February 29, 2012 - Uh Oh... It's Too Quiet!

When Georgia and I are home, together, in the mornings, peace and quiet scare me. And every parent out there knows exactly why... because toddlers aren't normally peaceful and quiet. That is, unless they're up to something - and typically that something is a troublesome something.

So this morning, when I was in the kitchen doing the dishes and then realized the only thing I heard was the clanking and clinking I was creating, I went in search of my sweet, innocent and all TOO QUIET little.

Her bathroom door wide open... uh oh. The bathroom drawer open... uh oh. All of her neatly folded washcloths tossed and tumbled about... uh oh.

Then I found this on the living room couch:

Georgia's stuffed animals, "sleeping" peacefully under washcloth blankets. OK, no trouble here today - just pure, unending cuteness!

How I love my little one...

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February 28, 2012 - For the Love of Walks

There's something Georgia and I do several times a week that makes me breathe in deep... and e-x-h-a-l-e. It causes my frayed nerves to stabilize and, for an hour or so, I do nothing but soak in all the little moments between mommy and daughter.

We simply take a walk.

One foot in front of the other and the daily stresses fall away one after another. We are just a mommy and daughter, each holding the other's hand, walking side by side. No lessons, no agendas, no schedules - just us.

And while we explore each other - our feelings, words, eyes - we also simply explore the world around us.

The feel of a juniper evergreen:

The texture of dirt:

Whether sticks float or sink:

What a lizard really does look like peeking out from between some logs:

Spring flowers:


It is truly magical to explore the world alongside a child. For a moment, I get to see it all through innocent eyes - and it's so beautiful.

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February 26, 2012 - Staying in the Theme of Firsts...

Two firsts two days in a row. Yesterday, chocolate milk, and today - PEEPS!

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February 25, 2012 - Hitting the Hard Stuff Now!

I might have done a bad, bad thing.

I took a little chocolate syrup, some healthy milk and I mixed them together. Not bad, right, actually pretty darn good and tasty. But... then I had that luscious chocolate concoction over to my two-year-old.

Georgia's first taste of chocolate milk - and she LOVED it!!




Will plain milk ever be the same again?

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February 24, 2012 - A Tub Full of Fun

I just want to know, when does a girl finally realize that maybe she truly does have too many bath toys? (probably when some women realize they have too many shoes??)

The kiddo has to fight her bath toys for space in the tub. Maybe it's time I hide a few things...

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February 23, 2012 - "The Big Playground"

Yesterday we headed to our community playground to enjoy all of our warm weather. Today, we hopped in the car and drove to "the big playground." It's aptly called Kidsville, and it's full of fun at every turn and step and swing and chain and tire and smile.

Ready, set, slide...

... all the way down...
...down...
...down...
...down...

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February 22, 2012 - "P" is for Playground!

I'm still thinking we've moved to the land of Spring and Summer. That's it, just Spring and Summer. We've lived here since July, and I have yet to experience Fall or Winter. Not that I'm complaining...

Today's high was 75, so we spent the morning at the playground in our community.

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February 21, 2012 - Just One Little Monkey...

One little monkey...

... jumping on the couch...


Georgia knows the rhyme well, but I guess has never really paid attention to what happens to the bouncy monkey...

Yep, she fell down and bumped her head. No worries though, it was a well padded bump. And no matter how much I talk (lecture), she was bouncy again in no time when I wasn't looking.

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February 20, 2012 - Make It Monday: Sensory Bottles

Our home today is filled with swish, swish... shake, shake... and rattle, rattle sounds. Georgia and I made some sensory bottles.

The last time I made some for her, I think she was about a year old. I made some smell sensory bottles filled with cinnamon, coffee and other scents. It was time to make some again.

This time, they were more visual sensory.

Oil and water:

Soap bubbles:

Sand with various items mixed in - a different surprise every time you shake it:


Georgia's favorite is definitely the sand bottle. She is so happy when she finds the sun and the ladybug that are inside of it. We even play a version of "I Spy" with the bottle. And what a great way to recycle some of the plastic bottles in our home!

Easy and cheap fun that stimulates the mind - love it!!

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February 19, 2012 - Remember What You Loved as a Kid?

We all have them - they might be good, they might be great, they might be bad or they might just be luke-warm - but we all have those memories from our childhood of certain moments or certain things that we'll just never forget.

Two of the many wonderful things I remember (because I had a pretty kick-ass childhood) entered my little ones life today. And for a moment, they took me back... um... 20-something years to my younger days. I could picture the house I lived in, my bedroom walls and dresser full of knick-knacks, my wild siblings that kept our home a house-full and my mom - always, always my mom.

I remember "Highlights."

My mom bought me the subscription year after year, and I was always excited to get the next issue. Getting your own mail as a kid is cool, and having that mail be full of pages and pages worth of stories and puzzles and games and everything else - ah... jackpot!

Now Georgia gets her own mail.


Then there's the tasteful memories. It's amazing what the taste buds prompt the mind to remember. Georgia's and my taste buds today savored a peanut butter and MARSHMALLOW CREME sandwich!!

Marshmallows are delicious enough, but whomever created the spreadable marshmallow - genius... and delicious.

A lunch like this won't grace my daughter's plate often, let's be honest, it's not that healthy... but whenever mommy needs a walk down memory lane...

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February 18, 2012 - Watching Kites & Climbing Trees

Cold and rain and sleet and possible flakes are forecasted for tomorrow. But today, oh sweet today, you should not bear the name February. Today, you are nothing like the dreaded chills and dampness and bitterness of that month. Today, glorious today, you should bear a name with a more delicious ring to it, like a song on my lips. Perhaps... "May." Today, underneath your warmth and sunshine and white puffy clouds, little beauties rose up from the ground and lifted their angelic faces to your heavens.

Georgia and I could not stay inside today. Birds chirping, temperatures approaching 70, the slightest breeze playing with the trees, the sun shining - after a picnic lunch in our backyard, we headed to the park.

And guess what? Georgia climbed her first tree!!! (with assistance, of course) She was pretty proud sitting in the tree's crook.



And then... oh, let's keep it humble, enough of the pride...


We also watched kites flying high, Georgia particularly fond of the Mickey Mouse one.



We just spent the afternoon enjoying nature's gift of a beautiful day. We'll take all we can like this in Winter. It even feels wrong saying that word, Winter.



(I think Puppy was sunbathing)



"Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you." - Walt Whitman

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