February 22nd, 2012 by
Katie
Welcome to part two of four of my Top Toys series! To read more about why I am doing this series, please check out Part One Here.
I am writing these posts to help parents pick good, quality toys for their infants, toddlers, and preschoolers that can be used to help support speech and language development. As I share with you my personal top picks for toys for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, I will also be sharing the areas of speech and language that these toys can help support. However, as I noted in part one, it is important to know that for these toys to help support speech and language development you, as the parent or caregiver must help to facilitate that language. What I mean is this: You can’t just give a child a shape sorter and expect him to magically know and use the names of shapes and colors! You need to sit with your child and facilitate his learning. You need to use some strategies that I have mentioned before including:
Parallel Talk, Self Talk, & Descriptions
Expansions, Extensions, and Repetitions
Commenting and Asking Questions
If you are a fellow speech pathologist and work with infants, toddlers, or preschoolers, you may also find this series of posts valuable for choosing therapy materials.
Here are my next five top picks for toys (in no particular order)
Baby Doll
The baby doll is such a fantastic toy that I wish ALL children (Yes, even BOYS!) could have. It is a toy that can really help open up and expand a child’s pretend play. Let’s look at just some of the language concepts that a baby doll can help teach and support:
- Body Parts: Use the dolls to teach all the body parts: eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hands, fingers, tummy, feet, toes, knees, elbows, etc.
Read the rest of this entry »
February 21st, 2012 by
Vicky
Who doesn’t love getting roses on Valentine’s day? I just love getting flowers, but I am sad that they never seem to last very long. Some of my roses had started to wilt and fall off the petals.
Hubby challenged me to come up with a kids activity using the rose petals. Like I need him giving me more work! But a challenge is a challenge, so I pulled the rose petals off the stem and came up with a petal sun catcher type of thing.
Supplies you will need:
- Rose petals
- Wax paper
- Iron
- Thin dishtowels for ironing on
Read the rest of this entry »
February 21st, 2012 by
Jennifer Lu
I am an artist! There are days I wake up in the morning, down on myself and this thought perks me up. This quality lay dormant in me until, at 22 years of age, a friend told me “Yes, you can.”
Up until then, art was a mystical thing that, to my mind, one was born with or without the ability to do. Art can and must be learned for the quality to develop. An Artist! Me?! Now, I find joy in seeing the possibilities that lay in random objects, of putting shapes together to create something new and beautiful and uplifting to those around me.
I feel at peace with a pen in my hand, whether doodling or doing calligraphy. It is a pleasure to follow an inspiration where it wants to go, to feel and experience the whim of the muse. No art is ever finished in this way; each is a part of a larger limitless exploration of the world leading me on a path. It is without timeline or destination.
My skills are still new and will continue to develop with time and experience. However, I am an artist. My art is in each moment, selfish and for myself. Read the rest of this entry »
February 20th, 2012 by
Inspired by Family
Running out of time and ideas for dinner? Here is a quick and tasty meal for the family, made with ingredients from the pantry. Ten minutes of prep time and fifteen minutes of cook time, and you will have a healthy dinner for five on the table.
Chicken Bruschetta Skillet (Recipe adapted from Hunts.com)
Ingredients
1 can (14.5 oz each) Diced Tomatoes, drained
3/4 cup shredded Italian blend cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped or 2 tsp dried
5 boneless skinless chicken breasts (5 oz each)
1 can (8 oz each) Tomato Sauce
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp sugar
2 cups small garlic- or Italian-flavored croutons, crushed slightly
Olive oil
Directions Read the rest of this entry »
February 20th, 2012 by
Rita
Self love is essential. After having dealt with postpartum depression, I know how important loving yourself is to succesfully acheiving goals. After the birth of both of my boys, I was miserable.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved my baby. I was more self loathing than anything. I had let myself go and I felt lost. I was either wearing maternity clothes or squeezing into stuff that made me look even bigger. I would look in the mirror and it would make it worse.
After about six months of this pattern, I think the hormones finally cleared up and I wanted to change.
I started to take care of myself like actually grooming myself (yikes, I know) and wearing clothes that were flattering.
This happened both times but the first time it was worse.
The good news is this too shall pass.
If you are having issues like these, not just from postpartum depression, start taking care of yourself whether that means but getting a little more active, eating healthy foods that support your goals, or just having a little time to yourself.
In my 5 Reasons to Workout, I point out the benefits of exercise. I can attest that eating properly really makes a difference. Eating clean foods you will feel so much better. Take a little time each day for yourself to either relax, getting pretty, or reflect by writing.
