Saw this idea on a few other blogs and thought it would be a a nice way to remember Munch at this age. On my printed copy, I added a picture box for her to draw a self-portrait.
Munch
Age: 3 years, 11 months
Grade: Preschool
Favorites:
Color: Pink
Animal: Dolphin
Restaurant: In N’ Out
Number: 100
Vegetable: Green beans
Book: Santa’s Suit
Game: Hide & Seek
Toy: Balls
Food: Macaroni and cheese
Place: Skateboard store
Candy: Starburst
Best friend: Delanie
What makes you happy?
Ice cream and cake. Frosting too.
What do you love best about your family?
Daddy sometimes hugs me and kisses me.
Mommy loves me so much.
Ginger I love because I hug her so much.
Cricket is so nice.
What is the smartest thing you know how to do?
Criss-cross applesauce.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
A teacher.
What will you get to do once you turn four?
Sometimes four-year olds get to eat candy. I want to learn how to jump up all the way to the sky.
If you could be in charge for the day, what would you do?
Set the dinner table.
What are some of your wishes for this year?
Somebody wishes I come to their house, and that’s it.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Munch's Updated Workspace
I had a difficult time this Christmas when people asked what they could get for Munch. She's REALLY into drawing, coloring, and writing right now and I ended up getting her lots of art supplies- coloring books, fat & bright colored pencils, some fun, decorated tape-
isn't it cute? I always felt so badly for her because our main work space is a train table with lid. I'd find her sitting on top of it, hunched over the picture she was working on. So she really needed a proper table. Luckily, her grandparents agreed to get her one. I spent a few days looking, but many were either too short (she'd outgrow it too fast) or had such a small work space that we couldn't comfortably work together as we usually do. I finally found one on amazon from a school supply company.
It's a great size that should carry her through the next several years, at least until first grade. It's still small enough for a tea party with her stuffed friends and big enough for her to cover it and make a fort. We had the darnedest time getting an undamaged one because of the way it was packaged (barely) but I finally got the table set up for her, rearranged her work area, and now she has everything she needs for creating some fun things!
Munch's work space is in a nice, bright corner. Under the windows is an old chest/bench in which I keep the paints. The tall bookcase holds puzzles, games, crayons, markers, paper, stickers, and other supplies on the lower shelves where she can reach them. The upper shelves hold workbooks and craft supplies that she needs to ask me for (rubber stamps, pompoms, sticky foam shapes, glitter glue) for more involved or messy projects. The low book case holds more paper, beads, play-doh and dough tools, trays for containing the messes, foam dough (I LOVE this stuff-so easy to clean and no sticky residue!), her fish, and a little iPod and speaker. Tucked into the corners are a tall lamp and a new mini vacuum, the Dirt Devil Kurv, that she knows to use at clean up time. I'll just add a hook to hang her mini dustpan and sweeper and we'll be all set!
isn't it cute? I always felt so badly for her because our main work space is a train table with lid. I'd find her sitting on top of it, hunched over the picture she was working on. So she really needed a proper table. Luckily, her grandparents agreed to get her one. I spent a few days looking, but many were either too short (she'd outgrow it too fast) or had such a small work space that we couldn't comfortably work together as we usually do. I finally found one on amazon from a school supply company.
It's a great size that should carry her through the next several years, at least until first grade. It's still small enough for a tea party with her stuffed friends and big enough for her to cover it and make a fort. We had the darnedest time getting an undamaged one because of the way it was packaged (barely) but I finally got the table set up for her, rearranged her work area, and now she has everything she needs for creating some fun things!
Munch's work space is in a nice, bright corner. Under the windows is an old chest/bench in which I keep the paints. The tall bookcase holds puzzles, games, crayons, markers, paper, stickers, and other supplies on the lower shelves where she can reach them. The upper shelves hold workbooks and craft supplies that she needs to ask me for (rubber stamps, pompoms, sticky foam shapes, glitter glue) for more involved or messy projects. The low book case holds more paper, beads, play-doh and dough tools, trays for containing the messes, foam dough (I LOVE this stuff-so easy to clean and no sticky residue!), her fish, and a little iPod and speaker. Tucked into the corners are a tall lamp and a new mini vacuum, the Dirt Devil Kurv, that she knows to use at clean up time. I'll just add a hook to hang her mini dustpan and sweeper and we'll be all set!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Alphabet Activities- Letter R
Munch and I had "R Day" a couple of weeks back...or is it a couple of MONTHS now? We did the usual routine of making the letter with wood pieces and practicing writing it, but the fun part was making the rainbow cookies. The cookies themselves tasted just okay and I might tweak the dough in the future, but the best part was how sturdy it was and its texture lent itself well to lots of handling. This activity was particularly fun because Munch and I could revisit primary colors and color mixing as well. I got the recipe from the DLTK's Sites: Growing Together, which has been my resource for a lot of the great alphabet activities Munch and I have done together. The original recipe calls for forming the dough into one large rainbow, from which kids can break off pieces, but I like our smaller rainbows better.
