Teaching Thomas to Self Sooth

I have always helped Thomas go to sleep both for nap time and for bed. As a stay at home mom this is one of the perks. But now that my son is two years old I would like him to learn how to lay down and relax and put himself to sleep. At least part of the time. I’d love to be able to tell him goodnight and have him lay down in bed and go to sleep.

I have been doing some reading online about how to do this, and from what I have read the first step (which is usually taken at 3-6 months) is to set a consistent bedtime and routine. Ok check. He always goes to bed at 8 pm, and that’s after a bath, supper, and some play time. And then right before bed (what seems to really help sink it in) is getting hugs and kisses from everyone in the house. And I mean everybody – if we have company then they have to give hugs and kisses too. Same goes if we are staying at someone else’s house. And then we lay down and cuddle while he drinks a bottle of milk and goes to sleep. Usually at the end of this he is asleep for the night, unless he has gas pains or is feeling sick.

The best advice I have read is that you have to find what works for him. And since he is older it may take a longer time than if I had started when he was a couple of months old.  So starting tonight we will follow our regular bedtime and instead of cuddling him I’ll just lay there by him.

I’ll keep you updated on the progress. Wish us luck!


First Night - I caved in last night and had a cuddle session with my baby.
Second Night - He had an early bedtime tonight. Coming off of an ear infection might not have been the best time to start learning to put himself to sleep.
Third Night - He had a regular bedtime tonight. And held his own bottle. I also didn’t have to cuddle him, just laid in bed next to him. But he woke up later and needed cuddled to go back to sleep. But I’ll take the small victory.
Fourth Night - He couldn’t get comfortable or calm down enough to lay still and go to sleep. At about ten I gave up trying and we took a drive
Fifth Night - Once he takes a drive it seems that’s the only way he wants to go to sleep. We of course had to take another drive. But hopefully we’ll be back on track tomorrow night. Hopefully.
Sixth Night – We didn’t have to go for a drive, but he did have to go for a drive. So hopefully we will keep having a little more progress. 
Seventh Night – We are now back to him holding his own bottle and just having mommy lay there next to him. To actually go to sleep I did have to cuddle, but only for a couple of minutes.

7 New Lullabies for Thomas

I have always sung lullabies to my baby. And thankfully he usually doesn’t care how horrible I sound. I’m getting pretty tired of singing Hush Little Baby. I have just started singing bits and pieces of songs that I can remember. So I decided I needed to make a list of good songs to sing that are calming, because sometimes that seems to be the only thing that calms him down at night.

Brahms’s Lullaby (Lullaby and Goodnight)
Lullaby and goodnight, with roses bedight
With lilies o'er spread is baby's wee bed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed

Lullaby and goodnight, thy mother's delight
Bright angels beside my darling abide
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast

I have heard this song a lot, especially on children’s toys. I had no idea that it is originally a German song.

 

Rock-a-Bye-Baby
Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
And down will come baby, cradle and all

 

Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby

Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why, can't I?

 

Toora, Loora, Loora
Toora, loora, loora
Toora, loora, li
Toora, loora, loora
Hush, now, don't you cry
Ah,
Toora, loora, loora
Toora, loora, li
Toora, loora, loora
It's an Irish lullaby

Over in Killarney, many years ago
My mother sang this song to me in tones so sweet and low
Just a simple little ditty in her good old Irish way
And I'd give the world if she could sing that song to me this day

Toora, loora, loora
Toora, loora, li
Toora, loora, loora
Hush, now, don't you cry
Ah,
Toora, loora, loora
Toora, loora, li
Toora, loora, loora
It's an Irish lullaby

 

I have never heard this song, but it’s so pretty. I’m going to try singing it to Thomas and see what he thinks of it.

 

All the Pretty Little Horses

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleep my little baby.
When you wake you shall have
All the pretty little horses.
Black and bays, dapples, grays,
All the pretty little horses.
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleep my little baby.
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleep my little baby.
When you wake you shall have
All the pretty little horses.

