We just came inside from a walk around the block. It’s so gorgeous outside, 20 degrees, a little bit of a pleasant breeze, and not a cloud in the sky. Before we went walking, we spent some time blowing bubbles, which it seems every other stay-at-home mom is doing with her kids on their front porches today. We did some swinging on our swing set and then everyone had a freezie. Then we went for our walk and checked out some cool rocks and played in some dirt and said hello to some of the other bubble blowers.
I thought to myself in the middle of our walk that there was nothing at all I could think of that I would rather be doing this afternoon. It definitely was the kind of day when you value not having to be stuck in an office somewhere.
Just as we were reaching home, the Captain said to me, “Mommy? You know those days when all your wishes come true? This is one of those days.”
Well said, my dear.
TurtleHead 
Sounds like a fun day … and makes me want to start typing my resignation letter!
Btw, I am compiling a list of good 1st bday presents for MAD and was wondering if you think a bubble blower might be a good one.
He might enjoy the bubbles when he is a few months older. CJB got into it the first summer he could walk, so 16-18 months…he liked the chase after the bubbles while I blew them. If you’re thinking along these lines, I recommend the bubble stuff made by Gymboree. It’s stupid expensive — like, $10 for a small bottle, when you can buy an enormous bottle at ToysRUs for $2. But the cool thing is that the Gymboree bubbles don’t pop very easily, so you can blow a bunch and have them stick to the ground and grass, and then MAD can run around and pop them all.
He probably won’t be able to blow them himself until he’s at least 2…Gal Smiley can sometimes do it, but she doesn’t really have it downpat, but CJB was pretty good at it last summer when he was just over 3.
Here are some other ideas I like for one-year-olds:
* shaker eggs
* touch and feel books
* flap books (with very sturdy, cardboard flaps)
* anything with Elmo on it
* bathtub squirters and other bath toys
* first set of crayons (Crayola’s “my first crayons” are awesome)
* books – The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear Brown Bear, anything by Sandra Boynton
* My Big Word Book by Priddy Bricknell — this is a book that has got us through many, many doctor’s waiting rooms, as well as many, many long potty visits. I highly recommend it, although since the pages rip easily (there is a spiral binding), it’s really best for a 1 1/2-2 year old. Priddy Bicknell makes many other similar titles (simple, colourful photos with the appropriate word underneath) and some of them are board books, so they might be better to start with. This one (Happy Baby 123) is a classic. If you type in “Roger Priddy” as the author at Amazon, you’ll see dozens of similar titles.
That’s all I can think of for now…but I’ll keep pondering!
Thanks for the great ideas! We have several “Priddy Books” — bath books and Bright Baby books, all of which MAD really loves. We also have Caterpillar, Brown Bear and a couple of Sandra Boynton’s. We are in need of some new bath toys, though. Anything to distract him from going to the spout, the faucet and the drain!
We have the shaker maracas — at the store I was torn between buying the eggs or the maracas. When I got home and he put the entire maraca head in his mouth, I think I was glad there was a handle on it so I knew I’d always be able to “retrieve” it.
My kids really love bath crayons…I remember the Captain got a set for his first birthday. They make a HUGE mess in the tub but they are definitely popular! Also I would recommend some bubble bath…tons of entertainment on days when you aren’t doing hair washing.
Another good gift I thought of are the Fisher Price Little People sets. I’d recommend the bus…very popular with one year olds. For something a little bigger, the farm is also a really good set.