Book Mondays Vol. 4

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."

— Emilie Buchwald

My Little Reader!

 

 

This week book choices are the books that Ari is enjoying currently. To my surprised she is really enjoying the $1 books from the dollar section at Target (Great Buys!).

 

 

 

Eyes & Nose, Fingers & Toes

Target has the Sesame Beginnings Shaped Educational Board Books  which I have to say are pretty good with a great price $1. These books cover issues such as the Zoo, body parts, bedtime routines, and bath time with the sesame babies! Did I mentioned that my daughter LOVES Elmo or Memo as she calls him. The whole thing rhymes, and it's fun to read with my daughter. She likes to point to her body parts as they mention them.

 

Big Bird's First Book of Letters

Another book that could be found at Target in the dollar section. The shape of these books makes them more appealing to hold, and the images are great. We read this book every day and my daughter loves it. Great books for letter recognition!

 

Counting Kisses by Karen Katz

I LOVE THIS BOOK! I just bought this book and it has quickly become one of my favorites and Ari feels the same way about the book. From the first day she was absolutely captivated by the bright, colorful patterns in the pictures of this book. The story is so much fun and what baby could resist all those kisses? Now at 19 months old she loves this book so much that I only have to recite the first line of the story, "My tired little baby, do you need a kiss..." or show her the cover of the book to elicit a huge, cheesy grin! She loves being kissed goodnight from toes to head. This book is simple enough that she knows the placement and quantity of kisses. I would highly recommend this book to be added to any child's bedtime ritual. I hope this book will be something she'll always remember when going to sleep.

 

Tabbed Board Books: My First Colors: Let's Learn Them All!

This is honestly a must for children!  Really catchy pictures and the tabs will be helpful to the kids who will learn to use them. Vibrant colors of course was a plus. Ari loves to point out each of the pictures and learning the names of each item. The pages are packed with colorful objects and even though some of the items are random for the most part a lot of animals and fruits and vegetables are in the book to help build your child's vocabulary.

 

Happy Reading!

Curly Hair Routine

 

Many people have asked me what is Ari's hair routine so I decided that I would jot down the steps. As with all things curly hair related it's all about trial and error and this is my current routine for my toddler's hair.  It’s taken me awhile to find products that love Ari's hair, so don’t be discouraged by the trial and error process!

 

Directions

Step 1 - I usually co-wash with a sulfate-free conditioner like Carol's Daughter Hair Milk Co-Wash Cleansing Conditioner to get your curls extra clean without frizz-causing suds, and keeps them incredibly moisturized and detangled. Gently message into hair and scalp, especially the ends, for 3-5 minutes so it can deeply nourish curls.You are going to quickly see how it really defines the curls. Rinse well with warm water then finger detangle the hair.

 

 

Step 2 -Take the Hair Milk Original Leave-In Moisturizer and apply a quarter-size amount into soaking wet hair, working it in evenly with your fingers. (Carol's Daughter offers a lite option on their moisturizer however, I prefer the original.)

Step 3 -This step I learned from the Carol's Daughter's website. They say on their website not to dry hair with a towel instead use a cotton t-shirt and it actually works! You can also purchase the hair towels I received two as a wedding gift so I sometimes use them to try Ari's hair they are 100% cotton.


I absolutely love Ari's hair and hope that as she gets older she loves it as much as I do!

 

Fall Mini Photo shoot!

It’s the end of October already! This month was a bit of a reflective month for me.. I almost felt like an observer in my own life. I’ve been thinking more about planning and being more “intentional” with my time. I’d like to set a few goals. There’s only so much time and OHhhh, there are just so many things I’d like to do and try especially this holiday season. Well first things first, photo shoots!. I love for Ari to do Fall, Thanksgiving and Christmas photo because this is my favorite time of year. We all know that toddler photography can be a hard. They never want to sit still, meltdowns can happen in an instant and they can scream at the sight of your camera, or begin to act really silly because of the camera. That sentence is my 19 month old in a nut shell. Toddler photography is all about capturing them in their element. Lifestyle photography is my go to form of photography for Ari at this point because she does not sit still or smiles when prompt to. Therefore, for her fall photo-shoot I used the same photographer that I have used for the last year. She does an excellent job with lifestyle photos especially with my very, very, very, very busy toddler. Before the shoot I was very nervous that Ari was not going to  participate but to my surprise she loved playing with the pumpkins and Amy caught every moment so the photo-shoot came out super cute! I searched and searched for an outfit that was not Halloweenished but still fall and as I was running out of options I found this super cute dress with matching headband at Gymboree. At first I was worried because I am not a flower person but the colors were AMAZING!



