Happy Birthday Stinky!

It is hard to believe that she is 2 years old today. I am sure every parent says that every year their child grows another year older. Life moves so fast when given the opportunity to watch your baby grow and develop. I have never been so excited in my life to wake up every morning just to see this beautiful smile as she is ready to begin her day of adventures and learning. I have loved every minute of her existence. With a little tear saying good bye to the first two years, I look forward to every minute with her that is to come before the ending of year 3. So to that I say Happy Birthday Stinky! I love you very much.

Entertainment

Being a preschool teacher for 10 years it was hard to justify ever paying somebody to come in and entertain the children through music activities. So I did it myself. From a pattern I created "The Little Old Women Who Swallowed a Fly". The children were able to stick the different animals into the Lady's mouth. That was exciting for some of them. We sang a few songs, used musical instruments and at the very end danced to one of Stinky's favorites: "Who Let the Dogs Out". For some reason I was a little more nervous leading a group in front of my peers then I had ever been working in different classrooms with different adults watching all the time. It turned out ok and I think the children really enjoyed it.

Food to Fit the Music!

This was the hardest to put together. I wanted to chose items that were child friendly, easy to eat and somewhat tied back to the theme. The menu included pigs in a blanket (whole notes), homemade pretzels (shaped as half notes), Pirates Bootie, apply slices with 3 different dips (yogurt, chocolate pudding, and carmel), cheese and crackers, and two different kinds of sandwiches cut into the shape of music notes (egg salad and cream cheese with cucumber). The food was fun to munch on with some aesthetics to complete it. I really enjoyed making all the little nibbly bits and I think people enjoyed eating them.

Decorations!

For Stinky's Music Theme Party I made all of the decorations. With the help of a friend who is more artistic than I, she drew the music notes. We cut out the notes, painted them with glue and then glittered both sides of the notes. We hung them from the ceiling using fishing wire all over the room. I also cut out smaller notes out of black cardstock and strung them together to hang across the food area. Surprisingly the children really enjoyed moving the black notes across the fishing wire. The notes were right at their level and I watched many of them jingle the notes, move them from side to side and watch as they floated across the string. I like interactive decorations!

It's a Music Party!

I have been planning my daughter's 2nd birthday party for some time now. I believe it started with in an hour of her 1st birthday. This is one of my favorite parts of having children. I love planning parties and children's parties are even more fun. This party was a music theme and the cake scared me the most. I was sure I would mess it up, but thanks to my mom for her sculpting techniques and my sister for her handwriting the cake turned out well. The best part is that we made it and I was able to save money in ordering a cake.

She Got Bangs!

Stinky had her second hair cute to even out the shag that has grown so quickly on her head. Along with the trim came some cute bangs. I was apprehensive at first about cutting bangs but it turned out to be a pretty cute do. She was ready to show it off too.
The best part of the experience was the "treat". Stinky loves treats just like her mommy.

She's a Dancing Machine

Stinky loves to dance. At a local children's place they put a little spin on the dance floor and Stinky loved it. The concept of watching herself dance on the TV kept her interested the whole time we were there. Forget the pirate ship, the coloring room, the boat, the dress up and all the other interesting items in the environment. Let's Dance!

Creating Is An Expression of One's Self No Matter What That Might Be

In her painting experience this time she chose to use her hands as the tool connecting her mind to the paper. She hasn't painted with her hands in awhile and for the first time she was very interested in different colors and mixing the colors together. In the end the colors intertwined creating a blackish color, but for Stinky it wasn't about the color it created. It was about the process, texture and the connection.

Why Are Tents So Exciting?

We bought this tent for Stinky at a yard sale six months ago for $2. I found it in our storage and thought it would be fun to set it up. Stinky was so excited. I left it unzipped but as she begun to explore it she quickly wanted it shut. I left a small hole for her to climb in and out of. For days she spent time gathering items such as books, blocks, little toys and even the dogs to take inside her tent. She loved grabbing her blankie and water and just hanging out inside by herself. At one point she got Daddy to go into the tent with her. As I was busy taking the few moments to get somethings done I could hear nothing but giggles and squeals coming from our porch.

What is the lure of a tent to a child? Perhaps it is the idea of having a space just their own where they can create, imagine and just be by themselves. I suppose that never goes away as adults we seek to find that quite place where we can think, read, or just spend a few moments relaxing by ourselves. As I put the tent away ready for another day to introduce some newness and excitement I seek to find a special place where Stinky can go by herself to, "get away". A place where she can imagine, think and process all things she calls her world.