 

Again I have never heard this one. Thomas loves horses, so we’ll see if it works as a lullaby or if it peps him up and he starts neighing at me.

 

Are you Sleeping (Frère Jacques)

Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines, sonnez les matines
Ding ding dong, ding ding dong.

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping?
Brother John, Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing
Ding ding dong, ding ding dong

 

A Perfect Lullaby
by Matt Logan and Elisabeth Tinnes

How was I suppose to know
Just how perfect you would be
My love grew with your little heart
A miracle it seems to me

CHORUS

All the riches in the world
May not fall into your hands
Life won’t always treat you fair
But stand you will to its demands
I can’t promise you a diamond ring
Or a castle in the sky
But I will give you all my love
And a perfect lullaby

Keep on beating little heart
Sleeping safely in my arms
Rest your eyes my precious one
You are safe from all harm

CHORUS

So long as the winds blow and mountains rest sure
As true as the ocean is blue my love endures

CHORUS

A candle, A Candle

A candle, a candle
To light me to bed;
A pillow, a pillow
To tuck up my head.
The moon is as sleepy as sleepy can be,
The stars are all pointing their fingers at me,
And Missus Hop-Robin, way up in her nest,
Is rocking her tired little babies to rest.
So give me a blanket
To tuck up my toes,
And a little soft pillow
To snuggle my nose.

All the world loves to hear mothers sing

See the mother bird tenderly singing,
Away in the treetop high,
Where her cozy nest is gently swinging,
In time to her lullaby.
Hush-a-bye, rock-a-bye,
In their cradles the babies swing,
Hush-a-bye, lullaby,
All the world loves to hear mothers sing.

Hear the good night song tenderly falling,
O'er cradles where babies sleep,
Where, in love, a prayer softly is calling,
That angels, their watch will keep.
Hush-a-bye, rock-a-bye,
In their cradles the babies swing,
Hush-a-bye, lullaby,
All the world loves to hear mothers sing.

See the stars, their watch steadily keeping,
O'er birdies and babies fair;
All night long, while dear babies are sleeping,
They're safe in the Father's care.
Hush-a-bye, rock-a-bye,
In their cradles the babies swing,
Hush-a-bye, lullaby,
All the world loves to hear mothers sing.

Egg Coloring

There are a lot of egg dyeing kits in stores these days, but here are some other fun ways you can color eggs.

Tip – Try blowing out the eggs instead of hard boiling them. You can still use the egg for cooking, but the shells can be kept as decorations or mementoes longer than the usual hard boiled ones. To blow the egg out simply use a needle to poke a small hole into the bottom of the egg (you may want to make this hole a little bigger), and poke a small hole into the top of the egg. Blow the egg out of its shell with your mouth. Carefully rinse the shell out.

Egg 1 –

Eggs
Small fake flower petals
Your choice of food coloring
Water
Cornstarch
Cups
Super Glue

Put water and food coloring into a cup big enough to dip the egg into. Add a SMALL amount of cornstarch to the water so that the water mixture is a little thicker and more paint like. Dip the egg into the coloring mix until it has become the color that you want it to be. Allow to dry.  Super glue the flower petals to the outside of the egg. Do as many or as little that makes the egg appealing to you.

Egg 2 –

Eggs
Water
Food Coloring
Cups
Glitter

Glue

Mix together food coloring and water into the cups that are big enough for the egg. Dunk the egg in until it becomes the desired color you want it to be. You may need to let it dry and re-dunk it again to do so. Let the egg dry completely. When completely dry use the glue to make the decorations you wish – lines faces, polka dots – and roll in glitter. You can use multiple colors of glitter.  Or you could cover the whole egg and roll it around in glitter to make the whole thing sparkly.

