How are you feeling today?

While Daphne was taking a nap I had an idea.  We were at the store the other day when she heard a baby crying.  With a serious look on her face she looked at me and said, "Mommy, baby sad."  We talked about why the baby might be sad and what makes Daphne sad.  Why not make it a Halloween event?  So, I took the time to find a pumpkin on Google images (thanks Google...lol) and printed them off on paper.  Then I took black construction paper and cut out faces to make an excited pumpkin (She's holding it up to her face right now.  She picked that one because she is excited to spend the night with her Mimi tonight.)...

A sad pumpkin...

An angry pumpkin...

And a happy pumpkin!

I did prompt her on where to stick the eyes, nose and mouth some (but not completely if you can tell on the one she holds to her face and the angry one...lol).  The ones that look closer to perfect I laid out on the table ahead of time and took pictures for the blog.  I plan on having them laminated and then using them more than once.  (Maybe right before a temper tantrum hits to help her explain why she's upset...or to stop one.)

Genetically Enhanced Turkey Time

Before I decided to be a Play At Home Mom I bought up a bunch of crafts from Oriental Trading that I got on clearance.  I'm rather thankful I did.  They provide fun entertainment without needing to think things through or set things up in advance.  Plus, they come with everything you need to complete the task with the exception of glue.  We still have yet to use real glue though.  We use glue dots.  I have to admit, when I was introduced to these things at the library story time it was love at first sight.  Those things are really really sticky and don't make a mess like real glue!  To get things on the type of clearance I did, you have to buy them practically a year in advance.  (think after holiday sales)  This is suppose to be a turkey.  But, as a two year old, her imagination is grand...this turkey is...shall we say Genetically Enhanced?  I will admit when I first started doing these projects with Daphne I would tell her where to stick things, how to do them, and if she put them in the wrong place, I would try to fix it so it looked like the picture.  Letting go of my perfectionism has been hard, but now I'm ok with it...usually.  Yes, I get genetically enhanced turkeys and other creatures, but I know she did them and she did an amazing job!  She's always so proud of herself when she does something on her own.

I know these aren't the best pictures, I take them with my phone usually.  This is a little jingle bell I put a glue dot on her for.  (It's hard for her to see the glue dot on the clear plastic part so I have to help with that part.)  She kept getting it stuck on her thumbs.  She finally looked at me and said, "Help Mommy.  It sticky."  Of course, I would love to help you!

 

"All done!  Look Mommy!"  She was so proud of her genetically enhanced turkey...and so am I.

YES!!!

Are you a yes Mommy?  It's something I'm trying to get better at.  When she wants to do something I try my best to say yes.  She's two and has a great imagination so when she wants to explore something I try my best, within my health and abilities, to help her grow and learn in the most imaginative way possible.  Besides, it makes a lot things a lot easier in our home.  Being a YES mom has decreased temper tantrums quite a bit.  I'm not talking about "yes, you can jump off the roof," or "yes, you can break Mommy's pretty vase."  But why not say yes to wanting to play in the bath outside of her regular bath time or do an extra craft.  She has access to our craft bins so she can grab something out when she wants to do a craft.  My wonderful husband freaked out the other day because she climbed on the ottoman to turn the living room light on and off.  I turned around and asked what the problem was.  He sputtered out about the climbing and I said, "what's the big deal, it's stationary, not that far up (less than 1 1/2 feet) and she's learning.  Watch."  I proceeded to tell Daphne to turn the light on or off.  Daphne did as I asked and giggled.  She learned not only how to turn the light switch on and off, but she learned cause and effect.  She also learned what it means when the light is on and when the light is off.  Anything can be a learning experience.  Plus, if she's tired, now she can go and turn the lights off and curl up on the couch.  (Sorry, no pictures for this one, but I'm sure there will be pictures later on today!)

Animal Sensory Box

Can't get to the zoo because of the weather?  That's ok!  We made a zoo sensory box.  I need to get a bigger tub to make a decent sensory box but for now the 99 cent shoe box size one will work.  We poured oats in it and put in our animals and snakes.  She had a blast playing in the oats and moving the animals over it.  Sometimes she hid the snake under the oats she she had to dig it out.

You can see the safari hat beside her, but she preferred the koala mask instead.  The mat you see her on is a plastic/vinyl table cloth I got on clearance.  It gives her a designated place to play with her sensory box and once she's done I just gather up the sides and funnel it all back into the box...quick clean up.

Gotta love the dollar tree

This experiment we did was with a crystal growing kit from the Dollar Tree.  We put the cardboard tree together in the base right before bed and let it grow.  (Instructions said it takes 24 hours.)  The next morning we checked on it.  It had grown quite a bit...but not enough.  By that afternoon she was so proud at what she had grown!

G is for Giraffe!

