Shooting Stars and Comet Tails

At Ethan's "school" there are a few shiny metallic cardboard stars that hang from the ceiling. He is often fascinated by them, and on Friday before we left it told him we'd try and find him some stars like that for in his room. So I thought about it for a bit, wondering where I was going to find said stars. It didn't take long before I started wondering how we could make these stars ourselves...and then of course, how Ethan could get involved!

Ultimately what I came up with I think is a fantastic (and practically free) craft for baby to take part in, using stuff that can be found around the house. In fact, I wish I had know just what a success it was going to be, or I wouldn't have completed as many of them by myself the night before (Ethan helped make 3 of the 8)!

Don't they look fantastic?!? There are more on the other side of the room as well. Of course, they are great near the changing table!

So, ready to see how it's done?
Supplies needed: Cardboard cereal or snack box, Aluminum foil, Hole Punch, Thread (That's all stuff that you can dig around the house for. How great is that!?)...oh yeah, and a baby artist assistant!

1. Cut open cereal box (or any other cardboard food packaging with a large available surface area. Quickly draw a star or two on the box with a pen. The idea is not to be precise, but to just draw quickly.

2. Cut out the stars. This is where you can refine any errors in the sketch. The idea however, is to not go too crazy making the stars perfect. They are supposed to look somewhat organic and original.

3. Crinkle up some foil. Add one baby. This is the part where baby is incredibly helpful. Not only is it a great tactile experience, but it makes a great noise, is shiny, and a lot of fun! Make sure to keep a good eye on things however, the foil tears easily, and could disappear into baby's mouth. Ethan tried to lick it a few times, but he never really put it in his mouth a whole lot. Warning: baby drool accumulates on foil surface quickly. It's not a bad idea to stop the show on each piece before you have to hang your foil out to dry!

We make baby art first thing in the morning when Ethan is fresh!

4. Smooth the foil and wrap it around the cardboard cut outs. To make this happen, sometimes the foil needs to be torn or trimmed. It doesn't have to be perfect! It's foil. If there is a bald spot, just crinkle in another small patch. Wrap the foil tight to the edges. Again, this is not the craft to be obsessive compulsive! The idea is for them to look a bit messy (I mean, artsy!).

5. Punch a hole in one of the stars points. Hint: Sometimes a star looks better positioned one way over another. Be sure to check this before punching the hole. However, if you "mess up," you can always cover the hole with a foil patch and start over!

6. The installation: Loop some thread though the holes. I used a white sewing thread. Any thread will do. I tied the thread in one big loop and hung the stars with tape (they are light enough that regular old magic tape will do the trick). Wa-la! Beware however, the corners are a bit sharp. I would warn against hanging them directly over a crib, changing table, or play area in case they would decide to become shooting stars!

The finished product looks great. Ethan loves them, and best of all, he helped create yet another work of baby art! What a great excuse to spend some quality time together!

Water Baby

Ethan loves the bath tub. The more splashing we do, the better. He kicks and kicks and kicks, and Mommy splashes back. His favorite part is when the water splashes him in the face. This video makes me laugh every time, especially the big gum smile at around 33 seconds! Really considering those swim lessons at 6 months...

Also, sorry Ethan for every doubting that you had no interest in crawling. You didn't have to prove me wrong by practicing in bed all night Saturday night. Here's Ethan practicing Sunday morning. He rocks back and forth on his knees and forearms. He's not going anywhere fast...yet....

Finger Painting!

Not only is art something important to me, I'm a big believer in the power of art education. At less than a week old, I was dipping Ethan's hands and feet in paint to make his first piece of art. Now he's five months old, and it's time to kick this into gear!

At school two weeks ago, he made a painting of his footprints.

Our first project at home? Finger painting! Sound like a 5 month old mess?  Well, it was a well calculated controlled mess. I sat Ethan in his highchair in just a diaper. I had preset the highchair, lightly taping a few layers of paper onto the tray. I was also armed with a box of baby wipes and a camera ready to go! I'd squeeze small globs of the finger paint onto the paper, and let Ethan smear it around. Sometimes I'd run my fingers though it too to demonstrate for him (If you know of my aversion to getting finger paint on my fingers as a child, you would find this scene quite ironic!). Ultimately, he did most of the work.

