art for toddlers: chalk

Chalk!  Now that Owen is getting past the must-put-everything-in-mouth phase, chalk is a definite favorite for art time.  It's great for an early art medium because there's no need to hold the chalk a certain way, no dipping or rinsing, no need to push down hard; there's a nice contrast between the board and the chalk that makes it easy for little toddlerfolk to see what they drew.  I bought this piece of chalk board at Home Depot for under $10.  We lean it up against the wall when it's not in use and put it on the floor anywhere when we want to get chalky.  Chalking it up on the floor is much preferred to the wall because these guys like to get their feet into it and cover themselves in chalk head to toe.  Best part: cleanup couldn't be easier.  A quick rinse for the pups, a quick vacuum of the floor, done.

What's your favorite way to CREATE with your tiny people?

"Sensory boxes"

At the risk of sounding like a total nerd, I've used the term sensory box just because I don't have anything better.  I got the "sensory box" idea here doing some blog-hopping one day.

The first we one we made is sort of a construction zone -- we call it the rock box.  It's just a shallow plastic tote with black and natural aquarium gravel plus a collection of "special" stones from various beaches and whatnot, plus a bunch of trucks and machines and guys and a couple ladies too.

Bubbs is past the put-everything-in-mouth phase, which obviously you need to be to play with aquarium gravel, so my biggest worry was that he'd just chuck the rocks all over the place.  But he's been good.  Before I take the lid off I always say, "What's the rule?" and Bob says, "Rocks stay in vuh box."  And if he gets too crazy and careless or occasionally just straight up dumps the rocks on the floor, I just help him clean it up and put it away.  And he can try again the next day.  We've had this for a couple of months now, and he still plays with it almost every single day.  A bit hit.

My niece Bailey loves it too (she's almost three).  She just kept freaking out saying, "It's messy in here!"  And she'd pour the rocks on her hands and smile a sneaky smile.  Messy is fun.

For Bobbert's birthday we made another box -- he refers to it either as his rainbow or his rice.  It's both.

I got the rice-dying instructions here except I used way more rice so I also needed lots more food coloring and Purelle.

For now the implements in the box are random extra things from my kitchen plus a couple of dollar store items.  We need bigger funnels because these don't let the rice fall through smoothly.

The rainbow rice is super fun, but so far it is a thousand times messier than the rock box.  Bob can't help it; he just gets crazy with the scooping and pouring practice.  He fills the a funnel and the rice hesitates just long enough for him to move the funnel so that it's no longer safely over the box before it pours out onto his lap or the floor.  I made the mistake of letting him try this out on carpet the first time, and I don't think I'll ever get all those grains out.  Whatevs -- we'll just call it the new rainbow look in the play room.

Now we play this in the kitchen instead, which is at least easier cleanup.

And it seems like he's learning, so I won't retire the rice box just yet.

Bobby is TWO

My sweet little Bobby-pup is two years old.  Can't even believe it, yet I totally can.  Seems like he's still so brand new, yet at the same time he's been in our lives forever.  Seems like he's so tiny and defenseless, yet he's a lot tougher now than when he started out.

On Sunday we had a little party for Bob.  He was very excited about the balloons, the cupcakes, and the prospect of guests.  Of course, when said guests actually arrived he was shy and cried, but soon enough he warmed up.

It was a gorgeous day; we painted some tiny pumpkins outside.

Bobby was really into it while it was just him and Simone.

He had to dip almost every brush in almost every paint and swipe some on almost every pumpkin.

He did a good deal of work on the tablecloth, too.

When the other kids showed up Bob was ready to peace out and be a little wallflower wandering around the edges of the yard with Daddy.

James was the last one painting after everyone else had gone inside.

Bobby's favorite part of the party was everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to him while he sat up on the kitchen counter.  Ohmygoodness it was so precious to see him feeling so special.

Blowing out the candles was also very exciting; took him about 15 tries but eventually he extinguished all the flames on his own.

As I recall this was his third cupcake of the day...

didn't get a good shot of bob's shirt which i love: "you'll understand when you're younger" 

When I sat Bob in his little rocking chair to open presents he gave me his shy cutie smile and said, "I wanted to sing Happy Birthday again."  So we all sang it again.

Simone is such a sweetie-heart with Bob.  She was his other favorite thing about the party.  For the rest of the night after everyone left he sang to himself, alternating between, "Happy birthday to zou," and "Si-mone, Si-mone, Si-mone."

