was fun while it lasted!

Trick or treat!!

Potty Training: Day 6

Remarkable! Adrianne has actually kind of gotten over the whole sticker thing! She leads me proudly and excitedly to the bathroom when she has to go potty, does her business, then storms off to go back to playing with her toys without even giving the stickers a glimmer of a thought.

They got her through the tough times but now...the reward is in the triumph, I suppose.

She still asks to sit in the bath tub but she hardly even needs the water now. So this whole bathtub method has gone quite smoothly. It seems like it's been a very long phase, but in all reality it's only been a few days. So I definitely support the bathtub method (that I thought I came up with as an original idea...oh well).

Also, number 2 on the potty has been a breeze today! Well...in comparison to previous days, at least. But still...she has made wonderful progress! She never ceases to amaze me!

Oh, and I would also like to point out that Adrianne has not had an accident in her big-girl underwear since the first few hours of Day 1! Yay!

Halloween Color-Me-In Activity Pages

I've made some printable coloring book-like activity pages with a Halloween theme just for your little ones! Click the link below to open the file and print!

Download Now

((If that link does not open or is taking too long to load, you may also download the file here. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have further problems!))

Oh and by the way, the answers are "Trick or Treat" and "12" for the two puzzle pages, just in case your munchkin can't figure it out. Give 'em a hand!

Potty Training: Day 5

Adrianne is doing so much better! She can go without the bathtub now thanks to being at my mom's which has no bathtub to use for potty purposes. She still likes warm water on her feet though, and if the bathtub is around, she definitely asks to be in it.

We have pretty much conquered peeing in the potty now, we've just got to master peeing on the potty without warm water on the feet. We also need to master going number 2 on the potty, since Adrianne has only done that once since Day 1 and she is still a little scared to do it.

This is Adrianne's collection of success stickers so far. She's got lots!

But I think we will have potty training down rather soon. Now it's just a matter of getting more comfortable on the potty. I'm so proud of Adrianne! She is so smart and brave!

Potty Training: Day 4

So we decided to take the risk of traveling two hours to visit Adrianne's Grammy for the night. Despite the fact that Adrianne had yet to conquer going on the potty without being in the bathtub, we took the plunge. It turned out to be a fairly good thing for us because Adrianne finally overcame her fear and went potty on her potty chain in the car when we were about halfway there.

She was so proud of herself! Not as proud as her Daddy and I were, of course.

Then! She was even excited and willing enough to try using her special new potty for Grammy's house, and successfully went potty on that too.

Our main snag of the day was Adrianne was afraid to go number 2 on the potty before bed. Fortunately, she managed to go in her diaper before she fell asleep when I put her down for bed. Sometimes I find myself wishing I had never started the whole potty training thing, but now it's definitely too late to turn back because she absolutely cannot stand the idea of going in a diaper.

But then again, I know I will be very grateful for Adrianne's admirable cooperation come second baby time!

Well, wish us continuous luck!

Potty Training: Day 3

So I've toned it down a little with the over-praising. Now, when Adrianne has a success on the potty I just tell her "You did it!" And show her what she did. Then I give her a sticker to put in her book and let her flush her deed down the toilet herself (which she loves doing).

We still use the bath tub to go potty, which is totally fine by me. Just as long as she doesn't have to suffer, holding it in. She can use the bath tub as long as she wants.

I just stick the whole potty chair right in there and then turn on the warm water. With a big cup, I pour the water over her feet and ankles. At first she is a little shaky and nervous, but you can tell immediately when she has let it go because she relaxes and gets very calm.

The first night, she sat on the potty in the bath for a minute or more before she relaxed and went potty. I am proud to say that tonight she is able to sit down on the potty and go just as soon as the water hits her toes.

I think she will be able to go on the potty without the bathtub within the next day or so. (Let's hope, anyway!) By now, it's probably safe to say that it's too late to turn back now. Putting her back in diapers would only confuse her and give her mixed signals.

I am so proud of her for doing so well! She is such a big girl, and I so very badly want her to stay little. For the record, she started the whole potty training thing. She was the one who started telling me when her diaper was wet, when she had to go, etc. So I just began pre-training her, teaching her about the potty, about underwear, stuff like that.

I am definitely going to suggest this bath tub method for moms who have toddlers like me, afraid to release on the potty, when all this potty training business starts to calm down! In fact, after searching desperately online, unable to find any advice whatsoever on the matter, I am going to dedicate a whole post to children who are afraid to release on the potty. But that is later, for when I get my head back together after all of this.

