Near May Be Better Than Far, But it Still Isn't There

I am so excited! Lydia took two steps today - on her own! She's very good at standing unassisted (she can't get up on her own, she has to pull up or be pulled up). Today she was even standing, wobbled a bit, and steadied herself! I had her standing in front of me and she took a step toward me! Then, I moved her back a bit farther and she took two steps toward me! After that, she thought it was more fun to just stand and then fall forward toward me. But, we will definitely work on this and I am so excited!

We made the coolest cupcakes today! They're called Rainbow Cupcakes! I had them as one of our February activities, since rainbows = leprechauns = St. Patrick's Day. We'll be making "pots of gold" with yellow jell-o next week.

Anyway, to make Rainbow Cupcakes, you just buy a box of white/vanilla cupcake mix (or make your own from scratch, I guess). After you follow the directions on the box, separate the cupcake mix into four (or however many you want; it depends on how many colors you want) containers. Then, add a different color food dye to each container. We just used pink, blue, orange (we mixed yellow and pink/red), and green. Of course, you can get more creative and make lots of different colors by mixing them. Then, one by one, put the different colored cupcake mixes into the cupcake pan. Put the mix into the oven, bake, and ta-da - a rainbow in a cupcake pan!

We had the kiddos pour the ingredients and then stir. Toddlers love to bake! The other week we made home-made playdough (very fun!) and banana bread. Now that the kiddos are between 17 and 22 months, they can do and understand so much! We just have to constantly say, "Don't touch it, yet"...or they'll put their hands into everything! I only had one kiddo who immediately reached out and touched the cupcake mix, but only after a few reminders, he left it alone. It's always important to explain exactly what we're doing as we do a cooking activity. Saying, "Okay, now it's A's turns to stir, then it will be B's turn." Or, "Now it's time to pour in the water, who wants to carefully pour the water?" I give each ingredient a name, instead of just handing each item to the child. I also try to get the kiddos involved as much as possible. I always let them stir everything together, but I usually end up making sure it's thoroughly stirred after they each have a turn.

Cooking introduces sensory (touch of the batter, the spoon, the color of the mixture, what an egg feels like), fine motor (pouring in the ingredients, stirring the batter), and science (what happens when you crack open an egg or stir in food coloring?). Also, the end product tastes yummy, and the kiddos are very pleased with themselves when they get to taste what they made! Cooking is a fun, easy project to do with your child, at any age!