Strong Like Mom

I come from a line of strong women; all in their own way.  I have a great-grandmother who was a nurse, a Gran who was a teacher, and raised 3 boys, a Grandma who raised a family on a farm, an "adopted" Grandma (Mary), who lost her mother and oldest sister to war, raised her siblings, was a career woman, and had to hide under a set of stairs during the Hungarian 1956 revolution.

And then there is my mom, who has had every reason - loss, death, cancer, illnesses - to let bitterness set in, and yet is full of life and joy.

Strong like mom.

A few months ago, Target caused a buzz, because their exclusive line Cat and Jack introduced this T-shirt that had "Strong Like Mom" written on it.  The initial shirt was for boys, then they also came out with one for girls.  The reason this is such a big deal, is because moms aren't usually portrayed as strong, especially not in reference to their sons.  I love the trend of portraying women in more strong roles (cue Wonder Woman)!

As soon as I saw this shirt, I knew I wanted one for Aidan.

If he's wearing this shirt, whenever I ask him what it says, he shouts "Strong Like Mom!"  (He has even been known to say, "Strong like mom, pee like dad!", LOL!!)

At first I wondered if it was maybe a little vain of me to get him the shirt in the first place.  Or if I really am strong.

I have fears and anxieties.  Am I really strong?

Remember my mom, the strongest woman I know?  She can't swim.  Scared of swimming pools, actually.  But do you know what?  When we were kids, she would get in the pool with us, and although we all knew it wasn't her favorite thing, none of us knew the extent of that fear until years later.

Being a mom makes you strong.  You have a reason to be strong.  Someone to be strong for.

So, yesterday, when I had to fly alone with Aidan, then drive home - as it turns out in the rain - basically everything that unnerves me, I had Aidan wear his "Strong Like Mom" shirt.  Mostly as a reminder to myself.

Being strong doesn't mean you don't have fears.  It means that you are willing to overcome them.  I'm going to go one step further.  I think it is important for our kids to know that there are things we fear, or are uncomfortable with, BUT that we are willing to face them.

During one of our airport potty breaks, my sweet, squirmy boy looked at me and said, "mommy, you're my hero", without any prompting.  I could soar!!!  I never ever want to forget that moment.  He will probably never know how much his little 3-year-old self encouraged me.

So yesterday, I felt STRONG!  I felt like I could conquer anything, and I did!  We had a wonderful trip, and I drove in the rain like a boss.

My favorite verse last year was Joshua 1:9, and Aidan knows it by heart: "Be strong and courageous, for the Lord your God is with you, wherever you go."

I am strong, and it's not vain to say it.  I am strong because God makes me strong, and because my son needs me to be.  I am strong.

Toddler Fun, Week 23: Letter O, Number 2, Orange and Octopus

Who doesn't love an octopus!  They're super (SUPER) smart, have eight tentacles and three hearts.  So for the letter "O", we decided to learn about octopi.

Week 23

Letter: O

Number: 2

Color: Orange

Animal: Octopus

Activities

1. Aquarium

So, sadly Jacksonville doesn't have an aquarium, and isn't scheduled to get one until 2018. There is a new one in St. Augustine, but they are still in their "phase 1" soft opening, and are limited in their marine life.  So this meant I had to get creative.

One of our favorite restaurants in Jacksonville, is Salt Life Food Shack, and they have a salt water tank.  No octopi, but beautiful fish!  Aidan  really loved looking at all the beautiful colors!  We talked about how they were salt water fish, which means they live in the ocean.

There was a puffer fish, so we talked about how big they can get!  All the blue ones were "Dory", and the orange ones were "Nemo".  










2. Fine Motor

I found this octopus sheet, and printed it out.  Then I gave Aidan a bowl of cheerios, and showed him how each one went on a circle.  It kept him (mostly) busy while I made lunch, so that was a help!

Look at how well he's concentrating!













3. Writing with Chalk

 Aidan used chalk to draw "the world" outside on our back patio, so I had him write some O-s.  It didn't last long, but he drew a couple circles. :)

And then went back to drawing "the world".  So serious. :)












4. Ocean/Beach Day

 Even though we live only about 20 minutes from the beach, we don't go nearly enough.  So, we convinced Dan to take a day off, and met up with Aidan's best buddy at the beach!

They had fun in the water, building sand castles, jumping in  the tide pools, and we even saw some dolphins!

 We (quickly) talked about how octopi live in the ocean, and this is their habitat.

I tried to get him to write O-s in the sand, but that didn't last very long, haha!












