Entertaining Herself... 16 Month Old BabyToddler, Part 1

These days, it is more about Cora entertaining herself than about me entertaining her. A dish towel can keep her busy for hours.

Here are some of the activities that have been keeping Cora occupied recently:

• Opening and closing things. Doors, cabinets, everything! Ever since she has been able to crawl she has been trying her hardest to get the fridge or the freezer open. Once she was holding a wooden spoon and she wedged into into the door and it popped open. She was extremely proud of herself!

• Coloring. Cora's love for coloring grew quickly. We tried it one week and she couldn't have cared less. The next week, that babytoddler of mine says "blue" (which is her word for "give me those crayons, lady") at least 50 times a day.

• Dish Towel. Like I said earlier, Cora is wild for dish towels or for any small piece of fabric she can get her hands on. She will use them as blankets for her stuffed animals. She will play the "how flat can I get this to lay" game. Dish towels can be hats. The possibilities are endless.

• Trying to put things around her neck usually by holding her chin to her chest to get them to stay. This one she does with dish towels, ribbons, spoons, pretty much anything. She loves to check to see if she can turn her chin into a third arm. Spoiler alert: she can!

• Animal sounds and activities. Her favorite is to stick her tongue in and out quickly when I ask what a lizard does. She knows the basic ones pretty well so we moved on to some of the less known animal sounds. What does a llama say? Well according to what I taught Cora, a llama opens its mouth really wide and does a guttural "ama" sound. I'm not really sure how that happened. Cora is still convinced that dogs only pant rather than bark. My sister and I taught her to say "addle addle" (meaning waddle waddle) when she talks about penguins.

• As always, the library and the park. She could entertain herself for hours at either of these places. Don't worry- I don't let her entertain herself alone there.

• Sweeping. Cora regularly gets out the broom and waves it around the kitchen. For Christmas, she got a Cora-sized broom that she is pretty into.

• Reading books. There are books ALL OVER our house and Cora is constantly going through them. Sometimes she likes to read them up-side-down. But, only every once in a while.

In this photo she was still in the eat books rather than read books phase.

• Spinning around. Cora figured out that spinning around in a circle was pretty fun right around her 15 month birthday. She loves it! She spins around or, more accurately put, walks around in a fairly tight circle. Then, as you would expect, the dizzies set in and she starts her wobbling and squatting down to avoid the impeding nose dive.

See that dizzy look in her eyes? She is on about spin number 6.

• Spinning the chair around. As much as Cora loves spinning herself around she loves spinning our swivel chair around just as much. Her favorite is to put a couple of her stuffed animals in there and let them go for a ride.

• Cuddles! ahhhh I never thought I would see the day. But it has finally come! For the last week and a half she has given me some serious cuddles for the 5 minutes before I put her in bed at night. I always say, "I love you SOOOO much." Then she will name everyone she knows (including Santa and dogs) and I will tell her that they love her too. It is the sweetest moment ever.  And I know this isn't exactly entertaining herself. But I do occasionally catch her cuddling some of her stuffed animals.
  
  
  
  Cora was only 2 months old in this photo and this was one of the last times that she cuddled me excluding when she would wake up in the middle of the night.
  
  
  
  
  I will be back in a week or so with another riveting post about the other ways that Cora entertains herself!
  
  

Playdates: How To Make Them Happen

After you have a baby you get to a point when you are desperate to talk to other moms or anyone who isn't drooling all over themselves and crying for your attention.

You also want your baby to start learning how to socialize with other tots.

This phase hit me around 5 months and it hit me hard. All of the sudden I started googling, asking around, and trying to figure out ways to get Cora around other children and me around other moms.

Here are some things that worked well for me and a few other ideas:

STORY TIME AT THE LIBRARY!
We all know that I am a library groupie. But, this was, by far, the best thing for Cora and me. She loved listening to the librarians read and sing songs. She loved getting to play with the other babies (READ: trying to steal other baby's toys). And I loved talking to other moms, dads, grandparents, nannies, whoever. 