Thanks for checking up on us!

Potty Training: Day 2

So far, so...good?

Well, there have been ups and downs to our potty training experience thus far. At first, Adrianne was doing perfectly. She wore her panties proudly and knew to tell me if she had to go potty. Of course, about three times in a row, she didn't make it in time. One of those times was my fault, I admit.

However, come night time, I suppose she started to feel the pressure of having to go pee on the potty (literally) and began to feel scared. And so it began: potty fear.

I know she is ready for this because she knows what to do. She knows when she has to go potty, she knows she isn't supposed to go in her pants or on the floor, and she knows where the potty is and how to sit on it. I also know she is ready because she has impeccable bladder control. This little girl can hold it for hours. And she has.

So the problem we have encountered is: Adrianne is terrified of releasing. She is afraid to release while wearing panties or naked because she knows that it is not the right thing to do and she very much wants to do it right. But she is also terrified of releasing in a diaper because she wants to be a big girl and not use diapers anymore. You'd think this would make it easy to go on the potty, but she is terrified of releasing while sitting on the potty as well.

Adrianne will run around in circles for hours, clenching her legs together and busying herself to distract from having to pee. She will even get to the point of running around and whimpering because she has to go so bad. Then she feels ashamed and sad when she leaks and drips onto the carpet.

It is seriously heartbreaking to watch her suffer but no matter what I do, I can't soothe her or convince her that it's okay to pee on the potty.

I eventually did something that I thought was creative, but it turns out it is a semi-common solution amongst potty training parents. I put Adrianne's potty in the bath tub and ran the warm water over her feet and ankles.

Well, it worked. She filled that potty like it was nobody's business! But unfortunately, after that, it was back to potty fear... Hmmm...

After about an hour or so of forum searching, I have come up with a plan for Day 3. I read about a hundred moms testimonies of their child doing the exact same thing as Adrianne (which was extremely comforting and very encouraging since that means Adrianne IS ready despite being so young). And I also read a few of those moms telling their eventual success stories. Few helped, but one thing struck a chord in me.

My plan is to actually stop praising Adrianne so much for doing her business.

I have not been scolding her for any accidents. I didn't want to foster shame by telling her that she was doing something wrong when perhaps she couldn't help it. It's not her fault if she has an accident, she is new at this and much younger than most babies I have ever met being potty trained. I am so proud of her for even giving this a try!

However, I do praise her. Probably way too much... I praise her ridiculously for sitting on the potty and for even dribbling a little on the potty. My theory is that I actually praise her so much that it has been fostering shame anyway. Since I praise her so much for every little thing, it has made her terrified of the idea of disappointing. She claps her hands peacefully and joyfully for herself when she does something right. But when I sit there staring at her, hollering and whooping and clapping and cheering, I'm creating a tense atmosphere.

Adrianne picks up on my emotions very well, and she has more than definitely picked up on the fact that I have been extremely stressed out the past couple of days. How can I not be when she is so blatantly suffering while holding her pee in for hours on end?

Well, perhaps all she needs is a little privacy. Instead of sitting in front of her and holding her and everything else, I will try helping her onto the potty when she asks to go and then going and minding my own business, pretending to busy myself at the bathroom sink. After all, she has had privacy going pee her whole life. Going into a diaper, no one can know you are doing anything at all!

This way, peeing on the toilet can be her triumph instead of mine. So, we'll see how this plan of mine helps her out tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Oh and P.S. These are our triumph stickers! We actually have been doing okay! We just need to work on releasing all at once without the fear!

Double oh! And I'll link back to my Potty Book tutorial once more here.

Commence Potty Training!

So I've decided to start potty training Adrianne. She has been telling me when she has to go potty and when she needs her diaper changed, so I've judged that she seems to be ready.

I went to the pharmacy nearby to grab some reward stickers and bought this little beauty to the left. Over 100 Hello Kitty stickers that say stuff like "Good Job!" Could it get any better? Yes it could, because this booklet was under 3 dollars! If you know me, you know my Adrianne's favorite cartoon character is Hello Kitty.

The stickers will be awarded each time she successfully goes potty on the potty chair or toilet. She has a special page devoted to them in her potty book. My tutorial on how to make the potty training book can be found here.

And so far so good! She seems to just love her "Big-Girl Underwear" and was very interested to start wearing them. I've been telling her for a while now that we would be getting rid of the diapers soon and she seemed to enjoy that idea.