Egg 3

Eggs
Paint
Water
Painting utensils
Cups

Put the paint into the cups and use a small amount of water to thin it down. Dunk the egg into the cup, pull it back out and allow this layer of the paint to dry. Once dry use a toothpick or small paint brush to paint polka dots onto the egg. You can use a different shade of the same color the egg is or you can mix and match colors. Go crazy and have fun.

Egg 4

Eggs
Rubber Bands
Egg Dying kit

Make the dying kit according to instructions. For more vibrant colors mix in some vinegar. Dunk the egg into one color. Allow it to dry. When dry put rubber bands on the egg in whatever decoration you would like it to be. Then dunk it into another color. Allow the egg to dry. Take off the rubber bands.

Egg 5

Eggs
Dye Kit
White Crayon

Color a design on the egg with the white crayon. Dunk the egg into the dye. Allow to dry. The design from the crayon will not be colored.

Egg 6

Eggs
Glue Dots
Glitter

Place the glue dots on the eggs, and roll them in glitter!

Egg 7

Eggs
Bubble Wrap
Paint

Paint the bubbles on the bubble wrap with whatever design you want. Roll the egg over the bubble wrap to stamp the egg.

These are the ways that we have used to color Easter eggs. What are some of the ways your families do it?

Tip – For little hands use a whisk to dunk the eggs instead of a spoon or the little wire egg dunking thing. It goes so much easier.

Preschool Planets

Styrofoam Planets – Get various sizes of Styrofoam balls and have the children paint them to look like the planets.

Cardboard Box Space Ship – Find a cardboard box that is big enough for your child to play in. Cut the box so that it resembles the shape of a rocket, or even a flying saucer if you wish. Cut in a door, bonus points if you leave it so it’s a flap or is able to open and close. And cut in some windows. Have the children help you color it with markers or paint. You can put glow in the dark star stickers on it as well, and any other items you may wish to decorate it with. Glue some bottle caps inside so the children have a control center. Paint a picture of a control center above them for extra imagination prompting. You could even make some felt space aliens for the children to find while playing.

Night Sky Painting – Large sheets of paper – one for each kid. Paint the paper blue, black and gray. Try using various shades and experiment on making the Milky Way. Use sponges and gold paint to make the stars.

Constellations – Find pictures of the different constellations, and let the child pick which one he wants to draw. Or you can use the child’s zodiac constellation. Use black construction paper and a while crayon or white chalk and draw the constellation out. You could also use a pencil to punch the “star” holes into the paper after drawing them. Put a flashlight behind it and project the constellation onto the ceiling.

Day or Night – Ask the children questions about the things they do and have them answer weather they do it during the day or at night. (Ex. I go to bed – at night)

 Stencils – Make stars out of different materials – sponge, cardboard, cardstock, make them both a solid shape and one to color the inside of. Let the children use them to craw, color, and paint with.

Science museums – Visit the local science museum or discovery center. I plan on doing this with Thomas after the weather gets nicer.

Poison Control

March 17^th – 23^rd is Poison Prevention Week. In the U.S. the poison emergency number is 1-800-222-1222. I have refrigerator magnets with this number on them. I always try to keep it handy, but in all honesty if something happened when I couldn’t get to the number I would have no idea who to call other than 911. So I am spending some time to research poison control and I’ll share it with all of you because everybody should know this. Especially if you have children.

http://www.safekids.org/safety-basics/safety-resources-by-risk-area/poison/  - Has a TON of information on it. It is divided up into categories – parents, educators, media, and safety professionals. I would suggest in reading all of them. They have divided the parents tab into sections of the child’s age. For the toddlers (1-4 years) it is divided up into subcategories of at home, at play, and on the way. (Honestly I never thought about having to have poison prevention in the car.) This is not only a poison control site it also has lots of information about all safety for you and your family.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/home/safety_poisoning.html  - Has a lot of quick tips to read through. It will help you self check, and know where you are going wrong or have been doing things right.  http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/  Everyone needs to know first aid and Safety.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_poisoning_11266.bc  - This has some information one what to do if you find yourself in any of these “what if” situations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZO-drzD1_M  This is a cute little YouTube video your kids can watch about poison control. Thomas will be watching this for sure.

http://www.dangerrangers.com/kids_safety_topic.php?id=41  - Besides just things to read this site also has music, videos, and games/activities to help teach children about poison control. You can’t always be there to prevent it, and you will want the children to know that these items are not safe. They won’t know unless we teach them.

http://www.poison.org/prevent/generaltips.asp  - There is a TON of information on this site. I book market it.