I don't get to take her to the zoo as much as I would like but when the weather is just right, I can take her for a little while.  This day we learned about giraffes.  I printed off a big G and took foam shapes I cut out of regular foam board we had.  I also printed off some facts about giraffes I didn't know.  Did you know they can grow up to 20 feet tall!!!  They're born about six feet tall.  I'll never get that tall...nowhere near it.  I also wrote a little bitty informative book, read her a story about giraffes as the main characters, and had activities for her to do like songs with motions.  I plan on making up these little packets for all of the main animals in the zoo.  It may take two or three years to get through them, but she loves animals and the zoo.  While we were there I heard a dad giving his son misinformation about the giraffes.  This is why I try to do research ahead of time and if I don't know, I tell Daphne that I don't know but we will look it up together.  (She did the G on the paper, but I couldn't get a good picture of it sideways without it being near perfect so I helped straighten some up for the sake of the picture.)

Now she's just playing with the shapes.

I wasn't able to get other pictures because a lot of people started coming up and she was getting distracted.  Ah the life of a two year old!

Gel Bags from PAHM!

I found this on Play At Home Mom's blog and LOVED it!!!  (I get quite a few ideas from her)  This is Daphne making the gel bags!
First we got everything together...hair gel from the Dollar Tree, food coloring, glitter, duct tape, gallon size zip lock bag, and paper towels.  (It can get messy!)

Daphne put the hair gel in the zip lock bags! (Yes, she's dressed up as the fire chief.)

Then she added the food coloring!

Then the glitter!  This was the best part of making it.

Finally I zipped it up, wiped off any gel that got out while I was getting rid of all of the excess air, and put the duct tape over the zipper so she didn't open it.  Once I sealed it, she got to squish it all together and mix the color and glitter throughout.  Now it's time to play!

She will squish it, step on it, smell it, and draw on it with her fingers.  She will sit things on them to make shapes imprint in the gel and start over.  There is no end to how much fun she has with these bags.

Sure, we can draw on the driveway

Why not?  It's fun!  Sometimes the neighbor kids even come over and join us.  Daphne has a blast.  She loves to draw off of paper.  My little artist feels so constricted with just being able to draw on paper in the house.  Thankfully we have magic erasers when she manages to hide a crayon and get it out when I'm not looking.  When she's outside with chalk, she has free range to draw...as long as it's not on the cars or in the road.  She loves to have me trace her on the driveway.  Sometimes she will draw clothes on her outlines...otherwise my driveway looks like a crime scene.

Alphabet Soup!

Who says playing can't be educational?  Let's work on our ABC's!  How about some alphabet soup?  Hmmm...that sounds like an activity AND a good dinner.  Hope Daddy doesn't mind!  The foam letters I got from Walmart in their craft section where they have the $1 bins.  Each sheet of foam letters was...$1.  This was a last minute idea so I drew the bowl on the paper.  You could find a blank bowl online and print out if you wished.  If we do this again, I will print it out.

Yes, it's cool outside.  Yes, she's in a bathing suit top.  Yes, it's inside out.  Yes, it's on backwards.  Mommy didn't help dress her.  Daphne dresses herself unless we are going out and the outfit is inappropriate.  (tank top and shorts when it's in the 50's...etc)

Mommy Has So Much to Learn

Before I had a child I knew how my life was going to go.  (Yes, please feel free to laugh at me now!)  Once I was pregnant I planned everything out.  I had a three page birth plan that covered every scenario.  I had the nursery set up with the help of my husband.  I had our bedroom set up with his help as well.  We had everything we thought we would need...and what others thought we would need.  Then it was time!  My contractions were every three minutes apart so we headed to the hospital two days before my expected due date.  Let me tell you all about my birth plan.  Are you ready?  Yeah, it stayed in the bag.  I was determined to have an unmedicated natural delivery.  Well...my doctor changed those plans.  After being in labor for 21 hours and having no change, he wanted Pitocin.  Even with Pitocin I didn't make much change.  Before I knew it I was being rushed back for an emergency c-section after 30 hours of labor.  Daphne was born and we haven't looked back.

I ended up having a rare complication called Peripartum Cardiomyopathy.  (My heart went kaput during the pregnancy.)  For more information please feel free to visit www.amothersheart.org .  But what ended up happening was a struggle and a blessing.  I'm now medically retired/disabled and am a stay at home mom.  My plans to be the active mom who runs around and plays with her daughter went out the window.  All the trips to the park and all the trips to the zoo I wanted to make ended up not happening.  Some days I do good to get out of bed.  Be that as it may, I have Daphne and Wesley by my side.  They are amazing and wonderful people.

Having Daphne has taught me more than I could ever imagine.  I hope your children are able to teach you as much as she has taught me.  So please come along on my journey as a Play At Home Mom while I grow and learn with my toddler!