Sophia loves biter biscuits, but this picture will give you clear reason why I don’t give them to her as often as she would like!
Gotta love it!
Year in Review December 30, 2007
This was an exciting year as we went from a family of 3, to a family of 4,
and my crazy husband wants to more.
For little George, it was a shock, when this little monster he met in the hospital,
showed up at his heels, sucking a bottle.
He kissed her and hugged her and nicknamed her “seea”.
It is great she doesn’t move, that is, until she hit her groove.
Soon Sophia squirmed and wiggled and pulled to a stand
and whether or not he liked it gave her big brother a “helping” hand.
She was all over that tot, pulling and taking, climbing and scraping.
I hear his screams of “mommy move her”as she whines and persists and until he avoids her.
While we play referee
“don’t touch her”
“don’t hit her”
“she loves you”
“she’s little”
Hopefully it’ll get better but I’m not so sure,
because next year comes a really big first.
George talked and talked
repeating the unmentionables and remembering those forgettables.
We sighed and we screeched.
Our hands to our head they would reach.
We shook our heads and our fingers and learned that at times these 2 little cuties
would put us through the ringer.
But we loved and laughed and giggled and learned
that somehow
twice the love, twice the anger
and twice the frustration,
always ends up in one way or another
twice the love and laughter.
Ready for next year?
My first Award December 29, 2007
Look, my first award!!
Thanks to Laurie over at Tip Junkie. I’m honored!
I’ll definitely pass it on!!!
Check out here site! She really has some great ideas and inspiration!
Kid-Friendly ways to Ring in ’08 in S. New Jersey/Philadelphia December 28, 2007
Wondering what to do with the kiddies on New Years?
Maybe staying up until midnight is not an option.
If you live in the South Jersey, Philadelphia area here are some great alternatives most definitely to produce a memorable New Years outing.
1. Please Touch Museum, Philadelphia, Pa. Your kids may not be able to stay up until midnight, but should be able to push noon, if their map time allows. Join the Countdown to noon festivities at the Please Touch Museum on December 31st, they will countdown to noon not once but twice. Regular museum admission required, $9.95 per adult and child over 12 and over.
2. Garden State Discovery Museum, Cherry Hill, NJ. Mom and Dad, still a bit tired from your own New Years festivities? No worries! The Discovery Museum opens late, 11:00am on New Years Day (yes, they are open). Show up between 11:00am and noon, with kids still in their PJs and kids get in free! Unless you show up between 11:00am and noon, regular museum admission applies, $9.95 per adult and child 12 months and over.
3. Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pa. Ring in the New Years with fun filled festivities at the Gardens, among their magical light displays. Enjoy Ice Skating, Balloon Artists, Strolling Carolers, Face-painting, a kids craft station and much more. Don’t worry about having to stay up until midnight, fireworks top of the night at 9:15. Festivities begin shortly after noon!
4. Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, Pa. For the New Years high rollers, celebrate at the beautiful Kimmel Center for their Family Fun Brunch. Along with their tasty brunch enjoy cookie decorating and games and crafts for the kids. Enjoy “box” seats for the parade, watching from behind the glass, and two 50″ plasma TVs to catch the action. Cost $60 per adult and $35 per child.
5. Jelly Bean Jungle, Marlton, NJ. This great indoor play center is hosting a New Years Eve Party, kid-style from 11:00am to 1:00 pm. Besides endless fun, playing in the ball pit and climbing on their amazing indoor jungle gym, join the festivities and participate in a Times Square Countdown ball and confetti drop.Admission is $9.00 per child in advance or $13.25 at the door (this includes one child and 2 adults)
6. Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pa. Browse through science displays, a larger than life train display or venture through the human heart. Get back into the holiday spirit by experiencing The Polar Express, now playing on IMAX. If you visit the museum now through December 31st, admission for kids 11 and under is free!Museum opens at 9:30am, get there early to beat the crowds.
7. Of course, don’t forget to build a family tradition by attending the legendary 107th Annual Mummer’s Day Parade. The parade with its string band and colorful, outrageous costumes and floats, kick off at 8:30am, departing from Washington Ave moving north along broad street to City Hall.
If you aren’t in the mood to fight the crowds and battle the traffic, build your own family tradition by creating things you can do at home. Besides my low key favorites (and non-creative), renting movies, watching celebrations on TV and ordering out, Family Fun Magazine has some great ideas to ring in the new years in style from the comfort of your home.
1. Bubble Wrap Stomp.Just before midnight, unroll it on a hard surface and as midnight rings, join in on the “stomp”, creating fireworks sounds. Who doesn’t love bubble wrap?
2. Create a Midnight Balloon shower. I am sure this would be a hit with any toddler.
3. Get creative and make your own New Years noisemakers.
4. Spice up the night with some Nacho Cheese Tortillas. This is a nice and easy recipe, to add some extra fun, cook with the kids.
5. Add a little sweetness with some Fondue Fun. Dipping anything in cheese or chocolate is sure to be a big hit. Who knows, you may even get the kids to ring in the New Years with a couple veggies.
Check out Family Fun for plenty more ideas on creatively ringing in the New year!
Whatever you do, wherever you do it, just make it safe and have fun!
New Years are a great way to celebrate the past and look forward to what the new year has to offer.
Psst! Live in Southern New Jersey/ Philadelphia area? Check out my link at the top, right hand side of this page for kid-friendly things to do in the area. It is a work in progress, so check back for new additions. Share your own feedback and experiences.
Christmas Hangover December 27, 2007
Not that kind of hangover?