5. O-s and Octopi everywhere

 We LOVE Bay & Bee!  They're a locally owned indoor play space.  We try to go about twice a week.  Their color schemes are relaxing, the toys are engaging, the kids and parents are nice, the ladies who work there are the best... AND lucky for us, a lot of their decor is ocean-themed.  So, when we got there one day this week, I told Aidan to go "spy" the animal on the wall that was our animal this week.  And... ta-da!!  He pointed out the letter "O", and then got excited, because he realized there was one on his shirt too!

This doesn't have anything to do with o-s, or octopi, just showcasing Bay & Bee. Oh, and my genius son's skyscrapers, haha!










6. Letter Tentacle Twister

 I drew red, blue, orange and green circles on a large piece of paper, then wrote our most recent letters in them.  We talked about how octopi can bend and move their tentacles in such an amazing way, and we can move our arms and legs like that too.

Then I would say, "put your hand on the red O", "put your foot on the orange V", etc.  He did pretty well!







7. Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center

This past Sunday, we had a service in the Keys, so we took the opportunity to go to the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center in Key West.

 It's a little-known attraction is family-friendly, educational, and FREE!!!  (They do accept donations.)  It's not very big, but they pack it full!  (The center has free parking, which is a huge bonus, especially in Key West.  The different tour buses stop here too, which is nice!  Also, it's air conditioned, which is very comfortable, if you've been walking around all day.  They also have a replica of a NOAA Aquarius - an undersea science lab, and a 20 minute short film about the local sea life.)

 One of the main interactive exhibits is this topographical map.  There are buttons at the bottom, each of which has a different label, like: "coral reefs, shipwrecks, currents, bridges, etc."  When you push the button, little spots would light up, showing where they were.  Aidan loved it!

In one of the exhibits, we found an... OCTOPUS!!!

 They had a couple aquariums, one of which had this lionfish.  Did you know, that lionfish aren't indigenous to these waters, and they are malicious predators, and they are considered invasive.  The other fish don't know to be wary of them, and don't know how to avoid them, so their numbers are rapidly growing, and they are becoming a threat.

 This artist uses trash found in the ocean to make art, as well as bring awareness of how we're polluting our oceans in something called the Splash Trash Tour.  She had this interactive station, where there were little boxes with a question on the outside, like "How long does it take for styrofoam to decompose in the ocean?"  There was also a sample of whatever material was mentioned.  Then, when you opened it up, it would have the answer.  It takes 500 years to forever for styrofoam to decompose.

We stopped by the gift shop, and looked around.  We saw this ocean alphabet book, and lo and behold, O is for octopus!
All in all, it was a very fun, educational and discovery-filled hour!  I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Key West, especially those with small kids, as it can be hard to find things for preschool aged kids.

Snacks

1. Octopus String Cheese Snack

This tasty treat was a HUGE hit!  I used Cheerios for the sea bed, string cheese for the octopus, blueberries for bubbles, goldfish, and grape seaweed. 

2. Octopus Sandwich

For this lunch, I made Aidan's sandwich on a slider bun, added candy eyes and a strawberry mouth.  Then, I cut a bell pepper into the tentacles, and put tiny drops of hummus on them for the suckers (actual name).







3. Octopus Popsicle

I bought this popsicle mold at IKEA, and it's awesome!  I've been making smoothies for us lately, and this day I made a "Hank the octopus" one.  I used strawberries, clementine juice, frozen pineapples and peaches, carrots and honey.  It was a red/orange, which was perfect!  I stuck gummy worms in it, and stuck it in the freezer.  Be forewarned though, the gummy worms are REALLY hard to chew when frozen, Aidan nearly choked on one.  Also, this whole thing is SUPER messy!


4. Octo-dog

For this lunch, I cut the bottom 3/4 of a hot dog into 8 tentacles. Then, I cooked it in a pan, with the legs sticking out (making it look kind of like a pinwheel).  As it cooked, the tentacles started to curl.  After they cooked, I laid in on its side, to make sure the "head" got cooked too.  Then, I cut two strawberries to (kinda) look like a squid.  I added goldfish, and two carrot star fish.  Oh, and cheerios for sand.  And candy eyes - I'm telling you, those candy eye balls are the bomb!  They bring everything to life! 

Crafts

1. O is for Octopus

I helped Aidan write his name. :)  Then, I cut out an orange O, and 8 tentacles (by the way, it's hard to make octopus tentacles, vs jellyfish tentacles).  We glued them all on the back of the "O", flipped it around, stuck some eye balls one it, and there it is!  So cute!







