One Dollar Wednesday: Chenille Stems

Happy Hump Day everyone! Today's fabulous project is easy, fun, colorful, and once again, only costs one dollar. I got this idea from Pinterest and have catalogued it as "Kid Friendly." All you need is a pack of chenille stems (the politically correct term for pipe cleaners) and a kitchen colander. Both are available for a buck at the dollar store, but you probably already have a colander in your cabinet. Give the materials to your little one and...
ABRACADABRA: Bowl with Holes Activity

For your toddler and preschool age children, putting the stems in the different holes is great fine motor skill practice. If you use a colored assortment of pipe cleaners, they can sort them by color and follow directions to put specific colors in the holes. They can also create their own masterpieces with the supplies! For Camp (age 9.5 months), I put some of the chenille stems in the holes, and he was eager to pull them all out. He really enjoyed that process.

 Playing with the colander by itself was fun too!

And because all kitchen pieces keep the babe entertained and some of you probably require more pictures...

Several years ago, I found a magazine with directions on how to make cute little pipe cleaner animals. I would love to do this for my new little Kindergarten Sunday School class and also for the Campster. I found a decent how-to for some animal creations here.

Now, if you're not in need of ideas to keep children stimulated at bay, then here's a way you can use pipe cleaners for your home needs.

http://inmyownstyle.com/2012/04/clothes-closet-hanger-organizing-trick.html

Now you have three very cool ideas for how to use a one dollar package of chenille stems. Go forth and make fun with pipe cleaners!

Shark Week and Happy Birthday, Abbie!

We celebrated Shark Week a couple of weeks ago. And by celebrate, I mean that Camp wore his shark shorts, dried off with his shark towel, and listened to me sing the "Baby Shark" song.

My sister (and Camp's aunt), Abbie, loves sharks. Today also happens to be her 20th birthday! So as a special happy birthday post in honor of a fabulous sister and aunt, I give you: THE SHARK WEEK BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE!

Have you ever seen a cuter baby shark??? Happy Birthday, Abbie!!! We love you!

Of course, I can't leave you without one of our favorite songs:

Baby Shark

(With pointer finger and thumb making shark mouth open and close)
Baby shark, doot doot doot doot
Baby shark, doot doot doot doot
(With whole hand making shark mouth open and close)
Brother shark, doot doot doot doot
Brother shark, doot doot doot doot
(With two hands connected at wrist making shark mouth open and close)
Mama shark, doot doot doot doot
Mama shark, doot doot doot doot
(With both arms making shark mouth open and close)
Daddy shark, doot doot doot doot
Daddy shark, doot doot doot doot
(Swimming motion with arms)
Now we swim, doot doot doot doot
Now we swim, doot doot doot doot
(Faster swimming motion and words getting faster)
From the shark, doot doot doot doot
From the shark, doot doot doot doot
(Grab baby and tickle) 
GOTCHA!

Featuring the Amazing Camp!

In the last few days, I have managed to get two fabulously adorable videos of Camp. He is showing off a couple of tricks at nine and a half months old.

The first video is out of focus but too impressive not to share. Camp grabbed the throw from one of the chairs in the den and started playing peek-a-boo by himself. I caught the very end of his game with the camera. Sorry it's fuzzy.

The second video is sideways so you'll need to turn your screen or your head. I got a push and ride hippo toy for Camp back in the spring at a consignment sale. His Mimi likes hippos so of course we had to pick out this one. He has shown a lot of interest in walking, so it was the perfect time to get this equipment out of the attic. He got the hang of it super quick. Watch him go! Sorry it's sideways.

One Dollar Wednesday

In week two of "One Dollar Wednesday," we have more easy and fun projects for your baby or toddler. Get ready for some pom pom excitement!

For all of today's projects, you will need a package of colorful pom poms. I got mine for, you guessed it, one dollar from Dollar Tree.

The first project is probably best for a baby 3 months of age to 1 year. Take a clean, empty water bottle and fill it 3/4 full with pom poms. Hot glue the lid on tight and let dry.
Abracadabra: Pom Pom Discovery Bottle!!!

