Gavin relaxing in a chair

Look: Another great day means more chances for us to play in the yard. Gavin has learned how to climb up stairs. He uses this skill to climb into little chairs. He spent a good half hour climbing in and out of this adirondack chair. Luckily C was busy elsewhere and didn't have a fit over him using it!

Learn: It's so neat to watch a child do something over and over when you have the time to really enjoy it. By the end of the time he was a pro at going up and down!

Love: I loved seeing his little face light up each time he got into the chair. The sense of accomplishment made his little cheeks glow!

Ball Pit

Look: Finally something for Gavin to do! I blew up the baby pool (several times actually) and threw in a whole container of balls. He spent time trying to eat each and every ball. Then he worked on moving them around by pushing his little fists under the balls and shaking vigorously. Finally he sat for over five minutes (heaven for Mommy) taking balls out and putting them back in.
Learn: I have a friend who did this for a playdate back when Chelsea was almost one. She loved it! I need to revisit those activites that made her squeal because I'm sure they would delight Gavin as well.
Love: Most of the toys in are yard are for both kids, but Gavin doesn't get the full enjoyment. This special activity was really tailored for him! (But as you can see his sister liked it too)

Chelsea in the Garden

Look: It has been beautiful this week, so we're out every chance we get. I have a ton of gardening to do (if you saw my yard, you'd say it's more than a ton). So a few times when G man was napping, I snuck outside with C to get some stuff done.


Learn: Equipment is key. I have kid sized shovel and watering can which thrilled my little girl. I ended up getting a lot done.
Love: I love watching Chelsea play and mimic the things I'm doing. She was a good little garden helper! But there is still a lot left to do.

Play Dough!

Look: Today we broke out the play dough for the first time. We waited until G was napping (because he'd surely think this was a snack!). C really enjoyed rolling it, squishing it and pushing objects into it. She didn't really understand how to use the toys, but she enjoyed it none the less.

Learn: Play Dough must smell like food, Millie ate a big blob of it. Mental note...put dog inside before playing with the dough.

Love: This was one of my favorite toys when I was little so it was especially fun watching C play with it!

Making Salad

Look: I've started to let Chelsea help with more cooking things. I took out a few great cookbooks from the library for kids and it showed a ton of ways that kids can help in the kitchen that I had never thought of. We had a lot of fun ripping the lettuce, washing it, spinning it and then serving it.

Learn: Toddlers can help a lot. This activity even got Chelsea to put salad willingly on her plate. But she did not eat it, but permitting it on her plate is progress!

Love: I love the pic of her with the salad, she was so proud to serve it and show Daddy and Gavin!

Cutting Fruit

Chelsea got these velcro plastic fruit for her Birthday. It came with a cute knife to pretend to cut with. She plays with them a lot. In the video its just before bed time and she is having a blast with them.

Race for the Cure

Look: It's Mother's Day! I can't think of any better way to celebrate than walking through the city to raise money for Breast Cancer. Cancer has truly affected my family in so many ways, so this walk was great. We brought Grandma along for the 5k walk. There was beautiful weather and we all had fun. C and G were very good sitting in their stroller for the entire thing! At the end we sat and had a mini picnic in front of the art museum.

Learn: I need to do more things downtown with the kids. I used to be such a city gal until I moved to the burbs. The thought of going into Philly had made me nervous, but this race renewed my desire to get out and see all the city has to offer.

Love: I loved walking the race with my family.