a family of snowmen

molly finally was able to build her snowmen this winter. it was the perfect day because the snow was melting so it was nice and wet, plus, it was warm out. molly didn't even have to wear a coat (yes, mom, i know it was still chilly - but she had gloves on!).
and here we are: molly, mommy, daddy, sophie! aren't we cute?!

tube painting

need a last minute valentine's day craft/activity to do with your kids? try tube painting. i got this idea from http://tonsoffunpreschoolactivities.blogspot.com/. it's so easy. bend a toilet paper tube into the shape of a heart, dip into paint, press on paper.

done

sophie is completely done nursing. :) :( she weaned herself, which was great, however, i wasn't quite prepared to stop. so i have had mixed feelings. she wasn't really getting much, it was more of a comfort thing for her, but still a special bond that only she and i had. i thought it'd be a gradual process that might be a bit of a struggle, but it was quick, easy, and painless. for that, i'm thankful. sophie lets me hold her, stroke her hair and sing to her to get to sleep and when she wakes in the middle of the night (yes, she still does) she generally goes right back to sleep when i hold her.

she's started on cows milk and is doing okay drinking it. it's not her favorite, but each day gets a little better. she's just getting so big. hard to believe she'll be a one year in a month!

expanding the taste buds

molly is a picky, picky eater when it comes to healthy food. meats and veggies are a struggle for her to eat. the meat has always been better than the veggies, but still something had to be done because molly was not eating. when she was much littler, i would make her something different than matt and i were eating so she would eat, but then, she turned the magical age of 2 and she had to eat what we eat (most of the time -there are exceptions). she's not always too keen on this and has skipped many meals because she didn't like what we were having. sometimes, she didn't even try it. needless to say, she was hungry by the time the next meal rolled around. this worked for a bit but i still didn't feel like she was eating well enough, aka, no veggies. i can't blame her though, i hate them too. i just choke them down because i know they are good for me. i tell molly they're good to eat and grin and bear as i chew up a rubber greenbean or a piece of broccoli that taste like i'm truly eating a plant. i watched on the doctors or doctor oz, some show like that, that some people are born with taste buds that allow them to like, tolerate, or basically can't stand the taste of vegetables. i'm on the tolerate side. i think that is where molly is too. so anyway, we started a chart, a food pyramid chart. now i know the food pyramid isn't used anymore but it works well for stickers. we drew a big pyramid and glued pictures of the different food groups on. molly earned a sticker for each item she ate from a particular food group (we did not include the fats and sweets as she has no trouble in that department!). after 10 stickers in each group she chooses a treat from the grocery store. saturday was her big day. she chose cookies with pink icing. she was so proud to have completed her chart (it took about 2 1/2 weeks). it really did motivate her to eat her veggies and meat (she likes broccoli and cauliflower the best). plus she learned all the food groups and can tell you what grain and dairy is. we're planning on starting a new one this week to keep up the motivation!