Summer activities

I find myself on the hunt for more toddler-friendly activities. Hanging out at home does not always do it for us. Summer "vacation" is coming up soon and I will have more free time on my hands. There's no subbing opportunities for me this summer so I will be keeping us busy with whatever I can find on a frugal budget. Here I talk about some activities we have found or plan to do.


Swimming
Swim classes. I took RaeRae to her first swim class last Friday. The class was in a large, heated indoor pool about 10 minutes from us. It was only for half an hour. The class is called Aqua Babies because they are just learning to get a feel for the water and learn some basic survival skills if they happened to fall in the water. At least that's what I think. RaeRae did good overall for her first time. She didn't want to do everything but she didn't scream to get out or cry the whole time. 

Starting this Monday, RaeRae will have swim classes at 6pm for the next 4 weeks (the last of the Spring session). Her daddy will be the main person in the water with her for this class. It'll be good for them to have good daddy-daughter time, especially after being with Mama all day long. 
If we like it, I will consider adding on for summer classes in the morning once a week when the summer session begins in mid-June. Classes are 11 dollars a class, and you must pay up front for least one class a week. So that means 4 classes for spring and at least 12 classes for summer. I love that they are open 9am to 9pm and are flexible with the timing for classes if you need to change or prefer a morning class.

Super Franks
We've also found an indoor play-place called Super Franks. It's almost like Chuck E. Cheese with the arcade and pizza, except there are more options for younger-age children. There are four rooms suited for children 5 and younger. One of the rooms is more suited for crawling and just-walking tots. Soft toys, walking toys, scooters, mini-play houses, mini-slides, and the sort. The walls are painted with animals for a certain theme. One room is a barnyard theme, another is a safari or wildlife theme, and upstairs has an under-the-sea theme and also a "city" theme where kids can dress up as fire-fighters, play in pretend-kitchens. It's 7 dollars per kid, but you can leave and come back on the same day if you need to. 

The parks.
We live right across street a cute little park with all the basic essentials. It's nice that we can just walk there anytime, and it's FREE! I think in the past month we have gone to this park or other nearby parks about 3-4 times a week, at least. I never thought I'd value going to the park so much before. The parks in my neighborhood have huge sand-boxes and toddler play areas. One of the parks has a water play area as well. Fun fun! And perfect for playdates. 

The zoo.
We used to go to the San Diego zoo religiously since we had a one year membership pass. I miss that zoo. The zoos near us are about 30-45 minutes of a drive. We went to the Oakland Zoo but it was alright. Maybe it was just that day where RaeRae wasn't in the right mood. But I felt bored with that zoo, compared to the San Diego one. Maybe we will try going again. I've yet to get the membership pass since it's a bit of a drive from us, meaning infringing on nap time. 

Museums!
We have learned of a few museums with toddler-friendly play areas that we still have to visit! The Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. Children's Museum in San Francisco. Just to name a few. I heard the one in San Jose has a room for 0-5 year olds. Must check it out soon! I wonder what other museums are in the Bay Area for us to see. 

Art projects...
One of my personal goals is do more art projects at home with RaeRae. Sensory activities such as painting with food or playdoh. I'm still working on this personal project. 

Library?
I took RaeRae to our local library but was dismayed with the selection of toddler-friendly books. It seemed pretty picked out. We have several books at home like I mentioned in one of my recent blogs. But going to the library would be a good weekly experience for RaeRae to have exposure to a public place of books. Learning the social behaviors and just overall being out. 

Ardenwood Farm
We took RaeRae to the Ardenwood Farm in Fremont this morning. It has a small train you can ride around the farm to get to the other side and learn a bit of basic history about the animals and farm itself. We saw goats, sheep, cows, horses, chickens, turkeys, peacocks, squirrels, and dogs. There were also baby goats and sheep. One of the chicken came up to RaeRae in her stroller and stole the cracker out from her hand! The look on her face was utter SHOCK! They had no fear of the humans, but turns out there were two foxes that came onto the farm recently and ate some of the chickens. The chicken coop was neat and open for the chickens to walk in and out during the day time. I saw two mama goats and kids nursing from it.
It was nice that this farm wasn't too busy and we could finish in about an hour. It costs normally 3 dollars per person (over age of 3) on a weekday and 6 dollars on Sundays. Not sure for Saturdays. And it's also about 10 minutes from us.


