The Current Soundtrack of Our Lives

Just dropping in for a quick hello :) and to share music that Chase and I have really been enjoying these past few weeks.  We are sharing 3 albums from 2 bands. 

We found both bands @ the Garden Concert for Kids, which are a series of concerts hosted by the Getty during the month of August. We had so much fun going last month and already can't wait until next year. 

Without further ado...this is the current soundtrack of our lives: 

Oh Lucky Day! by Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band

Such a fun, fun, fun album to dance to with a toddler. The music is energetic and upbeat and the lyrics are so adorable! We like all of the songs, but especially Say What?, Race Car and Like Never Before. 

The band was so much fun to watch - highly engaging which is great with the toddler group.  You can purchase/view their album via the link above, get to their website here and check out their tour schedule here.  It looks like they have shows coming up in San Francisco and around Los Angeles.  We may find ourselves checking them out again!

Mind of My Own by Frances England

Our favorite songs from this album are Red Balloon and Bicycle.  We actually ended tonight with strolling and dancing around our living room while pretending to hold balloons and ride bicycles as we listened to these faves. 

I don't know if Frances typically performs with the same band all the time, but the group she was with at the Getty she met through her son's co-op preschool.  All of the band members had kids at the same school.  I just thought that was so adorable!  How can you not love a band that came together that way?! You can preview/purchase this album via the link above and check out her cute website here. 

Family Tree by Frances England

Our favorite song from this album is I Scream, You Scream. We play this every day during our car ride home from day care.  I sometimes use it to bribe him to leave the playground. Though today he started to ask for actual ice cream so this may magically disappear for a while. j/k...maybe ;) 

Hope you enjoy these albums/songs as much as we do! If you have other kid bands/songs you recommend, please leave a comment as I'd love to check them out. 

I'm a believer

Ever since I was pregnant with Chase I've read a lot of parenting books, blogs,e-mail feeds and magazine articles. One piece of advice I come across often is to talk to your baby even when you don't think they can understand what you are saying. This is something I've tried to do with Chase ever since he was born. I narrated most of the things I was doing with him. "Let's take a bath. Mom is turning on the water now. The water is too cold. Let's add some hot water so we can warm it up." What's neat now is that he's talking more and more and it's through this new found chatter that he's confirming that he's been listening this whole time.

I've gone to the drive through ATM 3 times with Chase. Each time I've gone, I've told him that we're going to the ATM, that I'm going to put my card in, push some buttons and take out some money. He also 'helps' me at the supermarket and at the store by swiping my debit card each time we pay. There's a point to this, I promise. ;)

One day, after going to the supermarket I set up a pretend grocery store in our living room. When I found him swiping our old Mervyn's card on the calculator, I asked him what he was doing and he responded 'ATM.'

Yes, I know that the card reader at the check out is not an ATM. Well, not a standard ATM at least. But what I love are the connections he made. I've never called the card reader an ATM, but he connected the label to something you use to swipe your card and that was certainly what we were doing at the grocery store. In his mind, they must be the same thing and, therefore, the contraption at the grocery store was an ATM.

Yes, I wrote this post partly as a gushing mom proud of her little guy's accomplishment. But, I also wrote this as someone who, as a mom, now has a deeper appreciation for how powerful a little one's mind can be. I'm finding myself stunned each day at how much learning is happening in there. I'm a believer of just how much listening has been happening this whole time. I'm a believer that although he hasn't always been able to reciprocate through dialogue, that he did in fact understand what I was saying. That he was making connections. That he was storing all of this information to use for when he was able to talk. My advice to all the new mommies out there is to listen to that advice you've been reading about - talk to your beautiful babies! They really are listening and processing what you're saying. It may seem silly to talk about things they don't yet understand, but eventually they will. Eventually, they'll prove it to you and you will be THRILLED!

Sweeping Gems

I've been reading about the Montessori method of teaching lately, in addition to other types of education. While I don't think we'll end up sending Chase to a Montessori school, there are certain concepts about the approach that I want to infuse at home. One philosophy is the idea of providing opportunities to allow your child to learn and practice (through repetition) doing daily living activities and introducing these activities to your child in an interesting way.

I found a cute mini dust pan and brush at a local Japanese store and decided to try my first Practical Life exercise with Chase. He was excited the moment he saw me coming into the living room with the tray and got even more excited when he saw what was on top of it. It's all about presentation folks. ;)

The idea is for him to pour the gems from the tupperware onto the tray, which makes a great sound. Then, he'll need to sweep the gems into the dustpan. Finally, he'll transfer them from the dustpan back into the tupperware.

