Week Five: Operation Toddler on a Plane

I am almost embarrassed to admit how much of my time this week was devoted to mentally planning our flight to Florida. Not the trip itself; we will wing it when we get there. But the actual flights down there are what I've been devoting much too much brain space to.

But guess what? Worth it!! As I sit here with a happy toddler and a margarita, I can 100% confirm it was worth it.

Here is what we packed in the carry on:

*Applesauce pouches
*Bunny Grahams
*Raisins
*Alphabet carrot and zucchini cookies
*Fruit snacks
*Granola bars

*Change of clothes and 2 pair of undies for O
*Kleenex
*Hand and face wipes
*A couple zip lock bags just in case
*Extra contacts+solution+glasses

* A sheet of puffy stickers
*Character band-aids  {princess and minion by request}
*Two rolls of colorful masking tape
*Felt pizza {from last year's busy bag exchange}
*Velcro color matching with paint samples {from last year's busy bag exchange}
*Foam tangrams
*Color changing silly putty
*Mini slinky
*Airport sticker book
*Sticker alphabet book
*Kindle
*Headphones

We are already getting ready to land and we have gone through each entertainment opportunity, but O is happy, mama is happy, & daddy is happy. :)

Busy Bag activities from last year's busy bag swap were a hit!

Color changing silly putty. Highly recommend.

Masking tape is a hit at home and it was a big hit on the plane, too!

Mini slinky from the dollar section at Target was great.

A stacking crayon and foam tangrams from the dollar spot were both just OK.

Stickers and snacks and our BFF the Kindle. 

Week Four: A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

I have to share one of the most amusing and sweet things that has been going on recently.

O has always had a lot to say. Since birth he was loud, and found his voice shortly after. He started talking early, and was speaking in sentences that outsiders could understand before he was two. All that chatting makes me sometimes forget to take in just how hilarious and adorable some of it is.

Every night before bed Mike and I will tell O what to dream about and he has started telling us what to dream about too. We have started taking note of some of his suggestions. Here are a few from the last couple weeks, grouped by night. :)

• Really, really, really, really, really fast cars
• Crocodiles
• Kindle
• Mama
• Mac and cheese

• Alligators
• Porcupines
• Water fountains
• Barnes and Noble
• Rockets

• Mac and cheese 
• Flying planes
• Auntie Jessica
• Toy benches

• The man with the yellow hat
• Dinosaurs
• Macaroni and cheese
• Lamps

Am I writing this for you to enjoy or for me to chronicle and look back on in the years to come? Hard to say. Probably the latter, to be honest. But I just can't help it. I love every chance to tap into the enigma that is a toddler brain. 

Week Three: Sensory Bin {part one}

Well. In my head this was going to be a post about 3 or 4 super cool sensory bins to try with toddlers. But...

I bet you can see where this is going...

It didn't happen. 

I managed to do one, and that will just have to be good enough. I doubt that O cares that there weren't more bins this week. He was in heaven with his Jelly Beads!

I bought these a while back on Amazon and I wasn't sure how long they would last but holy cow does a tiny amount of dry beads make a huge amount of jelly beads!!

The first time we played with them we used some sea creature toys to "swim" through the beads. This time we focused on scooping and pouring. I love to touch these things, and so does O. He scooped and poured and scooped and poured. When he overflowed one of bowls and dumped them all over the floor learned a valuable spacial reasoning skill, he also learned that they SQUISH when you step on them. Luckily they are easy to wipe up, but be warned: they bounce!

Week Two: Mag-awesome

This week I want to review one of the best toys O got for Christmas this year. I am absolutely in love with Magformers/Magmagic. 5 out of 5. A+.

They are the most overpriced pieces of plastic ever, but they are so cool I choose to stick my head in the sand when it comes to the price tag.

For Christmas O got a set of Magmagic from his cousins. He played with them that night for ages with his 2 and 7 year old cousins, and for days after. He is still super excited whenever we pull them out of the toy box.

The day after Christmas Mike and I enjoy going shopping. Or maybe it is just me that enjoys it. Oops. Mike is a good sport and tags along with the hope of scoring a sweet Lego set on clearance.

We like to hit Target, of course, but our favorite is the Go! Calendars, Toys, & Games store. They have 50% the whole store, which is an OK deal for some of the overpriced to begin with stuff, but a great deal for things that have a pretty standard price everywhere. We found two sets of Magformers there this year! 50% off was much cheaper than anywhere we looked online, so we went for it.

A stunning creation. 

As it turns out, the gift was Magmagic brand and the ones we picked up on sale were Magformers brand. Luckily they are 100% compatible with each other! 

Every adult that has stumbled across them seems to be just as excited about them as O is. I have definitely considered swiping some and keeping them at work to fiddle with while I'm on the phone. ;)

My review is that they are an awesome toy that teaches math, creativity, cause and effect, and patience. O says they are "really, really fun" and he says "I like to SMASH them!" 

"This is a playground with a jumping thing but no garage."

