Easy Preschooler Entertainment

Yesterday I was working on a cross stitch for my soon-to-arrive niece. Nick curled up next to me and was very intent on knowing what I was doing. I told him I was sewing a turtle for Betsy. He asked if he could sew a turtle for Betsy too.

Not wanting to discourage his craftiness, I said sure. Then I had to come up with a turtle for him to sew! This is what I did.:

1. I drew a very simple turtle on a piece of fairly heavy (not-corrugated) cardboard. I cut the edges to shape it a little bit, leaving half an inch or so of space between the picture and the edge.

2. Using my three-hole punch, I made holes every couple of inches all the way around.

3. I gave him a shoelace and the picture and showed him how to push the end through the holes. He's been "sewing" ever since.



I know they sell these types of things (because I've bought them myself) but I'm happier with my homemade one. It's made of sturdier material, it can be made in whatever shape my son fancies at the moment, and when the baby gets a hold of it and gums it to mush I can easily, and cheaply, make another one.

Bananas for Baby

Yesterday I was looking for a little something more to feed the baby; we're in that stage where we're waiting three or four days between introducing foods, and all I had in jars was new foods. I suddenly remembered some overly ripe bananas I had stashed in the freezer to turn into bread for funerals. And it occurred to me that after they are frozen bananas are smooth and mushy with no effort at all--perfect baby food! Sure enough, Lucas gobbled down half of one in no time.

I'm adding this to my mental list of "duh!" ideas. So much easier, and less wasteful, than trying to squish up fresh bananas with a fork.

Ahh...Vacation

Today ended the first "real" family vacation I've taken (as a mom, not a kid). It was not entirely stress-free, but I am definitely more laid back now than I was two weeks ago. So now that we're all back to real life I am making a conscious effort to maintain that vacation state of mind.

I didn't get worked up when Ben's work schedule got changed or when he had to fix lunch because I needed to nurse the baby. I took the kids outside to blow bubbles, even though I hadn't finished the laundry and there were still two pans of cookies to bake.

So pretty good...except for totally losing my cool when I just could not locate Luke's birth certificate. Someday when I'm feeling especially zen I really need to clean out that office closet!

The Problem with Good Deals

We eat a lot of sandwiches around here and I've been buying prepackaged deli meat for over a year now. There are several brands that I can always get at the commissary for $1.45 or $1.50 for 9 oz. after coupons. Not a bad price, and some of the meat is pretty good. Plus I get a free container out of the deal.

But on my last shopping trip I used a fantastic coupon I got from Sara Lee for a free product, up to $8.99. So I went to the deli counter and ordered up a pound and a quarter of sliced turkey. Last night DH made a sandwich and raved how good it was. I told him it cost seven dollars a pound and he said..."Worth every penny!"

Sigh...Now I'm going to have to retrain his taste buds for bargain sandwiches.

Bubble Bath

Nick loves bubbles. When I wash his hair he wipes the shampoo out of his hair and rubs it on my arms and laughs. He rubs them on his arms and then shows me how to make them go away by dunking his arm in the water. So I thought I'd give him an extra special treat tonight with his first ever bubble bath.

He watched closely as I added the bubble bath under the running water. He listened and heard the fizzing noise as some of the bubbles popped. He almost forgot about dumping his potty into the toilet he was so intent on getting into the tub.

I picked him up and set him on his feet in the warm, sudsy water. He squatted down. He howled. "No bubbles!" he cried. "No bubbles!"

"Honey, you like bubbles. These are just like the ones you get washed with but there's lots of them to play with!"

"No bubbles! Get out." Tears start to well up in his scared little eyes. "Get out!"

So there was no bath tonight. So much for my extra special treat.

When I tucked him into bed he told me "Tomorrow bath. No bubbles." Then he smiled at me, "Silly Mom."

Little Things to Remember

• Overheard while Nick was "reading" in the other room: "X, A, F, B. Good job!"
• But maybe it really was a good job, because reading G is for Gecko tonight I'd say Nick got 75% of his letters right. I knew that he knew some letters, but I was more than surprised at some of the ones he identified.
  
• Luke has decided he loves his daddy. His face lights up with a big grin when Ben makes faces at him.
• Nick twines his fingers through my hair when I sing to him before bed. Lately song requests have included the dump truck song, the cement mixer song, and the mac-cheese song.
• If someone would hold him up, Luke would be perfectly happy to stand on his feet all day long. I'm cleaning off the exersaucer tonight. Tomorrow he'll be 16 weeks old. Already.
  

Beautiful Bouquets

Are there any flowers so sweet as the dandelions picked by a two year old for his mommy? I wished I had a camera with me today to catch a picture of him running around the yard with two bright yellow flowers gripped so hard in his hand that the stems were broken and the heads dangling toward the ground. And he still held them up to show me, proud as can be, as he announced, "Picked flowers!"