I removed the labels and washed a mini water bottle.

Pom Pom Discovery Bottle for your baby

Camp loves shaking, rolling, licking, and studying his different discovery bottles.

The second project using the pom poms would be best for an older baby or toddler. Please remember that young children should be supervised when playing with small parts like pom poms! You will need a clean, empty plastic container with a lid. Using an Exacto knife, cut out a few small shapes in the lid. Give your child the pom poms and the container with the lid attached.
Abracadabra: The POM POM PUSH!

I used an empty feta cheese container. I removed the printed label with acetone finger nail polish remover.

Cut out a few shapes in the lid. My shapes are a little wonky. Add a sticker for some flair.

Your little one will love pushing the poms through the holes to develop his/her fine motor skills. Take off the lid to retrieve the pom poms and start over again! Use this project as a lesson on shapes, color, counting, sorting, and following directions.






The last project for today is great for younger toddlers with assistance and independent older children. You will need your pom poms, small magnets or magnet strips, glue/hot glue, a color printer with paper, and a baking sheet. Check out that nifty activity here...we'll be waiting a little while on this one at our house so Camp doesn't try to eat the pom magnets!

Hope you enjoy all the cool projects you can do with a one dollar bag of pom poms! What else could you try with your poms???

One Dollar Wednesday

So I'm starting a new little feature on the blog: One Dollar Wednesday! If you know me, you know I'm quite thrifty. If you've been following this blog, you know that Camp, my 9 month old, enjoys a variety of different homemade toys. With all of that in mind, I want to share some great $1 finds, projects, and ideas with the world all of my fan-base. Each week (hopefully) on the "One Dollar Wednesday" post, I will share a way to excite, engage, and entertain a baby, toddler, child, or easily amused fun loving adult for about one dollar.

<Insert cool logo that I have no idea how to create here>

Today's "One Dollar Wednesday" share is great for older babies and toddlers. The project is based on a sensory bin that I saw on Pinterest using a variety of the mom's old scrunchies. You can find that nifty little idea here.  Since I realized that scrunchies were out quite some time ago , I didn't have any (or maybe I put them in the 80's dress-up party box) lying around the house to use.  As I was cruising the aisles of Family Dollar, I came across a ten piece assortment of bold colored stretch headbands for the price of, you guessed it, ONE DOLLAR.  These are quite popular so I think you can find them pretty much anywhere, but the point is to only spend a buck, so you can pick them up at Family Dollar like me or try your luck at Dollar Tree. Anyway, you get a lot more stretchy headbands for your money than scrunchies, and if your child gets tired of playing with them, you have a great new accessory that might inspire a workout or two at the gym. I took the tags off and put all the headbands in a clear, plastic shoebox that we already had around. Stretchy Headbands in a Clear Shoebox and Abracadabra: 

A Stretchy Band Sensory Box! 

An example image of stretchy headbands

First moments with his Stretchy Band Sensory Box

 Camp has played with his snazzy new "learning toy" for five days in a row and finds a new way to use it each time. The first thing he did was just explore the box itself. He enjoyed peeking in the transparent sides to view all the colorful bands. Then, he worked on trying to take the lid off and open the box. He played around with the lid.

Finally, the stretchy bands really made their debut. Camp pulled them out to examine them. He put one in his mouth. He spread some out on the floor. With a little help from me, he learned how to stretch them.

We played the "put it on your head and shake it off" game. 

Over the next several days, he would continue to get all of the bands out of the box and disperse them throughout the house. I showed him how to fling one across the room. I put them on the different toys of his exersaucer, and he pulls on them and stretches them out like he's doing his exercises.  Also, I stretched the bands around the open box and created a guitar that we can strum to make varied sounds.

For now, we're mostly using the box of bands for free exploration. Camp is so curious and loves to examine everything, so I'm letting him find out things on his own and discover ways to interact with these objects.

Some ideas for more direct teaching opportunities are counting and sorting by color, design, or size (width). They make a great lesson on properties of solid objects and can be described as flexible, colored, soft, smooth, stretchy, and opaque. What are your ideas for making the most of the stretchy band sensory box?

