Messy Play Part II

As promised, here is another fun filled messy play idea for you toddler moms out there!
There are very few requirements for this activity.

1. An outdoor play area. (Notice there is still paint on our table from the other day :-| )

2. A bowl full of random toys.

3. Some cheap shave cream

4. A curious and playful kiddo

Gotta taste a little just to make sure its nasty like momma says :)

I love the big clump in his hair! 

5. A water hose to clean up :) 

If you have more fun messy play ideas, feel free to share!

Messy Play

It's true! I LOVE a good mess! Now to clarify, I don't particularly love a messy kitchen sink, or loads and loads of dirty laundry. However, I do LOVE to do fun messy things in my classroom and with Harrison! Today's example of a fun mess,

Finger painting outside!

 *Note to other toddler Moms, this was the best idea I've had yet! He got to be as messy as he wanted and all it took was 2 min with the water hose to clean up!
                                      

I just love this sweet little messy face.

(Another advantage to painting outside, he can run around the yard while I put everything away)

Messy boy checking on the garden. 

I've got a few more messy play ideas on the list for this summer, I'll be sure to share them as we go!

Potty Training Day 1

Let me start out by saying that I have very low expectations of this actually working. However, I wanted to blog about it for a few reasons, 1) I don't want to forget these crazy days. 2) I figured a few fellow moms out there could use a good laugh :)
So, with that being said here is a run down of our first attempt at potty training.


Once H turned 1 we started sitting him on the potty before bath time every night. Occasionally he would go, and we would make a huge deal out of it but it was never consistent. In the past few weeks he has started telling us when he has already gone and needs a new diaper. *Hint hint mom*, huh? :)
This morning when talking with my mom she informed me that the almanac says this week is a good time to attempt potty training so I thought what the heck, lets give it a shot! I have had a few moms tell me that they had great success with the bare bottoms potty training method so I thought I'd give it a try too. (You can buy the book on bare bottom potty training, or you can google it and save yourself money and a trip to the book store. I googled it. In a nutshell, your kiddo wears nothing from the waist down. Apparently this helps them realize when they need to go. You offer them lots to drink throughout the day, stopping drinks around 5 PM.)
 We were off to a great start, 2 for 2 first thing this morning. Not too bad I thought to myself. However, I was quickly humbled with 3 back to back accidents. By this time it was nap time, H was grouchy and very tired of me taking him to the potty every 15 minutes so I stuck a diaper back on him and down for a nap he went. When he woke 2 hours later he was barely wet, we went to the potty, success again! The rest of the afternoon consisted of several little puddles here and there and a few successful trips to the potty. This momma was frazzled! I called it quits at 6:00. Dinner, bath and a diaper for him it was and I went for a run!
I suppose it wasn't too bad for our first attempt. I think we had 5 or 6 successful trips to the potty. I lost count of our not so successful trips (aka accidents on the floor). If nothing else comes from todays training, we have super clean floors! Heres to another wild and crazy day tomorrow!

Outgrown

While I was rocking Harrison to sleep tonight I realized something very frightening. We have *almost* outgrown the glider. :( We were both turned sideways scrunched into the back corner so we would have as much room as possible. As he was drifting off to sleep, (legs dangling off the side) I started thinking back to all the things he has outgrown in the past {nearly} 15 months. The first thing that I can remember him outgrowing was the baby bath. I'm pretty sure we only used the net that attaches to the top of the bath about 5 times before it was "outgrown". Then it was the swing, the play mat, the bouncy seat, the bumbo seat, the bassinet, the car seat carrier, the second (larger) baby bath, bottles, and tons and tons of clothes along the way. Depressing? Slightly! Although it makes me pretty sad to pack all these things away, I know that it is a necessity in order to make room for all the new "toddler" accessories that are beginning to take over our home!
Crazy to think that in only a few short months we have gone from

this tiny cuddly newborn 

to this rambunctious ALWAYS on the go toddler! 

I can't imagine all that we will "outgrow" in the next year. 

Here's to growing up! 

Fall Fun

We made our second annual trip to Jackson's Orchard this past week! I do have to say that Harrison had a lot more fun this year! (Disclaimer- Lot's of pictures follow!)

And he sure has grown a lot since last year! 

Fall 2011

Fall 2012

We sure are glad we started this tradition! 

Harry-Go-Round!

and round

and round!

And loved it! 

Self Feeding Like a Big Boy!

Just the other day when I posted Harrison's 11 month update I wrote that I was excited to see what new developments this month would hold for us. Little did I know that he would acquire a new skill in less than a week from the time I wrote that. What's the new skill?

He can eat with a fork! Last night during dinner he picked up the spoon I had laid on his tray and started stabbing at some of the food that he had not eaten yet. I thought "Hmm, wonder if he could actually get some of that in his mouth if I gave him a fork". So, I handed him a fork and watched closely to make sure he didn't jab himself in the eye. I'd say " Look Harrison, can you eat like Mommy?" and I'd take a bite. Sure enough, a few bites actually made it to his mouth! I was so impressed that I forgot to take a picture! (that's pretty rare for me!) 

Tonight at dinner time, I had my camera in hand when I handed him the fork and was able to catch some successful bites on film! I am so proud of this little guy, but he is growing up way to fast! 

Eleven Months!

Oh my goodness, my child will be ONE next month! Is that even possible?I'm going to pretend this isn't happening and focus on all the fun new things this past month has brought us!

Our sweet, energetic baby boy is 11 months old today! 

I got your nose! And some wild hair!

He now has 5 teeth, 2 on the top and 3 on the bottom.

 He loves using these chompers to munch on blueberries, cooked carrots, pasta, scrambled eggs, pancakes....really just about anything he can get his little hands on! 

Our peanut butter and jelly squares got a little out of control here :)

He weighs 25lbs and is 31 inches tall. Mommy will appreciate when he learns to walk because he is getting a little hard to carry! Speaking of walking, he isn't walking on his own yet,but he will walk holding your hands and while pushing his walker 

He has really started talking this past month! 

He has added "dog" "book" "uh-oh" "ufff"- (for "woof") and "oww" (for "ouch") to his word bank :) He babbles ALL day long! It's so sweet listening to him! He points a lot now too-very cute!

He LOVES his books! Especially the pop-up books and ones that have flaps to open, he gets a little too excited sometimes resulting in a few missing "pop-ups" in some of our books :)

He has learned to clap, and claps a lot! He not only claps for others, but for himself as well! It's pretty funny.

And is it just me or has his hair grown a lot this past month??

I'm sure there will be a lot more "growing" over the next month as well, both physically and developmentally.

I'm excited to see what all my ONE year old boy can do by this time next month! (insert tears here) :'(