Toddler Activities

This is a simple and easy way to keep a toddler busy! It's about 60 degrees today where we live, which is crazy because it's winter! Anyways I filled a bowl with a small amount of water and gave Kiley a paintbrush and she is painting the deck! Completely harmless and entertaining her self! You could even do this inside at a table with construction paper!

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Mess Free Finger Painting!

Have you checked out Pinterest yet? If not you should. It's like chocolate, it's addicting. Too addicting.

Anyways, the Hippie Housewive shared a pin of mess free finger painting! What a great idea! Seriously, with a one year old who LOVES to paint, but really has no control of what or where she is painting, this is great! It's even great as a learning lesson, to mix colors in older toddlers !

First you put, paint, as many colors as you want in a gallon sized freezer bag, close the bag making sure all the air is out. Place it on the table and surround the bag with tape so it's secure. You can place a piece of paper underneath the bag if you want.

Then let your little one go to town! Kiley is such a serious painter!

Kiley decided she wanted to try using her bracelet to help paint also.

BrillKids Little Reader

As a member of the BrillKids Blog Team, I was recently given the opportunity to review their Little Readers Program. I was able to review the online program of Little Readers.

So what is Little Reader? It is a program that teaches your child to read at an early age.

At first I was a little hesitant that I could get my 1 year old daughter to sit down for about 10 minutes at a time to go over the lessons. The first day I was able to get her attention for about 5 minutes, but the next day and everyday after she sits down for the whole lesson. We do one lesson a day. Little Reader keeps the child engaged because it's constantly changing to a different word or picture. It also makes sounds, for instance if the word is dog, a dog may bark. After 3 days Kiley was repeating the word dog and was barking like a dog and now does it all the time. As a former educator, I really like this product a lot. It's very user friendly, the lessons are short, but very informative. You can even customize the pictures in the lesson to your child's face, or even you own pets.

My favorite part of the lesson is that every time the child is taught a word, he or she not only sees the word in a different color or font, but she also sees a dog and hears a different voice and sees a different picture. I like this because she isn't looking at the same picture over, and over, or hearing the same voice over and over. I feel it really helps keep her into the program.

The program comes with a 12 month lesson plan. You can also use the BrillKids forum and download more content to your lesson plans. There are two different programs you can purchase from BrillKids. The first version retails for $250.00 and includes the Little Reader software, pattern phonics flash cards, 1 year program of the English Curriculum program, starter flap card kit, The Little Reader storybook series, which includes 25 books, weekly lesson plans, Teaching Your Baby To Read Booklet, 6,000 Loyalty Bonus Points, Teaching with Little Reader booklet, sticker labels for playing the labeling game. Little Reader Basic retails for $149 and includes, The Little Reader software, 1 year program of the English Curriculum, Teaching Your Baby To Read booklet, and the Teaching With Little Reader Booklet.

You can also do a 14 day free trial of the program, which I highly suggest downloading and seeing how much this program can really help your child to read.

You can start the Little Reader program in between 3-6 months or you can wait till your child is 1 or 2. So why teach your child to read so young? Well there are many benefits.

One of them is that children who teach reading before formal schooling starts are seen to have higher self-esteem and confidence levels, than those who had parents who didn't encourage early reading. Children are also more likely to be more successful in school activities and want to learn more eagerly.

Remember keep your lessons fun and exciting and it will keep your child engaged! Kiley likes this program so much that every time she sees the computer she waits for me to turn Little Reader on!

I was provided this product in exchange for my honest, unbiased opinion. I was not paid for the review, nor required to write a positive review.

Just In Case You Missed It

That's right, Kiley's going to be a big sister!! A very unexpected big sister, but a big sister!! We are super excited. Baby K #2 is due April 7, 2012.

Kiley is 12 Months!

Sorry this post is a few days late, but we've been enjoying the birthday girl's big day of turning one!

So hard to believe you are 12 months. This past year has FLOWN by, I now know why everyone tells you to enjoy the first year because it flies by. You never really believe anyone that tells you that until you go through the process of having your own child.

You've grown so much this past year and learned so much. So what have you done in the past month? Well you've began walking, you aren't too sure to be on your own but you can totally do it. You just know you can get somewhere faster by crawling, so you chose to crawl.