I think this was a nice little challenge for him. It was neat for me to watch him try out different ways to hold and angle the brush in order to get the gems into the dust pan. With Montessori, when needed, you can first demonstrate how to do the activity the right way and then step back to let the child do it themself. But, Chase is very much in a stage right now where he wants to figure out and do everything on his own so there was very little listening to/watching mommy demonstrate.

The little guy did pretty well for his first go at it, don't you think? There's quite a few gems in that dustpan - great job Chasee!!!

Dinosaur Book and Sensory Bin

I mentioned yesterday that Chase's current favorite bedtime story is How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night.  It was gifted to him by his Ninang Ruby, his Godmother. He looks forward to reading it every night and often wants to read it multiple times.  I discovered last week that he's actually memorized quite a few lines. It's so awesome to watch him 'read to himself.' He has a little twinkle in his eyes when he reads because he's well aware of me watching him in awe. I love this age. :) 

To extend his learning, I embarked on creating some dinosaur related activities, starting with this sensory bin. 

What it contains: 

• 3-4 (?) small bags of small rocks (Dollar Tree) and 1 small bag of medium sized river rocks (Michael's). 
• 3 mini plastic dinosaurs (Party City).
• 2 wind up dinosaurs (Dollar Tree) - I ended up taking these out because he can't wind these up on his own quite yet. 
• 2 rubber monster finger puppets (Target). I tried to get away with passing them off as dinosaurs, but I don't think he bought it. He's even smarter than I thought. ;)
• 2 trees, which I made out of popsicle sticks, felt and fabric glue.
• Leaves pulled from a fake plant (Dollar Tree). 

What he's done with it and what he's learning: 

• Stands/balances the trees in the rocks, then knocks them over so he can do it all over again
• Buries the leaves and dinosaurs with rocks using a scooper or his hands
• Scoops rocks into bowls and other containers, then transfers them back into the bin 
• Plays with the finger puppets and uses them to tickle me

We ended the night walking around on all fours roaring and pretending to be dinosaurs. He loved this! Stay tuned because I'll be sharing other dinosaur activities soon. 

Sensory Bins - Sports & Bugs

We've been exploring sensory bins a lot lately. I mentioned before that I'm a kinesthetic learner so I'm naturally drawn to this type of hands on hands on play/learning. I was pleased to find out that toddlers in general also learn a lot through this type of exploration.  I recommend reading this post if you want to find out more.  

When I watch the little guy playing with his bins, it looks like he's doing one big science experiment. It's almost like I can hear the questions he's asking, the hypotheses he's making and conclusions he's drawing from this type of play. I love watching him learn. And as an added bonus, sensory bins provide us with a lot of independent/focused play time for Chase. He can sometimes play with them independently for 30-45 minutes.  This is a long time for him! He'll also often come back to them several times throughout the day.  

The pictures above are of Chase exploring a sports themed sensory bin that we had out for the last couple of weeks.  Lately, I've been into creating activities for Chase based on his current interests.  These days, he's OBSESSED with sports so this bin got a lot of daily use. 

Here's a closer look at our sports themed bin.  It includes a basketball whistle, sports medal, miniature clapper, basketball felt, rubber basketball keychain and various sports themed miniature balls, slinkies, painted wooden circles, and erasers.  I used pink beans as the filler. 

Chase has been into bugs lately.  When picking him up from day care the past couple of weeks, I find him and some of the other kids often playing around with rolly pollies outside.  They have been fasciated with these critters.  Chase is also into lady bugs and has been watching this and this lady bug video on You Tube.  

The two bins above are of the same bug/critter themed sensory bin I put together this past Sunday.  I first used split peas as the filler, but they were too hard to clean up so I switched them out for penne pasta. Aside from the filler, this bin includes various plastic bugs/critters, lady bug and bumble bee pencil tops, erasers, twigs, rocks and a magnifying glass. Most things from both the sports and bug/critter bins were purchased from Party City and Education Station. 

Sports Felt Board Pictures

The little guy's teacher at day care has been so awesome with him! She does all sorts of fun activities throughout the day that have really helped with his development. To show our appreciation, I wanted to gift her something that she could use in her classroom.  The theme this week at the day care is sports, so I created 4 sets of sports themed felt pictures for his teacher to use.  The felt board you see in these pictures is the one we use at home.  

