Toddler Tip: Ripping Greens

Don't forget to let your little one join your in the kitchen! Prepping greens is a great activity for toddlers to do, as long as they are able to tear.  Ava is 19 months old and giggles with each and every tear.  Ripping may seem like an odd developmental activity but it's a wonderful pre-writing skill to practice and strengthen!!!



[PS- love the outfit? It's her Queen shirt and leggings from Granny HA!]

Toddler Tips: The Perfect Spoon Food!

Baby A LOVES using spoons at this point but is not always successful- forks are much better for delivering food to the mouth without any spillage.  That being said, some food requires a spoon and it's always a huge mess.
Dun, dun, dun....enter yogurt!

I usually feed Baby A her yogurt, but last week I put her yogurt directly on her plate and let her have at it. I was seriously impressed- yes she got it all over her face, but it mostly got in her mouth---none on her lap/arms/ears/feet/etc!!!  This was Fage yogurt--we buy this or Chobani usually- plain, low-fat, and she loves it!

Let her at it!

As many of you know, I own a photography business, but during the week I am also a special educator, working with children in Early Intervention (3-5 year olds).  Due to my "day job" revolving around skill development, I am constantly trying to incorporate skill-building into Baby A's natural environment.  We started giving her a spoon with each meal a few months ago and slowly but surely, she learned how to use it! More recently, we began giving her a fork, and by golly, she's starting to "get" that, too!

Our most recent skill came from the "dippy egg" craze~ teaching her how to dip. It not only develops hand-eye coordination, but it also encourages strengthening of that pincer grasp that we educators are oh-so-concerned about in older children (not to mention--it's FUN!).

Though it can get very messy, Baby A loves trying to dip!  I gave her the last of the hummus (there was not much left, don't get too worked up!), some celery, and let her have a go....check it out, she had a blast!