Archive for June, 2010

Serenity’s Favorite Toys

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Here’s a list of Serenity’s Favorite Toys and why we like them =)

All Four Super Readers: I got them as stocking stuffers but couldn’t resist giving her Princess Pea right away.  She loves these dolls, they’re just the right size for her to hold.  She asks for them by name all the time, carries them with her, and generally enjoys them!

Wonder Red and a very happy baby girl on Christmas morning =)

Wonder Red and a very happy baby girl on Christmas morning =)

Tea Party Set: I bought her Tinkerbell tea set when she was way too young for it, and was so excited when she became interested in Tinkerbell I got it out right then!  She loves the tea set and we have tea parties all the time!  She brings the cups and will hold it to your mouth to drink.  She loves to drink real tea too, she shares with me all the time.  She also learned to click her cups together and say “cheers!”  It’s also cute when she collects all the spoons from her tea set =)

Having a fancy tea party with Piggy, using her blue scarf as a tablecloth =)

Having a fancy tea party with Piggy, using her blue scarf as a tablecloth =)

Dora Magna Doodle: I found this at the dollar store and thought it might be a good travel activity for her… it turned out to be an every day sort of toy. She’ll bring it to us and ask us to write specific words or letters… Sometimes then she’ll color on top of what we’ve written like she’s trying to write it herself.  She especially likes to write Mama and Daddy, and she can spell both of those words if we ask her letter by letter.

Writing letters =)  And holding two pacis... pacipers should maybe be on this list...  since she still likes to have three whenever she can get them =)

Writing letters =) And holding two pacis... pacipers should maybe be on this list... since she still likes to have three whenever she can get them =)

Teddy Bear and Quack:  Teddy Bear is the blue bear that I’ve been giving her to sleep with since the doctor said she was old enough to have something in her crib.  She is very attached to him now, and asks for him if he’s not in her crib at bedtime.  She doesn’t fuss if she doesn’t have him though.  Quack is a duck she made herself at Build A Bear around Easter 2010.  I asked her what her name should be and she promptly replied “Quack” which is so appropriate as this was her first word too =) She wants both of them in bed with her, and if she gets in our bed in the middle of the night I often find that she has gathered them both up (and sometimes her blankie and even her pillow too!) in preparation to take them with her to Mama’s Bed.

Serenity and Quack =)

Serenity and Quack =)

Spelling Puzzle (new game): I ordered this puzzle after seeing it on one of my teaching blogs and Serenity was instantly fascinated with it.  Each puzzle forms a word with a picture, and there is one letter on each piece.  When we first opened it she couldn’t maneuver the pieces to fit together, but after the third time we played it she was easily putting them together.  Now I just pour out all the pieces and she can finish each puzzle easily.  She’ll even call out the letter that she needs, if she has O and X she’ll say “I need an F!” She has even spelled some of the words out on her own without the puzzle or picture!  The puzzle says for four and up… but it’s perfect for Serenity as letters are still her favorite thing =)

For a while we did this at least once a day!!!

For a while we did this at least once a day!!!

Super Duper Computer: She got this from Vana Emma and FarFar for Christmas this year.  It’s a little computer with literacy games on it.  She can easily play all the Alpha Pig letter games on her own, and Princess Presto’s spelling games.  She can even sometimes do Super Why’s reading games, although I think she is just able to do that because she’s tried it so many times now she recognizes the words he asks for.  She doesn’t really understand rhyming yet so there are still things to challenge her!

She wanted to play as soon as she opened it!  Here we're skyping with Cupertino on Christmas Eve =)

She wanted to play as soon as she opened it! Here we're skyping with Cupertino on Christmas Eve =)

Alphabet Block Books: This was an early favorite just after her first birthday.  I got these blocks thinking they’d be fun to stack, and it wasn’t long before she knew what every single letter was!