So proud!

He really seemed to enjoy himself, and liked watching the colors smear around. He was really too busy smearing to put it into his mouth (although it does look like he tasted a little orange maybe?) The party was over however, when he got angry that he was not allowed to have the paint tubes. (Thank you Crayola for making the tubes with sharp corners!) I've since been told that maybe using ketchup and mustard squeeze bottles to put the paint in is a good solution. I may have to keep in mind for next time.

When painting time was officially over, it was straight into the bathtub for even more fun!

Ultimately, the whole experience was a success, and definitely worth doing with an infant. It turned out to be a great activity for us to share together, and it was something that Ethan enjoyed. It was also a great opportunity for him to experience a different texture on his tiny little fingers. He also now has some fantastic masterpieces to be so proud of....

Copyright Ethan Savko!

Top Five Essential Non-Essential Baby Items

When I was researching baby products, I was really hoping to find more blogs out there with suggestions on exactly what baby items I needed to buy.  That proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated.  So here we go...a top ten list of must have baby items (the essential non-essentials) that I think should be on any baby registry (in no particular order). These are items that I guess I could live without, but I can't imagine a life without them.

1. Fisher Price Rainforest Melodies Deluxe Gym

Especially when you have a baby who doesn't enjoy to nap, this baby gym is a great place to sit baby and let him  play while you work on chores nearby.  The key to this gym is the lights and sound. This electronic stimulation was key to gaining Ethan's attention when he was too young to really play with the toys. We have another baby gym that is not battery powered. I love that too, but it is better suited for quiet playtime now that Ethan is older. What could make this gym better? The butterflies could move! It's also a lot more fun the more and more you can find to hang on it. Lots of Links are a great start to adding your own accessories. So are Sassy Bugs on Board. Be creative! The price point for this gym seems to move all over the board. Make sure to be a savvy consumer and look for coupons, sales, or bargains!

2. Boppy Pillow

A Boppy pillow has been an invaluable item for us. Boppy pillows are marketed for a number of different uses, but it's best use is for lounging! Since Ethan was days old we used it as a safe comfortable place to sit him down. Even at 5 months old, it's still a great place for him to lay quietly and watch football on Sunday and Monday evenings. It's an important part of our night time (and sometimes nap time) routine. It's where Ethan lounges and has his evening bottle. Of course, they make a bunch of pretty and fun covers to customize them. Make sure to have an extra cover so there is always an extra ready to go!

3. Fisher Price Newborn to Toddler Rocker
I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  I love our Fisher Price Newborn to Toddler Rocker. It's invaluable in our house. You can read more in my previous post entitled "The Chair."

4. Sleep sheep and/or sound machine
I've talked about my love for the sleep sheep before as well. You can read more in my previous post. If not a Sleep Sheep, any type of sound machine is a great investment. We have another variety of sleep machine that plugs in and runs all night. We really enjoy that as well. Anything to help baby sleep is amazing in my book! There is a travel version of the Sleep Sheep as well for when you're on the go!

5. Jeep Baby Carrier

Our baby carrier was freeing for me. It allows me to go out and be completely mobile and take baby everywhere with little fuss or hassle. The bottom line however, is that baby carriers are expensive! The Jeep carrier is great however, and is completely affordable. After you get the hang of it, the carrier can be taken on and off by yourself. It's easy to adjust the strap length to switch between adults. Baby can face either in or out, and can be carried safely from 8-26 pounds. The padded straps are very comfortable and make carrying very easy. Most importantly, I always feel like Ethan is very snug and secure in this carrier. I've also found that it washes well. We machine wash with cold water on gentle and hang to dry without any problem. Fantastic carrier at an even more fantastic price!


So that's my top 5.  There are so many more. What are your favorites?  I'd love to make my life easier!!!

