Horseback Riding pt 2

The majority of the lesson time is spent riding, however I don't have as many photos of that part. The kids were riding on the trails and we were split up. It is still pretty cool to see what they learned their first time.

Here Sweet Daughter is learning two point. She is standing in the stirrups and holding the mane. 

Sweet Son was distracted by farm equipment near the trail heads. Riding a horse by tractors is every 3 year old's dream.

At the end of the lesson, they have to take the equipment off and put it all away. 

Then the horse gets another brushing.

At the end, the horse gets a treat. Sweet Son chose to give his horse a carrot. One of the ranch dogs is very attentive and always willing to clean up any dropped scraps.

 

Sweet Daughter decided her horse would prefer apple slices for a treat.

I think these two may like each other.

Daily Life in Rome

There are only so many things you can plan on and research. Some things just happen. This post is a mixture of what we planned and things that just happened.

Our hotel was close to the Roma Termini. This made it easy to take our stuff from the train to our hotel when we first arrived. It also made it easy to catch a bus to all of the tourist stops. Sure, we could have paid a lot more money and taken one of the many tourist buses. But at 1 euro per person per way (our kids were young enough to be free), this was much cheaper. The city buses also stop at all of the tourist stops and our hotel stop was simply the terminal. Even if we didn't understand a word of Italian, we could have gotten around with no problem. It's not like we would miss the Colosseum just by looking out the window after all.

Just walking down a neighborhood street we saw this. Apparently they had just finished redoing the facade of this house. Now I want giant faces around all of our windows.

A little farther down that same street, this family started out of their house. The little girl and sweet daughter took one look at each other. Then they embraced like long lost friends. As they chatted in two different languages, the adults just looked on laughing.

At one point we got lost. We couldn't figure out which way to go. We had been walking longer than we expected. It was raining. I had opened the map so many times it had disintegrated in the rain. We eventually decided to take a taxi back. Not remembering the name of the street our hotel was on, we just told the driver to take us to the train terminal. She didn't complain about walking, but the moment we sat down she was out and didn't wake up until the next morning.

The next day he wanted more nap, so he pretended to sleep in my arms. I'm always up for a good cuddle. It didn't last long before he wanted to walk on his own again.

This was a small cafe we stopped in. We just might have let the kids eat pizza every single day we were in Italy. We also brought along dried veggies which they ate for snack every day. See that large sidewalk just behind me? That's a street. Not just a small side street for motorcycles, there was a city bus stop just out of view. When a car or bus came along, everyone just stepped to the side or in a doorway so that there was room.

 

All of the glasses were real glass. No kids cups or plastic to be found. Luckily the wine glasses had handles that made them easy to handle. The kids loved using the adults glasses and after a few times, I learned to relax and just trust them not to drop.

Historic buildings all around, fountains in the plaza, and people everywhere. When my kids hear music, they decide to dance in the street (literally). If I had just an ounce of their energy I think we would all be better off.

Kids Cooking

As we are leaving the library, Sweet Daughter announces she's going to make me lunch. Being the understanding parent that I am (haha), I let her. The kids made salad and pizza with very little help. I had to cut the veggies and put the pizza in/out of the oven. This is awesome! Now if only I could train them to clean more than they make a mess...

 Spreading out the dough

 They each make 3 mini pizzas.

We were out of sauce, but they like the cheese the best anyway.

Before putting them in the oven. Sweet daughter put two pepperonis on each. 

Sweet son put 3 on one pizza and 1 on each of the other two pizzas.

During lunch, while shoving big bites of salad in his mouth, this conversation happens with Sweet Son and me:
Son: I no like salad.
Me: You don't?
Son: I just like cucumbers and tomatoes.
Me: What about carrots?
Son: I like carrots.
Me: So you don't like lettuce?
Son: I like lettuce and the sauce. It's not ketchup.
Me: So you like salad?
Son: No, I don't like the bowl. I want my vegetables on my plate. Bowls are for cereal.

