Apricot Coconut Bally Goodness

Our good friend Latonia, or "O-ney" as Aiden has dubbed her, is on her way to our house as we speak. She used to live in Calgary but moved away almost two years ago. We miss her terribly but we do get to see her when she comes back every few months for a visit. And because she's only here for a week at a time and has so many friends (she's a very popular lady) our visits are short and sweet.

To up the specialness of her visits I like to make a treat for us for our play-dates. This morning I was all set to make a cheesecake only to discover that my whipping cream had gone off. In lieu of cheesecake I scoured my pantry to search for some useable ingredients. Aha, I found some condensed milk, some apricots and some coconut balls. Apricot Coconut Balls it is.

These ooey gooey treats are easy to whip up at a moments notice (I made mine today using one arm while holding my fabulous sous chef with my other arm), and require only three ingredients. You can also enlist the help of your little one with the stirring and the rolling of the balls. They are relatively healthy and make a great play-date snack, which is why I am posting the recipe here.

Apricot Coconut Balls
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups dried apricots
1 1/4 cups shredded coconut
2/3 cups condensed milk
Extra coconut for rolling

Directions
1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Put dried apricots in a food processor to finely chop them.
3. Put chopped apricots in a bowl and add the coconut.
4. Stir the mixture or get your little person to do this.
5. Add condensed milk. Stir again.
6. Pour the extra coconut onto a plate.
7. Roll the mixture into small balls and then roll the balls in the extra coconut. You can get your little person to help you with this.
8. Place finished balls onto the cookie sheet and put them in the fridge to set.
9. Enjoy!

Happy cooking,
Creatively yours,
Maya

You Know You Are An Anderson When...

Every year at Christmas time we are fortunate to receive a Christmas-baking care package from Aiden's Great-Grandma. The care package usually consists of oodles of yummy goodness like shortbread cookies, Quality Street chocolates, banana bread, beet pickles and the best butter tarts known to man.

The other day, when we were digging into our goodies, I offered Aiden some of my butter tart. Not surprisingly he loved it. Upon his devouring of the butter tart I said to him, "Aiden, you know you are an Anderson when you love butter-tarts!" And this got me thinking about a project we could do together: The Book of Anderson.

Here's how I envision the project:

The Book of INSERT FAMILY NAME HERE
Supplies
Digital camera
Printer
Various art supplies
Stickers
Markers
Crayons
Construction paper
Binder
Clear plastic sheet protectors

Directions
1. With you little person, make a list of 15-20 things that are unique to your family. These could be things like family traditions, food that you all like, activities that you enjoy together or books that you read at bedtime.
2. Spend some time finding or taking or drawing pictures to illustrate each thing on your list.
3. Cut out the pictures and stick then to blank sheets of paper. Somewhere on the page write: You know you're a INSERT FAMILY NAME HERE when... And then somewhere on the page write down the item on your list.
4. Decorate each page with your little person using your art supplies.
5. When the pages are complete put them in the clear plastic sheet protectors and then in the binder.
6. Be sure to create a title page for your book.

Read the book with your little person as often as you like and add to the book whenever you discover something new that's unique about your family.

This would also be a fabulous project to do with a little one who is soon to be a big brother or sister. They will feel very important and special knowing that they are the ones who get to teach their younger sibling all about their family.

Happy book making,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

A Jazzy Christmas Playlist

This post is by special request from Aiden's Dad, code name Blizzard, and for anyone else who is looking for some groovy tunes for today's festivities...

A Jazzy Christmas Playlist
1. Merry Christmas Baby - Lou Rawls -Ultra Lounge Christmas Cocktails
2. Let it Snow - Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas
3. Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas
4. Sleigh Ride - Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas
5. Frosty the Snowman - Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas
6. Jingle Bells - Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas
7. Winter Wonderland - Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas
8. White Christmas - Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas
9. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas
10. Angels We Have Heard on High - Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas
11. That's What I Want for Christmas - Count Basie and Lena Horne - Blues Christmas
12. Jingle Bells - Count Basie and Lena Horne - Blues Christmas
13. Winter Wonderland - Peggy Lee - Ultra Lounge Christmas Cocktails
14. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Jackie Gleason - Ultra Lounge Christmas Cocktails
15. Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt
16. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm - Dean Martin - Ultra Lounge Christmas Cocktails

Happy listening and Happy Christmas!
Creatively and Christmas-ly yours,
Maya, code name Mistletoe :)

A Thank You Letter to Santa

This morning Aiden, Aiden's Dad and I watched part of the Phineas and Ferb Christmas Special. In this special Phin and Ferb decided to make a rest stop for Santa as a thank you present. Phineas and Ferb also asked their friends if they had ever written a thank you letter to Santa, to which their friends replied with a sheepish no. So I ask you, why don't we do that? And why don't we make this part of our Christmas traditions? If we want our little people to grow up to be thoughtful, caring citizens of the world I think we should encourage our little ones to do this...I will definitely be doing this with Aiden. And to get the ball rolling, here is my thank you letter to Santa:

Dear Santa,
I know you are extremely busy today with all the present delivering and the cookie and milk eating, but I just wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude for everything that you have given me this past year.

BEST GIFTS EVER!!!

Thank you for my beautiful, sweet, lovely, smart, thoughtful little guy (he is the only gift I will ever need) and for my equally beautiful, sweet, smart, thoughtful bigger guy (again, I don't need anymore gifts than these two!). And thank you for arranging things so that I can stay at home with my aforementioned little guy. I am truly blessed that I have the opportunity to watch him explore the world and go on amazingly fun adventures with him every day.

Thank you for my family and my friends. They are a wonderful group of people and I am so very lucky to have them in my life.

And thank you for the gifts that I'll be opening tomorrow. I'm sure I will be very pleasantly surprised!

I wish you the absolute best for your travels today. Please give my regards to Mrs. Claus, all the Elves and the reindeer crew who make it all possible.

Happy travels,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

For The Love of Christmas Movies: Disney Prep and Landing

For me, Christmas and movies go hand in hand. Perhaps it's because when I was young we went to Wales every year to visit my Aunt and Uncle and I remember watching classic musicals (Sound of Music, Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) with my uncle. And what's Christmas Eve without a little bit of "It's a Wonderful Life"?