Still I want to know, what else? What else can be done on a frugal budget that is fun and appropriate for toddlers? I know I can do a variety at home but RaeRae loves going on.

This morning I got the exciting news in an email from Judy Aagard! The results of last month's Great Cloth Diaper Change are in and we have officially beaten last year's record!! I anticipate next year will have bigger numbers. If you don't know, 2011 was the first year and had five thousand-something participants. Very excited to share this information:


"The Great Cloth Diaper Change, 2012 broke the existing Guinness World Record for the most cloth diapers being changed simultaneously. The official count was ratified at 8,251! Thank you to everyone (we had 88) that participated at the Campbell location. As soon as Guinness uploads the newly broken record to their data base (it may take a couple of days) you will be able to order certificates of participation from Guinness by using the claim number and participation code we gave you when you checked in for the GCDC.

Fun Facts for GCDC 2012

189 sites qualified

9 sites had 100+ attendees (only 2 last year), all in the US, with one state (Oklahoma) represented TWICE in Oklahoma City and Tulsa: CO, OK, MI, IL, FL, OK, UT, SC, TN

3 cities were in the top 10 both years: Denver, Oklahoma City, and Charleston.

21 sites JUST made the Guinness count with 25 attendees each.

67 cities hosted events that didn't qualify for the Guinness World Record BUT DID ACCOMPLISH our goal of increasing awareness about reusable cloth diapers.

When you Google “Great Cloth Diaper Change” and 2012 – you get 557,000 results. I guess we DID raise awareness!!! :)

We had 17 countries register. 11 held events that qualify for the record: Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Great Britain, Ireland, Malaysia, Netherlands, US

Another 4 countries held nonqualifying (but cloth-diaper-awareness-increasing!) events: Brazil, Chile, Estonia, Japan."

Happy Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day. Today is a day to honor and thank all mothers, of any kind.

I'm writing this post in honor of my mom. She's been there for me so many times. I am forever grateful she is my mom and for all the things she has done and continues to do. She is also a great Nana to my daughter RaeRae and my nephew.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you!!

My new adventure: Mama Cloth

On my birthday, I put in an order for some mama cloth. It came today in the mail! I got 3 Pink Daisy Organic Cotton pads and 3 Pink Daisy Stay Dry Pads, in medium and large sizes. I've always wanted to try cloth pads because the disposable ones have known to be irritating for me, and just contributing to trash too. I plan to try different brands and compare how I like them or not. 

I also got some Rockin Green Femme Rock and a Planetwise Wet/Dry bag suited for carrying clean and soiled pads.

I think my biggest concern is washing them. Will I wash them with the cloth diapers or regular clothes? It's such a small load so I know I need to wash with something else. Thus, my new adventure will begin, next month when that time of month returns again. 

Do you use mama cloth? If so, what kind do you use? And any tips you can share?

27 year old Mama of a 15 month old toddler

Last Sunday I became a 27 year old of a 15 month old toddler. Yep, it was my birthday, and also RaeRae turned 15 months!

It was a really nice day overall. I got an extra hour of sleep, had a family breakfast at Denny's (for my free Grand Slam), went me-time shopping for clothes (for 2.5 hours!), and just lounged around at home the rest of the day. We ended the day by going for a nice, brisk walk at a nearby creek. 

At Denny's, RaeRae was so well-behaved, smiling at the waitress, and actually enjoying her breakfast. Last year we went to Denny's on my birthday and she turned 3 months old! Look at these two pictures of us. One from last year, and one from this year.

RaeRae is 15 months old...that's a year and a fourth old! This morning we had her 15 month old check-up. She weighs 19 pounds and is 2 feet and 6 inches tall. 

She has 12 teeth now, 6 on the top and 6 on the bottom. She loves reading books, playing with her baby doll, building with blocks, riding her scooter and play car, and running all over the place. Of all of these, I think reading books is her favorite. So we keep a box of books in my bedroom so she can just pick up anytime. We also have a bookcase in her bedroom full of books and the living room has one of those 8 cube shelving floor units with two cubes full of baby books. She will grab a book, sit on the floor, turn the pages, and pretend to read it. When I say pretending to read, I mean sign-babbling because ASL is her first language. 

Speaking of language, I made a list of all the words she can say. 

