Power Naps, Ice Blocks & Showers!

We are totally struggling with the whether to nap or not to nap issue at the moment! The Action Man just can't seem to get through the day without a nap, but he always wants to take one at 3/4/5pm!!! And this is just not conducive with having a decent bed time hour... or for giving Mummy some down time in the evening! TIPS ANYONE???

Anyways, in my efforts to keep the Action Man awake today, we decided to turn the lounge into an obstacle course. (I was desperate! and it was raining!) Then, during mid run through the course Dionne called and 'nec minute' Ashton is fast asleep on top of the couch!

I have to say... I was taken with the cuteness of the moment... and felt sorry for how tired he must have felt to fall asleep mid-climb. So I let him have a 10 minute power nap and then woke him up with an ice block incentive... in the shower! ;o)

Worked a charm... and he was in bed by 7:30pm! Maybe 10 minute power naps, and ice blocks in showers is my answer to this dilema! We'll see.

"I'm exploring the ocean!"

I had a rather proud Mummy Moment the other day while out at the beach with my little man. Let me set the scene for you a little bit. . .

The weather wasn’t fabulous, but it was Waitangi Day (our NZ national holiday for you non-kiwis reading this) and we were determined to get out and do something as a family. We had organised with a bunch of friends to meet at the beach and despite the windy, overcast weather we all braved the beach front to build sand castles and go for an impromptu exploration of the beaches rock pools.

My little Action Man (which has become his adventure name) was in his element, he set off, not caring where anyone else was to explore the pools and see what he could find. I just followed along behind him letting him go about his busy explorations.

Soon he started to get closer to the ocean, so I said to him, “Hey where are you going buddy?” He turned around to me and quickly said, “I’m exploring the ocean!” and then continued on his way. That is when my proud mummy moment began! I quickly got out my camera and started snapping photos of him “exploring the ocean!” After all, my son had just used the word “exploring” in a sentence, all on his own accord!

As he walked very adventurously through the rock pools he chanted, “going to the waves, going to the waves!” Pointing out sea treasures he found along the way. A few minutes later after we had stopped to check out a little rock pool he called out to me again, “Look Mum. I found a little waterfall. . . I build a bridge.” He was just loving having the time, freedom and space to explore as he wanted to.

Again we continued on through the rock pools, where he spotted some big seagulls playing in the water. As he got closer he called out to them while waving, “Hello seagulls!” He stopped and watched them for a while then turned to me and said, “Mum, I’m soo busy!”This sentence and all the had happened before it epitomized for me the concept that “play is work & learning” for children. In my little man’s mind, as he jumped from rock pool, to rock pool, turned over rocks, inspected seaweed, collected shells and watched the the seagulls at play, he was busy, he was working on doing what children should be doing. . .  figuring out his world and how he fits into it, what he loves about it and what he wants to learn more about.

As you can see from the photos, he wasn’t dressed for exploring the ocean. He fell in quite a few times and got quite wet. The weather was not fabulous, and it could have been easier to just stay at home and watch a DVD or do the usual home routine. But in braving the elements we got to have a great learning moment together. And I got to to hear those precious words that lets me know he is taking in everything I am trying to teach him about the value or learning. . .  “I’m exploring”

A much needed get away!

Each year we try and get away on some sort of holiday, we aim to get overseas as you really do leave normal life behind when you do that, but with me being rather pregnant we decided to stay close to home this year... actually it was a very last minute decision to go, and it probably wouldn't have happened had Dionne not said to us, "Just go up to Aunty Brenda's batch and we'll have Ashton while you're gone!" She obviously knew how much I needed it! (Thats what are sisters for, they read you like no one else, and they make you do something about it!)

So, we made it happen and it was the best thing ever! I can't remember the last time Kris and I just spent time together on our own like that, and with the crazy schedules we have both been on over the past couple of months, it was well overdue!

Mahurangi was our final destination and we struck gold the whole weekend in terms of weather! All we did was read books, chillax on the beach, read, and chillax on the beach! BLISS!

Mahurangi Beach

My belly at 6 months

We had a bit of milk to use up before we headed home
so we had bulk milk and cookies to finish it off! ;o)

Our view from the batch...
(it was actually a lot better than this, but hard to give it justice through a photo)

We stopped at Wenderholm Reserve on our way home and when we went
to have lunch I realised I hadn't bought a knife to make our vegemite and chip
rolls... so I put my Kiwi ingenuity to the test, and rolled up our empty cheese
packaging and used it as my make shift knife! WORKED A CHARM!

It was such a lovely weekend! Thanks Dionne and Josh for taking care of Ashton so we could get away! It was the perfect Anniversary/Birthday weekend away!

Singing in the Rain!

Ok... I'm going to really put myself out there for this blog, because it was one of those moments that I just couldn't let go "unblogged" (I may have just made up a new word!) 

SPOILER: Be warned... I have no make up on, my hair isn't brushed, and I am still in my pajamas! I look rather scary!

This summer has been pretty shocking this year! It feels like it has rained more than it rains in winter! In the beginning it was really getting to me. I had myself geared for summer outdoor adventures and I wasn't getting them! Then one day I decided, "I am not going to let the weather dictate my day or my attitude towards it!" 

