Naomi Kate

Weight: 21.9 lbs (30%)

Height: 31'' (60%)

Diapers: Size 4

Clothing: 18-24 months

Shoes: size 4

Naomi is my cuddly girl who loves kisses and hugs and loves to be held.

She is also adventurous and loves to explore new things.  If she is not in my arms, you will find her pushing a doll stroller or sitting in her purple chair reading books.

This is her saying "cheese".  It is very hard to capture Naomi smiling since she constantly on the go.  Her vocabulary is growing more and more everyday and she is just starting to put two words together.  The most used words in her vocabulary are: baby, cracker, shoes, outside, sissy, paci, daddy and mommy. (These words are a good representation of her favorite things.) 

She loves going outside and walking up and down the sidewalk.  She dislikes going to any type of store and refuses to sit in the cart.  This makes my life quite difficult and usually results in a very mortifying humbling experience. 

Her best friend lives in the same house and she beams whenever her sissy gives her a hug or kiss.  These two still fight but will play nicely for as long as 30 minutes.  

Miss Kate loves everything shiny and sparkly.  She is already in love with shoes and found some of Mia's old pink, sparkly shoes that are her new favorite.  She also likes to dress herself and can usually be found walking around the house with one of my sports bras or tank tops around her neck.

I seriously can't get enough of this girl! If I could freeze this age for a year, I totally would. But, I know I must let her grow because she is learning so much every day and is probably going to be even more awesome the older she gets.

U is for U Prints 

Link to Uu sheet

 

I cut a paper towel holder in half to make a U shape at the base.  We used this to stamp the letter U on our Uu sheet.

U is for Umbrella

Link to umbrella project

We read books about the rain this week since we were talking about umbrellas.  Rain, Rain, Go Away is a board book that is baby and toddler friendly.  

Supplies needed for umbrella project: cotton balls, pipe cleaners, small cupcake liners (cut in half), markers, glue and tape.

Step 1: Glue cotton balls to the top of the paper.  If you're working with young toddlers, put the glue on the paper for them and let them stick on the cotton balls.

Step 2:  Have your child color the cupcake liners.

 

Step 3: Bend pipe cleaners and tape to construction paper.  Glue cupcake liners on top of the pipe cleaner.

Step 4: Use a blue marker to make rain.

 

This project turned out super cute and Mia was very proud of the outcome.  (Naomi lost interest after step 2. Since Naomi is so young (15 months), I never expect her to do the whole project.)

U is for Underwear

The Underpants Zoo is cute story about the different underwear all the animals at the zoo wear. Underwear Do's and Don'ts wasn't my favorite but both of my girls were captivated by the bright illustrations! 

After reading, The Underpants Zoo, I let the girls create their own underpants using chalk dipped in water.  I cut underwear out of black paper and gave each girl a cup of water to dip the chalk into.  

Naomi (top)

Mia (bottom)

I asked Joe to help me add a home tab to my blog on Saturday and several hours later, my blog got a whole new facelift!  I'm super excited about the layout and I hope it will be easier for everyone to navigate through.  However, as you can notice, there is still some work to do.  So, please "excuse the mess" while I get everything figured out (or until Joe gets home from work to help me)!!

There is an article going around Facebook titled, 23 Signs You're Secretly An Introvert.  It got me thinking about myself and why I am the way I am.  I think I have some introverted tendencies, but for the most part, I am an extrovert.  I like being busy, I get energy from being around others,  I like adventures, I like making memories outside of the home.

 

You know it has been a busy couple of weeks when you ask your 2 year old what they want to do today and they say, "nothing!"  

Luckily, my girls love getting out and exploring our city, but they do remind me when we need to slow down.  My family reminds me that memories can also be made "doing nothing" aka, staying home, playing in the playroom, enjoying the day without an agenda.  I'm working on this, even though I have an incredibly hard time getting motivated without anything on my schedule.  Having nothing planned feels lazy to me, but I think it feels very different for my kids and especially, my husband.

