Monday, Monday

This morning, we sang one of our favourite songs - ABC! I'm so glad the kids seem innately excited by the ABC's. (Are all kids like this?) We laid the paper alphabet across the floor. I pointed to each letter while singing the song, and hoped they were watching some of it! They have so much fun just dancing around,  walking over the letters and picking up the letters.

Then we used the BINGO letters to sing that song. They took turns turning each letter over, and I clapped over the flipped letters.

Afterwards, they were interested in the alphabet puzzle, so we matched some of these pieces with the corresponding letters on the paper alphabet. I obviously had to help them with this, but I swear I saw flashes of understanding in them. They are such clever little kids!

In the afternoon, we went to the Annette Street Public Library Drop-in. (To see the location and hours, check out this link:
Annette Street Public Library Drop-in

Their favourite part is after music circle, when they get to go under the parachute. (I remember loving the parachute as a child too!) I tried to get some shots that don't have any other children in them. It was pretty difficult.

Of course, circle time wouldn't be complete without "Sleeping Bunnies".....under the parachute. Here are all 3 of them, assuming the position. M. always "wakes up" a little too early. She wants to make sure she's ready. So cute! Here are the words to the song:

See the sleeping bunnies sleeping till it's noon

Come let us wake them with this merry tune

Oh so still

Are they ill?

(pause)

shhhhh

Wake up sleeping bunnies

Hop, hop, hop

Wake up sleeping bunnies

Hop, hop, hop

Wake up sleeping bunnies

Hop, and stop.

Nutrios vs. Cheerios

Are Nutrios really more nutritious than Cheerios? Compare the nutritional information of the two cereals for yourselves. This information is for the cereal only, not with milk included:

                          Cheerios                                  Nutrios
                                    (per 1 cup)                                                        (per 1 cup)
 Calories                       110                                                                    120
Fat                               2g                                                                      2g
Sodium                         250mg                                                               3mg
Carbohydrate               20g                                                                    22g
   Fibre                         2g                                                                      2g
   Sugars                       1g                                                                      1g
Protein                          3g                                                                      4g

                                 Daily Value%                                                      Daily Value%

Vitamin A                    0%                                                                     0%
Vitamin C                    0%                                                                     0%
Calcium                       4%                                                                     30%
Iron                             30%                                                                   100%
Thiamine                      4%                                                                     100%
Riboflavin                     2%                                                                     100%
Niacin                          6%                                                                     70%
Phosphorus                  10%                                                                   25%

Vitamin B6                  8%                                                                      not listed
Folate                          8%                                                                     not listed
Pantothenate                6%                                                                     not listed
Magnesium                  15%                                                                   not listed
Zinc                             6%                                                                     not listed

Nutrios looks more nutritious since it contains significantly less sodium, and significantly more calcium, iron, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and phosphorus. Especially when toddlers can be such picky eaters, it would seem that Nutrios is is one small way to cram a bit more nutrition into their diet. However, the Cheerios contains 5 other vitamins not listed on the Nutrios box. I'm not sure if the low percentage of these 5 vitamins makes much difference. Any nutritionists out there care to comment?

Homemade Finger Painting Recipe

Today I thought we would try finger painting. I got a homemade recipe off the internet at http://www.creativekidsathome.com/activities/activity_42.html . Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup cornstarch
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups cold water
food coloring

You mix all the ingredients above and heat it in a pan on the stove until it thickens.

It was very gooey, not like the finger paint you might buy in the store. Still, it was so easy and inexpensive that I was pretty happy with the result. I gave them each a square of Bristle Board with some paint. Using my own piece of Bristle Board, I showed them how to spread the paint around with their fingers. Aidas was all over it, but the other two....well, the picture below speaks a thousand words.
 

M. (in the highchair) has perfected the 'teenager with an attitude' look. She is clearly not impressed. And Noah is bored out of his skull. Neither of them wanted to touch their paper. At least Aidas is enjoying himself! Maybe we'll try it again in a couple of weeks.

