Archive for the ‘The Everyday’ Category
Not one of her most innovative hiding spots…
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009Wordless Wednesday: my not shy kid
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
Not Just for Little Boys
Sunday, August 30th, 2009Lil enjoys “shaving” alongside Dad. She uses a tiny nailbrush to skim the shaving cream from her face, but much of it remains there until her shower. I know Daddy enjoys that these moments are not reserved for sons.
Nonetheless, there is something decidedly girly about this scene.
Wordless Wednesday: Move Over, Winston
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
I Heart Faces photo contest: Feet!
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009Thanks to Cage Free Monkeys and her recent post, I’ve just discovered the i heart faces photo blog. I decided to enter their latest contest: feet.
There were many pics I considered because I thought they were pretty, or artistic, or cute. But then despite the everyday snapshot lameness, I ended up going with this one.
Hands and feet. My little girl and me. Posted to my blog almost 2 years ago, and so much has changed since then. In those days shoes were nothing more than an inconvenient frivolity; now she needs a range of footwear. Sneakers, flip flops, sandals, dress shoes. Rain wellies. And her little tootsies are growing out them as quickly as I acquire them.
These once tiny and pristine feet are now so active. Jumping, running, kicking balls, learning to pedal a trike. These bare feet slide across shiny linoleum, push their way into the gritty texture of beach sand and the squelch of wet garden dirt. And they dance through her days.
It makes me a bit nostalgic looking at pics from her first months. Then I start reflecting on this whole journey so far, how much has happened already and the wonderful kid she is now. And even so, she’s still only 2, and it amazes me to think of all that is yet to come.
My toddler is fully on board with my love of thrift shopping.
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009Those who know me know that thrifting is a long time guilty pleasure of mine. I love finding those unique gems on the rack amidst all the crap. its like a treasure hunt and I dare say I’m good at it. So I guess it was fairly unavoidable for me to carry this over to shopping for my Lil girl, from toys to gear to (especially) clothes. Since she grows out of things so rapidly and constantly gets so dirty, thrifting makes more sense now than ever. I love to have a wardrobe full of fun stuff for her to wear, and I certainly love spending next to nothing.
Kids consignment sales, freecycle, craigslist, trading with other moms and a myriad of thrift stores have all been sources of great gems for us. She enjoys the adventure of accompanying me on these endeavors. A few weeks ago, while I was revelling in the victorious discovery of ideal gently-used sandals that were just her size, the gal was frolicking with a brand new friend. A bigger kid of course, a boy around 5. I had overheard her encountering him near the drapery, my heart filling with pride as she used her polite introduction talk.
“Hi, I’m Lilah. What’s your name? Nice to meet you. Play with me?”
Not bad for a brand new 2yr old. She is so friendly and articulate, when she wants to be.
Before long they were ‘building a city’ using tiki coasters and marble chess pieces. At least, that was what she kept proudly proclaiming over and over while they stacked and arranged and spread things out. Then they took turns spinning eachother in a swivel chair. And just as I was discovering the most awesome and colorful little cabinet for her bedroom bookshelves ever, the buddies were playing ‘basketball’ by tossing a styrofoam bird head into the basin of a mint green vintage toilet.
you can’t get experiences like these just anywhere.
Over a month ago, we happened to find ourselves at the Goodwill in Eagle Rock at the beginning of a lucky special: all childrens clothes were $1. It was Monday morning and nothing had been picked over. We got an insane amount of stuff that day including an ungodly amount of unique, well-made dresses I haven’t even delved into yet. A bounty so cheap it almost felt illegal.
Today ended up being one of those days the gal wanted to twirl in a dress throughout the house like a crazy person. I found this one in the stash at the back of the closet and she was psyched at the idea of trying it on. The sunglasses were by request also. Every once in awhile she can be quite a diva.
Sure she seems rather overdressed for the occasion. If you can call a day of the typical chaos, dirt and grime of toddlerhood an occasion. But for $1, who cares! She started dramatically singing at the top of her lungs immediately after this shot.
Bedtime Tunes
Friday, July 17th, 2009Tonight, our just-turned-two yr old fell asleep to Miles Davis, by request. A few of his albums are on repeat, and a bit on the loud side. It’s after midnight and In the den adjacent to her room I can hear the compelling sounds of In a Silent Way wafting through the walls. I sometimes wonder how this album affects her sleeping mind, her dreams.
She’s been on the jazz kick lately on the bedtime ipod, with Miles Davis topping the requests. She’s occasionally been switching that out with Mediterranean Lullabies and, to a lesser extent, Bedtime with the Beatles. Although I think we’ve determined that neither of us is a fan of those musak renditions; the bonafide Beatles more than suffice.
Classic rock in general is another ongoing fave, whether its time for play or for sleep. At naptime, I often turn on the Top Tracks station on satellite radio and she drifts off to the Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Pretenders. The timeless music I grew up knowing.
Of course, she still asks for the Wall-e soundtrack plenty. And she knows every nuance of it, as well as the movie itself. That has been working less as a sleeptime choice, because she will keep herself awake to listen to it, and want to chat with me about whats going on during the movie during this song or that sound… rather than close her eyes and dream a dream. Really, it is alarming how well she knows the subtle and complex nuances of the movie, but sometimes its just time for going to sleep, kiddo! sheesh.
Not long ago, she was on a Bob Marley kick that seemed like it would last forever. Almost every night at 17 months, her little voice would sweetly say, “Bob…Marley?” at bedtime. And if it wasn’t a Bob night, it was Coldplay. Or perhaps another mainstay: The Blues. She’s a huge fan of Blues in general, she gravites toward the Blues sound. A sleeptime specific was John Lee Hooker, part of her regular rotation, way back in the day (a few months ago).
