Taking the Kid's Toys Away

     It happened. We reached that point in the parenthood thing where we were fed up. Done. The TOYS were never-ending and never put away. It's barely a month after Christmas and they just don't give a rip that their new stuff is upside down or stepped on. Forget that noise. We took EVERY last toy away about a week ago*. I think. I think it was a week ago. It's Wednesday, right?

    Yeah, I just went and scrolled through my personal facebook page to see which day it was because I knew I posted about it. Ha. It was a week ago exactly! They have only earned one thing back (the duplo legos). Those have been taken back from them multiple times too.

      The cabin fever is real. We are out of our minds. Sunday was a sweet reprieve with the random 60 degree temps. We spent 3 hours at the park playing. But, we're right back below freezing with more nasty precipitation this week. Mind you, we've been to Chick-fil-a, the library, and the art museum more than once this month. We go let them walk around through the store** just to get some of the spare endless energy out. At this rate, they'll get their toys back when they are in their twenties.

    There's plenty to complain about. I could go on about it for a while. I'll just be quick about it though. Feel free to skip this part. [The kids are crazy. The toys are taking up space in our room. Stomp stomp. Wah wah. They don't seem to care that their toys are gone. It's not working. Failing. Failure. Why why whyyy?]

    As all of this is going down something wonderful is happening. My girl's imaginations are growing tenfold! They are great little pretenders and story makers as it were. But now. Wow! The big bed is a mountain. The toddler bed is a boat. The plastic storage boxes are the treasures. Socks are crocodiles. The cubby bookshelf is a "giant, giant bird house" with all kinds of crazy birds living in them with their babies. The tall bookshelf is a ladder to the spaceship (although my sensible side tells them NOT to climb it!). Their hands are paddles and phones and brushes for the invisible "good" animals. The closet is a "bad cave". Hubby and I are the monsters half the time. Pants and long-sleeved shirts have become capes. This is only a compilation of their ideas for ONE of the pretend games they play! How awesome is this?! I love it! Their play with the legos is even more creative now, in my opinion.

      We won't get rid of all of their toys. Some were begging to be put out of their misery, donated, or sold anyway. I think we're going to get a cabinet of some kind and put them all away rather than having them out and available all the time. I feel kind of guilty because I'm a 90s kid and Toy Story ruined me. Still. I use logic. Logic tells me . . . the toys won't feel too bad and they'll enjoy listening to the girls pretend all day.

    I think this will do them almost as much good as when we ban them to "be bored" outside on gorgeous days like my own parents did. They'll have to do terrible things like run around, play hide and seek, and dig holes. I can't wait! (Well, I can and I will but you know what I mean.)
    

*I will say we aren't pure evil/their giant eyes break my mommy heart so they got to keep their lovey animals that they sleep with and carry around everywhere. Also, they have their books. Books aren't toys.

** With us. We walk with them. They hold our hands and all that good stuff. I promise.

Our Current Favorite Toys!

     What are your kiddos current favorite toys? Something they got for Christmas, maybe? An old beloved doll? Something colorful and plastic or handmade and wooden?

     I have to say, one of our favorites is the entirety of the local park playground! We don't have a yard. There's some grassy area around our home but there's nothing keeping the kids from the street. It's not very safe and our neighbors aren't always the most charming lot either. When we get a chance to go, it seems my kids are their happiest after playing at the park.

     It's been a long winter so far without it. All the nasty weather and our sweet new one has been keeping us mostly inside with the exception of errands and a few minutes here and there to see the sun or enjoy some snow. One day I hope we have a big yard with a climbing dome, tire swings, slides, sand boxes and zip lines galore. That said, this post will be focused on the sorts of toys we have inside.

     I try to keep things in rotation. I will admit . . . the musical instruments have been in the back of the closet toy box (it's just a big, transparent, sterilite box that the littles don't have access to) for quite a while. Although I do think the set we have (the B. Parum Pum Pum Drum) is adorable. We have many, many more toys and things than these I'll talk about.

     Right right now these are the ones that have kept the intrigue of Bitty Bug (3.5) and Sweet Pea (2). I think all of these toys are fantastic for their age group!

