Saturday, January 10, 2009
Our big helper
Izzy loves to use tools and help her Daddy. Paul finished her crib conversion and moved on to tightening the coffee table. Izzy wanted to help by "hammering" and then using a screwdriver.
Few more activities
Here are a few more Montessori activities that we have been trying at home.
This one we are working on colors. I "borrowed" paint swatches from the local hardware store, cut them up, told her the colors, she repeated, then I told her which color to match. She gets blue and sometimes red, but yellow is still a new concept.
Water play (pouring, washing, etc.) is never dull especially when you see cookies on the counter and say, "Mommy, cookie, please?" And I am getting better at preparing the environment ahead of time for water (i.e. lots of towels) and really it is only just water in area that probably already needed to be cleaned (I do sanitize the sink ahead of time just in case drinking of water is involved).
This one we are working on colors. I "borrowed" paint swatches from the local hardware store, cut them up, told her the colors, she repeated, then I told her which color to match. She gets blue and sometimes red, but yellow is still a new concept.
Water play (pouring, washing, etc.) is never dull especially when you see cookies on the counter and say, "Mommy, cookie, please?" And I am getting better at preparing the environment ahead of time for water (i.e. lots of towels) and really it is only just water in area that probably already needed to be cleaned (I do sanitize the sink ahead of time just in case drinking of water is involved).
Friday, January 9, 2009
One more photo
I just could not add this picture with the others. This picture caps off our trip, caps off what traveling with a toddler is like, and what having a toddler is like. My beautiful 22 month old.
Yes, Q-tips in the ears. She did this all by herself.
Day Two
This morning we ate at a local coffee house, but I must have the only kid on Earth that doesn't like doughnuts or chocolate crossaints, so we headed over to the Safeway for some supplies. We then went out and fell in love with Carmel. I would say it is the Laguna Beach of Northern California. Artsey, tight streets, the ocean, and great homes. Lottery for me, please.
We spent the day at our favorite place, the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is a place we hold dear to our hearts (Paul proposed to me at a restaurant just down the street from the aquarium). This is our second visit in 8 months. Every time we go, we see something completely different and discovered at the end of today when Paul had a hunch we were still missing a part of the museum, that we had been. So next time we go we will hit that first. I cannot speak highly enough for this museum. It is a toddler's wonderland. It is like an educational Disneyland.
My beautiful baby staring out at the wonderous ocean.
Izzy loved touching the exhibits with buttons especially when they lit up. My favorite though, was when she touched the button for the elephant seal and it made a really loud noice and she jumped (it is my mommy moment).
All of the times we have been, we have never seen the octopus out. We were treated to a visit. Isn't it beautiful?
Family picture in front of the Kelp Forest.
We just had such a great time these last two days. On our way back home we stopped at the Ghiradelli's Chocolate Factory store in Lathrop and had a Peanut Butter sundae. A great way to top off a great trip. We even talked about our next trip which we are shooting for this summer: the Exploratorium, spend the night in San Francisco, a cable car ride, the wharf, a great park to play in (so many to choose from), and maybe a boat ride to Alcatraz.
We spent the day at our favorite place, the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is a place we hold dear to our hearts (Paul proposed to me at a restaurant just down the street from the aquarium). This is our second visit in 8 months. Every time we go, we see something completely different and discovered at the end of today when Paul had a hunch we were still missing a part of the museum, that we had been. So next time we go we will hit that first. I cannot speak highly enough for this museum. It is a toddler's wonderland. It is like an educational Disneyland.
My beautiful baby staring out at the wonderous ocean.
Izzy loved touching the exhibits with buttons especially when they lit up. My favorite though, was when she touched the button for the elephant seal and it made a really loud noice and she jumped (it is my mommy moment).
All of the times we have been, we have never seen the octopus out. We were treated to a visit. Isn't it beautiful?
Family picture in front of the Kelp Forest.
We just had such a great time these last two days. On our way back home we stopped at the Ghiradelli's Chocolate Factory store in Lathrop and had a Peanut Butter sundae. A great way to top off a great trip. We even talked about our next trip which we are shooting for this summer: the Exploratorium, spend the night in San Francisco, a cable car ride, the wharf, a great park to play in (so many to choose from), and maybe a boat ride to Alcatraz.
Day One: Our Vacation
We just got back from our mini-vacation, well actually our Christmas gift. We decided that we were not going to exchange gifts this year, but rather go on vacation. We love road trips and love the Coast, so we decided on San Francisco, Carmel, and Monterey Bay. We were sure not disappointed. However, we did learn many times that traveling with an almost two year old can at times, be very difficult, but in the whole realm of our vacation, it was minor.
Our first stop was the California Academy of Sciences. This is an amazing museum, I highly recommend it to all including toddlers. We were blown away with the amount of exhibits they had and how even Izzy could relate. This museum has a little bit of everything which is nice and it is spectacularly beautiful. It is in Golden Gate Park just down from Haight-Ashbury Street. There is even an area designated for children ages 0-5. Ohh, they had African animals (stuffed of course): lions, tigers, zebras, giraffes, etc. that were so cool to see. We talk about these animals and Izzy was able to see them really close. Sometimes zoos don't always give us that opportunity.