These were pretty easy to make: (1) I searched for sports related pictures on google images (2) arranged the pictures on PowerPoint (3) printed them on iron on transfer paper (4) ironed them onto felt fabric and then (5) cut the pictures.  And voila! - super cute felt board pictures at a fraction of what they would cost you when purchased at the store. 

I loved these felt pieces so much that I ended up making a second set to keep.  The little guy has really been into sports lately so I know we'll get a lot of use out of these. 

meet max

meet max. he's been a part of our little family for about a month now. isn't he just adorable? as you can see, he's quite the little hipster with his plaid shirt, bandana and jean shorts.  he's definitely the cutest and funkiest little boy doll i've ever seen. 

i had been searching for a boy doll for chase and when i spotted max on opposite of far [an etsy store], i just knew i wanted to invite him to be a part of our family. i'm sure you would have done the same. ;)

 

you might be wondering what started my doll search in the first place. i strongly believe in how important imaginative play is for chase's age. for us, it gives chase a way to process things he's learning about - whether it's about the general world around him, people close to him or himself. i also love how it gives chase a fun way to enhance his creativity.       

chase often cooks for max. he feeds him overflowing bowls of wooden fruit and veggies. he plays basketball with him. 'they' often toss a ball back and forth to one another. on most nights, chase puts max to sleep by placing him face down on his playroom mat and then kisses him good night.  sometimes, chase comes home amused to find max doing something new, like reading a book. in this way, i love that max provides me with an opportunity to guide chase to certain activities.  

each day seems to bring a new way of interacting with max.  i'm excited to see how much their relationship will blossom and how much chase's imagination will continue to expand. 

p.s. if you're in the market for a handmade doll, check out opposite of far.  each item in the shop is completely handmade with tons of love. when max arrived, he came with a handwritten thank you card, a photo and a cute little tag. i love little details like that. don't you? 

day light savings

i love this time of year. when we 'spring forward' and set our clocks an hour later. i really don't mind the losing an hour of sleep part. because i love the gaining an hour of day light part. i love love love this! this means more days like this. picking up chase and spending some outdoor time.

after work today, we walked down a trail, picked up rocks and sticks, ran up and down a grassy hill and laughed and squealed a lot! we talked about the different sized rocks, how some rocks are 'stuck' in the dirt and some we can pick up, the ants and different bugs that crawl around and how birds and airplanes both fly in the sky.

i'm reminded of this time last year when i first went back to work from maternity leave (i went back early march). i remember wanting to spend as much quality time with chase (& of course, i still do!). we took to the park almost every day. i'm excited to start a fun new routine again.

trucks and buses...oh my!

i mentioned before that chase is obsessed with things that go. he's especially intrigued by trucks and buses. he's been known to pant, point, blow kisses, squeal, stare and/or rub his tummy @ the sight of one. so what's a mom to do? feed his obsession of course! we've been on a major truck/bus hunt lately. we've made special trips just to find these monstrous vehicles. i mean come on...check out chase's reactions below and tell me you wouldn't take this little boy out searching for buses and trucks yourself!

oh my! there's a fire truck right next to me! what's a boy to do?!

mommy...look a bus!

mommy..there sure are a lot of trucks @ this parking lot

and they all have really big tires!

mommy! i think i love this place. there are so many trucks!

in fact, there are so many i just don't know what to do!

maybe i'll just rub my tummy! :) awww...yes...much better!

small play // toy rotation

as i put together chase's play space, i knew i wanted to start rotating his toys. this post is a peak into my take on toy rotation, which is pretty simple. at any given moment, a big portion of chase's toys are hidden so that he only has access to some of them at a time.

then, when there's a need for something 'new' to spark curiosity, excitement and energy, 1 or more toys in 'active rotation' that have gotten 'stale' get swapped for something that was hidden. sometimes the 'something hidden' is a new toy altogether, such as a gift that we saved for later. and sometimes the toy is an older toy he's had all along. in either case, he's excited because they both feel new.

my approach

the first thing i did was remove toys that chase has outgrown. some of those will get passed on to others and some will get saved for the next little peanut. then i started to take inventory of what was left by grouping like toys with one another. puzzles got grouped with other puzzles, books with books, moving vehicles with moving vehicles, etc.

then, within each group i selected toys for active rotation. these were organized in chase's play space, accessible for him to play with. the rest were hidden. i only left out enough toys that would fit into the shelves and bins of his play area. it was important to me that the space did not looked cramped, that there was plenty of open space. for me, ample open space allows positive and creative energy to flow.

i left out a decent selection of puzzles, shape sorters, stacking toys, etc. at the moment, these are toys that i want chase to spend more time playing with. not all the time, just more than he was before we started toy rotation. i also left out toys that he plays with consistently - like his basketball hoop.

