Visit a Bakery

December 6, 2018Leave a comment

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I’ve been posting suggested field trips for even the youngest babies, and here’s a reminder that some are not necessarily for the baby… they’re for you, stay-at-home parent!

Getting out can feel great, especially if this child is your first and the weeks of “nesting” are starting to seem confining. But you also want to go some place relatively calm. Bakeries are perfect.

Head off to your nearest local bakery, and make an afternoon of it. Baby can snuggle in your arms when awake, or nap peacefully if asleep (Veronika slept the entire outing!). Meanwhile, you get a nice pause and a tasty treat – vegan chocolate chip cookies and a cup of decaf? Don’t mind if I do!

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Big sibs can of course come along for the fun.

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If baby wakes up, there are lots of things to excite the senses in a bakery; the smell of fresh-basked goods (even though he or she can’t eat them yet!); the noise of coffee grinders or the bell on the door as customers pass in and out; lots of people to people-watch. And of course, yummy treats to ogle!

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Kisses to Learn

December 5, 2018December 5, 2018Leave a comment

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Let’s face it – parents can’t stop kissing their babies! Those adorable faces, those irresistibly chubby cheeks, those tiny hands and feet… And today we added in a little learning to the kisses!

Diaper time is a great moment for this activity, but any time will do, really. As you kiss each part of baby, say, “I love your feet/tummy/cheeks” etc.

Perfect places for kisses: hands, feet, foreheads, eyebrows, ears, noses. And really anywhere! This foot is about to get a kiss of course.

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You can also bring stuffed animals into the game. “Giraffe loves your cheeks, Veronika.”

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Babies really absorb language when it’s combined with actions in this way – plus they get to feel you’re affection! So get smooching.

Bright Bean Salad

December 5, 2018December 13, 20181 Comment

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This main dish salad from the December issue of High Five magazine is just gorgeous – bright indeed! The dominant colors of red and green would make it right at home in a Christmas holiday spread… or just make it any night with your kids!

Travis loved that the recipe involved kids every step of the way, including actions he’d never done before like washing the vegetables, chopping (!), and draining cans of beans. This was definitely a “next level” recipe in his cooking skills. I did a bit of the tough chopping (the green onions, cilantro, and spinach) ahead of time; judge accordingly for your kids.

Ingredients:

1 (15-ounce) can black beans
1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans
1 (15-ounce) can corn
2 large red potatoes
1 red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 bunch chopped cilantro
2 and 1/2 cups chopped baby spinach
1 (16-ounce) jar mild salsa

Adults: Ahead of time, cook the potatoes in boiling water until tender; let cool.
Drain and rinse the cans of beans. This was Travis’s first time using a can opener – he loved learning how the mechanism works! Use half of the beans for this recipe (about 1 and 1/2 cups) and reserve the remaining beans for another use.
Drain the corn.
Wash the bell pepper, then cut the bell pepper and the cooked potato into pieces. I let him help me with the knife the whole time, so couldn’t snap a picture, but he was so proud.
In a large bowl, combine the beans, corn, potatoes, bell pepper, green onions, cilantro, and spinach.
Stir in the salsa until well combined.

We served this over tortilla chips the first night for easy “nachos.”

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It would also be great wrapped up in soft tacos…

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…or served over scrambled tofu!

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Bond More Deeply

December 4, 2018Leave a comment

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Today, it was time for a trip down memory lane – all the way back to one month ago!

Okay, one month wasn’t so long ago, but they don’t call this infant period the “longest shortest time” for nothing. So much happens so quickly for newborns, changing almost daily. And yet the long hours, middle of the night feedings, and sleepless nights can feel endless.

So today, we took a pause to look back on photos. First, I took in Veronika’s old ultrasounds. Hard to imagine that only 10 months ago, she was the size of an apple seed!

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Then we took in more recent ultrasounds, when she more closely resembled a human than a part of a fruit. You can also go back and look at photos from soon after birth, remembering that beautiful moment. She’s so new she’s still covered in vernix here!

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Travis loved seeing these pictures, and we took time to show them to Veronika too

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In addition to reminding us how far we’ve come as a family already, looking at pictures this way will release the feel-good hormone oxytocin – as if you need another excuse to gaze at cute baby pics!.

So take a moment today as a family to look back, and enjoy, and feel your bond deepen.

Baby Sensory Sound Activity

December 3, 2018December 3, 2018Leave a comment

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This easy little activity is great for sensory play – auditory sensory play that is! You can either play during baby’s tummy time or just when he or she is lying down comfortably on a soft blanket.

Big brother Travis helped me set up the game. We needed two tupperware containers, dried rice, dried beans, a wooden block, and a spoon.

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We filled one tupperware with rice, and the other with beans. It was fun to shake them and see the different sounds they made. Her eyes lit up at the rice, a fast, curious favorite. Beans were louder, and didn’t interest her as much.

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For a different tone completely, Travis and I took turns tapping on the block with a metal spoon. This makes a nice drumming sound that isn’t too loud for a newborn’s hearing.

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I also encouraged her to wrap her fingers around the spoon and helped her tap the block, which involved her in the process of making noise.

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We’ll definitely return to this game; as she gets older, Veronika can shake the containers all by herself!