We are going with the cold turkey method, ditching the diapers for good, not even making the transition through training diapers. If she gets wet, she gets wet. Then we have to halt playtime to go change and have a sit down on the potty as a reminder of the right way to go potty for big girls.

I'll keep updating the blog of our potty progress! Wish us luck! I personally find myself very fortunate that I have a little girl so willing and ready for potty training at such a young age. It will make my life so much easier (and more frugal) when baby Rowan is born in January!

Coloring Time

In my opinion, you can never help develop the motor skills too much! I feel that you should get your baby working on coloring as soon as he or she knows how to grip a small object well. I bought the Crayola Beginnings Triangular Crayons, and I absolutely love them. My baby coloring tip would be to buy these crayons! The triangle shape helps to encourage a proper writer's grip and they also always come washable. The wax is extra soft so it is easy for baby to make a mark. I have found that with regular crayons, the wax is too hard, so no matter how hard baby presses on the paper, it just doesn't cut it. This only confuses and bores baby.

If you have been following my blog so far at all, you have probably noticed that I am obsessed with poster board. So my second coloring tip to you would be to get a whole big packet of poster board. You can probably even get it at the grocery store since that's where I buy mine, and a package is only a few dollars.

Paper is much too thin and small. It moves, it crumples, you have to be on a very solid surface, probably taped down so it doesn't move as baby puts the waxy crayon down...Save yourself the struggle and just get some poster board. It's big, it's tough and it is great for sprawling out on the floor with some big washable crayons.

To the right, as you can see, Adrianne is sprawled out on the floor with her crayons and poster board and she is able to go so far beyond a measly 8.5"x11" piece of paper's limits. Even on the carpet she can crawl across the poster board without much difficulty from bending and crumpling. Poster board can admirably take more toddler abuse than most any other toy can, and it will.

Teach your baby by example how to color with the crayon by dragging it across the paper. Then let baby hold the crayon, and guide the baby's hand to color. It won't be long before baby whisks away your help and goes to town.

When your baby is a fairly advanced color-er, get a jumbo coloring book and teach him how to color on the pages, turn the pages, and encourage him to color in the lines. Of course, your baby won't color in the lines for a very long time. But the book will give baby a greater sense of freedom as she can choose which page to color on and where to color, etc. Adrianne has a 400 page jumbo coloring and activity Hello Kitty book. I would have to say that turning the pages to find the perfect spot to color is probably her favorite part!

Notice also that I have a miniature person sized simple white table and chair set for her. She loves this because she can easily (most of the time) get on and off the little chairs all by herself without help. I love this because it is a smooth white, easily washable surface for all those little oopsies. But I have to tell you, the Crayola Beginnings crayons are so washable that I even got them out of my carpet with little more than water.

All our hard work has paid off now. Observe! Adrianne is 15 months old and she already has a nearly perfect writer's grip! Amazing. I think most kids can't brag that until they're 6 years old!

I highly encourage you to start coloring with your baby as early as possible. If your baby is now a child, I STILL encourage you to color away. Creativity is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it becomes. And I think it's safe to assume that I am ALL about fostering creativity.

Have fun, my little artists!

How To Make A Potty Training Book

(( Download this tutorial in PDF format here.))

Toddlers love reading books about themselves! This easy project may turn potty training into a fun activity. You can either read your potty book during playtime or keep it by the potty chair to read while your little one is going potty. Reading on the potty helps toddlers to relax, which is essential for helping them to be able to let go and do their business. If your toddler is nervous or overly-excited, they are probably clenching the muscles they need to relax in order to go potty. Reading their own personal potty book may help!

(CLICK ON ANY OF THE PHOTOS TO ENLARGE)

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

• Poster Board
• Writing and Illustrating Utensils/Materials
• Scissors
• Stapler and Staples
• Glue
• Construction Paper

STEP ONE: Plan out your potty book by page, writing out a rough draft of what will be written on each page. A good idea is to start with a page introducing the toddler, then explaining why getting the diaper changed is a bother. Continue to introduce the potty chair and include important technical aspects like the use of toilet paper, washing hands, wearing underwear, and so on and so forth. If you plan out what you are going to write on each page, you will know how many pages to cut out.

STEP TWO: Cut out the pages of your book from poster board. A good idea is to cut one page the desired size and use it as a template for the rest, to ensure that you cut the pages all the same size.

Poster board is great, you can usually buy it in packs at the store for only a few dollars. It is sturdy enough to handle most toddler roughage and I have found that it is even quite durable for painting on.

