Toddler Book Club: August

In August, we hosted our first Toddle Book Club! We invited all of our friends over to read some books and play.

This month, we decided to read some Eric Carle books about insects: The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Busy Spider.  I got to channel my inner teacher and plan some fun activities for my littlest friends.

We started the day off with reading our books and singing a few songs. 
We read The Very Busy Spider (Charlee helped by supplying the animal sounds) and sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."  Then we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Charlee introduced her friends to the "Animal Boogie."

 After reading, the little friends were turned loose to do an art project, play with play dough, eat snacks, and play with toys.

 We made color sorting caterpillars.  The kiddos got to pick the colored circles to make a caterpillar then glue different colored objects in the correct circles.

The play dough was a BIG hit!  I made play dough (recipe here) and the kids were able to make insects or just play.  There were googly eyes and pipe cleaners to make their insects or just use cookie cutters, spoons, and sticks to dig, smoosh, and create something fun.

 Of course there were lots of snacks for our littlest friends. 
Muffins, fruit, cheese, cookies, all a big hit. 

All the kiddos had so much fun playing together.  It's fun seeing them interact together and actually play together instead of just next to each other. 
Overall, the day was a success filled with lots of smiles and no tears.  That's a big win in my book!

21 Months

August 24th, 2015

STATS
Weight: 27lbs
Height: 35.5 inches
Clothes: 2T/3T

EAT
Oh hey, picky toddler stage, what's up?  Remember when my child used to eat anything and everything?  I miss those days.  Veggies are the enemy.  They are detested.  However, I can still manage to sneak them into mac and cheese and smoothies. Charlee still loves chicken and steak though.

Favorites: PB&J, mac and cheese (sweet potato mixed in), apples, bananas, raisins, donuts, grapes, yogurt, chicken nuggets, steak

enjoying a donut

Eating the standard lunch: mac and cheese

playing with pizza dough

Enjoying ANOTHER donut

We went to our first Yum Yum Fest and Charlee loved people watching and trying the different foods

Charlee likes to help me make pancakes in the morning

And she LOVES getting coffee with daddy because it usually means he will buy her a raisin roll.

SLEEP
Back to sleeping through the night! (most nights)  Now if only we could get over the need for mom to do EVERYTHING and wanting me to lay down with her with "me hand" in the crib.
Still doing one afternoon nap a day after lunch.

PLAY
The silly little big girl and I have lots of fun each day.  

trying on daddy's shoes sans pants

Charlee loves to read and we go through tons of books every day.

Our little musical protege is always playing the piano

We also play in the water table a lot on hot days.  A new favorite is to put soap in the water and make lots of bubbles.

Making shapes with macaroni noodles

 Going fishing for letters

 drawing in the bath tub!

 We also spend a lot of time drawing on the driveway.  Mainly mommy drawing "You" and "Ma-yee"

 Charlee's new favorite activity is to cut.  "I wah cuh."  She loves to cut with the scissors while I hold the paper.

 Play dough is also a big hit in this house.  We have some in the basement, in the kitchen, and in the playroom. 

 We've started to do a lot of color sorting and practicing color words.  Charlee is really good at sorting the colors and trying to trick me by putting them on the wrong circle.

WITH FRIENDS
We hosted our first toddler book club!  Find the details here
Charlee had tons of fun playing with her friends!

OUTINGS
Charlee has been going to the Seventeenth Radish two to three times a week for their activity hour.  She LOVES going to school!  She gets so excited when I tell her she is going to school that day.  She has gone to music, Spanish, sensory play, play dough, and story time.  

Going to school!

We got to go to the Children's Museum again with our best friend Aubrey and her mama, Jessica!  These two little friends are the cutest and they love to play together, even if it doesn't happen as often as we'd like.
They had fun painting the windows and playing with the magformers.

Aubrey and C also played the piano together and explored the rocket.

We even got to see the chicks and the other animals on the roof!

Then they helped out by watering the garden

Thank goodness the Henry Vilas zoo is free!  This was a life saver and great time killer when someone woke up cranky from a nap.

 Checking out the prairie dogs.  The one sitting on the other reminded me of when Charlee tries to sit on Lucy.  Poor Lucy

 Did you know Epic has a farm?  We went to visit the goats, sheep, and cows with daddy one weekend.  Charlee had a blast!

The cows were definitely her favorite

 Riding the tractor with daddy (as in just sitting on it)

Every Tuesday we went to Toddler Art Time at the library.
Charlee painted a tree branch one week.

 Played with play dough the next (big hit)

 And the last week, they got to paint with different textures.

FAVORITES
"YOU!" aka Lucy.  These two are two peas in a pod.  Charlee is just smitten with old lady Lou. 

When Maddie and Lucy took a little vacation at Glamma and Pop's house, Charlee took her doggie for a walk every day.

We also spend A LOT of time at the park.  Charlee loves the swings.  Sometimes Little Lou comes with us too and swings.

Swinging with Uncle Chris

 Climbing with daddy

 swinging with Glamma

 going down the slide!

We also watch the "Animal Boogie" on repeat most days.  This girl loves to boogie!

And then there are the selfies.  So many selfies and pictures at Target with the Target Dog!  It's getting harder and harder for me to take pictures because she always wants to see them or take the picture herself.

MILESTONES
Top two year old molars are coming in!
 Can count to 3 and to 10 with help!!
Can identify and match colors

WORDS
mom, dad, dog, done, down, bye, hi, bug, water (wah), goat (go), go, bubbles (bah), ball (bah), blueberry (bah), owl, no, yeah, bow, bird (bir), eye, nose (nah), head (eh), arms (ar), Lucy (YOU), Maddie (Ma-yee, or Mae Mae), sit (see), up, garage (gah), cheese (chee), bottle (bah), up, leg, shoe, belly, choo choo, bib, chair, open, close, baby, shirt, pants, socks, spoon, teeth, plate, cup, bowl, hi, bye, blue, red, white, black, orange (oh), purple (purp), pink, bear, bye bye, hiya, Charlee (Cha-ee), outside, inside, piggies, bed, "me hone" (my phone), "long neck" (giraffe), "pease" (please), run, walk, hop, tiptoe and too many more to count!

Phrases:
I want water, I want...
right back
I will...
I done.
I walk
I ride

LETTER TO CHARLEE
Oh little big girl,

You are getting bigger by the minute!  Your vocabulary has really started to explode this past month and you are chatting up a storm.  It is so much fun figuring out what you're trying to say and all the different things that come out of your mouth.

We've had a lot of fun this month and you have been learning a ton.  You go to "school" (The Seventeenth Radish) a few days a week for their activity hour and you love it!  Whenever I tell you that you're going to school, you say "yay!" You're really good at identifying and matching colors and you love to read books.  You love to sing "The Wheels on the Bus," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Pat-a-cake," and "The Animal Boogie."

It's hard to believe that in just a few months you will be 2!  We're not ready for you to be a big girl yet.  But it is so much fun watching you grow up.  You love to help around the house and put your cups, bowls and plates away when I'm emptying the dishwasher.  You also like to "help" me vacuum. You really like to walk your dogs.

We can't wait to see what these next few weeks and months will hold for you.  You are such a smart, funny little girl.  We love you so very much!

Love,
mama

OUTTAKES