Letter Box C

Hannah and I have finally moved from letter B to letter C.  She was super excited when she noticed her Letter C box on her shelf yesterday afternoon.  I'm glad we took a little longer with B.  She has figured out now that each letter has its own name and has picked up C really quickly.  Have a look:

Inside the box:  car, cow, camel, cat, comb, cup, 

carrots, cookie, the letter C magnets, and a

 Cc bean bag.

Hannah trying to see whats inside.

She was excited to see another bean bag.

Matching the magnet C to the C on the front of the box.

I'm excited for the next week or so because I have some great C activities and crafts planned.

Toddlers and Nail Clippers

Hannah is cleaning my nails.

Until very recently, Hannah has had to be restrained to have her nails clipped.  I have searched and searched for ways to help her.  But she hates it so she screams, kicks, and squirms.  I've tried to do it in her sleep, tried to file them instead of cutting, and tried giving her stickers afterwards.  Nothing seemed to work.  Until now.  I have finally figured out a way to almost eliminate the fight.   I say "almost" because she still yanks her feet away. 

First, I clip the corner of her nail and ask her to help me. Then Hannah rips off her nail herself.  Then I am allowed to fix her nail for any unevenness. Once her nails have been cut, I then must hand the clippers over to my two year old daughter because its mommy's turn.  You must be asking yourself 2 questions right now:

1.  Isn't she scared?  Airports consider nail clippers deadly weapons.  The answer is a resounding yes.  Scared of the pain, scared for my nails, and scared that the fear is showing on my face.

You must also me asking:

2.  Who now is the mommy?  Why must you hand over the nail clippers to you daughter? I am the mom, she is the kid. (my moms favorite expression).  Let me explain:

Months ago as a way to show Hannah that it didn't hurt when you got your nails clipped (when done properly of course) I handed her the nail clippers and told her she could do mine as an example.  At the time her fine motor skills were very basic and all she could do is tap the nail clipper to each nail.  Well now she knows how they work and she actual wants to use them (on me) and I am okay with that.  So I am teaching her the proper way to hold them and use them.  This is a fantastic practical life skill.  So here we are earlier in the week me getting a free manicure.

On a side note she is very encouraging.  She points to each nail as she is working on it and says things like:

"This nail good mommy"

"Good manners mommy"

"Awwww mommy so good"

My Children

I'm looking for two beautiful fairly calm and manageable children.  See the picture for reference.

You see their mine and I've lost them.  Somebody else's children have moved in and I am sure THEIR mother wants them back.  We can do an even trade back, after all she had a vacation this week.

Looking forward to a restful weekend.

Cotton balls, Glue, and Sanity

So yesterday morning after losing the the final remnant of my sanity, I handed my two year old daughter Hannah a bottle of white glue and said "entertain yourself, mommy will be in the closet!"

If you know me, I have NEVER given Hannah full reign of the white glue.  A glue stick sure, not the white glue, it's too messy, and I am convinced she will suck it dry.

This is what happened:

Ethan was screaming, had been screaming all morning, he wanted to be held, when I held him he wanted to be put down.  He's got the stomach flu so I am trying to make him feel better but I was at a loss yesterday as to what would help.  He was a raving lunatic every time he saw food so I knew he was hungry.  But he couldn't keep his toast down earlier, so I was being very careful what I was feeding him despite what he might have wanted.

Hannah being a typical 2 year old wanted mommy attention and wanted to play with Ethan.  She was frustrated when neither happened.

The house was a mess.

Mommy was tired and had a HUGE migraine.

ENTER THE GLUE

I ended up throwing the screaming Ethan in the play pen.  I figure if he was going to scream, it might as well not be in my ear. Buckled Hannah into her highchair and put her bib on.  I gave her a piece of paper, a handful of cotton balls, and the bottle of glue.

She looked at me and said 3 words.  "Mommy do it", she knows how we do things around here.  I told her she could do and she didn't look back.  Thankfully, this entertained her for awhile, she did not eat the glue, and most surprisingly, she did not make a mess.

I found the CLOSET.....Actually, the Tylenol and then I fed Ethan.

Turns out he has been cranky because he is teething his top front teeth that with being sick.  Would wouldn't be cranky.

Wordless Wednesday

Thank You Cards

Birthday girl opening presents

After Hannah's birthday party, I was trying to think of a cute way for her to thank people for the gifts that she was generously given. At 2 years old she can't write thank you cards, but I came up with a cute little card for her to help me make. I think they turned out well. The only problem is I should have made one for myself.

If you would like to make one too, this you can do it too.

What you will need:
Tempera Paint

paper towel and a plate
green, red, and white paper (or whatever you like)
black pen

glue

scissors

First place a paper paper on a plate.  I used one of Hannah's plastic plates then put some paint on the paper towel.  I put yellow towards the bottom, and red above the yellow and in the middle where the two colors mixed it became the lovely orange/red color.  You could choose any color combinations.  The paint will soak into the paper towel.  Using the paper towel for printing helps to avoid getting to much paint on the paper.  You also get more texture and color mixing than if you use stamps.  Place your child's hand in the paint and then press onto the white paper and repeat until you have as many prints as you need.  Set aside until dry.

Next, cut out some leaves and stem shapes for each palm print with the green paper and some flower pots with the red paper. 

When the paint is dry.  Glue all the pieces together and you will have a lovely flower hand print.  Use your black pen or marker to write thank you across the palm and a message on the flower pot.

 Note:  If your reading this and your thinking I didn't get one.  No fear they have not all been passed out yet.  :D

Hospital Visit

We spent half the night with our youngest, Ethan, at the Hospital in emergency.  He had not been able to keep anything down for 24 hours so Andrew and I were getting worried about dehydration.  We wanted to take him to a walk-in clinic near our house but it closes early on Sunday.  I decided instead to call the nurse line and they suggested we take Ethan in to get looked at.  We left Hannah with her capable auntie and uncle.  We were very thankful for their help.  We just hope they were not too tired this morning.  Andrew posted some details already and I'm to tired to write them myself so check out his summary of the evening.  On a side note I am very proud of Andrew for being an exceptional advocate on Ethan's behalf.  Here are some pictures from the night:

He did not feel good, and he was tired.

What a trooper!

Waiting for the doctor.

Drinking his 5ml of apple juice.

We could not check those boxes off fast enough; we just wanted to go home.

Ethan is doing much better this morning.  He LOVES his apple-juice-only diet.  He has quite the sweet tooth.