Ah, yes, why didn't I catch on to that earlier? haha

Fine Motor with Two Year Olds

I've written so many posts on how to build fine motor skills here, here and here, but it's time for some examples of why it's important.

This is a favorite game around here. It's a fruit stand and they use the tweezers to pick out certain pieces trying to prevent the other pieces from falling off. It can be adjusted to different angles to increase the difficulty. My kids have no idea that this builds fine motor skills. They just like playing with miniature fruit. How directly does this translate to a "real life" skill?

 

Blurry cell phone photos demonstrate using this exact skill in a Chinese restaurant. Their technique still needs more work, but how many toddlers in America do you know that eat this way? For the record, I still use a fork to eat, but my kids insist on using the "chopping sticks."

Cutting skills are also all based on fine motor. I was laughing with someone the other day because according to the developmental guidelines scissors should not be introduced until 3 and if a child isn't proficient at cutting on a straight line by that time they are considered behind. How can you be proficient at a skill that hasn't been introduced? We clearly introduced it before the kids were 3 and I'm good with that. We started with just cutting paper - snipping mostly. Sweet son figured out cutting across the paper first, but they were both able to cut on a line by the time they turned 3.

Cooking with Kids

With the addition of the kitchen tower, we are able to cook many more meals together. Cooking together offers opportunities for fine and gross motor skills, Math, Science, nutrition, and of course great conversations.

 This is a small, but traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner. The kids helped with the salad and the borsch.

Here the kids are helping make turkey salad after Christmas. Mixing is great for building those arm muscles. 

One of my favorite Christmas presents was this mixer. I found a great deal online during Black Friday and told my husband he was buying it for me. haha

Kneading bread should be required of every kid. They love seeing and feeling it change consistency. It's also fun to come back later and see that it has magically grown under the towel!

Wordless Wednesday

It's feeding time!

My kids still have trouble with sharing sometimes, but I caught them sharing their snack and had to get proof.

 

Why take the time to feed yourself if your sibling will do it for you? In case you haven't noticed, he is bigger than she is - by an inch and a few pounds. Everyone has their theories, yet I know exactly why.

Little Hands on the Farm

The State Fair of Texas has a children's experience called "Little Hands on the Farm." This is great for all kids, but especially for city kids. It's all designed for kids and at their level, which is awesome.

Of course we have the kids posing at the board for the photo opportunity. He wasn't happy that she got to be on the tractor first. Taking turns isn't fun when you are two years old. 

They did both get a turn riding the tractors around, but were too small to push themselves. We had to help them.

They got to put on an apron, grab a basket and start about their farm chores. Here they are picking peaches from the apple trees. Um... yeah, I didn't design the place, just took the kids so don't ask the logic behind that one.

They got to feed the chickens corn and gather some eggs. My children were concerned that the chickens weren't moving. 

I was excited to let the kids milk the cows. I thought it was going to be like the cow at the museum that sprays water when you pull it's teat. Instead, they were able to hook up a milking machine. Not quite as much fun, but still educational. 

Here the kids are digging a hole, planting seeds, and then watering them. After this, they went to another garden and picked different types of fruits and vegetables.

Another chance for sweet son to sit on the tractor just couldn't be missed. Who cares if you can't reach the ground or the pedals? It's a tractor!

This was actually in a different area, but fit with the theme. The kids got to feed many different types of animals. They actually preferred to watch as we fed the animals, but they talked about it for weeks. The goat tried to eat the entire cup, the sheep wouldn't stand up, the bull looked mean, the pigs were pooping, etc. You know, all the important things in the mind of a two year old.

Breastfeeding

I've already written a post about the importance of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding has been in the news recently. People seem to think that only young babies should be breastfed and that older babies, toddlers, and even preschoolers shouldn't. This is a really strange concept for me. We are the only mammals that regularly drink the milk of another species. It's normal in our society to drink cow's milk and yet people think it's strange to drink human milk? Logic seems to suggest human milk would be better for humans.

