11 Things To Do With Your Little Girl (part 3)

Finally, my final installation of:

"11 Things To Do With Your Little Girl."

 (To read Part 1, click here.)
 (To read Part 2, click here.)

I started this series back in September and October, and those holidays sure crept up on me! I even had to get through Valentine's Day just to get part 3 out!


If you've been following along, you know that I just think life with my daughter Ivy (age 3) gets better each day. Infancy was a little hard on me, and motherhood in general took some figuring out. I had to figure out what Ivy likes, and to figure out what I like in this role called "mom."

So here's #8, #9, #10 and #11 of things we do together:

Sometimes you just have to get out the cups and saucers, fill those miniature carafes with water, sit in a too-small chair, and have some tea with your daughter. Last spring I re-finished a kids Pottery Barn table and chair set, (see that post here), which gave me a great excuse to take it outside and use it in its full glory. My daughter was in 7th heaven, holding those little cups to her stuffed animals' mouths and pouring me "tea" every 30 seconds, watching me sip it. It was just me, Ivy, and our best manners. (Oh, and grandpa popped in for a bit). Such a sweet memory and so simple to do.

Throughout my pregnancy the smell of coffee made me vomit (literally). Within weeks of giving birth, I started drinking coffee again, especially since Ivy refused to sleep longer than 2 hours, night and day (until I made her cry it out at 10 months old). Getting coffee at Starbucks has always been a fun treat for me. As soon as I was mobile with Ivy, I started hauling her in the infant seat and enjoying a few nice moments at Starbucks with her, before she'd cry or need a diaper change or something. As she got older, started eating solid food, began to walk and such, I'd order her an organic chocolate milk and a muffin or croissant. At first she wanted to climb around (or worse, run around by those stacks of ceramic mugs!) but with some patience, practice and sometimes having to leave earlier than I would have liked, I trained her to sit there and "have coffee" with me. Just because I'm a mom now, doesn't mean I have to sacrifice those simple pleasures. But I did have to figure out how to still make it enjoyable-- for all parties involved. It is now even more enjoyable sharing "a cup of coffee" with my precious daughter. She loves it and looks forward to those mornings where I say, "You wanna go to Starbucks?"

I like to paint furniture and sew bunting. That's why I started this blog. My husband also likes to paint, and is also an amazing painter on canvas. The first thing Ivy does when Kit or I go out to the work tent to paint is say, "I wanna paint! What can I paint with?" I'll be honest, my first response is not always, "Ok great! Help me paint, Ivy!" It's usually more like, "Ivy, this is something mommy needs to paint, can you find something else to play with?" That response doesn't go over well at all. So I keep a few "projects" handy that Ivy can "help" with. For example, when I go to garage sales, I pick up old acrylics, paint brushes and wooden shelves, etc., so Ivy can feel like she's painting something like mommy. We have a gravel driveway and Ivy LOVES to paint the tiny rocks. I had a bunch of pumpkins left over from her Cinderella Birthday Party (see that post here) and one day she helped me paint them. It's pretty much a 100% chance (50% Kit + 50% Becca) that Ivy will be artistic. We might as well foster the creativity now! 

I might be cheating a little with this one... I choreograph 4-5 days a week at home before I head to work at the dance studio. So Ivy has no choice but to watch me move around our tiny cottage creating dances to teach to kids and adults. But sometimes, I have to stop choreographing with purpose, turn my eyes toward Ivy, take her hands, and dance with her. Especially when she says to me, "Mommy, dance with me!" Many evenings after dinner, instead of flipping on the television, we turn on some music and tell Ivy to dance. She may request some sample moves from Kit and I (yes, Kit), but soon gets on a roll herself. And, contrary to common belief, you don't have to play those overdone nursery songs to get a kid to dance. The other day I was playing the most Indie/Singer/Songwriter/Emo mash of music for work and Ivy kept telling me to play it again and again. Kit loves reggae. She dances to that. I love Christian worship music. She dances to that. I play hip hop for work. She dances to all of it. 

