Tuesday Tattles #12

April 5, 2016March 24, 2016 ~ lk529 ~ 3 Comments

Tuesday Tattles

Five months seems to be my new average for posting Firecracker’s favorite toy themed Tuesday Tattles, as he is now 21 months old. That’s only 3 months away from being two years old. TWO! I’m sorry, WHAT?! Who, what, where, when, why, and most importantly, HOW!?

Like any proud parents, we think we have one smart boy on our hands. He can count (with prompting) to three, and will repeat us up to ten. He knows his shapes and is working on his colors – he knows “boo” and “purp” consistently and his go-to guess is “yell.” One of his bed time procrastination techniques is to point to all the facial body parts and rattle them off – “hair, eye, nose, mouth, ear, cheek.”

Now on to the favorite toys of my almost two year old.

Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn ABC Train

Firecracker got this toy at his birthday and it’s been well loved for the past 9 months. He had to get it out of its packaging immediately upon unwrapping it, even! This train sings the alphabet, says the letters individually, and has a song mode with more alphabet fun. I have determined that it’s this toy that taught him how to say “All aboard!”

Winnie the Pooh Wooden Train

Train Toys for Toddlers 1 Sew You Think You Can Cook I can’t tell you how thankful I am that Firecracker’s godmother (shout out to Tara!) got him this train for Christmas. He doesn’t play too much with the characters but he races the cars and carries all sorts of other toys, usually shapes, in them. But the real reason I’m thankful for this toy is that it is one of the reasons bed time has been greatly improved. After his 18 month doctor appointment, we started putting him to bed with one of the train cars at the suggestion of our pediatrician. (He doesn’t have a “lovie” blanket or stuffed animal.)

Wooden Railway Thomas and Friends Toys

We succumbed to the power of Thomas and Friends and bought Firecracker a Thomas
toy. His grandparents got him Percy to go with it. The joy that he gets in playing with these small trains was worth the crazy prices we paid for them. The constant happy yelling of “Thom-as” and “Per” is hilarious, too. He doesn’t have a train table to drive them on, but I do want to get him a road/track carpet once we’re settled in our new home later this month.

He usually gets his train table fix by going to Barnes & Noble. There’s always one young child being dragged away kicking and screaming by his parents, and I’m always prepared to be that parent dealing with the mega-tantrum, but telling him “It’s almost time to stop, so choose one more thing to do” (thank you, Daniel Tiger) and having him say “bye bye” helps immensely. We can also ask him to stay calm, and he’ll repeat “calm.” (Granted he’s often half-crying, but it’s pretty amazing to see him try to stay calm and use his words.)

Train Set with Colorful Track

Train Toys for Toddlers 2 Sew You Think You Can Cook My in-laws gave Firecracker this train set for Christmas and it’s definitely one of his all-time favorites. My husband definitely doesn’t feel the same way about this particular toy. I’m indifferent to it, the soundtrack of my life is the sound of this train. It’s the best when it goes under the couch to where I can’t reach it. (Sarcasm!) In all honestly though, this train has gotten so much love that it sounds like it’s on its last leg, and some of the track has been trampled by Firecracker-zilla one too many times.

He is seriously one train obsessed toddler! He likes watching Thomas and Chuggington (though Wallykazam is making a comeback) and the newest obsession are these YouTube videos of Max the Glow Train by Coilbook. For other television favorites you can check our my Tuesday Tattles #9.

Believe it or not, there are some non-train toys that make the cut, too!

Mega Bloks First Builders Firetruck

This “tire tuck” tags along with us just about everywhere – to play dates, dinners at friends’ homes, and the gym. Whenever we’re going somewhere where Firecracker might need toys, I like to bring items that can be easily wiped down, that means no wood, cloth, or electronics. The firetruck has a small compartment for holding a few Mega Bloks, and it turns out to be the perfect size for Thomas and Percy to ride in. Firecracker likes to race his vehicular toys in the kitchen so I must always be wary of tripping over the firetruck.

Shape Matching Toys

Firecracker loves to match his shapes and he can even recognize and “say” circle, oval, square, triangle, and octagon! Some of our favorite shape toys are: Winnie the Pooh Wooden Shape Sorting Cube and First Shapes Jumbo Knob Puzzle.

Books

I’m happy to report that even with his obsession with watching shows, he still loves books! The current favorites include: Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, and If Animals Kissed Good Night.

