I’ve been wanting to share some of my recent favorite things and thought that today, the day after a holiday, would be a good day to do it. These are some things that we’re loving in our house right now! And just for the record, James is 10 months and Charlotte is 3 right now!
This might be the most played with toy that either of our kids got for Christmas. James received these and they stayed put up for a while, but now that he’s been teething and is crawling around these rings are his, and Charlotte’s, favorite toy. As soon as we dump them out Charlotte has to get herself some and James crawls around the house with one in his mouth most of the time. They’re great because they can be cleaned in the dishwasher and they can link together to make a rattle. James also loves rolling the round container around the house and crawling after it!
When James started having trouble sleeping a few weeks ago we finally caved and added something to his crib. From looking at pictures on Facebook and Twitter I felt like we were the last holdouts to not putting anything in the crib until they’re a year and so I didn’t feel so bad about putting this soft small blankie in with James. Sometimes he doesn’t want anything to do with it and then others I’ll walk in to find him cuddled around it. I love how soft it is and the small size makes me less uncomfortable with him sleeping with it.
While James is still not interested in a bottle or sippy of any kind I love the idea of this one and am trying valiantly to get him to catch on. This cup is designed to let you teach your child to drink from a straw by allowing you to squeeze the cup while the straw is in their mouth to show them that liquid is in there. Since I taught Charlotte to drink from a straw with a milkshake and I’m not ready to introduce James to that pleasure this is my only option. I’d love to skip the “traditional” sippy’s if possible!
Christy Nockels latest album, Into The Glorious
I can’t get enough of Christy Nockels’ new cd recently. It is on repeat in the car, on my phone, and in the house anytime I have music on. Some of my favorites are “Be Loved”, “Into the Glorious”, and “Sing Along.” This is one album that you will not feel bad about spending the $9.99 to get the whole thing. It is so uplifting and helps me turn even a rough day into a better one!
I found some of my old scrapbooking templates recently and added them to Charlotte’s art drawer. She is loving tracing letters and numbers with them and does it a lot by herself. She isn’t one that really enjoys me hovering over her trying to teach her things (and I honestly don’t have a lot of patience for it) so I’m glad that she’s working on writing her letters in some way! These aren’t the ones that we have since ours are about 15 years old, but I thought I’d show you an example of what I’m talking about.
Praise Baby, Born to Worship
I try not to turn the tv on when the kids are up and a lot of days I’m pretty successful. But there are some days that are just those days and I need something to give me a break and also to give the kids a break. I have found that Praise Baby dvd’s work best for us. It’s worship music so I don’t mind having the kids listen to it and Charlotte often gets up to dance to it. James also enjoys watching the pictures every once in a while. And Charlotte is recognizing even more animals thanks to asking what pictures are on the dvd’s. This one, Born to Worship, is her favorite due to the “funny guy” (bird) near the end that has a head full of funny hair. He cracks her up every time!
Ladybug Girl books
We’re still big fans of books over here and have shifted to more storybooks. Charlotte loves lots of different series (Fancy Nancy, Angelina Ballerina, etc) but one of my favorites is probably the Ladybug Girl series. There are sometimes when I try and soften some of the subjects (i.e. when they’re on the playground fighting the “scary monster” which is a squirrel) but I’ve found that introducing some topics like being scared and compromise or getting feelings hurt in a “safe” environment like reading a book with me helps Charlotte process the situation and figure out a correct way to handle it. Lulu is a great character and I’m enjoying reading the books to Charlotte.
Sharpie pens in new colors!
And for a little nerd alert, I’m loving the new colors that the Sharpie pens are coming in. They’re brightening my to-do lists and planner and just make me happy to write in them!