Now that I have a little person I intend to pass this love of Christmas movies on to him. And in terms of family friendly movies my list of favorites is short and sweet : A Christmas Story, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Garfield Christmas Special and Home Alone This year I am happy to say that I have a new addition to my list: Disney Prep and Landing.

Disney Prep and Landing gives us a unique, behind the scenes look at Christmas Eve from the perspective of a special ops Elf, Wayne, who is part of the Prep and Landing crew. When Wayne is passed over for a promotion, which was given instead to his partner, he is assigned a new partner, Lanny, an idealistic, straight out of the academy rookie. Wayne is supposed to take Lanny under his wing during their first mission together but instead, because of his disgruntled attitude, he lets Lanny go solo while he sits back, has a ginormous cup of hot chocolate and eats a Santa cookie. Trouble ensues when the kid in the house wakes up and a snow storm subsequently forces Santa to divert from the house. This forces Wayne to reevaluate his attitude, and come up with a plan to save the night.

And why is this one on my favorite's list? Well, first of all, it captured Aiden's attention for the full 22 minutes (as you'll recall if you've read my posts Aiden is not really the sit-down,-for-more-than-five-minutes-let-alone-a-full-movie type of kid). Second, the spy gear was awesome, and what's not to love about neat spy gadgets (yes, I do have my gadget geek moments). Third, the idea of telling a story from a special ops elf, and a disgruntled one at that, is brilliantly creative. And finally, I love the teachable moment of the story: It's ok to be on the naughty list once in awhile but what matters the most is what you do in the end to make up for your mistakes.

Check it out:

Oh, the sequel is pretty darn great too by the way!

Happy movie watching,
Creatively yours,
Maya

Choose Your Own Activity Advent Calendars

Alright, so I know it's way past the point of creating advent calendars but this brilliant idea, via Dawn McManus, floated into my inbox yesterday and I felt I had to share it with you.

Choose Your Own Activity Advent Calendar
Materials
Poster board
Construction paper
Glue
Sticky tack
Markers
Various art supplies

Directions
1. With your little person draw your chosen Christmas themed scene on your poster board. Decorate the scene using various art supplies.
2. Cut out 25 shapes that go with the scene (e.g. Tree decorations for a Christmas tree). Have your little person decorate one side of these. Number each shape from 1-25.
3. On the other side of the shape wrote down a special activity. Enlist your little person to come up with ideas. Examples: Decorate gingerbread men, go sledding, go to an indoor playground etc.
4. Stick the shapes to the scene using tack.
5. Each day have your little person take down the appropriate shape. Rear the activity and make time in the day to complete the activity.

Dawn said that this is the second year that her colleague has done this project. Her little guy loved it so much the first year that he asked if they would be doing it again this year.

I wish I had heard about this one before the season started but I will definitely do it next year. And if I can't wait that long I just might make a birthday advent calendar for Aiden in June.

Happy calendar making,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

Taking Time To Enjoy Your Little Person

In this frantic last week before Christmas, filled with episodes of "Yay, our Christmas shopping is done!"while removing boots, coats, toques and mitts of your thoroughly bundled little person, followed promptly with "Oh wait, did we get something for Cousin Bob?...no?...ugh...back to the stores we go", having only then to re-bundle your squirming, I've-had-enough-of-the-car/mall-for-a-lifetime, little person, it is crucial that we all take a moment to just be with our little people.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the I-want-to-host-dinner-this-year-but-we-always-do-it-at-my-place-exactly-that's-why-we-should-do-it-at-my-place-this-year-it's-only-fair family drama (or your version thereof) of this joyous season that we lose sight of the real heart and soul of Christmas. Religious or not, to me Christmas is about celebrating all the wonderful people in our lives and finding the perfect gift for each of them so that they will know how special they are to us. And what better gift to give your little person than your complete, undivided attention.

Here are a few things you can do with your little person, in between the Christmas rush, to give them that all-important, one-on-one attention:

One-on-One Activities
1. On the way back from one of your many shopping excursions, stop at the library and choose some books together. When you come home, make some hot chocolate, curl up together in your bean bag chairs and read a book together. Look for all the fun, tiny details in the pictures and get your little person to point out certain things when they hear them in the story.
2. Go to a Gymboree class or an indoor playground. Be with your little person and talk with them the whole time. Find something that they do that is impressive (not very hard as these little people are amazing!) and tell them how great they are getting at doing x, y or z.
3. When you unload the groceries enlist your little person's help. Get down to their level and give them small objects to put away. Talk to them about what they are putting away. Describe the textures, colours, shapes etc of the item. And be sure to thank your little person for their help.
4. Do an activity like pudding painting with your little person. (Put pre-made vanilla flavored pudding in several cups. Add food colouring to each cup. Lay out some wax paper in your art centre. Put your little person in their art smock and put dollops of the pudding paint on the paper. Let your artist dive in and paint with their hands). Get in there with them and explore the media together. Talk to your little person about the feel and the smell and the taste of the pudding. And don't worry about the mess - you can clean up later once you've both finished your creations.
5. At the mall, stop into a book store that had a kids section with your little person. Go to the train table or the princess castle or whatever they have laid out for the kids to play with and play with your little person. Get on their level and play with the toys too.
6. At the grocery store put your little one in the cart facing you. Chat with them about what you see in the store. Ask them questions about whatever it is that they like to talk about and really listen to their response. By the time you've finished your grocery shop you will have given your little person at least 30 minutes of undivided attention that will be cherished by both you and your little one.
7. Anything that involves being on the same level as your little on and being engaged in whatever activity they are doing. The little moments are really the most important ones.

Happy giving,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

Mud Pie Fossil Madness

As I was looking through my photos from the summer I came across this one of our adventures in making mud pie fossils.

This was a very special project for me as I was sharing a first with Aiden - both of our first time making mud pies. (Yes, I managed to live for 33 years without making a single mud pie!). It was extremely messy and ended up turning more into mud soup than mud pies but it was oodles of fun. Here's the recipe:

Marvelous Mud Pie Fossils
Ingredients:
Soil (either from your yard or from your leftover potting soil)
Water
Pasta shapes
Digging tools (spoons, trowels, cups etc.)
Container for the soil (foil roasting pans work well)
Felt square

1. Pour soil into a container.
2. Pour water into the container and have your little person stir it up.
3. Let your little person add pasta shapes to the mud mixture.
4. When your little person has made a pie, transfer it to a felt square. Let the mud dry.
Voila, you have yourself a mud pie fossil!

