Sippy Cup-It's a fine art

Maybe i over think things but i think there is a fine art to buying a sippy cup for your kids.  


I try and buy cups that will last.  Cups we can use now that aid in development and will go with us through all these growing stages.  So here are some of the reason it takes me SO long to buy a sippy cup! 

•  My Bug has learned that if the "nipple" on the cup is soft he can turn it upside down on his table or even using his hand and all the liquid will come rushing out so he can play in it. So i no longer buy soft top cups. 

• I personally have issues with cups that have to many curves and nooks b/c they dont get clean. A lot of cups also come with the extra guards inside to help the flow of liquid come out and prevent leaking.  When your not the only one washing sippy cups then you have to show everyone how to wash it or else mold grows in them and lets face it mold in a cup when he is drinking is no good at all. 

• Just because the cup says spill proof and leak proof doesn't mean that it wont.  Trust me i have a destructo boys boy who knows there is liquid inside and he is gonna do all he can (before he gets bored) to try and get it out.

•  The little "extra's" are some times to much but they help me so the Bug cant turn his cup over and shake out all the liquid.  Its also gotta with stand the occasional leaving it on the carpet half full on its side with out leaving a puddle on my carpet!

• Insulation is also good too.  My bug s on Lactose free milk and i promise you it seems that milk goes sour faster than any milk i EVER drank in my life. SO all i can do to keep it fresh and cool i will.  

• Straws we are not to into.  I have tried and i have a new cup he seems to be getting fond of but straws aren't so good for us b/c he wants to tip his cup upward and take all his goodness to the head, and with cups that have straws that's the worst thing to do b/c you get no juice! SO we are learning but frustration comes way quicker than the want to keep trying and learning.  

• Colored cups are also great.  My Bug KNOWS the color of milk vs. water and if he can see that the liquid is water he will not touch the cup.  If he cant see its water then i have a good chance of him sipping it at least two times to taste it before he ignores the cup.  Him being smart enough to associate certain cups with certain liquids unless he see's you pour in a different liquid that's a whole 'nother Oprah. 

• Cant be to bulky.  The bugs little big hands need to grip his cup, if he cant grip it he wont use it. 

• Some of the tops on cups have a plastic coating on them, which matters.  Because over time the wear and tear with the cup falling being drug across the walls etc. will make that plastic coasting start to fall off.  Which really sucks b/c the cup just doesn't look bad but the plastic just peels in rolls and then that is almost impossible to clean and traps germs, and allows mold to grow. Of course this always happens right around the spout. 

• If possible cute counts too.  We are into trains and cars so a cup where he knows the characters or the colors he can associate better and get a little attached to which he then doesn't just throw around.  We have a train cup and that cup he will hold and not throw out the stroller. 

OK i know this blog was a wee-bit long but these are my top ten things i try to keep in mind when i am buying a sippy cup.  I know i tend to over think things but i've wasted a bunch of  money on sippy cups and if i can help someone by planting little seeds that might help them in the future and save you 5.99 a cup i definitely do not mind sharing!

Laughing Alone

My son is HILARIOUS! Not alone do i know this but he knows it and he laughs by him self all the time!

He loves the tub and being in the tub.  This weekend i was starting a load of laundry and he went in the bathroom and climbed in the tub, it was empty and i was watching him so no harm done. I couldn't figure out why he was getting in the tub, then he grabbed an empty shampoo bottle and just started to laugh.  When i say laugh he wasn't just chuckling or giggling he was laughing hysterically.

My mom said he was talking with his Angels.  So im gonna keep it in prayer that he has Angels watching over him, talking to him and guiding him in the direction that God has in store for him on his journey.  Attached is a video just so you can see that he was truly amused and tickled, its really a cute little contagious sort of laugh! 

A Day at CPP

Well on Saturday i took my Baby Bug to my Alma Mater...Cal Poly Pomona.

My mom use to take my brother and i up to Cal Poly when we were little and it was so much fun, i decided to start taking my baby bug.  I packed him a lunch through on his chucks and away we went.  Thanks to a reminder from one of my friends we also stopped to pick up a loaf of bread to feed the ducks.

Parking was 3 dollars on the weekend for an all day pass.  We went on a Saturday, so campus was almost deserted. I brought my stroller just in case he got pooped and once we got out of the parking lot he took off!  Baby Speedy Gonzalez could not believe i was letting he run anywhere and he was not being told to stop, slow down or come back.