Rocks: Serenity loves playing with rocks, fortunately she rarely puts them in her mouth anymore, although right around year one we still had to monitor her carefully for that.  We had several tearful incidents where we had to go inside because she stuck rocks in her mouth.  Now she loves throwing rocks in ponds or creeks, and counting rocks, and just holding them.  We also painted rocks as one of her crafts and she uses those to build houses. The rock she painted green evidently reminds her of a car, she often zooms it around the house =)

Throwing rocks one by one as Far Far collects them for her... he tried to trick her into tossing her paciper in but she popped it right into her mouth and held back her hand for a rock. =)

Throwing rocks one by one as Far Far collects them for her... he tried to trick her into tossing her paciper in but she popped it right into her mouth and held back her hand for a rock. =)

Spoons: It was so funny that simple spoons could keep Serenity so happy, but they were a favorite all year long!  We have quite a collection of spoons from Yogurtland because they are such fun colors, (thanks to all our nice yogurt-loving friends in Cali) and she still plays with them!

Ahhh Yogurtland =)

Ahhh Yogurtland =)

Buckets/Shovels:  Serenity is definitely drawn to both buckets and shovels.  She got a red bucket at her first birthday, it was the favor for that party, and she loves carrying it around and putting things in it.  She also plays with her easter basket a lot!  When we went to the giant sandbox at the fair with Tina, she collected every available shovel and just enjoyed having as many as possible =)  She likes to dig in the dirt with Mama using her shovels too!

More is better =)

More is better =)

Dribble Ball : The dribble ball is a toy that we technically got for Serenity but mostly Daddy plays with it.  She loves to watch him dribble, shoot, and dunk the ball.  She also likes to sit on it and go bouncy bouncy!

Bouncy!!!

Bouncy!!!

Jewelry: Jewelry is a recent phenomenon, I got her a set of bracelets and necklaces at Christmas, and a few weeks ago I got out my jewelry box that is full of my Granny Hale’s jewelry for us to play dress-up.  She loves it, and it’s so cute to see her in jewelry I played with and even wore in middle school.  Probably her favorite thing from my jewelry box is a little antique key that I sometimes wore as a necklace.   She carries it everywhere and pretends to lock things, like doors, fences, and even walls =)

Golden Crown courtesy of Princess Presto on pbskids.org

Golden Crown courtesy of Princess Presto on pbskids.org

Felt Garden: I made the felt garden as a Christmas present for Serenity.  It has pickable peas, strawberries, and carrots, plus some flowers I got in the dollar bin at Target.  Serenity likes to fill her Easter basket with produce, and she’ll bring you carrots and her other veggies and pretend to eat them =)

Yummy

Yummy

Filling her Easter Basket

Filling her Easter Basket

Little White Table: Dad built her this table.  It’s a great place for tea parties, eating Serenity’s actual meals, and for climbing on!

=)  This is a wild sort of tea party!

=) This is a wild sort of tea party!

Musical Instruments:  I love playing instruments with Serenity =)  Her favorite is the xylophone, and she also loves the maracas and recorder.  Sometimes she brings instruments so we can play together!  She’ll say “that’s a good sound!”

She's tapping the sticks like we do at Music Class =)

She's tapping the sticks like we do at Music Class =)

Wonderful Watering Can and other tools: I got the toolbox thinking maybe she’d enjoy it because Alpha Pig uses tools a lot on SuperWhy.  She does love playing with it, but she usually says “just like Papa!”  The watering can is a bath toy we’ve had forever, but the day she decided it was the Wonderful Watering Can like Alpha Pig’s was the day it became one of her favorite toys!

She's a good helper =)

She's a good helper =)

Uno Moo: Mom got Serenity Uno Moo, thinking she would probably be a game player like her parents =)  Well, Serenity doesn’t quite have the patience for rules  yet, but she loves sorting the animals!  She sorts them by color, and by animal =)  It’s so cute to see them all lined up!  She makes the animal noises, and puts them away in the barn. Great fun!

Everyone’s Shoes:  Eric is a little alarmed by how much Serenity enjoys shoes, but I assure him it’s a normal toddler thing and that she’s not definitely going to own hundreds of pairs of shoes =)  She brings everyone their shoes, (and of course they need to put them right on.)  We went shoe shopping one day and she wanted to try on every pair in the store, even the ones that were not even close to her size.  She chose a pair of pink shoes and a purple one.  The pink are definitely her favorites, although we still often wear the red tennis shoes that I’d gotten her earlier in the year.

