Indoor Waterless Slip 'n Slide

Or in other words, how to get more use out of your Sunday paper and entertain a toddler for hours on end.

I get three Sunday papers for couponing purposes. Once I've pulled all the ads I want to save, I'm left with quite a stack of newsprint. A week ago, we ripped apart all the pages and inserts and scattered them across the living room floor. This was pure heaven for Landon. He wants to play with newspaper all the time now. Here are some of his favorite things to do...

Newspaper Activities
If you don't get a paper, save up all those random store ads and sale flyers you get in the mail!
 

• Snow! Snow! This is what Landon says when he wants to play with newspaper. His favorite activity by far is to pretend we are in a snow storm. The more different sized pieces of paper you have, the better. (So they all fall at different speeds.)
• Rollin, Rollin, Rollin! We rolled back and forth from one side of the room to the other.
• Slip 'n Slide! Put on some socks, then run and slide on the paper. Laugh. Repeat.
• Pile it! Landon would lay down, I'd cover him with a huge pile of paper and he would bounce up and fling it all off. Could also bury stuffed animals, dad, etc...
• Rip it! Landon really enjoyed helping me rip up the paper. He would rip his pieces so small that you could barely hold them.
• Stash it! I placed the ottoman so it was only about six inches away form the couch. L would grab handfuls of paper and stuff them into the gap, then go back for more until it was filled to the brim.
• Mache it! I love doing paper mache. Maybe today I'll get brave and attempt it with Landon...

My Job As A Circus Performer

Entertaining a toddler all day, every day can make you feel like a very exhausted circus performer. It's easy to get in a rut and perform the same "acts" over and over. So, another one of my New Year's resolutions was to have one new activity each day for Landon. Sometimes they are uber simple, others have a little more prep or clean-up involved. Some are a hit; some he's done in two minutes.

Toddler Activities this Week

• Shaving Cream Paint: Added some food coloring to shaving cream and painted on foil. Landon hates anything messing so it was fun until he got a little on his fingers.
• Masking Tape Car Track: My boy is obsessed with cars and trucks. We had fun chasing each other around the track with his cars.
• Tent Time: Landon loves tents. Everyday he comes up to me and asks for one. We read in them, eat in them, watch Signing Time or Cars in them, etc...Pretty much everything becomes ten times more fun when done in a tent.
• Ice Cube Play: This was a no-go. I froze some ice cubes with food coloring and dumped them out in a bowl with various tools to mix them around. We did this in the summer and he loved it. This time he was instantly turned off after he touched the blue ice cube and it stained his fingers.
• Ball Throw: NEW FAVORITE. Landon actually came up with this one. He asked to go in his crib with all his balls and started throwing them out to me. I threw them back. This exchange lasted an hour. An hour. In toddler time that is absolutely shocking. And he's wanted to do this every day since, for at least half an hour.

Don't leave the masking tape more than a day or it was get really hard to take out of the carpet.

I just had to include these cute picts of Landon reading. He used to read all kinds of books. Now the only ones he'll pick up are books about cars and trucks. (Of course.) We've pretty much cleaned out the library of all theirs. :)

Escaping the TV Vortex

Well, it's official. I finally showed Landon the movie, Cars, and life will never be the same again. I think we've probably watched it about 57 times. Strangely enough though, I'm even not sick of it yet. Of course he wants to watch it all the time, and to prevent a tantrum when I say, "no TV" I need to have some fun options. Fast. Soooooo, here are some of Landon's new favorite activities:

A Few Favorite Toddler Activities:

Pipe Cleaner Push: This is a Pringles can covered in scrapbook paper with holes in the lid. The pipe cleaners are all different sizes, with the sharp ends folded over and twisted around.

Texture Soup: We mix around oatmeal, rice, dried beans, etc... He loves working with the little teaspoon and tablespoon measures the best.

Cushion Obstacle Course: We made this today and it was so much fun. We also like to stack all the cushions up and make a mountain to climb.

Porcupine Play Dough: L just recently became interested in play dough. He used to hate touching it. I think sticking all the Popsicle sticks into is what really caught his interest in the dough.

Water Drop: Anything with water is a winner. I fill a bunch of small containers with water, give him coins, sponges, beads, etc... and let him at it. Even though I use a 9x13 pan to keep it all contained, we always end up with a nice wet floor.

The Phone: I really just needed a sixth picture so I stuck this one in. Thankfully Scott has an old ipod touch so every time I need to make a call, Landon can too. But, being the little tech saavy kid he is, he knows that it is not the same as the iphone and gets really frustrated when it won't do the same things the iphone will.

Play Kitchen from Cardboard Boxes

Landon's very own kitchen. He looooooooves it. :) And the best part? It didn't cost me ANYTHING.

It all started with Pinterest. I'm seriously obsessed. If you have yet to jump on that bandwagon, I advise you to wait no longer! I'll even put a link right here for you: Pinterest Home. Anyway, I've been finding some fun activities and DIY toys for toddlers on there. One idea was to make a play oven out of a cardboard box. Yes, that's all fine and dandy... if you can find a good box. Well, earlier this week, the fates were in my favor and low and behold, I stumbled upon some huge piles of GREAT boxes outside the back of Joanns. So, after two days of work... ta dah!

Play Kitchen from Cardboard Boxes
Materials:

• Three boxes. (You need some extra cardboard to make shelves.)
• Paint (Optional)
• Bowl with rim
• Pump dispenser thingy (I don't really know what you call these.)
• Sponge (Cut up a couple squares)
• 4 CDs
• Cardstock (varying colors)
• 5 small lids
• Page protector
• A couple Popsicle sticks
• All the fun goodies to stock it with (food, pans, towel, etc...)