So, when I woke up this morning (Saturday) and the rain had come to play AGAIN, I said to Ashton, "Hey buddy, you want to come and sing in the rain with me."

His reply was very enthusiastic, "YEAH, OK MUM, LETS GO!"

We rain straight outside and I taught him how to sing "I'm singing in the rain!" with the extra "Tuffa taffa" actions at the end of each chorus. Ashton loved it! He copied every move and created his own, dancing around the deck lifting his head to the rain, feeling the drops fall on his face! 

It definitely was a precious and paradigm shift moment for me! I am determined even more now to never let the weather dictate my attitude towards the day... seize every moment to play!

Mixing Stirring Adventures

"Mum, I do mixing stirring?" is a phrase a hear quite often at the moment. My little man is turning into quite the chef. He doesn't mind whether he is cooking with sand and water, with real ingredients to experiment, or making something that he can actually cook. As long as he has a bowl, a spoon, some measuring cups and something to mix up, he is a happy camper.

So I thought I would share just a few of our Mixing Stirring Adventure ideas with you today, and a few pointers on how to make these pockets of play, great teaching moments!

* Sand/Dirt and Water (a great place to start for mixing adventures - go to the beach if you don't have a sand pit or dig a hole in your back yard.)

* Colour Mixing (Whether you use different coloured water or paints)

* Experimental Cooking (Give your child lots of different ingredients from around the kitchen and let them go for GOLD! Good ingredients for interesting changes are, baking soda, vinegar, flour, corn flour, coco, food colouring... obviously this should be supervised at all times, and don't just give them the whole box, give them quantities you are happy for them to use. Sometimes you may choose to just give them two or three of these ingredients to explore at a time.)

* Real Cooking (Let your child help you cook the dinner or bake some special treats.)

* Give your child proper cooking utensils (this will really make them feel like they are cooking! NOTE: The oven was not on in this photo)

* Talk to them about what they are making (Ask them questions like "What does it smell like?" "How long will it take to cook?" "What does it taste like?" "Who are you cooking for today?" These questions will help develop and articulate their play.)

These activities are golden for teaching moments around:

* Chemical Change (what happens when different ingredients mix together)

* Volume and Measurement (as they mix in the different amounts of ingredients)

* Imaginative Play (as they use pretend ingredients or set up a restaurant etc.)

Sometimes you have to step back and let the kitchen get a little messier than usual, just make sure they help you clean up as part of the activity. I have loved sitting back and watching my little boy explore the many different ingredients and seeing his imagination come alive as he prepares his culinary surprises for his family, friends and toys! "Ok mum, I make a cookie for you! Oh Yummy." "Ok Rocket, here's your rocket soup!" (Thats Rocket from Little Einsteins.)  The possibilities are endless!

Do you and your child/ren have a favourite "Mixing, Stirring" activity you like to do together?

Christmas Pixies

It is a bit of a Christmas tradition in our family to go “Pixing” each year to families we want to share special Christmas treats with. Ashton has been really into cooking lately and was determined to make some cookies the other day. . .  so I asked him who he would like to share his cookies with and our pixie list was formed.

Now, traditionally a true “Pixie” would be that you sneak up on the house, leave the treats on the door step, knock on the door/ring the door bell etc. and then sprint your heart out to get away from the house before someone gets to the door and sees you. The idea behind it all is that you become an anonymous bearer of Christmas goodies.

So, this year we went a little less traditional since Ashton had made the list of who he wanted to gift his cookies too… they were all his friends and cousins and not only did he want to give them the cookies but he wanted to see them and play with them too. So we called ahead of time to make sure the kids would all be awake and let them know we were coming, but to keep it a surprise from the children. We did the typical sneak up and explained to Ashton we were going to give them a surprise and that he had to be really quite. . . so he tip toed the whole way, holding his cookies, whispering “Ssshhh, cookies!”

Once we had placed the cookies and knocked, we ran as fast as we could to our hiding places to wait for the children to find us. Ashton was  beside himself with excitement! It was like combining all of his favourite things into one activity, his cousins, treats and hide n’ seek! Life couldn’t get any better! When the children finally found Ashton the squeals of delight and excitement were overwhelming, as they they talked about the cookies that were left and the chase that followed!

Its these kind of activities that make Christmas so absolutely exciting and fun! Do you have any fun Christmas traditions of giving? Do share!!!  And Merry Christmas everyone, from POLKADOT CARLY!!!

Santa's letterbox

Although Polkadots has been getting into the Christmas spirit for quite some time now with Christmas shows and preparations for our Christmas Extravaganza concert, we have only just started to get into the swing of Christmassy fun at home, and to get the ball rolling we decided to make a Santa Letterbox for our Family Night last night.

We just kept things simple, by finding an old show box. We got out the red paint and all chipped in to transform our shoebox into something a little more festive. Then it was time to decorate . . . again, keeping things simple, we just printed off some Christmassy clip art and stuck them around the box.

We wanted to make our letterbox have a bit of a difference, so we decided instead of writing letters to Santa to tell him what we wanted, we decided that for each day of December we would write a letter to Santa to tell him what we had done to be nice to someone else. Then Santa would know that we’ve been good!

We’re excited about writing our “Nice deeds” letters to Santa and can’t wait to do more Christmassy activities in the days to come!