After reading all of this I know that I knew more than I originally was giving myself credit for, but I also know where I need to check and make sure that everything is safe. I will be putting up a cabinet with locking doors in my bathroom for cleaning supplies and other things (Thomas LOVES spray bottles, and it seems like everything comes in a spray bottle). I will also be making at least one first aid kit. We have also put all of our medications in a plastic tote with a lid that snaps on really tight. And I keep this tote way up out of his reach. He is always figuring out how to get into trouble. Check these sites out and take the time to read them. You can never be too safe when it comes to you and your family.

Old Magazine Baskets

Old Magazine Baskets

Supplies:

Old Magazines
Glue
Decorating Supplies

Step One – Tear the pages out from an old magazine. Starting with the bottom right hand corner and tightly roll the paper to the top left corner. Younger kids might need some assistance with this part. And then secure the roll with a little bit of glue. You may need to hold the roll for a few seconds until the glue is dry.

Step Two – After deciding the shape and size of your basket cut the paper rolls to match.

Step Three – Glue one paper roll to another along the seam. Repeat this step until you have the desired length you want your basket to be.

Step Four – Glue paper roll seam to end of the basket bottom, on all sides of the basket.

Step Five – Glue paper rolls seam side down on top of the outer paper rolls on the bottom. Repeat this step until you have a basket with the sides as high as you want them.

Step Six – You can decorate the basket any way you want, or you can leave it the way it is. Have fun and go crazy with this step.

 

Old Magazine Basket #2

Step One – Tear the pages out from an old magazine. Cut each page in half, or thirds, or even quarters if you want. Roll each strip up the long way. Secure the seam with glue. You may need to hold the strip until the glue dries. Repeat this step until you have made several sizes, and enough rolls to create a basket.

Step Two – Roll each paper roll the long way again until you have created a paper roll circle. Secure with glue. Repeat this step to the other paper rolls you created in step one.

Step Three – Glue several paper circles together to create a bottom. Or use one big one and branch off of it.

Step Four – Glue the paper circles together working in a circle until you have created a basket. To make this step easier you could glue them together around a balloon. When finished simply pop the balloon.

St Patty Day Ideas

·         Cut a bell pepper in half and let the children use it to stamp out shamrocks with it.

·         Draw a leprechaun or color a coloring page of one for the younger children.

·         Make paper leprechaun hats

·         Make a special leprechaun drink

·         Try getting everyone to talk in an Irish accent, the one who keeps it up the longest wins

·         Scavenger hunt  for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

·         Make leprechaun cookies – sugar cookies with green sprinkles or green sugar cookies with glitter sugar on them

·         Make a rainbow out of food.

·         Draw a shamrock onto a piece of cling wrap. Draw a bunch of shapes inside of it so it looks like stained glass. Color it in with markers and hang it on the window.

·         St Patty’s Day Bingo

·         Make Green cupcakes with rainbow frosting and a Rolo Candy piece (in the wrapping) on top. Or the candy can be anything you can find in a gold wrapper.

