Parenting Thursday: First Haircuts

I have to admit I am one of those parents, moms, that waits and waits to get their baby's 1st haircut. (to my husband: yes you read that right, I said it myself)  There is something so sweet and innocent about those soft little baby locks that you just don't want to give up. 

I did it with Cy and am doing it again with Sage.  I am just not ready to give in and say yes to that first haircut.  Poor Cy looked like a girl by the time I gave in to get it cut, people in the store would actually say oh you're little girl is so cute.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B- Cyrus

Look how long it was in the back, I probably could have pulled it back into a ponytail!   Cy was about 18 months old for his first haircut, at the JcPenney's salon while visiting Nana at work.

 Cy's after shot: baby to little boy haircut

What a cutie, I survived, he survived and we've had many haircuts since then.

But next we come to Mr. Sage.

Exhibit A- Sage (although he is painting in this picture, this is usually what he looks like after he's done eating!)

Exhibit B-Sage's wavy locks

I divulged Monday that no I am not quite ready for Sage's first haircut, I know it is about due.  But I'm hoping to push it off a few more months.  (Sorry Sean)  One I'm just not ready to say goodbye to that sweet little baby head of hair.  Two I'm picturing the nightmare trying to get that child to sit still long enough for someone to cut his hair!

A Firetruck and A Haircut

So I had a whole post planned for tonight about our how quickly our little boys are changing and my recent approach at working with expectations and disappointments.  But I couldn't pass this up:

We've been working on Cy off and on for the past couple of weeks to let Sean cut his hair.  Well tomorrow is school picture day so it was all or nothing tonight.  This is what those two came up with.

Sean was working on Cy on the ride home tonight saying they could play barbershop and cut his hair.  While Cy spelled it out for him and listed everything they would have to do, that the "girls" have at famous hair.  Scissors, a cape, a treat oh and a special car chair that he gets to sit in.

Sean said I have an idea and those two worked away at a cardboard box as I made dinner.  And they created Cy's very own Firetruck seat.  That's right here it is fastened, taped, to the kitchen barstool. 

Cy even got a steering wheel and dashboard inside.

Well it worked he couldn't wait to get in his special car and with almost little fuss Sean worked away at cutting his hair.

Daddy Joneses Barbershop was a success and his first customer went away happy and all trimmed up.  Daddy's waiting for his 2nd customer to be referred, baby jones, but this momma is still too stubborn and not ready to part with those baby curls.  We'll pencil him in a few more months down the road.

All ready for his big photo day.  What two big boys and a cardboard box can get into... gotta love it.

Friday Finds: Creating with Crayons

Okay I have a slight obsession with crayons.  Who wouldn't?? 

Wednesday I posted a Melted Crayon Canvas Cy and I worked on.

Check out these other fun projects and uses for crayons I've been finding on pinterest:

The perfect gift, crayon initials.  keepingupwiththecomptons.blogspot.com

chiccheapnursey.com

Back to School Crayon Wreathes.

bing.com

dollarstorecrafts.com

Crayons as borders, corkboard and frame.

etsy.com

This is just beyond any project but wow someone has some talent and a lot of time!

A lot of ideas for those colorful little sticks of wax.

Parenting Thursday: A dose of reality

Every now and then life gives you a little dose of reality.  This week I got mine.  And I've come to the conclusion life should come with a volume button and sleep button.


We've all been kicking around this cold since Cy got done with his first week of school.  He had it with a terrible ear ache and threw up, not quiet sure what I had this week resembled a head cold with a slight fever and now baby sage has a sore throat.  A bunch of sick, tired and whining kids and mom.


Cy is still adjusting to his new school schedule and hasn't quiet grasped the concept of down time.  He goes from non stop school fun to his cousin's house for more play.  By the time I get him we are in whine mode.  Anything and everything can set him off, he reaches that nice pitch that brings a slight twitch to the corner of your eye.  


Sage is in that stage where he has found his voice.  Which he seems to really like as he screams, screeches at the top of his lungs.  Then claps his hands laughs and does it all over again.  Thinking I might invest in a nice pair of earplugs to muffle the sound a bit.


And as for sleep that's a short novel onto it's own.  Neither of my boys are one to simply just go to bed.  I forever envy parents that put their kids to bed and turn off the light.  I might have them start putting me to bed I swear you only have to tell me once and tuck me in.  What happens after that is the dogs' problem.


So life's really not that bad, but occasionally a mom has to vent. Pushing on through, tomorrow's Friday and definitely a TGIF friday!

Explore Art project: Melted Crayon Canvas

I've seen this project quite a bit over on pinterest and have been dying to try it with Cy.  It's a fun, active art project that will let kid's explore everyday art.  

Melted crayon canvas.

  What you'll need:

pre-stretched canvas ($6 at Big Lots)

at least 2 boxes of 24 count crayons

super glue

blow dryer

Super glue your crayons at the top of the canvas.  I put them at different heights to experiment with how they drip.

Put a piece of cardboard at the bottom to catch any drips.

Start your blow dryer and hold it in front of the crayons going back and forth.  You can concentrate in one area to get them starting to melt. 

Now I wouldn't let anyone 3 and under handle the hot blow dryer but I did offer to let Cy do it who's 4.  I warned him it's hot and not to touch it- but he wasn't even interested just liked watching.

Once they started melting they really got going.  Cy supervised and told me which ones to hold it in front of to melt more.  We had fun watching the colors race down the canvas and blend together at the top. 