Our Happy Camper at 9 Months

How can our baby already be three quarters of a year old? Nine months just seems so grown up already. I'm not a fan. Camp is starting to look more and more like a little boy and less like a baby. I am way too sentimental for this whole growing up thing.

A few things about Camp at 9 months-
Personality:
This kid is the life of the party. Everyone just adores him and comments on his big personality and many adorable facial expressions.  Camp loves showing off, and you know it makes him happy because he grins the biggest grin when he's getting the attention. He continues to have some separation anxiety and just loves, loves, loves his mama.

Size:
This month, Camp measures 30 1/4  inches long (99%) and weighs in at 20 pounds 12 ounces (70-75%). His head circumference is 46 cm. His 9 month onesies and shorts still fit well, but he's pretty much wearing size 12 months in pajamas and shortalls. He is wearing size 3 diapers. I have no idea what his shoe size is now, but I'll have to find out soon because he's gonna need some walkin' shoes!

9 months laundry basket picture

Development:
Camp has perfected the army crawl. Sometimes, he will get up on his hands and knees in position to crawl, but he will just plop back down on his belly to move. He can pull up to standing on just about anything, and he is climbing stairs now too! Camp has gotten pretty good at cruising the furniture as he will take several steps along the couch or coffee table while holding on tight. He likes to walk around with mommy or daddy holding his hands. He thinks he is such a big boy and is just so proud of himself.

As far as language development goes, Camp's only word is still "Mama." He babbles some in the early morning and late afternoon/evening, but he is not much of a talker. He does laugh some, holler some, and make silly noises often. Although he doesn't produce a whole lot, his language intake is great. He knows his name and understands (but does not always follow directions with) "no!" He was even able to open and close the door when we told him to do so. Of course, he's the smartest baby we know ;-)

Camp now has 6 teeth! Two bottom teeth and four top teeth really make him look older. They also mean that his bite is a lot more vicious. Be sure to protect your toes and watch out when he gets sleepy. We have not gotten in a good habit of brushing his teeth yet, but we will be making it a part of his daily routine two times a day. Gotta keep those chompers nice and clean!

The popular "Let's eat the sign" photo moment

The worst thing you can do now is to change this kid's diaper. He is a wiggly, fussy baby when it's time to clean him up or put on a new outfit. We have tried a lot of strategies to make this process easier including singing all his favorite songs, giving him lotion bottles to hold, and even putting him on the floor and using our feet and legs to hold him down. Sometimes these techniques work, but there are only so many verses you can make up for "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain."

Can't

Stay

Still.

Sleep:
We are down to two (and sometimes on stubborn days just one) nap each day. Lately, Camp has been resisting the naps, but he is still very sleepy and definitely needs the rest. With suggestions from the moms of Facebook and confirmation from the pediatrician, we are now letting him fuss it out. We thought perhaps the nap strike came about as he learned how to stand up in his crib, but his doctor tells us that it is mostly related to separation anxiety.

Camp still sleeps with his sound machine on the ocean setting. We enjoy it just as much as he does. I gave up on wrapping him in his blanket a while back as he was too wiggly, so I just cover him with his blanket now. I lay him down on his back and he promptly rolls to his stomach to sleep. At night, he generally sleeps from 8 or 8:30 until 6:30 or 6:45 the next morning. As we have traveled and been with family a lot in the last month, he developed a wacky sleep schedule and was waking up in the middle of the night or super early in the morning. This was exhausting and triggered flashbacks to his newborn days. We are sticking with the fuss it out mentality on this now as well. Camp and I say a little prayer each night for good sleep, and I always remind him to wake up with the sun and not before. Definitely still working on that lesson.

