What I have done list

The message said: Bold what you HAVE done. So here goes...
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland -Disneyworld counts, right??
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill-best time to take them!!
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating- I caught and cleaned a fish!!
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

CPSIA

I just read a disturbing post regarding the possible ramifications of the new "lead" law due to be passed February 10th, 2009. Please read and take a few minutes to look at some of the links provided.
http://gocksfrocks.blogspot.com/
The person posting this makes beautiful handmade clothing that makes me drool :) If the law passes, one of a kind, handmade items will no longer be available for sale. We will all be shopping for our kids at Big Box stores and buying Made in China everything.
I could go on about Big Government and becoming a Socialist nation but I will spare you.
Be informed, be involved, be smart!!

Thrift Stores

I've never been a big fan of thrift stores-they always "felt" icky to me and garage sales are too much of a hit and miss thing.
BUT...I went to the Goodwill here last Monday and actually bought stuff. I also dropped off a box and bag of donation so I don't feel too guilty for buying more stuff. I bought 4 CDs for baby and a tie dye t-shirt for her too. All of that for less than 10 dollars. Not bad. My husband just shook his head when he saw the t-shirt. I personally love tie dye and would wear it frequently if I could. He, on the other hand, is not a big fan.

Vocabulary

Everyone says I am paranoid for being concerned/thinking little one is behind developmentally in vocabulary. OK..so maybe I do obsess a bit about it. Various sources say an 18 month old should have a vocabulary ranging from 12 to 22 words they say clearly (including mama and dada).
Let's see, baby currently says:
Dada
Mama
Hi (almost always with kitty)
Kitty
Mouth
Milk
Juice
Shoes
Eye
Ball
Papa
Nana
That
Night Night
All of these are not clear but she does make a pretty close approximation. I am trying to NOT be so worried about these types of things but I still am.
Now is a good time to put some of those Montessori ideas to work :)

Preschool

So, at what age is it appropriate to start "school" type activities? I am thinking I might be rushing things way too much. I want to go ahead and start with identifying objects using flash cards. I love the Montessori philosophy and would love to introduce some of the ideas I am reading about.

I have found quite a few blogs regarding homeschooling in the Montessori tradition. I find myself bookmarking and cutting and pasting so much material. I have printed out pages upon pages of ideas and downloaded quite a bit too. I know little one is not even 1 1/2 yet but I just find it so interesting.

I am hoping we are financially able for me to home school for the first few years of little one's education. Ideally, I would like to keep her at home from Kindergarten until 3rd grade. I'm not sure if that will happen but it is a goal we are striving for. Because of that goal, we (the hubby and I) have also considered moving to a more home school friendly area. I've noticed many of the parks in NC have home school days once a month for science.

We are still hoping to make a move to the northern Tennessee or Western NC area in the next 4 or 5 years. There are alot of ifs and variables but it is a definite possibility.

The picture is my mom reading to the little one the day we got back from our NC vacation.

words and songs and stuff

Yesterday baby said another new word...JUICE!! She is picking up on things pretty quickly now. OH and she can say "up" and knows what it means. She walks up, sticks her arms out and says "UP". She also mimics songs-it is too sweet to hear her. She will sing to herself sometimes and it is so adorable.
She is constantly singing "up above" from twinkle, twinkle, little star-I have no idea why she clued in on those words, but she did. Her other song to mimic is the ABC song. Nicole got her a puppy that sings it (cause she liked the one her daughter had) and she will try to mimic it. Funny!!
Kids are such fun. It is truly amazing to watch a little one's personality develop and to witness pure learning. I never knew I would love being a mom so much.

The New Year

My first post of the new year....hmm-what to write. Well I have some goals for the year, not resolutions, goals. Might as well talk about those.
So here they are-in no particular order:
- Spend more active time with baby
- Less TV more music or even silence
- PURGE the clutter [massively hard for me-I like stuff:)]
- Learn to sew ruffles on jeans and skirts
- establish a bedtime routine for baby R
- stick to bedtime routine
- try out the freezer cooking method
- Have at least 5 meals in the freezer at ALL times
- More fruits and veggies for me and the hubby
- there are tons more but I will work on these first

Happy New Year, Feliz Cumpleanos