Sing, Sing a Song

In my last post I began to mention that Ethan likes to sing. I usually sing to him while he's eating his cereal to try and keep him from getting bored. The last two evenings, he sang to me!

Let's Sit and Read...and Sing!

Yes, both.  Christmas evening Ethan decided it was about time that he could sit by himself.  He's come a long way very quickly since then.

Look what I can do Grandpa!

So big and tall!

He's a big fan of books too.  He loves to read, and Ethan was super lucky to get so many great books for Christmas.  We read a lot at home, and they read multiple books everyday at daycare.  The colorful images on the pages and the sing-songy rhymes are pretty good at keeping his attention.

Ethan started daycare on Monday.  So far, I couldn't be happier with the program.  He seems super happy there and seems to really enjoy the interaction with the adults and kids alike.  Being a learning center, they do all sorts of great things with the kids.  They read, sing, play instruments, dance.  He scooted though an obstacle course on his belly today, and made his first refrigerator art.  Ethan also was introduced to sign language for the first time today.  They are working on "more," "please," and "cold." All the teachers at daycare comment on how happy he is...even on his first day! We're so proud of how well he is adjusting.  He's even NAPPING!!

Speaking of napping, we started "sleep training" last week. I can't believe it, but it actually seems to be working! When Ethan wakes up at night, we work really hard to get him to fall back asleep without a bottle, rubbing or patting his back in his crib.  The goal is for him to fall back asleep, and if not, to at least delay the feeding by a half hour. When he calms down, we let him fuss in his crib until he falls back to sleep.  If he gets upset again, we go back in and start over. Repeat until he sleeps or until the half hour is up, whichever is first. The hope is that the next night, he wakes up at the new postponed time instead of his "regularly scheduled feeding."  Well, so far so good. He sleeps better and better every night. Last night he didn't wake up for a bottle after 10pm.  I'm sure being worn out by all the school fun is helping too, but I will say that it was working even before he started his busy weeks. If nothing else, he is definitely doing much much better at falling asleep on his own. Now to see how long it lasts...Until then, I will enjoy my zzzzzz's.

Baby's First Christmas

Well, the holiday has now come and gone. Of course, it's always bittersweet to see the holiday pass. For anyone who says that four months old is too young to enjoy the holiday, I say "bah humbug!" Sure, Ethan may not understand, but we made sure to let him take delight in every aspect that we could. He was a huge fan of our Christmas tree. How can you not adore those magical brightly colored twinkle lights and shiny ornaments? He was able to rip the paper off his gifts and was often fascinated by the bold colors of the gifts inside. He loved the sound of the crinkling tissue paper, and tasted his first Christmas bow. Even though many of the gifts are a bit advanced for him (many of them rated at 6-9 months) he still enjoyed the noises they made. It was a busy holiday for a little guy. Two Christmases. One Christmas Eve, one Christmas day, one January 2nd. Not to mention a weekend visit from Aunt Karen and other small gatherings. I can't begin to detail our first Christmas adventure, but I can definitely say that Ethan loved the attention and the smiling faces he saw. He thinks some of our friends and family are pretty darn funny!  (and he's probably right!)

Santa also gifted Ethan the following week off work with Mommy.  The week is not all fun and games though.  We started the week with a sick Mommy (again!) and then a sick Ethan. We continue the week with numerous meetings and appointments. We closed on our house refinance, met with daycare, and got a new shower installed (just to name a few). Ethan also got his second round of four month shots. He had no rash, and showed no signs of any complications. Hurray!!!! No matter how hectic, Ethan and I really enjoyed our time together. He can be quite the Momma's boy, and of course, I encourage it! :)

Now the new year begins and brings exciting things for our little man.  First change? Ethan begins daycare! Until now he's been spending his days at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was fantastic to spend his days with family until he got "a little older" and we are blessed that he had that opportunity. However, if a baby can be described as social, Ethan fits the description. He's going to love the interaction and should thrive on their focus on learning and development. I am also looking into new and fun activities for Ethan. A mommy and me yoga class perhaps? Swimming classes? Baby gym? Only time and some careful exploration will tell!

Wishing everyone a great new start in 2011!