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

Easter Games

I have compiled a list of popular games you can play on Easter, or for an extra little family time.

v  Easter Egg Hunt – You can use real eggs or the plastic. Personally I would go with the plastic. That way if they aren’t found no big deal. You won’t have to worry about finding something rotting away later on. You could also put little treats in the eggs if you wanted to.

v  Designing Easter Baskets – Gather a bunch of different objects – both for the basket and the decorating. Like various boxes, egg cartons, old containers, use your imagination. And then gather a bunch of decorating items like glitter, glue, wiggly eyes, paper, ribbon…again use your imagination. And have everyone design an Easter basket.

v  Dying Easter Eggs – you can use the old fashioned and standard die kits, or there are all sorts of die kits out there now. Or you could even experiment with it and find new ways to color eggs.

v  Puzzles – find a cool Easter puzzle that the whole family can help put together.

v  Coloring Pages – you can find free Easter coloring pages online and print them out at home.

v  Egg Catching – Get a bunch of plastic eggs and a bucket for each person. Pick one person to throw the eggs and everyone else has to catch them, whoever catches the most wins. You could make this even harder with a smaller opening on the bucket, or use real eggs (outside of course) and see who can catch them without breaking any.

v  Decorate an Easter Egg – cut out paper eggs and get a variety of decorating items, fake flowers, colored paper, twine, ribbon, again use your imagination.

v  Egg Egg Easter Bunny -  Just like “Duck Duck Goose” but for Easter. Have the children sit around in a circle and one of them go around touching them gently saying “Egg Egg” until they decide who is going to be the “Easter Bunny”. The one chosen to be the Easter Bunny jumps up and chases them, if the Easter Bunny tags “it” they have to be “it” again but it “it” reaches the Easter Bunny’s sitting spot before they are tagged they’re safe. The Easter Bunny then becomes “it” and the game starts over gain.

v  An Easter Treasure Hunt – Find a list of objects that are related to Easter and hide them. Write a clues paper so the players know what they are looking for and a possible location to find it. ( I’m used to carry things from point A to point B, and come Easter morning the Bunny will have left treats in me!)

v  Egg Races – Have a starting point and a finish line, players stand at the starting point and hold am egg in a spoon, they have to walk to the finish line without dropping their egg and breaking it. First there wins.

v  Easter Twenty Questions – Pick someone to be it first. It has to pick something that is Easter related and then everyone else playing has to guess what it is by asking yes or no questions. First to guess what it has picked gets to be it next.

v  Easter Memory – gather pictures of Easter related objects and print them out in pairs. Cut all the pictures to be the same size and shape, and lay them all face down. Player one flips one picks two cards to flip over if they are a match they get to go again if not then it is player twos turn and so on. The player who has matched up the most wins.

v  How Many Eggs – Fill a glass jar up with candy eggs; have everyone guess how many eggs are in the jar. The person who guesses the closes wins.

v  Easter Pictionary – Make strips of paper, write Easter related objects on the pieces of paper and fold them in half. Place them in a basket. Divide people into two groups. Pick who will draw first. Have a giant paper pad, easel, chalk board or whatever to draw on that the whole group can see. One player from team one draws a piece of paper, reads it to themselves, and draw the object. His team members have to guess what the object is, before time is up. You could also have both teams drawing at once on separate easels. The first to team to guess what the object is gets a point. Whichever team has the most points wins.

v  Decorate the Easter Bunny – everyone gets a cut out of a bunny. Everyone decorates it themselves. Hang them up for decorations.

v  Baby Noises – Compile pictures of animals and put them in a basket. The children playing have to know what noise the animals make. You could make this game harder for older kids by having them know the sound and the name of the baby animal. ( A baby Sheep is a Lamb and says baa)

v  Color Egg Match – Cut eggs out of construction paper – two per color. And have the children match up the eggs.

v  Capture the Easter Eggs – Make two different colors of eggs, the same amount for each color. Team one gets color one team two gets color two. Make a straight line to divide the teams up by side.  Have the eggs placed equal distances from the mid line. Each team tries to capture the other team’s eggs. Players from the opposing side trying to capture the eggs can be frozen by the players trying to protect their eggs. The frozen players can be unfrozen if one of their teammates touches them. The first team to capture all the other teams’ eggs wins.

v  Decorating Easter Cookies – Make your favorite recipe for sugar cookies. Cut them out into Easter shapes such as eggs, bunnies, chickens, ducks, or whatever you find to be spring time and Easter oriented. Bake and decorate with whatever you want – frosting, candy, sprinkles, marshmallows. Use your imaginations.

v  Duck Race – Have a star and finish lines, players bend over and hold their ankles or squat and hold their ankles and waddle to the finish line. Whoever crosses it first wins.