SMASH! {Dragon costume for full Godzilla effect}

Week One: Grocery Lists

You know how gravity is always a sure thing? You know that every time you drop something, it will fall down. Because gravity. 


Know what else is always a sure thing? A toddler being the most squirming, climbing, tantruming version of themselves when you have to grocery shop. 

For us, this rarely happens when we are just grabbing a few things. Only when we *have* to get a bunch of stuff. Because of course. Because toddler. 

We try to please the toddler gods with offerings of snacks and stickers and kindles, but sometimes that doesn't work either. However. All our hope is not lost. We have learned that a helping O is a happy O. And while we don't want his help with all the shopping {crushed bread and bruised bananas, anyone?} he has really started to love being in charge of the list. 

When O goes to the grocery store {usually Super Target} he is a totally different kid if he has the list in his hand. He is focused and helpful. *Actually* helpful. 




So, I've decided he should have his very own toddler list to help him keep track of what to buy. After some pinteresting and googling, I learned that such a thing already exists. Thanks, Internet! However, I'm not going to pay $10 for an instant download of some produce photos from Etsy. 

No, instead I'll just make my own! I was super jazzed about making my own because I like to get crafty and it has been ages since I have been able to. Plus, I'd be able to customize the list! Two for normal grocery shopping, plus one for Costco. 

Here's what I did:

1. Used the magic of a Google Image search to find pictures I could copy and paste.

2. Pasted all the pictures into a Publisher document and arranged them until they looked at least $10 worth of cute. ;)

3. Printed and laminated the lists. I love how these laminating pouches worked! So quick and easy, plus nice and thick/sturdy. 

4. Hole punched, connected with a ring, and attached a washable dry erase marker {ok ok, so I'm still trying to figure out how to attach the marker in a cute way. But I *did* find the washable markers, which were a must.} 

It was such a big hit! O was so happy to help out and enjoyed scribbling things off when we put them in the cart and yelling the list to me as if I was on the other side of the store. {Toddlers, man.} I really liked that I was able to add things that we typically buy rather than a template from Etsy that is more generic. 

What keeps your kids busy at the grocery store? Tell me all the secrets! :)

Let's Do This

Happy New Year!

Well, this is awkward. I really did mean to keep blogging in 2015. I did. I almost got around to it a few times, but by then it was summertime and it just felt weird to start again so late in the year. 

So here we are. January 1, 2016. And I'm ready to jump back in!

I think it will be a blast to find 52 things this year. For those of you that read my posts throughout 2014, you know that I tried to find one new/awesome/interesting thing to do each week. Sometimes it was a craft, sometimes a fun family activity, sometimes a recipe or party idea. Mostly it was a place for me to ramble on about the happenings in my life. I missed it this past year. Kind of a lot, actually. 

So, here we go! 

Week Fifty-Two: Reflecting and Ringing in the New Year

WOWZA.

I can't even believe that we are on week fifty-two of this *finding*fifty*two* adventure!

I was trying to think of what really stands out this year. What really made a huge difference in my life in 2014?

Obviously Mike is awesome and is the best husband ever. Obviously this little baby {toddler??} is amazing and continues to grow and learn and be so awesome.  But those things aren't new. Mike and my sweet little Owen were awesome in 2013 too.

I think that the thing that had the biggest impact on my life this year is something I haven't really blogged about yet. It has been finding my village. My village of women with babies of similar age to O. If you are raising a child and don't have a village, make that your resolution this year. For real. 

These women are so wonderful and inspiring. They get it in a way only another mom can, and that fills up a void I've had since O came along.

My village has kept me sane when I was at my wit's end. They have made me laugh. Hard. And they've turned from "mom friends" to actual friends in a few short months.

It makes my heart so happy that Owen asks about his baby friends and gets excited to see them. He wants to play with them all the time! And on top of me finding friends in these wonderful women and O finding friends in their babies, Mike and I found couples we enjoy spending time with, too! 

{Hopefully in 2015 our core group of besties of the past 7+ years will be able to get together more than in 2014. Becoming adults with busy schedules is overrated, and I've missed them a lot this year.}

Although the impact the baby village had on my life in 2014 wins, this blog is definitely second place.

My *finding*fifty*two* adventure really pushed me to do things I wouldn't have otherwise done. Crafts, meals, parties, and all the random adventures. On more than one occasion I've weighed the pros and cons of just skipping it for a week. But then what would I blog about? How I failed at my goal? No thanks! Obviously some weeks held more excitement than others, but that is fine by me. It makes the exciting weeks even more exciting. :)

Some of my favorite posts to write {like my posts about breastfeeding, baby led weaning, and cloth diapers} were not even part of my *finding*fifty*two* series! Partially because of that, I think I want to keep blogging. I'm not so sure I have the stamina to do another year of documented excitement each week, but writing is fun and I've definitely enjoyed having a place to ramble on about my life. Hopefully you'll keep reading into the new year, because it's a blast having you all along for this ride!

 

I have a shockingly small number of photos of the baby village, so a partial group shot will have to do. 

For now. 

*Cheers to 2015*