Lucky, Wish Bear and Funshine and Piggy:  Lucky, Wish Bear and Funshine are the animals that live in Mama’s Bed, one monkey and two Care Bears.  Serenity spends a lot of time tucking them in and letting them bounce on the bed.  Piggy came in her Easter Basket.  She is evidently very huggable =)  She’s the pig from “If You Give a Pig a Party/Pancake” so we like to read her books and snuggle with her.

Scarves: I dyed a bunch of scarves with kool-aid for her, and they are great for imaginative play.  She makes them into rivers, uses them for tents, and for pretty dresses!

Swimming in the pool =)

Swimming in the pool =)

Alien Aisha Cat: This is a happy meal toy I got from Eric five years or so ago.  It lived in my car forever, but now it’s definitely Serenity’s.  It’s just the right size for her to hold in her hand!

Hippo Pool/Turtle Pool: Dad got all these blow up pools last summer, and we love to use them both for splashing in summer and for holding all our ball pit balls the rest of the year!

Easter Eggs (with surprises inside): Easter was a LOT of fun for Serenity this year.  She loves finding different things inside of the Easter Eggs.  In fact, even after Easter we kept the eggs out and kept putting the toys back in, and each day she’d bring them to us to open and be so excited when she found the blue bunny, the pink bunny, the duck, or some other surprise!

"HOP HOP HOP!!!!"  said while waving her arms frantically... she found the candy eggs first ;)

"HOP HOP HOP!!!!" said while waving her arms frantically... she found the candy eggs first 😉

Legos/Blocks: “Stack ‘em!”  I love how Serenity stacks her legos in groups by color.  It’s so cute!

Sand Box: I made her a little sand box with one bag of sand and a tub, and we dig in it most every time we go in our yard.  The tub has a lid so the sand stays clean.  When she uses all that up, I guess I’ll go and buy another three dollar bag of sand =)

I love the crazy sand toy from Target =)  That dollar bin is the best!

I love the crazy sand toy from Target =) That dollar bin is the best!

Ball Pit Balls: Rosario got us these for her birthday last year, and they have gotten a LOT of use.  It’s especially fun when people come over to climb in them with her!  Right now her Secret Room is just full of them, and it’s a blast!

Green and Red!

Green and Red!

Green Pillow: I was shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond when she saw this green pillow and fell in love with it.  It was soft and huggable, and matched our stuff perfectly so I got it =)

Super Why Game:  Serenity’s First Board Game… Like I said she doesn’t do rules yet, but she loves to line up the figures according to a game of her own, and she can answer the questions on the cards!

She likes to put each Super Reader on the matching picture =)

She likes to put each Super Reader on the matching picture =)

Barn Shape Sorter/Normal Shape Sorter:  She knows all her shapes!  The barn sorter is from Jana and David, and it’s cool because it has letters AND shapes!

T-Ball: This is another one that we usually play with Mama and Daddy.  Serenity likes hitting the ball but she likes watching when Daddy hits it even more!

Serenity’s Favorite Books

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Serenity’s Favorite Books…

Favorite Books

SuperWhy Christmas SuperWhy Jack and the Beanstalk/Cinderella : I got the SuperWhy books so that when she asked for Super Why I could give her something besides television.  I was amazed when she sat through the entire thirty page book in one sitting!  It was our first long storybook, and we still read them all the time!  She loves answering the questions about which letter comes next, or spelling dress, and she knows the super story answers to all of these =)

Biscuit (any): Serenity has several of these board books, mostly for Christmas and Halloween, so when I saw the I Can Read series in the library I started checking them out.  Well, now we need to check out one of these books every time we go to the library!  She loves them that much!

A is for Angry (An Animal and Adjective Alphabet) : We both love this book by Sandra Boynton, it’s hilarious!  And it’s an alphabet book, and letters are still one of Serenity’s very favorite things!

Jamberry (first book we realized she had memorized).  Abbey gave us this book before Serenity was even born I believe, and it’s still a favorite.  We were amazed one day early in her second year when I was reciting it and paused, and Serenity filled in the blanks!  She had memorized it!

