Messy time - indoor painting

What better way to get energy out than to have a paint sensory party? It really is easy to do, and may take some prodding and assistnance if your kiddo isn't into getting messy, but is worth the try. The worst that could happen is you end up in a full shower with the kids, in your clothes with soap in your eyes :)

But really, it shouldn't be too bad at all.

1) Get your kiddo in the bathtub with out any water in it.
2) Squirt washable water color/ or finger paint blobs into the tub
3) Encourage your kiddos to paint.
- You may need to help out here. If they're hesitant. Start making their names with the finger paint or some shapes.

Allow them to paint up. Clean up is just running some water and then a nice  bath!

My kids are hilarious - jokes by a 1 year old and more

When we were driving back from a trip to San Diego earlier this year, my son, who wasn't even two, was entertaining himself in the car seat.

"Thank you, Thank you...."

< pause >

"BUG!"

"HAHAHAHA"

To a 23 month old that is some hilarious talk!

Stand up comedian in the house!

Now today, we had another joke come through....

As my son was running around saying "choo-CHOO, choo-CHOOO," we realize it has been a while since he went potty... So, my lovely husband asks him to go sit on the potty... He kept running around acting like a train.

So, my 4 year old daughter pipe in and says,"Dadda do you know anything about trains?" 

My husband says "yes" 

To which she replies "well then you should know trains don't go potty."

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! Whether you celebrate for Jesus' rising or for the purely commercial reason, I hope your day is starting off well and you're enjoying time with family and friends. It was a late night for our daughter so at 8 am, I had to wake her up since my son was already finding hard boiled eggs and commenting "crack" and throwing them :)

One of the great finds the Easter Bunny happened to leave along his hopping path was a "real" Angry Birds game, Angry Birds: Knock On Wood Game! My son was enjoying it for a bit (but then he decided he already had a way to play Angry Birds... with his Melissa & Doug Cardboard Blocks!

Mass at 11, followed by a hike will round out our day. If we make it back in time, we may try Church with a dear friend, but I'm a bit hesitant on the round two with that being a potential meltdown time with my almost 2 year old who thinks he's too big for naps :)

Finding your local parenting resources

What resources do you have in your community for parents? Are they all super mainstream? My goal for this summer is to rebuild what I had started at my "main" site (www.attachedresources.com) before Russian hackers took over my message board!

There are so many books that want us to be paranoid over everything regarding parenting (and before parenting!). Media has us convinced that being a parent is entirely inconvenient (having kids isn't for everyone, and that's fine!) and if we actually want to be with our kids we're over indulgent and it is presumed our kids are spoiled and will never (EVER!) do anything independently. Thus, the reason I originally started Attached Resources.

In the mean time, watch for those gentle parents. No longer can we presume someone wearing their baby can relate on more parenting topics, but it doesn't mean you can't friend those mamas! We all can learn from each other and having friends is important in mommyhood... Unless of course you have your own commune, in which case... Invite me! :)

Finding local fun

Most of my posts center around either "facts and descriptions" or rants. This one is a bit more up-beat, I suppose. One part of parenting is finding that thing that keeps your family moving. In these days, we often are overwhelmed by technology: You may have computers (thank you for reading this blog!), TiVo, gaming systems, ipads, handheld reading divices and more. The list for "things" we have in our homes that prevent us from really engaging our children would probably be longer: bouncers, jumpers, cradles, cribs, swings, gates, talking toys, handheld gaming systems....

Riding a big kid bike at the local Children's Museum.

To have that bond with your children, you really need to get to know them. Play with them, let them take the lead. Don't use "there's nothing to do" or "the weather here sucks to go out doors" as excuses. That's what they are. They aren't reasons, afterall. Instead, find that something that you all can enjoy and interact. Find something outide your comfort zone even. Try something new!

Today we were able to spend a three hours at our local children's museum. It was a good time for both kids, and I found out that in the past three weeks my 3-year-old has grown enough to now be the "driver" on the big kids bikes! My 11-month-old was able to interact a bit with some other "babies" and loved walking through the "carwash" because there was a drying station where a fan blew his hair crazy. These are the moments that help you bond and get to know your children.

Crawl on the floor with them. Go on a bug hunt. Head to the park. Make a fort. Grab a guitar and pretend to play if you can't and have a jam session. Let it go, be free and have fun!

It is official

I have a walker. V has been toddling about since her 13 month birthday. That was the first day she decided enough was enough and walked AWAY from something. Now as of this past week, when she falls, she gets up. She does not just say "oh okay" and crawl from there. She wants to walk off the bed, instead of scootind down. That really is the only problem I see arising. She's 14 months now and has a nice vocabulary in English and Marathi. Yesterday she started to say "thank you" as "tangouu" - I love her babbling!