#1 - Fisher Price Little People
     These little people toy sets have taken over. We have several of the bigger sets now! They had some before Christmas but it's also the bulk of what they got this year (or .  . . last year, I guess). With a portion of their Christmas money we ordered the dollhouse and got the Disney princess castle. Personally, I don't put the batteries in the ones that make noise. The girls do all of the noise-making on their own. These make a perfect starter dollhouse set and they are awesome for pretending! I do like the old version of the people better than the new but they are all adorable. There are tons of options to match each kid's interest: the princesses, airplanes, a dump truck, zoo and farm animals, and a little family. My personal favorite is our nativity. There is also a Noah's Ark set we don't have yet that I think is too cute! The bigger things like the castle can be a pain to get together because they are essentially a plastic 3d puzzle with screws. They seem to be pretty sturdy in the end though. Did I mention they are cute??

#2 - Duplo Legos, Wooden Blocks, and Mega Blocks
     No doubt, the hubby is an avid Lego fan. He'd probably live at Legoland if I let him. I love them too but I don't discriminate on building blocks of any kind around here. The girls can't get enough. We have a huge box of the mega blocks and a great variation of wooden ones. We just started our collection of duplos though. I think Bitty Bug builds more robots than planet earth could handle. They make cities and bridges and houses. I love it!

#3 - Magnets
   Zoo animals, dinosaurs, letters, and numbers! We have quite an assortment of fridge magnets now. I found the Melissa & Doug animal magnets on the cheap at Ross one day. You can always find bags of the colorful letters and numbers for a buck or two! Sometimes they play with them on the fridge while I cook. Other times they each get a cookie sheet to put them on. I've found them to be a super tool for learning the alphabet and counting.

#4 - Play-Doh
 Store-bought or homemade. It's cheap and fun. You can anything with it. You can smash it to create something new or bake it and keep it forever and ever. This stuff with some simple plastic tools and cookie cutters keeps them occupied for a good, solid 30 minutes if not an entire hour. It's also a fantastic sensory activity.

#5 - Puzzles and Busy Gears
 Oh, we only have over 20 kid puzzles. Cheap and not as cheap. Mostly wooden. A few plastic. Even some made of foam. NONE that make noise for heaven's sake! (I can think of some scenarios where noise-making puzzles could be great but NOT in my house!) Pro tip: put the pieces to the left so they put them on left to right! It's a reading tool! I also lucked out and found the "vintage" Playskool Busy Gears set at the thrift store for a few dollars. It's going for $30-50 on eBay and amazon which is nuts! I do like the old one much better than the new version. One of the neatest toys we own is a hand-carved, alphabet, snake puzzle that we bought at a local market.


     So, there you have it. These are our current favorites. They are pretty basic and maybe that's what is so great about them. Maybe I'll write about the toy rotation system I've got going soon. It needs some organizational work but it's much easier all ready than having all the toys out at once.

A Quick List of Free Mail and Fun Printables

      It's COLD outside! My weather app reads 5 degrees Farenheit right now and that's up a bit from what it was yesterday at this time! If you're reading this I know you have internet access. Maybe you have some spare time on your hands. Maybe you're browsing while nursing a sweet baby.  Maybe maybe maybe!

    Well, when my husband was gone for a total 7 months when he decided to join the military I got really obsessed with sending and checking the mail. There aren't anymore handwritten letters now from my love because he's home (thank God!) but that was rough. Those days where no letter was there were so disappointing. We wrote a lot to eachother. Bitty Bug was only 2. She didn't understand but whatever I could read to her in those letters, I would. Even if it was simple things, "Daddy loves and misses you." and the like. Now, maybe it's our experience or maybe it's just her age or maybe a combination but she gets excited when I check the mail. She is thrilled to get something of her own or even if I let her open the junk. I started looking for ideas on how to get different things in the mail for her only to found out there's quite a few fun ways to get mail for your kids!

     Our current favorite is Lego Club Jr. You input your kiddo's name and info. Lego sends a cool magazine (either the normal Lego Club or the junior version depending on age) full of info on the newest sets, little games or activities, comics and more. The subscription is free and lasts for two years.

    Another something, that I just requested recently is the American Girl catalogue. Their beautiful dolls are well known. I never had a doll but I did love the books when I was young. The catalogue was fun to look through. I'm not sure we'll ever splurge on these dolls specifically but I'll definitely be on a search for the books once Bitty Bug and Sweet Pea are ready to read them.