And that concludes "11 Things To Do With Your Little Girl." Hope you're able to take a little of this information and be inspired with new ways to spend time with your sweet daughter. 

Aloha, Rebecca

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11 Things To Do With Your Little Girl (part 2)

A few weeks ago I posted Part 1 of this post. In the meantime, Fall Break happened, swimming lessons started, Ivy turned 3, and I had a dance camp for 25 kids... so with all that said and done, I can finally do Part 2 of 

"11 Things To Do With Your Little Girl."

 (To read Part 1, click here.)

To catch you up on the basis of this post, here's a bit of what I wrote in my intro for Part 1:

As a new parent, it takes a little motivation to figure out what to do in your new role in life. You visit parenting websites, read books, and maybe even join a mom's group. Eventually you get a routine going and see what you like to do, but more importantly, what your child likes to do. 

That's where we are now. And as Ivy transitions from toddler-age to pre-school-age, I feel like it's getting more and more fun each and every day!

Here we go with #5, 6 & 7!

I know the rest of the country is getting out their sweaters and scarves, but here in Hawaii, it's 85 degrees F pretty much year-round. We live 2 minutes from the community pool, so we go quite a bit. It's fun to cool off, see other moms/dads and kids, and watch Ivy learn how to be comfortable in the water. I have no tips if your child is 3 years old and already afraid of the water... but if you have an infant, get them in the water ASAP! We started dunking Ivy under water (fully dipping her head/face under) at 3 months old. Blow on their face first, then immediately drop them in and then lift them out. The blowing causes them to hold their breath for a split second. My husband and I have also been surfing with Ivy since she learned to walk (at 9 months old, she rides on our boards with us), so getting her to learn to swim is pretty important to us. I know that sounds a little backwards- surf first, swim second, but hey, we wanted her to be comfortable on a board before she could tell us "NO!" 

Here's all 3 of us in action:

After diligently trying for a year to teach her to swim myself, I finally enrolled her in private swim classes that are done out of a lady's home. (If you live in the area and are interested, click here to go to her web site.)  She did 4 lessons last week, and is doing 4 more this week (can you tell how important this is to us?!) and the progress has been amazing! We're a water family, can you tell?

Most kids in pre-school get the privilege of visiting the fire station with their class. Well, since we're not enrolling Ivy in pre-school yet, (see our reasoning for that, here) I was so excited to hear that our local library (which is right next door to the fire station) was offering a free field trip to the fire station! There were about 30 kids, many of them we knew. The fire men and woman gave a speech, let the kids climb all over the fire truck and shoot the hose! 

One of the most valuable things about this experience was that the fireman got dressed in his full gear, with the scary oxygen mask on, and asked the kids to come give him a hi-five so that if he were fighting a fire in our home, a child would not be afraid of him and hide, but she would know he is there to help get her to safety! And of course, "Stop, Drop & Roll" is priceless.

Sometimes you just have to get outside. Do you ever feel that way? I know the weather can prevent this from happening in certain parts of the world, but that is rarely an issue here in Hawaii. Between cleaning up breakfast, and making beds, and doing laundry, and paying bills, and checking FB (did I really just write that?), it takes some effort to GET OUT! 

I think gardening is the epitome of getting outside and doing something. Right up there with "going on a hike." We have a great garden, which Kit has set up. We've got cucumbers, kale, lettuce, tomatoes, herbs... and now flowers! Last month I asked Kit to plant some flowers in this old washtub (see the full post here). He immediately got Ivy involved, and I think she's destined to have the green thumb, just like her dad. :) She shoveled out the dirt, put it in the pots, then put the flowers in it. Then it all went in the washtub. 

  I found this information in an article by Tony Isaacs: 

"A study conducted for Britain's Royal Horticultural Society has found that encouraging children to learn gardening boosts their development by helping them become happier, more confident, and more resilient. In addition, gardening also helps teach children patience and the benefits of a healthy diet and lifestyle."

And that's how we fill our days. Stay tuned for the final installment of "11 Things To Do with Your Little Girl." Hopefully Ivy won't have another birthday by the time I get around to it. :)

Aloha,

Rebecca

We've got a link party going on! Check it out, here.

