A Kitchen of His Own

We had promised ourselves to make Li'l C his gifts for is birthday, which was in (ahem) June. Mine is still not done but at least J's is. C loved helping his Daddy every step of the way, and had a lot of input in this project too, as 2 year olds can.
So, as Li'l C loves to cook almost as much as J and i do, and he also loves to keep us company while we cook, J created the perfect kitchen. He used wood from an old record player table, and only had to buy a bit of supplies, like the magnet closures, the door handles, and a bit of wood. The rest is stuff we had already. A great fit for our tight budget.
Here' 'C' can stand for 'Clem' of course or 'cook' for the wee ones that come to join him in his kitchen!
We also incorporate the bowl and vase that i use to wash C's hands in it. He loves this part, and loves that he can do it all by himself now. The stove is a portable stove toy C got as a gift from his Pa and Nana and we built the kitchen to fit it in. I like how it can be removed as we can also use the counter to cut his food and he's learning how to actually roll out dough on it. I also have to admit i decorated the kitchen to fit in with ours - 50s inspired knick knacks and kitchen tools.

Simple Waldorf Toys

I made some simple toys for Li'l C to enjoy, both featured here are adapted from some Waldorf sources. They are fun to make, and very simple and earthy. I especially liked how quick they were to make. The leaves are hand sewn so they provided a further gentle meditation for me as i sewed them.
As we are vegetarian, i adapted a fishing game into "Felt Leaves and Rake." To make, use some green felt (i used left over felted sweater material), and cut into leaf shapes. Stitch 2 pieces together, and add detail vein down middle if you like. At the end, leave a long piece of thread and knot a washer there. I first tried inserting it inside the leaf, but that proved too thick for the magnet. Make as many as you like, between 3 -5 is best. I had a left over piece of magnetic washer available but they may be hard to find. Try to get one so that you can tie the magnet around some string. Then attach to a stick (bamboo is nice and sturdy). Now we just have to get used to being gentle with the stick as it can be dangerous to swing it around!
The other toy is a wind ring that we lovingly call "Shoo Fly" here as we have picked up singing that song while we play with it. C especially loves how the ribbons tickle him when we chase each other with it. I picked blue as 1) i have a lot of blue ribbons and 2) i thought it looked like either waves of the ocean or sky. It was an instant hit!

Our Sunday Morning - Animal Pool

We're back from a two-week trip to the West Coast. It was a bit of a bonanza, but i'll get into that at another post, where i can share with you highlights (including a great trip to Astoria and Cannon Beach, Oregon - we had such yummy vegan treats there!).

For now, a day late, but here's a photo of our morning yesterday. Lil C fell in love with dolphins when he met them for the first time at the Vancouver Aquarium. Since he can't say 'aquarium' we worked on 'animal pool' and this is our version of it. We worked on the garden in the morn and he kept busy splashing away.