Hello and I hope that your week if off to a great start. I apologize for the disappearing act but my attention has been focused on this one for the last few days.
Finn and I had an awesome weekend but our days were ALL IN and by the time night rolled around, I just wanted to veg on the couch.
Here are some photos from our weekend! 🙂
The only photo of our Friday that I have is the one above. We took a quick trip to ALDI and I cooked my favorite pizza-inspired spaghetti squash casserole (Finn had three servings!) and we hung out at home. Cooking the casserole was fun because Finn is super into helping me in the kitchen right now. I gave him some mushrooms to help me cut and he was so cute doing it that I ended up ordering him these toddler knives so that he can feel more successful/legit.
We were back in the kitchen on Saturday morning. I baked Finn’s favorite banana muffins and again, he was totally into helping me. As of now, he moves his stool all over the kitchen to go where he wants to go. I can’t decide if I should get a learning tower or if it’s too late and the stool will work. I would LOVE your input on how long your little ones used the learning tower or if you got by with a stool.
We also made a batch of my homemade granola and pulled the sourdough starter out of the fridge and got it fed. Bread baking is happening this week!
It’s a rare occasion that I can willingly and happily get Finn into the stroller these days but he was totally up for it on Saturday morning. He ate some cheese crackers and I got to run four miles…which is no easy feat these days with the heavy stroller + my hilly neighborhood. He wouldn’t let me put a jacket on him but he would let me bundle him in a blanket so it was all a win!
The fresh air did Finn well because he slept for two hours after our run!
I thought we might go out and run some errands on Saturday afternoon but we ended up staying close to home. Finn wanted to play in the back yard with the dogs so took the opportunity to do some yard work. Our evening looked like lots of dog cuddles and Finn telling Zoey that she was his “best friend forever.” He tried to avoid bedtime by telling me he wanted to snuggle Zoey “all night.” Heart melting.
Once he was down I watched the movie Herself on Amazon Prime per my mom’s suggestion. I cried a lot of tears.
We had a big outing on Sunday morning…a trip to IKEA! I moved into my house in August and there is still so much to do. I am on a bit of a tear right now to get things done and decorated so that I feel more settled. We got to IKEA around 11 and I was shocked to see that there was a line around the building to get in. Luckily, it moved quickly and we were in within 25-30 minutes. Once we were in, I totally felt that people were very spaced out.
Finn was a trooper for our three-hour door-to-door excursion. I honestly could not have asked for him to be any sweeter, politer or more well-behaved. Things got real once we got down to the warehouse and I had to pull Finn’s cart and push a freight cart at the same time. My mom said, “wasn’t there someone who could help you.” I told her this is a tradeoff for the low prices, haha.
Finn ended up skipping his nap because our IKEA trip ran a little too far into it but he was in great spirits for the afternoon. We played in the back yard for a couple of hours and then watched Cars 2 while I assembled IKEA furniture. The picture of Zoey above is an adequate image of how we all felt come 7:30p.
I want to roll Monday into this recap because it was a big day for my little guy! We were up early for Finn’s first dentist appointment!!! We went to Carolina Kids Dentistry to visit my friend Dr. Bevin Malley. I was worried that Finn might have a bit of a hard time because he’s not a big fan of anyone or thing messing with or touching his face but he rocked it He also got a great report so I was very relieved!
We met his nanny back at the house and she took Finn and his BFF to a local aquarium while I went to teach yoga. I met my handyman back at the house and he helped me with a punch list that I’ve been working on for him. He’s coming back again tomorrow. I’m really serious about this house stuff right now.
Speaking of…Finn and I made a trip to Target after his swim lesson this evening. I needed to get things like dish soap, toilet paper, mascara, lightbulbs, socks, etc but I also wanted to look for laundry baskets, rugs, curtains and pillows. Y’all, I found these throw pillows that I wanted for the couch and Finn was in seventh heaven to have them in the cart. He set himself up like this and I was cracking up.
And once again…we are all settled in for the night and feeling relaxed. While I was on my home projects mission, I decided to get the dogs a new bed. It was delivered today and they are pretty much obsessed with it. I can’t blame them.
