Mama’s Little Helper – Sitaw Cutter

I don’t mind if the cuts are uneven.

Seeing him enjoy cutting sitaw (long beans) makes up for it. 😉

 

But how I wish the joy he has with cutting sitaw translates to him actually eating them…
UPDATE (July 2014): Our little boy now happily eats sitaw, baguio beans and pechay too! 🙂

LC and The Donut Factory

There are a few things Little Cat would dive his hands into at any given time. These are cheese, peanut butter, Stick-O and the latest one, donuts! He’s already familiar with the logos of Dunkin’ Donuts and Happy-Haus Donuts, so whenever he sees one of them he’ll call my attention like he found a long lost treasure. Then he’ll incessantly chant “Du-nat! Du-nat! Du-nat!”

Most of the time I let myself be bullied into buying him one donut or 4 munchkins. He always chooses the rich chocolate slathered ones or those with colorful sprinkles. Sugar alert, I know. I wanted to feel better about giving into his donut fix so I asked my mother-in-law for her homemade-goodness donut recipe.

Yesterday, LC and I made our pilot run of our very own donut factory.

Here he is mixing the batter with our technologically advanced mixer on a very sosy non-slip mat. ;p

Then he assisted me with the flour.

There were spills. I expected that. No worries for there will be a lot of room for practice. I strongly feel we’ll have a regular donut production in the coming days. 😉

Moving on,

A Pincer Grasp Activity

Materials:

• Clothes’ pins and line – in our case, it was a hanger with attached pins
• Hankies

Activity:

• Let toddler pin the hankies

Variations:

• Clipping clothes pin to a line is already an activity in itself
• Let toddler alternately use his index, middle, ring and pinky finger with the thumb to pinch
• Let your imagination and creativity run as to what can be pinned: cut-out letters, numbers or shapes;
  family pictures; doll’s clothes; toddler’s own item of clothing; etc.

What’s the deal about pincer grasp?

Mama’s Little Helper – Kaalalay sa Sinampay

Another domestic activity which I enjoy doing with our little boy is getting dry clothes from the clothes’ line. One or two at a time, I fold the clothes in two and hand them down to LC. He then carries them inside the house and puts them on the sofa. We do this repeatedly until all clothes are in.

It takes a while to get all clothes in the house but, it doesn’t matter. This is one very productive activity for BOTH of us. 🙂

Yesterday after all the clothes were finally on the sofa for sorting and folding, he hang around and continued to help me. One by one he pulled the socks off the sipit. Here’s a picture of him in action. The photo’s very low res. You could hardly make out what he’s really doing, but I’m posting it still for documentation and reminder for me…

We need to work on his pincer grasp!

Mama’s Little Helper – Setting the Table

For five times on four consecutive days, our almost 2-year-old son has helped me set the table.

We start with the place mats, then we move on to the plates, spoons and fork. I give them piece by piece while saying whose it is. Papa’s plate, Mama’s plate, LC’s plate, Mama’s spoon, LC’s spoon…

It’s been a mess and a stress when he usually “helps” me but in this case, he’s a little helper in the truest sense of it. A real proud mama here! 🙂

These Toys Are Also For Boys

So I got some ‘It’s for girls’ comments in varying tones with regards to LC’s toy kitchen. Hubby included. But I’m happy he supported me on the decision knowing I have very good reasons for having one.

Little Cat is just like any little boy. He’s all over the house exploring, running around, climbing everywhere, reaching out and tinkering whatever his hands can get hold of. One of the things that sets him apart, or probably makes him more like any other kid, is his affinity to the kitchen and the mess he can make in there. He likes being in the kitchen. And that’s even before we got our own place. I took that as a cue to get him his own play set. Grounded on the belief that a toy kitchen – and some other “girly toys” – are just as beneficial to little boys, I went for it.

But what really are my reasons for getting one? Here they are:

1. to hone fine motor skills such as hand-eye coordination and other things;

A Wooden Toy Kitchen For The Little Chef

Back in July, I was in search for the perfect wooden toy kitchen for Little Cat. There were only a handful who sell them locally. These are Voila – available online and in Toy Kingdom, and few other online stores such as Come And Play, Mother Garden Wooden Toys and Babysmiths Store. However, these wooden toy kitchens are too expensive for me, too pink for LC, rather small or simply not my type. We have limited budget and space, and this will be our once-in-a-blue-moon toy splurge, so I really have to like it too. I then went on to look elsewhere.

I found our perfect toy kitchen in Toys “R” Us in US. It’s wooden, appropriately sized and in gender-neutral color. It’s compact with a stove, a sink, an oven, a microwave, and some shelves. Most importantly for me and Hubby, it fits our budget.

After almost three months, a glitch and some hurdles, LC’s wooden toy kitchen is finally home with us. I have to thank God for angels E, A, S and K (most especially to my Bestest E!) who helped me bring it home to LC. We are blessed! And may God bless our angels more! 🙂

Now without further ado, here are pictures to show.

The Toddler’s Lesson For The Day: Domestic Arts

For a while I worried I’m not giving Little Cat enough developmental stimulation and learning activities.  Juggling various roles has been my continued struggle since we moved on our own.  I miss those days when I’d just prepare and do structured activities with LC, free play with him and just be the Mama and Nanny without being the all-around domestic diva.

Then days ago, an article was shared in N@W egroup.  The article is about homeschooling young kids written by Sarah Baldwin, an experienced Waldorf early childhood teacher.   The second and third sentence was enough to give me relief and reassurance that LC is doing just fine.

Young children will learn everything they need to know and be prepared for formal learning later by participating in family life, household tasks and receiving nurturing care.