You are saying SO many words, its pretty unbelievable that a little 1 year old can say so much. So far your vocabulary consist of: hey, hello, hi, bye, yea, yep, woo, whoa, dada, daddy, mama, mom, double, baby, bubble, yay, and no.

You totally are over baby food, you only want people food. You are almost off of formula and only on regular whole milk, just a few more days. The past week you started barking like a dog and sometimes will do it on command, it's SO cute. You are still napping and sleeping at night like a champ. Just about everyday we go to the pool and you love the water, you are just like Daddy and Mommy when they were little.

You love to play peek-a-boo and find everything funny, you even try to make everyone else laugh. You learned how to push the stool in the kitchen to the stove and turn on the burners! So needless to say Mommy fixed that quick.

You still love everyone to pay attention to you, no matter where we go, you will yell at someone till they look at you and talk to you! You got your ears pierced a few weeks ago and it looks super cute!

This year has been amazing watching you grow into a little toddler. Can't wait to see what the next whole year brings!

Happy Birthday Kiley!

Grab your tissues, you may need them, I did like 10,000 billion times writing and watching this!

Happy Birthday Kiley! I can't believe you are one today! Wait, I just wrote that you are one? So weird. How fast did that go? When I first went into labor with you I never imagined after waiting 9 months, Daddy and I would have to wait another 38 hours to meet you! Everything was well worth the wait though! I remember waiting for that first cry, it's the only thing I wanted to hear at the moment you were being born, and as soon as I heard it, tears fell down my face. It was the most amazing feeling ever! We fell in love with you at that moment, and we never knew how much we could love you. We've loved watching you become the little toddler you are. The first time I held you, you were so tiny, all 5 pounds of you. Tinier then a baby doll. You fit perfectly in my arms and Daddy's arms. Now that you are one, you are still a tiny peanut, but you are Kiley, and if anyone has spent time with you, they know what I mean.

You are a bubbly, little dainty girl. Totally a girl, with your toes painted and all. You are so smart and exploitative. Let me tell you a story, before you were born I had a great job, a really rewarding job, a job I wasn't sure I wasn't ready to leave, but nothing would ever change that now today. I knew in my heart I needed and wanted to spend everyday of your first year with you and watching you grow.

In this short first year, you've taught Daddy and I a lot! We learned you really do never wake a sleeping baby, we learned that poop has a way of making it out of the diaper, we learned that babies know how to unswaddle them self, we learned that a routine at night time is the best to help you sleep through the night! You helped us become parents. we only learned because you guided us through the process of becoming a good parent. Seeing all your first, first roll, first crawl, first smile, first cruise around the coffee table, first everything you have done have been amazing and a joy to watch. You might think we are crazy, but we are just super excited when you do something new.

This year probably has been the most challenging of my life, most sleepless and most rewarding because of you. Being a mother or a parent in general is probably the most selfless thing I've ever done. In the beginning I wished there was a fast forward button to get through the newborn stage, and now I wish there was a rewind button to get those days back. Soon enough you'll be sick of me kissing you all the time, hugging and snuggling you, taking a billion pictures of you, calling you cute names and putting silly bows in your hair!

I could write all day to you Miss. Kiley but nothing I write will ever show your love, your cuteness, your sweetness and everything that is Kiley. Daddy and I are so incredibly blessed to be your parents. You've changed our live in a way we couldn't of ever imagined.

We are so proud of all you've learned in your first year of life. We can't wait to see you grow throughout your childhood and see the little lady you will become


Love you Kiley!

Kiley is 11 months!

11 months, wow! I can't believe that in one month Kiley will already be a year old. It's so hard to believe how fast that year goes. The other night Chris and I were watching videos of her and couldn't believe how much she's grown. We were watching videos of her when she was 3 months old and just sort of laid there and every once and while said some baby gibberish. And then we watched her first giggle video, and it's just as cute then as now.

Anyways, this month has been fun, just like all the rest Miss. Kiley. You are getting SO big. Your hair is starting to come in thick, you may even have enough to get a first haircut when you turn one, because your bangs are so long! Mommy has to brush them to the side so they stay out of your face. Your hair is also starting to turn a lighter blonde. We go to the swimming pool everyday and you love to stand in your float and walk all around. You love to play with your little friends there and steal their toys =).