Music has always been part of our bedtime routine. She loves to decide what she will listen to, and from a very young age she was opinionated about it. Music and songs are very important to her. In the last few months I’ve gone back to leaving her nighttime choice on repeat all night long. That has definitely helped her sleep through the night, which was never her strong forte.
Does anyone else here have toddlers or older kids who still like to sleep to music? What bedtime tunes are a favorite in your family? I’m always open to new stuff I can share with my daughter.
Is it ever scary to be a parent?
Thursday, June 18th, 2009I was asked this question by a friend who looks at our flickr photos regularly. She is interested in my life as the parent of a toddler because she knows its not too far away from her own future.
My response, in short: oh my goodness, yes!
While I have certainly discovered that I am far, FAR more laid back than many other parents, mothering a toddler is an emotional rollercoaster all day long, and often involves worry and fright. I could tell she wanted me to elaborate, so here are just a few of the things that instantly came to mind.
My 23 month old is fearless. Some kids her age stick to their parents a lot and are generally timid and shy but she is most certainly neither of those things. She’ll run right up to people and jump right into things. I love it but it can absolutely be scary! For instance, I’m trying to teach her that she needs to ask dog owners if their dogs are friendly before approaching them. I’m trying to tell her that, no, she can’t go swimming in every fountain we see, or Echo Park Pond or the LA river. And that despite what she thinks, she cannot do all the same things the big kids do. The other day she was playing in our front yard with some of her buddies from our block (ages 8 and 10 mind you!) and I turned my head for a second, only to look back and find her trying to climb atop the 10 year-old’s bicycle. Is it scary? Ya.
She is also really into hide and seek and takes hiding frighteningly seriously. She’ll stay still and quiet and hidden far longer than you would think physically possible for a toddler. At home its ok…although I have had the occasional fright when she’s discovered a new spot and I *really* can’t find her for a fleeting moment. At least I know she’s in this house! Of course, once she learned to open doors that opened a whole nother can of worms! The easy answer to that one: keeping all doors that lead to outside firmly locked at all times. Meanwhile, I’m desperate to convince her its not ok to do this at stores or other places, because she certainly tries! I’ve seen her hide in store shelves or behind hanging clothes while i watch. I realize with a shiver that if I had my head turned that milisecond when she did this, I’d be searching for who knows how long, while she remained hidden enjoying the game. Scary!
She is a big-time runner, too. She runs away for the thrill of being chased, and she will NOT stop even when you sternly demand she do so. The game is on, as far as she is concerned. And she is alarmingly fast. Her desire to be chased and to hide until she is found, even when we are outside our home, is probably the scariest thing right now. I’ve always cringed when I see kids on “leashes”… I’m still avoiding using one but I certainly realize now that those harness things do have a valid place in society, lol.
The photo that made my friend ask me this question in the first place, was one where my daughter is in a sandbox covered head to toe in sand. She is a kid who likes to get down and dirty. I don’t mind because at least she no longer eats sand and dirt! She went through a pica period where she was always putting stuff like that in her mouth. And every time we went to the park I had to worry about keeping her from eating the sand. That was not fun at all, and potentially dangerous too.
Luckily we seem to be out of that phase. So, as long as I don’t have to be taking things out of her mouth all day long, go ahead and pour that bucket of sand over your head, girly! I see other parents freak out when they see Lil lay down in the sand at parks. And then they wonder why their own kids are ridiculously squeamish about stuff.
But yeah, being a parent, even a laid-back one, certainly comes with a big dose of worry and plenty of fears. And while mine is only just turning 2 I can already see that when some fears are alleviated, new ones arrise as our children age and their activities change and evolve. What are some of your notable fears as a parent? What would you tell a friend who casually asked you the question she asked me? 
There’s a bear in my kitchen.
Monday, June 15th, 2009
At least she was kind enough to use a sippy top on her cup.
Rainy Day Craft: Butterfly Collages
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009Lil had her best friend over to play for an entire day while her mommy went on a short trip. I had lots of fun in the sun planned, but the rain started right in the middle of our wagon ride and didn’t let up for hours.
The girls were getting stir crazy, but a simple craft idea kept them occupied for a while. This one is super easy, and adjusts well for older kids. This is something I threw together in a flash but it ended up providing even more play opportunities than I’d imagined.
You’ll need: colorful papers, a gluestick and scissors.
Optional: crayons, markers, glitter…
any of your kids’ favorite art supplies for additional embellishing.
Fold a few sheets of paper in half, right down the middle. Construction paper works great. Cut fun/silly shapes from the fold… they will form the ‘butterflies’ when unfolded. Older kids can cut their own shapes and get really creative with this part. Our gals are too young for scissors so I quickly cut several pieces for them to work with.
Don’t think too much about cutting the perfect shape. It ends up working well no matter what you cut out, so you can just snip away and have a plethora of fun pieces in an instant. Thats why this is a fast craft to get started with the little ones when they’re feeling less than patient. They glued the pieces onto full sheets of paper to create their own butterfly gardens.
Bonus: the scraps from cutting out the pieces ended up providing lots of fun for the toddlers, too. They were delighted to unfold the cut papers and discover an unexpected mask. This fragile mask will be torn in half pretty quickly, but the ladies didn’t seem to mind. They liked playing with the scraps almost as much as doing the project itself.
Once they were finished with their collages and running around with their masks, our little ones became fascinated with trying to fit the remaining cut pieces back into their original pages, like a puzzle. Hooray for simple fun that goes a long way.
