Diggin' Dinosaurs

Once we finished our tentative lesson plan of Letter of the Week, I didn't have a new plan or any ideas of what we could do as far as new subjects to learn about. We still have our workbooks and dive into those every once in a while, but to be honest our days are still centered around Buddyboy's naps and not on lessons or crafts. So when a friend of mine shared that she was reading the Magic Tree House series to her 3 & 4 year olds, and then another friend said the books had great history, science, and everyday lessons written into the stories I decided Babycake and I would give the books a try and see where that led us.

Oh my goodness! She loves them! Book #1 of the series is Dinosaurs Before Dark. I found it cheap at a used bookstore and we read it about 4 times in the first week. After the first two times reading it I went to the library to see if there were any good dinosaur fact books for my 3 year old. What did I find, but that The Magic Tree House series has a Fact Tracker co-series which is a nonfiction guide to Magic Tree House stories. This book had a lot of information. About half of the book was presented in an interesting way for my 3 year old, so we did get some good information. I also found a great National Geographic dinosaur book. There were lots of colorful pictures and the information was simple and concise.

Babycake learned so much from all of these great resources. Our first lesson was simply to learn the names of some different dinosaurs. To help her remember what dinosaur was what, we crafted them out of paper plates. I couldn't miss the the opportunity to also show that the plate was in the shape of a "D," which stands for dinosaur. With each dinosaur, we discussed if it was a meat eater, carnivore, or a plant eater, an herbivore.

You can get the templates for the dinosaur parts at The Craft Train.

Recipe and directions atRainy Day Mum.

Our next lesson was focused on fossils. We are members of our local Children's Museum which has an amazing dinosaur exhibit so Babycake was able to really visualize dinosaur bones when we discussed this. It was a little more difficult for her to visualize the bones in the ground, so we made fossil prints of our own.





We made fossil prints of dinosaurs as well dinosaur tracks. We discussed how these kinds of dinosaurs are no longer around and so the only way we can learn about them is from their fossils. An interesting fact we learned from this is that birds are living dinosaurs. How cool is that?! You could have a pet dinosaur!





Our last lesson was about dinosaur babies. Babycake quickly got the concept that baby dinosaurs come from eggs and not mommy bellies. She also grasped the fact that dinosaurs are reptiles, but that doesn't mean she gets that a reptile is cold blooded. She also had a hard time remembering that dinosaurs didn't have fur.



Our little dino eggs were easy to make. I printed images of baby dinosaurs then cut construction paper in egg shapes. Then we cut zig zags through the eggs, glued the baby dino onto the bottom portion of the egg, and connected the two shell parts with a split pin so the egg could open and close.


Now that we've exhausted my dinosaur crafts and lessons, as well as my willingness to read Dinosaurs Before Dark for the hundredth time, we are ready to move onto the next book in the Magic Tree House series, The Knight at Dawn.

Finally! Xx, Yy, & Zz the last Letters of the Week

Well, it's almost been 2 years since we started doing Letter of the Week. Thanks to illness, pregnancy, and adjusting to 2 kids this little adventure has taken WAY longer than expected. However... We did it! We made it! We're done!

I finally got around to preparing crafts for our last letters Xx, Yy, & Zz. Now that Buddyboy is big enough to sit in the highchair entertaining himself with attempted self feeding, I was able to spare 20 mins a day focused on Babycake and our letter lessons.

For Xx we only talked about x-rays. Since Babycake is a big fan of Curious George, she was able to connect the dots, and we had a great discussion about the letter Xx, our X-ray craft, and what exactly an x-ray is and does in relation to George falling and breaking his leg in one of his adventures.

I know xylophone also begins with x, but explaining the sound each letter makes, getting a child to remember that sound, and then saying 'well, yeah it makes that sound, but here it says zzzz for this word it just so happens to begin,' seems a bit foolish. The point of the lesson is to help the child understand the special sound the letter makes (the majority of the time). I feel like "second" sounds a letter makes ie. X-zzzzz C-sssss, should be introduced after the child has a firm grasp of the alphabet and the sounds each letter mainly produces.

Yy was a fun day for Babycake since she had a friend over. She was so excited to show how we do crafts and sing our letter sound song. Our craft consisted of covering a Y in yarn, and coloring images of things that are typically yellow. We had fun discussing how yarn and yellow "start" with Yy, and then came up with other words like yo-yos, yawns, and yaks, to name a few.

For Zz Babycake made Zeke the zebra and sang a little rhythm song about him (how cute is she?!). I also had her cut out pieces of a Zz-zipper puzzle. She then had to figure out how the pieces fit together to make a Z and glue it down.