ALTERATION: You can cut two pages that are slightly larger than the rest for the front and back covers. It just adds a nice touch!

TIP: Use a board book that you already have as a template for your book pages so that you can get a perfect square and straight lines. Pick one that is the desired size and shape for you and your toddler.

STEP THREE: Label each page on the inside edge. You won't be able to see these labels once the book is put together, but it will help you to keep your pages organized. Keep in mind that when you label, for instance, "Page 1" on the left hand side of one page, you need to make sure you label "Page 2" on the same edge but on the reverse side.

STEP FOUR: First, write out the words for each page as you had planned in Step One. This will ensure that you have enough clear space for the writing without accidentally over-illustrating onto the space you would need for the words.

Once you have each page written out, you may begin to illustrate your book. It doesn't have to be fancy, it's just for your little one's eyes and education, not the museum of art! Be confident in yourself!

ALTERATION: Refuse to feel confident in your artistic ability? That's okay. No one's pressuring you. It's also a great idea to use photographs and just paste them onto the pages. Take the time to photograph your toddler in a way that illustrates what you have written and print them out on your computer or get actual prints from the store. Your toddler may even prefer seeing a photograph and may find it easier to recognize that it is him in the picture.

STEP FIVE: Stack your pages in the correct order when they are finished and dry, making sure that the left hand edges are all neatly lined up. Staple liberally along the left hand edge.

ALTERATION: Japanese stab binding is another very easy book binding method that you may prefer to use, as it is more visually appealing. I will make a tutorial for this in time, but for now here is a link to a decent tutorial: http://images.melissaesplin.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/japanese-stab-binding.pdf

STEP SIX: Cut a piece of construction paper the height of your book and wide enough that it could cover the staples on each side of the binding. This will make the book look nice and finished and will also eliminate the child "un-friendliness" of the staples.

First, line the strip of paper up on one side of the book and draw a thin line of glue along the edge of the book near the staples (on the side of the staples near the writing as shown in the picture) and apply the paper. Wait for it to dry completely, then fold it over the binding and repeat on the other side. You may want to hold it down beneath an old, heavy book. Allow to dry.

STEP SEVEN: Add any unique embellishments, decorations, or whatever you like to finish the book off. I like to round the corners of the book to make it more child friendly. You can add ribbons, stickers, glitter, anything fun. It's your toddler's own custom made book! So go crazy! But not too crazy. Don't add anything dangerous...

GOOD JOB! You just made a book for your child! You can't imagine the difference it makes!










I highly recommend this book, by the way! It's called "The No-Cry Potty Training Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. I got it from the library because I took out every single book the library had to offer on potty training, and this one was by far the simplest, most practical, and most helpful in my opinion! Feel free to give it a try!

Macaroni Fun

Age Range - About 12-24 months

This is one of Adrianne's all time favorite activities: playing with a big bowl of uncooked pasta!

Macaroni is a great developmental toy for toddlers because it really helps them to fine-tune their motor skills, which is really important for aspiring artists and all people, really. Not only that, but they usually can't get enough of the "toy." Adrianne used to sit down and play with macaroni for hours on end, literally! She wouldn't stop until I put it all away and brought out something new for her to play with.

So if you want to help your baby to grow and develop, pull out that pasta and let's get cooking!

Here's what to do:

FIRST:

PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!! Macaroni is a choking hazard, you must supervise your child at ALL TIMES. Pasta is one of Adrianne's favorite foods, so it took her a couple of macaroni playtime sessions to figure out that this macaroni was NOT edible. Watch you baby carefully to make sure no macaroni gets popped into the mouth and have your baby spit it out immediately if any does happen to get in there.

ALSO:

Before you do anything, clear out a large area (maybe the living room floor) and make sure there is nothing that little pieces of macaroni can get thrown under easily or hidden in. This activity can get messy and dry pasta makes a rather unpleasant crunching sound if it gets sucked up in the vacuum!

Then spread out a giant blanket or sheet over the floor. You'll make macaroni center in the very middle of the blanket. If the floor is all cleared up, this isn't really necessary, but it sure does make clean up a whole lot easier! Just pull all the corners up when you're done to get the macaroni to pool in the center of the blanket, then you can scoop it up rather than picking each little piece up one by one all over the floor.

YOU WILL NEED:

1. A large bowl or pot. We like the bowl better because it's easier to see into and to reach into. Adrianne has a very sturdy glass bowl in this picture, which is great because it is heavy so she can't dump it over and because it makes a fun noise when you hit it with a spoon!

