Summer Reading

Andrina and I completed her summer reading program from our library. And it's not even July yet! We read the required 30 books and other language activites that they wanted. Andrina got a small plush zebra and coupon for free ice cream and admission to the children's museum after the 1st set of 15 books. After completing the rest, she got coupons for free kids meals and for the local independent toy store and to pick out her own book to keep. We chose the classic title, "Where's Spot", which we read yesterday night and she loved it!

Today it's "Tookie"

Andrina has been hanging on to different stuffed toys almost each day. Somedays it's her bear, her mouse or Ernie. Today, it's "Tookie" or how she says Cookie Monster. I've found this interesting so I'm posting it. I wonder who she'll want to have with her on upcoming days?

My Own Bucket!

We made our second trip to the splash park and this time, I remembered Andrina's bucket. I'm so glad I did because that simple piece of plastic made all the difference for her. She really enjoyed filling it up with water and dumping it out on herself. It was also very hot, over 90 degrees so between the very hot weather and the cold water, it was perfect for her to play. If it was any cooler out, the water would have been too cold instead of fun and refreshing for her. I've decicided that we'll only go on days that are really hot like it was this afternoon.

Tomato Plants, Part 2

Here's some more of growth of our tomato plants, which Andrina helps me water everyday. And of course, here she is in the picture too just because it's yet another reason to take another picture of her and to see how much they've grown.

We Are Too Busy

Being busy has taken the place of milestones in this 2nd year of my child's life. She's almost 2 years old now so the "firsts" are getting fewer and farther in between. Instead, we are on the go almost constantly when the weather is nice. We've been to the children's museum 3 times so far, the splash park, our own swimming pool, and countless trips to the playground and almost every day Andrina plays outside on her ride-on toys and her swing and slides. There are so many other places I want to go with her too. I've been wanting to go to the arboretum, the zoo, museums, and to activities and trails at local forest preserves. So there is not much new blogging lately but as we do different activities and go to new places I will have to blog about them.

1st Trip to a Splash Park...Or more accurately, Andrina's Quest for a Bucket!

Andrina and I took our first trip to the local splash park. It was a beautiful day for it too. It was warm and sunny and the sky was a clear blue. But I made a big mistake and did not bring any buckets or water toys with us. We were at the children's museum in the morning and I am so used to them having everything that I didn't even think to bring anything with us to the splash park. It was so sad because the entire time Andrina was walking around looking for a bucket and saying "bucket" over and over again. She would find an abandoned bucket, play with it in the water for a little while and then the owner of the bucket would take it back from her. Which of course I had to let happen because it was not our bucket. I thought that she would run around through the water sprayers and play like that. I was wrong. I am definitely going to keep a bucket and water toys in the car so she'll be able to enjoy future trips there.

A happy Andrina because she has a bucket to play with...for a little while...

"Cuddle"

Andrina melted my heart again tonight. After her books which is normally the end of our bed-time routine, I put her into her crib and she protested. Instead of lying down and settling for sleep, she stood up and cried. I tried to soothe her and then left the room but she kept it up for over 5 minutes. She has been able to get herself to sleep on her own for over a year now so this is quite unusual for her her. I went up to her room and she was still standing up and crying, reaching out for me and saying, what I thought was, "color". I thought she was telling me that she wanted out of her crib to color with her crayons. I told her no, that it was time to go to sleep and to lie down but she just cried harder while still reaching out for me. I hugged her and she clung to me while trying to climb out of her crib. So I picked her up and held her and rocked her and it finally hit me that Andrina was not saying "color", she was saying "cuddle". The term I use with her but I don't think she's ever said it before. That was what she wanted. Andrina wanted to be held and cuddled. After about 10 minutes of cuddling, she was ok with me putting her back in her crib and she went right to sleep.

That's Affermative

The stage of Andrina answering every question with a "NO" seems to finally be over with! For months now, every closed-ended question I've asked her has been met with a "no" for a response. Even when I knew the answer she wanted was to say yes. For example, I'd ask her, "do you want to watch Elmo?" And she would answer with a "no". Yeah right, Andrina is ALWAYS ready to watch Elmo. Well, for the first time, Andrina said "yes" to a question I asked her today. I simply asked her if she wanted to go to the children's museum and she said "yes". Yippee! We are on our way to having more real conversations! And the end of some of the toddler negativism is great news too.

Summer Reading Club

April, Anne & Jamie came over to visit today. One of the many things April and I talked about was summer reading clubs through libraries that she brought up. I had forgotten all about them and that I myself had done those while growing up. I looked it up and our local library is doing that too. Well after they had left and Andrina woke up from her nap I took her there and signed her up. It was nice to find out that I can do that for Andrina even though she is so young and can only read about 150 words at this time. Technically I need to read her 2 sets of 15 books each and after each set, she gets a reward certificate and either a toy or a book. I must really be a nerd because I am very excited about this program for her. Every day Andrina and I read at least 3 books together, when we go out and there are books available to her, she will pull them out and look through them. So this is a great little activity for us to engage our love of books with. And it provides even more opportunities for us to grow our Mommy-Daughter bond even stronger.

Thank You Elmo!

Over the past year Andrina has become more and more of an independent and active toddler. Long gone are the newborn days when I could just hold her for hours at a time and she was content with that. Andrina is still a very affectionate girl but she has a lot of playing and exploring to do which is so much more interesting than sitting still being held by Mommy. Of course I still get lots of quick and spontaneous hugs from her throughout the day but it's hard to get my fix of cuddling in aside from reading books together before bedtime. That's where Elmo comes in. Yes, Elmo, the red Muppet from Sesame Street that Andrina is practically obsessed with. If he's on TV, I have a guaranteed opportunity to have Andrina sit on my lap and I get to cuddle her. So thank you so much Elmo for giving me so many, many times of cuddling bliss with my child!

Pool Fun

Summer time weather is upon us again and it's time to jump in the pool again! Which Andrina and I did yesterday! It was a beautiful warm & sunny day to play in the pool! Here's some great pictures that Tom took:

Saying "hi" to Dada.

I LOVE this picture of Andrina!

Getting a picture of us together
Andrina in her little boat pool toy