Momma Totally in Love

Monday, March 25, 2013

Moving on...

With Google Friend Connect leaving I figured now was the perfect time to make the switch over to my new Blog, I would love if you would come visit us over at The Canterino Crew from here on out!
Please come check us out! Many exciting and new things are in the works and we look forward to sharing them with all of you!

Friday, March 22, 2013

Getting Ready for Kindergarten, Learning your name!

I'm not a home schooler or a "school orientated" blogger, so I'm not going to go into crazy detail about how I did this, but I will list for you things we did. I'm just a mom (who happens to be a former kindergarten teacher, although boy its different when its your own kid) who is trying to best prepare my son for September.

Some of these things are things I actually used to do in my classroom

1. What letter's are in my name?

I write Frank's name on the line up top, and then give him a baggie full of letters, he has to put then has to sort them. If you click on the picture , you can print it out!

2. Rainbow Name Writing- On a piece of white paper I will write his name and then have him trace it with the colors of the rainbow.

3. Puzzles- They sell really cute wooden name puzzles like these! or you could just print out your child's name in a fun font and then laminate and cut out to make your own.

4. Have your child use lacing beads to lace their name. I really like this because it's an OT task and Frankie needs help with fine motor skills. We have these

5. Make a name Collage- There are several ways you can do this. Fist write your child's name on a big piece of construction paper or poster tag and then they can do several things
* Glue pom poms over it
* Place stickers (tiny ones, smiley faces, stars, etc) over it.
* Use pipe cleaners to trace their name

6. Use magnet letters to have them spell out their name on the fridge (or like we did in school, a cookie sheet!)

7. Buy foam ABC letters at the dollar store and encourage them to look for the letters of their name to glue on to paper.

8. Encourage them to write their name all the time. I always have my kids write their name on a page in their coloring book they did, or even on a place mat when we are out to eat!

9. Make a family name chart and hang it up-
Have a picture of each family member and label it with their name.

10. Create a Name Writing Book- I picked up the following book at a dollar store. First we started off by tracing, then moved on to writing letters in boxes (to learn to write appropriate size) and lastly we have been working on writing his name all by himself. I give him cues by putting dots so he knows wear to start and stop. ( this is HUGE progress for Frank, he receives OT services and we believe he is ambidextrous, At over 4 years of age he still does not have a dominant hand, and has equal strength in both, super!! lol, Hubby automatically gets excited and thinks switch hitter on the baseball team, lol!)

I hope you found these ideas useful and I would LOVE to know what other ideas you might have, so please share!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Current Baby Must Haves!!

just in case there is ever another little bambino added to our family (OMG did I just say that?!) I wanted to remember some of the things that we are currently loving at almost 8 months and share with all of you!

1. // 2. // 3. // 4.// 5. // 6. // 7.

Rainforest Jumperoo- I can not say enough of good things about this. All 3 of my babies have truly enjoyed this jumper!! Gianna does receive OT and her therapist isn't crazy about it but as long as she is only in for short periods and her feet are flat, shes cool with it!! I use this when we are upstairs and I need to put laundry away, it's the perfect amount of time for me to finish what I need to do and for Gigi to have fun.

Thermometer- ever since Gianna got sick in Disney ( and I hadn't packed my thermometer =( ) I have add this bad boy attached to my hand. We have had a never ending bout of the sickies in this house and this little guy lets me easily check her temp (and the big ones too)

Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Soothe Seahorse - Again something that all 3 of my babies have had and loved, but Gianna? , she really loves hers. I put this on and let her snuggle with it, and before the music even stops, shes out! This is also great for Travel, and it most definitely came to Disney World with us.

Spoon This is something I just found out about from another blogger mom and I absolutely love it, no idea how I had no clue this existed to now. It makes feeding Gigi so much easier, especially when we are out. Just feed, wipe and go!

Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes- This toy is awesome! Its the perfect size for Gigi to hold on her own, and great to take on car rides when we are out about because of brother and sister!

MAM Glow in the Dark Pacis - Gigi has figured out how to take out and put back in her paci now (yippee!!) so these glow in the dark ones are perfect for nighttime!

Pack N Play- Still love this! Gianna does a lot in her pack n play, she naps, she plays ( I throw a bunch of toys in there with her when I make dinner) and I change her diaper on the changer!! I also love the little caddy on the side to keep her diapers, wipes, creams, lotions and brush!

Be sure to check these items out , I Hope you love them as much as Gianna and I do!! Up next my current must have items for a 3 year old!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Disney World Pictures (my camera!)

I'm still waiting to get my photo CD from photo pass, but until then I thought Id share some pics here that I took with my point and shoot. Be warned this will be picture heavy!