My kids know that babies drink their mommy's milk. This works for all mammal species and doesn't confuse them! They don't remember being breastfed - they really don't remember me pumping. I have tried to let them see other mom's breastfeed so that it is normal. My goal before my kids were born was to breastfeed for at least 2 years, but hopefully longer. If you read the other post, you know I was only able to give them breastmilk for the first year. 

My kids will lift their shirts when their baby dolls are hungry to feed them. I love seeing them do something so natural. At one point they were given baby bottles from a family member. Confused about this concept and with no explanation from me, they decided they were "medicine" bottles. They would pretend to drip the milk or juice on a play spoon and feed it to their babies. The only medicine my kids had up to this point was briar rose, lithy tree, and honey (over the age of 1.5) so they aren't exactly experts.

This is a completely off topic video, but it's just so cute! I'm hiding around a corner, with the camera being the only thing he can see, sorry for the weird angle. This truck comes apart with a toy screwdriver and my son was (and still is) fascinated. He hasn't quite mastered righty tighty, lefty loosy, but he's clearly starting to get the concept!

Video - Giveaway! - Winner posted

WINNER!!! Mommy2KKMT Congrats! Contact me so I can send you the video! 

Copy-Kids was kind enough to give me a copy of their Eat Fruits and Vegetables video to review and give away to one of my readers.

The concept behind the video is positive peer pressure for eating healthy. Copy-Kids says the video is for ages 6 months to 5 years. The video itself is divided into 12 chapters each focusing on a different type of produce. They start by showing the vegetable (or fruit) and then show a few different children eating and enjoying each.

My kids will happily eat all of their fruits and vegetables, so we aren't the target audience, but I was interested from a child development perspective and based on the interest of my children. Here is our review.

Pros:
Each chapter is 6-8 minutes long and they don't need to be played in any certain order, so you can just watch part at a time. This is great for short attention spans.
The kids eating the produce are all toddlers or preschoolers so they were able to get my kids attention.
It's like a longer version of a commercial for healthy foods. I wish it would be shown instead of the junk food commercials during kids tv shows.
There is part of the video specifically for parents, with a pediatrician offering many facts about healthy eating.
Sweet Son (34 months old)says, "It was great. People were eating foods. I like eating foods."
Selected as one of the 10 best Audio/Visuals for 2011 by Dr. Toy.
Approved by the USDA and added to their Education and Training Materials Database for pre-school nutrition.  

Cons:
We don't let our kids watch TV before the age of 30 months, due to all of the associated problems. I know many people don't mind this, but it is odd for a pediatrician to recommend a video for ages younger than even the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends.
There is no plot or story line. This is just a video of kids eating their produce. It did not maintain my kids attention.
You can't put on the video and go take a shower because it will stop after 6-8 minutes.
Sweet Daughter (34 months old) says, "It was no good. People were just eating. That's all."

I would suggest this video for someone with a child between 2.5 and 5 years old who doesn't eat much produce. Ideally I would set the child(ren) at a table where they could see the tv and serve them a plate of one of the featured items. I would show the video for the featured item and one other item. I think if the child can mimic (Copy-Kids) what the child on the screen is doing at that exact moment, it would hold their attention longer.

Now for the giveaway details! There are two ways to enter to win a copy of this video.

#1 Comment on this post telling me what your child(ren)'s favorite type of produce is.
#2 Like Parenting With Research on facebook. Leave a second comment here letting me know you like me!

I will use random.org to select a winner on July 20th.

I was not paid for this review and all opinions are my own.

Popsicles

It gets hot here, especially during the Summer. It's common to be over 100F (30C). Like most kids, mine love popsicles. I can't just serve regular popsicles though. They are full of sugar, preservatives, and food dye. My kids eat healthy popsicles.

