Week 11

Getting closer to the finish line!

Day 70 – Today was gorgeous weather so we spent a lot of time outside.  We are going to try out a little gardening this year so Annaliese helped us to get started.  We planted a few of our veggies in egg cartons to get them started indoors.  Annaliese liked the dirt part the best.

Day 71 – Today we played with Play-doh.  Annaliese still can’t really figure out if she likes it or not.  She mostly likes pushing her fingers or other objects into it.  Its definitely a good way to practice her colors though!

Day 72 – As I was throwing away an empty tissue box today, Annaliese protested.   I decided to let her play with it since she showed such interest.  I let her stuff and un-stuff her cloth wipes in the box.  She really liked it; especially taking all of the wipes out and throwing them around the kitchen.

Day 73 – This was Annaliese’s first year of actually being able to dye Easter eggs.  I bought a kit for $2 at the grocery store.  It was a little messy but the end result was pretty cool!

Day 74 – Daddy’s birthday is also approaching so we decided to make a gift.  I used a recipe for finger paints that I have seen passed around on facebook and pinterest many times.  It turned out pretty well…here is the link.

Annaliese painted a beautiful picture for her dad.

Day 75 – With the coming of spring we have had a huge increase in wildlife in the backyard.  The birds, squirrels, and rabbits are everywhere!  Today Annaliese and I pulled up our bean bags to the sliding glass doors and just observed outside.  She was fascinated with all of the animals playing in the yard and it was nice to sit down for a few minutes 🙂

Day 76 – We took advantage of the nice weather again and headed outside.  We brought some of Annaliese’s cups and tea set items and filled them with water.  Our “water tea party” was quite messy but lots of fun.  Why is it that toddlers like pouring water so much?

 

 

Week 9 & 10

It has been a really long time since I’ve written one of my “weekly” posts, and I’ve had an epiphany.  I’m not really enjoying this 365 Days of Unplugged Play as much as I thought I would.  I still love playing with Annaliese obviously, but its been a lot of pressure to try to come up with new things every day.  Each time I sit down to write the updated posts I end up doing something else because I just don’t feel like it.  Who wants to read unenthusiastic blog posts?  I’ve decided I’d like to alter my plans a little bit and make it 100 Days of Unplugged Play and then focus my attention on something else.  I started this blog as a fun project and its getting un-fun.  Time for a change!

Day 56 – Today, like most Mondays, we went to Storytime at our local library.  This is one of our favorite things to do each week.  Its 1/2 hour of singing, books, and finger play geared toward kids under 2.  It is free but you have to register ahead of time.  I highly recommend checking to see if your local l library offers anything similar.

Day 57 – We have a few places in our house that are “off limits” for Annaliese.  Mostly the crawl space and attic.  Today, under close supervision, I let Annaliese explore this “forbidden place” in our house.  She loved running around in the crawl space even though she has to duck for fear of hitting her head.  We mostly use it for storage of her old baby gear and clothes so she was pretty excited when she found a few old favorites.   Here is a picture of her exploring:

Day 58 – I got today’s idea from my friend Andrea.  She drove her 2 kids through the carwash one day and said it was a huge hit.  I decided to entertain Annaliese today while also giving my car a good $4 scrub down.  At first she thought it was hilarious that our car was getting wet.  Then it became not so funny when water started dripping into her carseat.  We have those sun shades that are clipped into the windows in the back and apparently they leave a tiny gap.  It was only a little bit of water so it was no big deal but Annaliese seemed a little confused by the whole thing after that.  Definitely fun, cheap entrainment though.  Thanks for the idea Andrea!

Day 59 – We had some semi-nice weather today so we decided to head outside.  We sat on the back porch to have an afternoon snack.  It was nice to switch things up a little bit and get some fresh air.

Day 60 – Today I needed some assistance while making dinner.  I put Annaliese on the floor with a colander and some dried spaghetti and let her go to town.  I showed her how to put the spaghetti through the holes and then let her explore on her own.  She played with this for a long time and it definitely bought me a few extra minutes to get dinner in the oven.

Day 61 – Annaliese had a little accident on our comforter so we had to wash it.  Oops!  After it was dry I laid it out on the floor to put the duvet cover back on.  Annaliese immediately jumped on it and had herself a good old time.  We used it as a parachute, ran across it, and laid under it.  Didn’t know a comforter could be so much fun!

Day 62 – Today we used some cheap Easter stamps to decorate pretty much everything we could find.  Perhaps the stamping got a little out of control but Annaliese had fun.  Stamp ink does come out of most clothing and wipes off of playroom tables 🙂

Day 63 – Chick fil a hosted a Daddy Daughter Date Night tonight so Chris took Annaliese out to dinner.  They had a great time.  Annaliese is a cheap date so this was a low cost way to get out of the house with Daddy!  Here they are before they left :

Day 64 – It was rainy here today so Annaliese put on her rain boots and jacket and we headed outside anyway!  It was a little messy but Annaliese appreciates any time we can spend outside.  A little water never hurt anyone right?

Day 65 – Recently we discovered Springton Manor Farms here in Chester County.  It is quickly becoming one of our favorite places to visit.  It is a working farm open for free to the public.  I think Annaliese would spend all day there if we let her.  I highly recommend checking it out if you live in Chester County or looking for something similar in your area.   They have lots of baby animals being born over there and it couldn’t be cuter!

Day 66 – We got a little girly today and played “hairshop”.  Annaliese really wanted to play with all of her hair bows so we took turns making each other look beautiful.  As you can see, the end result was pretty great.

Day 67 – Annaliese has recently developed an obsession with her sippy cups.  We joke that she is like the girl from the movie, Signs, because if she had it her way, all of her sippy cups would be filled with milk at the same time.  Today I gave her all of her cups to play with at once.  She actually really enjoyed trying to match the lids to the right cups.  I was pretty impressed!

Day 68 – We got a box in the mail today filled with Styrofoam packing peanuts.  You would have thought we won a million dollars.  Annaliese went crazy throwing them all over the dining room and stomping on them.  Here is some of the destruction :

Day 69 – This activity was a little gross but went pretty well.  I put ketchup and mustard in two (very tightly sealed) ziploc bags.  I let Annaliese squish them around.  She was pretty into it and it was an easy clean up!  Sorry Chris, this is why we’re out of ketchup.