We had fun last week doing chalk drawings, it’s one of the easiest activities for Erin’s age group going. It’s simple to set up, only requires chalk and paper, and is pretty tidy too.
As easy as it may seem, as you can see it takes the ultimate in concentration.
Click on either photo to see more photos of chalk drawing.
On Saturday we went to Treefest which I found out about on Mother at Large (who we also bumped into, small world yadda yadda). We had lots of fun, there was mask making, pottery painting, mountain bike displays as well as some amazing wood crafts. It was really warm, we sat and ate freshly baked cornish pasties (Alex had a haggis pastie, how scottish is that!) on the grass while Erin felt the grass between her toes. Good times.
Sunday, we hosted a family dinner, I made (when I say made, I really mean opened packets of) crackers with pate, chicken and ham with salad and garlic potatoes, strawberries and ice cream with berry coulis, and, cheese and biscuits with chutney and grapes. Erin banged her eye but had a great time getting a lot of attention. She also received a special present, watch this space for photos!
Today Erin has practically slept all day, and when I say all day….well, lets just say that I’m concerned that the bump on the eye yesterday has put her in some sort of concussed deep sleep, actually, I should go check on her now…. Check out the Carnival of Family Life
A couple of other bloggers have written an ABC list for summer inspiration. I did it for Christmas so here’s my Summer edition.
Aeroplane Spotting
Bark Rubbing
Chocolate Krispie Cake Making
Dvd Night
Eating Competition (Dooking for apples or donut on a string?)
Foot Printing
Gardening
Hide & Seek
Ice Biscuits
Jigsaw Puzzles
Kite Flying
Library visit
Make a Mosaic from Old Cards
Nature Walk + Scavenger Hunt
Organize a Football/Rugby/Cricket Tournament
Paint a Canvas
Quiet Time (aah, I think this one is wishful thinking!)
Rounders
Start a Summer Scrapbook
Treasure Hunt
Under the Sea Collage
Visit a Museum
Websites for kids
Xylopohone and other Musical Instruments
Your Turn - Each family member takes a turn at choosing an activity (It’s Y…what else begins with Y!!!!)
Zoo/Petting Farm
Photo by flickr user Steve Sawyer
We (Alex, Erin and I) went to a local buffet restaurant for lunch today. We go fairly regularly, about every six weeks or so, Erin loves it, she gets loads of attention from the staff as she has been going there since she was born.
Today I noticed how well Erin’s table manners were coming along, at sixteen months you can’t expect too much, here is a couple of things we do expect, and to be honest Erin rarely lets herself down - if you can even call it that at her age.
No shouting/screaming
She laughs loads but I don’t allow unnecessary levels of noise that disrupt other diners’ experience.
No smearing food or throwing it around
Obviously Erin eats predominantly with her fingers, that’s acceptable, however, dipping fingers in food and smearing it around is a no no, as is throwing it on the floor. I am still teaching her to say ta when she wants food taken away, she doesn’t like leftover food in front of her for too long.
I think this is very very basic stuff, she easily understands ‘the rules’ and hopefully this will be the beginnings of good table manners that she can rely on when she is at formal social gatherings as an adult. I find a buffet restaurant or indeed any kid friendly eaterie is a great way to introduce table manners outside of the home. On the few occasions we have taken Erin somewhere a bit more upmarket her behaviour has made me very proud and she always receives lots of compliments.
Hey, if you can’t be proud of your kids what can you be proud of! Is everyonelse working on table manners too?
It’s all work, studying, floor laying and learning to walk in our house…
I really appreciate the balance of education and recreation in ordinary mom’s post preventing the summer boredom blues. You may be able to find more activity inspiration here.
Parents - It’s not all about the children is a great post that certainly applies to a minority percentage of parents. Of course there is the other group who could be doing a little more which would help society as a whole, but that’s a different post.
Having a second baby? Trent’s getting financially organised for his second child.
Littlemummy Retro - If you have been wondering what that orange button (right hand corner) is click here to find out, then click the orange button to subscribe, or input your email address (strictly no spam!!)
I was sent an email recently from Michelle asking me to take a look at a search engine she had built which enables parents to search for toddler groups in their area. Michelle says this is her first ‘real’ web project, you can find her blog here, I have already subscribed to follow Michelle’s progress.