Paper Bag Village

December 3, 2018December 3, 2018Leave a comment

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There was a bonus activity in Travis’s latest issue of High Five magazine: doors, windows, and awnings to cut out and affix to paper bags to make a whole paper bag town. All you need to supply are the paper lunch bags.

This was quite similar to a little village Travis and I put together recently, but oddly this time he was way more into it – I think because the doors and other building details came ready-made and he loved the way they looked!

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Cutting along the dotted lines is great practice for little hands, though I had to help with some of the trickier shapes like awnings.

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Travis preferred taping on the features rather than gluing, so that we could play right away.

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Pretty soon we had: a library; a shoe store; a school; a toy store; and a bakery.

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The instructions recommend stuffing with newspaper so the buildings hold their shape, before taping closed, but Travis insisted that he be able to open and close the doors. I made a cut out in the bag around each taped door so that he could swing them open and closed, and let Duplo people go inside.

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This meant we left the bags un-stuffed, so they were a bit flimsier, but he had such a blast it hardly mattered!

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Cute idea, thanks High Five!

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Little Tree Crate

December 2, 2018December 10, 2018Leave a comment

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We loved our Swirly Ornaments holiday crate from Kiwi Co., and the kit for Little Tree turned out to be just as wonderful. The project set the stage for a festive mood inside our apartment on a drizzly December morning. Read on!

To start making the tree, we first needed to do some math, dividing the kit’s green pipe cleaners into two equal piles. This was a neat way to introduce Travis to counting out two sets of something, just as you would for dealing out cards in a game, for example.

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Cut the pipe cleaners from one pile in half, and leave the others long.

Insert the provided wooden stick into the round wooden stand.

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Starting with the long pipe cleaners, wrap around the stand.

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Repeat with the short pipe cleaners. Travis loved the wrapping, and insisted on doing so himself for each one.

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Adult step: snip the pipe cleaners at an angle, so your tree is a triangle shape. Travis was really psyched to see our fake tree in the same tapered shape as our real tree.

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Peel the backing off a provided star sticker, and attach at the top of the tree.

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Next up, thread on the provided beads and bells as ornaments. “Which are ornaments and which are lights?” Travis wanted to know.

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Good question, but either way, all beautiful!

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To make the base, use any round bowl to trace a circle onto the provided red felt.

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Cut out and decorate with the provided gold glitter glue.

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Travis was equally delighted by the “presents” that can go under the tree – two wooden cubes, onto which we glittered-glued pom poms.

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You can set your tree out as a pretty decoration, and we also plan to leave it alongside cookies and non-dairy milk for Santa on Christmas Eve! It’s also the perfect size to be a play tree for your child’s stuffed animals.

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To round out our festive morning, we made hot cocoa and added in a cute Snowman-themed spelling lesson from Education.com.

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This fun picture word match was a great way to cuddle up inside during the cold winter months and practice Travis’s spelling skills. For more spelling activities and printables like this check out Education.com!

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In sum, we had all the makings of a cozy winter morning.

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See a Children’s Play

December 2, 2018December 2, 2018Leave a comment

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Last month we took Veronika to her first art museum, and today it was time for her first play! As with the museum, it’s really never too early to expose children to the sights and sounds of the theater. Although the story and plot will be lost on an infant, the ambiance, sights, and sounds won’t be.

To wit, big sibs will love attending holiday shows this time of year, so off we went off to a performance of the Happy Elf.

The show is full of bright colors, cheerful songs set to jazz music, and vivid costumes.

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To be honest, Veronika slept through a good bit of it.

But her eyes were wide and engaged when she did look around.

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Meanwhile big sibs get to have fun, so it’s a win-win morning for the whole family.

Baby Aerobics

December 2, 2018Leave a comment

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Veronika is graduating… from baby stretching to baby aerobics, that is! We changed up the exercises a little bit today. By now she’s not so curled up in a ball like a scrunchy newborn, and it’s time to show her other ways her limbs can move.

First, simply hold the hands gently and lift the arms up and down. Cup the feet and do the same with the legs.

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While holding the feet up, you can also move the legs apart and then back in together, then lower back to the floor. Veronika seemed surprised by this motion, but also seemed to enjoy it!

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Next, lift the hands, and make little circles with the arms. Repeat with the legs, holding the feet gently. As we circled the limbs, I sang Baa Baa Black Sheep to help keep her calm and soothed.

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Finally, I pedaled her legs like a bicycle game – I can’t help singing Queen’s Bicycle Race whenever I do this one!

This last is especially good for when Veronika has gas. I also lifted her legs just until her bottom was off the floor, and pushed her knees into the chest, a great way to relieve that troublesome infant gas. Do this just a few times, and you’ll be rewarded by a big baby smile.

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Embossed Metal Coins

December 1, 2018December 1, 2018Leave a comment

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Wrapping up some pirate fun, today Travis and I made treasure.

To make the coins, I traced two sizes of circles onto cardstock, and cut out.

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This project can be as involved as your patience is willing to make it. If you have the time and inclination, go ahead and make piles of coins! This is a more viable option if your kids are old enough to cut out the circles themselves. I confess we only had about 10 coins, but that was more than enough for my little pirate.

I asked Travis what image should go on the coins, and he suggested bugs.

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