Pool Time with Cousin G

Little invited her cousin for some fun time at the pool

 Cousin and Little had a blast swimming and splashing 

Who is ready for a vacation?

WE ARE!!!

Happy Memorial Day!

On a hot summer afternoon...

There is nothing more refreshing than watermelon.

She liked it!

It was so messy, we had to take her shirt off.

 She was eating her watermelon with so much gusto, that even daddy was tempted to taste it. 

He did NOT like it. 

At the Aquarium

Little went with her friends to the aquarium to see the "pez" (as Little calls them).

They all had fun visiting with the fishes.

Saying: "Pez, pez, pez."

 Visiting with the newest members of the aquarium, the dolphins.

 She fell in love with the stuffed baby dolphin

 Ready for the dolphin performance. 

It was her first show in the dark with loud noises. She loved it! 

She was clapping, dancing and pointing to the dolphins.

 Then we visited the naughty penguins.  They ate her pants ;)

 After a few hours, she started saying: "By, bye pez."

On our way home with her new baby dolphin. 

Mermaid in Training

Today Little graduated from the 2nd level of the swimming program in AquaTots. After 5 lessons, she was still not happy in their pool, but she did everything she needed to pass levels and more importantly she did NOT cry.

She is considerably happier in our pool; therefore, we have decided not to continue the lessons, at least not for now. The point of the lessons at this level is to get them comfortable in the water, teach them how to float and how to get in and out of the pool. We are working on all of these at home, so no need to go somewhere she doesn't like when we can teach her ourselves.

Our new secret weapon in making every trip to the pool a success is Barbie. We have several beach toys, but quickly we realized that if we have too many toys with us at the pool, Little becomes distracted and wants to hold them all at once, which makes it impossible to try to teach her anything, but having only Barbie is perfect.

See for yourself how comfortable Little has become in the pool. Two weeks ago, she didn't even want to put her feet in the water, and now...

Why we love The Wiggles?

If you are ever wondering why I got Little tickets to The Wiggles or "Gigal" as she refers to them, watch this video and you will understand. 

I did not teach her any of the moves or encourage her to do it. One day she simply started following the directions given by the song. 

In Pajamas at the Playground

With a toddler in the house no two days are alike.
Lately Little has decided she wants to dress herself, except she doesn't know how and needs help. But beware of helping her because there will surely be some screaming and crying involved.

It has gotten so challenging that I actually contemplated letting her go to sleep in her diapers last night, but then she could have taken it off, and...It would have been a looong night. 

I have decided to pick my battles and the dressing one is one I will only engage in when necessary. That is how Little ended up in her pajamas at the playground. 

Dancing with Mr. Michael

Today was our last music class with Mr. Michael for the spring.

Ever since Little was a tiny bundle that couldn't even sit, she showed an interest in music. I encouraged that interest by exposing her often to different types of music.  

At 5 months

I continue to encourage her to express herself through music, I sing to her, dance with her and play her music as much as possible.  I also enrolled her in music class, which for toddlers is a lot of singing, dancing, playing instruments, shaking eggs, clapping, taping, jumping, pretending and just fun.

Within all the fun, Little is also developing her rhythm, pitch and melody, language skills, motor coordination and interpersonal skills. 

Week to week I see the growth.

Playing with the instruments

Can you tell I'm teething?

In the first 14 months of her life Little only got 2 teeth. 

In the last month Little got her 3rd tooth and now the poor thing has 5 teeth coming in.

I tried to make her feel better by taking her to the playground.

Funny how she used her tongue to soothe her gums.

She loved it!

Chemical Detox - The Battle of the Sunscreens

Who knew picking a sunscreen for Little would be this difficult? 

Summer is nearing and Little is spending a growing numbers of hours under the sun. I want to make sure she wears sunscreen and I want to make sure it is a healthy choice.  

I have spent approximately 6 hours researching the topic and in the store comparing products and pricing. 

You may be thinking I am crazy, but a little of research has made it clear that most of the sunscreens marketed for children are questionable. If you want to be informed on the topic visit Suncreens Exposed and Only 8% of Sunscreens Recommended. 