2. Hank Craft

 I drew out a "Hank" head, then cut out white and blue semi circles for the eyes, and drew a "frowny" face.  I drew lines on another orange piece of construction paper, and helped Aidan cut on the lines.

 I wrapped the tentacles around a pencil, to make them "crinkly".  Then I helped him glue them to the back, and...

There it is!

Books and Media

We Read:

1. I Spy In The Ocean by Damon Burnard

This is a fun acronym book!  The letters spell out ocean, and lucky for us, O stands for octopus!  Aidan's grandma got this for him when he was little.  So much fun!





2. Finding Dory Little Golden Book 

A sweet book that retells the story of Finding Dory (longer description below).








3. An Octopus Is Amazing by Patricia Lauber

This was a great book we got from the library!  I've mentioned it before, but did you know, you can reserve books at your local library, even if they're not at your branch?  (If you have a library account) You can put a hold on them, they'll deliver them to your branch, you'll be notified when they're in, and you can go pick them up!  Isn't that amazing!?  Anyway, this is a fun read, and very educational about octopi.  Like, did you know, that once a female octopi lays its eggs, and takes care of them until they hatch... she dies?  Yeah, fun stuff!


4. My Octopus Arms by Keith Baker

Another library find, this is a fun book about all the things an octopus could (possibly) do with their arms.  Some of them are hypothetical (like baking), but octopi are so intelligent, they probably could!  At the end there's a sad octopus, and the big octopus shows that his arms can also squeeze and hug.  Aidan decided the little octopus was the baby, and the big octopus was the mommy.  But as we now know... that is not likely.  Lol.


5. Octopus's Garden by Ringo Starr

Alright guys, now how often does a Beatles song coincide with your theme for the week?!  So, the Beatles song Octopus's Garden, written and performed by Ringo (my personal favorite Beatle), has been illustrated by Ben Cort, and it's a delightful trip through through fantasy!  It actually comes with a CD, with the song on it, for a fun sing along!

We Watched:

1. Finding Dory - This is a new Disney gem, and if you haven't seen it, you're in luck!  As of writing this post, it is on Netflix!  It's the sweet story of Dory, a pacific blue tang, who was separated from her parents, and has short-term memory loss.  She ends up at the Marine Life Institute, where she befriends Hank, the... wait for it... octopus (actually, he's a septopus - he's missing a tentacle)!

2. Octonauts, Season 2 Episode 16 - Octonauts and the Mimic Octopus - (on Netflix, it's Season 2 Episode 10) - We're big fans of the Octonauts!  If you haven't seen it, it's a fun show about a group of animals who help ocean animals that are hurt or sick.  In this episode, we meet a mimic octopus who can make himself look like a bunch of different animals!

3. Octonauts, Season 1 Episode 12 - The Octonauts and the Monster Map - this episode unfortunately isn't on Netflix, but you can find it on youtube here!

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Toddler Fun, Week 21: Letter Q, Number 10, Patterns and Quilts

Quilts are very special to our family.  My mom is a quilter, and she's actually a member of the Hungarian Quilter's Guild.

She made Aidan two quilts when he was born.  One of them was extra special, because she started making it when she was pregnant with me.  Then, she found out I was going to be a girl, and it was blue, so she set it aside.  When she found out we were having a boy, she finished it for Aidan.

She also made one I asked for, and one of the fabrics we used was Dan's old shirts.

That one was his school blanket for 2 years, when he went to preschool.

Since I couldn't find an animal I thought would really help him remember the letter "Q" (I know about quails, but the boy has never seen one :) ), I thought quilts would be a nice way to do our Q week!  So here we go!

Week 21

Letter: Q

Number: 10

Color: Patterns

Theme: Quilts

Activities

1. Letter Quilt Recognizing Game

 I drew this grid on our back porch, and then filled it with the last four letters we've learned.  I'd asking him questions like, "Where is the blue Q?", "Where are the other Q-s?", "What color are they?", "Show me the red N.", "What other letters are in red?"

We had fun playing outside, and it was nice to get some fresh air after a couple days of rain.

2. Quilt Letter Spotting

 Our friend that we live with has this quilt she got from one of her students a couple years ago.  It's really nice, because it's kind of "flash card" style, in that there's a picture to go with each letter of the alphabet.  It then repeats over and over.  We had fun finding all the letters he knew, and it gave me the opportunity to tell him that queen also starts with Q. :)






3. Quilt Roll Chalk Board

My mom made Aidan this chalk board quilt roll, which he loves!  We practiced "writing".