Rainbow Cookies
1 c. sugar
1 c. butter, softened
2 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
food coloring- red, blue, and yellow
In a mixer, beat together the sugar and butter. Scrape down the bowl before adding the egg and vanilla. Mix well to combine. Add the flour and mix well. Turn the dough out onto a board and divide dough into three balls. Add a different food coloring (red, yellow, blue) to each ball until dough is desired color. I kneaded in the food coloring before handing it off to Munch to finish just to be sure the color didn't ooze out and stain the work area.
Divide each ball of dough into three smaller balls (I actually broke each ball of dough in half to start, then one half in half again, if that makes sense since I knew I would be combining colors). Leave the large dough ball its original color and use the remaining smaller two to mix with the other primary colors. Here's Munch kneading red and blue- it made the strangest grey-ish purple so added more coloring to it to make it more vibrant- it ended up fine once I baked it, not grey at all.
Next we took each of our six colors and flattened it into a long rectangle.
Then we stacked/layered the colored rectangles, beginning with purple at the bottom-
I sliced the dough thinly, about 1/3-inch or so, then passed them to Munch to shape into a rainbow curve.
After putting them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, we baked the cookies at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes, until they just began to turn golden at the edges. This batch is all ready for the oven!
The Curious Case of Munch's Hair
After over 3 years of managing Munch's hair perfectly well (it was so easy for me to cut and style it), I'm having to learn all over again. Her hair texture has totally changed since the beginning of summer. I actually find looking back at her photos quite interesting. Her looks change drastically enough from year to year to wonder if it's the same kid, or possibly a sibling. Munch was born with a fairly full head of hair, but it took a while for it to do anything, especially grow. As a result, she usually had a kewpie-doll style going on-
By a year and a half, it was finally long enough to give her a short, flippy pixie cut, but she usually wore it in pigtails, thus beginning her "Boo" phase (from Monsters, Inc.)
As she grew older, Munch decided she wanted her hair longer, so we let it grow out. And when she neared her third birthday last Christmas, she had hair I would have killed for- sleek, smooth, layered- absolutely gorgeous.
Within months though, it began to change. What began as a funny little wave on one side of her head spread to most of her crown. She continued to wear her hair long, but it definitely had more body and fullness at its roots. Finally summer arrived and we just couldn't continue to fight what her hair was becoming. I cut it to shoulder-length, and while we were usually able to brush it smooth, for the most part we let the waves do what they liked and corralled them with clips and headbands.
By Fall, Munch's hair was still cute, but only because a preschooler could get away with a wacky look like hers. It was no longer wavy, but fully curly at the roots but straighter towards the ends. Most days it was a mess and I had no idea how to cut it or style it any longer.
So off we went to a kids' stylist, who was able to make the most of her messy curls, and who admitted to have never seen a child's hair growing this way before. Many babies have those beautiful baby curls, which eventually grow out, but I'd never seen them grow IN! Munch got a darling, short, Shirley-Temple-esque bob, which requires a totally new way of styling (I'm learning to spritz and scrunch) to keep the curls from getting fluffy. Her self-portraits have changed too and she now draws her head covered in numerous circles. Here she is at Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa and her latest self-portrait-
By a year and a half, it was finally long enough to give her a short, flippy pixie cut, but she usually wore it in pigtails, thus beginning her "Boo" phase (from Monsters, Inc.)
As she grew older, Munch decided she wanted her hair longer, so we let it grow out. And when she neared her third birthday last Christmas, she had hair I would have killed for- sleek, smooth, layered- absolutely gorgeous.
Within months though, it began to change. What began as a funny little wave on one side of her head spread to most of her crown. She continued to wear her hair long, but it definitely had more body and fullness at its roots. Finally summer arrived and we just couldn't continue to fight what her hair was becoming. I cut it to shoulder-length, and while we were usually able to brush it smooth, for the most part we let the waves do what they liked and corralled them with clips and headbands.
