Toys we love

Before I had a baby I never really gave a second thought as to what type of toys I'd be okay with my baby playing with.  I think my main focus was survival. Especially after the whirlwind of a start we had. But after all the scary stuff settled down I did some research, and I found that there were some children toys that I was not okay with.  I was never really a fan of all the noisy plastic toys (you know the ones).  Since I was going to be home with him I was perfectly fine with being the one to point out and say the colors, shapes and ABC's. I didn't need a toy doing that for me. I also found that even though wooden toys were a little more simple there was something more about them. You can find several articles that will tell you wooden toys actually encourage open ended play and creativity. Who wouldn't want that for their little one?

So Josh and I decided that this was the route we would continue. As we began purchasing toys we decided to go for the wooden toys instead of noisy ones. At first I wasn't sure if they were all that they were cracked up to be. Maybe this was just some expensive trend that would pass. But to our surprise we found that our baby actually enjoyed them.  I love to watch him explore and problem solve. It's fun to see how entertained he is them. Which is why I am so excited to share with you some of the toys that our little one likes.

Classic Wooden Beads - Manhattan Toy
Classic Grasping Activity
Rattle Activity Clutching Toy
Wobble Around Beads
Caterpillar Wood Stacker
Magic Ball Wooden Toy
Clutching Toy

Sensory Play

I'm sure you have seen several ideas for Sensory Play. Sometimes I am hesitant to even try any because I either don't have all the items needed to do these fabulous Sensory bins. Or it looks like it takes far more steps than I am willing to do to make it. Although recently I came across this one idea that I actually had the items needed.

-Container of some sort to hold shells
-Shell Noodles (Preferably extra large, but small works too)
-Toy Links

The idea behind this is to just let your little one explore (with caution of course).  It was fun to watch Lorenzo try to figure out what these new things were. He was actually pretty good at finding and picking out all his colorful links. Who knew something so simple would be fun.

I think this activity is perfect for little ones who are around the age of 12 months. I watched Lorenzo like a hawk the whole time. I can't urge you enough to be careful with your little one. Especially if you are using small ones like I did. It can be a choking hazard, so don't leave your little one alone not even for a second. The site I found this on actually used extra large shells, but I just used what I had.  As a parent always use your best judgement. If you want to try this Sensory Bin with your little one you can find the link I referenced here. Have fun!!!

Here's Lorenzo starting to sort the links out

Sticking to our workout goals

Since the new year my mom and Josh and I teamed up together to start this T25 workout at home. Yes, we joined the rest of the world on the "Get Healthy" as a new year resolution. We actually followed the workout routine that came with these videos. I honestly thought that we would do it for a week or two then give up. But somehow it became a  part of our daily routine and we stuck with it.

We just completed the first 5 weeks which was the Alpha workout level. Some days we did it individually, other days together. It's been kind of nice to do this all together as a team because we have kept each other accountable. We check in with each other and my mom has put together a little check list. Yes, we took it old school too. HAHA! I don't usually share much about my workout routines, but I am so proud of us. I have honestly never worked out this much every day. Especially with my one year old. The nice thing about this work out is it's just enough time for me to work out and take a shower while my little one naps. (Mommy life is tricky that way.) I also don't feel like we're getting cheated in anyway with these workouts because even though they are short they are pretty tough and we work our butts off. You would be surprised how sweaty we get in 25 minutes. Anyway we are really excited about starting the next workout level which is Beta. Wish us luck!

Lorenzo is One!

Well, the day is finally here. My sweet Lorenzo has turned one. We had what I call a small family get together of 35ish at our house. (We are a Hispanic family, 35 is small.) It was just with people who I consider closest to Lorenzo. His party theme was Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. What better theme to choose than the song that we sang to him over and over the first year of his life?  This was not an easy theme that I could just go to a big box store for and pick up all the items that goes with it. There was a lot of detailed planning on my part that I hope would make the party memorable.

Here is a peek into the party.

Over this last year I took monthly pictures of Lorenzo on our rocking chair to show his growth over time. A simple task, that is worth showing off in the end. It was never my intention to overload my Facebook friends and family with these monthly pictures, but rather have them as memories for us and use it at his first birthday party in some way. So I had them printed off (4x5 size) and then made my own paper frame with the coordinating party colors. Then I hung them on some twine with mini clothes pins with stars to tie in the them. What I wasn't prepared for was our mom's reaction. Seeing their faces was the best part. They had no idea I had been doing this all along.

We also cleared off a small bookshelf and placed it in the entryway with some of my favorite and most memorable pictures over the year. I had this poster made which included all his favorite things and first word. We also used this as a photo prop. I thought it was wonderfully made and was a nice addition to the party. SimplyDovie created this for us. You can find her page here. The only thing I did was printed and framed it. I thought it was a sweet keepsake too.

 I made a high chair banner for him since I knew we would be giving him a small smash cake the day of the party. Plus it made a cute photo prop. This too was made with coordinating party colors.

I found an idea somewhere to do a Time Capsule. We had everyone who attended the party write a letter to Lorenzo that will be given to him on his 21st birthday. I chose 21 because I simply wanted him to be old enough to care. At 16 we all know that our minds are on high school, driving and whatever the next day holds for us. At 18 he might be preoccupied with graduation and college coming up. At 21 I felt that he would be mature enough to appreciate what words of wisdom this box would hold.

In the capsule I included the following:
-National newspapers the day of his birthday
-Top movies
-Top songs
-What the stock market closed at
-What a stamp costs
-What homes in our area cost
-The latest iPhone
-What are some world records of our time, etc.
-The letters his guests wrote to him
-A few birthday cards he received
-Pictures of who was there
-Some mementos from the party, like the high chair banner, party hat and his birthday candle.

For the display table I wrote out Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Yes, I wrote that myself. To my Lettering enthusiasts out there it might not look that impressive. But it was rather difficult for me. (That's a topic for later) I also made my own tassel garland so that it could coordinate with the party colors. The the star garland which I hung from the ceiling was made by yours truly. I followed a tutorial on Pinterest for the tassel garland. It was very simple to do, but fair warning if you are going to attempt this, it is time consuming. I also hung gold star garland that I made from the ceiling.

Last, but not least our Thank You notes. We had SimplyDovie create our thank you notes too. We handed these Thank You's out along with party favors as our guest left. Since most of the guests were adults we gave monogrammed candle holders and coasters. Our few younger guests got something a little more age appropriate.