365 Days of Everything Georgia: toddler things to do

Showing posts with label toddler things to do. Show all posts

Her Own Space.

>> March 5, 2013 – arts and crafts, fun, our home, toddler things to do

I don't think a day goes by where Georgia doesn't come to me at least once (OK, really 100 times) and ask, "will you come play in my playroom?" It's her little oasis, her piece of paradise, her toy world, her land of imagination and, well, it's HERS. I love that she loves her playroom - it's why I've worked so hard to make it her place.

Today, Play-Doh was on tap - a frequent favorite.

The focus... the concentration...

Learning to cut with scissors is a big thing these days too.

And doesn't Cinderella just look stylish now?

April 6, 2012 - A Myriad of Colors.

>> April 6, 2012 – fun, Holidays, toddler things to do

One of my favorite parts of Easter has to be coloring eggs.

All the colors - bright and happy - how can it not make you happy too? It's also a colorful and clear indication that Spring is here to stay - another thought that makes me very happy.

It's so beautiful to see Georgia now enjoying it all too. She's so intense...

Look at these dyed hands!

Today, coloring eggs and tomorrow an Easter egg hunt and then comes the big day! Easter is so close, I can taste it as well as I can taste that slightly dyed egg salad I'll be making soon.

She was so proud of her rainbow of eggs.

Have a happy Easter weekend!

March 12, 2012 - Bubbles and Chalk

>> March 12, 2012 – fun, life, outdoors, toddler things to do, weather

Like a bubble floating on air, so high floats the dreams of our childhood.

Georgia and I found a little bit of childhood hiding in closets and cabinets this morning, and the weather was just right for it all...

My lovely, may your dreams and goals float high and be as colorful as you are.

March 7, 2012 - Here's How We Re-purpose!

>> March 7, 2012 – arts and crafts, fun, toddler things to do

One of the pictures from my childhood that I carry around in my head is me - Jaime - and my best friend - Jamie - lying in the bottom of a really large cardboard box and looking up at my mother, who was taking a picture of us. I think I was about seven and he would've been eight. It was always one of my favorite pictures from my childhood. It was a look at how simple being a kid really is, and how you can turn anything into an afternoon of fun. Jamie and I played with that cardboard box until it fell apart. Sadly, the paper picture fell victim to a house fire at my parents' house, but the picture in my mind will live on for my lifetime.

Georgia and I had fun with some cardboard boxes this morning. She might not carry our cardboard creation around in her memory box, but at least we'll have fun with her new "fort" until it falls to pieces.

March 5, 2012 - Make it Monday: Leprechauns!

>> March 6, 2012 – arts and crafts, fun, toddler things to do

The day of luck and rainbows and leprechauns and green is fast approaching, and our home is currently devoid of pretty much anything green.

Enter today's craft: paper plate leprechauns.

Now we're off in search of their gold!!

February 20, 2012 - Make It Monday: Sensory Bottles

>> February 21, 2012 – arts and crafts, learning, toddler things to do

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!!

February 6, 2012 - Word of the Day, "Excavation"

>> February 7, 2012 – toddler things to do

We went a digging... for some lions and tigers... buried in goopy gelatin... then splashed with some red and blue.

Oh yeah, our word of the day is "excavation."

We started with some gelatin...

and zoo animals...

then that gelatin in my bundt pan...

and those animals in the gelatin...

Our "excavation" project went into the fridge, and came out looking like heaps of fun and discovery.

Then Georgia dug in and excavated her new toys.

Add some colored water, and the fun becomes a zoo!

Toddler activity success!!

Georgia's Birth Story

The timing of Georgia's birth, in a way, came out of a journey to death. I'd like to think with every death comes new life, and for me, Georgia is that life. She is my saving grace and has kept me breathing when my lungs were screaming to stop, screaming to drown in my own self-pity.

