Sticky Sapling

(This post is over a week late in the coming, but the activity concept was so fun that I want to shoot it out there to you all either way – before I forget about it and it gets lost in a pile of neglected blog “drafts”.)

In honor of Tu B’Shvat, I broke out a new form of art for Freida. It was quite the hit! While I personally feel she was too old to truly reap the benefits of such an activity, she seemed to enjoy the tactile observation either way. Ideally, this is the perfect art form for a 2 year old; mess-free, removable, and extensively creative.

The general concept is contact paper. Simply tape a nice big sheet of contact paper on the wall – sticky side forward. Give your toddler enough art materials to get insanely creative with (feathers, foam cutouts, scraps of colored paper, sequins etc.), and demonstrate the method! Watch their little hands discover the world of sticky goodness, and explore the properties of weight and layout. They’ll learn so much from this activity, and you’ll definitely get a nice chunk of time to yourself!

I gave Frieda a pile of brown paper squares, and a stack of colorful paper leaves. After some simple directions she went ahead to create her own tree! I was excited when I realized how capable she was! And the best part is when they come up with ideas on their own – she asked me if I could cut out some red apples for her to add to the mix! And after she finished her tree, she proceeded to request materials to make a “flower garden” (I stuck up some more contact paper, cut out some paper flowers, and cut up a few pipe cleaners to use as stems)! Nothing like schepping creative nachas! :)

Growing Gowns

My sister has been on a very long quest for an evening dress to wear to her girlfriends wedding this month, and all her shopping got me thinking about evening maternity wear… Somehow, both during my pregnancy with Freida and this time ’round, I haven’t had an event that called for formal evening wear or a gown. But, I’d imagine it must be thrilling and exciting to create something wondrous to show-off that goddess-like baby bump! Happened upon this image of Gisele doing a maternity shoot for Vogue, and I’m just swooning over the natural and flowing texture – perfect for relaying the message of woman and her mysterious miracles.

For more maternity formal wear inspiration check out this star-studded lineup of red-carpet worthy looks!

Nature Babies

Naturally, I’ve got babies on my mind… and these images of newborn baby animals popping up all over Pinterest have surprisingly got my heart smothered in mama-love.

If any of you are swooning over these teeny-tiny animal features like I am, check out the Sharon Montrose shop (I mentioned it previously here) for a modern menagerie of baby animal photography – worthy of even the most sleek and svelte homes!

Yeah, it’s baby fever. :)

Fruit Squeeze

I’ve been feeling super thirsty these last few weeks. Almost as thirsty as when I’m nursing! I find myself constantly craving shots of ice cold juicy fruit, carbonated splashers, and plain ol’ ice water… all. day. long. While I’ve been drinking about a gallon of water daily during this pregnancy, it suddenly seems to not be quite enough! I want juice and sweet, tart, shots of sugary goodness.

My husband did a little impromptu grocery run last week to the health food store, and brought home the most delicious and refreshing frozen treats! Jolly Lama Squeeze Ups are made of all fresh, whole ingredients that create the most silkily satisfying shot of sorbet. He was struck by the kosher symbol, natural ingredients, but mostly, the mod graphics. :) Anyways, we’ve sure been enjoying them – Freida’s hooked. And it’s a far better freezer treat for a kid than any of the other “natural” pops out there. Plus, I’ve been polishing off pregnant-sized boxes of them!

You can check them out at your local Whole Foods, Sprouts, and other stores that carry a variety of healthier fare. They’re really worth a try – especially if you’re a sorbet lover! Plus, how quirkily great is that name?? :)

LOVE.

There’s no denying that this little equation is the absolute best thing about love!

While browsing the web this afternoon, I came across 3 lovely love-themed things I’d love to share:

So many one-liners I’d love to type up for these little felted fortune cookies!

These love-struck brownies have got to be the easiest V-day dessert ever!

I would just swoon over getting one of these in the mail!

Hope you were all able to spend some special time together with you love today…

Pint Sized Consumers

Kids are consumers, too.

You’ve got to love this!!

via DaddyTypes

Little Seeds

Freida came home from Gan Chai this morning all aglow from Birthday cheer. The trees birthday, that is. She marched proudly into the house sporting a birthday crown and showing off a petite potted gift.

The excited was so uncontained that I decided to harness it and we head out back to fill up some uprooted areas in the backyard with soil and seeds.