Finn goes back to his dad for a couple of days tomorrow and I will be in major GO mode to get work and personal things done. It is the strangest thing to transition from full-on mommy mode to having Finn away from me and it always takes me a few hours to settle down. I never stop missing him but I am getting better at it. <3
Enjoy the week, friends!
QUESTIONS
I’d love to hear your experiences with learning towers.
Any suggestions for fun kitchen tools for toddlers?
Have you watched any good movies lately?
My husband and I watched News of the World with Tom Hanks.
Good movie, I recommend it.
Get the learning tower. It will be used lots for years to come!
We LOVE our learning tower. Our child is Finn’s age, but I don’t see him stopping using it anytime. We love the toddler knives too. He also enjoys peeling eggs, juicing lemons, whisking, turning on the food processor and mixer and using an old fashioned crank sifter. Finn sounds like such a sweet guy and such a champ on errands! Good luck with your house stuff! I bet it will look great!
Thank you for this! Which one do you have, Haley?
I have the Heartwood Kitchen helper by Guidecraft. It blends in pretty well in our kitchen. Great quality. Worth every penny—honestly one of the most used items probably aside for our crib!
It is definitely not too late for the tower! We have one and my 3 and 5 year old fight over it. My oldest will use a stool but she’s not up as high and I always have to make her step off of it when I need to go get something because I’m worried she will fall off if I’m not right there. She also uses it to get stuff off of the counters and I feel much safer with her in that than on a stool. I promise, you’ll get a ton of use out of it.
You’re on a roll!!
My 4 1/2 year old still uses our “making chair” ?
We did the ikea hack of turning a step stool into a tower!
My kids are 6 and 3. They share our learning tower a lot though the 6 yo can now get by with a small stool to help me cook. But the learning tower is still a great investment. Ours folds up super slim so you can tuck it next to the fridge or some narrow space like that. The only down side is that it is heavy. My 6 yo can carry it but not the 3 yo.
My daughter is a few months younger than Finn. We have both a learning tower and a stool and she much prefers the stool because she can move it around. My older daughter preferred the learning tower, but didn’t realize she could move the stool around until she was a little older. If the stool is working for you I’d just stick with that.
We used this learning tower for our youngest. She still likes it at almost four, but she’s tall and it’s getting difficult for her to get in and out of. Had I thought of it when my older two were younger, I would have invested in a well-made, beautiful wooden one – but for the last kiddo, this one did the trick! https://www.target.com/p/toddler-tower-simplay3/-/A-79749116
We still use our ikea hack learning tower (toddler is 3) but I don’t recommend making it. It’s not as safe as the properly designed ones. I’ll get my youngest a proper one for Christmas. Love that Finn loves to help you in the kitchen! Mine does too. Sometimes I wish I could just do dinner by myself (it’s quicker and less mess) but it’s so sweet he wants to help. Also who knows if I’m raising a chef??
My daughter is almost 2 years old and I’ve had a learning tower for her since she was 15 months old. We have this one from Wayfair: https://www.wayfair.com/baby-kids/pdp/guidecraft-kitchen-helper-w002498869.html.
It’s a little $$ but SO worth it. Very well made and sturdy. Easy to assemble. My toddler LOVES it and I foresee us getting many, many years out of it.
I have a five year old and we LOVE our kitchen helper. I still see us using it for the next few years! We use it multiple times a day, everyday. Totally worth the investment!
Zoey is so sweet! Where is your other pup?
Benji is lying at my feet under my desk right now.
I’ve been wanting to see Herself. On my list for sure. I’m finishing up Bridgerton right now. All three of my kids were obsessed with this water sink and would play next to me in the kitchen: https://www.walmart.com/ip/CUTE-STONE-Color-Changing-Kitchen-Sink-Toys-Children-Heat-Sensitive-Thermochromic-Dishwasher-Playing-Toy-Running-Water-Play-House-Pretend-Role-Toys-B/787897203?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=101030859&&adid=22222222227364558487&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=471694886559&wl4=pla-1003492213084&wl5=9009975&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=249567304&wl11=online&wl12=787897203&veh=sem&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5s-zlo_G7gIV0vDACh0OWgeYEAQYBCABEgIJ4PD_BwE