Lolli

Oh yeah..... lollipops rule the world!

It's funny how you can walk into a store and someone mentions the world "lollipop" and Megan turns on the charm. What is it with kids having a natural affinity to lollipops?

Snazzy

Grandma Snazzy that is.... A neighbor that I randomly met at the pool last year, and the park and storytime this year, clued me in to a cool happening down the road. Evidently one of our local grocery stores has a "grandma" who volunteers to have storytime in their community meeting room. She does this 3 times a week - how cool is that!?!? That's Grandma Snazzy!

It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, when I called the store this morning they gave me the wrong meeting time. So I thought I was arriving 10 minutes early... but actually we only had 10 minutes of story time left. Bummer. But in that 10-15 minutes, we sang some songs, did some finger rhymes, read a book, and even did a little craft. It wasn't overcrowded, but evidently it is something others in the community obviously know about. The ages of the kids ranged from babies to 4 year olds. The majority were 2-3 year olds.

Here's Megan doing her duck craft (and from a teachers perspective - it was amazingly organized - I was highly impressed!)

Megan took back her empty bag of art supplies and wanted to show Grandma Snazzy her hard work.
It took some mommy help... but she was so cute working on it. The stickers were a bit challenging for her. She can't seem to get them off the sheet without getting them stuck to her hands. I think we'll have to work on that some more.

And..... to top it off, when they leave storytime, the grocery store hands out a treat and a juice box. So while Megan chattered about the duck and ate her chocolate teddy grahams (which by the way, I didn't realize she knew the word "chocolate" until she grabbed the bag and said "cocolet teddy" - stinkin cute!) I got some grocery shopping done.

I don't know if other stores do this - but it's worth stopping by the info desk and asking! It's a great community service and they definitely won me over as a shopper!

Pancakes, Yum!

Only a few hours left of National Pancake Day... and your free pancakes at IHOP!
Run I say, run!

We did - at lunch. OK, we didn't run but we did meet up with some friends for a free stack of pancakes. Thanks to Missy who filled me in on the fun day - I obviously missed that freebie. Of course, I didn't have my camera with me to catch all the pancake covered little faces - but let's just say the IHOP we went to, may never be the same....

Please warm back up!

Please.... please, please.... bring the warm spring weather back!So we can get back outside and enjoy times like this... And continue to learn to ride see saws.....

When we were at the park one evening last week, Megan was playing around with the chain ladder. I'm not to worried about it because I know she can't actually climb up it.

Or so I thought. Somehow she did figure it out. Oh dear!

(Now go back up 2 pictures -where she's playing at the bottom of the chain ladder... see the twirly climbing thing that is behind the slide - yeah, she's mastered that as well. Let's just say, the park is a little more stressful now that she's truly climbing on everything she can find.)

so sweet.... a daddy and his little girl - melts my heart!

Fore!

Alright Uncle Dan....
You better get your game on!
Megan is practicing for your visit...
She says you are in for a run for your money...
Of course, with her own greens in the basement, she may take you on the golf course this year. At the very least, she'll at least keep you hoping as balls come flying at your head. Fore!

Sewing

It's a little outdated, but finally I'm getting this posted.
For Christmas my dear husband gave me a super cool sewing machine. It's still a bit over my head, but I'm slowly learning how to use it. I had a goal in mind... A Valentine's Day dress! So the week before Valentine's Day I got down to business. I found a pattern, figured out how to use it (have I mentioned that I am soooo a beginner), and got it all put together. I was so excited that I made my own pattern and made Megan a cute Valentine's skirt.

Here they both are...Megan was actually playing peek-a-boo in her closet (wearing the cute easy peasy skirt) with her Valentine's Dress randomly hanging on the door. It's not a great picture of Megan (she's yelling "boo" at that moment), but I realized it had both creations in it - so here it is.

I got a few patterns and once I figure them out, I want to move on to some pants and a couple other dresses. Very fun!

Oh Coop!

I think Megan really likes being the girl next door. I know she'll be so happy to have a friend to get into trouble with in the years ahead...

And hopefully they'll help each other out of trouble as well!

Gym Class

Today was our last day of gym class. So sad! A few weeks ago, I finally kept my camera with me to capture some of the fun things we did in the "little gym". Each class we did lots of activities in the "little gym" and then we would have a circle time and the kids learned lots of different fun stretches (which Megan now wants me to do with her every day - multiple times), and then we would blast off to the "big gym". The big gym is just that - it's the "real" gym with the "real" equipment and the kids could explore everything in there. No matter where we were, it was loads of fun!