Tips
This is a wonderful project for outdoors, but it can be done indoors. It was very windy on the day we did this project so I set up Aiden's paddling pool in the kitchen and let him sit in the pool while making his fossils. Clean up was easy as I just had to hose off the pool and clean off Aiden.

The Review
This one was buckets of fun! Aiden had a great time mixing the soil and scooping it out to make his pies. We will definitely be doing this one again.

Happy mud pie baking,
Creatively yours,
Maya:)

Now I Know My ABCs

Please be forewarned: This post contains some extremely annoying, prouder than proud Mom statements!

I have a pretty smart kid. At seventeen and a half months Aiden know about fifty words, knows all his major body parts and recognizes ten out of twenty-six letters. I'd love to take credit for his cleverness (ok I'll take a bit) but most of his letter and number (he knows the number 2) recognition is due to his love of sesame street (what a fantastic show by the way, although I have the song "Why oh why do I love Y" stuck in my head on repeat right now!).

What I can take credit for is encouraging his superb language skills. I've read to him everyday since birth and I've always talked to him as I'd he understands everything. And now that he can identify letters and numbers (which he loves doing) I try to incorporate language activities into our regular adventures.

Here's a list of some of the things we've done and you can do to encourage your letter detectives:

ABC Activities
1. Buy an alphabet play mat to put down in your play room. Ask your little person to find certain letters or numbers and bring them to you.
2. Find small items, like toys and household items, that begin with the same letter. Place them in a bucket or container. Have your little person pull each item out of the container, one by one, and have them tell you what it is. Remind them what letter the item begins with each time.
3. Draw a letter on a big piece of paper. Have your little one colour and collage the letter. Look through magazines to find pictures of things that begin with the letter you drew. Cut out the pictures and stick them to the letter poster.
4. Go on an alphabet walk: As you walk with your little person point out things that begin with a certain letter.
5. In the grocery store, as you are waiting to pay, ask your little person to point out different letters on the magazines. (This also gives you a chance to catch up on the latest celebrity gossip!)
6. Try on some dress up clothes or have your little person dress up. When you are both dressed up tell your little one what you are wearing that begins with a certain letter, e.g. Mom is wearing a hat and hat begins with the letter H.
7. Make letter puppets by drawing letters on card stock and attaching them to Popsicle sticks. Decorate the puppets, giving them faces and googly eyes. Then create stories using the letter puppets based on the letters, e.g. A's Amazing Adventure to Alaska.
8. Hide letter blocks around your play room (in fairly obvious places). Have your little on search for and find different letters.
9. Read, read and read some more to your little one. Ask them to point out letters that they know in the book.
10. Clap, cheer, hoot and holler when your little person identifies letters when you are out and about. A little encouragement goes a long way.

Happy letter learning,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

My Substitute Gym

Aside from freezing fingers and cold toes, the main reason why I strongly dislike cold weather is because I can't go outside to play/exercise with Aiden. One of my favorite things to do with Aiden is to go for a walk or a run through the playground, but alas, no more as the temperatures have drop into the minuses with a nasty wind-chill factor. And one of the reasons I like being outside with Aiden is that it gives us the chance to exercise.

I should explain one thing, before I became Aiden's Mom, I was addicted to the gym. I was lucky enough to work in a place that had a magnificent gym so most days I'd go on my lunch break and after work for two workouts a day. But since having Aiden I seem to not have enough time in the day to do the laundry or keep the house neat and tidy let alone make it to the gym, so I substituted my gym time with walks and runs and play time outdoors.

However, now that the weather has turned I need to come up with ways to exercise indoors while entertaining my little man. Here's a list of things I've come up with so far:

Indoor Non-Gym Workout Activities
1. Turn on the radio or iPod or stereo to some upbeat dance music and have a 15 minute dance party. Do this 4 times throughout the day and you've clocked in an hour cardio session.
2. Run up and down the stairs while carrying your little person.
3. Do crunches and pelvic tilts while your little person sits on you for extra resistance. You can teach your little one counting and numbers at the same time.
4. Play rocket ships with your little person: Do a count up (1, 2, 3, blast off) and lift them up into the air above your head. Do this 10 or 12 times and you've got a killer arm workout.
5. Play giant tag with your little person: Be a giant by taking wide, lunging steps. Chase your little one around the house for a fabulous lower body workout.
6. Play jumping frogs with your little one: Squat down low and jump up like a frog. Do this 10-12 times and you've down a set of squats.
7. Set up an indoor obstacle course using chairs and tunnels and hoops and balls and whatever equipment. (child-friendly of course) that you have lying around. Do the obstacle course with your little person for a quick cardio session.
8. Take your little one carpet tobogganing: Place a rug on a hard wood or laminate floor. Put your little one on the rug and pull them around the house. Not only is this super fun for your little person but you also get a great total body workout.
9. Get a video game like Dance Workout 3 (just got it for my bday) or NFL training camp. Stick it in the game player and do the game with your little person. Aiden loves the Dance Workout game so much that when we go into the living room he brings me the wii-mote and starts singing "oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh-oh" from the California Girls song, and as soon as I put the game on his face lights up as he starts to dance along with the game.
10. Go on a parade around the house with your little one. Using a drum or shakers or some kind of instrument march around the house to the beat of your music. Change the tempo for some great interval training.

Happy exercising,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

Prepping for Santa

In a previous post (Family Photo Flash Cards I think) I mentioned that Aiden is in the "I'm not so keen about being around strangers" stage. Because of this we decided to forgo the visit with Santa in the mall this year as I think for Aiden the visit would be the equivalent of making me hold a big, hairy spider (I hate spiders) and the photo would be akin to Munch's Scream painting.