Meetup.com
I signed up for a few different mom and baby meet up groups in my area. I was so nervous signing up. I'm not quite sure why, but I was. They had soooo  many activities going on all the time. I never actually went to any of them but there were lots of great options. It seemed like people were really involved in the groups and  that everyone had a great time getting together. This is also a great place to learn about activities and events in the area.

Parks
For a short period of time, I was the creepy mom who was trying to make every parent I saw at the park my best friend. I decided that this was the only way I could meet other moms, get advice on naps, talk about what food my baby should be eating, etc. I was wrong- there are tons of other ways to meet other moms. But if you aren't into the library (HOW COULD THAT BE?!?!?!) and you just want to casually friend yourself up this is a good start. Moms and babies live at the park. And, in my experience (even with my creepy "yeah I'm smiling at you- do you want to be my friend" face on) there are a lot of moms who want to chat and be your friend.

Yoga
I did not find any playdates for Cora or mom friends for me this way. But I know of a lot of people who have. There are plenty of mommy and me yoga classes. There are also lots of great prenatal yoga classes that you can take where you will meet moms to be. Stay in touch if you find other women that you get along well with- especially if their due date is close to yours.

Prenatal hospital classes

This is similar to the last one. Scott and I took every single class that the hospital offered. EVERY SINGLE ONE! Thanks again, Scott, for going along with my crazy, overpreparedness! We met plenty of great couples who would have been perfect couple friends. But we didn't realize at the time how nice it is to have couple friends with children close in age to your own. Learn from our mistake... if you meet a couple who is having a baby around the same time as you and you get along well do not let this slip through your fingers. Exchange numbers, emails, whatever and get together. You will have lots of stories to trade and you can get your playdates going!

Amy Poehler, you're funny. Awesome shirt. source

Mommy Groups
There is a website in Charlotte called Charlotte Mommies. I joined it when I realized that I needed mom friends. It is a great website with lots of wonderful resources. Just like meetup.com, I didn't ever do anything with it. But I think it is a great place to start.

Singalongs, Music Class, Gymborees, etc
There are plenty of activites happening in your community. And, guess what? A lot of them are free!!!! Go! Enjoy! Your baby certainly will. And there is a good chance that you will meet some great people along the way. Even if you don't immediately at least you are out of the house and your baby is getting some time to try out her social skills. In this post, I gave you a link to a free Gymboree class.

This blog had some photos from Charlotte's own sing-along guru, Mr. Nigel.

Look Around! 
There is a very good chance that there are other mamas and babies in your neighborhood. Go for a walk! Meet them! You don't have to be as spazzy as me... every once in a while I would see a lady walking around my neighborhood with her stroller. I never saw her when I was walking around with my stroller. So, one day I looked outside and there she was. I grabbed Cora and ran out the door. Don't worry- I played it cool. I acted like I was checking the mail (at 8am). Oops- not so tricky. I'm a spaz, but I am a spaz who met a new mom and baby in my neighborhood!

Be Outgoing! 
When you find a way to surround yourself with babies and their caregivers don't miss a great opportunity. Try to make friends, exchange phone numbers, email addresses or find each other on Facebook. These people are probably out and about looking for friends and playdates too! Don't be nervous. Just try. What's the worst that can happen?


Does anyone have any other tips? I am so glad that I put myself out there. I met an awesome group of women who all have babies close to Cora's age. We get together a couple of times a week and I enjoy every single one of them! I wish you the same luck! 


The Would You Rather Question of the day!

WYR... every time you walk into work you have to say, "I know that's right" pretty loudly
or
whenever you see a bird you say, "yo yooooo boyyyyy" (pronounced "boy-eeeeeeee")?

The Thanksgiving Jar And A Little Book Talk!

We aren't into November quite yet but it is close. So, let's get ready for it!