Xx, Yy, & Zz crafts

Babycake had a great time doing these crafts as well as all the other crafts we've done on our Letter of the Week venture. I think she learned a lot. She knows all her letters by sight and has even started writing them. She can spell and read her own name. She can tell you the sound each letter makes on her own, but when asked, she is prone to brain freezes. Our next big adventure is reading. 

I've always been grateful for her love of learning and am excited to begin this new phase with her. I'm so thankful for her initiative in self-education. I often do not come up with our topics or lessons. She finds something interesting, asks about it, and then experiments with it. My role has simply been to provide guidance and craft supplies. 

Babycake's Activity Book: Car Trip!

Two weeks after our failed camping trip, our little family of four took a trip to Kansas City to visit the hubby's sister. Our house to KC is 7.5 hours according to Google Maps. Traveling from our house to KC with a three year old and four month old... the trip took 10+ hours. Prior to the trip I mapped out our journey and all the possible stopping points (which had playgrounds either inside and out). I also planned lots of en route car entertainment for Babycake. One of those pastimes was a Car Ride Activity Book reused from the Camping Activity Book I previously created.

This book only had one activity: Find, Color, and Trace. Each page of the Activity Book had two images on it. Each time Babycake saw one of the objects depicted, she got to color it and trace it's name under it. There were times when she wanted to color the picture a certain color; so we could spend up to an hour looking out our window for a semi-truck that had red on it. Talk about killing time! Below you can see that not only was she focused on staying in the lines (as much as possible for a three year old, and in a moving car), she also traced the provided words to perfection. Then she practiced copying words and writing them independently. Uhg!! So proud of this girl and her aptitude!!!

This was a great hit with Babycake. It was a game she got to play, break from, and pick up without missing a thing. I'm sure there will be more activity books in the future.

Babycake's Activity Book

Over the first weekend of October we were supposed to go camping with some friends. It was going to be our first camping trip as a family of  four, and only our second time camping with Babycake, who is now 3. We tried once before to go camping with her when she was about Buddyboy's age and it didn't go well. However, this time our friends invited us and we felt more prepared to camp with kids after having failed so miserably before... plus there would be three times as many adults as kids so our odds of keeping everyone happy were in our favor.

Well it just so happened that the weekend we assumed would be beautifully warm weather for camping ended up being winter coat cold with wind and rain. Amazingly the two childless couples we planned to camp with canceled before us! Score one for the family of four! So instead we went to our friends' house (who lived out of town for us) and camped in their living room. Really, with the two little ones, especially one being 4 months old, it was my kind of camping! We all had a really good time and still got to carve pumpkins, eat good food, have a fire, and enjoy good company. I even had sleepless nights with multiple awakenings from the kids not being used to sleeping in a strange place.

The only disappointment I had was that Babycake wouldn't get to use the Activity book I had made her. Being the lover of learning that she is, I wanted to make sure she would have ample opportunities to learn about all the amazing things she'd be surrounded by and experiencing on our camping trip. I also acknowledge that being three, her attention span is quickly moving and easily distracted. So I created the Camping Activity Book to allow for some guided education that could keep her happy if she needed to stay in one spot while all the adults were busy.

The activity book was simple enough that the other adults with us could figure out what the purpose of a task was if she asked for assistance. I included her pencil bag filled with a pencil, crayons, and tape which would be all the supplies she would need. The book itself was just an old collage three-ring binder that I created a cover page to slip in the clear front pocket. Then I created activities, printed them out, and clasped them inside the rings. Easy-peasy.

The first activity I created was camping bingo. In this bingo Babycake was to observe the world around her, be it at the campsite, or on a hike. If she spotted something that was depicted on her bingo page, she got to color it in. I didn't expect, or want, her to bring the binder with her everywhere. Instead I wanted her to enjoy her surroundings, and remember what she saw. The goal was also to color every picture on the page, not to only get one row filled in. The more coloring meant more observation, curious conversation about her surroundings, and learning.

The second activity I created was another way for Babycake to be aware of what was around her as well as practice her tracing and letter skills. I titled it cleverly, by what it was... Find, Tape, and Trace. The directions were also easy enough that I (or another adult) could explain them once, and Babycake could do the rest. Each part of the activity had an instruction, for example, the picture given shows "Can you find grass?" There is a picture of grass at the end of the question so Babycake knows what she is looking for since she cannot read. Then she would go hunting for grass, pick some, tape a few blades (or a handful) to the space provided on the page, and finish the section by tracing the word Grass. Once those steps were completed she was welcome to move on the the next section and find whatever was depicted and proceed the same as before.

The last activity I had in the book was a few camping themed coloring pages. Super simple and no instruction needed. I would have liked it if Babycake had completed the activity book, but that wasn't my number one goal for our camping trip. If we HAD gone camping, I created this book to simply provide a distraction for a busy toddler if she ever got bored while the adults cooked or sat around chatting. I truly believe the number one place children learn best is outside experiencing nature. You can learn numbers and counting simply by counting how many trees you see. You can create letters out of pine needles as Babycake herself has taught me. You learn about life and death through the seasons and all other important aspects of life by simply being aware of the awesome, amazing Earth we call home.