Well, next weekend we have a kids Christmas party that's being held by Aiden's Dad's work. It a pretty big deal - we've heard that there's horses, cookie decorating, face painting, games, treats, and a present from none other that the big guy in the red suit. The catch though is that Aiden will need to visit Santa in order to get his gift. We want Aiden to enjoy his experience there as much as possible and not scar him for life with his first encounter with St. Nick, so over the last week or so I have been doing my best to prepare Aiden for his all important meet and greet. Here's a list of what we have done to prep for Santa and things you can do if you are in a similar situation:

The Prepping for Santa List
1. Make a personalized video from Santa for your little person. I used the Magic Santa app. Play the video at least once a day to get your little one used to seeing Santa.
2. Read stories about Santa. Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs is excellent.
3. Make Santa hats out of construction paper for your little person and their animals.
4. Write a letter to Santa with your little person. Make a special trip to the post office to mail it.
5. Get or make an advent calendar with a picture of Santa on it. (Aiden now associates Santa with the little chocolate he gets every morning when we open a door).
6. Walk past the mall Santa a few times on different days before your official Santa photo day. Wave to him and maybe he'll wave back.
7. Make Santa puppets and act out stories using the puppets. We made Santa into a secret agent super spy and also a time traveller who hangs out with Aiden's dinosaurs when he's not needed in the north pole.

I'm happy to report that our preparations for Santa are going well. Our preparations are going so well that when we were in the mall the other day and Aiden saw an older gentleman with a full, white beard who looked remarkably like Santa he yelled out "Danta". Thankfully plain clothes Santa was an excellent sport and chuckled in a very Santa-like way and said "Why yes I am!" Here's hoping that Saturday goes as well!

Happy Santa-ing,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

Super-Hero-Crockpot-Chicken-Soup-And-Dumplings

Argh, sickness has come over to play once again. I suppose, with having a little guy who still likes to taste things just to make sure they are not edible and that he's not missing out on anything yummy, we should get used to this pesky visitor. But we can still put up a good fight and try to rid our house of this troublesome squatter.

And what better way to do that than make some super-hero-worthy-hi-yah-biff-boff-pow-take-that-sickness-fighting-chicken-soup for dinner. Not only will the soup boost our sickness fighting powers when it gets into our bellies, but the smell of the soup, cooking in the crockpot for the rest of the day, should give the sickness a fair warning that it is no longer welcome in our house. Here's the recipe:

Super-Hero-Crockpot-Chicken-Soup-and-Dumplings

1 large potato, peeled and cubed
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 medium onion, diced
1 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can chicken broth
2 cups water
1/8 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs cut into 2 inch pieces
1 cup frozen green peas

Dumplings:
3 Tbsp butter, melted
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk

1. Add potato, carrot, onion, cabbage and garlic to the crock pot.
2. Whisk together the flour, chicken broth and water. Pour over veggies.
3. Add spices and chicken pieces.
4. Stir well and cook on low for 6 – 8 hours.
5. One hour before you want to serve the chicken and dumplings, stir in the frozen peas.
6. Let chicken mixture return to bubbling.
7.Stir dumpling ingredients together in a small bowl but don’t over mix.
8. Drop into bubbling chicken mixture by tablespoonfuls. Cook for 20 – 25 minutes or until dumplings are done in the middle.

Makes 4 servings

Happy cooking,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

I Love You Always Forever, Near and Far, Closer Together

Since becoming a Mom there are many things that have surprised me. Some of these things include my mastery of one-handed tasks like cooking a family style ham and cheese omelet complete with a side of homemade sweet potato fries using only one hand while holding Aiden with the other hand, my capability to function in the day after an exhausting night spent "sleeping" on the rocking chair with my sick little man, and my ability to make a multitude of boy-style sound effects including cars, trains, planes, rocket ships, animals, robots, dinosaurs and even wookies.

But a surprise that snuck up on my yesterday is my sudden ineptitude at saying goodbye to loved ones without turning into an absolute puddle if tear-filled mush.

I discovered this as I was driving home from my Dad's house from our last visit with him until at least March of next year when he'll be done his locuum. Aiden was sound asleep in the car and the song "Last Christmas, I gave you my heart..." came on the radio. I glanced in the rear view mirror at my sweet little man and tears immediately welled in my eyes as I realized how much Aiden will miss his Grandpa and how much I'll miss my Dad. And as the tears started rolling down my cheeks I thought "Huh, this is strange." Now if read my post about what makes me unique you will understand that I have had a lot of practice saying goodbye to my Dad, so it doesn't usually phase me when he leaves, but for whatever reason (alright, let's get real here - the reason is Aiden...poor little guy won't be able to understand that Grandpa is coming back!), this time it hit me hard.

So to turn this feeling into a more positive one, here's a list of things that Aiden and I will do keep our loved ones close even when they are far away:

Keeping Our Loved Ones Close Activities
1. Make a care package for the loved one. Find a box, decorate the box and fill it with all of their favorite things. Take it to the post office and let your little person choose the stamps and mail it.
2. Write a story about your little one's adventures with the loved one. Illustrate the story with photos of your little person and your loved one. Make a copy to send to your loved one.
3. Make a day-in-the-life video of your little person. Have your loved one do the same. Exchange videos via email and play them frequently.
4. Exchange teddy bears or stuffed animals with your loved one. Anytime your little person misses your loved one, give them the teddy bear or animal to hug.
5. Have your teddy bear write letters to the other bear and get your loved one to respond on behalf of the bear.
6. Look on the map where your loved one is. Put a marker in the map where you are and where they are. Attach the two points with string and go on an imaginary journey to the other place.
7. Go to the library and find books about where your loved one is. Find a recipe from that country and make it for dinner. You and your loved one will then be eating the same thing.
8. Skype, FaceTime and video chat as much as possible.

Creatively yours,
Maya :)

What Makes Me Unique: My So-Called Cookie Cutter Life

Todaysparent.com put out a call for parent bloggers to write a post about what makes them unique. Here's my post:

You know those old-school, romantic movies where the infectiously cute girl meets and falls in love with an equally cute guy, life tries to separate them but they stick together and eventually get married, buy an adorable house with a white picket fence, have kids and grow old together? That has always been my dream life and minus the white picket fence, I pretty much live that life.

I hear you say "OK, big deal. You live an ordinary, normal life. How exactly does that qualify as unique?" Let me tell you how.