It's messy, but one of our favorites is made from our spinach smoothies. It's a lot of fresh spinach, some yogurt or kefir, and a small handful of fruit - usually strawberries. We blend it for smoothies and then just freeze some extra for popsicles. 

While my daughter enjoyed using hers to color on her tray, my son doesn't believe in wasting food. The bibs seemed like a good idea, but honestly nothing can contain the mess toddlers can make with popsicles. It all washes out anyway.

This was another favorite flavor. Still with mostly spinach, this one also had some carrots and blueberries to give it a different color and texture. If you have never made a smoothie with spinach, you should give it a try. The flavor of the fruit overpowers the spinach so it just tastes like a fruit smoothie. I can even get my husband to eat his vegetables this way! My kids always ask for spinach at the store so we can have smoothies and popsicles. I don't mind if they fill up on them during dinner or want more for dessert.

Quick Meals

I have found some great recipes and ideas for feeding kids that I thought I would share.

Chicken pot pie muffin and watermelon

Sandwiches -
I know what you are thinking, this isn't something new and unique. I promise it really is though. My kids will disassemble and play with a normal sandwich rather than eating them so I needed a better idea. Then I read about sandwich rolls. Basically you take a biscuit - the small ones, not Grands - and flatten it out. In the center you place meat and cheese. Then wrap up and cook according to package instructions. My kids happily eat these and don't even make a mess. Brilliant! I have also made these with peperoni, cheese, and a tiny bit of pizza sauce. They freeze well and I can make a ton of them and just thaw as needed.

Turkey and cheese biscuits on the go!

Muffins -
Jiffy corn muffin mix (or the cheaper Aldi brand if you shop like I do) as the starter for an entree. Once again, it sounds crazy, but just keep reading. One option is to mix shredded chicken and mixed vegetables in to make chicken pot pie muffins. Another option is ground beef and cheese for cheeseburger muffins. I have also made taco muffins, corn dog muffins, chicken and cheese muffins, etc. You get the idea. Sometimes I just take leftovers and mix to freeze for later meals. Other times I will spend a couple of hours to make a bunch of a particular type. Yesterday I made 71 of the corn dog muffins. I cooked hot dogs, cut them into small pieces and mixed into the corn muffin mix. I added cheese to the mix for the fun of it. It took  me about 2 hours, but well worth the time I save. That being said, they aren't a neat and clean meal. My kids like to crumble them and eat the bits and pieces before the crumbs. They do eventually eat it all, but it is not a clean process. Granted, they are toddlers so very few things we do are a clean process.

Chicken pot pie muffin and watermelon

Bread -
Sweet daughter has found an opinion on foods. Rather than just eating everything she is becoming picky. This is normal toddler behavior, but my child had to find a way to make it unusual. She won't eat white breads. Seriously, the girl only likes whole wheat. This made the sandwiches above a challenge since I can't find whole wheat biscuits. I did find a recipe I like for whole wheat bread. The big plus is it doesn't involve raw eggs so I let the kids help knead the dough. It's almost fool proof - I'm an awful cook and haven't been able to screw it up yet.
Two loaves
6+ cups of flour (it varies)
2 cups liquid (water or milk)
1 T yeast (do 4 t if doing all whole wheat flour)
2 t salt
1/3 cup oil (up to 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup honey or sugar (up to 1/2 cup)

Bake at 350 for 30 min for a loaf and for 12-15 min for biscuits.
We use milk and honey most of the time, but I have done all of the variations. I've made cinnamon raisin bread, sandwich bread, and biscuits.

Happy toddlers

Other than the bread recipe which I got from a friend, all of the other ideas listed are from one amazing web page. I didn't want to mention it before because you would head there and never finish this post! http://www.bentolunch.net/  She has been featured on the Disney web page, Family Fun magazine, and many other places. All of the lunches she makes are cute and healthy. While I haven't gotten around to making a single bento lunch, I do often steal other ideas from her, as you can tell from above. Our next cooking experiment? Everything muffins