A fun, easy everyday art project.  Took less than 10 minutes and $10.  It is now a new addition of art hanging in the boys bedroom.

Take time everyday to include a little bit of art in your child's life, you might even have a little fun.

Explore Art Class

Working on this Saturday's EXPLORE ART class: Jasper Johns

at Infinity Performing and Visual Arts Center

Cy's alphabet painting inspired by John's work

full post coming next week

Friday Finds: Toddler Art Materials

Wednesday I shared our first official art project that we did with Sage.  I also talked about the dilemma of finding appropriate art materials and projects to use with babies.  I wanted to highlight a few of my favorite baby and toddler art materials and tools in Friday Finds.  So here we go.

 

Crayons are a great art tool to use with toddlers, start at around 18 months.  Using crayons to scribble with introduces them to art and improves hand coordination.  To start with try the large, fatter crayons they will be easy for their little hands to grip and hold on to.

I love crayola kids' paint, it is washable and non toxic.  Try a few painting projects with your baby/toddler it will be messy but allow them to explore the materials.  Finger painting is a good project to start with and as they grow you can move onto using paint brushes.

Look for children's paint brushes like those pictured above, with a wide handle to make it easier to hold on to and control. And wide paint bristles to paint with.  A tip for painting with young children tape the paper to the surface you're working on to prevent it from sliding all over, and use a thicker paper like watercolor paper so they don't go right through the paper and make holes.

I haven't used these, no spill paint cups, but I've seen them around and they look like a great idea for young children.  The whole in the top is just big enough to get the paint brush through and this type looks like you could put the lid on to save the paint from drying up.  

DIY paint holder I found this on pinterest and marked it to try with Cy sometime.

Chalk is another great everyday art material for toddlers to use.  The size of this type of chalk is perfect for those little hands and the colors will really show up on blacktop.  Or try an indoor project using a large piece of black poster board of them to color on.  Get even craftier and make a chalkboard wall in your house for endless chalk fun.  DIY chalk recipe.

And last but not least some of my favorite project ideas are from using found objects as art tools.  This is perfect for young children it teaches them how art can be fun, incorporates play and allows them to express themselves.  Last month I posted an everyday objects as art tools and featured the balloon painting, credit card painting and pedulum were both featured on The Crafty Crow blog.

Parenting Thursday: Back to School Update

So Cy is officially a school kid, he made it through his first (almost full) week of school.  He was exhausted and still excited all at the same time.  He came home last Thursday, his second day at school and put himself to bed.  He says school makes him tired and if you ask him what he does there, "we do all sorts of stuff mom".

His favorite thing at school are the BIG farm animals he gets to play with.  But I'm pretty sure singing is up there too, he has a new song everyday he will sing non stop to everyone.

Saturday morning he was so disappointed he couldn't go to school.  We had to reassure him Monday morning he could go back.

Everyone is adjusting to their new schedules. The boys are so excited to see each other by the time we pick Cy up it's cute to watch them become friends.   

EXPLORE ART project with BABY

While I think it is important to incorporate art into childrens' lives, I will admit it is more difficult to find appropriate material/ projects for babies.  Babies younger than 12 months or even 18 months will not be able to grasp the concept of how to use materials, especially without putting things in their mouths.


Now don't get me wrong, this does not rule out including art in their lives altogether.  When they are still too young to use art materials you can still be building their visual dictionary by showing and talking to them about art.  


But back to the dilemma of art projects with babies.  Sage just turned 1 year old and we, my art partner in crime Mr. Cyrus, have decided to start including him in on some of our art projects.  Sage is usually entertained by snacks in his high chair while Cy works.


Our materials are still a bit limited because not only does everything go in Sage's mouth he even eats it.  We've caught him a few times with crayon pieces all over his mouth and in his teeth.  Yum.  He also likes to get a hold of (clean) paint brushes and put them in his mouth. 


So we went for finger painting, which did end up to be more like full body painting.  A few tips: make sure to use non-toxic paints, get baby in play clothes or just a diaper, pick a room where the floor will clean up easily and block all exits.

Materials:

• Crayola washable, non-toxic paint
• Large paper or paper roll
• Tape
• Optional found objects- we used cars and hair picks to drag through the paint

I taped a big piece of paper to the kitchen floor, and laid out the paints for Sage to investigate.  Cy then helped me pour different colors of paint directly onto the paper.  We worked fast to keep Sage's interest.  

Cy got right in there, showing Sage how the paint can be spread all over the paper using their hands.  

At first Sage did put his hands in the paint and then directly into his mouth.  It took a few tries then he got the idea it was to paint on the paper with and not to taste.

Sage liked exploring the feel of the paint, smushing it in his hands and at times rubbing it on his body. He really got into the idea of running the cars and hair picks through the paint.  I tried to think of "tools" he could use that wouldn't go right into his mouth.

They both had a blast, rubbing, smushing, smearing, rolling and walking through the paint.  Sage's attention span lasted about 10 minutes for the project, which is expected.  As he gets to play and experiment with more art materials his attention span, interest and understanding of materials will grow.
Luckily Sean came home just in time to help grab one kid while I got the other and we carried them right up to the bathtub.

So we are still working on the concept art materials are to paint/ draw with and not to eat, but we'll get there.  In a couple months there will be so many more materials/ projects we'll be able to all do together.  Stop by Friday for a few of my favorite baby/toddler art materials and project ideas.

And keep on EXPLORING ART- Baby!