My husband and I decided to try for Georgia just a few months after our walk down the aisle. You see, my mom had been diagnosed with incurable Ovarian Cancer, so I wanted a baby soon. I wanted a baby while there was still time to have my mother there as I brought a new being into the world, to see my mother hold her granddaughter, to ask my mom which of my baby features my daughter bore, to lean on my mother when I had those "new mom" questions and for so many other moments I had played out in my thoughts over and over again through the years.

My husband and I were thrilled to soon find out our little Georgia was growing inside of me, rounding out my belly day by day, pushing tiny feet into my sides, entertaining us with a neverending chorus of hiccups. We went to the doctor's appointments, the baby classes, took the hospital tour and had everything ready for the day we brought our darling home in Omaha, Nebraska.

It's funny though, life seems to fight our planning and always chooses its own course - and so it did. When my belly was just shy of 38 weeks round, the day came. After a 52-year-long life, which was as bright as they come, my mother faded away. She died on Sunday, October 11, 2009.

Early Monday morning, with my doctor's permission, my husband and I got on a plane to fly home to Georgia for my mom's funeral. We got off the plane in Atlanta around 3 p.m. Twelve hours later, at 3 a.m. on Tuesday, I was sleeping at my parents' house. As I lay in the home where my mom had been just days before, that journey toward life took a leap. My water broke and the contractions started coming within minutes. We were more than a thousand miles away from our doctor, our hospital and our house.

So off to the local hospital we went in the dark of night, my husband driving my mom's SUV and not having a clue where he was going. I had to give him directions between contractions. We arrived at the hospital and didn't even know what entrance to go to. We found locked doors twice before finding the right entrance, and yeah, I floundered up to both locked doors!

We checked in and by the time we got to a room, I turned around and there were my sister, brother and cousin in the room with my husband and I and my other sister and father were on the way. We had thought we'd be delivering in Omaha with just my husband and I and the calming classical CD's I'd burned. I guess my mom had other ideas.

So there we were, in the hospital where two years earlier they had cut cancer from my mother, in the hospital where my two nieces were born, in the hospital where my delivery nurse had also been my sister's bridesmaid - there surrounded by those who love me most and the memory of one who just couldn't stay long enough to make it. I delivered Georgia Katherine at 10:46 a.m. She weighed 7 lbs. and 8 ounces.

We left the hospital on Wednesday with a borrowed car seat, a bag full of borrowed baby clothes, a lot of flowers and hearts bursting with every emotion you can possibly imagine. We arrived at my parents' house to a borrowed crib, borrowed baby supplies and relatives arriving in town with funeral clothes and baby gifts packed in their suitcases. On Friday, my daughter and I looked down on my mother in her casket, and on Saturday we buried her. It's the only time my daughter every saw her grandmother.

My mother fought hard to live long enough to meet her granddaughter and in the end, she missed the date by two days. But life doesn't stop, and it's the beauty of my daughter's life that keeps me smiling. And oh how her life makes me smile. I like to believe whenever I'm holding my daughter and she's starring off into the distance, over my shoulder, that she's seeing my mom - a guardian angel for both of us - and that they are already the best of friends.

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Her Own Space.

April 6, 2012 - A Myriad of Colors.

March 12, 2012 - Bubbles and Chalk

March 7, 2012 - Here's How We Re-purpose!

March 5, 2012 - Make it Monday: Leprechauns!

February 20, 2012 - Make It Monday: Sensory Bottles

February 6, 2012 - Word of the Day, "Excavation"

About this Blog

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Georgia's Birth Story

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Linkbar

Her Own Space.

April 6, 2012 - A Myriad of Colors.

March 12, 2012 - Bubbles and Chalk

March 7, 2012 - Here's How We Re-purpose!

March 5, 2012 - Make it Monday: Leprechauns!

February 20, 2012 - Make It Monday: Sensory Bottles

February 6, 2012 - Word of the Day, "Excavation"

About this Blog

Who's Following us:

Georgia's Birth Story

Get New Posts!

Blog Archive

Blogs I'm Reading:

Visitors (since 03.02.10):

Labels