09May
In my wise old parenting experience, I have found one particular baby holding position to be incredibly versatile: the Front Carry.
The Front Carry serves so many purposes in life. It’s like the sandwich bags of baby holds. You can just do so much with it. Here are some of my favorite reasons to use the Front Carry:
1. To keep grubby hands off of me when I have to pick them up to take them to the bathtub for an immediate, emergency bath.
2. To keep grubby hands off of me when I’m dressed for work and they have peanut butter toast hands.
3. To keep slobbery mouths off of me when I need to keep my clothes clean and dry for something.
4. To hide my tummy pooch.
5. To distract crying babies. (I think the hanging thing distracts them and they stop crying long enough to think, “What the heck is going on here? How am I not falling?”)
6. To fend off people I don’t want to talk to. Babies are very distracting. Especially hanging ones.
7. To make my way through a crowd. No one will run into a baby, but they sure have no problem plowing into me.
8. To keep a dirty diaper from soaking through on my hip. (Please tell me I’m not the only mom who’s had this happen…)
9. To balance me when I’m doing squats. Or carrying a load of laundry. Or carrying a toddler. (NOTE: If said toddler is dirty and/or grimy, the parent may implement the illusive and effective “Double Front Carry.”)
10. To keep beach sandy feet from wrapping around me in a death grip.
Just be sure you hold on tight in the Front Hold. It can all go wrong very quickly.
P.S. I’ve lost my camera cord. Normal photos will resume as soon as I find it.
Oh, my Gracie Girl. How I love that child. I simply cannot believe that she is turning one at the end of March. I keep redoing the math and checking my calendar just to be sure that it really is here. Gracie, on the other hand, has been counting down the days. I think she thinks she gets a drivers license on her first birthday. I haven’t had the heart to tell her that the only car she’s getting will be made by Fisher Price. And have pedals.
I really need to start planning Gracie’s birthday party, but there’s been so much going on that I haven’t sat down yet to really think it through. I do know that I’m going with a “You Are My Sunshine” theme. There will be lots of yellow and white, lots of daisies and baby’s breath, and lots of sunshine and cloud balloons (because Pinterest has me believing that I can just whip up balloon figures now…).
I think I’m going to try to bring in some pink and maybe a few brighter colors, too, just to give it some pizzazz. All the pictures I’ve seen online (Pinterest strikes again!) have given me great ideas, but I think adding some more color would make it much more playful. I mean, it is a first birthday party, and not a champagne brunch…
(I do love this white ruffled table cloth, don’t you?)
Last weekend I bought this outdoor table cloth at Target for our deck table. I thought it added just the right amount of color, especially if there were yellow and white decorations and place settings on the table.
And I definitely think I’m going to try making this tissue paper wreath for our front door, but using yellow tissue paper. I thought that would be super cute with maybe a big pink and white gingham or polk-a-dot bow on it, maybe?
And I found this on Pinterest, too, and I think it would be really cute to try and make. I’ll be honest, though, I doubt very seriously that I will have the patience or the time to make something this cute. But, maybe I could do a giant flower pot with these photo flowers sticking out of it instead? That might save some time.
Whatever I do, it’s going to be low key and easy. I went back and forth about whether or not to have a big party for her birthday, with friends and some of her classmates from school. But then I reconsidered. I mean, one is tough for entertaining. It’s not like she would really play with anyone yet. I remember Bean’s two-year-old party was fun to have friends at, but for the first birthday, I think family will be better. We’re sticking with family and a few close friends for this soiree. But, of course, that means all my imaginary friends get to attend via my blog posts, of course!
Puffalump is getting bigger and bigger every day. She’s crawling, cruising, and standing like a champ. She keeps us on our toes more than ever, but I guess that’s what one year olds do, isn’t it?
One year olds.
Oh, man.
HOW IS SHE A YEAR OLD ALREADY?!?!
04Dec
Anyone whose been around these parts long enough knows of my love and slight obsession with Pinterest. I can’t look away. I can’t stop. It’s become a problem. But it’s also been a real blessing, too. I have found some really great gift ideas (a few I’m using next week for my Secret Santa exchange at work that I’ll blog about), some excellent food ideas, and some fun activities for my family and kids.
Last week I was cruising around Pinterest and found this incredible website called, “Fun and Engaging Activities for Toddlers.” The website is as simple and straightforward as the name implies. It is a list of activities for toddlers, plain and simple. But these activities are really fantastic.
From what I can tell, the website belongs to a stay at home mom who does the best she can to do stimulating, educational activities with her toddler every day. I’m loving her website because it isn’t complicated. She blogs straight up about kids activities. And none of them are crazy complex or complicated. Most can be done with things you have laying around your house. My favorite was one with a bowl of water and a paint brush – super simple and Bean would love it!
Today, we were outside putting up Christmas lights for most of the afternoon. Gracie was taking a nap in her crib, so it was just Bean out in the front yard with us. We played with sidewalk chalk in the driveway and colored in his coloring books for a while, but I thought this would be a perfect time to try an activity I had found last week on the Toddler Activities blog.
It takes several plastic containers and a pitcher of water. That’s it.
The object of the game was to let Bean practice filling containers with water. It works his fine motor skills, hand eye coordination, and helps him start to learn about how and when to pour and stop.
I sat with him for a while, showing him how to pour and when to stop. Then, I’d sit back and just talk to him while he did it himself, saying things like, “Can you fill the rectangle bowl now?” or “Be careful! It’s almost full!”
But after a short while, Bean had the hang of it and spent the next half hour playing in the front yard with his plastic bowls.
It was such a simple way to learn while doing something Bean loves – water play is one of his favorites.
This website has a ton of activities just like this, taking tools you probably have and using activities you’ve probably done before. One of my favorite parts of the website is that you can search the activities archive by age of your child. I clicked the Toddler (2-3 years) category under the Age Range page and it pulled up pages of activities that Bean would absolutely love and that I can’t wait to try myself.
I’m so glad I found this website! What a great mom she is and what wonderful activities she comes up with!
Get updates via Facebook |
Become a fan of Marriage Confessions
Categories
Boys
Beancast
Bellycast
Family
Milestones
parenting
The Bean
About Beanie
Angry Bean
Baby Products
Bean and Molly
Bean's Hair
Conversations w/ Beanie
Daycare
Food and Eating
Fun with Dad
Fun with Mom
Growing Bean
Out and About
Play Dates
Playing
Sleeping Bean
Sweet Bean
Travel with Bean
Video
What I've Learneddiscipline
GiveawaysPregnancy
Sweet Pea
Toddlerhood
Sick Bean
Potty Training
Gracie Girl
Fun Baby Things
Siblings
Parenting Ideas
About Gracie
Conversations with Bean and Gracie
Sweet Gracie
Angry Gracie
Conversations with Gracie
Holidays
Birthdays