Mrs. Spider’s Tea Party : Another great book selection from Abbey, this one has a tea party, numbers, and awesome illustrations!  I love it when Serenity hugs Miss Spider when she’s sad that no one wants to play with her. Trying to make her feel better =)  So sweet!

Llama Llama Misses Mamma, etc : These were more books we got on our library adventure, and I think we need to add them to our collection eventually.  She wanted me to read them several times a day for the entire two weeks we checked them out!

Goodnight Moon:  This is another example of a book being a classic for a reason.  I may not get it exactly, but the sheer number of times that I’ve read this to Serenity means it needs to be at the top of the list!  She loves finding the mouse on every page!

Numbers : A simple numbers book, but she loves to have Daddy read it!  He likes to pause a lot for her to fill in the story =)

Dora’s Alphabet Adventure: This came with the alphabet magna doodle, and she asks Mama to read it all the time.  I like that it has a tiny bit of Spanish.  Excelente!

Grow Up: Another book like Peekawho, this one has windows that show how things grow up.  Like a caterpillar grows up to be a butterfly!  It has the mirror on the last page too.

Dr. Seuss ABC/Curious George’s ABC: She loves her ABC books!  Dr. Seuss especially.

Pigeon (Eric loves to get her to say China and other complicated words) : Eric is so funny when her reads this.  It was also really funny when we learned she memorized it and Eric would get her to say these complicated things like “It’s the Middle of the Day.. In China.”

Corduroy’s Thanksgiving/Easter: Jen got her the Thanksgiving Corduroy book, and this is another one that we’ve read at least a hundred times!

Diving for Colors in Hawaii: This is the book that taught her to say “turtle.”  A whole year later, and I still get requests for it often!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar: One of her favorites, and one we’ve done several activities with, including a felt board, and some matching games.

Dinosaur’s Binkit: Another great one by Sandra Boynton, a hand me down from Casey and Barrett.

Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear.  When we got this book we were glad we’d googled the sound a Zebra makes so we could act it out =)

Gallop/Waddle: Fun, animated books!

Z and F: We got these at the used bookstore, they’re actually part of a Sesame Street collection.  Zoe’s Z Book and Elmo’s Friends.  For a book that takes less than a minute to read, we have spent a lot of time reading it!

No Matter What: We got this from Allie’s birthday party, and we read it all the time =)  It’s such a sweet book!

Pajama Time:  I’ve heard Serenity sing this song in her bed at night =) She has also noted that while some pajamas are red and blue, some are purple and brown.  =)  I love that she’s pointing out new things from the book!

Cat Book (Richard Scarry): Jack gave Serenity this book, and she adores it.  It’s cute because it’s nearly as big as she is, but she’ll bring it to me to read all the time.

Gossie and Boo Boo: Favorites from last year that she still loves =)

How Big is a Pig: Birthday present from Abbey, she finds the best books!  This one’s all about farm animals, and it’s so cute because the illustrations are pictures of appliqué!  Serenity loves the pig, and the jumpy frog page.

Mouse Cookies:  We both love this book!  Our favorite part is when the mouse colors a picture of his family!  She loves to point out all the colors he uses.  We have a collection with one of the Pig books, a Moose book, and Mouse goes to school but Cookies is the favorite, at least until we got Piggy and “If You Give A Pig A Party.”

Discover the Day:  Ann got Serenity this book when she fell in love with it at Toys R Us.  I was skeptical, mostly because I worried about flap books getting all torn up.  We did lose one flap but Serenity loves this book!  So I have tried to loosen up my “books must be kept in perfect condition” attitude and got her a few more flap books.  This one has buttons to play music too!

Pookie Books, esp Let’s Dance Little Pookie:  Serenity loves to do the Pookie dance, we do it in the yard all the time.  “Now we March March March now we’re Marching all Around!”  I have no idea what the neighbors think.

Fairy Colors: A simple book, but it has happy paper =)

In Grandma’s Arms:  Mom got this for Serenity for her birthday, and it’s a great book!  Awesome pictures and a sweet story.  We both love it.

