Kitchen's here and more...

This morning

It's gorgeous out, you would think it is summer today. C Monster and I spent the morning outside; me cleaning the front yard and him drawings with chalk; ridding his tricycle; helping out with the cleaning; playing with his cars.  We also cleared out our little flower patch; we picked all the flowers that had grown - as I want to plant some vegetables here this year; Carrots and Onions.

Now lets rewind backwards and take a look at yesterday...

C Monster Talk

I have to say some of the stuff that comes out of my sons mouth is too cute.  Here is a few conversations.

A toy and him this morning were having a conversation at the table:

C Monster :”whats this?”
 
Toy : “yum yum me gona eat it”
 
C Monster : “Oeuf”
 
Toy : “num num”
 
C Monster : “mine”
 
Toy : “me gona eat it”

This one is his reaction to going to Sports Ball at a different time of day. See he started level 2 in Sports Ball (ages 2-3) this week the class is at 9:45 instead of 9am. Geoff dropped us off half way and we walked the other half in the stroller (we used to get dropped of at the door). Geoff dropped us off in front of the Donlands Subway Sation.

C Monster in the car: "more vroom vroom doing doing" - translated "more car ball" or "we did not drive far enough we are not at Sports Ball"

C Monster as I place him in the stroller "cho cho doing doing?" - translated "train ball" or "are we taking the train to Sports Ball"

When we got to Sports Ball we had to pass the door and park our stroller; in the winter we used to bring it in with us because their was construction happening in the stroller parking area.  As we approach and pass the door:
“There it is yeah”
“doing doing ohoh”
“no doing doing”

When he finally understands we are going:
“yeah doing doing”

The Kitchen Arrived

C Monster’s birthday present finally arrived today (I was just one month late). We got him a toy kitchen set from WonderWorld Toys.  I have to say I was a bit disappointed when I opened the box - the description on line was a rubber wood kitchen.  The top and bottom are made from laminated MDF and the round contoured bright bits are foam.  I we would have known this in advance I am not sure it would have changed our mind on what kitchen to get for him but it might have.  I was expecting all the parts except for the little window on the oven door to be rubber wood.  That being said the kitchen is really nice; lots of storage space for all his stuff and the most important thing is that he loves it.

C Monster’s Space Part 3

I was waiting for his kitchen to arrive to do the last segment of C Monster’s space. Like I said perviously we have an extra small home so you need to maximize your space usage as much as possible also it is important for me that C Monster has space to play and store his toys in both the living room and the kitchen as these are the 2 rooms most used in our home.

In my kitchen I have a few open shelves at the end of my cabinets - one section is allocated to toys; again I use the same bins that way toys can be rotated around easily.  In the hallway that connects the living room and the kitchen in order from the living room to the kitchen are:

His tickle trunk (dress up box) - I always stash a few toys on top of it when I am cleaning (in this picture is his abacus and xylophone).  Next is his potty and after that his new kitchen.

To make the space more kid like without making it look horrible I framed a few educational posters and mounted them on the wall.  The frames are designed in a way that the posters can slip out easily and be changed.  We have about 20 posters and I try to change them once every few weeks.

So there you have the Monster’s space... after we are done landscaping and figuring out our back yard I will post about his little corner outside.

Cupcakes and Snow

Cupcakes are iced decorated and ready for C Monster's birthday tomorrow...















See I told you - you wanted to check in to see them. If you want to make your own here is how:

CAT:
eyes - mini m&m
nose - cinnamon heart
whiskers - liquorish
ears - sour grapefruits

PIG:
eyes: mini m&m
nose: pink chocolate with white frosting
ears: wafer cookies cut in triangles

CHICKEN:
head piece: swedish berry cut in 4
eyes: m&m
nose: sour grapefruit with small slice cut out

BUNNY:
eyes: mini m&m
nose: mini m&m
whiskers: chocolate sprinkles
ears: marshmallow cut in half diagonally then dipped in pink sugar crystals

Snow Snow Snow and More Snow

It's been snowing on and off now all week I love it. We barely had any snow this year and as C monster puts it "more sno". We made it out to play in the snow this afternoon; I really want to make an effort to get out with him everyday while the snow is still here and not too slushy because as fast as it came it will go even faster.

There are so many way C Monster can learn while playing in the snow:

• we count snow balls
• make snowmen
• draw in the snow with sticks
• experience the sensation of cold
• talk about how snow sticks to some things and not to others
• experience how ice is slippery
• look at foot and had prints (or animal prints when we are really lucky)
  

The exercise you get is also insane, C Monster helps perfect is walking and running skills as everything is harder to do in a snowsuit.

I want to try an art activity with him this weekend - you take a spray bottle and fill it with food coloring and water (or paint and water); then you spray the snow outside with the colours. It's best if you can have a few bottles with a few different colours. It will make a great little piece of art and at the same time you can talk about colours with your toddler.

return from ?

I am not sure how long it's been since my last post; life got the better of me. I guess that is not a bad thing. I've decided to take this blog in a new direction and try to write a tidbit every day or so. I want to keep the post relevant to want is going on in our lives more of a little day to day diary.

The thing that stands out the most about yesterday is poo and snow; however not combined.

Yesterday it snowed for what felt like the first time all winter - C monster immediately asked to go play in the snow. I think he had been waiting for snow since Christmas - in his words each time we saw the tiny amounts of snow Toronto had "more sno; more sno" all while signing we word more and with his bottom lip turn over like he was about to cry. We spent I think a good 2 to 3 hours out in the snow as it was coming down; C monster did some shoveling; some snow throwing and was even though the art of mini snowmen building by our neighbor.

Now the reason why I say poo is that well we actually convinced C monster to use the potty instead of having a poo in his bath last night. - This is huge in our house.