Instructions:

• Build. Assemble the boxes. Cut off the smaller flaps on each box. One will then be left with two long flaps on each side for the fridge doors. On the other, go ahead and tape the long flaps shut. 
• Cut. On the completely taped box, trace and cut where you want to have oven and cabinet doors. (I cut a hole in my oven door for a window.)
• Paint. If desired, paint the boxes. I happened to have some random white paint so I used that.
• Add Handles. Attach all the door handles. I just used some yard, poked holes and tied it in. 
• Finish fridge. (Box #1) Measure and cut a few shelves for inside. (This is what the extra box is for.) Hot glue into place. Stock with fun things. (Empty milk jug, empty egg carton with Easter eggs, fruit, snacks, etc...) On the doors, I added some cut out alphabet letters, piece of Landon's art, and constructed a pen holder out of cardboard, cardstock, and hot glue. Be creative! 
• Finish Oven/Stove/Sink. (Box #2) Hot glue a page protector on the inside of the oven window. Cut a hole in the top for the sink; place the bowl inside. (My bowl is from a small rice cooker I don't use anymore.) Poke a hole for the spout and stick the dispenser pump in there. (Thankfully I never through away out empty lotion bottle so I had this one to use.) Glue down a piece of 12x12 cardstock for the stove base. Trace a CD on black paper four times; cut those circles out. Glue each to a CD and rub the top. (The CD imprint makes it look like a coil.) Glue those into place on the base cardstock. Trace some cardstock circles for each of the nobs. (Make them slightly bigger of course.) Glue the cardstock into place on the box. Poke a hole through the center of each. Hot glue yarn to the middle underside of each cap. String the yarn through the holes and tie on the back. (I added a little hot glue too.) You could just glue the caps to the box but this makes it so they can turn, which it seriously one of Landon's favorite parts. We happened to have an old towel hanger so I hot glued that to the side and added a towel. I also added some Popsicle stick reinforcements on the sides of the oven when the box was just taped together. Makes it a little more sturdy. Stock it with pans, bowls, cups, an empty cleaning bottle, rag, brush, sponges, etc...
• Let the fun begin!

A Day in the Life of Landon...

Or in other words, a 16 month picture overload.

Explanations for pictures go left to right, top to bottom. Probably obvious, but I thought we'd clear up any confusion from the get go.

1. MAMA! Get me outta here!
2. Gotta grab a toy; cars are my fav right now.
3. Morning milk. mmmmm.
4. Poo Poo time. Sign potty so Mama knows.
5. Sign diaper change to let her know I'm done.
6. Grab a book and lay down so the deed can be done.
7. Right to work, checking my email.
8. Spy on that other boy in the mirror.
9. Back to business; phone calls.

1. Help Mama make breakfast.
2. Sign eat while munching on my favorite dish: cheesy hash browns.
3. Brush my teeth while balancing on a book. (I know, I'm so stinkin talented.)
4. Help clean up. (Sweet! Ma hasn't told me to get down yet!)
5. Work with my tools.
6. Drive around my cars.
7. Play with my containers and lids while Mama showers.
8. Take all the stuff from the counter and put it on the toilet (then back again) while Mama finishes getting ready.
9. Big hug for Clifford!
10. Wait, I don't want my other animals to be left out!
11. Read a book. (Sign help when I can't get it open.)

So there you have it. A typical Landon morning. This particular day we decided to go to the Provo Beach Resort and check out "Toddler Town." Good find for a place to go now that the weather is cooling down.

Later we went to Pumpkinland!! Last year Landon was too little to really enjoy it, but this time he had a blast! You can't really tell from these picts, but he is sooooo hard to photograph. Constantly moving, won't smile unless I'm making a complete idiot out of myself, etc... I'm just glad that out of the hundreds we took there were a few good ones!

He really enjoyed running around the cornmaze too. (And yes, I know I look retarded down there... I'm signing goat; which he signed back to me while saying ga ga.) I cannot tell you how much I love signing with him!!

Now, the bounce house at the end was another story. Thankfully there weren't any other kids in it, and I ending up going in with Landon. (One of the many perks to being the size of a 10 year old.) We jumped around. He laughed once. Then he wanted out. Fast.

Now, since I recorded what he could do at 15 months, I'm gonna jot down the new things he is able to do now...

Words:
Hi
Hello
Bye
Keys
Shoes (Keys and shoes both sound a lot like Jesus. He loves those 's' sounds.)
Light ('da' with sign)
Um (This his first response to every questions I ask him.)

Body Parts:
Shoulders
Fingers

Animal Sounds:
Cat
Pig
Monkey
Owl
Horse
Duck
Rubber Duck

Signs:
Light
Colors
Slide
Bread
Apple
Grapes
Cookie
Cat
Dog
Cow
Goat
Potty
Work
Sign (as in signing time)
Store
Library
Pillow
Car
Hot
Cold

Favorite Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Favorite Book: "10 Little Rubber Ducks" by Eric Carle

I'm sure there's more but I need to get to work on Landon's Halloween costume before he wakes up. Toodles.

So Serious

Landon has discovered a new activity. He likes to dump all the crayons out of the box, then put them back one by one. He did experiment with actually coloring, but that was definitely not as entertaining. This task requires a lot of concentration. Very serious.

Other activities he's into right now include opening and closing the dryer door, relocating things around the house (skillet, wipes, my keys, etc...) and sweeping the kitchen floor (seriously... pictures to come).