2. A couple of big spoons. We have a large flat spoon for stirring and a large ice cream scoop for, well, scooping! There is also a measuring cup, which is also good for scooping and it's easier for little hands since it's got a big mouth and a short handle.

3. A little bowl. You gotta have some option. Big bowl, little bowl, who knows which is better til you try it?

4. A few fun containers with lids. Our favorites are water bottles and baby food jars. Water bottles are great because they have a real tiny opening, and baby food jars make a great jingly sound with the macaroni.

5. Macaroni, of course! The best kind of macaroni is elbow macaroni. It is small and easy to collect but just fun enough to keep little ones happy. We've also tried mac'n'cheese noodles but these are too skinny and it's very frustrating because they always seem to get stuck in between little baby fingers, which interrupts play.

So here are some fun games you can play with the macaroni:

STIRRING and SCOOPING:

Using the spoons, show your little one how to stir the macaroni in large circular motions. Your toddler will love the sound of the macaroni as she moves it around. But it's easy to get carried away and let the macaroni go flying! Show your baby how to stir slowly and carefully to keep the macaroni in the bowl.

Scooping is a tough thing for toddlers to get right away. It requires a lot of advanced wrist movement and careful placement of the spoon in order to properly execute. Your baby may not be able to get it for a while. That's okay! Just show him how the spoon can hold the macaroni if you scoop it. Then hold his hand in yours around the spoon and help him scoop it. This guidance will be cast away before you know it if baby keeps at it. Soon you'll have a little scooping pro!

FILLING:

I don't know about other babies, but Adrianne is fascinated by containers. I am convinced she will make an expert professional organizer in the future! She just loves putting small things into containers.

Using a variety of containers with your little one will help them in so many ways. By trying to get the little pieces of macaroni into the different containers, they are learning how to manipulate objects and putting together the fact that if they move their hands a certain way, the little macaroni moves a certain way too. The different openings will help teach your baby all the different ways she can manipulate with her hands in order to get the macaroni to go where she wants it.

Water bottles have a tiny opening, which is a little bit more of a challenge. If your baby can't get the macaroni in the bottle at first, start with a larger container. A mason jar would work well, for example.

COVERING:

Fill up an old baby food jar with some macaroni and teach your little one how to cover it with the lid. Adrianne is a little obsessed with lids so she got this one really easily. She even now has the knack of turning the lid so that it tightens. Of course, she doesn't know how to get it off after that so Mommy has to help out from there.

But the baby food jar will make very pretty music when it is filled with macaroni and covered! Shake it up! Your baby may be more fascinated with the covering and uncovering part, but shaking the jar is fun too. There are a lot of fun things you can do with a filled up jar of macaroni. See what your baby can come up with!

POURING:

 Once you have the bottle or other container filled up, it's time to empty it! Pouring the macaroni out of the container is a lot of fun, but it can get messy so be vigilant!

Show your toddler that he can pour it into the big bowl or the little bowl. Let him see what happens if he does. You can also transfer the macaroni from the big bowl into the little bowl and pour it out of the little bowl back into the big one! What craziness!

If your little one figures out the great fun of pouring the macaroni out onto the floor, then show her how to pick it up and put it back in the bowl. You may be fortunate enough to have a toddler that will exclaim "Uh oh!" when macaroni falls onto the floor, but I can tell you right now, Adrianne is not one of them! She thinks it's much funnier when the macaroni goes everywhere! But she also enjoys the praise she gets if she manages to pick it all up.

If you encounter this situation, don't yell or scold. Just ask your baby, "Please, can you help me pick up the macaroni and put it back in the bowl?" Use a lot of gestures to help explain exactly what you want your baby to do. Ask the above question and demonstrate by putting a piece of macaroni back in the bowl. If your baby does it then praise her! Say "Good job! Thank you so much for helping!" Then encourage her to get all of the rest of them with you. Eventually she will be so proud of herself when this happens that you won't even need to do it with her. She will gladly pick it all up by herself.

MOST IMPORTANTLY:

Follow your baby's lead! Try all of the above activities with the macaroni, but don't force any of them on your little one if they are just completely uninterested. See what your baby can come up with while playing with the macaroni. This activity is meant to be 100% fun and great for development! If your baby is really concentrating on, let's say, filling and pouring...let the baby fill and pour to their heart's content! It means they are really learning! What a gift!

I hope this brings some peaceful playtime into your home, as it did in mine! Good luck, and remember to supervise carefully!