Activities about I

So we spent the last couple weeks talking about I. We started with the homemade ice cream which was by far this pregnant lady's favorite activity. The next activity was also fun though. I took two identical plastic cups and a paper I. I placed the paper inside one of the cups and then slid them around on the floor. Ollie then tried to guess which cup the I was under. He had a good time lifting the cups and peering inside and I had fun watching his little mind work!

I got a little creative with a potato. I made a stamp of the letter I. Ollie spent time stamping the letter I. It doesn't often look like an I but oh well that what happens when you rub the stamp all over the paper!

We also spent one of our hot days creating an igloo. Ollie seems to especially love the glue stick. He really loves to put it in his hair. I'm not sure why but the kid is obsessed with the glue stick and all its sticky wonder.

Mr. I didn't quite turn out as I envisioned. I pictured this cute "I" with a hat on his head, straight eyes and a smile. Here's what I got instead...

but Ollie used the glue stick so he was thrilled.


Another game we played was in and out. Ollie sat inside his toy box (which he had dumped the toys out of) and I placed all 8 million of his balls inside of it. He spent time throwing them out and I put them back in again. He really loved it.

First Swim of the Year

Yesterday, Ollie & I had a perfect day! We spent the morning at the park then went home, ate lunch & napped. When Ollie (& I) woke up, we headed to a friend's house to swim.



I was super excited to put him in his little swim get up. Bob was annoyed when I bought it bur it was so cute I couldn't resist! Even his little hat & flip-flops match! We always order a rash guard to prevent whitey from burning.



At first, he was quite unhappy. The pool was a bit cold to him but after a few minutes he was giggling & kicking his legs. We plan to swim a lot this summer!

This picture includes my friend's daughter whom Ollie love, love, loves!


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The perfect day for puddle jumping and rain dancing!

Yesterday, we had a great day! It was sprinkling lightly in the morning so Ollie and I ran outside to do a little puddle jumping. There is nothing cuter than a little white-headed boy splashing in puddles in his jammies. We played in the mud, danced in the rain and splashed and laughed. Sometimes it's the little things that make big memories.

Sesame Street Live

Yesterday, I had a crying baby. I was in his room. I was holding him. I was in the living room. I was rocking him. The culprit: paci breaking. Urgh. I am not a fan of getting rid of the paci. Meanwhile, I was receiving phone calls and text messages from my dear friend Lindsey. Ollie and I had been drawn to receive free tickets and meet and greet passes! I had entered a drawing from the Cumberland County Partnership for Children. I only knew of the drawing because Lindsey works there. Well, Friday, I had received an email saying we had not won. Well someone else who had won could not attend! Yay for us!

This morning, I thought it wise to talk to Ollie about the event for fear of him being terrified of the giant, walking stuffed animals. If you don't already know this, it is not wise to tell your child he gets to high five Elmo when the actual high five is 10 hours away. Double urgh! Lucky for me, he forgot about it until around 4 when he kept yelling Elmo at random times. It's quite funny that he even knows Elmo considering I don't let him watch tv. He's seen him in books, and his tooth brush but he knows him!

We arrived with plenty of time and waited outside for ages to wait inside for ages to meet Elmo and Abby. Ollie had iron grips as the pair entered the room and he was none to happy when his mama plopped down on Elmo's lap with him in tow for a picture. Here's the first picture...

Not the best picture. First of all, Elmo looks like I'm smashing him. Thanks Elmo. All a pregnant lady needs to feel beautiful. Secondly, what in the world am I looking at? At last, Ollie wants to run like the wind. Lucky for us, they allowed us to have a do over at the end. I will say, Ollie did high five Elmo and Abby but was not cool with the sitting on the lap.

It's almost better. After the meet and greet, we wandered for a while. I bought Ollie a t-shirt and then we headed to our seats. It was more fun to watch Ollie dance, clap, yell and jump from pure excitement than to watch the show. It was so much fun. He loved every single minute. As we were leaving, he was waving yelling, "Bye Elmo!" He yelled Elmo's name the entire way to the car and until he fell asleep on the way home. Looks like we have a new favorite!

I is for ICE CREAM!

Tonight was a lovely evening at the Gray house. We ate dinner together...tacos...one of Ollie's absolute favorite meals. It's so cute how he gets excited over a little ground turkey, some beans, corn and red peppers wrapped in a tortilla. He always tries to hold it, but fails miserably. Poor guy.

After dinner, we took a walk. Tonight was cool and beautiful. Honeysuckle is all around and it was the perfect night to MAKE HOMEMADE ICE CREAM! After dragging Ollie inside and having him use the potty, we tried our hand at shaken homemade ice cream. Although you only have to shake the bag for 5 minutes, you have to shake the bag for 5 WHOLE MINUTES! That's a long time to shake a freezing cold bag of ice.

Let the snaking begin...

Here we are eagerly awaiting the ice cream...

Ollie digging in!

If you'd like to try this at home, here's the recipe (taken from kaboose.com):

What you'll need:

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup milk or half & half
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 tablespoons rock salt
• 1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc)
• 1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag
• Ice cubes

How to make it:

1. Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.
2. Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it.
3. Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it again carefully.
4. Shake until the mixture is ice cream, which takes about 5 minutes.
5. Wipe off the top of the small bag, then open it carefully. Enjoy!

Tips:

A 1/2 cup milk will make about 1 scoop of ice cream, so double the recipe if you want more. But don't increase the proportions more that that -- a large amount might be too big for kids to pick-up because the ice itself is heavy.

H

Ollie & I had fun with H. I have more i'd like to do but we shall see! We went back to our original starter activity where he places H stickers on a construction paper H. He loves doing that.




Then, we did hand prints with paint. It's funny. The kid will pick up anything, dig his hands into goop but when he gets alittle' paint on his hands, it's over! Lol. He let me do the prints but wasn't thrilled.



For a snack, I just put goldfish in a heart shape & put mandarin oranges inside.



We also glue pieces of a horse together. He loves horses. However, the horse remains legless. It was hilarious to watch him gallop his legless horse around!




He also helped me in the kitchen. This boy loves to cook!



And finally, HELMET! Lol. I went & picked up a new trike for Ollie. Being the responsible parent, I thought it would be best to teach safety immediately even if it is a trike. Well....