(this b-ball hoop gets the most play time so imagine it'll be a permanent fixture and won't be rotated out anytime soon)

rotation

rotating a new (or new again) toy every now and then adds a dimension of discovery to chase's day. it's always fulfilling to see him get reacquainted with an old toy or to become familiar with a new one. either way, i watch him tinker and figure things out. i'm analytical myself so i love to observe him in these moments.

i don't have a schedule, per se, of when i rotate. i really just pay close attention to chase's energy each day - as a whole or towards a specific toy. i rotate as i start to notice that he's gotten bored with certain toys or when his overall level of engagement with play in general seems off for extended periods.

what i've learned

i've realized that a big part of toy rotation is the excitement that accompanies that sense of newness. when toys aren't getting much action, my toy rotation more often involves presenting them in a different way. i move a toy he doesn't play with often to another area within his play space.

(toys that were on his tv stand a couple of weeks ago)

usually, if it's a toy that i would like him to play with more, i place it on the tv stand. he tends to gravitate towards this play surface so the toys on top always get tons of his attention. sometimes i pair an unloved toy with one he spends a lot of time with. i love that these little things allow me to guide his play while still allowing him to make the choice of what he plays with.

(pooh bear was getting a lot of play time a couple of weeks ago so each day i placed him next to another toy that i wanted him to play with more)

(i tend to leave some sort of puzzle on top of the tv stand [his play surface] where he gravitates the most. i move the puzzle pieces out of place so that it's already ready for play. as his skills have developed, the puzzle pieces have moved further away from their slots or have rotated more)

(when i rotated in this new stacking toy, i placed it on the tv stand to spotlight that a new toy had made it's way into his play space. chase was thrilled to see it as soon as he entered his play area)

some things i might try

he has such a short attention span at this age so i might try hiding all toys one day and only leaving out a variety of one type of toy/activity. so, for a day that i might want to designate for arts and crafts, i might only leave out things that support that type of activity (paper, crayons, fingerpaint, coloring pages, stamps, etc. or when i want to foster imagination, i might only leave out things that generate that type of play such as a stuffed animal, his toy kitchen, puppets, etc.

what i love so far

what i love most about toy rotation is how much more meaningful play has become. maybe it's just me reading into something more than what's actually there, but it feels like he's learning more. because there's less stuff to distract him he spends more thoughtful play with each toy. some other reasons i love the system...

1. less clutter [can i get an amen?!]
2. less things to manage
3. it's easy for chase to see what he has, which makes it easy for him to make decisions about what he wants to play with
4. chase learns to value what he has
5. chase learns to take care of his possessions

i hope you found something here that sparked an idea for your method of play. be sure to share! i'd love to hear about it.

small play // intersection

our unplanned 'field trip' today was to an intersection. okay...that sounds very dangerous. but it wasn't. ;) we had so much fun. it was a nice unexpected playground. for a little guy obsessed with all things that move, there was so much to look. we were both so intrigued that we hung out for a little while to see the everyday things that were happening around us.


in the pic above - chase loved pushing the crosswalk button, esp. since it makes a sound when you push it and makes an even better sound to tell you that it's safe to cross.i love that he looks at me when things like that happen, waiting for me to explain what it is. :)

we saw a bazillion buses, trucks (including fire trucks), airplanes and bikes. buses and trucks cause him to breathe very heavily. he points at them, s.l.o.w.l.y. pants 'bah' 'bah' 'bah' for bus (or 'tah' 'tah' tah' for truck) in a soft whisper and then blows kisses to say bye as they drive by. it's precious. i want to bottle this reaction up and save it forever!

there was even a fountain near by, which he happily stared at for a little while. he loved feeling the water spray on his face when the wind blew. he stuck his hands in and giggled a little. *eww* - but, that's what little kids do right?

a picture of one of the flags we saw and touched (don't tell the store owner). i had to yank it (just a little!) so chase could reach it. he seemed to enjoy it so it was worth it. the second pic is of chase waiting for more buses to drive by. such patience when it comes to those big moving things. ;)