My criteria: 

1. A mineral based formula (zinc or titanium dioxide).

2. Without the commonly used Vitamin A (retinyl palmitate). It has recently been found to speed the development of skin tumors and lesions. 

3. Without oxybenzone, specially important with children because of toxicity concerns. 

4. Avoid spray formulas and SPF above 50.

I have found the product that best fits my needs. Now Little can enjoy herself safely outdoors and I can feel a little more comfortable about keeping her happy and healthy.

If the shoe fits...

Little can not see a shoe laying around because she starts saying "Shi, shi".

Today she was wearing her own shoes, but that didn't stop her from putting on Daddy's shoes as well. 

She walked pretty well in them. 

Ouch

"El golpe avisa" is a saying in Venezuela, it means "when you hit it, you'll know." It is used when parallel parking and it sort of says that you can reverse carefully and you will know you can't go any further once you hit.  

I try (as much as a mother can) to not be overprotective with Little. I want her to learn her boundaries and to learn she has to be careful. I figure if I am always there protecting her every second, how will she know how far she can go when I am not there? 

This is not to say I leave her alone and let her jump out of everything or I leave her climbing alone in the playground, but I try to give her space and I guide her verbally as much as possible. And when I know she could really get hurt, I step in, so far it has worked out well. 

She knows what "Cuidado" (careful) means, when she hears me say it, she immediately slows down.

This morning she was riding her lion and got a not so brilliant idea.

I warned her this could end badly 

And it did!

She cried for a few seconds. I consoled her and then she was fine.


From the hit she learned that the specific game she had invented was not a wise choice. She has not attempted to stand on the lion again. 

Funny enough immediately after, she went on a self-imposed time out in her pack and play. 

Almost a Mermaid

We have continued Little's swim lessons. 

Last Tuesday she was still not thrilled about them, but after each lesson she has cried less and less. 

Last Saturday, Daddy took her for a lesson and Mommy got to document their experience.

Little was holding VERY tightly

She was thrilled to practice the getting out of the water

But as soon as she was back in it, the tears re-appeared.

We decided it was time to introduce her to other pools in more relaxed environments. Every afternoon this past week we have been sitting with her by the pool.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

By the looks of it, Little will be excited to go to class next Tuesday

Big Bird is in the House

A few of Little's friends have Crocs shoes and they seem to really like them. In their shoes their mommies get to spell their names and a high tech pair even has blinking lights.


It turns out their shoes are a source of entertainment and can even become a teaching tool (if the mommy will sit with the child and use the shoe to teach them the letters...While unlikely, it is possible ;-)

I consider purchasing a pair for Little, but I was not confident about spending $30+ on rubber shoes that she would outgrow rather quickly. 

Enter fate!

In the mail we received a $15 cash coupon for Sports Authority. I am not a regular shopper at the store, so I simply gave Little the flyer to play with and forgot about it. 

Weeks later the paper had made its way to the car and as we were running errands I saw her playing with it. Reading it, I realized it was about to expire and figured why not stop by the store and see what we might find for $15.

Here is what we found. They are a size too large for her, but they were $14.99 and she will grow into them. 

In the mid time she can have fun playing with my own Crocs.

She loves playing with Mommy's "shis" (as she calls them)

To me she looks a bit like Big Bird :)

 

And then she found her own Crocs

Quack, quack, quack

A few days ago, GG (grandmother G) took Little to the park to visit the ducks. 

Today, we had nothing to do and I asked her if she wanted to go to the park. She answered with: "Qack, qack."

Little knew where she wanted to go, so I drove her to the Duck park.

At the toddler (little kids) playground

There is a second playground. It is designed for bigger children with higher slides, climbing walls, monkey bars, etc. This playground sits considerably higher off the ground. 

Little is cautious and although she liked the adventure, it was clear she knew she was out of her comfort zone.

She would only crawl on it.  

 And she would only go down the slide with Mommy.

She still had a blast!