Life Lately

 We spent a day at the beach in White Rock

 Thank goodness for low tide, otherwise it would have been super crowded!

 Running free :)

 There was a slow day at Kensington Prairie last week.... so many ride-ons to choose from

 Miko loves shelling fresh peas

 Digging in the garden

 Our latest Duplo house

 We made a craft bird the other day...

This is what it looked like 3 minutes later!  I think he's still a little too young ;)

Ordinary Days

 Enjoying the fire truck at the Library

 The Lego Store continues to amaze me with their customer service!  I asked if they had any foliage/flower pieces hiding in the back and they filled a bucket for me ;)  Glad I asked!

 The Pick a Brick wall is awesome :)

 Cold enough for our winter hats

 We went to the gymnastics club down the street for the first time and we both had a blast.  We will be going back once a week if Miko's nap schedule allows for it.

 My homemade light-box setup

 Grocery shopping trips are getting a lot more complicated/difficult now.... By the time we get to the checkout Miko is 'done' and often resorts to tossing numerous items out of the cart.  He can also reach all the strategically placed goodies next to the check out.  I made him a very quick shopping list as a trial run (because I never know if he will destroy it instantly or throw it out of  the cart).  It kept his attention for about 20 minutes, which is great, but we usually end up shopping for over an hour so.... I am open to suggestions for dealing with this stage!

I'm working on a homemade advent calendar this year, will post more on Dec 1st when it is completed and hanging on the wall :)

Farm Tots Pumpkin Class

 

These pictues (with me in them) were taken by a fellow antendees Mom.  Thank you guys so much for taking our picture and emailing them! It's a rare and special thing to have photos with both Miko and I together.

 I can not praise these tot classes enough!  They are all done so well, with songs, stories, treasure hunts, crafts and sensory play. I think this activity was Miko's all-time favourite so far.  He got to play with some homemade play-dough that smelled like pumpkin spice as well as a bin or coloured rice.  I could not believe how much he loved playing with them, all of the kids loved it!

 

 And these are my pictures ;)

Here the kids are creating a pumpkin painting by using a stamp and some q-tips

 See Miko's little stuffed cat sitting with him?  He was quite attached to it that day and wanted to bring it with us :)

Farm Tots with Babcia

A Treasure Box

 

DIY Sensory Bottles

 I made these bottles for Miko to play with a couple of months ago now. They are such a favourite of his so I thought I'd do a quick post about them.  I got the idea from pinterest I believe, there are so many great baby and toddler activities to choose from.

This is the 'wet' bottle, named so because I filled it with water.  It also contains some green gems and rocks (from Michaels) and some glittery, silver stars. The effect is really neat, kind of like a cross between a snow globe and those oil and water bottles that you can buy. It is a bit heavy though, at first Miko could only roll the bottle around, but even that is fun to do!  



  

And this is the 'dry' bottle of course. I found some cute and colourful foam bugs at the dollar store which fit nicely through the opening in the bottle. I have to say that this one is his favourite, he loves rattling it and throwing it around, he also used to bite it and pick it up with his mouth!

 

Miko is always supervised while playing with these because they would pose a choking hazard if he ever managed to open them.  I did use some hot glue on the lids before closing them up tight and they haven't opened yet but you can never be too careful.

 

I think I will make a few more of these soon since he likes them so much.  They are so simple and easy, I just browse the craft isle at the dollar store and fill up the bottles with different combinations of items, done!

Homemade Discovery Box

 I recently made this 'discovery box' for Miko and he is at a great age for exploring this type of thing.  For now I have filled the box with different scraps of fabric but you can put anything inside really. In fact, Miko likes to figure out which other toys and objects can fit inside.

 I saved a lid from a disposable bag of wipes and glued it onto a cardboard box (a box of oatmeal in this case). Then I covered the box with scrapbook paper, and finished with a layer of clear tape.  Miko still likes to gnaw on things so the tape keeps the box and paper from being edible.

 This activity was so quick to finish and has provided countless minutes of fun for Miko already. I'm thinking I will make another larger one soon too.