You love to use your walker to walk around the house. You also like to push anything you can to help you walk, like the kitchen chairs. Mommy can't tell you how many times a day she has to put the chairs back because Kiley likes to push them. You also want to walk but can't quite get the balance yet, though last night you took one tiny step towards Mommy. As soon as you realize no one has your hands you say the heck with it and sit down! You also like to play with Puggie's food and water bowl. Last night you hid Puggie's food bowl in the cooler, you silly girl! You still like to dump Puggie's water bowl also, a ton.

You love to eat grown up food, like meatballs, babybel cheese, goldfish pretzels, any kind of meat. Grandma even gave you a sneak peek at some ice cream weekend, you looked like you'll be just like Mommy and love it! Last night Daddy made you a turkey burger with cheddar on it, he spoiled you! =) You love to be outside and explore the grass, and also pull it and try to eat it, yucky!

Each new thing you do is amazing to watch. You are starting to say a lot, so far you can say, "hello, hiya, bad, no, dada and mama" Besides the typical, "eh, oh, ah". You started clapping just randomly last Saturday and you get SO excited when you do it. Love it!

One of my favorite things this month, is you give kisses and hugs now. Sometimes the kisses are super sloppy, but it melts my heart when you give your kisses and hugs. You love to give Daddy sloppy kisses on his nose. You still only have two teeth on the bottom and so far I don't see anymore coming in.

I can't believe this is your last month to be considered a baby, next month you'll be a toddler. But that doesn't matter cause you will always be Mommy and Daddy's little baby =)

Happy 11 Months Kiley!

Vote For Kiley!

Kiley is entered in The 2011 Gerber Generation Photo Search! She has a chance to win a grand prize of a $50,000 scholarship and a chance to star in a Gerber Generation print ad!

How exciting!!!

Vote for Kiley here!

You can vote daily!! Do it!! Kiley will give you hugs!!

Kiley is 10 Months!

Hard to believe that in two months my little baby will be a year old! This past month has been crazy with everything she has started to do. I almost don't have enough room in her baby book to write it all down!

This month Kiley, you've become an expert at crawling! You are super fast and get to where you want to get to with no problem. Your biggest milestone this year is that you have gotten your FIRST toothie! And then a few days later you second toothie came in! You look so silly with just two teeth, but it's super cute, just as cute as your gummy smile!


You love to stand, every chance you get to stand you stand! You love to walk around with your little walker, sometimes you think you can walk, but you really can't so you fall down, silly girl. You love to crawl over to Puggie's water dish and dump them, sometimes you dump them a few times a day. You love to go look out the doors and windows.

When Daddy gets home from work, Puggie and you greet him at the gate, waiting for him. You move stuff out of your way to get to him it's pretty cute. You are saying a whole bunch of stuff now, everything but MaMa! You love to say "De De De" and you look at Puggie when you say it, just yesterday you started saying "D" when you see her, so maybe you are trying to say dog. You love to say "bub", I'm not sure if you mean bubbles. You've learned how to click your tongue and you LOVE to blow raspberries. You are the queen at that. You love to imitate noises you hear.

You love to play peek-a-boo by your self. You'll pull whatever you have up over your face and wait for someone to say peek-a-boo and then you lower it. Just this week you've started to pick up your ball and throw it, crawl after it and repeat it over and over again. Today you pointed a picture at Daddy and said "Dada" so I think you know who Dada is now! You love swimming in your pool. You don't like bath tub anymore you just want to stand every chance you get! You actually stopped eating a lot while you were teething but you've started to finally get your appetite back! Speaking of teething, I've heard all these horror stories from teething babies and you were a GEM, I wouldn't even of known you were teething except you weren't eating and had small rash!

You are still sleeping like a champ, you sleep from 9-7-7:30 and take an hour and half nap in the morning and a 3 hour nap in the afternoon! You must get so tired from all the fun stuff we do together during the day!

Can't believe you will be a year old in just a short time! Love you!

Kiley is 9 Months!

Kiley 9 months old already! I can't believe how fast time really goes when you have a baby.


