|
|
I recently signed up for the pay it forward giveaway at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns. I was excited to be one of the first three people to comment, because I really enjoy reading this blog. We got a package full of things my children love, and they were so excited! Emma asked to see which blog the package came from, and after showing her a few posts she pointed to a photo of Anna and said, “I think that little girl is like me!”
The rules are simple: be one of the first three people to comment on this post, and we will send you a package. Anyone who reads this blog can play; you just need to agree to pay it forward to three more people. If you don’t have a blog, you can find another way to pay it forward.
So, leave a comment on this post, email me your snail mail address (maryanne at mamasmiles dot com), and we’ll send something your way in a week or so.
Mike: How much do you love your mama?
Emma: Three seconds.
Emma: When I get married, I’m going to wear a pink dress like Cinderella. When mices get here, them will make me one.
Emma: I want a baby dinosaur to hold in my hand.
After a discussion about birth order:
Emma: Was I the first baby?
Mama: Yes, you were my very first baby!
Emma: So I was the first baby, then Johnny, then Dada, then Mama…
Mama: Oh. Well, Mama and Dada were babies first, then Emma, then Johnny, then Lily.
Emma: But I thought Emma was the first baby.
MATERIALS:
- Paper plate
- Markers
- Clothespins
STEPS:
- Divide back of plate into as many sections as you want to use colors.
- Color each section a different color.
- Color the clothespins these same colors
- Attach the clothespins to the section of the plate with the same color.
This is an activity I’ve seen on several blogs. I got out the materials and Emma did the rest. I had planned to at least divide the sections for her, but she was showing a rare independence streak and asked to do it herself. I think she did a great job. We were using these IKEA markers, and she used the marker end for coloring the plate and the stamp end for the clothespins. Johnny made one too. I drew the lines for him and he decorated the top. I then color-coded the edges so it could still be used to play the game.
Both kids enjoyed this game – it was very easy for Emma and a challenge for Johnny (because of the clothespins).
If you’ve been reading this blog for long, you’ll know that I spent all of August and part of September looking after sick children – so when All Modern Baby contacted me about reviewing one of their products I thought this Handy Doctor Set was the perfect choice.
Emma and Johnny were thrilled to get a doctor kit in the mail, and it was good timing since it arrived soon after Johnny’s traumatic Boston Children’s visit, when he was not feeling very pro-doctor. For some reason, Emma and Johnny have selected their amigurumi monkeys as their only patients. The monkeys are getting a lot of medical care these days.
I feel like this is a nice, high-quality basic toy doctor set. I’ve wanted a doctor set for my kids for a while, but I hadn’t gotten one because I could only find plastic sets with tons of small pieces, frequently accompanied by buyer complaints of pieces breaking. This set is made of environmentally-friendly rubberwood, non-toxic water-based paints, and biodegradable fabrics. It seems very durable. There is a squeaker in the sphygmomanometer (blood pressure cuff – try saying it’s real name five times fast) and a rattle in the stethoscope. I love that it is made by Wonderworld, an eco-friendly company with a reputation for good quality products. Emma occasionally gets frustrated because the stethoscope won’t stay on her ears since it’s just stuffed fabric, but that doesn’t keep her from using it for hours of imaginary play. I am a little confused as to why a flashlight was included as one of the six accessories. I would have chosen a wooden otoscope (the thing they use to look in your ears) if I were designing the toy, but my kids seem happy with the flashlight – and come to think of it, it’s probably best for them to not have something that makes them think about sticking things in people’s ears. I was surprised to see that both Emma and Johnny seemed to intuitively know how to use the old-fashioned thermometer since I’ve only used ear and temporal thermometers on them. They use the syringe to give shots and to administer medicine. They had no idea what to do with a medical mallet, so they have taken it out of the set and are using it as a musical mallet instead.
All Modern is offering a second doctor set for one of my readers! There are a few ways to enter:
- Link to a piece of contemporary furniture or any other item from All Modern that you would love to own.
- Tell me who would use this doctor set
- Blog about this giveaway and comment back with a link to your post (3 entries – you don’t have to leave three separate comments; I will give you three entries in my spreadsheet)
- Tweet this giveaway and comment back with a link to your tweet (2 entries – you don’t have to leave two separate comments; I will give you two entries in my spreadsheet)
Sadly, this giveaway is only open to residents of the US and Canada, and the winner will be chosen using random.org. Please make sure I have a way to contact you via email, or I will have to choose another winner. This giveaway closes at 9pm US Eastern Time next Thursday (October 1st).
Thanks for dropping by my new site! Please let me know what you think of the new design and if you run into any problems on the site. I hope you’ll continue to visit my new blog home.
 MANY weeks ago, I got this lovely package from the incredibly talented LiEr at ikat bag with these beautiful bibs, my favorite nursing cover ever, and (knowing that I like to sew) a fleece ball kit to put together for the soon-to-arrive baby Lily.
That Saturday, Emma and I spent some time together deciding how to arrange the ball panels and which ribbons to put where. We pinned everything together and then set it aside to sew up the next day.
Instead of sewing, I spent Sunday evening in the hospital, with Lily arriving shortly before dawn Monday morning. Since said project was full of pins, I was careful to put it in a safe place before leaving.
Or so I thought. If you haven’t already figured out, this was the sewing project I’ve ranted about a few times on this blog. Thankfully Johnny unearthed it during a recent self entertainment episode (so much for putting it in a “safe place”). I have no idea where it was, but thankfully he brought it to me without getting into any of the pins. I was happy to have it back, and we sewed it up into a beautiful fleece ball:
 Lily is just starting to show a slight interest in toys, so in the meantime Emma is doing her best to relive her own babyhood:
Thank You, LiEr!
I blog about pattern blocks quite a bit. They are currently my favorite educational toy, and this is one of the (many) reasons why. Emma called me in the other day and said, “Mama, look at my robot!” I went in, and she had created this beautiful robot. She went on to explain that she gave the robot a skirt, because the robot is a girl.
I always feel like my babies graduate from the newborn phase at around seven weeks. Lily turns seven weeks old today, so today I’m in a reflective mood. A few thoughts from the first seven weeks with three children under four:
- Going with the flow is the surest path to happiness for children and parents.
- My children are happiest when I only schedule one outing (e.g., grocery shopping, story time at the library, play date, doctor visit, etc) per day.
- Outings are simplest in the morning, before the time when my children should be (but usually are not) napping.
- Non-naps can be a good thing when they result in earlier bedtimes.
- Beautiful fall weather is a blessing.
- Emma has grown into the capable role of the big sister – but she’s still only three and a half years old.
- Johnny has moved from being jealous of me holding Lily because he wants to be held to being jealous of me holding Lily because he wants to hold Lily.
- Baby smiles are the best.
- Children grow up way too fast.
|
|