*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Scalloped Potato Muffins

April 1, 2016March 22, 2016 ~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

One afternoon last month, amidst the mayhem of daily life, Firecracker pulled down his silicone muffin cups from his “Cook It in a Cup!” kit from the counter. (Someone tell me when my little man got so tall?!)

I like that he enjoys spending time in the kitchen and now he can even say “cook” in addition to “mix.” So, I stopped folding laundry and looked through his cookbook for something we could whip up with whatever ingredients we had.

Scalloped potatoes was the answer. Granted, I had to substitute every ingredient! I changed the potato variety, I used a different dairy, I substituted garlic powder instead of fresh garlic, and even used a different cheese. So really, the only ingredients that stayed true to the recipe in the book were salt and pepper! But hey, I wouldn’t have thought about making scalloped potatoes in the little muffin cups!

Firecracker enjoyed putting the {very unevenly cut} potato slices (my bad) into the cups and watching me fill the cups with the half-and-half.

making scalloped potatoes sew you think you can cook

…Too bad he wouldn’t try them!

Scalloped Potato Muffins

Ingredients:

1-2 Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 C half-and-half
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place 6 silicone muffin cups on a baking sheet.
Divide the sliced potatoes between the muffin cups.
In a measuring cup, whisk the half-and-half, garlic powder, and S+P. Pour over the potatoes to cover.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly and potatoes are tender.
Top with cheese and bake another 2-4 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

scalloped potato muffins sew you think you can cook

Tuesday Tattles: TV Edition

September 15, 2015September 15, 2015 ~ lk529 ~ 6 Comments

I hate to say it, but the TV is on almost all day in my house. I am one of those people that needs to have the noise of the TV to stay sane, so I’ve adjusted the viewing to fit with those kid’s shows that I “approve” of and that my son likes.

My son will never sit still to actually watch a full episode of anything (unless he’s sick) but for those instances when he looks at the TV I want to make sure it’s toddler appropriate and there won’t be a commercial for the R-rated next horror movie.

Here’s a list of the shows we like:

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: While I know most of the situations in this show are geared towards older kids, 3-4, it does a great job in explaining different social situations and how to deal with different emotions. There’s even an episode when Daniel becomes a big brother that I have recorded and saved to be re-watched 8 weeks from now. My 14 month old will occasionally sit still to watch 5-10 minutes at a time – he likes the music and colors. And of course, the fact that Daniel is a tiger is a big hit in this Auburn household.

Peg + Cat: Okay, I must admit that I like Peg + Cat more than my son does. A glance at the TV will not captivate him with this show (and that’s okay!), but it’s often on during lunch and he’ll pay attention while he eats. Peg + Cat does a great job in teaching math skills, and the engineer in me loves that the cartoon is drawn on engineering paper with equations all along the background. There is always counting, sometimes by twos, shapes, and basic algebra. There are even references to history, science, and literature.

Thomas and Friends: And now for a show that my son likes better than I do. I know my brother and I grew up with Thomas the Tank Engine but I’m not fully convinced I like it. My son became captivated with the trains and the theme song, so I left it on. Each episode focuses on a different character who makes poor decisions. I’m not thrilled with the attitudes of these trains, but the episodes do explain what the character did wrong and the character always apologizes and fixes their mistakes. Thomas and Friends might become more applicable in Elementary School.

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That: I was introduced to this show a few years ago babysitting. Originally, The Cat in the Hat started off as being one that my son would shrug off, but now that he recognizes the “thing-a-ma-jigger” song he smiles and dances along. The main subject of this show is science; teaching viewers mainly about animals and weather.

Team Umizoomi: Here is another math centered show, and this one is more captivating for my little man. (It’s much more colorful than Peg + Cat is.) There are usually a couple of episodes that come on right before Dad returns home from work and turning Team Umizoomi on can help keep the early evening fussiness at bay. Every episode of Team Umizoomi involves counting, patterns, and shapes. The end of every episode encourages the kids to get up and move (not something my son needs help with!) by doing a celebratory “dance” called “The Crazy Shake.”

