Fun Baby Activities

What’s in a name?

Naming a new baby is a huge deal and it is not always easy. I found this way cool website that helps with the process of deciding on a perfect name for a new little one.

It tells you the meanings and origins of names to help you decide. For example I looked up my kids names and this is what I found. The baby girl name “Lexi” is credited as being of Greek origin and means “Protector of Mankind.” And the baby unisex name “Hunter” is credited as being of English origin and means “One Who Hunts.” This information could have been helpful when I was picking the kids names out. Maybe they will grow into their names origins and meanings?

The truth is my husband and I came up with Lexi and Hunters names before we were even married. We went on a long hike and picked out all the names we liked for our kids. Now I just have to look up the meanings of those names and we can decide what to call the rest of our kids!

Last week I was in the mall and I was shocked to find Santa all dressed up and sitting in his chair! It was before Thanksgiving and he was already there waiting to see little children and take pictures. There was no line, so I decided to take advantage of this to see my 22 month old little girls reaction to the big guy. She was, as expected, very shy and nervous. I held her in my arms and walked over to Santa while my husband stayed with our 3 month old and the stroller. As we were visiting with Santa he gave me a few tips on how to make your little ones feel more comfortable with visiting Santa at the mall. He told me to come and visit him as much as we could, especially when the line was short. He said first we will work on getting her to walk up to Santa’s rug, the next step would be having her sit on my lap in the chair next to him, and then eventually she may actually sit on his lap and I can get my first pictue of her with Santa! He then told me that he was there every day until nine, so we had lot’s of time to come and visit him. We our lucky because the mall we go to just has one Santa, so it is the exact same guy every time. Santa gave Lexi a coloring book and she was thrilled! He also told me to get movies that have Santa in them and remind Lexi that we saw Santa at the mall.

We went to the mall again a few days ago and made a stop by Santa’s chair. Lexi did much better this time and even gave Santa a high five. I think with a couple more visits we will get our picture. Thanks for the tips Santa and Merry Christmas!

Help! Another day has gone by and still no baby! I feel like if I sneeze he is just going to fall out, but I have tried that and nothing! I have walked and walked and walked. Today I tried swimming. Last night I tried curb walking, where you walk with one foot in the gutter and the other on the curb. I have bounced on the birthing ball. I have drove up into the mountains on bumpy roads. I have eaten large amounts of spicy food. And my husband has been “helping” me regularly! What else can I do to get this baby to come?

Well, here we are 08/13/2008 and still no baby! We went to the doctor on Monday and he will induce me next Monday, 08/18/2008, if Hunter still has not come by then. In the meantime you can find me walking the mall trying to get this baby to come. I didn’t realize how lucky I was to be induced with Lexi 3 days before her due date. My heart goes out to all women everywhere who have gone to their babies due dates or longer, I feel your pain! So, since we are just playing the waiting game here I thought we should open it up to a guessing game for everyone! Make a guess and the winner will get a special treat from me!

When will Hunter come? How much will he weigh? And how tall will he be?

Just to give you an idea of what our babies are like: Lexi was born 3 days before her due date (but I was induced for toxemia), she weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz. and was 18.5 inches long.

I am starting to wonder if Cinderella and her story of the glass slipper infulence girls and their natural love for shoes? Today I found Lexi in my closet looking through the shoes. She found the highest and most fancy high-heels I have and was trying her hardest to put them on. I helped her slip her litttle feet into my shoes and she walked around my room with a huge smile on her face. It was a fun moment as a Mom! You always see the sweet pictures of little girls playing dress up with their Mom’s shoes, but seeing your own daughter in your high-heels is absolutely adorable! Maybe it just seemed extra sweet because I am 36 weeks pregnant and a little more sensitive than usual?

This is just one of those things that you learn by being a parent I guess? I was looking at Lexi’s rubber ducky and discovered that when I would squeeze it black stuff would come out with the water. Mold and Mildew are building up in all of my little one’s bath toys. I had no idea that rubber duckies could get moldy, but apparently they can. Yuck! So, I am sending a bunch of bath toys to toy heaven today. I will definitely be more careful about draining the bath toys of water. I clean my bathroom regularly, but I never even considered what could be building up in her rubber ducky. I was considering just banning all bath toys that have holes in them from Lexi’s bath, but she loves her “Quack-quacks” so I found a solution. Using a glue gun to seal the hole in bath toys will prevent mold from returning – permanently! Hopefully I can save some parents from discovering there own moldy bath toys!

My 17 month old has a new obsession… Cars! She wakes up every morning and begs to go downstairs and watch her car movie! Today I was in the kitchen doing dishes and she was watching her car movie. All of the sudden she came running in to the kitchen yelling “Mom, mom, mom, mom!” I turned around and she just stuck her tongue out at me through a big smile. I went and looked at the tv and it was the part where Lightning McQueen is flying through the air with his tongue hanging out. Now if you ask her what the car does she responds by sticking her tongue out! So cute!

Lexi loves to go and get the mail! Today we got some “fun mail”! We ordered some bow’s from Binga Bows and they arrived today. Travis has a friend who’s wife makes these adorable bow’s. We have been meaning to order some for awhile now, but just got around to it. Now that I have seen them in person we are going to have to order a lot more. They are so cute that I wanted to share the site with all of our friends. I will post some pictures of Lexi wearing the bow’s soon. (She is down for a nap right now, or I would do it right now!) These bow’s are super cute and very affordable! Plus right now she is doing a giveaway. All you have to do is go to her blog and leave a comment on her Binga Bow’s Giveaway post. She will pick a winner randomly and whoever wins will get $15 towards a Binga Bow’s purchase (You can get a lot for that… we got 6 bow’s for around $20) .You have until midnight on Friday, June 20th to enter. The winner will be announced on Saturday morning. So, check them out and maybe you can get a few free bow’s!

Happy Father’s Day to all of the Father’s out there! I know I am a little late, but I wanted to be sure and thank all the great Dad’s out there for what they do.
A few weeks ago my husband was installing child locks on all of our cabinets. (Our 16 month old is at the point where she loves to open and empty all the cabinets in the house, so this was a must!) I walked into the kitchen to find my husband sitting on the floor holding his drill with our little girl sitting between his legs in her pink pj’s. She was patting the drill and every time she did my husband would turn the drill on so she thought she was doing it. Our little girl had the biggest smile on her face and my husband was just laughing. It was the sweetest sight for a Mom! My little girl loves her Daddy so much and he always takes the time to make her smile. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who is also a great Daddy. Happy Father’s Day Handsome!

Today I bought my baby girl these cute shoes…

We were at the store and she walked up to me holding this shoe. I looked at it, saw that it was her size and put it on her foot. Then she started walking in it and we heard the squeak! These shoes squeak with every step your child takes. Well, my baby girl thought it was incredible and started jumping from all the excitement, thus more squeaking and even more excitement. I had to buy them for her after watching how much she loved them! After talking to the employee’s at the store about the squeaky shoes I learned that in order for the shoe to squeak a child must walk heal to toe. This encourages crawlers to begin walking and toddlers and young children to walk properly and not up on their toes. Not only are these shoe’s functional and fun for children, but I love the safety feature of knowing where my little girl is at all times. And don’t worry for those occasions when the shoe needs to be silent, the squeaker can be removed by Mom. I love these cute shoe’s and I am so glad my little girl picked them out! I guess I am teaching her at a young age that a girl can never have too many shoes!

The Wee Boutique- Fun, quality clothing and accessories for babies and toddlers.