Easter Toys

I have a new co-worker who is absolutely in love with the fact that I have a toddler. She has taken it upon herself to purchase gifts for Zabba and delights in the videos and pictures I show her of Zabba enjoying the new toy.

However, sometimes this co-worker forgets that Zabba is only 2 and still has a hard time with what is appropriate to put in her mouth. Not only that, she still sometimes forgets she should throughly chew her food before she swallows.

That being said, I couldn't in all honesty keep this toy away from her even though I knew it to be inappropriate.

Meet "Clucky". Clucky walks and lays eggs...bubble gum eggs to be exact. I know your thinking "How on Earth does Clucky lay eggs?"

I shall show you.

First, take Clucky out of the package

***WARNING*** Some of the following pictures may be a little graphic for those with weak stomachs.

Next, violently twist off Clucky's head and place on table

Third, shove bubble gum egg down Clucky's throat

Fourth, find chicken head, try to shove it on and then figure out that you twisted it off so it needs to be twisted back on.

Fifth-forget to take picture of you twisting the little wind up thingy located conveniently on the side of Clucky.

Sixth-laugh at your husband's joy at seeing a blue egg fall out of Clucky's aa...um...er...hind end.

Here is a little video of Clucky in action. Enjoy!

Great books, great message

I know everytime I go to the pediatrician with Zabba, I'm asked if I read to her and what her vocabulary is like, what kinds of food she eats, yadda yadda yadda.

Well, even though I'm able to answer "Yes, I do read to her, but she also reads to herself" I really struggle finding books that I think have a good message without being to overly "teach-y". I really prefer that she read books with messages like 'be nice to others', 'brush your teeth', and say "please" and "thank you", etc.

For Zabba's first Christmas I got these books (we have Sundae Sleepover, Peek-a-boo, and The Long Shortcut) from my mother-in-law and I thought they looked cute, but never really opened them to read them until we moved in to our house and I came across them as I was unpacking.

I have to say I LOVE THEM!!! They are great. They teach things like be nice to others, listen to your elders and also that it's OK to miss Mommy and Daddy when they leave, but they will come back.

They do have references to God in the books, so if this makes you uncomfortable then these may not be the books that you would like to read to your child or have your child read.

All I know is I love the colors, the message and the enjoyment Zabba get's from reading them.

When bad things happen to good toys

This Christmas Zabba got a really great gift from Gramm. It's an art desk that has a white board, a clip to hold papers for painting-this flips down to make a desk, compartments galore, bins that fit into the compartments and the best thing about it (well, according to Zabba). It has a stool!!


The other day while I was searching the house high and low for a missing Mr. Potato Head part (which fits nicely into the compartments of the art desk thankyouverymuch) Zabba got ahold of this:




Yep, that's right a permanent marker. So, when I was on my hands and knees under the dining room table I realized that Zabba was very quite-much quieter than any 2 year old should be unless they are sleeping. So I slowly backed out from under the table to see what she was doing and was greeted by this:

Nice-eh? Incase you were wondering it's a baloon.

So, if you ever run into this situation, here's what you do:

1. Use a dry erase marker (the one I used was Expo, but any dry erase will work)

2. Color over the permanent marker with the dry erase marker

3. Wipe off with either an eraser designed for white boards or a wet cloth

4. Hide permanent markers from 2 year old.

In my opinion, the last step is the most important.