By Fall, Munch's hair was still cute, but only because a preschooler could get away with a wacky look like hers. It was no longer wavy, but fully curly at the roots but straighter towards the ends. Most days it was a mess and I had no idea how to cut it or style it any longer.
So off we went to a kids' stylist, who was able to make the most of her messy curls, and who admitted to have never seen a child's hair growing this way before. Many babies have those beautiful baby curls, which eventually grow out, but I'd never seen them grow IN! Munch got a darling, short, Shirley-Temple-esque bob, which requires a totally new way of styling (I'm learning to spritz and scrunch) to keep the curls from getting fluffy. Her self-portraits have changed too and she now draws her head covered in numerous circles. Here she is at Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa and her latest self-portrait-
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Thanksgiving 2009
Yes, catching up on blog & photo posts. We spent Thanksgiving with my parents this year.
In addition to a great meal, there were lots of family games. A serious round of chinese checkers-
Munch playing hide & seek with Uncle Brian-
and several Wii matchups- MarioKart and boxing-
In addition, we helped to celebrate "Ash-u-lee's" birthday-
Two of Munch's favorite pals-
In addition to a great meal, there were lots of family games. A serious round of chinese checkers-
Munch playing hide & seek with Uncle Brian-
and several Wii matchups- MarioKart and boxing-
In addition, we helped to celebrate "Ash-u-lee's" birthday-
Two of Munch's favorite pals-
Birthday Party Round-up
As I've mentioned before, our introduction to the preschool birthday party scene has been quite interesting. AudioDad and I had discussions about accepting all the invitations that came in- especially when Munch claimed to not know the celebrant, parent etiquette- would we be perceived as "hovering" parents if we both accompanied Munch? (With the 45 min. drive each way, he didn't want to lose family time.) I'm making weekly trips to the local toy store. We've seen a wide range of parties, from extravaganzas to simple barbecues. But a couple of months into it, we've been glad to see that Munch has been independently making friends, and we really like these kids and their families. Here's a look at what she's been up to:
The jumpy house-a must!
Pinatas- a frequent occurrence (even though I have to admit to uneasiness in letting my kid hit ANYTHING with a big ol' stick)
Candy, candy, and more candy-
Munch loves wearing her "party dress", but getting all dressed up for a Halloween birthday party was the ultimate!
Cupcake cakes- a fairly new thing? So often they have the strangest amoeba-like shapes, but this one was just so cute-
Getting to explore her friends' cool backyard set ups is always a treat-
Then we started the rounds of the "craft parties"- at this one, Munch was given a lump of clay. The result was...interesting.
At the next, my sewing skills were put to the test at a "Build-A-Bear" party. Munch made a rabbit she named "Bunnyhop"- creative, I know...
One of my favorites? A first birthday party at our favorite neighborhood restaurant- nothing like a sweet little one who's tentatively looking at the mound of cake and frosting on her tray-
The jumpy house-a must!
Pinatas- a frequent occurrence (even though I have to admit to uneasiness in letting my kid hit ANYTHING with a big ol' stick)
Candy, candy, and more candy-
Munch loves wearing her "party dress", but getting all dressed up for a Halloween birthday party was the ultimate!
Cupcake cakes- a fairly new thing? So often they have the strangest amoeba-like shapes, but this one was just so cute-
Getting to explore her friends' cool backyard set ups is always a treat-
Then we started the rounds of the "craft parties"- at this one, Munch was given a lump of clay. The result was...interesting.
At the next, my sewing skills were put to the test at a "Build-A-Bear" party. Munch made a rabbit she named "Bunnyhop"- creative, I know...
One of my favorites? A first birthday party at our favorite neighborhood restaurant- nothing like a sweet little one who's tentatively looking at the mound of cake and frosting on her tray-
I Haven't Forgotten You!
Hello everyone! I cannot believe it's been over a month and a half since I've posted last. We've been on the move most weekends with Munch's busy birthday party schedule and although I've taken plenty of pictures, I've had a dilemma about posting pics of her pals on the blog. As a result, I got out of the habit of frequently posting while I tried to figure out what to do (and ended up with a backlog of post topics!) So, look for more posting this week while I try to catch up! And please forgive me for staying away so long....
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