Mommin' It Up!

December 3, 2011December 3, 2011

Bringing Pony Back

Recently, much to my delight, Sophie has gotten into My Little Pony. I say “much to my delight” because I L-O-V-E-D MLP as a child. As a matter of fact, my favorite pony was named Morning Glory and I would not purchase her for a friend’s birthday party until AFTER I myself owned her, because I was a selfish little twit! But I digress. The point is….

ponystyles — Sophie and I are pony hairstylists!

It all started a couple of months ago when I got her the My Little Pony app for my iPad. I like it because it has a storybook with games and activities. There is a My Little Pony TV show but we don’t have the channel it’s on, however, the iPad app and some MLP books we’ve bought or received got her excited about the product. So for her birthday, as soon as she got some birthday money from great-grandma, she bought herself some MLP! We went to Target and picked out this:

It’s a very cute playset. Nothing earth-shattering, but very fun for pretend. Sophie loves putting things in Apple Jack’s cart, conversing with Apple Jack’s farm creature pals, and of course, stylin’ her hair!

pinkie pie car — She likes to do donuts on my dining room floor

Sophie also got a couple other My Little Pony things for her birthday – Pinkie Pie’s remote control car, which is LOTS of fun, and I think, a great value for the money, and this super-awesome fashion Pinkie Pie that comes with a TON of hair accessories and is really very fun for any little girl who likes to PILE ON the hair barrettes. It’s been lots of fun!

So those are some things Sophie got for her birthday, and then because she is such a sweet little girl :), my friends at Hasbro sent her a couple of other MLP surprises! She is now the proud owner of her very own Princess Celestia:

Princess Celestia, is featured prominently in the My Little Pony app that Sophie loves so well, so she is pretty excited about her! Plus, she TALKS and her wings move! She lights up! She is pretty much the IT Pony to have. The Morning Glory of this generation, if you will! Now I hear that some freaks called “Bronies” (a.k.a men or “Bros” who are rabid fans of the My Little Pony tv show – yes, I am being serious) have their boxers in a bunch because this Celestia is not the same color as she is on TV. To them I say, “Get a job and move out of your mother’s basement.” I think the doll Celestia is super-fab just the way she is!

Lastly, Hasbro also sent Sophie another playset, which is great because she loves to pretend with the playsets so much! It’s the Ponyville Schoolhouse, which is awesome because Cheerliee and her teaching skillz are also prominently featured in the MLP app so Sophie can re-enact scenes from it with this set!

ponyville schoolhouse — All teachers wear glasses! Even Pony teachers!

So, my little girl and I sure are enjoying My Little Pony. If you’re shopping for a little girl this year, put some of these things on your shopping list! And get her what she really wants, so that unlike me, she won’t still be pining over the MLP stable she never got to house her ponies in 25 years later! Ahem.

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Hasbro sent me two items to review. My opinions about them and about all the other products mentioned are my own.

December 2, 2011February 26, 2014

At-home occupational therapy activities for your child

When I first began working at home with Sophie to help her get past her developmental delays, I was pretty stumped on some OT activities. Speech seemed easier to figure out for me. Sophie had poor hand strength and needed to learn to cut. I could never get her to color – she just wouldn’t – so I just had to strap her in that booster seat and make her. So we had to start from the beginning with writing, drawing, and coloring. Here are some activities that are great to do with your child if he or she has weakness in those areas.

1) Cut with a purpose – cutting lines will get very boring, very fast. Look online for free printable cutting worksheets that make it a little more fun. Just do a Google search, there are tons out there. Or, get a workbook or two specifically for cutting. My very favorite are the Kumon workbooks (they also have plenty other types, not just cutting – they are all great.)

2) Salt time – It helps kids learn to write letters, shapes, etc. if they can feel the patterns with their fingers. To help them get the idea, just fill a shallow dish with salt, so that the bottom of the dish is completely covered. Then, simply have the child make a circle, a letter, whatever you are trying to teach them, in the salt with their index finger. You may have to show them first with your own finger, or hold their hand and guide them, but soon enough they will be able to do it on their own. Sophie always LOVED “salt time” and one of her favorite things to do was draw faces in the salt.

3) Lacing cards – these are great for fine motor planning – helping your kiddo learn to plan the steps they need to take in a process, as well as for finger agility. To help Sophie when we first started, I numbered the holes in the cards and had her complete them in the right order, otherwise she was just kind of putting the string into the holes at random. I also had to tie off the string with a knot about 1/3 of the way in – it was overkill to have her do ALL the holes in a lacing card, and the extra string got in the way. Doing those things helped her get a hang of the activity more quickly and cut down on frustration.

Well, there are three simple activities to do with your child, whether they need OT help or not! Again, I want to stress that I am not a professional, but these are things that worked for me when I was working with Sophie on OT goals.

Check out all my posts on helping your child overcome developmental delays here.

December 1, 2011December 1, 2011

Things I Love Thursday: Yoga

Over the years, I’ve written a lot about my attempts to become a runner. There was that one time when I started the Couch to 5K program… and then promptly quit. And then there were the subsequent 23.9 times I started that program again, and quit somewhere along the way.

Once, I “ran” a half marathon… and decided about 12 seconds after I crossed the finish line that I would never. Run. Again.

But then, nine months or so later, I decided to give it another go, even though I hated it. Needless to say, I quit.

Here’s the thing. I hate running, I’m not good at running and I’m never going to be a runner. So rather than continue to set myself up for failure, I decided to try to find something I actually enjoy, and I tried a yoga class.

People. I love it. It’s not the calorie-burning intense workout that running is (at least the class I go to isn’t, but I would love to try out cardio yoga) but it feels so good, both while I’m doing it and after it’s over. I love it and I wish I could go to class every day! But since I don’t have time for that, I’ve been looking into the next best thing – yoga I can do at home.

I’ve discovered a few good resources… there are yoga videos on Netflix, for starters. There’s also a huge library on GaiamTV, with a subscription fee. I’ve been wanting to get Kate into yoga as well, because I think it would be a great thing for us to do together. I got a review copy of Shanti Generation: Yoga Skills for Youth Peacemakers, which is designed to teach yoga exercises and mindfulness techniques for kids from 7 to 16.

We’ve done it a few times and it is a nice way to end the day. Kate is on the young end of the age range they’re targeting, and she sometimes, uh, lacks focus. But she enjoys it and I’m sure she’ll get better over time. Yoga cultivates body awareness, flexibility, concentration, stress reduction and self-expression – all things she and I could use more of.

It’s exciting to me that I’ve finally found an exercise that I actually look forward to and want to do. I never, ever felt that way about running (and seriously, runner’s high? I just don’t buy that).

What about you? Do you have an exercise you love?

This post is linked up to Things I Love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries. Check it out!