Lilypie Second Birthday tickers

Lilypie Second Birthday tickers

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! We spent the weekend thinking of how to celebrate. Allan doesn't like Valentine's Day because it is an obligation to be affectionate and buy things, while he thinks we should treat each other kindly on a daily basis. I agree...and he is nice every day...but definitely doesn't buy me presents every day :) We decided that instead of being expected to buy each other pretty things we would cook for each other! I quickly found the perfect recipe, but it will be a surprise to all of us to see what I eat tonight. Cayden will be eating our leftovers.

Cayden spent the weekend drawing and painting! He found Allan's paintbrushes and was pretend paintining on the floors, walls, and furniture for hours yesterday. Are there toddler versions of paintbrushes? He seemed to like the paintbrush much better than using his fingers. Looking for short chunky durable paintbrushes will be my mission this weekend.

For his teachers I attached a picture of Cayden to Valentine's Day-themed scrapbook paper.Then I cut out scraps of cardstock and let him get to work coloring, painting, and sticker-ing. When he was done I used the scraps to make a frame around the scrapbook paper. There were so many ideas in books and through Google...it all got overwhelming so I went with an easy method! Pictures will be added eventually.

Next year we'll use cards from Walgreens to send to friends and make bigger versions for teachers. When I was printing the pictures for the teachers I saw this option of photo cards that are the size of the small exchangeable cards. But by that time it was too late to change ideas. It costs $.89 for two small picture cards and you choose the background and text. I made a sample of a card with Cayden's perfect little face and a dinosaur background. Allan approved. Again...pictures will be attached whenever I get around to it.

Wish us luck with our dinners!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Let's try this again!!!

For almost a year I've been using Shutterfly to document everything because it is SO easy for picture-posting! I'm going to start trying to link them together (assuming that I even maintain them both!) and use this site for day-to-day things that go on with the 3 of us and use Shutterfly for monthly reports. We'll see! And blogspot is so irresistable because of all the great blogs that I want to follow! Today, as I was looking for Valentine's Day crafts to do this weekend, I found a blog specifically for Montessori crafts. How random and perfect!!!!

Lately I have been doing a lot of cooking for Cayden. He is getting more and more picky and it is so important to me that he eat well-balanced meals. Of course he'd prefer graham crackers, PB&J, and chicken nuggets all day every day. Reading Super Babyfood, http://www.wholesometoddlerfood.com/, and also finding recipes in Parenting magazine has kept me motivated. When I was pregnant I really scared myself while reading about the dangers of feeding young children meat and dairy, so I was determined to limit Cayden's exposure. Luckily Allan has been very supportive. We've been finding creative ways to incorporate tofu into Cayden's daily diet. This week his lunch was either potato/corn/tofu chowder or ABC pasta with tomatoes, pasta sauce, and Boca Crumbles with either a grilled cheese sandwich or Smart Dog in a blanket. He loved it all! Allan and I also made zucchini fries and spinach balls for dinner....Cayden didn't like the spinach, but LOVED the zuchhini fries. Knowing that we are able to find easy ways to keep Cayden healthy and happy means SO much to me. Hopefully I will be better about maintaining these posts so I can post recipes! We'll see! For now, though, see the posted Valentine's Day photo....this photo will be used in crafts this weekend! Can't wait!

Valentine's Day photo 2011

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