I was born in Calgary but I grew up in the UK. I lived there for a short time with my parents and my three siblings. When I was eight my parents split. My Dad and my siblings moved back to Calgary while I stayed in the UK with my Mum. When I was eleven I was sent to an all-girls boarding school. At the time I was devastated, but now I'm grateful for that experience and the friendships I made with some fabulous girls.

When I was sixteen I was fed up with my boarding school life so during the Christmas break I managed to convince my Dad that I should move to Calgary. The following summer I packed up my things, said a tearful goodbye to my friends, my Mum and my cat and flew across the ocean. That September I started Grade Eleven in a huge, co-Ed High School (talk about culture shock!).

Miraculously, after several "Oh my God, what have I done" moments, I survived the transition and, like the plot of one of those fantastic movies, I met an amazing and cute boy who became my best friend and would later become my husband and my son's Dad.

Fast-forward seventeen years to the present day. I live in Calgary. I am married to my High School sweetheart. I live in a nice neighborhood in an equally nice house. I have a wonderful little guy who I stay at home with while his Dad goes out to work everyday. I cook, I clean, I grocery shop, I take my son swimming and to Gymboree, I plan creative projects and I make sure that we have quality family time together everyday.

My Fabulous Family!

But you are still scratching your head, thinking what exactly is unique about that, so let me answer your query. The normalcy of my life, given the family I come from (Mum operates a b and b in a Scottish castle, where she lives with her concert organist boyfriend, Dad spends most of his time traveling the world as a substitute doctor, brother lives in San Diego with his wife and two kids, sister lives in London after getting an MFA in art history and other sister owns and operates a make-up school), is a choice and is certainly not the default setting. My uniqueness comes in the form of my desire to give my son a normal, family-centric life. I want my son to have a sibling and I want us to eat dinner together every night, have family movie and game nights, go on family vacations every summer and visit with Grandma and Grandpa as often as we can. I want to give my son the life I craved and never had.

Oh, and my three favorite posts:
So What Do You Do?
Lest We Forget
Secret Spy Day

Uniquely and Creatively yours,
Maya :)

So What Do You Do?

This evening Aiden's Dad and I are going to his work Christmas party. This is a pretty big deal as this will be the first time we leave Aiden in the evening with someone else (thankfully the someone else is Grandma and Grandpa who he adores so he should have a ton of fun). It's also the first event I am going to since becoming a full-time stay-at-home-mom.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love being a SAHM and having the opportunity to hang out with Aiden and watch him grow up, but one thing that I've been thinking about, as trivial as it sounds, is what to say when people ask "So what do you do?". The first thought that comes to my head is "Everything and anything" followed promptly by the long list of what "Everything and anything" entails. I know that's not really what people are asking; What they are really asking is "If I were filling in a form about you and I came to the box that said "Occupation" what would I write in that box for you?". And yes, the easy answer would be "I'm a stay-at-home-mom" (which is nothing to be ashamed of at all by the way), but it doesn't feel as creative as it could be and somehow doesn't give enough justice to what we SAHM's actually do. So here is my list of alternate job titles.

Alternate Job Titles for Stay-At-Home-Mom's (or Dad's)
1. Domestic Goddess (as suggested by my fab British pal Charlie!)
2. CEO/CFO/CMO of Anderson (or "INSERT FAMILY NAME HERE") Family inc.
3. Camp Anderson/Run-A-Muck Director
4. Anderson Family Wellness/Activities Director
5. Court Jester for the court King Aiden the Great
6. Referee/Coach/Team Manager for the AFL (Anderson Family League)
7. Dean of the Anderson School of Life
8. Ring Master (Mistress?) of Circus Anderson
9. Captain of the Anderson Family Cruise Ship
10. Girl Friday for Aiden Anderson (let's face it, he's the real boss!)

Ok, so I'll probably go with "I'm a stay-at-home-mom to the most wonderful and magnificent little boy and I love every minute of it." But a fun exercise nonetheless.

Happy naming,
Creatively yours,
Maya

All dressed up and somewhere to go!

Cleanliness is next to fun?!

I can honestly say that I strongly dislike cleaning our house. I strongly like when our house is clean mind you, but the actual act of cleaning is not high on my list of fun things to do in the day. So I began thinking how can I make this necessary thing that consumes so much of our time as enjoyable as possible and involve Aiden in the process. I suppose this was my creative problem. Here's what I came up with:

The Making Cleaning Fun List
1. Go on a stealth mission to the garbage: Hide behind trees, scamper between cars, sneak along the sidewalk and make a mad dash to the garbage before the bad guys get you, all while singing the mission impossible theme song.
2. Take up indoor duster tobogganing: Put a large duster on the floors and put your little one on top of it, like a toboggan. Pull them around as fast as is safe to clean the floors.
3. Bubble paint the floors: Get a tub of warm, soapy water and sponges. Cover the surface of the floor with soap bubbles and draw in the bubbles with your little person. Give them sponges and paint brushes to paint the floors and move throughout the house as you do this. You'll have clean floors in no time.
4. Play a sock matching game: Unload your cleanly laundered socks onto the floor. Pick out a distinctly patterned or coloured sock and have your little person find the matching sock from the pile. Repeat until all the socks are matched and folded.
5. Set up a sweeping slalom course: Place various items, like toys and chairs and empty cereal boxes, throughout the area that needs sweeping. Give your little one a broom or brush and a ball that they need to sweep through the course. Show them how to go through the course. Clean floors here we come!
6. Have a dirty laundry toss: Put a pile of laundry that needs cleaning on one side of the room and two different coloured laundry baskets on the other side of the room. Designate one colour of laundry basket for whites and one for darks. Give your little one an item of laundry and see if they can toss the laundry into the correct basket. Repeat until all the laundry is sorted for washing.
7. Make blanket caves on the beds: While making beds sit with your little one on the stripped bed and then pull one of the sheets over your head to make a cave.
8. Have a cleaning dance-a-thon :Give your little person kid-sized versions of your cleaning gear and spray bottles filled with water. Turn on some music and dance your faces off while dusting, sweeping, mopping and scrubbing.

