Laundrey Time!

I couldn't help it. I just couldn't help it, I had to take a picture and a video before helping her out. Thank goodness the camera was close by otherwise I probably would have had a real screaming baby on my hands. I was sitting right next to where she is when this happened, I was just looking through a toddler song book when all of sudden I heard the screaming. I then laughed hysterically, got up grabbed the camera and took a couple of pictures and a video. The video wouldn't upload, but it's very cute.

She actually emerged, smiling, but I did move the hamper back into it' proper location.

Baby -o?

Recently checked out the book What'll I do with the Baby-o? Baby-o was created for people who create programs for toddlers and babies. Generally one hour programs, specifically Librarians, Early Childhood Educators, Teachers in the Child Mother Goose Program, and it says parents who want to learn fun and beneficial ways to play with their babies. In the beginning of the book it had a lot of interesting information about creating groups and how babies learn and grow. At the end of the book there are examples of one hour programs to do with groups. (The librarian at our library must have taken a look at this because I think the program is right out of here.) In the middle there are all kinds of songs and rhymes, broken down into categories like Hello Songs, Bouncing Rhymes, Tickling Rhymes and so on. I would recommend this book, either check it out at your local library or buy it. It's got a lot of great finger plays and instructions on how to do them. It's a little to much educational info for me, since I am not going to create a one hour program to do in front of a group of toddlers and parents, but I did write down a lot of the songs and rhymes. Now I just need to organize all of my materials so that I can spend an hour with Tesla that is more cohesive and less random with me sorting through my papers. She tends to like to rip, eat and walk around with them.


 

New Furnace!!!

Today we are getting a new furnace! I am so excited. Not only has it been failing often but it takes a lot of Jason's time to get it working again. So instead of working on that he can do other things. Which is great because I feel bad asking him to do anything after he comes home from work because we're both tired.

We are getting a Coleman Furnace, it's 97% efficient. We'll receive a tax credit of $1500 and then a rebate from our tax company for $250 so after all that it's a no brainer. I wonder if that picture is what it really looks like, it seems so compact.

We're also having them install a cabinet just in case we want to get AC in the future. It's about $175.00 extra but if we do want that installed it'll save about a days worth of labor and that would cost more than that. Apparently they have to pull the furnace out in order to install it. Gosh maybe we'll have a mild summer and they'll be flooded with AC's and we can pick one up from them on a good deal. That would be great! AC is not nessecary here. Sure it got hot here last year, but it doesn't usually do that, so I'm not to worried.

Schedules Work!

So I am not super rigid, I promise. But I do think that having a schedule and the consistency is really good for Tesla. For the last couple of weeks I have started only running errands twice a week. I've chosen Tuesday and Thursday but we can do other days too but I will try and never run the errands two days in a row. I think it's really good for Tesla to be home, learning, what I can teach her and playing with the toys that she has here. She responds well to Blanket Time! and to reading, music and other play time. She also allows me to do the chores that I need to do, like clean up the kitchen put the clothes away and so on. I am completely okay with changing the schedule around though and running an errand here and there on a non-scheduled errand day, but I have to tell you that when I was running out every day Tesla was not a happy camper to get in and out of the car seat, in and out of the cart and no play time for her. The other upside is that I think hard about where I need to go and I don't end up spending to much money, or buying things frivolously, and I do love to shop so it would be easy to do that.

Anyway this week we started going to the library. We went on Thursday to pick up some books that I had on hold and asked about story time. The library has the story time broken down to really specific age groups. On Thursday there was the 6-12 month age group and the instructor asked us if we wanted to join in and after explaining that Tesla was to old, she said that if she acted up we could always leave. Which was great, because then I got to see the younger age group which Tesla is too young for. The 12-24 month age group was the following day. So I had to break my rule of not going out two days in a row and we went again. It was so worth it!

The class was pretty big, maybe 20 mom's and their children, and the instructor was phenomenal. She starts off with a hello song and then sings a few songs that involve sign language and other movement, then reads a book, repeats singing, reads another book and then it's time to get props involved. She handed out ribbons that the kids could swing back and forth, and then it was play and socialize time. It was so much fun.

At the end of the class she did the bubble machine and Tesla loved it. So I went by the local drug store and picked up a bubble maker to play with.

When we got home Tesla wanted to stay outside, so we played in the yard, I blew bubbles and she slid down the slide a few times.

PHOTOS: First picture is of Tesla "playing" with her attachable chair for the table. Second Picture is of Tesla playing with a double bag of paint. It's supposed to be like painting but much less messy. Third, forth and fifth pics need no explanation.

Blanket Time

I have been educating myself about raising kids from various sources, blogs, books, websites and friends. Everyone has a different opinion on what is right and what is WRONG. I think you really need to sort through all the different messages received and figure out what best suits you and your style of parenting. But I do think it's important to educate yourself, especially as a stay at home mom, I have a few different jobs, one is keeping the house clean and organized, another is chef, and the most important is taking care of Tesla. So I read cookbooks, I read organizing books, why not read about parenting? I've ordered by the name of The Creative Curriculum for Infants, Toddlers, and Twos, I am really looking forward to reading it. I ordered it from the library because it's quite pricey but if it's really good, we'll go ahead and purchase it. It's for teachers but should have at least one interesting point in it.

One of the blogs that I've been reading The Lazy Organizer mentioned that she had read that Michelle Duggar from the famed 20 Kids and Counting! TV show on TLC does Blanket Training.  Basically you just put a blanket on the floor set the kid down with a toy and have them play there for a certain amount of time, that way you can get a couple of other things done while they are in a "safe" place, and the kid is occupied. Well I really like this idea because I think it really focuses theirs and your attention to an activity. When Tesla is playing her attention is often all over the place. She'll play with one toy then the next then the next but never really sits and plays with one for a long period of time. 

The way that I'm going to use the time for now is to focus both of our attentions on an activity. Either sing a song, learning a new skill or playing with a toy. By doing it with both of us it also means that I stop everything else and sit on the floor with her and just play. Now don't get me wrong I play with her throughout the day all the time, but often I'll get up and put something away, or start dinner or something else distracting. But as long as the blanket is out, we'll be playing. 

She loves the singing and clapping that we do. Often times she walks away and leaves alone, but I get up and say "Blanket Time!" in a cheerful voice and sit her back down. It's all a matter of habits. Eventually I'm hoping she'll understand and pull the blanket out herself. I know lower my expectations.