Our Koala Crate

After having A's dance photos this morning, we needed a fun activity! Putting a toddler in a tutu, tights, tap shoes and a hair bun and asking them to pose and smile isn't a good time for anyone involved (somehow, she did it!).  I want to share with you what's came in her Kiwi Co. Koala Crate this month, in case, like me, you're wondering if the subscription is worth it!

Use this link to try yours out for only $10!

This month's focus was: bugs. "Eeeww! Bugs!" she exclaimed when I told her, but was instantly curious. Each month includes three crafts/activities, a parent manual and a learning magazine.

First, we made her felt cape and headband. Each month's crate is specific to your child's age-range, (from 0-16!) so it was easy for her to stick the dot stickers on the back of the cape in any order she wanted. She had fun running around the house and yard with it on, and pretending for her two kittens that she was a bug. Then, told them "I'm kidding! I'm A!" She turned to me and said, "They think I'm a bug, Mom!" with a huge smile on her face.

Next, we put together her ladybug pouch used to store her bug-eye prism viewer. I mostly did this while she started working on her memory game.

Each month, I save activities like this in the box. She is almost 3 and the age range I have chosen is 3-4, so as her attention span increases, this is something we can pull back out of the closet and explore further. I started explaining that this viewer showed her how an insect looks at a flower, seeing it through each of its many lenses...but she was already on to the next activity; the memory game!

The bug matching game was already put together and just needed to be unwrapped. We started out playing memory but ended up just turning them all over and finding matches, naming each pair of bugs in the process.

I know what you're thinking: I received a year's worth of Koala Crates for this posting! Nope, not even a month's worth. We just really like it! I'm looking forward to having something on hand for her to do when baby arrives and she's out of daycare. Something fun, that I don't have to think about or plan.

Easy to follow manual "for the grownup assistant."

When we revisit this box, we'll also spend more time on the magazine that it came with. 

April Update - 34 Months

This month started with Easter, which was bookended with two egg hunts; one in the morning with GranpaGlennie, and one in the evening at her cousin's house. I have always loved holidays, even when I was single. But seeing her excited to hunt for eggs, find her Easter basket, and ask for "just one more Mommy, okay?" multiplies my joy infinitely.

MK, JP, Baby A

20 weeks pregnant!

We were front row for Cirque for Kids at the Segerstrom Center on a Saturday morning. The world's greatest circus artists from Cirque de la Symphonie will dazzle and delight in this first-ever Family series concert appearance. Experience a jaw-dropping fusion of fliers, acrobats, contortionists, dancers, jugglers and strongmen who perform their cirque acts while Pacific Symphony provides a soundtrack of classical masterpieces and contemporary favorites. With the symphony warming up off key, and the dramatic lighting, she was a bit unsure at first. But she quickly warmed to the performance, a glimpse of the glitter-laden outfits of performers catching her eye from the sides of the stage. She looked up a lot, as the performers flew above us. Her Daddy was even reluctantly a part of the show, as a juggler tossed him one of the pins repeatedly, as he stood with the spotlight shining on him.

The following weekend, we met her BFF Tommy at Imaginology at the OC Fairgrounds, where the two were thick as thieves. She also met her new friend Lucy there, the first female she has really taken to. 

We had some special family members in town this month. Aunt Nancy and Uncle Leonard from Michigan, and Baby A's Grandma drove down from Oregon on the 14th to spend time with her daughter, who delivered her baby on April 25th. We were able to have an amazing birthday lunch with her on the Queen Mary. As I was getting ready, Baby A saw me in my dress and, completely unprompted, said "You look pretty" for the first time. I try to tell her that she does at least once a day, and Dad does often, too, but this was the first time she randomly told me that.

Then, we were on Spring Break, and off for a week, so we headed to Wolf Hotel, where Lucy was able to join us for a day. I had high-hopes of preparing the nursery (right now it is our spare bedroom), but the week flew by without me accomplishing too much. We did have a special tea with Autumn's grandma, Aunt and cousin MK at Paris in a Cup. Grandma gave both her daughter and myself a beautiful double halo diamond necklace, ours until the girls are old enough. The attached note to baby A, which we have put away for safekeeping, made me cry, and talked about the necklace being a future reminder of her up in heaven. What an honor to be the custodian of something so special.

It was A's first "formal" tea. I was nervous because it was close to her nap time, but she did very well, playing with her little matchbox cars on the table, mostly sitting, and only relying on electronics (current favorite: cars changing colors) after her cousin was given a screen. I told her that if she did well, Tommy would come for a visit that evening, and so she was a little disappointed when we pulled into the driveway and he wasn't there.


This month, A had her first haircut. I was a bit reluctant to have her get bangs, but it was the right decision! She doesn't like me doing her hair, which includes pony tails, braids and sometimes, even brushing. I often resort to a bow, but when I pick her up from daycare, she has usually taken it out, and has hair in her face. The bangs are adorable and functional because they keep her hair out of her face all the time, and I don't need to "do" anything! But they sure do make her look more grown-up. She's turning into a little girl right before my eyes.