Happy cleaning,
Creatively yours,
Maya:)

Family Photo Flash Card Update and Review

Well friendly ones, the family photo flash cards worked. If you recall I made family photo flash cards to help Aiden remember family members names and faces. Aiden's Granny came to visit last week (hence the lack of posts for the past few days) which was going to be the test of the project. Admittedly Aiden does have an impeccable memory - anytime we go somewhere for a second or third time Aiden lists off all the things we did there last time, for example at Cross Iron Mills mall he says "Guitar" for the guitar store, "Ampa" when we are in the guitar store as his Grandpa has oodles of guitars that they always play and "Piano" for the toys store with the little piano he can sit at and play - so the test wasn't going to be too difficult.

Although the last time Aiden had seen his Granny was in May, I expected him to remember her due to his fabulous memory and the flash cards. And sure enough, when he saw her he said "Ganny". What I didn't expect was him to be as comfortable with her as he was. Aiden is usually a bit hesitant to go to people he hasn't seen for awhile but when he saw "Ganny" he wanted up to her right away, letting her hold him within minutes of their reunion. She even got a kiss later in the day! And yes, perhaps this was due to the bond that they formed when she was here in the spring, but I think the flash cards helped ease the transition.

So if you are worried about family and friends coming into town this holiday season and more specifically how your little person will react to them I'd say give the flash cards a shot. Your little person might not remember their names, but at least their faces won't seem as strange as they would without the cards. They also make a great keepsake for later on in life.

Happy flashing!
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

Bubble Painting

Aiden loves water and bubbles, so yesterday, despite the lack of mud room or tiled space in our house, I set up a makeshift water table for him on our coffee table/creativity centre.

Water Table
1. Fill a larger Tupperware container with warm water.
2. Add dish soap and food colouring to the water.
3. Place water container on a little person level table. Be sure to put towels on the floor around the table.
4. Provide various toys and items for your little one to play with and marvel at their creative use of these items.

Now I could have just given him the usual water table types of toys, like cups and ducks and floating toys, but I decided to throw in a spoon, some sponges that we just used for wrapping paper making and a paintbrush. Aiden dove right in, covering himself, the table and the floor with bubbles. And then, being the creative little soul that he is, Aiden proceeded to use the water and bubbles as paint and the table as a canvas and using the paintbrush and sponges, covered the table with magnificent bubble designs. How neat is that?!

Happy bubbling,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

Family Photo Flash Cards

Aiden is very fortunate to have fabulous relatives both near and far. We try to visit with his Grandma and Grandpa and his Grandpa Doc (when he's in town) at least once a week but sometimes life gets in the way and we don't get to see everyone as much as we'd like. Aiden also has a Granny who lives in Scotland (who is arriving tomorrow!), an Auntie in London and an Uncle, Auntie and Cousins in California that he rarely gets to see. So
Aiden is at the stage where he is a bit weary of people he doesn't know or doesn't see on a regular basis and with the holidays coming up and family coming into town we want to prepare Aiden for strange family faces as much as possible. Enter family photo flash cards.

Family Photo Flash Cards
1. Find or take digital pictures of important family members or other people you want your little person to remember. Be sure to include photos of Mom and Dad and your little person. You can even include photos of your little person's lovey, like Aiden's monkey.
2. Shrink them to index card size.
3. Print the photos out on paper or card stock.
4. Cut the photos out and laminate them.
5. Stack the photos and punch a hole through the top left corner. Secure the stack with a binder ring.
6. Go through the stack of pictures with your little person during the day naming each person or asking your little person who the photo is. You can also play a memory game with the cards: Lay the cards out on the floor face down. Ask your little person to find a relative. Then they will turn over the cards until they find the relative. Repeat until you have gone through all the cards.

The Review
Aiden loves his stack, so much so that he asks to see "Papa" or "Dada" periodically throughout the day. He also laughs like crazy when we get to the picture of his monkey bombing our photo. And in terms of recognizing family and being comfortable with them when he hasn't seen them for awhile, so far so good, but I guess the real test will be when he sees Granny tomorrow for the first time since May.

Happy flashing,
Creatively yours,
Maya:)

Lest We Forget

I am a half-Indian-half-Welsh girl who married a Scottish-British-German-Canadian boy. On this day I can't help but be filled with gratitude for the sacrifice that so many brave men and women made so that I could have the freedom to watch my sweet, lovely angel nap while I write this post. I shudder to think what the world would be like if those men and women didn't take their call to action, but I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't exist in the first place and if I did, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet the most amazing man (Aiden's Dad) to then create the most amazing little man (Aiden). So to all of you men and women of service, past and present, who keep freedom alive and kicking, on behalf of my amazing life, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Creatively and humbly yours,
Maya :)

Sick Day

Like many households in November sickness came knocking at the door and we opened the door to let it in - silly us. Fortunately Aiden got over his cold/cough pretty quickly and is now back to 100%. His Dad and I are not so lucky and are both feeling pretty crummy, but his Dad is much worse than I am. So the question is how do you entertain a busy, active toddler who's going full tilt when you are feeling less than stellar?

The Sick Day Activity List
1. Make get well cards for the sick people in the house using crayons, markers, paper, glue, stickers and any other materials you can find.
2. Make a special treat for the sick person. Let your little person help out by fetching items from the pantry, pouring ingredients into the bowls, stirring the mixture and wiping up any spills. Aiden and I made cheesecake for his Dad.
3. Choose a story to read together and then act it out using stuffed animals and puppets. Hold a show on the bed for the sick person.
4. Make a puzzle or board game or matching game using various art supplies. Play the game with the sick person. Aiden and I made a family portrait matching game (see post next week for instructions).
5. Take your non-sick little person out to a playground or to the mall or to a swimming pool or anywhere for that matter so that the sick person can rest in peace and quiet!

Stay healthy and don't answer the door if sickness comes knocking,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

Happy Birthday Auntie Rachie!

Today is my sister and Aiden's Auntie Rachie's birthday. Auntie Rachie lives in London, England, so we can't celebrate with her today. However, in honour of her special day Aiden and I have planned some Rachie/Birthday themed activities for the day.

