Paint Palette

Just a quick tip for painting with a toddler. If you use an ice cube tray as your palette, you can let it dry for easy cleanup. Once the paint is all dry, simply twist the tray like you would to get the ice cubes out and most of the dried paint will fall right out!

Sensory Bottles

A friend of mine sent me this link to an activity for Bee. Since I have been feeling like I've been one of those moms lately-you know, the ones that shower their firstborn with attention and neglect their littler ones-it was perfect timing! I could only find one empty plastic bottle around the apartment, but I also found a travel toothbrush holder-which is the perfect size for Bee to be able to hold in one hand! I plan on heading to the dollar store tomorrow to see if they have some clear holders that I can put other, colorful things in for her. So far, she is enjoying the two I've made:

"Ocean in a Bottle" Half oil and half water, five drops of blue food coloring. The only oil I had on hand was veg oil, so it's yellow instead of clear but still works.

I put popcorn Kernals in the toothbrush holder, glued it closed and added packaging tape around the joint just in case.

Color Mixing for Toddlers

This camera is really going on me (I need to just break down and buy a new one!), so the color is not the best-which is too bad since we did color mixing today! Of course, Gracie has already experimented with mixing colors through fingerpainting in the tub, but this time we used what she calls "goop" (oobleck).

Yellow goop +

Blue goop=

Green goop!

And, of course, whenever we play with goop we end up in the tub. Gracie painted, then used shaving cream, and then ended up in a bath. This is the second bath that I have added Olive Oil to as my MIL suggested, and her skin and hair are super soft. However, all of her toys have a slightly slimy film on them now too.

Marble Painting Made Easy(ier)

Daddy graciously cleaned the apartment this afternoon while the girls were asleep so when Gracie asked to marble paint I couldn't find the paper plates I use as pallets (which I later found exactly where I left them. Figures.). After digging in the cabinets, I found one of her toddler plates with little sections divided out-perfect!

Daddy's been eating the new Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers and I have been saving the containers-certain they will be perfect for something, sometime. That's when it hit me-cleaning marbles! I dumped them in, added hot water and shook them for a couple of seconds. The strainer was perfect to aid in quick cleaning. It took about 10 seconds!

Laundry

While at the doctor on Monday, I asked her about Gracie's skin. She has an odd sandpapery texture to her belly and sides that comes and goes. As suspected, the doc said she is probably having a minor reaction to the perfumes that are in soaps. So now I am re-washing all of the girls' clothes with All Free. Maybe by next week I'll be out from under this pile-If you don't hear from me in a week seek help.

She also gave me a couple of tips that I though I'd share and save you all the trip to the doc! She said she put baby oil in her kids' bath water and although it is perfumed, their skin was softer when she started doing that. While talking with my MIL about it, she also recommended using Olive Oil, which is completely natural and has no perfumes that could irritate baby's skin. With summer coming, I was concerned about sun screen, and she said nothing in sun screen is proven to irritate the skin, but it should be put on about a half hour before exposure. It takes that long to fully activate. I had no idea!

Random Tips

Lately I have been doing a lot of research for ideas for toddler activities on the Internet. It occurred to me that without the help, ideas, and support of other parents I would have no idea what I'm doing. With that in mind, I have decided to share some ideas that have helped me in the last two years, since my Gracie was born. Some are things I've discovered on my own, but most of them have come from friends, family, and even parenting magazines. Thanks to everyone that has provided advice, or just a listening ear as I have began my adventures into parenthood.

Infants:
~Chamomile tablets are priceless. In addition to being holistic, they simply make baby (or toddler) calm down. Because they aren't medicine, they can be combined with Tylenol and Oragel to make complete teething relief. I also used it with my baby just to calm her at times prior to teething. The best ones I've found are Hyland's Teething Tablets, which can be found at Walgreens, Babies 'R' Us, and Wal-Mart.
~White noise. It will make a baby sleep like nothing else that I've found!
~When baby is learning to crawl and walk, and starts to climb on things teach him/her "feet first." Whenever Gracie was getting off of anything we'd remind her "feet first," and she really understood it and still responds by adjusting her position so she'll land on her feet.
~When baby is really little, and the whole family is adjusting to a newly developing routine let the housework go! Sleep when baby sleeps. Who cares if all the dishes are done if you can't see straight because you haven't slept for 48 hours?! Anyone that visits will understand!

Toddlers:
~For a great healthy-ish frozen treat, freeze the yogurt that comes in a tube. Simply run some warm water on it prior to opening it to loosen it from the plastic. My daughter loves them!
~Two ways to contain the mess of a new painter: either use the bathtub by stripping him/her to their diaper and letting them go crazy, or use a cookie sheet with a rim and tape the paper into the cookie sheet.
~Toys don't have to be fancy or expensive to be educational and hold a toddler's interest. In addition to the links I have on the right, which have many homemade toy/activity ideas, think small. I got a bag of pompoms from a local store, and Gracie and I have endless games with that one small bag! We sort by color or size, find colors, name colors, practice counting and putting them in the bag and taking them out. All for less than two dollars!
~Teach your kid the word "HELP." Gracie learned this a while ago, and whenever she threw a tantrum I'd simply say "Gracie, do you need HELP?" She's caught on to the word and although she still shows her frustration, the tantrums have gotten smaller. I think we avoid a lot of tantrums too, because she knows if she just says HELP, momma or daddy will try to help her. Of course, there are times she goes straight to help without trying by herself, which is an important part of learning. We try to address those moments as they come, encouraging her to keep trying as we slowly come to her aid.
~When tantrums DO happen, we tell her "Use your words." We've explained to her that momma and daddy don't understand if she doesn't use words. Then we wait for the tears to stop and words to start. She gets immediate reactions as soon as she starts using her words, so she knows that it's a better choice.
~Don't be afraid to get down and messy with your toddler! Messes are temporary, the things your child will learn from you and the memories that will come from a childhood shared with his/her parents will be with him/her forever.