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  • Tag: books

    • Favorite reads June and July 2020

      Posted at 11:25 am by CS, on August 3, 2020

      I figure with my return to posting, why not start with Cameron’s favorite books from June and July 2020.

      It’s getting to be where she is actually choosing to read these books, and picks them out every night, or whenever we ask her to pick them out. She knows what she likes, and also what books she can repeat back to us and I must say it’s super adorable.

      Ten little night starts by Deb Gruelle:

      This has become a favorite very quickly because it’s a great night time book, but it also works with counting and that’s become a favorite thing to do for Cameron, now that she knows her numbers 1-10. It’s a super sweet book about counting the stars as you get ready for bed.

      Smile pout pout fish by Deborah Deisen:

      It wouldn’t be a list if we didn’t add a pout pout fish book. This girl really enjoys reading about this fish. This book talks about why the fish should be happy and smile. But understands why it doesn’t always happen. While it’s a shorter book, it helps for those bedtimes where mommy isn’t full of energy to read a lot.

      Happy hippo, angry duck by Sandra Boyton:

      Another Sandra Boyton book has made our favorites list. These books really are great for growing kids as it’s fun to read, but also teaches something. This book talks about feelings and emotions and how it’s ok to have different ones. This is something we have been working on with Cameron so it’s the perfect book for us.

      Good night octopus by Caleb Burroughs:

      This is another great bedtime book. This one talks about having a routine around bedtime and the illustrations are adorable. I think Cameron really enjoys the octopus and seeing what they do at bedtime. Especially since it follows the routine we do at bedtime pretty closely so that’s helpful.

      I’m excited to see what August brings, we are always looking for new books to read and introduce to Cameron so she has a love of reading as she gets older.

      Posted in Mom-ing | 0 Comments | Tagged books, favorites, reading
    • Favorite Reads 5/2020

      Posted at 9:47 am by CS, on May 31, 2020

      Although it doesn’t feel like it because the year seems to be dragging, another month has flown by. This means another favorite reads of the month. Here are the few books Cameron gravitated to this month.

      Sweet dreams pout pout fish by Deborah Diesen– Because Cameron enjoyed their original pout pout fish book, we decided to get her more in the series. She likes this book because she likes to see pout pout fish getting ready for bed. I do wish it was a little longer, but it works perfectly for those nights where I’m not in the mood to read long stories.

      You’re here for a reason by Nancy Tillman– with everything going on in the world, I wanted to find a book that depicted how special Cameron is. I heard Jana Kramer reading this book to her son on Instagram and knew this was the book I wanted. It’s such a great and positive message which I think is something we all need right now.

      Potty superhero– Now this may not seem like a normal bedtime book, but we have started the process of getting Cameron ready to potty train. So I figured the best way to get that started was to start reading her books that talk about the subject. She is very interested in the books and seems very interested in learning how to use the potty. I’m not exactly sure who wrote this book, but I found it on amazon. They have a boy and girl version, to help them understand more about their body and what their body needs when it’s time to use the potty.

      Posted in Mom-ing, Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged books, favorites, reading
    • Favorite Reads 4/2020

      Posted at 12:16 pm by CS, on May 4, 2020

      Time for another month of, what my toddler insists on wanting to read. We’ve been trying to introduce some new and fun books each month. These are the ones she really took to in the month of April. Also, how is April already over? I guess with the whole Covid pandemic, months are flying by while at the same time feeling like they are taking a million years to finish.

      The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen– This book kept popping up on my searches for great books for toddlers, so I finally decided to purchase it. I’m so glad I did. Cameron really took to it, and she loves following along with Mr. Fish, as well as helping me read through parts of the book, and tracing words on the pages. It’s not a crazy long book, which is always a plus for us, since we know toddler attention spans are not crazy long. Especially at bed time. We loved this book so much, I’ve started looking into more from the series.

      Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boyton– This book makes it on our list this month because this is the first book that Cameron really can repeat because of how often we read it. I also love it because it’s helping her learn her animal noises, and say more words. Not to mention, Sandra Boyton books are great for this age, they are short, they rhyme, and have great themes that are easy to follow along with.

