These shakers can be used for many different things and all ages. For babies they are great for sound development and fine motor skills. For toddler and preschool ages they can be used for music and teaching sound discrimination. In the classroom I would bring these out at Easter time. I would fill eggs with different items {2 eggs had the same item for matching} then I would hide them around the room. The children would take turns “hunting them” and then they had to match the eggs with the same sound. They always enjoyed this lesson and it was great watching the all the other kids try to help. It was a great way to teach sound matching, patience and taking turns.

All you need are plastic Easter eggs, a hot glue gun and different sounding items:

Rice

Beans

Pennies

Bells

Paper Clips

Plastic beads

Cotton balls

{and} I always left 2 empty

Fill the eggs with desired items and then hot glue them closed.

Even though the Groundhog saw his shadow and we have 6 more weeks of winter {BOO} our winter has been pretty mild. So I take these sunny days as opportunities for water play outside. I also took our discovery bottles and egg shakers too. Fun, easy and cheap!

I came across this article today and while reading it I couldn’t contain my joy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/debra-ollivier/bringing-up-bebe_b_1224589.html

I love this theory, and having gone to school for early childhood education it just reiterates everything I learned. As much I strive to be this parent when I look around me I don’t see  many other mothers feeling the same way and it makes me sad. I am not saying all parents  need to take the “Tiger Mom” approach but too much hand holding   isn’t good either. I am striving to be this parent. Now who wants to move to France?

 

Discovery bottles are so easy to make and have endless possibilities. You need a glue gun and empty plastic water bottles.  Fill up the bottles with whatever you like, here are some ideas.

Blue water + soap

Colored water + Glitter

Water + Baby oil

Colored rice and/or pasta

Colored rice + magnets

Dried flowers

Nuts + Bolts

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You can make them for sound sensory, to learn about the colors in the rainbow, to find hidden objects { I spy } or make them to go along with a theme.( ie.) water + snowflake glitter= Christmas.

I started with just a few since I only had 3 empty water bottles. I made two with colored water and one with colored rice.

To make the colored rice {or pasta} just add whichever you are using or both into a ziplock bag. Use separate bags for each color you want to make.

Add 1-2 teaspoons of rubbing alcohol and shake to coat rice or pasta

Add liquid food coloring { as much as you need to get the desired color }

Shake, shake and shake until color is distributed evenly.

Lay out to dry on a plate covered with foil { or paper towels } Or use a cookie sheet if you are making a lot.

Once it’s dry you can add it to your bottle. Hot glue the top on and once it’s dry let your little one discover the new sensory bottle you made for them.

 

 

Can you believe it? I can’t believe it. Kaili turned 9 months old yesterday.

Friday we had her baby well checkup plus a couple vaccinations she was behind on. She took them like a champ {as always} with just a few tears, I admire her strength. Dr. Hansen said all is well. Her head is still in the 90th percentile with her body slowly catching up.  She weighs 15 lbs. and is 25 inches long. He told us to get rid of the bottles and to start her on sippy cups pronto. Now I get the task of finding the perfect cup and try to figure out how I want to make the transition, cold turkey or slow and steady.

Her fine motor skills are improving and she enjoys finger food over purees. Egg yolks are a favorite along with carrots, pears and bananas. Oh and of course the organic puffs, she loves them. Sweet potato and apple cinnamon are the only two she has tried but I am sure she could put a dent in the entire tube if you gave her free range.

Shane and I had our first night away together without Kaili. We took a wine train tour starting in Carlsbad and ending in Old Town. We met great people, became new wine members at Carruth Cellars and had a fun time. I did wake up at 4:00am missing her so I need to start preparing myself for our trip to Europe. I don’t know how I will handle being away from her for so long. I just have to remember that a happy wife is a happy mother and traveling makes me happy.

I took Kaili to our  local library’s  baby sign and story time last week to check it out. I would say she enjoyed herself, the bubbles especially.

The story time is supposed to be for babies 0-2, however I felt the stories Miss Jennifer read and signed were not age appropriate. Either way, Kaili sat quietly for the first story but was ready to play during the second. After story time we sang some songs and blew bubbles.

Since Kaili’s last cold her interest in pureed foods has diminished. I guess it’s time to introduce finger foods. Her fine motor skills are still developing and she can’t quite pick up small pieces of veg or fruits yet but she can feed herself baby Mum Mums.

She seems to enjoy the independence of self feeding!

That cold that she had seems to have made its way to me. The last 3 weeks we have had absolutely nothing planned and now that we have a fun weekend ahead of us, I end up getting sick. No Fair! ( <—- that’s for you Shane 😉

Yesterday my mom came down to visit  and allow me some time to hit the gym. While I was putting Kaili down for a nap, my mom asked me if I was worried about Kaili pulling herself up in the crib and potentially falling out since we hadn’t lowered it yet. “Nah” I said. She hadn’t even sat up in the crib yet so I wasn’t worried, “once she sits up I will lower it” I told her. Well, Kaili set out to prove Grandma right.  During Kaili’s afternoon nap, well what was supposed to be her afternoon nap but she wasn’t having it { and now I know why}  I went into check on her this is what I found.

Yep! This little monster managed to sit and pull herself up. We have now lowered the crib!

I could have just stopped at spicy parmesan eggs with garlic. Why don’t I alway cook my eggs with garlic? It’s amazing. However one does need the vitamins from vegetables and I had a bag of baby spinach waiting to be used. I thought about making a spinach salad or creamed spinach with it, but the eggs won that battle. I made this for myself so this recipe serves one, although you don’t really need a recipe to make an egg scramble right? So do what you do with what you want. This is what I did!

1/2 cup fresh baby spinach leaves

1/4 cup  mushrooms, chopped { any kind you want }

1/2 of a Serrano, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 eggs

1 Tbls. water

2 Tbls. Parmesan cheese { I used Messana grated }

In a small bowl, whisk eggs together with water until well mixed. Then mix in the cheese. Set aside.

In a medium non-stick skillet heat to medium heat. Add olive oil, serrano chile and garlic. Saute for 1 minute and then add the spinach and mushrooms, cook until tender.

Next add egg mixture to the skillet. Turn to med-low heat and mix eggs in with the spinach mixture. Cook until the eggs are done.

Kaili slept through the night last night so I am hoping that means this cold is on the mend. Phew! So we took a nice long walk ending with a trip to the park. My baby is growing up too fast.

The new year is here and it’s time to get serious about whipping back into shape. For me one of the easiest ways to lose some weight without giving up some delicious foods is to cut out carbohydrates.

This recipe is pretty self-explanatory however one might not know that store-bought taco seasoning has carbohydrates in it. It’s not a ton of carbs but it’s not the carbs we should be eating and why waste a few carbs on seasoning when you can waste them on whipped cream? So I used this taco seasoning recipe in place of good ol’ Lawrys   I didn’t take a picture of the seasoning because, well, who really cares about a picture of seasoning?

Low Carb Taco Seasoning

1 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine together. The end!

Taco Salad

1 pound ground turkey
1 1/2 tablespoons Taco seasoning
12 ounces iceberg lettuce, chopped
1/2 cup onion, diced
3 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
6 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2 of an avocado (2 tablespoons per serving)

Brown the turkey; drain off the fat. Stir in the taco seasoning mix and 1/4 cup water. Build your salad as you like it. This was pretty delish and only a whopping 7 grams of carbs per serving.