Don’t get me wrong,I love the holidays. But, isn’t it a nice relief when the hustle and bustle is over?
I didn’t do a bunch of last minute shopping (for the first time ever), I guess it was just the cooking (and then cleaning) and preparing and everything else, and we didn’t even have the holiday dinner at our house. But it was nice to spend time with family! That is really the part I have started to look forward to, especially since having kids.
We decorated our tree, helped my parents decorate theirs, drove around at night with the kids in their jammies, hot cocoas in hand looking at Christmas lights. Somehow, it seemed magical and slightly comical, especailly listening to the way my son pronounces Christmas….Ismas.
“I see Ismas lights!” he would proudly prounounce from the back seat.
My husband would ask,”what kind of lights do you see?” to try and get him to say it again.
Quickly he would respond,” I see green and red Ismas lights!!”
You couldn’t help but laugh.
As far as Christmas morning, Sophia loved playing with her toys, immediately shoving putting them straight to her mouth. George had to watch her play with her toys to get into the spirit. I thought he would be the one to run into the room and open up the gifts before I could whip out my camcorder, but this time I as worried I didn’t have enough tape.
After seeing the gifts and deciding he didn’t know what to do, he actually backed into the hallway and said,”I’m gonna sit right here.”
Once he got into to opening them it took him a good hour (which my mom would have loved). He would unwrap his gift one at a time and play with it and inspect it before opening the others.
His “big” gifts were a huge firetruck and a race car set. He wouldn’t play with those until he looked at everything else. I think he is still trying to wrap his head around the whole concept of Christmas.
He probably wonders, “How did this stuff get here?” and “How did Santa know exactly what I wanted?”
I guess the theory of some guy named Santa, dressed in a red suit, coming down his chimney and putting gifts in his house while he is alseep is still a bit odd.
I am sure I was a bit freaked out when I was younger.
Who wasn’t? At least at first?
But he was very polite. Giving others gifts, saying thank you after receiving his.
How long will that last?
The real Christmas gifts I received was hearing George sing his ABC’s, when I honestly didn’t even know he knew them, the hugs and smiles from the kids and my husband every morning, Sophia’s laughter and silliness and her ever-so-developing personality, and the fact that I have a beautiful family to spend the holidays with.
For now, I’ll enjoy the innocence of the holiday season as it exists in the eye of my children.
How George sees the magical quality in “Ismas lights” and every Santa, Reindeer and Snowman is the greatest thing he has seen all season.
How Sophia takes it all in, every little bit of it, lights, stockings, wrapping paper, her brothers toys, and the zipper on my pants leg, all into her mouth, every last bit.
Right now, I can sit and breathe, no wrapping, shopping, baking, making, decorating and giving.
I can relax, For now.
Only 363 days until next Christmas, better start now, it’ll be here before you know it.
Best Christmas Gift ever December 23, 2007
Today we had the best (early)Christmas gift ever, my son did his first poopy on the potty!
I promise I won’t make it a habit to talk about my son’s potty occurrences, but I am sure you will understand.
That is a big deal in toddler world (and mommy and daddy world).
Well, I won’t bog you down with too much potty information.
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.
A little sprinkles there, A little sprinkles here December 22, 2007
I was ready to make cookies with George.
This was the first Christmas he was showing interest.
Making the dough and baking the cookies went way better than expected. He helped mix the ingredients and stir the batter.
He knew the dough had to be rolled out before I told him.
Nice.
He helped roll the dough and press the cookie cutter into the dough.
Great, we were ready to decorate.
I had the icing mixed into colors, and the sprinkles poured into little bowls so he could sprinkle them onto the cookies himself.
We made gingerbread men, stars, and trees. I tried painting them myself at first and them he wanted to paint them, mixing the colors so they turned black and then dumping loads of rainbow sprinkles (his favorite) on the cookies.
“Too much George”.
“Don’t eat that, wait til we’re done please”.
“George, don’t eat the sprinkles, they go on the cookies
“George, don’t eat the icing, you’ll get a tummy ache”.
George, too many sprinkles, just use a little.”
What’s the use?
He’s laughing, smiling and having a great time.
This is how our “Christmas” cookies turned out.
He had a blast, and so did I.
Today I learned a big lesson as a parent, that I should have caught onto before: In some situations, it’s okay to relinguish control and go with the flow.
Stupid Mom (and Dad) Moment #684 December 22, 2007
When we first had George, we would us the baby bath tub on the countertop.
It wasn’t until he was almost to big for it, that we realized it fit nicely in the grooves of our double sink. Afterall, it was a bathtub fit for the sink.
Please let us know we are not the only ones.
I am sure you have some stupid moments of your own that you would love to share and I would love to hear.
Stupid Mom (and Dad) Moment #674 December 20, 2007
When we started using the pull-ups for George, we thought they kept ripping on the sides before we could ever use them.
We received a notice that George needed more diapers or resealable pull-ups at nursery school and we were thinking, what are resealable pull-ups? Where do you get those? I couldn’t believe they were asking me for some special diaper.
My husband wanted me to go and ask someone where to get resealable pull ups.
We had no idea they were resealable until last night. When for some reason, I don’t know why I didn’t try to do this before, I tried to reseal them.
Could you imagine the embarrassment?
George even suggested I write a letter to Huggies complaining about their pull-ups, about how they keep ripping on the sides before you can even put them on.
Could you imagine the laughter when they received that letter?
DUH!!!!!
How many adults with college degrees does it take to figure out your son’s pull-ups?
