Busy Little Hands

Jack is getting really close to dropping that precious morning nap, and I am a bit nervous.  How am I going to keep him entertained for so many hours in a row?  I don't feel like I need to be overly scheduled or have big plans for every day, but I have been searching for different ways to keep his hands busy when we hit those, "what next?" moments.

I really appreciate the friends and family that have shared ideas, blogs, and books that are filled with creative homemade activities.

Here's one quick idea from my sister, Jodi:

We put pipe cleaners through the holes of a strainer.  I think that eventually, the hope would be that he would be able to do this by himself.  Right now, I poked them through, and he pulled them out.  He thought it was a lot of fun, and he also loved dropping his snack into the bowl.  Fun, right?

Another new activity was suggested by my friend, Susan:

I cut a hole in the top of a container and Jack dropped in cotton balls, one at a time.  Susan had initially talked about making a lot of holes in the lid, and using pom-poms.  I was kind of in a hurry that afternoon and went for what I had around.  Jack must have sensed that the activity was rushed and sub-par, because it only kept his attention for a few minutes.  

Yesterday, I fixed the problems and made a new contraption.  He really enjoyed this version and this kept him entertained while I cleaned up the kitchen and packed a lunch.

The final project this week has been to dye raw pasta.  We started stringing necklaces last week, and they were kind of boring.  I had never dyed pasta before, and it was an entertaining new project for the both of us.

First, Jack filled Mason jars 1/2 way with raw pasta.

Next, we squeezed in neon colored food coloring, enough rubbing alcohol to fill the bottom of the jar, and shook them up!

Throughout the rest of the day we rolled the jars on the floor and rotated them around.

Below is a picture of our final product.  I'm really happy with the way they turned out.  Next up:  stringing necklaces.

He's Out!

One missed nap + one head cold + swim lessons + two quick errands = one sleepy kid.  Luckily he went right back to sleep once we got inside.

Cleaning and Hiding

Jack helped me clean out the lazy susan yesterday.  He was very helpful:  he organized the tea box, put the sweet n' lows in the towel drawer, dumped and ate cheerios and oatmeal, and helped me dust by using his pjs as a dust rag.

Jack isn't showing any interest in learning to stand with our help... but he obviously can give it a try when he's in the mood!

We've noticed that Jack has an interest in 'putting things places".  I don't have a better term for it, but basically he likes to put toys and other objects in his favorite hiding spots.  This is a great skill when it's time to clean up toys, and he's been a big help when doing laundry!  Often, if he's missing a block or a Little People animal, I'll find it behind the DVR.  He also likes to scoot over to the landing and put his cars on the first step.  Yesterday I caught him hiding his train blocks under the chair in the living room.  I'm not sure why he likes to do this, and we've found toys hidden in random places throughout the house.  He even managed to toss a bottle of conditioner down a vent last month.  (Luckily Jacob was able to follow the vent and find it in the basement.)

Here's a quick peak at one of his favorite hiding places:

Simple Fun

With all of the loud, battery-powered toys in our house, some days I'm thankful that Jack still enjoys simple forms of entertainment:

Moving doll pins from one canister to another:

Sometimes the simple things are still loud, but that's ok.  How fun is it to stack bowls, strainers, and Pyrex measuring cups?

Send It

Jack has recently taken a new interest in books.  Finally.  We read together many times throughout the day, we've gone to story times at the library, we take trips to the book store,  I've tried to get him to play independently with his basket of books to no avail.  The few times I've seen him pick up a book, it's been to sneak it to the stairs to slide under the gate.

Well, in the past few weeks things have changed a bit.  I've found him scooting over to his basket to browse through the books and every once in a while he even chooses a book, signs 'please', and hands it to me to read. I absolutely love this and can't turn him down.

He's also entered the stage in which he wants to read the same book over and over.  As soon as we finish a book, he signs 'please', turns the pages back to the beginning, and waits for you to read the story again....and again.

Today we read (and reread) We're Going on a Bear Hunt, The Very Busy Spider, The Happy Man and His Dump Truck, and his absolute favorite, Send It.  I don't know what is so special about this little board book, but we've probably read it at least 15 times a day recently.  Just ask Carl.  He had the privilege of reading it to Jack over and over on Sunday night.

Samad Baby #2

In case you missed this announcement on facebook:

"We've been seeing a lot more milkshakes around the house lately, which can only mean one thing: We're having another baby! Baby Samad will be arriving late July 2012."

Not included on facebook were these first sweet shots of our little guy (or girl).  The pictures on the right were of our first ultrasound at 6 weeks.  The ones on the left are of the most recent ultrasound, taken 3 weeks ago at 10 weeks, 5 days. 