The Birthday Celebration List
1. Make a Happy Birthday banner and decorate it with crayons, markers, stickers and paint.
2. Make birthday hats from paper, cardboard, miscellaneous recyclables, Lego, stuffed animals, and any other materials we can find.
3. Go on a parade while wearing our various birthday hats.
4. Wear outfits in the favorite colour of the birthday person. If you don't know the favorite colour of the birthday person, wear outfits in a colour that begins with the same letter as the birthday person's name, for example Aiden and I are wearing red today.
5. Sing Happy Birthday to the birthday person's photo as many times as they are old during the day.
6. Create a special birthday song using various musical instruments and/or pots and pans and kitchen gadgets. Hold a concert for all the stuffed animals to debut the song.
7. Go on a Birthday Alphabet Walk: on your walk point out as many things as you can that begin with the first letter of the birthday person's name.
8. Play birthday games like musical chairs or pass the parcel in honour of the birthday person.
9. Make portraits of the birthday person or birthday cakes out of play dough.
10. Have a meal eating only things that begin with the first letter of the birthday person's name...lucky us, we get risotto!

Happy Birthday Auntie Rachie!
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

Fun with Finger Painting

As a former art teacher and avid painter I was definitely looking forward to the day I could share my love of painting with Aiden. Although I wanted to paint with him from day one, I knew I had to be patient and wait until he could understand what we were doing and more importantly that he shouldn't eat the paint so that he could fully appreciate the activity and explore the medium without having to be reminded every 5 seconds to not eat the paint. Well, that day came a few weeks ago when we tried finger painting for the very first time.

I have to say that I was a bit apprehensive before we started because I was nervous that he wouldn't enjoy it. But I told myself that if he didn't like finger painting it would be ok, maybe he's not ready for it yet and at least he's being exposed to something new which is most important.

So one afternoon, after nap time, I set up our creativity centre with some long sheets of newsprint paper, some cups for print making and some paper towels to clean up any spills. I put Aiden into his art shirt and spooned out some paint on the paper. I watched him examine the gloppy mixture that was sitting on top of the paper and then he dove in with both of his hands, swirling the paint around his canvas. He squelched the paint through his fingers, squealing with joy as he wiped the paint that was in his hands all over his clean art shirt. When he ran out of paint on the paper he said "More, more, more". And then he got back to it, discovering what happens when he mixes the colours together and how he can make different impressions on the paper depending on what part of his hand/body he uses.

When he was done I took his artworks and put them in the kitchen to dry.
To preserve Aiden's first painting experience he and I chose part of his mural to frame. We hung it up in the hallway and unveiled his art in his very first art show with his Dad as the guest of honor. And now, everyday, when we walk through the hallway we can admire his creative genius, which I hope will give him the confidence to use his creativity to the max in a world that sometimes doesn't appreciate a creative soul.

Here's the finger paint recipe I used:

Washable Finger Paint
1/2 cup liquid dish soap
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup water
Several drops of food colouring

1. Mix dish soap, flour and water in a bowl until a thick, creamy paint-like paste forms.
2. Separate mixture into 3 or 4 smaller containers. I used small IKEA plastic cups.
3. Add a different colour of food colouring to each container.
4. Cover and refrigerate until needed.


The Review
Like many things that I worry about as a Mom, I didn't need to worry as much as I did that Aiden would not enjoy this activity. He loved finger painting, yelling "More, more, more" everytime the paint ran out.

The Tips
This is obviously a messy project so be prepared for this and allow your little person to paint with wild abandon as there is nothing that a little paper towel and water won't clean up. I also plonked Aiden in the bath after the activity to clean him off as inevitably the finger paint turned into body paint.

Happy painting,
Creatively yours,
Maya :)

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

It's November and right on cue we have snow here in Calgary. I moved to Calgary from England in High School and in my first few years of living in Calgary the first day of snow was always somewhat magical. There was something I found so comforting and serene watching big, fat snowflakes falling down, joining their snowflake friends to cover the ground with a pure white blanket of snow.

As the years went by, however, the novelty of the snow wore off. Instead of cozy, holiday-movie type thoughts running through my head, I'd have thoughts of skidding cars, nightmare traffic and perpetually freezing hands because I always seem to lose my mitts.

But now that Aiden is here the magic has come back. It is truly amazing seeing his eyes light up with wonder and curiosity as he watches the snow fall from the sky. And even more amazing watching him experience walking in the snow for the first time and holding it in his hands while saying "Cold" as he makes a little snowball. He reminds me of how cool snow really is.

In the spirit of the embracing winter and snow here's a list of fun things to do in the snow with your little person.

Snow Activities
1. Build magical snow creatures who come to life at night. Give the creatures names and characteristics then tell stories before bedtime about the snow creatures.
2. Build a snow maze and run around the maze together. Be sure to create dead ends and booby traps to make the maze as fun as possible.
3. Bury a treasure in the snow and then make a map to find the treasure. Give the map to Momor Dad when they get home and see if they can find the treasure.
4. Draw pictures in the snow using sticks as pencils.
5. Have a snow angel making contest. Award prizes for the craziest angel pose, the most angelic angel and the angel with the wildest wings etc. be sure to have an award ceremony complete with a podium and National Anthem singing.
6. Draw different animal tracks in the snow and then spend some time walking like each animal in the snow.
7. Find a hill and go tobogganing.
8. Paint in the snow using spray bottles filled with water and a bit of food colouring.
9. Make snow pictures by putting a piece of dark coloured card stock in the freezer and then taking it outside and catching snowflakes on the card. Examine the snowflakes with a magnifying glass to see if they are really all different.
10. Do some snow bowling: Set up several empty pop bottles, 500 ml works well, at one end of the yard. Make some big, solid snowballs and take turns rolling the balls at the bottles.

Next week I'll post recipes for Magic Mud, Finger Paint and Easy-To-Make play dough, but in the meantime have a fun, snow filled weekend and let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Creatively yours,
Maya :)

Secret Spy Day

Yesterday we had plans to meet some friends at a mall for a playdate but the universe had a different plan  for us when it decided to hide the car keys in Aiden's Dad's coat pocket, which went with him to work. To make extra sure that we carried out the universe's plan, the universe also hid the spare car key in a place that we've yet to discover. Not only were we carless but we were also stroller and infant carrierless as these were both locked in the car.