You are doing SO many new things and it's all happening so fast! The biggest milestone this month is that you are CRAWLING, like really crawling, Mommy has to post a video of it. No more of your silly belly flop, army crawl. You've got it down pact and everyday you are getting faster. You have also discovered you can stand and find it quite fun to do it every chance you get. You are really interested in walking and getting the hang of it on your walker. It's so funny to look at you because you aren't this little baby anymore, your this little person! You love to wave, you wave when when say Hi and Bye, you're so smart! You love to pull your self up on things, it takes a lot of concentration, but you can get it. You just started this new thing this week, where you do the downward dog Pilate pose, not sure if you are tying to a head stand or what =)

Mommy is still trying to get you to say "Mamama" but you are still stuck on saying "Dadada." Our conversations have been going like this, Mommy say's "Mamama," Kiley says "Dadada", Daddy days "Mamama" and Kiley responds, "DaDa, then blows raspberries" It's so stinking cute!

You are eating a lot of new things, like big people crackers. You tried some pasta. You are loving all of the home made food Mommy makes for you. No teeth yet, but we are just enjoying that gummy smile a little longer. You love Puggie and her doggie tags, that's your favorite thing to get after. You are no longer interested in any of your own toys, you want everything but them!

I don't have your official 9 months stats, but we go to the pedi this week, so I'll update the post with that information!

Daddy and I love watching you grow so much everyday Kiley bug!

My Two Kids

Oops!

I thought it would be a great idea for Kiley to help us decorate our Easter Eggs, the husband asked If I really thought it was a good idea, and of course I thought it was, until Kiley decided to grab the pink dye and this happened:
Needless to say our floor turned pink and we scrubbed and scrubbed till it was white again!

Kiley is 8 months!

Kiley is 8 months today! Where is this time going? 2 months ago, I said I couldn't believe you were a half of a year old and NOW you are only 4 months away from being a year old. Time to start planning that party!

So what's new with you this month little bug? So much, again =) I love watching you grow everyday. You are an expert at rolling, if only you could make Mommy and Daddy some money by competing in rolling Olympics for babies! =)

You are SO close to crawling, you can get up on your knees now and rock a few times, but then you like to flop back down to your belly! Sometimes you get mad, because you really want something but can't figure out to get to it. No teeth yet, still waiting on those.

You love your Puffs and all the fun little snacks you can get now! You even tried some homemade ham last night and you loved it! You are loving jumping in your jumper, you go CRAZY! When we tell you jump, you jump! We also just bought you a walker, that you took a few steps with, but you like to hit the buttons better right now so it makes some noise. You have this fascination with playing with your baby food jar lids or any type of lid for that matter! You love to grab everything in your sight, your favorite things that you really try to get though are Daddy's cool new TV remote and Mommy's I-Phone.

The biggest change this month is that you are waving! On command waving also! As soon as someone says Hi or Bye to you, you wave! So cute! You keep waving to Puggie and look very confused as to why she isn't waving back to you.

You love to play a game, I'm not really sure what to call it. But you like when we scream, happy screams of course, and you scream them back at us. Yesterday while outside you heard your echo and you liked it. You started screaming at people at the grocery store as well, so they pay attention to you, such a ham!

Anyways, once again, I can't wait to see what you do in the next month.

Giggly Kiley

Don't mind her silly Buffalo Bill's PJ's, we have to semi support Daddy's hometown football team.

Mamarazzi

I've been slacking on Mamarazzi post, but here is this weeks:

This weeks photo op was to get a picture of your little one while they are eating. To capture that look on their face when they taste something, whether it's new or something they like, whatever the expressions, let the face be messy!

So here is Miss. Kiley and her new silly smile, that is super cute, while she ate her fruit medley and oatmeal this morning!

Small Bits

• Kiley has mastered the pincer grip! She can now pick up her little puffs with her thumb and index finger! So cute!
• She is now sleeping 9-7. Napping about 9-11, and then 3-4:30(afternoon nap is a little weird, sometimes she sleeps long other days not so long), then she likes to snuggle and take a small snooze on Daddy around 7:45ish.
• She sleeps just like me, on her belly but yet on her side.
• Of course I get back into working out and running and I got an injury. On Monday of this week, I decided since I didn't work out over the weekend I should run/walk for an hour on Monday, well I did something to the side of my left foot, I'm assuming it's a tendon issue, so I'm going to take about 2 weeks off from running and just do other exercises.