 

  It's just a matter of time before every day will be super busy.  I watch the neighbors walk their little ones with over sized backpacks to school in the morning and I am so thankful that I have a few more years before that season starts (even though a small part of me is so excited for everything that comes with school).  A few more years to enjoy busy days at the zoo or relaxing days swimming in the backyard.

 

It's interesting how much being a stay-at-home mom has taught me about myself.  I've learned how important community is to me as a woman and the importance of finding mental/creative outlets that don't involve my children.  I am so thankful that I am currently mentoring another Kindergarten teacher this year and co-leading the Moms Group at our church.  These things fill me up and help me be a better mom and wife.  The extrovert in me needs these things, things that help meet new people and give me an outlet so I can be the best mommy possible to these two little ladies.

I really loved the book, Soup Day.   It's a toddler friendly book about a little girl and her Mom making soup.  It talks about all of the different vegetables needed for soup and how they are cut up. The illustrations are bright and cheerful and the text is simple but educational.  I will definitely get this book again this winter when it's cold enough to make a pot of soup!

S is for Star

Before we do our letter poster activity, I always have Mia trace the letters with her finger, followed by writing the letter.  I never make this stressful and always praise her work.  

I am so pleased with how well she is forming the letters!

Mia stuck star stickers to the Ss sheet.  

We loved both of these books.  Mister Seahorse talks about how several different male fish, including the male seahorse take care of  eggs.  The illustrations are as beautiful as you would expect from Eric Carle and Mia really enjoyed seeing the different ways all of the daddy fish carried the eggs.  

S is for Seahorse

This activity was so COOL.  You probably have all of the supplies around your house so I highly recommend doing this soon!.  

Supplies: paint (3 different colors), egg carton, sponge and bubble wrap. I simply printed a picture of a seahorse and used it for a guide to draw a large version on a thin piece of cardboard.  

Step 1: Let your little one choose a color and paint with a sponge.  Try to encourage them to cover the whole picture.  (Mia totally hams it up for me now... I kind of love it!)

Step 2: Let your little one choose another color and let them paint with bubble wrap.  This works best if the paint is on a plate.  Be sure to use the bubble wrap like a stamp- push down and pull up.

Step 3: Choose a final color and paint with an egg carton.  I cut an egg carton in half and it was the perfect size for our project.

Seriously, how cute is this??!

Link to the project

While Mia was working on her project, Naomi painted a seahorse sheet.

She was so proud when I hung her picture up. : )

All of these are great wintery books for your toddler/preschooler.

S is for [homemade] Snow Sensory Bin and Snowman

Yes, we talked about snow when it was 90 degrees outside and it was so much fun!  

I saw this recipe for snow on Pinterest and am SO glad we made it! 

Supplies need for homemade snow:  3 cups baking soda and 1/2 cup white hair conditioner (I bought the cheapest conditioner I could find and it worked great.)

This really is amazing...it feels cool and will mold into whatever you like.  Mia played with the indoor snow for about an hour!

 Yes, it was a little messy but so worth it!!  I love sensory bins because they set the stage for creativity.  At one point, Mia was making cookies and then she ran downstairs and got her little animals and was pretending that they were walking up hills of snow.  The possibilities are endless and even if you have to vacuum after, you'll be so happy that your little one spent the last hour being creative rather than watching a show.

We also made a snowman.  Before we started the project, I had Mia put the circles in order from smallest to largest.  Then, I wrote the letters of her name on 3 of the circles (this will require a much larger piece of paper for most names.).

She then glued them in order.  I made a little top hat, bow and carrot nose that Mia glued on. 

She even got to use the "adult" marker to make the eyes.  I did the mouth because she was a little intimidated to try it herself.

After the snowman was put together, we needed to give him some snow!  

Puffy snow paint: equal parts white glue and shaving cream

Link to snowman project

We had so much fun learning the letter S and will definitely be revisiting some of these projects come winter!