All of them were happy when we moved on to snack. Again, a picture speaks a thousand words!

Noah is weaned!

Well, it's been about 2 weeks since I wrote the blog entry about my indecision (and thus my decision) not to wean Noah - yet. Little did I know, Noah would start the ball rolling to help me out. Last Friday morning he had what he calls "aboob". Friday night, he forgot to ask for it, and I neglected to remind him. When Saturday and Sunday passed without him asking, I figured it would be silly not to go with it....that is, wean him. There is one consistent time in particular that he demands (and I mean DEMANDS!) to breastfeed, and that is when the parents come to drop their kids off at the daycare. It is as if he needs to claim me as his mommy. So, I figured Monday morning would be the time when he would remember "aboob". He actually didn't remember until this (Tuesday) morning, but it was during the transfer of kids. It took me a little while to take his mind off it, but it was pretty painless. (A month ago, if I denied him this, he would have gone ballistic.) This just validated that it was indeed the right time. I was happy that it was Noah who 'let go', since Mother's guilt is the worst feeling. So there you go. Noah Charles, weaned at 21 months!

In other news, we were stuck inside for the entire day today because of the thunderstorms. I was a little bummed that the Early Literacy Centre potluck picnic would be impossible with such weather, but perhaps they will reschedule. The highlight of our day was a bath. They had fun splashing and playing with Noah's bath toys. I blew some bubbles, but M. didn't seem too keen on it, so I put them away. Here are a few pics of the 3 babes in the bath!

The boys are splashing in these 2 photos. M. is just kindly putting up with them!

J's 2nd Birthday Party!

Let the days of attending kids' birthday parties begin! This was the second birthday party Noah has been to; he'll be getting the hang of things in no time!

His favourite part was definitely the food. He ate pretty much non-stop from the moment we arrived. (I'm surprised I managed to snap this photo of he and J. without a big wad of food sticking out of his mouth or hand!)

J. had a great time opening her presents. She loved the dolly we got her. Here she is on her new bicycle. Noah was a little jealous and confused as to why none of these gifts were for him. He kept saying "Nona" (which is how he says his own name), but I reminded him that these gifts were for J., and he took it like a champ! When I held a loot bag for him and told him I would give it to him outside, he was quite ready to leave. He said an abrupt "BYE!" to everyone and waited for me by the door.

J., who used to come to our daycare, is as beautiful as ever, inside and out. HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY to an insanely sweet little girl!!!!

Feeling at Home, at the Home Daycare

Miss M. (in all her cuteness, pictured above) is becoming quite a happy, confident litter camper at the daycare! The kids are into holding hands lately (though not for long periods of time), and I'm trying to capture these adorable moments on camera. I just couldn't let these pics go unposted!

Our Day

Today, M. was sick and didn't come to daycare. We missed her! We went to High Park for a playdate with Noah's 2nd cousin Hudson. It will be the last time we will see Hudson for a while, since he and his family are moving to London, England! Hudson LOVES cars and trucks, just like Aidas.

Aidas can climb up the stairs on one of the structures, sit down, slide down, and get off the slide - ALL BY HIMSELF! He was quite proud of himself, and did it about 10 times in a row. 

Noah was demonstrating his skills at kicking the ball. He's getting pretty good! Go Beckham!!

Then we came home and had peanut butter and jam sandwiches!  It was their first time sitting at our dining room table. What big boys they are now!

Aren't they awesome, drinking out of cups? They can even do it in sync!

After their nap, we were going to go to the playground. The sunscreen was on and everything. I even had my shoes on. But they were very defiant about putting on their shoes. They were very clear that they wanted to stay and play. (It made sense, since they had had no time to play at home/daycare until then.) So I thought it would be ridiculous to force them to go to the playground again, when they were having so much fun with what they were doing.

They're starting a band. They want to be like Olivia in "Olivia Forms a Band". They can also do saxophone, piano, and maracas. They rock! Remember where you first saw them!