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11 Things To Do With Your Little Girl (part 1)

I grew up as the youngest in my family, with 2 older brothers. I was the baby. I was the one everyone played with and took care of. I didn't have to change anyone's diapers or hold a bottle to an infant's mouth while my mom was doing some crazy multi-tasking. As I grew older I never felt like volunteering in our church nursery and didn't have too many babysitting jobs. Babies usually cried when I held them. 

Fast forward a couple dozen years to today. I'm now a mom to an almost-3-year-old. The whole pregnancy and baby thing did not come naturally to me. Don't get me wrong, I love Ivy more than anything, and think she's the coolest kid EVER, but when I found out I was pregnant, there were tears. Tears of fear. Making my living as a dance instructor, you'd think, "Becca will be such a great mom! She has so much experience with kids!" Well, the majority of those kids were over the age of 3... Moral of the story: when I had Ivy, I had to figure her out. I had to figure me out!

Well, Kit and I finally feel like we're in a groove. Parenting took us by surprise, then took us for a ride. But today's blog post is not about that journey, it's about where we are today. Specifically, it's about what we do today.

As a new parent, it takes a little motivation to figure out what to do in your new role in life. You visit parenting websites, read books, and maybe even join a mom's group. Eventually you get a routine going and see what you like to do, but more importantly, what your child likes to do.

That's where we are now.
And as Ivy transitions from toddler-age to pre-school-age,
I feel like it's getting more and more fun each and every day!

So here's a list of 11 things we like to do with our daughter:

This is probably the most common activity new moms do. It was so fun when Ivy got old enough to finally start climbing up on the equipment. We've got two great playgrounds by our house. One is brand new, but the trees haven't quite grown big enough to create shade, so it's a little hot. Bring sunscreen!

We have a great library just down the road. Once a week they have story time for toddlers (age 0-2). On another day they have story time for pre-schoolers (age 3-5). Ivy turns 3 in a couple of weeks, so we might be transitioning to a new day! On the toddler day, it's somewhat noisy (you think?), but no one seems to care too much, and if it gets out of control, the librarian will just politely ask the parents to have their children sit near them, or do some kind of attention-getting poem/song. 

When my brother was here last Fall, he and his wife would take Ivy to the Humane Society. She could see the dogs, hold the cats, watch the turtles and bunnies. Kit recently discovered this little pet shop close by that has cats, dogs and turtles roaming the store freely, as well as birds, fish and rabbits to see. It's right across from the library, so we usually go after story time! 

(Can you tell we live on an island? Everything is close by!)

Now I know I may be judged for this one: 

"How could you succumb to exposing your daughter to such vanity at her ripe young age?" 

Oh, you weren't thinking that? Phew! Well, just in case you were, here's why I love to do this with Ivy:

• It teaches patience. It's not easy for a 2 year old to sit still for 20+ minutes! But, Ivy is now amazing at it!!
• Growing up, this was something I always wanted to do with my mom, but she cleaned for a living, so she could never really justify getting a manicure.
• It teaches a girl how to take care of herself, giving her pride in her clean, maintained nails.
• She makes a choice, and has to stick with her choice! There have been visits (not many) where Ivy has chosen her nail polish color (kelly green, let's say), and we've gotten home and she's wanted me to take it off and repaint them pink... I don't let her. She made a choice and has to stick with it! (...at least until it starts chipping off.)
• It's cheap for kids to get their nails done. I go to a place that does a kids "polish change" on hands and toes for $10 total! Then they'll do a polish change on my hands or feet for $10. The only thing missing from the polish change versus the full mani or pedi, is the soaking and massage, which I don't have time for anyway! I think spending $20 for an hour with your daughter in a sanitary, peaceful environment, every other month or so, is worth it. 

Do you do any of these things with your daughter? I'd love to hear about it! 

Come back in a few days for PART 2 of "11 Things To Do With Your Little Girl."

Aloha, 

Rebecca 

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