Her ourfit and headband came from Gymboree.

Book Mondays! Vol. 3

This week for Book Mondays I decided to show you what is currently Ari's favorite book. Itsy Bitsy Spider (Kate Toms Series) by Make Believe Ideas Ltd. and Kate Toms (Jun 10, 2009)

Currently, this is Ari's favorite book it takes the traditional tale of the Itsy Bitsy Spider but this type the spider tries to problem solve various way to go up the spout. The spider fails multiple times but never gives up and finally accomplishes his goal. The story does a great job rhyming as you read it out loud but it is not meant to be sung (Trust me I have tried and failed!).

Check out Ari's version of the book:

Looking for the perfect Halloween Costume for my 18 month old.

 

 

Halloween can be a thrill for moms and their little ones, but for Ari at the age of 18 months I want Halloween to be fun and will like to skip the frightening parts.  And even if my child seems fearless, I  still want to put the brakes on the overstimulation…and the sweets. So in order to accomplish this I start with deciding on her very own costume. I am running out of time and need to make a decision but living in Florida it is rather difficult because the weather changes dramatically from week to week. In the rush to come up with a creative and inexpensive Halloween costume idea in a hurry, I realized that finding a costume for an 18 months old is a difficult task. Many of the cute costume start at size 2t and then the infant ones are a body piece for non walking babies. So after a tough search here are my top 3 choices.
.

 1. Pink Poodle Infant/Toddler Halloween Costume

Includes body suit w/ hood, wristlets and anklets adorned with decorative bows.

 

2. Princess Paradise - Little Lamb Infant / Toddler Costume

Includes jumpsuit with feet and hood.

 

3. Toddler-Costume Snow White Toddler Costume

 

 

So all 3 are super cute and need help deciding, what are your thoughts?

Book Mondays! Vol. 2

 

 I've been busy and it totally slipped my mind  that I needed to post last Monday and I definitely didn't want to do on any other day of the week. As I was reading to my daughter I realized that I need to update her choices of books. I usually place three books by our rocking chair for her to choose from. However, lately she has been stuck wanting to read The Itsy Bitsy Spider. Mommy is very tired of reading the same books. Then I realized how many cool books Ari has. Below are the books for the week.

Mommy Hugs by Anne Gutman
I am a little bias to any books that demonstrate how much a Mommy loves her babies! Each page in this books demonstrates how a Mommy loves and snuggles with their babies. I love how the vocabulary is great for young children. For example it names the name of the babies Kitten, chick, cub, calf etc. Each animal shows a form of affection for their off springs- "Mommy swan hugs her cygnet with a cuddle." This is a great book to act out the forms of affection!

Eyes, nose, toes and peekaboo! by DK
I found that they are many of these type of books. Little ones love to play peekaboo so why not integrated with the love of reading. When I purchased this book I was trying to find various was to practice learning body parts. Ari LOVES flap books and touch and feel books and this book has it all! Great way to teach that animals and even their dolls have some of the same body parts.

Mommy Hugs by Karen Katz
Let me start by admitting that I have become a huge fan of Karen Katz books. The illustrations are super cute and she teaches various concept in a fun and loving way. This Mommy hugs focuses on the different typed of hugs that I mommy may give in any given day. It starts with one hugs and count all the way to ten. Great way to practice counting as well. (Again, I am bias to mommy books :))

Five Little Monkeys Jumping of the Bed by Eileen Christelow
This by far was one of Ari's first favorite books. She had a wonderful time echo reading.  Ari was learning and I did not even know it. One day as I was reading the book she started repeating and anticipating what I would say next. Ari even started to mock my hand gestures as I read.  I think books that have expressive, repetitive lines are sensational.

Peek-a-Boo! by Joseph R. Ritchie
With Halloween in a few weeks this books its super cute. The baby Looney Tunes go trick-or-treating and each of the baby Looney Tunes wearing a mask. After lifting the flap it will show you the Looney Tune behind the mask. Again what babies do not love to play peek-a-boo!

:) Happy Reading!