In ASL, she knows:

1. Mama (goes back and forth from 1-handshape to correct sign)
2. Daddy (just started signing Daddy correctly!)
3. More (Evolving sign, now index finger to her thumb)
4. All-done (same as before)
5. Please (does it right)
6. Thank you (does it right)
7. Eat (1 handshape on mouth in right movement)
8. Drink (right handshape but in the air)
9. Water (1 handshape on mouth in right movement)
10. Bed (same as before)
11. Baby (same as before)
12. Ball (one claw handshape against 5-handshape)
13. Book (she tries)
14. Shoes (kind of looks like more, but she means shoes with the closed-O handshape)
15. Clothes (wave of hand on the chest)
16. Diaper (same as before)
17. Hat  (does it correctly)
18. Cat (5 handshape in a claw on her cheek)
19. Dog (same as before)
20. Bear (almost; right handshape and some movement on her chest, but not criss-cross)
21. Bunny (this sign she makes is absolutely adorable! Instead of U-handshape, it is a 5-handshape)
22. Elephant (arm movement)
23. Cow (5-handshape over her head)
24. Pig (almost)
25. Frog (she tries)
26. Bird (same as before)
27. Duck (goes back and forth with bird sign)
28. Caterpillar (same as before; 5-handshape movement)
29. Car/Lawnmower (she makes the same sign for both, a moving motion with both hands)
30. Uh-oh (puts her hand on my mouth when an "uh-oh" moment occurs)

In spoken English, she can say:

1. For Mama, she says "ma-ma-ma-me"
2. "Dada"
3. Uh-Oh
4. Hi
5. Moo

I am so proud. RaeRae, you are the sunshine of our lives. I love watching you grow and being your mama. Enjoy these pictures from recently.

The Great Cloth Diaper Change!

Saturday was a big fluffy event!! The Great Cloth Diaper Change. I was beyond excited to attend and proud I could be part of the event and to making a record for the Guinness Book of Records.


In case you didn't know, the Great Cloth Diaper Change is a worldwide event to promote awareness about cloth diapers and also get together with other parents who cloth diaper their babies. It was the original idea of Judy Aagard of Tiny Tots Diaper Service & Baby Boutique to have a big event to educate people about cloth diapers and contribute to the Guinness Book of Records.  Judy is awesome. She was willing to pay for an ASL interpreter so I could attend the event. I met her when we first arrived. She is very nice, and I remembered it was also her husband Tim who helped DH and I learn how to fold prefolds with a snappi and cover when I was pregnant with RaeRae. 
I absolutely loved seeing other parents baby-wearing, nursing in public, and showing off different fluff. We were part of history this day. 
There were some pretty neat door prizes as well: a stroller, diaper bags, Grovias...just to name a few. Everything Birth, Inc. also donated a sample sized of Baby Bum Butter, one of my favorite diapering accessories. 
Out of the 95 people we had registered for our location, 88 actually showed up and were qualified diaper changers. There were also swag bags for the first 100 participants, but everyone ended up getting one anyways. I changed RaeRae into an owls GroVia All-in-2 and submitted our picture to GroVia for a contest. The contest was for the first 1000 pictures emailed to them, showing you used a GroVia diaper at the Great Cloth Diaper Change.
RaeRae was very mobile. I let her walk around a bit since we were close to the front and had some room. There was a ramp behind the stage for wheelchair accessibility that she walked across over and over. I think she was among the most mobile of all the babies in the room, as a lot of babies were under age of 1 or close.
Next year I am not sure if we will be attending as participants because RaeRae could be potty-trained by then! We will see! But I want to attend again just for the fun of it and bring more friends along. 
Enjoy these pictures from our day!

Walking around with Mama's keys

Being all cute

Who's that Mama?

She saw a boy! Thought this was cute.

Waiting for the event! Keeping her busy.

And we're done!

Me and RaeRae in her GroVia Ai2.

GroVia AIO I won!

Toddler friendly crafts/activities?

I'm on the hunt for toddler-friend crafts/activities to do at home. We have fingerpaint and paper plus foam brushes for RaeRae to use but she doesn't like it too much. We also have stickers that she likes to try to put on paper. But I'm looking for more. I'm looking for other bloggers/blog posts with ideas for activities. I'll look to Pinterest too and post what we do here. If you have any leads or suggestions, please share!