It was so cute to see what a big boy he has become.  He was exploring the engineering building and that was cute.  He was doing BIG things, he walked up the stairs and down with no help.  He didn't use the hand rail, he didn't turn around and guide himself down.  He Climbed and down the stairs like a Big Boy...it took a little while longer and he had to make sure all his weight was shifted correctly but he did it!

Then it was off to feed the ducks.  T through a couple pieces of bread in to show him how it was done, then gave him a couple chunks of bread to give to the ducks.  My Bug was more intrigued with the fish in the water than he was with all the ducks flying and fighting over the bread.  Which i can not lie the fish we a bit more interesting.  They are way bigger than i ever remember them back in the day.

Then we ran through the area where i graduated and my Bug ran up and down all the grass hills until he got tired. So glad i brought my stroller because after one lap through the CLA, passed the duck pond and engineering building, through the quad he was pooped! He walked over to the front of the stroller, sat down, and strapped him self in.

All in all it was a GREAT day, and we made wonderful memories had an amazing time and he was pooped at the end.  All for $3 and day of time with my Baby Bug.  Lovely and definitely recommendable to all!

Blessed and highly favored...i get it

This year is moving so fast!  I am being blessed beyond measure.  Trying to live more on God's path every day and life is amazing.  Praising his name through good and bad, always truly being excited about him and others, and just knowing that if i keep those two things going and i endure Glory will always be the conclusion. 

Challenging yes, but my bugs life and my life will never be the same.  AMAZING 2011 i look forward to this fast year moving and preparing me for so many great things.

Flip

When i was a kid my dad had this huge video camera.  He lugged this hard protective case around with the camera in it to families house for Holidays, sporting events and dance recitals.  You never saw dad looking at you but you saw his camera toss on his shoulder or taking up 8 feet of space on a big clunky tripod.

I didn't understand the camera really then, but as i got older and i could reminisce on all the sports, recitals, and holidays we were glad he did have that big ole camera.  Now we are in the 2011 era and the video game has changed.

I won a Flip camera and it is great!  I wasn't to much into video cameras until i became the "Momma Bug" and now boy oh boy i have my Flip out all the time!

It fits in my camera with my cell phone, its simple and easy to work.  I got a cord with mine that plugs straight up to the TV and we can view videos there, or we can just flip the little USB port out of the side of the camera and plug it straight into the computer.  I love it! I can Upload to Youtube, transfer to my blog, or burn on DVD's with ease.

If you have a wish list definitely put a Flip video camera on it, it will pay for it self when you get to watch the baby you remember as they grow up, i know i am.  I have recorded my Baby bug signing, speaking, and other heart felt moments like pouring his bath tub water all over the bathroom floor...things that will melt my heart for a lifetime....thank you technology. 

****side note i hear the best price so far is at Costco for them.

Christmas

This Christmas was my Bugs second Christmas in his 18 months on the earth. 

He is active and comphrends enough thats he was able to rip open his own gifts this year Christmas morning.  Cute yes, funny quite...but it took so long! LOL

He was focused and intent on getting all the paper off...he is a little OCD ish that way, but you have to expect that it was his first time ripping into something with out getting in trouble!

The video was to big to post in my blog so i uploaded it to YouTube. 

Etsy

I love crocheting. I learned when i was in the 4th grade and i have been doing it ever since. My great Aunts taught me, and made sure all my stitches were correct along the way.  They taught me to read patterns and how to omit certain things in patterns by looking at stitches.  Do not mean to toot my horn but i can look at stitches most times and tell ya what it is and then recreate it. 

I do not get the chance to do as much crocheting as i like these days because it just piles up around my house.  There is not much you can make for baby boys either. So i only get the chance to make stuff when i am going to a little girls birthday party, or a baby shower.  I started this new pattern or a little girls purse, and I've made a couple that people have loved.  SO i started up my Etsy account today.  WHich makes so much sense. 

Now i get to crochet, read patterns make all sorts of stuff and then hopefully someone will find it to be cute and come along and purchase it, then i can send it away! I get to crochet, and i get to make gifts that should be heart felt hand made tokens to make someone else a memory.

Needless to say i am excited, so feel free to stop on in and check out my Etsy Shop from time to time!

Its Snow!

Found these on my phone and thought id share...

It started to snow but it didn't stick, and the Baby bug notices the snow falling when our cousin was leaving for work. He sat in the window and watched my cousin leave and then noticed the snow falling. He sat in the window with his lips poked out oooooh-ing and ahhhhh-ing. Cutest little thing ever so i have to share!