Boot & Shoe

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This is my most favorite book I’m reading the boys lately. I love these little dogs so much and it’s such a sweet little story.

Boot & Shoe by Marla Frazee, Amazon

Current Favorite Kids Books

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We are big time kids books readers over here. Books before nap time, books before bedtime and in between. We are always on the hunt for good books. Just for reference I have a 4 year old and a not quite 2 year old. The 2 year old LOVES LOVES the Pete the Cat books with a passion. Literally he sees those books and squeals in delight.

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons
Press Here My friend Kristina introduced me to this one and it’s just SO FUN because it’s very interactive.
This Moose Belongs to Me Anything Oliver Jeffers is a hit in our house, we have all of his books.
Dragons Love Tacos
Lemonade in Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money This is fantastic for teaching about money.
Those Darn Squirrels!
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs: As Retold by Mo Willems Mo Willems of Don’t Let the Pigeon..and Knuffle Bunny fame (of which we highly recommend all of those as well)
Spoon
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes

The Book of Why

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If you are in possession of a small child of the speaking variety, this book may be of interest to you or him/her. At some point your child starts asking why this and why that. This book will assist you. Trust me. This book gives you answers to such things as Why do we have a belly button? Why do balloons float? Why do some people wear glasses?

Go forth and learn all the things.
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Why

A Kid Journal

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I got two of these journals last week or so and I’m LOVING them. Basically it prompts you with a question to ask your child and you write down their response. It provides one question for every day of the year and has a spot for the next three years to record answers. We leave it on our kitchen table and ask our 4 year old the day’s question at breakfast or dinner or whenever we remember. So far it’s been very fun!! Let me give you an example of one of the responses I got yesterday:

Question/Prompt: I felt awful when_____
Answer: It was Sunday and I broke up with Taylor Swift.

(Don’t worry, they have since gotten back to together and have plans to marry)

Q & A a Day for Kids: A Three-Year Journal

PJ Fanatic

I’m definitely a PJ fanatic. It all started with my with my almost 3 year old and it picked up speed with my 4 month old.  I’ve got to say that my absolute favorite PJs are from Hanna Andersson so you can obviously see why I’d be a fan of Serena & Lily’s newest PJs where they partnered with Hanna Andersson….totally adorable.  I’m also a long time fan of Hatley footed PJs too.  Hatley has a bunch of these footie ones on sale.  The best thing about all of these is that they zip up.  No fumbling with snaps late at night!

  1. Hanna Andersson Organic Cotton Baby Sleeper – Blue Stripe, Serena & Lily
  2. Game Fish Infant Footed Coverall, Hatley
  3. Hanna Andersson Organic Cotton Baby Sleeper – Orange Star, Serena & Lily
  4. Cookie Monster Infant Footed Coverall, Hatley

My Typical Day

I just read Jennie’s post over at She Likes Purple regarding her typical day and loved it and thought I’d play along as well!

6:00a Hank (our almost 4 month old) starts stirring, I get up and go get him and bring him in bed with my husband and I and sometimes he’ll fall back asleep until my almost 3 year old, Jack, starts waking up.

6:45-7a Jack is for sure awake by this point. We all file downstairs. My husband, Jesse, gives Hank a bottle while I fix Jack his breakfast and fix my husband and I some form of caffeinated beverage.

7:30a Jack starts playing with his cars and Jesse and I fix our breakfasts while Hank swings or bounces in some sort of contraption.

7:45a Hank is thoroughly over said contraption and hopefully one of us has snarfed their cereal down fast enough to go change up his scenery.

8:00a Jesse, who works from home, generally tells us “goodbye” and heads back upstairs to start his work day. We resume car playing.

9:00a We load the cars up and head upstairs where Jack plays while I get Hank down for a nap.  This generally involves Jack running back and forth between Hank’s room and the game room in a LOUD whisper asking me what I’m doing, what’s Baby Hank doing, which Cars 2 racer is from Spain, Japan, England, Italy, etc etc.

9:20a-ish Jack and I head back downstairs for his second breakfast of yogurt and blueberries.

9:40-9:45a Hank wakes up. Sometimes he’s happy, sometimes not.

10:00a-10:15a Bottle for Hank. Jack is asking me about (Cars 2) Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell and Grem and Acer and Professor Z and what they are doing and where they are going and do they have engines and do they need car washes.

10:16a Change Hank’s poopy diaper

10:20-11:00a At this point we generally get “the big phone” (the iPad) out and either do some puzzles, read stories or practice writing letters with some of the apps.  Hank is either happily screeching in my lap or swinging or in the jumperoo.

11:00a Jesse comes downstairs. I fix Jack’s lunch and Jesse fixes our lunch.

11:30a Just as Jesse is putting our lunches down on the table, Hank is ready for a nap.  I head back upstairs to get Hank down. Jack finishes up lunch with Jesse downstairs.

12:00p Jesse usually takes Jack up and reads a couple of stories and gets him down for his nap. And I try and get my lunch in at this point.  This is also the point in time where I attempt to do some sort of laundry or pay bills or read email or if I’m lucky get through some blogs on Google Reader.