This is Izzy getting close to a penguin.
Here she is looking at a tide pool just next to a four story rainforest. She didn't want to leave this exhibit.
Here she is getting down to look at the rays. She is also copying another child on the other side. She even stood on the floor that is clear and you can see down. (In Redding at the Turtle Bay Exploration Park, she was deathly afraid of this).
In the rainforest, there are butterflies. Izzy said, "Butterfly on Daddy's hat". Yes, we are sometimes speaking four or more word sentences.
Who wants to spend $25 for the museum's picture, when we caught a family picture with a butterfly on Paul's hat and Izzy looking at the camera. Priceless!
After the museum, we drove to Carmel which is about a 2 to 2 1/2 hour drive. Of course, beautiful and Izzy slept most of the way. We stayed at a great hotel, Carmel Mission Inn. It had all the upgrades and amenities, but I got a great price on Expedia. It even had a fish mural on the wall that had a blue light shown on it. We slept under the sea last night. Izzy even slept on her Montessori bed like such a big girl.
Our first stop was the California Academy of Sciences. This is an amazing museum, I highly recommend it to all including toddlers. We were blown away with the amount of exhibits they had and how even Izzy could relate. This museum has a little bit of everything which is nice and it is spectacularly beautiful. It is in Golden Gate Park just down from Haight-Ashbury Street. There is even an area designated for children ages 0-5. Ohh, they had African animals (stuffed of course): lions, tigers, zebras, giraffes, etc. that were so cool to see. We talk about these animals and Izzy was able to see them really close. Sometimes zoos don't always give us that opportunity.
This is Izzy getting close to a penguin.
Here she is looking at a tide pool just next to a four story rainforest. She didn't want to leave this exhibit.
Here she is getting down to look at the rays. She is also copying another child on the other side. She even stood on the floor that is clear and you can see down. (In Redding at the Turtle Bay Exploration Park, she was deathly afraid of this).
In the rainforest, there are butterflies. Izzy said, "Butterfly on Daddy's hat". Yes, we are sometimes speaking four or more word sentences.
Who wants to spend $25 for the museum's picture, when we caught a family picture with a butterfly on Paul's hat and Izzy looking at the camera. Priceless!
After the museum, we drove to Carmel which is about a 2 to 2 1/2 hour drive. Of course, beautiful and Izzy slept most of the way. We stayed at a great hotel, Carmel Mission Inn. It had all the upgrades and amenities, but I got a great price on Expedia. It even had a fish mural on the wall that had a blue light shown on it. We slept under the sea last night. Izzy even slept on her Montessori bed like such a big girl.
Monday, January 5, 2009
New Activities
Here are just a few Montessori activities that we have been doing at home.
I put two different kinds of pasta and we are working on sorting them.
This is a mystery bag. There are about 20 items of all different types that she can chew on, tap, feel, etc.
I put three jewelry boxes in a basket. She is working on taking the tops off and putting them back on.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Sunday School
After many years, I have decided that there is no better time than now to start getting myself back to church and sharing it with Paul and Izzy. We went today to Warehouse Christian Ministries, a Calvary Chapel affiliate out of Roseville. We liked it, but it is more laid back then Calvary. We liked their Sunday School for Izzy as well. We had a pager so if anything happened with her they could get ahold of us. She sang songs, did an art project, had a snack, and played. Sounds like a great time for her. They commented that she is, "Quite the talker". We are going to give it another chance next weekend.
http://www.wcmr.org/
http://www.wcmr.org/
Afternoon Walks
We are so blessed to live here. We are just having such a great time going on walks after Izzy wakes up from her nap. It has been in the 40s, so we bundle up and let her go whatever direction she wants. Usually it is so explore a drain or leaf, or try to hang from the bungees that hold up a tree. She just looks around and watches everything. With the sun setting and the temperature getting colder, we head in to make dinner, and begin to wrap up our day.
Baby
Have I explained to you Isabella's love for babies? She just loves her Cousin Ethan to death, but now that he is getting older, I think that she is realizing he is not a baby anymore, but more of a friend. When we go over there, Sydney has lots of babies/dolls that Izzy loves to play with. She is now obsessed with dolls. We don't have any. Which is a good thing. She has been grabbing her towels out of the basket off the counter in her bathroom or by her chair at the table, and finding stuffed animals and calling them her babies. She is insistent on taking them for walks with her. Therefore, if Paul and I can hold out, we have done our research and her present from us will be the Chloe doll from Pottery Barn.
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/hd450/index.cfm
Beans
We received a wonderful homemade gift of jars with all the dry ingredient supplies for a complete meal (soup, cornbread, and cookies) for Christmas from Carl and Meghan. We were so excited because we wanted to make the soup yesterday, but forgot we had to soak the beans and then didn't read, as well as we should have, that we only needed half of the jar of beans. So what do you do with extra beans, a great activity for Izzy. We gave her two big bowls, a measuring cup, a teaspoon, and a medicine cup. She had a blast smashing them, pouring, feeling, comparing, dumping, etc. She had so much fun, that after her two bowls of soup and cornbread that we called "cake" (which got her to eat it), she signed me "please" and then said "beans". Winner with her.
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