      The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boyton– Another Sandra book makes our favorites list this month. I’m a big fan of this book because as you know, I really enjoy having a book that explains and talks about going to bed, so that we can get Cameron calmed and understanding that when we read stories in bed, that means it’s bedtime and we are getting ready for sleep. And as I stated above, Sandra Boyton books do a great job and catching toddler’s attention, and keeping them engaged.  We love this book so much, we somehow have ended up with three copies of it.

      I got all these books on Amazon, but I’m sure that places like Target and Walmart will have them as well. These are our top picks for April. We are already a few days in May and I can tell we are going to have some fun picks this month.

      Posted in Mom-ing, Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged animal noises, bedtime, books, reading
    • Favorite Reads 03/2020

      Posted at 11:30 am by CS, on March 30, 2020

      I think we can all agree March was pretty crazy. Things have closed, we all need to practice social distancing, hand washing is all the rage, and toilet paper is hard to come by. Because of having to spend more time at home, we have had a lot more opportunities to read together these have been the books that topped our favorites list for March.

      Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae-

      This book has been a favorite of ours for quite some time, but due to us having a lot more book choices, we hadn’t really been reaching for this one until as of late again. I really like the message behind this book. It’s teaching kids or adults, really whoever is reading the book, that you should keep trying and not get discouraged if someone says you can’t do something. And like most other books I find myself loving, the story rhymes as you read through it and in my opinion that helps Cameron focus on the book and be more attentive to what I’m reading.

      If Animals Said I Love You by Ann Paul-

      This book is another heartwarming story. I love reading about the different ways that animals would say I love you, and it’s also a great way to point out the different animals as well as teach Cameron more animal noises. I also like this story because I still try to make story time at bed time calming and letting Cameron know we love her and are here for her especially during this uncertain time.

      I Love You to the Moon and Back by Amelia Hepworth–

      Another heartwarming story that sheds light on all the reasons the adult bear loves the baby bear. I like reading this to Cameron and showing her all the new ways we can love one another. Of course this one rhymes too and you all know I’m a sucker for a good rhyme in a book. It’s a little shorter of a book than I expected, but to read to a toddler, I think it’s a perfect length.

      We read so many books throughout the month, but these three really did stand out. As we continue to read more due to being quarantined at home I’m sure we are going to start having a lot more favorites as the time goes on.

      Posted in Mom-ing | 0 Comments | Tagged books, favorites, march
    • Favorite Reads-02/2020

      Posted at 11:25 am by CS, on February 27, 2020

      Over here we have really gotten into reading as part of our daily routine. Most of the time it’s books at the end of the day as part of our bedtime routine, but because we are trying to work on Cameron’s word count and speech, we have been incorporating reading as often as we can when she’s at home.

      Here are the books that we have been favoring this past month. A theme I was trying to represent for her books at bedtime was “goodnight, and bedtime is nice” because I wanted her to understand when we were reading these books it was time to settle down and settle in, that nighttime was not scary, and bedtime is fun. All our favorites this month sort of rotate around that theme. Now that we’ve been reading at bedtime for a while now, I feel comfortable rotating in and out books so we get a bigger variety. When I first started reading to her at bedtime, it was more to establish a routine so that she understood that when we read, it meant it was time for bed, so I was trying to give her those same constant stories to she would put two and two together. Now I think she does understand that regardless of what books we read, once she gets into bed and mommy or daddy read her those stories, whichever ones we choose, that after that it’s lights out and bedtime.

      Most of the books I read to her, were either gifts, or bought at a second hand store, but I’m sure you can find most on Amazon or at Target.

      The Goodnight Train by June Sobel– This is a cute book about a train that takes passengers on a journey as they get ready for bed. You get the train ready by cleaning it up, then the passengers board, and it travels off to dreamland, then you get dropped back off at home and get ready for bed. I like the book because it has some great pictures, it’s the right length for a toddler, and it rhymes. All great points in my book.

      Goodnight, I Love You by Caroline Jayne Church-  Another cute and short book to hold your toddler’s attention. This book describes your bedtime routine, and to wash up, brush teeth, get ready for bed, and all tucked it. This book also rhymes so it’s fun to be able to put emphasis on different words and make the story exciting.

      I Love you Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak- This book has easily become one of our favorites. It talk about all the things you love about the person, and when I read it I try to act out different words, and go through motions, so that Cameron is also learning body parts and such. Because we have read it every night for some time, she now has parts of it memorized, so she does the action before I even get to the part in the book. Great story too.