Wallykazam: I have saved the best for last. Wallykazam is not only my son’s favorite show, but my husband and I absolutely love it, too. Honestly, we’ll finish an episode long after our 14 month old has lost interest. Wallykazam teaches spelling and vocabulary by way of magic in a fantasy land. The characters (troll, goblin, dragon, giant, ogre, etc) are absolutely adorable (although my brother’s fiance will object because they all have bad teeth)! We record Wallykazam because it’s not on every day and will often watch an episode an hour before bed time to start calming down our ball-full-of-energy. At seeing Wally and Norville on the DVR list my son will point at the TV very excitedly and make his “I want” whimper.

Tuesday Tattles #8

July 14, 2015July 14, 2015 ~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

It’s been five months since I’ve done a “favorite products” version of Tuesday Tattles. My little man is now ONE!

Five months is a long time in the world of an infant. He has gone from army crawling to hands-and-knees crawling. From pulling up on furniture to full standing. From toddling with support to complete walking. He can squat to pick things up and carries items between rooms.

Saying “dada” has taken a backseat to finally saying “mama” and his first word is “duck” and he says it with enthusiasm when he sees a rubber ducky, a duck on a screen, or the stuffed animal that used to be mine as a child. He will even wave good-bye to the cashiers at the grocery store and says “ba ba” along with it.

With his 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom) he enjoys eating anything off of my plate. His favorite foods though are mushrooms, breakfast foods, black beans, and sweet potatoes. He will hum if something is good enough, too!

Fisher Price Apps

I hate to say it but the phone is one of my sons favorite things – ever. (He has actually chewed my Lifeproof case to the point where I’m not sure it’s “lifeproof” anymore. He’s not allowed to put it in his mouth any longer.) It’s okay though, he will flip through books on his own for ten minutes at a time. My husband found a couple Fisher Price Apps one morning and they’ve been great learning tools – as well as a wonderful distraction when needed. I’m pretty sure it’s through these learning apps that my son learned the word “duck”. On the Animals app he will touch through each animal until the duck appears – he even knows it comes after the pig.

I Love You Through And Through

This book by Bernadette Rossetti Shustak is definitely a favorite. The pages fall somewhere between paper and board book making them the perfect texture and thickness for little fingers to turn on their own. The illustrations are also adorable.

Activity Walker

When we went to visit friends in D.C. they had this walker for their son when he was learning how to walk. I’d been debating on buying one for my little man and his attachment to this toy had me on Amazon the minute we got home. I feel I was a little late in the game in buying it because he doesn’t get very much use from it now that he can walk independently. He will occasionally still play with the activity toys on the front though.

Play Triangle

Another toy I waited to purchase until I saw him playing with another kid’s is this play triangle. This toy has been well loved and still is. It’s the one I throw in the car if we’re going to someone’s house and I even stuffed it on our suitcase to have on our ten day vacation to the grandparents’. My little man decided this toy would make a good walking assistant and it is now scratched up from him bending over it and pushing it along the concrete on the back patio.

Alphabet Mat

We’ve had the Alphabet Mat for a long time, and it was definitely more for me than him at the time. I went with the one made by B Toys because the color scheme was unique and had all my favorite colors. The abundance of orange and navy made this Auburn girl quite happy, too. Once my son discovered that the letters (and tiles) are removable they quickly became his favorite chew toy.

Blocks

This basic block set is a classic toy that has stood the test of time. My mom had a set in her toy closet from when she used to frequently babysit a friend’s kids over 8 years ago. These colorful shapes have been well loved (aka chewed on). While my son hasn’t yet had the patience or interest in learning how to put the shapes through their corresponding holes on the top he loves clapping them together and throwing them. And it may be coincidental, but he has accurately identified a couple of the shapes/colors when I’ve asked. The blue circle is definitely his favorite. My favorite thing to do with them is to start stacking the blocks. Without fail a little hand comes through to swipe my tower – followed by a giggle. This game was actually the first time my son actually played with me and when he was done demolishing my towers we played “tag” down the hallway.

Empty Water Bottles

I don’t care how many toys you have, the best play thing you can hand my son is a water bottle – full or empty doesn’t matter. Same goes for solo cups.

Balls

I can’t begin to tell you how happy it makes my husband that our son loves to play with balls. He will throw a ball if you ask him to and can occasionally catch one tossed to him. Granted, it takes a lot of focus and multiple attempts – but it’s exciting every time! Any ball will do – tennis ball, Oball, plastic balls, volleyball, or beach ball; doesn’t matter the size, he’ll try and pick it up.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.