Swimsuit cover up (Child's)

We will be heading to an indoor water park in a few weeks. The last time we went I learned two things. One, pack two swimsuits for everyone. Two, a swimsuit cover up for each child would be handy. I decided to try to make one (using these instructions) rather than purchasing one. Here is how it turned out. If I remember, I'll take a pic of N wearing it and post that in the next few days.

Basically, I purchased a standard sized bathroom towel, used one of N's t-shirts as a guide for the neck whole, cut the hole and used a double sided bias tape to finish the edge of the hole. Wa-la.

Thanks to my mom for the use of her sewing machine and the little Sewing 101 class. :)

Toy du jour

The "toy du jour" right now are the magniformers N got for Christmas. (Thanks again, Gpa!). N has been toting them all over the house creating as many "models" (as he calls them) as he can. He likes the models he creates, but realizes that to create more he has to take apart what he's created. I told him one way can "save" the models he makes is by taking photos of them. Here are just a few. I must admit, I am impressed with what he makes and the names he gives each creation. Yesterday he discovered that his Magniformers will stick to the refrigerator, so he made several boxes, linked them together and filled them with cars. I didn't get a picture of them, though. Little Brother got to that one before I could. That little stinker. :)

Star Jar: Dog

Yesterday morning the first thing N said to me was this.

N: "Mom, I know what I want when I fill the star jar with stars....I want a pet. I need a pet."

Me: "Oh, really? What kind of pet?

N: "A dog with black furry hair."

Me: "A big dog or a little dog?"

N: with his left hand in the air and his thumb and index finger making the shape of a rectangle., "A liiiiitttle tiny dog this big."

Me: "That sounds like a mouse."

N: "No, it'd be a little tiny dog with black furry hair. Not a mouse."

Spelling and Star Jar update

N is getting really good at recognizing letters and the sounds every letter makes. He is starting to read words and write them. Today he and I were talking about words and he would spell them on his little play laptop. Here are some of them.

DOG

FROG

CAT

GOT (Goat)

OSO (character on tv)

CHIP

CHEZIT (Cheez It)

PLAYTIM (Play time)

HELO (Hello)

NONONO (No, no, no)

NECTI (Neck Tie)

TIDLMAX (Title Max, made me laugh)

BIGLOC (Big Lots, also made me laugh)

Update on the Star Jar. Okay, so the Star Jar is going pretty well, however, it is not proving to work as well as I thought it would to motivate N to leave the house. Case in point, leaving for school. N drug his feet to go to school again this morning. I asked him nicely to put on his shoes and coat. I said he would get one star for putting on his shoes and one star for putting on his coat if he put them both on when I asked him to. He ran away and hid in our little cardboard play house. I told him it is not time to play hide and seek, it is time to get to school, please go to the cubbies and get your shoes and coat on. I told him if I had to ask him again he'd lose both stars. He whined that he didn't want to go to school. He lost both stars. No reaction. At this point I wanted to show him that I am not putting up with all this whining anymore, so I told him that the car will be leaving in three minutes. He better have his shoes and coat on in three minutes or we were going to leave without him (I wouldn't actually leave my child at home alone without adult supervision). I put L in the car and got my coat and shoes on and stood in the garage waiting for N to appear. When his three minutes were up he still did not have his shoes and coat on so I told him he was going to be cold on the way to school today because he chose not to wear his shoes and coat. I put his shoes and coat in the car and said I was leaving. To which N finally responded. He ran into the garage and jumped in the car. I strapped on his seatbelt and he said, "Brr it's cold, Mom. I need my shoes and my coat!" I undid he seatbelt and he put his stuff on. We'll see how things go tomorrow.

Side note: I have talked to N's school teacher numerous times about how he is doing in school. I've talked to N about the other kids, the activities they do, snack time, etc, etc, etc and I cannot find any reason for him to be upset about school. He goes to a good preschool. His teacher is wonderful and the kids seem to be good kids from what I can tell. I just think N has a hard time leaving the house 'cause he pulled a similar routine later today when we had to leave to run some errands. He cooperated a little better, but he still whined about it. If anyone else has experienced this with their child I'd love to hear what you did to improve the situation!!!