Time-Out Techniques

As a child I sat my fair time in a time-out, and as they say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. My son ends up in a time out at least once a day. Lately time-out time doesn’t just have to be about sitting quietly in a corner or a different room until you calm back down. There are different techniques many people use during time-out time. As of right now I haven’t tried any but the good old fashioned in a separate room until you calm down.

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/discipline-behavior/10-time-out-techniques This is a nice read on what a time-out is, and is supposed to be about. Plus a couple of ideas for what you should do for a time out while you are out and about.

Some say that a time out is for a punishment and during time out the child is supposed to be bored and feel some discomfort - http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/discipline/time-out/successful-time-out-tactics/ . But I disagree with that. A time out isn’t only a punishment it’s to help the child calm down and be willing to play more. With Thomas when he is being naughty it’s because he is hungry or tired or something. There is a reason he is being naughty, or maybe it’s even just that he is over stimulated. The time out provides him with quiet time to relax and self check as to why it is he is acting that way. Also I don’t time his time outs. I know – horrible mistake. You’re supposed to have it timed blah blah blah. But who am I to say how long it takes him to calm down. Usually his time out is only a couple of seconds long – he sits on someone’s lap and counts to 10 or 15 or 20 and if he has sat still and quiet that long then he can get up and go back to playing. If not then he could be sitting there for a very long time. But other times he needs to sit in a different room all by himself – where he usually screams and hollers and cries his eyes out, but in the end after all that he comes walking back out like everything is back to normal.

1)      A reading nook – something soft to sit on where the child can be allowed to relax and calm down.

2)      Listening to music or a recorded book. There used to be a ton of recorded children’s books when I was little. But I haven’t seen any. You could always record the stories yourself.

3)      Let them express themselves artistically. Give them some crayons or other art supplies of your choice and let them draw out their emotions.

4)      A beanbag pillow they are allowed to punch or kick or pinch. Not to encourage violence, but sometimes you just have the urge to hit something. Knowing the right things to hit from the wrong things is something I’m willing to teach my kid.

5)      Maybe some pots and pans or a toddler drum set if you don’t like the idea of teaching them to punch something, let them take out their frustrations someplace.

6)      Finger knitting – http://cookesfrontier.blogspot.com/2013/03/simple-finger-knitting-tutorial-diy.html

7)      Put them to work – make them do a chore that would be age appropriate. Like my two year old can pick up his toys for example.

8)      The time out jar – As I understand it, it works like a snow globe, the toddler shakes it and watches all the glitter settle and when it has if they haven’t calmed down then they can shake it again. – Fill a plastic bottle 3/4  way full with water, add glitter glue, and glitter to your liking. Super glue the lid on before you give it to the child. And make sure you test it first too.

9)      An educational movie. For Thomas we watch Word World. He loves it, but after he gets older and can understand more he will watch stuff with more education to it.

10)   Have a short amount of quiet time and then draw their attention to something else – like playing a physical game like tag or hide and seek.

11)   Try putting them into a relaxation pose during the time out. - Legs Up the Wall: Lie down on the floor (or on your child’s bed) and lift your legs up onto the wall, so your back is on the floor, your buttocks are at the juncture of the floor and the wall, and your legs are up the wall. Your older child can lie next to you. Babies and toddlers can lie with their backs on your belly, and you can lift their legs up so they are resting onto your legs. You might want to have a small blanket under your baby or toddler’s head for more comfort. This position calms the nervous system, slows down the heart rate, and lowers blood pressure. – from http://pampclub.org/site/2011/10/01/how-to-help-your-kids-relax/

12)   When in doubt cry it out. Sometimes all it takes is a good cry and then they’re back to being their normal selves.