I have to be honest, and I’m sure Michelle will find what I have to say constructive, but I have mixed views. I’ll try and tackle each aspect in turn.
Design
I like the design and the logo (which took on an eery quality when I copied it - see above!!). The layout is ultra simple and sleek. The logo is fun and the domain name - www.findtoddlergroups.co.uk is easy to remember.
Search Options
There is currently only the option to search by postcode. Michelle, if we don’t find a group using our postcode we may want to search by town or some other method to at least find what groups are in the wider area, what do you have planned?
The Database
I know this is a new project but you need to try and grow the database, fast. I live in Scotland which you haven’t included yet (but it is in the pipeline, right?) so I checked another address which I know has local toddler groups in Wales and received no results.
Search Results
When I used a few other random postcodes I was very pleased with the results page, the layout was good, and the amount of information was excellent, I particularly like the details on how the group is run and what you can expect when you get there.
Monetization
At the moment the service is free, and there are no ads. From the brief look I took at your blog it seems that you want to build systems that will earn money, what is your monetization strategy because splattering it with adsense could really spoil the sleek look.
If anyonelse has any other suggestions please leave a comment, I’m sure Michelle would like as much feedback as possible.
Erin turned sixteen months yesterday, if she’d received a pound for every time someone asked me if she is walking yet she’d have a healthy car/mortgage deposit/uni fund by now.
Erin stood unaided for the first time today, she also walked for the first time with her push along toy, and refused to be spoon fed preferring to feed herself. Aaah my baby is growing up and I’m experiencing the same blend of pleasure, sorrow and pride that we (parents) feel every time a new skill is learned, independence is granted, and every time our babies take a step to toddlerdom, our toddlers become preschoolers, our preschoolers become independant ‘little people’, then teenagers, and so on…
Today it dawned on me that we don’t need to plan every detail of their progression, they will progress alone providing they have the environment to do so. My answer to the constant “is she walking yet?” question is always the same “she’ll walk when she’s ready” if I’m feeling particularly cheeky I’ll point out that there aren’t many grown adults still crawling on hands and knees, unless you include the inebriated clubbers on a friday night.
We clapped and whooped when she stood, and more when she walked with the push-a-long toy, and I allowed and encouraged the self feeding, I hope my lack of eagerness for her to learn to do everything sooner rather than later will result in her being more keen to learn and progress when she is older, without feeling the pressure of a ‘pushy parent’ shoving her along in every endeavour.
When she walks, it will be soon enough. When she talks, it will be soon enough. If she does her best in life, it will always be good enough. And, when she doesn’t do her best I hope I’ll be able to guide her.
It’s been a very busy weekend which mainly revolved around a friend’s wedding. It was a really nice day, the meal was lovely (leek, potato & marjoram soup, striploin of venison with mustard mash and red cabbage, followed by perhaps the best desert I’ve ever had, baked chocolate delight with real vanilla ice cream mm mmm) and we met some amazing people including a couple of guys from LA. Good stuff.
The carnival of family life is up, here are my highlights.
I love this idea of hosting your own summer camp.
Littlemummy Retro - Check out this first part in my series on how to save money on a dream wedding.
The Undomestic Goddess is written by Sophie Kinsella, yes that’s Sophie Kinsella that also writes the shopaholic series.
I’ve read most of the shopaholic series so I knew this book would be a good read before I turned the first page. It’s written in Sophie’s typically witty and fast moving style with plenty of laugh out loud moments. The story follows a high flying lawyer who makes a mistake and ends up becoming a housekeeper, there are plenty of twists and turns that will keep you up past bedtime to read ‘just one more page’.
If you like light-hearted, easy to read novels I can highly recommend this one. Don’t bother if you object to a little sillyness in your novels.
We’ve been busy trying to lay a new floor in the bathroom. It’s our first attempt at laying a floor so we bought the vinyl tiles (they are meant to be quite easy), we are on our second attempt, and all seems to be going well now (fingers crossed, touch wood and all of that). We are also beginning to gear up for a wedding tomorrow.
Summer holidays are fast approaching, Scribbit has some activity inspiration with Do-it-Yourself Dollhouses.
Someone recently asked me about starting a blog to compliment their business, Yaro has released a free blogging blueprint that will provide you with quite a bit of information if you’re interested in starting a business blog.
Littlemummy Retro - Make a birthday card mosaic