While we’d love to start up a real live garden – dreaming of the Berkowitz’s – we’re starting off slowly, and began by hoeing and filling up the empty areas with fresh soil, and heaps of little Forget Me Not seeds to grow alongside the outer brush against the fence.

Freida enjoyed the sensory experience of working the earth, not to mention the thrill of getting muddy and grimy without a nay say from her mama. :)

Dirt pellets are a fantastic way to show kids how the earth “drinks” the water. Tightly packed dried out soil turns to volumes of moist soil instantly once watered, and the look of discovery on little faces watching is sheer deliciousness! (The Target $1 aisle has heaps of these little potted pellets for Valentines Day right now!)

P.S. Kids can play with mud forever!! Best way to keep ‘em entertained in a jiffy! :)

Book of the Week: The Giving Tree

I’ve been a long-time fan of Shel Silverstein, but this book is one of his classics, and I’m glad my daughter loved it as much as I did. The Giving Tree is the age old story of what man takes from nature, and what nature happily gives to man. Of course you can take some serious “going green” junk away from it’s storyline, but it is in fact a sweet story with the most charming of illustrations. I thought Tu B’Shvat was the perfect time to introduce her to Shel and his magical drawings…

Weekend Round-up!

Happiest weekend wishes!! We’re going for the homestretch here – each time I open my planner, my heart skips a beat seeing how close my due date is (12 days!) – so right now I’m all about last-minute pre-baby tasks. And there are heaps of them! My lists don’t stop, but thankfully I’ve been crossing plenty off recently, and I’m starting to feel settled enough to go at any moment (besides for the unpacked hospital bag!). It was so much fun opening up boxes of stored baby gear – some things made me feel like it’s been ages since my last newborn, and other things had me reeling at how recently I stored them away! Yesterday, Freida and I went through a huge box of baby things (plush rattles, swaddle blankets, newborn rompers etc.) – it was so special to be doing that with her; feeling like I’ve got this beautiful big girl on my hands, helping out with the newborn chores… :) So while I go through and fold this basket of freshly-laundered baby items, here are a few things I’ve been meaning to share over the course of this week:

- These popcorn bird-feeder garlands are such a charming fine-motor skill activity for Shabbos Shira! (Plastic needles will do the trick!)

- A whimsical read + a wonderful recipe for french toast.

- A $200 bubble blower. Baby keepsake, anyone? :)

- 2012 in Nail Laquer.

- This insanely-awesome playhouse has left me dreamy….

- This bathroom-themed survey made me laugh out loud.

- This hot-pink number got me thinking about my right to bare arms.

- I loved this honest + beautiful piece on parenhood.

- Ever wonder how much you’d earn if all your housework was done as a paying job?

- Hilarious (and ridiculous!) Super Bowl cupcakes!

Have a wonderful February weekend!!! I’ll be back to share some of my hospital-bag-packing necessities next week!

Light Reading

I’ve been doing heaps of nighttime reading lately (mostly self-help baby books), and found myself wishing I had some sort of old-school reading light (remember those geekly little gadgets that would clip onto your book pages, hold your spot, and light up when you opened to that page??). Each night, after brushing my teeth, I head to bed with the intention of finishing another chapter in book #1 so that I can move onto book #2… but you know how it is – you say you’ll be in bed reading by 10:30, but 11:15 rolls around and you’re still in the living room? Anyways, I’m now at the point where I think I’m in the middle of about 5 different books! And since all are read primarily as I’m turning in for the night, I couldn’t help but covet this insanely awesome bed lamp!! Not only can it shelve all 5 of my current reads, but it can hold the place in the one I fall asleep holding (my husband is rather good at removing forlorn books from sleeping clutches), and let there be (reading) light! Genius!!

This light would actually make for a creative and effective bed hack – imagine mounting these lamps to something as simple as the Ikea Malm headboards… Immediate custom made design-y beds! Pretty sweet for readers.

P.S. About those 5 books :)

A Labor of Love (I wrote about it once here.) The most perfect birthing book.

HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method (Thanks Rachey!!) Very helpful birthing techniques.

Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems (Which is what has me coveting a bedside reading lamp to begin with – Freida has been inhabiting our bedroom at night, and I need to nip this in the bud before baby!)

The Sleep Easy Solution Reading up a bit on sleep scheduling for newborns… after the first two weeks I hope to establish a bit of a eating/sleeping schedule. This book makes it easy as pie!

Eat, Sleep, Poop A common sense guide to your baby’s first year – well-written facts of little lives.