Feeding The Senses

Now that M is getting a little older I am so excited for the activities that we can do together! It's always been my intent that by staying home with her we would still do all the things that she would get to do if she were in child care. Coming from working in child care from infants to preschool makes it a little easier. I had the benefit of working with many great teachers and have amazing training. Through all of them my favorite has been the Creative Curriculum. The basis of this is that children learn through play. Coming from this background I put having educational toys and supplies as a need and not a want. Although my husband doesn't always 100% agree.

So after tromping through fields scouting new locations for sessions we headed to the store to get some supplies. On the list:

Cream of Tarter
Food Coloring
Yogurt
Fly Swatters
Corn Starch
Sidewalk Chalk
Painters Tarp (because I have no idea what it's really called)

Throughout the next couple weeks I hope if time allows that I can post what these extremely random items can do. First up on the list for today was painting with yogurt!

Of course Molly was a fan and about 80% of the yogurt was ingested. I cut enough tarp to give her plenty of creative space. In a small bowel I mixed yogurt and one drop food dye. I did this three separate times and cleaned the bowel in between. That's it! Yogurt painting is good to go.

Several weeks ago we did another favorite of mine called Goop. It's way too easy and way too cool. As messy as it looks it is extremely easy to clean. Just use equal parts water and corn starch. I usually use a half cup, because I like to join in. Add a couple drops of food dye and you're ready. At this point it was last minute so I put her on some wrapping paper. This is why painters tarp was on the more thought out list. Surprisingly she was a little hesitant at first. That ended quickly though!

Time Flies

It hits me every couple days how neglected my poor little blog has been. Between M being M and trying to get my business going there has not been much time left. Late nights have been reserved for Photoshop and that is basically my down time for next foreseeable years.

There has just been so much change in such little time. With such little time left in this first year and yet so much more to experience in life it is just mind blowing. In two days M will be nine months old. Where did it go?

At nine months she is still nursing like a champ. It's so funny to see her crawl over to the couch, pull up, and start nursing as she stands there. So not where we started. She is still cuddled up in bed with us. At about twelve at night I crawl in with them. Just looking over and seeing this little girl with her head resting on her daddy's pillow is all I need in life to know I'm doing what's right for this one.

With three months left I can't stop thinking about the beginning of this year and at the same time I can't stop thinking about what's ahead. This little girl will be toddling around saying words. She'll be caring for baby dolls and putting puzzles together. How is this possible? How am I about to have a toddler like I used to care for at work? I will always miss these days, but I am so excited for our future.

M now has been crawling since five and a half months. She's been pulling up since six. I don't even know when she started walking all around the furniture. Now for the past several weeks she's walking behind everything. I'll here a racket and she's pushing the trash can around the kitchen. She learned that at Grandma's. In the past couple days she has started standing up by herself or letting go of things. She says mama, Dada, and all the other combos. Mama was her first word where she knew what it meant. Dada soon followed. HA! Tonight she finally said kitty. We've been working on that for awhile. I think her obsession with Binks helped.

For me personally life before M just seems like I was getting through the grind. The song Working For The Weekend comes to mind. Now that she is here every second is cherished. Every moment has value. I haven't wished a day away since she's been here. Except this past Sunday which was the day after my first big night out. Jeez louise!

So, in honor of M's big nine months here is some cuteness overload.