      I’ll See you in the Morning by Mike Jolley- I wanted a book that sort of described that although it’s bedtime and you need to go to sleep, that we would still be here in the morning. This book did that perfectly. It sets the tone to not be afraid of the dark, and reassures that we are here if you need us, and we will see you in the morning. With all the negative in the world, I just wanted something that would help ease any of those scared feelings. I don’t know if Cameron will be scared of the dark, or of monsters in her closet as she gets older, but I like how this book tries to explain that all is going to be alright.

      I’m excited to see what books become our favorite in the month of March. I have found that we like books of the medium length, and I personally enjoy reading books that rhyme but still tell a story. Although we may change it up and do one or two longer stories rather than four or more medium to short stories. It all depends on how she reacts as we begin the books.

      Posted in Mom-ing | 0 Comments | Tagged bedtime, books, goodnight, goodnight train, I love you, reading, routine
    • Toddler Stocking ideas 2019

      Posted at 12:46 pm by CS, on December 19, 2019

      I’m constantly trying to figure out the best gifts and stocking stuffers for my child. I want them to be equally fun and educational while attempting to not go overboard like I have the past two Christmas’s. Especially this year since we aren’t moving until after Christmas, so none of our Christmas decor is out so I don’t even have a stocking to put her stuff in. Therefore I did have a little leeway with not having things need to fit into a stocking. But I still didn’t want to be hauling a lot of unnecessary stuff when we moved since I know I’ll be doing another purge of things while we unpack.

      Here’s some of the things I decided to put in her “stocking” this year.

      Stuff she needs: things like socks, a toothbrush, comb, hair ties, utensils and items that she has to use just about every day and items that may be falling apart or are in need of a replacement.

      Things to read/learn: I always try to add a board book or two in her stocking. I really want her to love reading like I do so I hope the more books she has, the more likely she is to love reading. Also things like flash cards, and stickers.

      Activities: Because this year with her not having an actual stocking, I can give her a few items that wouldn’t normally fit in a stocking. This year we went with a coloring book, a few activity packs, and a wooden puzzle. This year she’s been into arts and crafts so I figured activities that she can do would be a perfect addition to her stocking.

      Miscellaneous: These are the things I find that I just think she will like. This year I found a cup, and some Frozen music books since Frozen is a big deal in our house this year. We still have a few weeks left before Christmas so who knows what else I may find.

      I’ve found the best place to get stocking stuffers is in the dollar spot at Target. I also got a lot of her items at places like TJMaxx, Ross, and Marshall’s. I found that making sure not to spend a lot of money on the stocking stuffers is a good deal because a lot of times these items get lost at the bottom of a toy bin.

      What do you get to put in your toddlers stocking?

      Posted in Mom-ing | 0 Comments | Tagged books, Christmas, fun, learning, puzzles, socks, stocking, toddler
    • Christmas box 2019

      Posted at 11:36 am by CS, on December 9, 2019

      Every year since Cameron has been born we have done a Christmas box for her. I’ve toyed between giving it to her on December 1st it December 24th. For the time being, I have been doing it on the 1st, and as she gets older I plan on giving it to her on Christmas Eve.

      Here’s what I have been putting in her box the past few years, and what I plan to give her in years to come which is why I will shift from the 1st to the 24th.

      And yes I realize there is frozen theme to the box this year. What can I say, girl is obsessed.

      First off we start with pajamas. Normally they are festive and holiday day themed. These past two years I’ve done a few pairs in her box. Mostly because she’s at the age where she tends to get things dirty, so I give her options to wear throughout the month of December, and then there are her actual Christmas pajamas which I normally don’t let her wear until Christmas Eve so that they stay night and clean. I know, she’s a kid and should be able to have fun and make a mess, but when you have matching family pajamas you want to make sure everyone is wearing them on Christmas. As she gets older, and can be trusted a bit more with messes, I’m sure I will go down to only one pair. This may be when I switch the box to Christmas Eve, because then there would be a lesser chance of them getting dirty. Because we are still moving around and not quite settled, I have only one pair in her box this year, because the other pair which she will wear Christmas Day is packed away waiting for us to move.

      Next up, a Christmas ornament. This may be her actual Christmas ornament for the year, or just something that I thought she would like. I love our Christmas tree to have ornaments that show our passions, and personality, so when Cameron is interested in a topic, or a movie, or character, or hobby, I like to be able to show that with an ornament. Right now she is very much into anything frozen and Olaf, so her ornament this year was an Olaf ornament.