Here's Megan swinging herself on one of the bars. They would line up cones for her to kick down as she would swing to help her learn control of her legs as they stretched out in front of her. It was one of her favorite things to do! And she loved the balance beam...

By the end of the class, she had learned how to walk up the ladder...

To get to the foam pit.... And then she would fearlessly fling herself into the foam!

Here's a little video of the foam pit. Listen carefully at the beginning and you'll hear her yell for help and that she's stuck... while she's still in the air. Silly girl. Today in the big gym, she ran to the end of a platform and jumped to Ms. Joy who was in the big foam pit. My little dare devil.

We always made time for the little trampoline. It's given her so much confidence in her physical abilities that she spends most of the day trying to jump with both feet, or skip. It's very cute to watch and you really can't help but giggle as she does a cross between a gallop and a skip through the house.

And sometimes we would practice our rolls....

And sometimes we would just work on our tunnel skills (that's Megan's new little friend Caroline).

Whenever they would practice rolling, I would usually end up in a giggling heap. Let's just say that occasionally the kids (who were all 1) would actually get into a roll (like Megan did here) but usually they ended up just sliding down the ramp in some fashion. It was always funny to see how they figured out how to get down. Nate went ahead of Megan and he chose the tummy slide and scoot. And after all that activity, you have to have some circle time and do some stretches!!!!! You can see on her face that Megan is enthralled by Ms. June and listening intently to her directions. I was amazed at how well she followed the directions of the teachers.

When they would stretch, they would incorporate fun songs like the Itsy Bitsy Spider and Humpty Dumpty (which is now one of Megan's favorite songs). But the funniest was to help the kids learn "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes". So as you watch this video - Megan is ahead of herself and is sooooo ready for the "nose part"

At the end of class we'd all run back to the little gym for "stamps and bubbles". Megan realized the importance of this the 1st day... if you ran to the balance beam, Ms Joy or Ms. June would give you stamps on your feet, your hands, and if you were really good...your tummy!
Then to top it all off... you could chase bubbles!
We loved our little "parks and rec" gym class. I have to say, if you are in our area and you are looking for something "physical" that is really age appropriate - this is it! Everything they did was catered to them and their ability level. They were challenged to try to new things, but never to a point of frustration. It was learning through play in the best way!

And we found out today that this summer they are having 2 and 3 day summer camps for her little tots class. So fun! I'm already excited about signing her up for a few days for a week or 2 this summer - it'll be 3 hours where she's following someone else's directions and doing something she loves with teachers she adores! Yipee!!!

And until then.... we couldn't just not do anything, so we are going to take a little art class that starts in a couple of weeks. I'm so excited and I think Megan will love that as much as she loved her gym class!

Updates

Oh, I'm so behind on getting updates out..... I promise I'll get to it as soon as I get some spare time. We have lots of baby showers happening right now, and a big #2 birthday to get ready for.... So life's been a little hectic.

But today we did make time to head back to the Dr's office.
On Friday (at 5pm I might add) Megan came up to me and said - "owey" and pointed to her right ear. Then she burst into tears and climbed into my lap. Great.... 5pm on Friday. We made it through the weekend fairly well. Sunday wasn't a great day - she did not feel well and made sure we knew it. So this morning we headed back for our seemingly monthly ear check- and yep, you guess it - it's infected. So we started antibiotics today. In reality, this time last year we were headed to the ENT with our 10th ear infection... this year we are only on our 2nd so I'm actually feeling really blessed in spite of the infection.

The good news was that I got a chance to chat about Megan's bizarre wheezing episodes, that start and stop on a dime, and we are also starting her on a new med for that (singular). Tonight she got her first "chewable tablet".... and about 45 seconds later she was tugging on my leg asking me for more. And the Doc was worried she wouldn't take it....

Megan was actually a very happy girl tonight and hopefully that will continue all week.

Biker Chick

We finally moved the tricycle out of the kitchen (I know, what was it doing in the kitchen) and gave it a whirl outside. Megan is still trying to get used to the helmet. I think it might be user error and I just don't know how to put it on. You know, I'm from the era of no-helmets.... but now - it's the law! So I want her to know that even a tricycle has a helmet rule so by the time we move up to a bike - she'll be used to it.

The 4 muskateer cousins

This weekend we celebrated my brothers birthday - a bit belated. It's always fun to get all the kids together. Every gathering, they just seem to be sweeter and sweeter.
Especially when they make sure Megan is part of the "big kid" fun...

General B Lee did NOT see his shadow!

