messy dough

I have been trying to plan at least one activity per day to do with J. He is at such a great age right now. He loves to explore and learn, soaking in everything. He is old enough so he is not putting everything into his mouth, and can focus on something for more than 3 minutes. I absolutely love this age. I kind of forgot how great this age is. I worked with 2 year olds at a child care center for a few years, and they are just the best. So funny and innocent, so charming and naughty! :)

Our activities sometimes aren't anything special, they could just be 20 minutes of focused puzzle play or reading. I just like to be intentional about doing an activity each day so the weeks don't go by without me realizing I haven't interacted with my kids besides daily routine. I think that free play is imensely valuable, but I also see a place for "learning/exploring time" each day.

The other night I realized I had some flour in our cupboard that has been in there for quite awhile. Instead of throwing it out (does flour go bad??...) I decided to let the kids play with it. It started out dry and using a sift, and moved to adding water to the flour. From there we also added food coloring. Both H and J loved this activity at the ages 9 (almost 10) and 2.5. H kept saying, "I love this! This is so fun!" J really didn't say much because he was too busy playing and running his hands through the goup. They played for over an hour and J could have probably kept playing for another hour.

we went from this:

to this:



*Helpful tip: Do not wash the flour/water down your kitchen sink when you are done... it hardens up like glue and will clog your pipes! To clean up, I threw the flour outside in the bushes and had the kids wash their hands in a bucket of water that I then threw outside as well.

baby e 5 months

Dear E,
We can hardly believe you are 5 months. These have been some of the sweetest months of our lives.. partly because another missing piece of our family is now here and smiling and cooing at us. You are such a doll-baby and I love every moment I get to spend with you.
At five months you:
*Wear a size 3 diaper
*Usually nurse 5 times a day a 8a, 11:30a, 4p, 7p, 11p. You take 10 minutes or less to nurse
*Size 6-9 month clothes
*Have not started on foods yet
*You can sit but not for long. You sit “tripod style” the best and for the longest amount of time
*You do not roll a lot yet.
*You started to grab your feet A LOT starting right around your 5 month bday
*You take 2 or 3 naps a day. One morning from around 9:30-11a, then an afternoon one from 1p-4p, and sometimes another one around dinner time. You go to bed around 8p with the other kids.
*You wear shoe size 3
*You love to smile and will smile at anyone
*You do not have any stranger anxiety yet
*You started to go to nursery at church
*You have started to grab your paci out of your mouth and play with it and try to put it back it
*You are a lot more interested in toys and play well on your own on the playmat and the baby station we have.
E.. I just love snuggling you and sniffing your sweet little head. Your hair you were born with never fell out and it’s getting long! You love snuggling too, and end up in bed with us a lot of nights. I don’t mind though, because I know that soon enough you will not be as squishy and cuddly and will want your own space. My heart sings when you burry your head on my shoulder and I think you feel the same way too. You are so responsive to touch and song and are usually easily comforted. I just love you. Love, Mama