What have you found to be a successful time – out for your child?

Play Dough

Play Dough

I used to love playing with play dough as a child. But I can also remember the salt chapping my hands.

We tried Thomas out on play dough (my mom’s recipe) when he was almost a year old. He had this sensory thing then that different/funny textures bothered him and he didn’t like having his hands dirty. He would poke it a few times and then was done with it. Couldn’t understand why on Earth everyone wanted him to play with it. So the play dough idea got put back into the closet.

When I was planning his second birthday party I was looking for *cheap* party favors. And on the list of many different things was play dough. And if you like me waste a lot of time on Pinterest then you know that there is a recipe on there for “Jello Play Dough”. Its supposed to be some of the best play dough ever. But after I looked into it a bit there were WAY more negative comments on the stuff than what I was willing to risk. So I searched the web again and found a “Kool-aid Play Dough”. The comments weren’t too bad, mostly good. So we gave it a shot and the stuff turned out great. I now keep the recipe in my recipe book. Thomas and I make a new batch of play dough ever few months or so. I try to make a different color every time. He doesn’t really make anything out of the play dough, just more squishes it around. He really likes to pinch it with tongs, and stab at it with a spoon.

What I love most about this play dough is that it doesn’t leave your hands feeling grimey. You know what I mean, that griddy texture playdough leaves behind. None of that. It actually makes them feel rather smooth. And the playdough itself is a smooth and soft dough. And – NO playdough smell. I love that. Why does play dough have to stink…and make your hands stink… And when it does start getting that smell to it, I just throw it away and we make a new batch.

Online Number Games

Online Number Games

I have been searching the web for games to play with Thomas to help him learn his numbers. He can count – except for poor number five – but he doesn’t have a sign to go with it, yet.

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/preschool/ngames/numbers.htm Has great numbers games. It goes along with a flash card type of learning. The first shows a picture of how many items you need to look for along with the number itself. The next page says “which picture has “1” duck? There will be three pictures to choose from and one will have one duck in it. I will let Thomas play this game tomorrow – for me it is ridiculously easy.

http://www.cookie.com/kids/games/learn-numbers.html This site has an easy matching game. If you have the volume on it tells you which number to click on. It also says which number at the top of the page where you can also click

http://pbskids.org/games/numbers.html Has 17 different number games. They’re all a little bit more then what my son can handle right now, but I added it to the list for the future, and not everyone’s child is going to be where mine is. So Check them out and see if you wouldn’t mind your child playing them. I might just let Thomas try to figure them out on his own, usually he doesn’t do too bad of a job when it comes to things like this.

I know some people don’t believe that you can learn while playing games on the computer, but I think you can. It’s certainly not a way to replace teaching our children and using good old fashioned techniques, but if you can trick them into thinking they’re just playing games while they’re actually practicing something then you’re ahead of the game.

Happy Gaming

Poor Number Five

Counting Games

I decided today that since Thomas is having a hard time remembering the number five we would count to five – add day. So we spent the day counting things in fives.

·         The five water jugs on the floor

·         Five blocks as we stacked them, and then five blocks again ( he has a set of ten)

·         We counted out five balls from our toy box

·         Five bowling pins and then five more again

·         We counted the pins we knocked down, and we counted the pins as we sat them back up

·         Five Gerber dots to go along with our pizza for lunch

Pretty much anything that we came across during the day he counted to five. This morning it kept going from four to six, but by this evening he remembers to count five. We’ll have to see how it turns out tomorrow. Hopefully we have fixed the poor number five dilemma.

Time change Disaster

I am writing this post at 11:40 at night. I hate time change. My sleepy toddler has been up since he was ready to go to bed. We followed our regular bedtime routine, and if not for time change then we would have been going to sleep at the right time. We laid down for HOURS and nothing. We are now up watching Bambi, yawning like crazy and just not being able to sit still. He is at this moment in time climbing up on the bed and sliding off of it on his belly onto a pile of pillows – which he created all by himself.  And what’s worst time change didn’t affect our daily routine schedule at all.