    I've seen the Disney postcard thing on several sites and blogs but have yet to try it myself. From what I understand you (or your kiddo) send a letter to  Disney World or Disneyland and you'll get a "signed" postcard from the princesses or Mickey and his friends.

      Geoffrey's Birthday Club is a quick click and sign up for a birthday card (and coupon!) for Toys"R"Us. Check it out, you can also get a birthday phone call and go into the store for a birthday crown and balloon! 


     There's also the option of having them color a picture or write a letter to a friend or family member. Let it be a surprise or give the person a heads up so they might write back promptly! It's never too early to start learning how to do that.

Aside from all that, it's nasty cold outside across most of the US right now. Coloring is one of the easiest ways I can manage to get my crazies to sit down, calm down, and be slightly more quiet than usual for five minutes. If you're looking for coloring pages or activity worksheets check these out:

Random House Kids
   From Eric Carle to Lowly Worm to Thomas the Tank Engine. There are puzzles, crafts, and coloring pages for all those classic favorites.

Crayola Pages
   A personal favorite resource. There are coloring pages and craft sheets for almost any subject under (and including) the sun.

Nick Jr. 
   Offers lots of free printable coloring book pages of all their TV characters. It's easy to find your favorites, like Bubble Guppies or Dora, and print away!

PBS KIDS
   Just spin the wheel, select your kid's favorite cartoon, and you're likely to find several printables! Curious George is one my girls love.

National Geographic
   This is a really cool "print n go" coloring book of realistic looking animals.

Education.com: Dr. Seuss
     A 20 page activity booklet based on the world of Dr. Seuss. Totally free to print at home. It includes math and phonics. This is recommended for kindergarten to first grade and up.

FEMA - Fire Safety Booklet
   Here's a printable PDF on fire safety. It's geared towards little kids with some of the adorable Sesame Street characters sharing basic instructions.

This Week's Library Grab

     Here are the books we picked out at the library this week! Quite an eclectic selection, I think. Some we've read before and some we haven't. The kiddos are enjoying all of them.

    This is a beautiful book highlighting Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech. I don't think it could ever be read too many times. The illustrations are beautiful too. I love that my 3 year old and almost-2-year-old are all ready beginning to learn about such very important public figures.

 

     This is a very colorful book with a short, sweet style to it. I love it almost as much as Frederick.  

    There are some things we want our kids to learn about and never forget. The Great Depression is one such thing. Children's literature like this is an easy, beautiful way to share such history even with the smallest kids.

    Dinosaurs + numbers. Just what my 3 year old needs. I'm convinced she can soak in just about anything if it is somehow tied in with dinos.

     Our local library has a fantastic kid's non-fiction collection. They have books from Pebble Plus to Kid's Britannica. They are great resources. My kids love these books just the same as the fiction. The colorful pictures don't hurt.

Two Awesome Apps for Little Kids

I decided to go switch out some of the games for the girls on my iPad. It's really an awesome tool for quiet time or traveling. I went searching through the app store for some new stuff and found two really great games!

The first is Injini: Child Development Game Suite by NCSOFT.

We've only had it open for a couple minutes and my almost-3 year old is enthralled. We started with the free version because I don't buy any apps without trying them first if I can help it. The full version is on the higher end for kid's game apps for iOS at $29.99 so I may never drop that much $$$ for it but the "lite" version still has plenty of activities. There's tracing, matching, puzzles, and lots of other cute activities. The look of it is very warm and colorful. Most of the voices and sounds aren't terribly obnoxious but there is some beeping. Of course, that's why we have volume control and/or headphones. The only downside is that it only looks to be compatible with the iPad.

The other is Endless Alphabet by Callaway Digital Arts, Inc. This game is for the iPad, iPod, and iPhone. It just so happens that today you can get it FREE!!

Go to the app store and download it ASAP. If you hate it, delete it but I think it's adorable. It's a word game with a puzzle-like template. It's very interactive. As the letters are moved they make the relative sound (so Luh Luh Luh for the L and Ah Ah Ah for A). My favorite thing is that it's a bunch of very cute monster characters. I can't resist cute, colorful monsters.

Enjoy!!

Potty Training

We have been super busy around here with things.

I thought I'd take the time to post about our potty training plan though.