1:00-1:30p Jesse heads to the gym. Hank wakes up sometime around now.  Bottle time!

1:31p Change Hank’s poopy diaper.

1:45-2:00p Jack wakes up.  I run upstairs and get him and we come back downstairs.

2:00p-3:00p We generally need a snack and a Team Umizoomi or Bubble Guppies or Curious George or SOMETHING. We build car dealerships with legos, or oil derricks, or giant car washes. And I NEED caffeine.

3:00p Hank is ready for a nap.  We head upstairs and I turn on Mister Rogers where they explain how they make crayons and Jack is fascinated by this process. However, in general we repeat what happens at 9a where Jack is running back and forth between Hank’s room and the game room and in a LOUD whisper is asking me what I’m doing, what’s Baby Hank doing, which Cars 2 racer is from Spain, Japan, England, Italy, etc etc.

3:40-3:45p Hank wakes up, we head back downstairs.

4:00p Bottle Time!

4:16p Change Hank’s poopy diaper.

4:20-4:30p I ask Jack if he wants to go get the mail, he says no.  I get the keys and we all head outside to get the mail. Come inside drenched in sweat and heat rash already forming on Jack. I’m swearing under my breath about how hot it is as we walk back inside.

4:30p-5:00p Jesse heads downstairs. I try and fit in a trip to the gym.

5:00-5:30p We all sit down to eat dinner.

5:30p Hank goes down for a nap.

6:00p Hank is up!

6:00-7:00p Dance parties and piggy back rides!

6:45p Hank is PISSED that he is still downstairs and you people aren’t taking him up for a bath and a bottle and bedtime.  He voices this loudly. Jesse heads up with Hank and does that routine.

7:00p-8:00p Jack and I head upstairs.  He takes a bath, then we go and read 2 or 3 or 4 books depending on how persuasive he is.  Then we have some Cars 2 talk.  Then lights out.

8:00p I shower and then head downstairs to do the dishes.

8:30p We settle in downstairs and watch whatever we have recorded on TiVo and Jesse works.

10:00p Head upstairs and give Hank a bottle and watch a Friends rerun.

10:30p-11:30 Pass out from exhaustion.

So that’s my day.  And that’s just a regular at home day, not a day when we have somewhere to go.  What’s your typical day?

Good Eats

Kids and food…it’s a toss up right? Some days they eat great, some days you think they are a bottomless pit, and other days you wonder how they keep the energy up with the minuscule amounts of food they ingest.  On those days I’m all, let’s have a little bit more milk, whattayasay?

  1. Healthy Habits Kids Food PlateDanielle and I were talking about this plate the other day and how great it is that it helps US the parents know how much to serve and also teaches the kiddos portions of food at mealtimes.
  2. Jane Jenni Funky Monkey Melamine Plate, Amazon
  3. Fred & Friends Food Face, Amazon-This might just instigate playing with food but its funny no?
  4. Stephen Joseph Melamine Tray, Amazon-This is the type of plate I should have had as a kid because I wanted all my food separate…DID. NOT. WANT. IT. TOUCHING.

Do you guys have picky eaters or bottomless pits?

Bottle Be Gone

I was given some pretty sound advice from our pediatrician to start my little man with a practice sippy cup at 6 months old, so he would be a pro by one year. Well, thanks to the 3 stage Nuby cup we were bottle free in our household a few months shy of the year mark!

This bottle/cup transition was so smooth I have to tell each and every one of you with bambinos to try this out. It allows for your little one to hold the bottle and learn to drink and when they are ready you can switch to the sippy cup nipple that comes included. I can not say enough great things about these little gems!

Pinterest: Kids

I could seriously go nuts with all the kid stuff I’m finding on Pinterest.  Here are a few that I’ve found so far and are literally blowing my mind. Specifically #3.  I’m on it with #3, need that STAT.

  1. monster knee
  2. rainbow rice
  3. mind jar
  4. shrink their artwork and frame it
  5. personalized board book
  6. kid tattoo for when you will be in a crowded place
  7. glowsticks in a bottle for night bowling

Tell me the latest and greatest kid thing you’ve seen lately.

Fall for My Boy

Recently someone commented to me that they were not sure who decided that girl baby clothes are cuter than boys. I could not agree more and I can not WAIT for cooler weather for many, many reasons, but DUDE to see my little man in some of this stuff doing his wobbly chubby legged baby walk…just shoot me now. SO CUTE.

  1. Old Navy, Boys Baseball Tee
  2. Gymboree, Plaid Cuffed Denim
  3. Carters, Body Suits
  4. Carters, Grey and Orange Sneakers
  5. Old Navy, Frost Free Vest for Baby
  6. Old Navy, Hooded Waffle Knit Shirts
  7. Carters, 3 Pk Rugby Socks
  8. Children’s Place, Pull on Cargos
  9. Walmart, Garanimals Fleece Zip Hoodie
  10. Children’s Place, 3 in 1 Fleece Hat