You deserve it. Love yourself.
February 19th, 2012 by
Smacksy
I have been known to tune in to Glee just to see what Emma Pillsbury is wearing. This site is made for me. Totally worth it for the cardigans alone.
This is a lovely version of the ubiquitous song.
And one minute and forty-seven seconds of a sad French bulldog listening to Adele.
Happy Sunday.
February 17th, 2012 by
jenn0324
I don’t usually share a lot of personal stuff about my family on this blog. I do, however, share things that I have experienced and think may be helpful, especially if it’s something I think other families may be struggling with. One such situation happened this weekend, and I wanted to share it because it shows that sometimes we overlook the most basic of things as we strive for “more.”
This weekend, in order to prepare him for the changes, I had a talk with The Older about Tuesday being my last day of work. I explained that this meant changes in going places, doing things, and that it was going to be an adjustment because we aren’t used to a strict budget that has to be followed. I was anticipating lots of questions, frustration at the idea of not doing the things he’s used to doing, sadness at the possibility of not going the places we usually go and not being able to buy things just because we want them… However, he completely surprised me! His eyes got huge, and he said, “So, you’ll be free all the time now to do stuff?” I told him for the most part yes, and he threw his arms around me saying, “Then I only want to go to camp three days a week this summer so that I can be with you and sis and Daddy. This is the best day ever!” Here I was thinking he’d be upset that we were going to have to scale back, and all he could think about was the time we’re going to be together!
This was one of those moments that verified that it’s all been worth it. The struggling, the worrying about money, the Read the rest of this entry »
February 16th, 2012 by
meanboys
Valentine’s Day has already been hard on my heart…from a stress perspective, that is. As I mentioned yesterday, I signed up to be class party game mom and had yet to complete Kellan’s valentines so today I had my work cut out for me.
Last night my afternoon sitter informed me that she would be taking today off to mourn the weekend death of her cat, and my husband informed me that he would have to work late this evening (which trust me, is NOT code for “I’m actually using this time to shop for your awesome Valentine’s Day gift.”) That news meant that the time I had planned to set aside for catching up on all of my tasks was cruelly snatched away from me at the last minute. A shot through the heart!
I left the house early this morning with Kellan and Larissa to run errands. Among other things I wanted to buy Rob a new cologne, but unfortunately I left that task as the last one on our list. Big mistake. Larissa’s patience was worn thin by this time and as I tried to navigate the fragrance counter, she screamed “I want candy!!!” over and over (and over) again as giant tears streamed down her face. I have no idea where she even got the idea of candy to begin with, but she was pretty clear about the fact that she wanted some. I ended up having to flee the store without making a purchase, and instead smelling like I’d spent the afternoon speed-dating playboys. Heartbreaking.
When we returned home, I summoned Kellan Read the rest of this entry »
February 16th, 2012 by
Rita
This isn’t the best picture but you get the idea - bed of blueberries covered in an egg over easy. I prefer my eggs over medium but whatever works.
Get prepared for the fastest and simplest breakfast EVER. You cannot tell me that this takes too long because it is literally done in less than five minutes. No missed breakfast excuses!
Three ingredients are all you need:
1 teaspoon coconut oil
2/3 cup of fresh blueberries
2 eggs Read the rest of this entry »
February 15th, 2012 by
Hesperleigh
It’s quite funny to look back and remember that, this time last year, our pediatrician was suggesting that we take Haeden for a speech evaluation. At this point, I can’t remember how far “behind” he was, but we all knew that he was definitely not saying as much as the other kids his age. Ultimately, we decided to wait it out. We realized that his pediatrician was just trying to be proactive, but we figured we’d wait until he hit two before running out to getting him analyzed. And we were glad we did. The month before he turned two, he started to talk up a storm, and he basically hasn’t stopped since.
I absolutely love his voice. He has the most adorable southern drawl that you ever did hear, ya’ll. And the funny thing is that he is the only one in the whole family (other than my sister in VA) that talks like that. No idea where he picked it up, but it is seriously cute, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. The best, of course, are the ridiculous things that come out of his mouth. Never a dull moment when you have an almost three year-old.
We are planning a trip to Disney next month as an early birthday gift, and we’ve been talking about meeting Mickey Mouse a lot the past few days. Here’s how it went this morning:
Me: Are you excited to meet Mickey Mouse soon?
Haeden: YEAH! He’s gonna take me to his clubhouse!!
Me: Oh yeah?
Haeden: Yeah! And Imma HUG him and KISS him and show him my FIRE SHOES!
It always comes back to the fire shoes, you guys. Always.
