Bring it On, Irene!

Maddie is so prepared for this hurricane! While I found empty shelves at Target where flashlights, batteries, and water once lived, Maddie was able to get herself completely ready.


That's right. Thanks to aMuse Toys, she's got a really cool Melissa and Doug flashlight, and she rescued a pink kitty from their store, too (because mommy's a sucker, but whatever). Her emergency kit is complete with a kid-sized water bottle and a box of Hello Kitty bandaids.


So there, Irene. Bring it on.

Toddler Busy Bags

Our road trip is coming up fast, and I'm doing my best to gather an arsenal of activities! My friend over at Playing House suggested we each make some toddler busy bags and then switch - double the fun! She's kind of the Martha Stewart of Tot School, so I'm a little intimidated to trade with her, but I'm especially pleased with these:


I made the felt board (it's fleece mounted in an 8x10 picture frame) and then all the little felts. My friend's daughter loves mermaids and I said I'd see what I could do - not perfect, but I think they turned out pretty cute!


I can't wait to see Maddie play with her set. She saw some felt sets on etsy and her jaw dropped open as she said, "That is AMAZING!" Hehehehe.


Maddie's house scene had to have a rowhouse (I made a more traditional single family home for my friend!). Though it's a little B'more, I left out the weeds and poop. Those just aren't felt-friendly.


And of course she needed a set of cupcakes. Who doesn't?




Interchangeable faces...and really the possibilities are endless! I can't wait to make more felt sets, but I think Dakota would like to stop seeing felt scraps all over our house for a while.

Less crafty busy bags include...

water bottle + pom poms = fun


Maddie loves a larger version of this that I made for Toddler Morning Out, so I think she'll love sticking the straws (and not pictured, pipe cleaners) into the holes. And they store neatly in the container for travel! Dakota drilled holes into some containers I'd been saving and voila! Instant hand-eye coordination activity - travel-sized!


Yup. Noisemakers. I know what you're thinking. Noise makers? In the car? But Maddie doesn't really blow hard enough to make a sound - just hard enough to see the end unfurl. She can do this over and over and over - and that's just what I need in the car!


A little stationary kit, toddler sized and toddler themed.


Time for a little on the road beauty treatment! I think Maddie will love the mirror, and who doesn't love bangles?


Color sorting and one-to-one correspondence. With mini plastic beer mugs. Yup. Thank you, Value Village.


Pasta necklace

I have some more things set up for the trip, so maybe I'll post some more ideas soon. I'm actually not worried about Maddie at all anymore because I think she is going to have SO much fun. Gavin, on the other hand...well, I'll bring lots of snacks. That way to that boy's heart is definitely through his stomach.

Mama Time

For months, Maddie has adjusted so well to Gavin's arrival. She's shared her toys, her room, even her Kitty! But it's been getting really hard sharing her Mama, so we've been trying to carve out more Mommy-Daughter time. Her favorite activity? Being worn by Mama...this should not come as a surprise, given how she spent the first year of her life, and Mama certainly doesn't mind the cuddles.

Baby Accent

Maddie has been demanding a "New blog post, Mama!" Really. So, here it is, and she LOVES your comments. LOVES them ("Read it again, Mama!"). So leave some for her, mmmk? Then we will all have done our part for that demanding little cutie. ;-)

Maddie is growing up so fast. This week, she told me she's three. She told our friend Alex she's four. She's wrong and is still only two, but she's right that she is growing up really fast.

One of the things that's changing is her language. She's constantly adding new words to her vocabulary, and she's started to drop the baby accent on some words we find incredibly adorable.

When Gavin first came home, she called him Ganyan. Then it turned to Gagin, which we've all adopted (and he responds to). But recently, she made a point of letting us know that she knows it's "Gavin" and that she can say it, even emphasizing the "v" - "Hey, GaVin!" She's reverting back to Gagin most of the time because she knows we think it's cute, but it's almost as though she's humoring us at this point.

She used to ask to be "upple" when she wanted to be picked up, but now it's just "up." I loved upple. She often requests "regurt and applesauce" for breakfast (or lunch or dinner), and she's a huge fan of the "Newtnons" her Uncle Tom introduced her to.

If something is frightening (and a lot of things are), she says it's "scurry, Mommy." When she hears the "sound of rain" she wants to go outside with her "umbooka" and play. On Tuesdays, she's always excited for "TiMOut!" While it sounds a lot like time out, which she does not enjoy, she's referring instead to Toddler Morning Out, which she loves because she gets to see her "fwens." When she's feeling lonely, she'll let me know she "needs Foma," her very best "fwen."

And then there's one of my favorites, "Hugatree." She started this on her own and we finally got some shots of it. While walking through the neighborhood, she often has to hug and kiss lots and lots of trees. "Hugatree, Mama!"

Yes, baby. Hugatree. And a mama, while you're at it - you're growing up so fast.

Country Boy

I've been a bad blogger this summer, and there really has been so much to blog about. I haven't posted pics of our trip to North Carolina, our weekend journeys to Charlottesville or Harpers Ferry, pics of us at the pool or the fountain or at playdates, or pics of Christmas in July or Toddler Morning Out. I guess I was so busy doing that I didn't blog about doing. Gotta say, I'm not really sorry.

As many of you know, we're thinking of moving. Just where is anyone's guess, but we're done with the city. Maddie says, "Baltimore's poopy!" (and she's right), Dakota says it's full of weeds (and it is), I have major yard envy, and Gavin, well...see for yourself.



Is it? Could it be? Is he...a country boy?


Apparently so!