He said goodbye to everyone as they parted: "Fanks for tomin' to my pah-tee!"

That night at prayer time Bobby said, "Fank zou for cupcakes!  Fank zou for tandles!"

His comments about his party the following morning: "I did say goodbye to all my fwiends." and "Bailey did hit me with my baseball bat."  Yes, she did.  But it was an accident.

And unfortunately the cupcake obsession carried over.  As soon as I finished cleaning Bob up after breakfast he said, "Sure, we can have a cupcake!"  "You want a cupcake right now?"  "Zah!  Mmmmmm.... Ahahahahaha! (maniacal laugh)"

On Bob's actual birthday I tried sneaking into his room after I drove Ben to work in the morning to put all of his balloons in there as a surprise, but unfortunately I woke him up and it was way too early but he still wanted to get up and play... so he did.  He had a hankering for some shuffleboard I guess.

Bob's special present from me arrived just in time -- on his birthday.  It's his birth story, all done up with photos as a real book.

We also made and played in his new rainbow rice box.  "Oh, I can sit on my skateboard and play this!"

And of course we had to work on some skills...

(Bob is obsessed with riding a tiny skateboard that belongs to one of the neighbor boys, so Ben and I got him his own -- along with a helmet -- for his birthday.)

He wanted to try skateboarding into the leaf pile; he had fun although I wouldn't say it worked out exactly.

Bob loves this old bajunker swingset in the back yard so I let him play on it even though pretty much the entire thing is one big safety hazard.  He went through a short phase where he was a little afraid of going down the slide by himself, but apparently that's over and now he's all hands-up about it.

Bob the two year old is very fun.  He loves to play.  Sometimes like a little cutie pie, pretending with his Little People or having a picnic.  Sometimes like a lunatic, running and jumping and throwing and yelling.  And sometimes in the midst of all that he'll shout, "Twazy duy!" (that's "crazy guy" in case you couldn't tell) and carry on.

When he got home from work Ben did a little photo shoot for me...

Then Bobby got to open the rest of his presents from us and from out-of-town relatives.

I let Bob choose his birthday supper; he decided on pancakes and eggs.

I came in with my camera while Bobby was taking his bath and when he saw me he said "Smile!" and did this goofy pose.  "I'm be-in a doof-ball doing vis!"

Grandmother and Tom stopped by with more presents...  Bobbert is very happy to be the proud new owner of a "bike."

We let him stay up late for family movie night -- the Winnie the Pooh movie, purchased with our Best Buy reward certificates at Bob's request.

He didn't last through the whole movie.  What happens is, he gets all snuggly and chillaxed with his blankie and suckie -- until all of a sudden he realizes that he's about to lose it and fall asleep, so he chucks them down and runs across the room and starts yanking out all his sporting equipment.  And I'm not about to let that start up at this hour, so "time for beddie bye" it is.  I always read him books in the rocking chair in his room before bed; I'm usually a sucker and go for "one more book" at least five or six times.  Especially on his birthday, because, well duh it's his birthday.  Then I turn off the light and carry him over to his crib and turn on his projector/music and pray with him and sing "You are my sunshine" and finally lay him down and cover him up (only recently has he warmed up to the idea of covers) and say, "goodnight, my prince.  i love you," or something equally cute, and sneak out quietly and close the door behind me.

And this night, because it was his birthday, duh again, at eleven pm I snuck back into his room to take pictures of him sleeping exactly two years after he squeezed his way into our world.

And then I picked him up and carried him back to the rocking chair and sat holding him asleep for a while, praying and reflecting and just cherishing the moment, because his tiny body doesn't actually feel so tiny in my arms anymore, and it will only get less tiny from here on out.

I wish I could capture the feeling -- the range and rush of emotion of motherhood.  "Each moment seems split in two," or three -- joy for the present, excitement for what is to come, melancholy for what is left behind.

When older ladies we meet out and about ooh and ahh over Bob and tell me, "Enjoy him while he's little," I reply, "I know; I'm trying my hardest every single day."  Not because it's hard to enjoy him, but because it's impossible to enjoy him enough now that I won't be sad later when he grows up on me.

I am so incredibly thankful for this gift of life I've been given to watch over.

I love you, two year old Robert!