Bright Baby Books (colors, first words, animals, trucks): These are books with bright photos and single words on each page.  We read them a lot recently.

Twinkle Toes: Jen got this one, Serenity likes it I think because it’s all about dancing!

Puppies (touchy feely book)

Haiku Baby

My Very Own Fairy Tale: This is one that Mom got her that has poems about every letter of Serenity’s name.  She likes to find each letter and read her own name!  It’s REALLY long for her but she has sat through the whole thing several times now!

Chicka Chicka 123: Library book, but we read it so many times while we had it!

Seek and Slide on the Farm: A hand-me-down she recently discovered on the shelf.  It has sliding windows to find farm animals, and it’s a definite hit!

Bunnies’ Picnic: This is a book at Papa’s house, so we don’t read it that often, but we do read it regularly.  The bunnies make a stew, but it spills so they’re all hungry.  So they go back to the garden and make a salad!  Hooray for night picnics!

Ocean Book: I Spy board book

Thomas:  She has a couple of books about Thomas, and they all make noise =)  She loves it!

Curious George Color Fun: This book works with her Tag Reader, which she has recently gotten the hang of!

Find the Kitten Book: Another library book that we checked out two separate times =)

Serenity would have sat with Casey all night as long as he would read to her =)

Serenity would have sat with Casey all night as long as he would read to her =)

Grandma reading "In Grandma's Arms"

Grandma reading "In Grandma's Arms"

Serenity wanted to wear both of her blue dresses at the same time =)

Serenity wanted to wear both of her blue dresses at the same time =)

Bedtime stories every night! =)

Bedtime stories every night! =)

This was our "Alphabet Adventure."  One of our favorite books is Dora's Alphabet Adventure, where we find things that start with every letter of the alphabet.  So we did the same in our house!  We kept going until we'd found things for every letter but I, Y, and Q I believe.

This was our "Alphabet Adventure." One of our favorite books is Dora's Alphabet Adventure, where we find things that start with every letter of the alphabet. So we did the same in our house! We kept going until we'd found things for every letter but I, Y, and Q I believe.

Favorite Activities: Snuggling, Swinging, and Bathtime!

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Hugging/Snuggling:  Serenity is such a snuggly baby, I absolutely love this about her.  She cuddles in bed with us every morning.  She says “I snuggle Mama.”  When Daddy asks for a hug or a kiss on the way to work she nearly always says “a hug AND a kiss!”  She’ll give big hugs and then lean back with a big funny smile on her face.  She still says “Mama hold you, Mama hooooold you.”  She also asks “Mama watch with you” when she wants me to snuggle with her as she watches a show.

I love the way she lays her head on my shoulder for snuggles =)  Now she also gives hugs by wrapping her arms around my neck, and sometimes even holds gently on my ponytail. =)

I love the way she lays her head on my shoulder for snuggles =) Now she also gives hugs by wrapping her arms around my neck, and sometimes even holds gently on my ponytail. =)

Snuggling sometimes gets a little rowdy =)  She does love to have her head right next to yours.

Snuggling sometimes gets a little rowdy =) She does love to have her head right next to yours.

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Swinging: She still loves swinging just as much as she did her first year.  Papa installed swings for her everywhere, including building a swing set at our new house, so we enjoy swinging in the yard nearly every day.  She also loves twirling in the swing too!  She is very brave, always asking to go higher.

Papa's Living Room

Papa's Living Room

Papa's Yard

Papa's Yard

Our Yard

Our Yard

Bathtime:  Serenity LOVES bathtime.  For a while we thought she might be half mermaid because she could just stay in the water indefinitely.  She usually does bathtime with Daddy.  Her favorite things to do in the bath are play with rocks (Eric has a set of pretty colored rocks that they splash with, count, and generally play with.)  We also got her bath paints and now even if she’s not really in the mood for a bath you can talk her into it by offering paints.  She also loves her foam alphabet and numbers.  They do a lot of spelling in the tub.  For a while we had her foam building blocks in the tub and that was great fun as well.  She also has assorted cups, spoons, and other splashing devices.

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