Archive for category Family Time
Trip to the Zoo
Mar 6
Music Class Concert
Mar 3
Jack has been going to Prelude Music Classes since he was 10 weeks old, and it is the highlight of our Saturdays. Every semester the class has two concerts, where they bring in musicians to play live music for the kids. We went to one of the concerts last weekend, and Jack had a really great time.
Baby Smash!
Jan 4
If your toddler is anything like mine, he loves playing with your computer. My wife and I are both software developers, so we are on our laptops often, and if Jack ever sees us he loves to come and bang on the keyboard. We got him a baby laptop
So go download it–it’s free! And if you like it, make a donation to the developer.
This is Part 3 of a 5-part series on fun things you can do to entertain your toddler. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
Make Him a Part of Your Plan
My wife had been wanting blinds on East-facing bay windows in our bedroom because the curtains weren’t keeping the room dark enough, for over a year. I planned on installing them every weekend, and every Sunday night I’d realize it would have to wait another week. Installing five sets of blinds on the same window would take at least a couple of hours, and there would be a lot of noise with the drill and the saw and it just can’t be done with the baby there. But the weekend is the only time I have with him so I don’t want to send him off somewhere. But I can’t do it while he’s there. And so on and so forth.
So finally last weekend I decided to try it out with Jack there, and you know, it actually turned out really well!
We measured the windows together–I let him hold the tape measure. Then we went to Home Depot to pick out blinds–Jack was still having fun with the tape measure. We walked around the store while the blinds were getting cut. The next morning, we got started on the blinds. One very important thing I learned is, it’s going to take you longer than you had planned it would. Little kids have shorter attention spans, and no matter how interesting what you’re doing is to you, they’re going to get bored. So I did everything in short bursts. Take the blinds out of the box, and play with the box for a while. Hang one of the blinds, then let him play with the blinds. Get a snack. Put up another set of blinds, while he plays with his toy hammer. It only took a half an hour more than I had planned it might and we both had a great time!
Visiting the Arboretum
Dec 5
Halloween
Nov 1
It was Jack’s second Halloween and we went trick-or-treating at the kids party at the Sugar Land Town Square. Jack was dressed as a dinosaur, though he only wore the actual costume for a few minutes. That is all.
Mowing the lawn
Oct 20
Mowing the lawn is one of those annoying chores that make the week seem too short. “It’s time to mow the lawn again? #@$#@!! Didn’t I just do that?! Well, might as well get something good out of it. Jack, you wanna come help daddy?”
Seeing as Jack says “yah!” to pretty much every question, he’s always ready to join me. For about 5 minutes, at least!
Swim Class
Oct 11
Sweeping! YES!
Sep 23
Jack’s going through a phase where he wants to do everything he sees daddy do–a phase I hope he never grows out of! The day before he saw me sweeping the floor and immediately had the uncontrollable need to sweep himself. I was using one of those Swiffer
The family went to The Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science today, and it’s a wonderful place to go with the little ones if you’re ever in Houston. Jack had a great time looking at the butterflies and the iguana. And about 20 minutes later, we were done. If you’re not in a hurry, you should look for parking at the meters along side the museum. At $1 for 2 hours, it’s a far better deal than the museum garage, which is $20/day and $10/day with a museum ticket stub.
