Goodbye, Popper

The busy toddler, all of his two years, grew up using his POPPER (popularly known as pacifier or binky) as his comfort blanket.

We tried several times before to get him off this habit, but it proved hard.
So imagine our delight now, the busy toddler has been sleeping for two straight days without using his beloved popper.

Could this be the end of the busy toddler's popper days..stay tuned.

Pumpkin treat

We don't have real pumpkins in our country.  But that won't stop me from introducing pumpkins to my busy toddler.

If We can't have the real one, then we shall print one.  Got this printable pumpkin from mommy Carissa's blog.

Check us out again to see the finished product.

Tower of blocks

I bought this toy when I was still pregnant with Ahren.  Its a Thomas the train toy with accompanying blocks.  Before, Ahren used to ignore this toy. Now, he's hooked into Thomas and can easily spot Thomas  trains where it be in stores or in web pages.

It helps that he can also build a tower of blocks from the train's base.  Its good for developing and strengthening his gross motor skills.

Look how he supports the base so that the blocks won't easily tumble.

Leapfrog Math tray puzzles

My busy toddler loves this toy.  He's enamored with the bus tray that comes with this self-correcting puzzles.  In fact, if he wants to play with this particular toy, he says "Mommy, play bus"

I got this from an ebay seller (great find!).  As you will soon discover, I love leapfrog toys.  My sister used leapfrog with her daughter (my niece) and now i'm using leapfrog with my toddler too.

I like this toy because you can play shapes matching, then progress to object-number counting then eventually to simple addition and subtraction puzzles.

For now, I let Ahren play with shapes matching.

Fine Motor Skills

The busy toddler played with his play doh.

I gave him a toy cutting board and knife to slice up his playdoh.

Nowadays, if he wants to play with his playdoh, he says "Mommy, play cut."  He usually brings out the cutting board and knife from his cooking backpack (i put his cooking toys in his backpack).  I keep his playdoh on the top shelf so he really has to ask me for the play doh.

So far, he's totally into this activity which is good for his fine motor skills too. His cutting skills are still far from perfect but he's getting good at it.

Study/Work Nook

My busy toddler's study area.

Most of the time, however, my busy toddler uses this ikea mammut chair as his spaceship or see-saw, whatever his mood permits.

I started to do this so I can train him to sit for longer periods, part of training him when he enters formal preschool.

His real play area is our entire house, yes, our house looks like a playhouse because you can find toys scattered, practically, everywhere.

Trick or treat 2009

Here is my little Jack Sparrow.

Last October 24, We took him to our village's trick or treat.  That day, he was still sick but once he saw the kids he became totally energized.

 He was so full of energy that many noticed him (he was literally running around the premises, making funny moves).  It melts my heart that people respond positively to him.

It totally made mommy's day.