Isn't it amazing that in just four weeks there was such a difference?  The baby was moving, punching and kicking -- at less than 11 weeks!  It was such a fun treat to have a quick peak at our little one.

That puts us at 14 weeks on Thursday.  The baby is healthy and I am feeling great.  We are so excited and feel extremely blessed.  

Popcorn

Sharing a bowl during the Bengal's playoff game

I love popcorn and there is no denying it.  I don't care if it's at the ballgame, the movie theater, Target, or at home, it is by far my favorite treat.  I've been known to make special trips to Target just to get a bag of popcorn, and I have a very hard time sharing when we go to the movies.  And while I'm confessing, I'll admit that I have once gone into a movie theater only to buy a big bag of popcorn.  I brought it home and ate it at my house.  I have a problem.

Since I have such a craving all of the time, I've learned to make a pretty good bowl of  popcorn using our Whirley-Pop.  I come no where close to the buttery treat that my father in law used to make for us, but I'm working on it.  (Was it all of the oil?  Was it the butter?  I wish I would have paid more attention!)  If you check out the picture above, my guys don't seem to have any complaints.  

Jack has been fighting a cold this weekend and has been a bit cranky - a perfect reason to make a bowl of popcorn and watch an episode of Curious George.  Oh, and Jack hasn't chosen a favorite popcorn yet either.  He just likes it when we share.

Arts + Crafts

Jack and I have ventured into the world of arts and crafts.  With the temperatures dropping and his attention span growing, we've needed to find new activities to keep his little hands busy.

I'm still searching for more fun activities, so if any one of you have good resources, blogs, or suggestions, please share!

Here are some pictures of him playing with Magic Nuudles - a great toddler friendly activity.

We've also started finger-painting.  It was a lot of fun in the beginning, but he quickly learned that paint does NOT taste good.  

Learning that paint tastes awful!

What have you done to me?

Washing out the bad taste

Ok, back to the fun stuff.  

Pulling up on his own!

Yesterday Jack proved to us that he is becoming more and more independent:  He figured out how to move from his belly to sitting up on his own!  

We've seen him moving into the 'normal' crawling position lately, but he's not been able to follow through with much crawling or sitting up.  Finally yesterday, with some cheers and encouragement, he figured it out! I am so excited for him that he can finally crawl from toy to toy without needing someone to sit him up once he gets there.  

Watch him as he figured it out:

He sees something he wants:  Daddy's glasses!

Trying to make a move for it.

High Fives!

One proud little guy!

First Snow of 2012

Jack loved watching the snow fall on Monday.  Many times throughout the day he signed 'please' and pointed to the door.  It wasn't enough for us to take him to the door for a closer look.  He wanted to get outside.  We even tried just walking out onto the porch to watch the snow fall.  Nope.  That didn't satisfy his desire to explore.  He would sign 'please' again and point to the snow.  So, after remembering that he had hand-me-down snow pants, we all bundled up and played in the snow.  

I think he would have played out there for longer if he hadn't gotten snow in his coat sleeves.  He was happy to crawl through the lawn and over the sidewalk to find fresh snow.  He quickly learned to eat the snow, too. 

Christmas Day 2011

Christmas morning started out with just the three of us, which was a great way to spend the early hours of the day.  We snapped a shot of Jack waiting patiently at the top of the stairs, although I'm pretty sure he had no idea he was supposed to be anticipating anything more than breakfast.

Jack watched as Jacob and I exchanged our gifts before he opened anything.  I bet that's the last time that will happen!  He was happy to eat his cereal bar and drink his milk, so we went ahead and opened our gifts.  I was lucky enough to receive parent/child swim lessons from Jack.  We start of Friday, and I'm so excited!

Later in the morning, Nana and Aunt Christy came over to eat breakfast and open gifts with us.  By the end of our time together, Jack seemed to be annoyed by all of the gift unwrapping.  I think he was a bit overwhelmed!

Jack has loved playing with his new kitchen.  I know, I know.  A kitchen for a boy?  When Jacob's mom asked me what Jack wanted for Christmas, I knew right away that this would be a great idea.  Our family spends countless hours in our kitchen and I wanted Jack to have a kitchen that fit him perfectly.  He really has enjoyed it and it has proved to be great for independent play.  (Thank you, Nana!)

Aunt Christy's boyfriend, Joe designed and built these amazing chairs for our family.  I know it took him a lot of time and effort, and we love them!  Jack really enjoys being 'big' in his own chair and you can find him sitting up high, smiling, and swinging his legs.  (And check out those new kicks from Aunt Christy!)

One of Jack's favorite parts of the day was sitting by the fire at Nana's house.  Christy made the tile base for the fire pit.  These people are crafty!