      Next, a Christmas book or two. I like to try and find books that have some sort of holiday meaning or message, or would just be fun to read. And this way as she gets older she will have a whole collection of holiday books so that we can take picks of what we want to read each night before bed. We have been into reading the llama llama books, so this year I got her the llama llama holiday book. As well as one other Christmas board book.

      New to the box this year is some sort of activity/craft. Not sure if I will continue this tradition, but she’s at the age where she’s getting into doing activities and coloring and doing arts so I wanted to include something of that nature for her to do. I found the play pack in the dollar section at target so you really can’t beat the price.

      A Christmas or holiday movie. This is something that I have added in the last two years. And while streaming services are making DVDs a little more obsolete, I still like the fact of giving a dvd to watch in the future. Especially because sometimes, no matter how many services you may stream, they may not have the one you want to watch. And my hope in the future, when she gets a bit older to not only stay up later, but sit still through a whole movie, is that I’ll give her the box on Christmas Eve with the movie we will watch that evening. And that would pair with the last and final thing for the box. Which would be,

      Snacks. Some sort of holiday snacks. Be it popcorn for the movie, or a holiday snack of some sort. Along with hot chocolate, or apple cider, or egg nog (virgin of course), maybe with a fun mug as well. This once again will need to be for when she gets a little older and can handle more types of foods.

      I’ve also thought about putting socks/slippers in her box as well, that may be another thing for another year.

      The box may change from year to year, but I’m hoping she still gets excited about it since I’m hoping to establish it as a way we can have family time during the crazy month of December. I think that is another reason as to why I am thinking of switching it from the first to Christmas Eve, so it can become a tradition where she know on Christmas Eve, she will put on her new pajamas, and we will watch a movie with snacks, then read a bedtime story, put her ornament on the tree, then off to bed to wait for Santa. That is until she feels she is to cool for her parents.

      Do you do Christmas boxes for your children? If so, what do you put in them?

      Posted in Mom-ing | 0 Comments | Tagged activity, books, Christmas, Christmas box, Christmas Eve, December, movie, ornament, pajamas, Santa, snacks
    • Night night, sleep tight

      Posted at 4:38 pm by CS, on May 2, 2019

      I would like to think the key to a good nights sleep is a good nighttime routine, not only for baby but for parents too.

      For the most part Cameron is a good sleeper and has been for most of her life. I would like to believe it’s because of the nighttime routine we try to implement. Now we aren’t perfect parents, so sometimes not everything happens that should, or we just run out of time, but for the most part this is what we try to accomplish each night before putting Cameron to bed. Also, they don’t get home from work/daycare pickup at the same time every day so sometimes that affects how the evening/night routine ends up.

      About an hour or so before bedtime, depending on when we finish dinner it’s bath time for Cameron. We try to use lavender scented bath products for her as they are normally calming scents. This helps us and her to learn that this is the beginning of settling down and getting ready for bed.

      Once she’s dried and dressed, this is when we pull out our books and flash cards. We try to spend about 15-20 on flash cards learning words and associating words and photos. After we are done with flash cards we then choose 1-3 books a night to read. Some nights she’s interested and others she wants nothing to do with books, but I will read to her regardless of it I’m stating at the back of her head, I want her to just hear the words being read.

      While all of this is happening, right around a half hour before bed we will then turn on the children’s lullaby pandora station. We just want the calming songs and sounds to help her relax.

      At bedtime she does still get milk, so we give her her milk and once she finishes it, it’s off to bed. In bed we turn on the fan in her room for noise and her musical giraffe, then it’s lights out and we leave the room.

      Most nights she is out within 5-10 minutes, other nights she tosses for maybe up to 20-30 minutes but she then puts herself to sleep. She’s been doing this for about 6 months, although before when we were feeding her she would fall asleep in our arms before even reaching her crib.

      Her bedtime is 7:15-7:30, so we try to start all of her routine by 6ish. So far it’s been working for us, but if something were to stop then we would try something new.