Last year, Scott and I started a tradition that I hope to continue for a long time. We each wrote 30 things we are thankful for and put them in our "thanks jar." I would like to say that we wrote one and put it in the jar each day. But that just isn't the way it went down. We had a 2 month old... things were a bit more hectic then. 

I had been talking about the jar a lot as November rolled in. Finally, after November was over halfway through I decided there was to be no more dilly dallying. So, on that day we each wrote 30 things we were thankful for. This year, we will try again at the "write one each day" idea.

I didn't come up with this idea. I read it in my book, "365 Games Smart Babies Play." You can find more activities I have done from the book here. The crafty folks over at YoungHouseLove also did a thanks jar last year.

Here is the lovely jar. I tied last years notes with some raffia and kept them in the jar.

A special kangaroo named Kangy wanted to pose with it for you.

wooo weee! I also got a special, little babytoddler to pose with it.

The very obvious process of how I decorated the jar:

1. Got a canning jar
2. Looked through my ribbon collection and got some raffia
3. Wrote "Thanks" on a piece of scrapbook book paper
4. Punched a hole in the scrapbook paper
5. Tied the ribbon around the jar and looped the piece of scrapbook paper in
6. Cut out 60 pieces of pretty paper for us to write on.

Here are some of my favorite thankful notes from last year:

Now, onto the books!

I am a big fan of traditions. We had a lot of them growing up and I am trying to keep the momentum going for Cora. As you may have figured out already from my love of the library... I love books!

The book tradition I am trying to get you excited about is a HOLIDAY BOOK BASKET!
Did the capital letters boost your enthusiasm?
Did you think I was going to let you in on another one of my amazing book buys?

A week or two before most holidays, my mom would break out a pile of special books that only came out once a year. We had Halloween & Fall books, Thanksgiving books, Christmas books (and LOTS of them), Easter books, Forth of July books, and I think we even a book or two about birthdays. I loved seeing those special books. It was such a treat when they came out. I think my Grandma even did the same tradition with my dad and his brothers and sister.

My mom has slowly been sneaking every piece of holiday craziness that she has ever owned into my house. Recently, I acquired her holiday book collections! She didn't have to sneak that one in. WOOO HOOO!

And since I'm such a kids book fan, I had already been working on a holiday book collection of my own.

Here it is:

THE HOLIDAY BOOK BASKET! 

I got a little holiday-crazy and added some green raffia. 

Feel free to say your "ooooohhhhhhs and awwwwwws" out loud!

Now for the Would You Rather Question of the day:

WYR... eat 2 and half pounds of pumpkin pie

or

one pound of Halloween candy?

Double Thursday Post... WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

This post should be called "Grandparents Delight."

My deal-lovin' husband emailed me with a good freebie and I wanted to pass it on to you nice folks.
Between now and Saturday (10-20) add the coupon code TRULYFREE to your Walgreens online order and you get a free 8x10. You don't have to make any other purchases. It is easy and FREEEEEEEEE! I ordered this cute one of Cora. It is up for grabs to the first grandparent to comment and say they want it.

In other news, Cora insisted that this was her dad today while we were at the library:

She picked him out from a huge assortment of books, called him dad about 100 times, and would not let him out of her sight.

More library news... the friend who I went to the library with had to pull me away from the book sale section. I could not do it myself.

I ended up with 11 books (10 of which were board books) for $1.75.

WHAT A DEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Cora loves them!

That's it for Public Service Announcements today.

Go order your 8x10. It took me 45 seconds, max.

Babies On The Cheap!

It's no secret that Scott and I live in Frugal Land. What might be a secret is all of the amazing things that happen in Frugal Land. Read this post and consider yourself a temporary Frugal Land citizen.

How to save dolla' dolla' bills on your kids:

• Cloth Diapers. I have been very happy with cloth diapers! If you have no interest in them- buy in bulk from websites like Amazon Subscribe and Save.