I’ve been trying to find something online about helping my baby to adapted to time change all day and it seems like there is nothing, unless you start early on switching their internal clocks. But I didn’t do that, because I forgot about time change an so now I will be helping him adjust cold turkey.

I’m looking at no nap today, that way hopefully he will be back on track. Hopefully tonight we will be asleep by 8:30 at the latest instead of the 12:30 bedtime that we had last night. Instead of a full fledged nap, I’ll just sit him down for a break at about 4pm and let him relax.

Earlier bath time, something nice and warm and comforting for supper – like chicken noodle soup and crackers, followed by a warm muffin that he just helped me finish baking this morning. Then maybe with a full belly we can lay down at our usual bedtime with a warm blanket and a bottle of milk and go to sleep and hopefully stay asleep for the night.

Here’s hoping for a better night. How did everyone else’s kids adjust to time change? Any advice?

** I am happy to report going cold turkey worked. I had him skip his nap for two days and he went to bed earlier both days, by about 6:00pm he was ready to go to bed but I made him stay up till 7:30pm at the earliest. He continued to sleep all night, and had a couple of earlier mornings than usual. That’s not too bad seeing as his usual morning wake up is about 8:00am. And now he is completely back on track. Yay!!

Easter Basket Snacks

Food for the Easter Basket

Sweets

1.       Fudge – Who said fudge was only for Christmas? I love fudge. You could make it into little egg shapes or bunny shapes, or even just cut it up into pieces and eat it.

2.       Jelly Beans

3.       Chocolate Eggs

4.       Junior Mints

5.       Malt Balls

6.       Marshmallows – At this time of year you can find them in all kinds of shapes and colors.

7.       Chocolate

8.       Truffles

9.       Cookies – Bake some up yourself to save a little money, and to put a little extra home made love into the baskets.

10.   Cake pops – you can either buy them or make them yourself. And I’m sure you can find or decorate them to be Easter looking.

11.   Peeps – the marshmallow creatures covered in sugar. My son loves marshmallows but for some reason hates peeps, I don’t understand that. But many people love these little guys.

12.   Cupcakes – everyone loves cupcakes…or maybe that’s just me.

13.   Licorice – I’m sure at this time of year you can find some to go along with the colors of Easter.

14.   M&Ms /Skittles

15.   Popcorn balls – There was a lady in our town who made these when I was a kid. You never skipped her house on Halloween.

16.   Chocolate covered pretzels.

17.   Candy Bars

18.   Pudding Cups

19.   Brownies

20.   Rice Crispy Bars

Salty

1.       Small bags of chips

2.       Nuts

3.       Trail Mix

4.       Gold Fish

5.       Pretzels

6.       Jerky

7.       Crackers or Cracker sandwiches

8.       Flavored popcorn – it doesn’t just have to be salty and buttery (although that is always welcomed too)

Healthy

1.       Dried Fruit

2.       Dried Bagel Chips - Thomas loves these.

3.       Muffins – This would be great for an easy breakfast type of food for them to eat.

4.       Juice Boxes – I always like to put something in there for Thomas to drink, and it’s usually one of the first things he asks me to open.

5.       Bread – Fresh rolls or a croissant is great for those guys who don’t particularly like to have a bunch of sweets.  

6.       Granola  Bars – We almost always have these in the house, but for some reason if Thomas finds them in a Christmas stocking or Easter basket he just loves it.

7.       Fruit – Be careful with bananas they will flavor anything they’re next to.

8.       Little boxes of cereal

My Mom used to always get a generalized bunch of treats for everyone’s baskets, and then each individual basket used to get a special treat for that person. She also used to fill them up with that grass, now that I’m doing baskets there is no grass. I hate that stuff. It’s just a mess. Happy Snacking Everyone!