If you are from GA, hopefully you know who General Beauregard Lee is.... it's our groundhog. He may not be as famous as PunxsutawneyPhil - but hey, he's pretty darn accurate for our GA weather. Well, Beau did not see his shadow - meaning Spring is around the corner.... now I don't know if that is true or not - but all I know is I'm loving the weather this week!!!!

73 degrees..... That's what my car thermometer read when I was leaving the zoo today! What a gorgeous day - it was the perfect day to meet up with some neighbors and head to the zoo. The animals are always a hit with Megan. We had to go back and check out "Africa" before we left because the rhino and the elephants weren't out when we got there, and Megan was beside herself. She was a happy camper when she finally got to see them both. I think those are her favorite animals. Although, she really took notice of the birds this trip - especially the flamingos and the horned bills (we saw them mulitple times since they are on the trail to and from "Africa."

And of course, if you go to the zoo you must ride the train...

And the merry-go-round...

This trip, we stayed a little longer and played on the playground. It's a fun playground. A lot of the features are too big for us right now, but they still have plenty of toddler friendly activities.

My little monkey...

The airplane see-saw was a big hit....

But by far, this was her favorite spot on the playground....

I had to stay really close because she kept jumping herself off.

I had to pretty much drag Megan out of there... with the promise of going back to find the rhino. It was such a great day. I love February days when it's warm like this. Reminds me that spring is around the corner.

Why you need Mommies and Daddies...

You need Mommies to get you out of foam pits when you are stuck... You need Mommies to bounce you on the trampoline...

You need Daddies to take you to the park and swing you really high!

You need Daddies to let you ride on strange bouncy animals...And of course, you need Mommies and Daddies to love the stuffing out of you!

Loads of Learning

We had a fun week of incorporating some fun learning activities. It's that teacher blood that lives in me. I may not be in a "classroom" anymore - but I will always be a teacher. At this stage of life, all play is truly learning. With Megan being so curious, loving creative activities, and seeking to explore everything... I make sure we have some directed activities each week and that we have some purposeful play times as we work on different skills.

This week we had a great time with watercolors. Megan loves trying to sing the ABC song so we started having some fun letter A activities.Playing with her shape sorter is one of her favorite things now. And we couldn't have a week without play-doh. We had been talking about colors and looking for colors in the house, so when it was time to roll and cut the play-doh, Megan started cutting it into little piece and sorting it into the proper container.

And, I am so happy to say that I finally finished painting that huge piece of wood downstairs. It's not an enormous chalkboard. Megan loves it! She's been working on making lines and circles and loves trying to imitate anything I draw. Making the chalkboard was a lot of work (long story) but it was worth it!

I'm going to try to start a weekly post of our fun "learning activities" each week (hopefully that will be my Sunday activitity) so that Megan and I both have a record of things that she was learning, and some of the fun games we play and activities we do at each stage of her development.

Whatsup?

Well it's Friday.... where did the week go? I have a ton of pictures to upload but have been really busy getting ready for a women's event at our church tomorrow.... and the speaker, who happens to be my old roomate from my Albania days, is staying with us tonight. So between planning and cleaning - Megan has been doing a lot of running after mommy this week. And I must say - I really like the little mini-lunchables... with turkey, cheese and ritz crackers... Makes grabbing a lunch to go really easy, and gives an easy lunch (with her dear bluberries added on the side) while I'm cleaning the kitchen. :^)
And it helps that Megan loves them and usually polishes off every bite.

Brrrrrrr!

Yesterday, as the cold front started to blow in - we had to get out of the house and have a little free time. So we bundled up and my little pink marshmallow had fun chasing after the birds and squirrels.
She wanted to play on her slide, but once we got up there.... I realized she was really using it as a looking post.... she saw Bailey next door (the neighbor's dog) and was very upset that he didn't want to come play with her. Thankfully she got over it pretty quickly - as soon as another squirrel dared to romp in her path.

Roll and Cut

This is our new obsession.... PLAY-DOH!!!!!!!

I think I spent an hour today helping to roll and cut and squish and flatten and make shapes and letters, and poke sticks into, and make animals out of.... wow - there's a lot to do with play-doh (and I didn't even mention my attempt to teach Megan to use the cookie cutters on it). But by far, her favorite thing to do with the playdoh is to roll it out into a log (she's gotton good at that) and then cut it with her baby knife. I think she just loves actually being able to use a knife finally. Roll and cut. Roll and cut. Roll and cut..... of course it really comes out sounding like - "woul in cud." Cute.

One day, I'm going to make my own and see how that works for us. Of course, someone may have to remind me that I said that a month from now when I still haven't done it yet.