So fresh and happy after a nice morning nap

Eating:
I am still nursing the little guy four times a day, so he is getting plenty of mommy milk! Jonathan is really happy because we have moved on to feeding Camp from his favorite food group: MEATS. Camp had his first meat, chicken, a couple of weeks ago. He has enjoyed having that new paleo component to his daily intake. His other food firsts lately have been Cheerios and pizza crust. He loves picking up these finger foods and feeding himself. I showed him how to use his thumb and index finger to pick up the morsels, and he was able to do it really well in only a few tries. He usually uses his left hand, but he will alternate at random. Also, Camp has gotten more skilled at drinking water from his sippy cup. It might be considered more of a toy water gun than a drinking vessel, but he has the hang of it when he does need to hydrate.The pediatrician gave us the go ahead for most foods now, so we are excited to try out lots of new-to-Camp foods like yogurt, cheese, pancakes and waffles. He still has lots of fruits and veggies to test out as well, and his daddy wants to pack more meat in there, too.

Ready for lunch wearing his new Wade's bib from Nonna

First pizza crust at Cici's Pizza

Fun and Games:
Everything is a toy. Everything is a game. I chase Camp down the hallway growling "Mommy Monster" as he squeals and races away from me. He loves sitting up on my shoulders and riding around. He laughs when his daddy plays peek-a-boo with him. Our newest learning-type activity is chanting "Up" and "Down" as I move objects and sometimes Camp himself up and down. One of his favorite toys is the trash can.  He studies things. He explores new places and crawls or climbs everywhere. I need more videos of him with these stunts.  I have a hard time getting good footage because I need to keep my hands free to catch him when he finally falls over. We put up baby gates and outlet covers, but we are still running around after him as he finds more and more "holes" in our babyproofing measures. Next on the to-do list is installing latches and moving around kitchen wares because he's become a pro at getting into drawers and cabinets. Don't worry, I will leave him a cabinet and drawer with little man friendly items. I'm just glad he's so easily entertained.

Dear Camp,
I wish I could record every minute of the day with you. Watching you play and eat and sleep is life's best full-length feature. You are simply amazing. One of my favorite things about being your mommy is the way you react when you see me after I've been gone for just a little while. I can tell you love me so much, and it just makes me happy. I hope that in the months to come you'll be pleasant and content even when I'm not there with you. I want you to keep loving me as much as you do but to share that love with your daddy, our family, friends, caretakers, stuffed animals and your bed.
Love (plus all the hugs and kisses you can handle),
Mommy
P.S. What kind of party do you want to have for your first birthday?

Crafty Soss

A while back, after some great inspiration from one of Camp's baby gifts and Pinterest, I got crafty.  I wanted to make a special gift for Camp's new second cousin, Sam. I didn't want to leave out Sam's big brother, Clark, so I decided on a project for him too.

Camp has received two handmade "taggies" that he adores. Motivated and inspired by my best friend Jen's creation, I set out to make a small taggie for Baby Sam. I found a great tutorial to use as a guide and set to work! I used a flannel cloud fabric, a cotton textured print fabric, and a variety of ribbons. I opted to leave out the batting to make it easier on me to sew and also to keep the taggie less bulky for diaper bag travel.

Two different fun and feel good fabrics

Pieces of ribbon in a variety of colors, textures, and patterns

The finished product!!!

My next project was a piece of cake and a lot of fun! I had seen the "I Spy" bottles sold in stores with different hidden treasures to seek as you twist and turn the bottle. I came across this DIY version on Pinterest and just had to try it out, thinking it would be fun for the young and old! I love the idea of using the VOSS plastic water bottles (I found mine at Bi-Lo) because they are a perfect shape and have a wider mouth opening to put in your trinkets. Just be sure to hot glue your top on when you're finished so the lid stays on nice and tight, and there's no risk of a big mess or a choking hazard. To make it personalized, include the letters of the recipient's name in your I Spy collection. I had the pictures of the objects printed, laminated them on my personal laminator, hole punched in the corner, and tied them all together with a ribbon to make a book. Now you have a guide for treasure hunting!

Drink water. Remove labels. Wash and dry bottle.

Collect all your little treasures and take pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fill your bottle almost to the top with rice and trinkets. Hot glue the lid and let dry. Shake, rattle, and roll to find all the treasures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm thinking about making more of these little bottles with different themes like "I Spy Christmas" and "I Spy Beach." What trinkets would you drop into your I Spy bottle?