So what to do when you are stuck at home, without a car and a stroller? Have a secret spy day of course. Here's a list of what Agent 00 Aiden and Agent 00 Mom did on our secret spy day:

The Secret Spy Day Activity List
1. Go on a stealth mission through the complex to the mailbox (see later post for explanation).
2. Disguise the entrance to our underground secret base with various natural things, like leaves, sticks, woodchips and rocks found in the yard.
3. Create secret spy messages on the sidewalk using sidewalk chalk.
4. Create decoy Agents by dressing up teddy bears and Aiden's plushy monkey, Thelonius, in Aiden's clothes and shoes.
5. Find spy equipment in the pit of rice sand, (see previous post on rice sand).
6. Test our agility on our indoor spy obstacle course (pillows, tunnels, ottoman, sofas, and ride on toys).

Teaching Elmo to Drive the Getaway Vehicle

7. Make a getaway car using a laundry basket, some blankets and a toy steering wheel.
8. Make some spy goo (magic mud - see future post for recipe) to trap our enemies.
9. Make a spy base using blankets, sheets and chairs as the frame.
10. Make lego spy planes, bases, cars, boats and cities.

Although we missed seeing our friends, we had a pretty fun day being spies at home. Thanks universe for hiding the keys!

Creatively yours,
Maya :)

Coloured Rice Sand

Aiden loves his sandbox. Everytime we are in the yard he walks up to his sandbox, a red crab given to us by a friend from work, says "Eyes" while pointing to the crab's big googly eyes and then say "Appy", which is Aiden's version of the word open. After I take off the lid Aiden excitedly dives into the sandbox and proceeds to sift, pour, and mould the sand. He likes to bury toys and then retrieve them using woodchips as tools. He also uses his cups and pretends to drink the sand (ok, on his first few times in the sandbox he did actually put some sand in his mouth but spat it out pretty quickly and lived to tell the tale).

But now that the weather is getting colder we can't play outside in the sandbox as much as we used to, which is a shame as he does love it so. I suppose if we had a mud room or an area in our house that isn't carpeted we could always bring the sandbox inside, but unfortunately this isn't the case. So what to do instead?

Coloured Rice Sand
The Recipe
Rice
Vinegar
Food Colouring
Several bowls
A cookie sheet
1. Put rice in several bowls, as many as you want different colours of sand.
2. Pour a small amount, maybe a tsp, of vinegar on the rice and stir it up to coat the rice.
3. Pour food colouring in each bowl and stir to coat the rice. Depending on your little person's age and development you can get them to help you with this.
4. Pour the rice out onto a cookie sheet to dry. Leave overnight.
5. Pour the coloured rice into a shallow container.
6. Provide your little person with spoons, cups, toys (cars are great as they can drive through the sand) and containers and watch them explore the texture, sound and feel of their indoor sand.

The Review
I have to say I was a but skeptical of how engaging this activity would be, but I am now a believer - Aiden loved this activity, so much so that he spent a good half-hour to fourty-five minutes playing with the sand. He loved scooping it into cups, pouring it back into the container, and digging in it with his hands.

The Tips
Make sure you have a dustpan and brush handy. Along with pouring it into the container, Aiden enjoyed pouring it on the floor. The sound of rice falling on hardwood is way too enticing and fun for a little guy to resist! To keep the floor from getting too slippery I swept up the rice and put it back into the container whenever Aiden wasn't looking.

Happy rice dying,
Creatively yours,
Maya:)

The Breakfast Picnic

If you have an uber-active-don't-like-sitting-down-in-my-high-chair-for-more-than-10-minutes little guy like I do you will recognize the challenge of getting food into your little person. We have tried a few things like using a booster seat instead or the high-chair, taking the tray off the high-chair and putting it closer to the table, using only the waist straps and watching sesame street videos on YouTube (hey at least they are educational!). These solutions usually work for lunch and dinner but breakfast is another story.

One morning I decided that I didn't want to fight the Breakfast War so instead of putting Aiden in his high chair and bringing his breakfast to the table I scooped him up off of the floor, took his breakfast and my breakfast into the living room, turned on Kids CBC and let Aiden wander around while I set up a Breakfast Picnic. I laid out a blanket and put both of our plates on the blanket just like I would if we were outside. I cut up Aiden's food into bite sized pieces and made several stacks of 5 or 6 Cheerios so that Aiden could come and go as he pleased, taking a bite at a time while he played with his toys and watched tv. And sure enough it worked. He ate his entire breakfast (which is a huge accomplishment for him as he's not a great eater) and then some on top of that. So from that day on we've had a Breakfast Picnic everyday. Take that, Breakfast War!

Creatively yours,
Maya:)

Welcome to The Creative Toddler

As a full-time SAHM of a active, curious, adventurous little guy, I am always scouring the net to find ideas to keep my little guy entertained.

His Dad and I are both creatives by nature - he's in film and I'm a former art instructor and summer camp coordinator - so naturally we want to foster our little guy's inate creativity. Being that I'm the one who's home with Aiden the most it's up to me to plan as many creative adventures and provide as many different types of activities as possible to give Aiden the opportunity explore his own creative side.

At 16 months he is quite the curious little fella. He's really into music - guitars, pianos and percussion instruments are his faves, he loves a good book now and then, he enjoys the outdoors - digging in the rocks and his sandbox, and he's just started to develop his imaginitive side, using pieces of his floor puzzle as a phone for example. He's also a good creative problem solver and tries to figure things out for himself. And I have to say, it is an absolute honor and privilege to watch him learn and grow into the amazingly, brilliant creative toddler that he is.

So this blog is going to be a collection of sorts of all of the activities that I have done and will do with Aiden. I'll give you the instructions on how to do whatever it is we do, my tips for doing the project, and a review of how I think Aiden felt about the project. From time to time I'll also write about creative solutions to common toddler "issues" like feeding your uber-active-can't-sit-down-in-a-high-chair-for-more-than-10-minutes toddler. I'll try to post every day but if I miss a day please forgive me and remember that I have a 16 month old boy!

I hope you enjoy our adventures in creativity. And feel free to comment and email me with your ideas or feedback on a particular activity.

Creatively yours,
Maya :)