4. Number Quilt Square matching

 I printed out this Llama, Llama Red Pajama coloring page, then numbered all the squares on the quilt.  Then, I also cut out scrapbook paper squares, and numbered them too, on the back.  Then, I  gave Aidan a glue stick... Yikes!  Although he doesn't recognize his numbers yet, he's really good at matching! So, I told him each number, and then he found the matching square, and glued it on, all by himself.

He wrote his own name!  So, so sweet!  Then, he also colored the llama and his red pajamas!  He really did a very good job of matching, and gluing!

Snacks

1. Quilt Fruit Salad

For this tasty and healthy snack, I cut up an apple, kiwi and a couple strawberries into squares.  I then placed them in order, to create a quilt-like pattern.  It was a big, and yummy hit!

2. Quilt Sandwich

This snack was super easy, I just toasted one of the slices of bread that I used to make his sandwich.  Then, I cut it into little squares, and put the sandwich back together, alternating which side was facing up.  Then I put clementine slices and baby carrots around the edge to make an AB pattern.  He's been asking for it everyday since!

Crafts

1. Q is for Quilt

I put out his quilt, so he could see how the squares make the blanket.  I printed out a large letter Q, and some squares from scrapbooking paper I had left over.  Then, I let him (!!!) put the glue on the back, and glue them all over the letter Q.

Then, I cut the Q out, and he glued it onto a piece of red paper.  So cute!!

2. Making a Quilt

 I had some felt left over from another craft.  I cut out a large square.  Then, I cut up some of his old baby wash clothes that are ratty, and we no longer use into squares.  It was hard for this mildly OCD mama to let him do it on his own, but...

 I let him lay them out in whatever order he wanted.  I did help him make sure they were in lines, but other than that, he called the shots.  Then, I used fabric glue to secure the small squares to the large one.  

Aidan has rediscovered one of his lovies we gave him as a baby, and has been very sweet with it, so it was the perfect opportunity to make a blanket for his "baby".  The two of them curled up and watched cartoons on a rainy afternoon.

3. Q-tip Painting

This activity is a preschool staple, and with good reason!  It's so much fun!  I got out some paint and Q-tips.  (We spotted the Q on the box.)  I printed out that same Q, then we dipped the Q-tips in the paint, and made dots inside the lines of the Q.  

I helped him start out, but then let him do it on his own.  He did pretty well!  He painted outside the lines only a couple times, and I think it was more out of curiosity than lack of fine motor skills, haha!

4. Coloring Pages

I found a quilt coloring page for him to do.  The neat thing is, you can customize it to whatever you need.  For example, I asked him to color all the circles blue. :)

Here is the coloring page.

Books and Media

We Read:

1. The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco

As I've mentioned before, this is one of my all-time favorite children's books.  It's about a Russian Jewish immigrant family, and a quilt they made out of their old clothes, and how it is there for all the most important events in their lives.


2. The Kindness Quilt by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

This is a very sweet story, about a bunny who's class ends up making a kindness quilt that takes off, including more and more people in it.  It's a very sweet story how kindness can be contagious.






3. Llama, Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney

A fun story about when a restless llama is impatient for his mama.  It doesn't directly mention a quilt, but he does have a quilt, and Aidan is already familiar with the main character, so I figured he'd like it!  Which he did!




4. The Quilt Story by Tony Johnston

This is a very sweet story, that I'm actually surprised I didn't own as a kid, because... they little girl in the story's name is Abigail.  It's about a little girl, whose mom makes her a quilt that always makes her feel comforted - through cold nights, and even a move out West.  Eventually, the quilt gets forgotten, and moved to the attic.  Years later, another little girl finds it, and falls in love with it, and the quilt is again comforting a little girl.  Super sweet!


5. The Quilt by Ann Jonas

This is a very sweet story, about a little girl, whose mom AND dad (love that!) make her a quilt - some pieces are from her baby clothes, and curtain, and the shirt she wore on her second birthday.  It's for her new big girl bed.  She's pretty convinced that she won't be able to sleep that night, because of all the patterns, but then, they come to life, as she drifts to sleep in her big girl bed, with her quilt made with love.


6. Quilt Alphabet by Lesa Cline-Ransome

This is a sweet alphabet book, where each letter corresponds to a very sweet traditional/country image.  It's really perfect, considering all the alphabet quilt activities we did!  Also, in this book Q is for quilt, of course...





What We Watched:
There really aren't any kids' movies or shows about quilts, go figure.  So, instead...

1. VeggieTales - Esther, The Girl Who Became Queen - we read the story of Esther during our devotions, so I thought it was a good fit! We have access to a service called Right Now Media (they have an Apple TV app), that has many of the classic VeggieTales stories on it.  Aidan really enjoyed it!

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