Life- Love's Greatest Gift

This post isn't about religion or politics. It's not about abortion, illness, or other. 

This post is about parenting and letting your children survive.

No matter how messed up your parents may be, or how much they screwed you up, you have to know they loved you. No matter what, even if it's the only human part left of them, they loved you. How do I know this? How can I say this when I don't know you, I don't know your story? You lived. That's how I know, because you lived.

I never knew that surviving infancy and childhood was a gift from you parents (or caregiver). I had no idea this was fact until I became a parent. Seriously, why is this a secret?! Why is this not mentioned in any of the parenting books or classes? When you're expecting your "little bundle of joy," the books, classes, and experienced parents all give hint to the sleepless nights and exhaustion which is to ensue, but no one ever mentions that every parent has his/her day(ssssssss) of sainthood. Yeah. It's true.

Today was one of my own sanctity days. Nothing major happened. Nothing horrible. Yes I was woken multiple times throughout the night, but that's not too uncommon in our home at the moment. Today was a pretty typical day to be honest. Babycake was the average three year old, and we still think Buddyboy is teething. But for some reason, every refusal to nap by said three year old, and every screech for a diaper change, feeding, or cuddle, made me want to pull my hair out. I didn't want to read, play, and craft today. I didn't want to rock my baby to sleep. I didn't want to go out in the cold and windy weather. No. I wanted to be left the hell alone! "Please don't wipe your nose on me. Don't hug me with those jelly hands. Did you wash after pooping? Why is he still screaming?  I have spit up running down my arm, hu, didn't even feel it that's so common."

Before being a parent I was baffled by the existence of Shaken Baby Syndrome. However, I came to understand how accidental it could actually be when Babycake was an infant- possibly the teething stage. She went through a time where she couldn't sleep without being in my arms due to gum discomfort. I remember one day being so exhausted and frustrated with her constant crying that I laid her in her crib and shook my fists, yelling. It lasted all of 10 seconds before I stared at my fists, no more than two feet away from her, in disbelief. I was shocked. Yes, I was exhausted to the point I couldn't hold a real conversation with an adult and yes I was frustrated, but had I not been clear headed enough to lay my baby down before shaking my fists in desperate anger, I could have easily kept her in my hands while I shook. (gulp)

Today, I left my crying baby boy in his crib so I could stomp around the house yelling. This was great in that I got relief and didn't yell at Buddyboy or do him any harm. This was not so great in that I had to repeatedly assure Babycake I was not mad at her, she was fine, Mommy is just really cranky today and still loves you to the moon and back.

Earlier this week my husband took a few days off work and then told me he was really looking forward to going back to work because he needed to get away. He needed a break from the kids. (yeah, me too!) As obnoxious as this was to hear, since I NEVER get a break (nope, honestly, don't get a day off from being Mommy until Buddyboy is one and done with nursing- then off to Grandma's the two kiddos will go!), this statement was at least a confirmation for me in my own personal thoughts that I have the hardest job. Day in, day out, 24/7, 365 days a year, I am on call. Naps don't line up today? No personal time for me. I don't get a 15, 30, 60 min break in my work day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are more often than not cold b/c someone needs my attention before I can take a bite. That weird noise in the middle of the night? Yeah, heard it and now trying to pass out so I can get 20 more mins before a middle of the night feeding or a nightmare demands my attention.

I love my children. I will do anything for them, but sometimes I fall short and the only gift I can give them is life. Today was that day. We all survived. Tomorrow has got to be better. Thank you Mom and Dad for letting me live past these stages.

Choking Hazards

When it was just Babycake and me going to play dates, I sometimes found myself questioning other parents' safety awareness or carelessness. Often times if there was an older sibling in the house, there would be an abundance of toys that were potential choking hazards. I honestly tried to keep an open mind in most cases since I like to look back on my own childhood for parenting reference and I can remember so many toys that were choking hazards or had sharp edges that were "the" toys every kid wanted. Sometimes though, the parents whose awareness I was trying not to question, just really didn't seem to care about keeping the safe toys out and the older children's toys out of reach of the younger children. Those were the houses that I would get frustrated at. Play dates are supposed to be fun for both the parents and kids, but when a parent has to continually follow his/her kid around making sure they don't touch this or that thing left out which is too dangerous or too fragile, the kid gets frustrated they don't get to play with what they want to play with, and the parent doesn't get to have a nice time talking with the other mom or dad.