• Book Sale At The Library. All of the libraries in Charlotte have them going on continuously. I cannot stop myself from checking out the inventory. Cora does not have an insane amount of clothes but she does have an insane amount of books. When I can get them for .10 to .50 cents each it is hard for me to resist. 

I bought all 16 of these books from the library for $4.50! My First Body Board Book is Cora's new favorite!

• You don't need every baby product (even though baby stores may lead you to believe you do). Here are some of the things that we easily get by without: Diaper Genie, Baby wipes warmer, shoes (until she started walking. Sorry, grandparents- I know babies look cute in shoes but it just wasn't worth the money or the effort). Also, we just need a few of most things. I do the laundry so frequently that we really only need 2 of a lot of things (baby towels, crib sheets, sleep sacks in her current size, swaddling blankets for when she was tiny, etc).

• Consignment Sales. On Saturday, I told you about my first look into kids consignment sales. I should have read the suggestion above before going to the consignment sale! There are definitely bargains to be had! My tip to you is: Take your time. Buy only what you really need, not what you think your baby would like. Your baby would be happy if you brought home an empty plastic water bottle. Here is a list of kids consignment sales by zipcode.

• Getting a little TMI here but go reusable where you can. You can get washable nipple pads (if you are nursing). Instead of burp cloths use the old cloth diapers like the ones pictured below. They are a good bit cheaper and way more effective. They are bigger and soak up a lot more of whatever needs soaking!

• Library Story Time. Not only is this one of Cora and my favorite activities of the week but we have met all sorts of great moms and babies here!

• Make your baby food. Healthy, easy, delicious and a big cost saver!

• Borrow From The Library. Yes, I LOVE THE LIBRARY! We borrow about 15 books per week. Scott reads a new one to Cora each night (along with "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See"). Then I write down which ones Scott and I liked best, which ones Cora liked best, and which ones had the best illustrations. Then when Cora can turn the pages on big kid books without ripping them we will check out her favorites again. I can't wait to borrow movies from the library when Cora is old enough!

• Playdates. You don't have to join places like Gymboree or go to music classes to meet other moms and make playdates. Like I said earlier, I met lots of moms at my favorite spot... THE LIBRARY! And have had great playdates with the moms and babies I met there. You can make your own music at home and set up your own fun-land in your house with other kids. If you don't want your house turning into a zoo you can always get free Gymboree class pass here.

• Dresser/changing table. This one is pretty obvious but you can easily make your dresser a changing table.

• Parks. Charlotte has some great ones! We started checking out the parks when Cora was just a few weeks old. She did not seem to get as much excitement from them as I did early on but she loves them now!

• Don't tempt yourself by cruising through the baby clothes aisle. Ugh! I could spend so much money on adorable clothes but I stay away. I try to stick to only buying clothes from the Target clearance racks or second-hand. There are super cute baby clothes everywhere you look- so just don't look!

• Gender Neutral. I try to buy gender neutral clothes as often as possible. That way, if we have another baby he or she can wear them. Grandmas love to fill little girl's wardrobes with pink! By buying gender neutral, you can do a little mix and matching so your baby doesn't always look like a ballerina who just went on a pink parade.

It is true that Cora would probably rather be naked, like her shirt says. 

• My pal, Senor Craigslist is a great place to buy bigger items like bouncy seats and baby swings.

• We really lucked out here. We have the most Generous Family And Friends I can possibly imagine! We have been totally overwhelmed with everyone's incredible generousity. I feel like Cora has a wardrobe to last her until she is 12. As I said earlier, Cora has some very giving grandparents who keep Cora well-stocked on super girly clothes (that she might not own otherwise). My awesome cousin sends her two daughters hand me downs to Cora after they have grown out of them! Friends have been super generous. Thank you so much again to my generous friends and family. You all are the best.

There you have it! I hope some dolla' dolla' bills were saved!