Gap features reading outfit for toddlers

Cool that @Gap shared a reading outfit in the toddler section online #toddlers should have books in their life daily life. Read to your baby so that when they are toddlers they will be the one picking out the book to read together and their first word could be Book!

Toddler sorting colors game with cups and a plate

This involves foam fish from craft store and cups and a plate I have at home. I didn't have a yellow cup but it's okay, it made the sorting more to think about for Phoenix when I put a yellow plate down, and he loves this game we will play it a lot tomorrow and onward. We can use different objects or shapes too, to mix it up. Toddlers love having control and making choices and this is so simple to create but can be played over and over again happily.

Reading by the light of the lantern

Steam train, Dream Train

Little frogs as a color teaching tool for toddlers

Phoenix took this picture with my iPhone of his new frogs.

We love Phoenix's new frogs he got at the American Museum of Natural History today. For me I see these little creatures as perfect tools for teaching my little one more about colors. 

10 mins a day toddler motor and logic skills

10 mins a day or less toddler motor & logic skills. Big & small frog stickers put on big & small lily pads, sorting! 

Reading by the light of the lantern

Reading by the light of the lantern tonight and always

Storytime at the MET and rooftop toddler play

I took a toddler to The Metropolitan Museum of Art  and we didn't break anything! We went to check out their free story time, there were a lot of books read, around 7 books, way more than expected and the audience of babies and toddlers actually focused sometimes. Phoenix liked best the books Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems. I liked it. I think it's a great free storytime and the MET is actually a good-time for both parents and baby/toddler together to have an experience if you are realistic. 

We haven't been to the MET for awhile but I'm trying to break the mold of a museum like the MET being no loud or wild kids allowed because I love art and I think Phoenix can too, especially since we live among beautiful large scale oils by Anthony John Gray and Phoenix and I do art daily, painting mostly. In the winter, not letting him leave the stroller, I did take Phoenix there for a nap once, I figured I'd try to look at art, work on my book, relax, while he slept...until his bottle fell out of his stroller and slide across the gallery I was in. 

And then he woke up soon after anyways. 

This time we got more adventurous. After leaving storytime (we will be back another day, since they hold it every day at 10:30am) Phoenix wanted to walk, so I put on our handy lion backpack that is also a harness/leash to keep him from touching or running into a precious sculpture because we had to walk through the major scary Greek and Roman sculptures to get to the other side of the museum where the Egyptian art was. 

Phoenix had fun emptying my wallet of coins and throwing them in the water that surrounded The Temple of Dendur. We must have thrown $3.00 in change. I hope he made some good wishes. 

We walked up the stairs and down in the exhibit, which he also liked, and then he wanted to eat. 

So we went to the stroller and he sat down happily and had some food. I next tried for us to look at some art with boats and anything that would excite him...a painting of a boat, a pretty landscape, horses, maybe if we were lucky a train, I went to the second floor to the Monet, Van Goghs, and as we strolled among all these beautiful masterpieces I knew Phoenix wasn't in the mood although he did like seeing a horse painting of war horses...uumm...

I took my time for a few seconds and glanced at a few of the beautiful famous works but then we headed to the rooftop!  

We spent almost 30 minutes up there...or it felt like it. We got a snack and sat on the fake grass and (being pregnant it was nice, I relaxed) Phoenix ran around the whole place, climbed chairs, touched the brushes, and I held him up a few times to see the landscape of the city. 

Over all it was a nice morning and worth-it experience. And I'm inspired to try it again. :)