As I've mentioned in posts before, I was a nanny for two children the same age gap and gender of my two coincidentally. The mother of these children was very aware of choking hazards and kept the entire house free of them. It was really impressive, but I'm just not that determined to rid the house of every toy w small parts. Babycake is now 3 so many of her toys come w multiple pieces that if broken would be cause for choking concern. Most of these toys she received from friends and family as gifts. I don't want to rid the house of gifts from loved ones.

My dilemma: our house has a 3 yr old and a 4 month old. Buddyboy is now grasping, holding, and chewing on anything and everything in his reach. Before Bubbyboy was born, my husband and I discussed the importance of choking hazards around babies w Babycake so that once he arrived we wouldn't be implementing new rules b/c of the new baby which could then lead to resentment of the new baby. I slowly started moving certain toys from the living room or other public rooms, to Babycake's bedroom. This way she became accustomed to certain toys in certain areas, and if she tried to bring those toys out into the living room, I would explain that toys which are choking hazards need to stay away from where the baby would be and she could still play with those toys in her room where it was safe.

This explanation suites Babycake fine most of the time, but she's three. So, you know, there have been some tantrums thrown b/c of this rule. Babycake loves her baby brother. She is an amazing helper and second mommy. If he's upset she's the one that gets him to start laughing. It's really a beautiful relationship they have. So when she throws these fits or doesn't think about the danger of leaving a ribbon right next to her brother's head, I know it's not b/c she doesn't care about his safety or well being. It's b/c she's three and her mind jumps from one thing to the next at lightening speed often times without thinking of her surrounding environment or cause and effects.

toilet paper roll wrapped in
pink duct tape, taped to the
wall next to her door for
quick checks before
leaving the room

So to help Babycake get a better grasp on the size of toys that are allowed in public spaces, I helped her make and hang her very own "choking hazard tester." This has been very helpful for all of us! Babycake often tests her toys. If she wants to bring out a toy from her room which I deem too dangerous for public spaces, all I need to ask now is "would you mind checking that with the chocking hazard tester? I'm not sure that is safe to be out of your room." SHE then has the power to check the potential danger and inform me if I was right or wrong. This of course works wonders for my strong minded - independent little girl. There have been fewer and fewer tantrums over toy dangers. Instead, she gets to take charge and be the safety keeper of the house.

checking wood block
choking safety

Babycake's become so accustomed to testing her toys she really doesn't need it for much anymore. If we are out somewhere, she'll point out small objects, or toys for children her age, and explain to me that "Buddyboy can't play with that b/c it's a choking hazard." (I'm so proud!!)

All in all, this has been a great little invention for us. Everyone is happy with it's results and the home is a bit safer.

For That Other Mom Who Judged Me

Dear Pink Shirt Mom,

Yes. I let my three year old go into the public restroom by herself. Yes, she can wipe, flush, lock/unlock the stall, wash and dry hands all by herself. Yes, I asked her multiple times if she was sure she could do this all on her own. Yes I care about my childrens' safety.

Just so you know, I received an eye roll, sigh, and "yes mooooom" before the restroom door was shut in my face for even asking if she was certain she wanted to do this by herself. I've been standing in this checkout line right outside the restroom door with my 4 month old. I've been watching the bathroom door to see who goes in, out, and if the door seems to be struggling to open b/c that would be the one thing I expect her to struggle with.

But no, I didn't expect her to call for me b/c she pooped. In my attempts to make certain she wanted to do this on her own, I asked if she needed to poop and she said no. My child does not tell fibs often, and has no shame about pooping. So, I didn't expect her to poop. That, I would have gone into the restroom for. She knows I am the one that does not want her to wipe herself after pooping. I do not want the little smear stains in her underwear after her attempts at wiping that tiny crack. Yes, after her surprise poop, she called for me. And yes, I was not there b/c I was in the checkout line, watching the door, and waiting with a fussy baby.

I really don't think she would have been upset or scared had you not been there. Instead, when she came out, she looked shamed and frightened like she had done something wrong. I know it was b/c of words from your mouth. The other mom who came out before you smiled at me with an understanding when she asked if the lone child was mine and simply informed me she had been calling for me. But when you came out, I saw your look as you held firm to your 7 year old son's hand and strode away. I'm sure in your state of judgement you couldn't conceive how hurt I was that my baby was calling for me and I was not there. I fought back tears when I saw her slouched shoulders and shaken state when she emerged from the restroom. If you had not said something, she would have just attempted a wipe on her own and gone about her business as usual. Instead she made a point to inform me that I was not there, that she pooped, and couldn't reach the soap so just had to use the water to wash her hands. My brave little girl. So independent. So strong. She took good care of herself as I waited outside the door shushing my baby. I don't care what you think of me. I won't bother my child to find out what exactly you said to her or about her in ear shot. My little girl did just fine. We reached a milestone and stumbled a bit, but we did it together and walked to the car holding hands.