      Posted in Mom-ing | 0 Comments | Tagged bath, bath time, bedtime, books, flash cards, music, nighttime, Pandora, reading, routine
    • Books we love

      Posted at 1:52 pm by CS, on April 29, 2019

      One thing I try so hard to do even if she doesn’t fully pay attention is to read books to Cameron. I want her to grow up with a love of reading and not only do it when she’s assigned it for schoolwork. Is started reading at a young age, and to this day I love to read when I can.

      Here are some books we tend to read on a more frequent basis. Most of these books were bought on amazon, but I’m sure you can find them anywhere else books are sold as they are fairly popular.

      Disclaimer: “Catherine is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to insert the applicable site name amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn commissions from qualifying purchases.” When you click on links and buy products through this site, I may receive a small affiliate commission. You will not pay more by clicking through my link. All reviews and recommendations of these products are my own.”

      A flap page book that talks about animals that can come from the zoo.

      Dear Zoo: https://amzn.to/2J7fznA

      A story about a giraffe who learns that sometimes you really just need to be yourself.

      Giraffe’s can’t dance: https://amzn.to/2IYECcA

      Learn your ABC’s with this classic!

      Chicka chicka boom boom: https://amzn.to/2J0Uc7t

      One of my favorites as a child, learning animals and colors!

      Brown bear brown bear what do you see: https://amzn.to/2XMWkDW

      Classic Dr. Seuss book full of fun and rhymes!

      Cat in the hat: https://amzn.to/2DCyJym

      These next two are series of books that don’t have a specific link as they are multiples of stories we like to read.

      5 minute stories (cuddle, disney junior, Daniel tiger)

      Any Llama llama book

      Posted in Mom-ing, Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged books, favorites, reading, rhyming
    • A tisket, a tasket, what’s in her Easter basket?

      Posted at 2:43 pm by CS, on April 22, 2019

      This year for Easter, Cameron seemed a bit more excited. She was all about the Easter bunny, all about shaking her eggs, all about eating what was inside her eggs, and all about her Easter basket. This year we tried to go for a book and craft sort of theme because she is getting into sitting and reading with us and also we are trying to get her more into coloring, painting, and anything else crafty. Here’s what we put in her Easter basket this year.

      Disclaimer: “Catherine is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to insert the applicable site name amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn commissions from qualifying purchases.” When you click on links and buy products through this site, I may receive a small affiliate commission. You will not pay more by clicking through my link. All reviews and recommendations of these products are my own.”

      The first thing we put in her basket was an Easter book. I always like getting her books that correlate with the holiday we are celebrating and we have really been enjoying these llama llama series books. She’s on her way to collecting them all.

      https://amzn.to/2ZnE4CS Llama llama Easter egg

      This next book is a great book that teaches a story about being yourself and friendship. And who doesn’t love giraffes.

      https://amzn.to/2VXUsId Little Giraffe’s BIG Idea

      Cameron had gotten the alphabet blocks by this brand for her birthday and loved them. I knew I wanted to get her one toy for her basket and the blocks just seemed like the perfect choice. The are squishy and make a squeaky noise, each block has a number and corresponding animals on them. They are also all different colors. Probably her favorite thing in her basket.

      https://amzn.to/2GAhUG8 B. Toys – One Two Squeeze Baby Blocks – Building Blocks for Toddlers – Educational Baby Toys 6 Months and up with Numbers, Shapes, Animals & Textures – 10 Soft & Colorful Stacking Blocks – BPA Free

      We have just started allowing Cameron to color and had tried the egg shaped crayons and she wasn’t feeling them. So we decided to try these jumbo crayons instead and she seems to like them a lot more. They are non-toxic which is awesome because she is still in the stage of wanting to put everything in her mouth.

      https://amzn.to/2Izv9Jf crayons jumbo pack 16 pack multicolor crayola

      What’s crayons without something to color on. Decided to get her some coloring and activity books and because she’s such a big Disney fan, this three pack was an obvious choice!

      https://amzn.to/2XraQkA Disney Coloring and Activity Book Assortment – 3 Full-sized Coloring Books – 96 Pgs each

      Did your little one enjoy their Easter basket? Anything that was a big hit? Anything not go over so well?

      Posted in Mom-ing, Thing I Love | 0 Comments | Tagged activity, amazon, basket, blocks, books, coloring, crayons, Easter, Easter basket, Easter bunny, precuts
    • Recent Posts

      • Favorite reads June and July 2020
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      • Speech and OT update 8/2020
      • Favorite Reads 5/2020
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