For starters, we bought a potty for N when she was younger than 12 months to get her used to it. I would occasionally let her sit on it when I was going. She was very proud of herself. She even peed a couple times. I went back and forth with myself on whether to really put effort in as we got closer to my due date with little E. N was about 16-18 months old, we were moving, and I'd read about regressions so I didn't push too hard. Although, I would've loved to be at least partially done with diapers at the time. Well, now she is 25 months. She had made some progress with our very relaxed, keep the potty in the living room, and give her a little candy if she decided to go on her own method. She did regress shortly after E's birth as I expected so I'm actually glad I didn't overdo it.

At this point, she is done with diapers, apparently. For one, she prefers to be nude 24/7. It's nearly impossible to keep her in a diaper or pull up at nap time let alone during the day. She also started calling them "baby pants" or "E's pants" and pretty much outright refuses to voluntarily lie down for a change as she has for the longest time. Oh no, she wants to be a little nudist.

For two, she has started very clearly letting me know when she thinks she needs to go. It doesn't matter if it's #1 or #2 she has shown a lot of awareness and will at least try to get the diaper/pants/underwear/dress up skirt off before she needs to go.

For three, she can communicate. She knows what the potty is and what it is for. She knows that she has a potty chair in the main area and a ring for the big toilet in the bathroom. She knows how to pull the little bucket out of the chair and dump it in the big potty. She knows how to remove and replace the potty ring on it's little hook at the side of the big toilet. She knows to go, wipe, flush, then wash her hands. I still help her a lot on all these points. We have a little stool for her but it is too small so she still needs help getting to the sink. Besides, she'd sit there and play in the water all day if I allowed her to do it all alone anyway.

So, with all of this. It's obviously about that time. Time to potty train. Since when do I have a toddler anyways?

I did a "Test run" several days ago to see how she'd do with a reward system. Um, awesome. Stickers for sitting on the potty and a big prize (a little thing of sparkly nail polish) for going potty and staying dry for a day.

This is going to be my system. I made up a chart. We'll buy stickers and pullups (for nap and bed, she'll wear them if there are princess on them . . .diva) tomorrow. For every time in a day she goes she gets to put a sticker up on her chart. For every FULL day she does well (day does not include nap or night time) she gets a coloring page! Amazing how very easily excited 2 year olds are by coloring. For this part I've printed several pages following a potty theme. (I'll share some of them via the links at the end) THEN, for every 7 days (or a week, but not necessarily consecutive) she goes to the potty and stays dry she gets a "big prize". I have 7 weeks on the chart with a variety of "big prizes" that steadily get more "valuable". Week 1 is new nail polish. Week 2 is a coloring book (yay dollar store!). Week 3 is a book (the potty book). Week 4 is NEW underwear she can pick out herself. Week 5 is a trip to get frozen yogurt. Week 6 is a trip to Chick-fil-a to eat and play. Week 7 we'll make a big cookie and go to build a bear (not something I'd normally go for BUT we have gift cards all ready) and she will get a "BIG GIRL" certificate which I will make up and print out. 

This may sound over the top to some but I don't care. In my head, I will be celebrating so much that I want to throw a party for the universe.

So there you have it. That's my plan.

We'll see how it goes. In 2 weeks I have finals. In 7-8 weeks we'll be doing a lot of traveling.

*fingers crossed*

Here's those pages I printed:

Blue's Clues
Hand washing
Toilet paper
Pull Ups
Baby on the Potty

P.S. Parent Bonus: You can keep the little chart, the coloring pages, and put it together with some pictures of your toddler on the potty to make a little booklet. PERFECT for embarrassing them later. Show off your kiddo's skills to all their hot dates!

Toddler Activities

I've been searching all over for ideas to keep my toddler occupied. Color wonder and puzzles are life savers. My toddler loves them. But, this spring and summer I want to be out of the house or outdoors as much as possible. Here is what I've found:


The Splash Park in Rogers (near the recreation center)

The Park on Horsebarn Road (Rogers) -- this is our favorite park all ready 

Crystal Bridges - Art Days (supposed to be offered starting in April)

Storytime at a local library (Rogers, Bentonville, Springdale, Fayetteville) -- Check their websites or calendars for details

I've been looking for a not-too-expensive class to enroll my almost-2-year-old in but it look like anything worthwhile will have to wait until she is 3 or 4. All of the above are FREE.