What's going on in your world?

Kiley is 7 months!

Kiley is 7 months today!!

You aren't crawling yet, little girl, but soon! You still have all the motions you just can't cooridnate them together. You are rolling everywhere to get to stuff. You are so much more vocal, you like to randomly scream happy screams in the grocery store at people and see what their reaction will be! You can stand up pretty well if you are holding on to something, you love to stand! You are getting very ticklish. You are really ticklish underneath your chin, but your little piggie toes are getting ticklish as well as your belly. You finally love going to swim class, I still think you love the little gym a bit more with all your little girlfriends!

When you jump in your jumparoo you are starting to get some air!! You have discovered many things you shouldn't be this month, so we had to baby proof, like a pen you got a hold of while rolling and decided to draw on your face, or the WII games, or even the TV cords! Silly girl, what makes you think that stuff would be fun for babies?

You are eating everything we give you, you aren't picky at all, well except yogurt, that you don't have a taste for yet! You love the little puffs as well and your baby Mum Mum cookies! You love eating your feet and and taking your sock off.
No teeth yet, we are still waiting! You are still sleeping through the night like a champ! I love that! You love sitting up in your big girl stroller now without your car seat! You are finally napping twice a day in your crib! You definitely have a bit of separation anxiety, you get really worried when I walk out of the room, but that's ok!
I love seeing all your new personality traits that come out every month! Love you Miss. Kiley!

Happy 7 months Big Girl!!

Kiley's Stats

We went to the pedi on Friday for Kiley's 6 month checkup. What fun that was! Poor little girl got shots and they made her sick, we dealt with a fever of 103.5 for a day, it's not fun at all! I called the pedi at 1 am, and he assured me she was perfectly ok. But it's so hard to see your little one so uncomfortable. She looked at me like a total nut ball when I gave her a bath at 2 am.

Anyways, besides a small head cold that's going through our house, she's much better! Through all of it though she was very pleasant!

So here are her 6 month stats:

14 pounds 4 ounces, 25 inches long!

Kiley is 6 months!

Someone please stop the clock. I have a 6 MONTH OLD. What? How did that happen so fast? A half of a year old baby is in my house.

So what are you doing this month? I really have to sit here and think about this one, because you are doing SO many things that I wouldn't expect a 6 month old little peanut to be doing!
First, you are saying, Dada!! We have no idea if you know what it means ,but the past few days, and I really mean like yesterday and the day before, when Momma ask you where Dada is, you look at him. Is it just on accident, or are you really starting to know Dada(the meaning)? We are trying to learn Mama, but when I say it you love to scream back Dada!! You are playing independently by your self so well, you can keep your self occupied for about 30-40 minutes, just gabbing away. You are FINALLY taking about 1 hour to 2 hour naps everyday, which is so nice for Momma!

You are rolling both ways! This past week, while on your tummy time, you are starting to move your legs around a bit. Sometimes we put you on your knees and you look like your gonna start moving, but not yet. I hope by next month you are crawling, cause you really want to do it, you just can't figure it out yet! You've tried all the stage 1 foods and love them all for the most part. You are finally starting to get more hair, Daddy is super excited about that!

We don't go to the doctor until this Friday, so I wont have your official stats, till then. But I'm guessing you might be 13 pounds and 23 inches long. You are such a peanut that you just stopped being able to wear 3 month clothing this past weekend!

You are sitting up so well, all by your self like a big girl! You love to sit up and you love to stand up and hold onto things! You love playing in the big girl bath tub with your toys now. You discovered that your feet are quite yummy and enjoy ripping your socks off and eating your feet. We stopped swaddling you, cold turkey and it worked out well. We just but you in you little sleeping bag and you love it! You are sleeping 9am-6-6:30 pm, get a little drink and go back to bed till about 8:30! You love your little tiger friend and if we go out anywhere I need to make sure he is with us. You also LOVE being able to go shopping in the shopping cart!

So, happy half of a year baby girl!!

Mamarazzi

Today's Look:

What Mom? You said my name!