Cardboard Box Playhouse

Today, we made our first cardboard box playhouse. I remember as a child how fun it was to make a house out of a giant box. Alyssa loves it! We cut out a window and a door. In the roof, we cut out a circle to insert her flashlight for lighting inside. We had fun making a flower garden outside the window. She’s already decorated the inside by drawing faces on the walls. Daddy did a drawing on the back of the door for her to color. She’s already moved in her blankets, pillow, some toys, and books. What a great idea and lots of fun! It’s the craft project that keeps on going…

Drawing Faces

Alyssa has been drawing faces and I am amazed! The first time I saw her draw a face was while we were playing with sidewalk chalk. Since then, her little faces have been improving and are more controlled. I was so excited when she brought home a page of them from school today. She drew five faces, each in a different color. You can see the first circle for the head and two smaller circles for the eyes. The lines on top are the hair and the lines on the bottom are teeth.

The face is the first object she’s drawn that she’s identified before drawing it. She knows she’s drawing faces and tells you that she’s drawing the eyes, mouth, hair, and teeth. I’m certain we’ll see many more faces, but they will change as she gets more practice. I wanted to capture the innocence of this drawing. To me, it’s priceless!

The Sneaky Snuggler

There's a little snuggler
That sneaks into my bed.
In the morning when I wake,
I see her little head.

She comes in late at night,
When I'm deep in sleep.
She slips into the covers
And doesn't make a peep.

She's quite the little ninja
She sneaks in late at night.
She's a sneaky snuggler,
She gets in just right.

If she'd wake me up,
I'd put her in her room.
She's a sneaky snuggler,
So what's a mom to do?

I ask her in the morning,
Why she's in my room.
She smiles and says,
"Cuz, Mommy I love you!"

Sweetest Little Voice

I remember when Alyssa was a baby, I wondered what her voice would be like. I got excited when she first started talking. Now, I occasionally find myself wondering when the talking will stop. There's something amazing about hearing your child's voice. It's the things she says, questions she asks, and expressions (like "I love you, Mommy!") that make me smile. Her voice is the sweetest little voice I've ever heard.

There's nothing sweeter than hearing that little voice sing. I've been singing to Alyssa every night since she was born. She started singing songs on her own like "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and evolved into belting out full songs from her favorite movies like Beauty & the Beast and The Little Mermaid. I'm so tickled by her singing that I keep playing her favorite songs in the car just so I can listen to her. Here's a link to a video of her singing "Something There" from Beauty & the Beast:

http://gallery.me.com/fraulino#100315

I'm impressed that she remembers the lyrics and entertained that she directs me and Daddy as to which parts to sing in a duet. If you try singing the wrong part, you get yelled at. She takes her singing very serious! Lately, her favorite song to sing is "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid. I really need to try to get this on video because it's hilarious!

Self-expression though music, dance, or art is so important, especially for young children. Music teaches speech and movement and builds self-confidence. It also helps with language learning and building vocabulary. One night, I played the soundtrack from the "Cats" musical and she loved it! We were dancing around and singing about the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees. I think she just might end up on Broadway someday. I hope her love for the arts will continue throughout her lifetime. Meanwhile, I will continue to enjoy serenades from the sweetest little voice I've ever heard.

The Magic Kitchen Cookbook

Alyssa is such a great helper in the kitchen that I had to buy “The Magic Kitchen Cookbook” when I saw it.  It’s a Disney themed cookbook with all kinds of foods and desserts that are easy for kids to make.  They are fun themed foods that keep kids interested while also teaching them how to make healthy meals and snacks.  Today, we made Market Fresh Fruit Cups from Aladdin.  It was a parfait made with instant pudding, fresh fruit, and granola (except we used crushed vanilla wafers instead).  They were delicious and Alyssa was so proud to make them.  She did everything except cut the fruit.  We’re looking forward to trying more of these fabulous creations.

Smiley Faces

I never thought I’d be setting up a responsibility chart for a 3-year-old.  I’m glad I did though because it’s WORKING!  There’s no better reward for good behavior than a nice, colorful smiley face.  :-)

We picked up a “My Magnetic Responsibility Chart” at Barnes & Noble for Alyssa for Christmas.  It’s for ages 3+ and contains age-appropriate responsibilities for children of all ages.  You should see the excitement as we go through each responsibility:  Get Dressed, Brush Teeth, Show Respect (listening to mommy and daddy), Put Away Toys, Get Ready for Bed (in a timely manner), Stop Whining, and Say Please and Thank You.  Every evening, we discuss each one and reward smiley faces for those that were done well.  For those that weren’t, we discuss why she’s not getting a smiley face and talk about how we can do things differently to get a smiley face the next day.

So far, so good!  One night, she didn’t get smiley face for picking up her toys because her playroom was a mess.  She looked at me and said, “Hold on a minute!”  Then, she picked up all of her toys and said, “See, I get a smiley face.”

She really seems to understand when she’s not listening or had a meltdown.  We talk about those things and she’s even said sorry a few times all on her own.  I really like this chart and recommend it to other parents with 3-year-olds.  It comes with lots of responsibilities so that you can change them out for what they need to work on at the time.  You can even customize your own for those bad habits you’re trying to break.

I placed our chart up high above her toy box where she can’t reach it.  One day, she decided to climb up and fill in all the smiley faces on the entire chart.  She even made sure each day had a different color!  She called me in to take a look and said, “See, I got all my happy faces!”  It caught me so off guard that I busted laughing.

Since we’ve started using the chart, I’m amazed how she voluntarily dresses herself and brushes her teeth.  She’s exerting her independence and building self-confidence.  Additionally, we’re successfully working on the behaviors that we’re trying to improve.  I love it!

Screaming & Running

You would think that we'd start the New Year off with a good blog, but today I've reached a peak level of frustration.  Alyssa has started screaming.  If she can't button a shirt or get her pants snapped, she screams.  If something gets stuck somewhere, she screams.  If she can't figure out something, she screams.  I understand that she's screaming out of frustration.  I'm sure there's many times where we'd all just like to scream.  However, I remember before she could talk when she'd move from one thing to another if she couldn't figure something out.   I know she's trying to be independent and do things by herself without mommy and daddy helping.   I just don't understand why she doesn't ask for help when she gets in a bind.  I know this too will pass and I'm trying hard to be patient, but it's been a struggle.

On top of that, she now thinks it's funny to run away and be chased.  She laughs and giggles as she's running off shouting, "No, Mommy!"  This is not acceptable, especially in a shopping mall, parking lot, or anywhere else she could get lost or injured.  The other day, she took off running towards the escalator.  I feel like a crazy woman chasing her out-of-control kid.  I'm so embarrassed.  I don't know where in the world this came from, why it started, or if it's even normal for children this age.  The only thing I can be certain of is that it's coming to an end very quickly.

I can look back and remember times before I was a parent when I'd see children kicking and screaming as their parents were pulling them by the arm.  I remember thinking to myself, "Can't they control their kids?"  I now look at this situations from a new perspective.  If you have children, you're probably laughing and thankful that you're beyond these years.  If you don't have children, try to be considerate of what the parents are going through rather than critical.  As for me, I'd just like to take off screaming and running.