Toys She Likes Best

are pencils, markers, paints, brushes and a surface to paint and draw on of course, blocks, empty boxes, letters from old scrabbles (that my mom gave her),books ,babushka dolls infact all kinds of dolls, puzzles and ya her most favorite of all "a jambulon rectangle frame".
Irfan saw it in college junk yard and brought home thinking I might be able to use it for model making, little he knew it would become his daughters all time fav. It is her beach , it is her gate its her home and its her window a road for her cars and what not.
You need to see it hehehe its a funny pink frame with an 11 X 8 inches cut out from the center Ya our design major teacher Sir Ghanni was more than right when he said that kids prefer the boxes over expensive toys. Ever wonder why?
yup because their simplicity makes them versatile... just let a child look at it and it could be anything!!!

Another Painting Session

While I was busy busy making and thinking about the eidi, Miral enjoyed another session of painting. She took all the liberty and painted herself from head to toe in paint ....she was making "body prints" LoLs

thats what we call free art :) Its just that I dont know whats her poor Art teacher gonna do this winter when she starts school.

Besides painting with hands, feet and brushes today she also enjoyed painting with her toy cars though we had a little phadda over using small nesting blocks or a rectangular plate to use as a pallet for the cars, she wanted to paint every thing including herself after all she got her hands on " paints" after a long long time...

pictures comming soon....

W.I.P-2

Two days later here we are

2:30 - 14 sept

Just came back from shopy shop, have almost ya almost all the stuff we need for making gifts

Still waiting for the print of silhouette

Dress top pattern finalized after quite an effort finally had to go to my tailor master to get it right ... hah i forgot how to cut an armhole and arm for a toddler :( any way now its done . even the embroidery pattern is stamped on it

Got blocks for the block puzzle and story blocks

Also found very nice zippers in funky colors for the busy book.

10:00 pm

Finally got the print of silhouette, but guess its too small book.

11:00 pm

Got it enlarged .Irfan did it free hand will sure put up the pic its really nice.

W.I.P

Ya work in progress, here is the first update for M's Eidi
come again to check how it goes

1:54 pm - 12 sept.

Silhouette created for the Bag ..... hahaha i know its a year old pic but cant help it , had to find and use an old one as the camera is still not fixed . If it were a recent picture she would have a pony tail and her chin is slightly thinner

By the way I had decided on the color combo and fabric even before putting up the list

5:50-ish pm - 12 sept

Fabric selected and purchased for bag ... ya cant show now :)

3:25 am - 13 sept

pattern finalized for the bag , even tried out

working on a pattern for her dress think it will be a short sleeved A-line shirt with capris ... hmm nothing much traditional this time

Eidi For M

On this Eid I am planing to make all the gifts/ Eidi by myself as I am on a handmade swing these days and with Eid just 10 days away I think I better speed up and finish off the gifts that I am planning to make for M this Eid .

here I am posting the list that I am planning this Eid.It is actually a reminder to myself :)

1. An Eid dress off course (even the designing and selecting the fabric is taking so much time)

2. M's memory Quilt

3. A goodies bag (planning to make something with M's a silhouette on it, most probably I'll applique on a plain background)

4. Eid Coupons (that she can use later) here are some very cute ones but I want to create something especially for her so lets see...

5. Story Blocks/ where does it come from puzzle.

6. Puzzle blocks

7. A new Sketch book.. ya need to dress this one up , its Eid after all

8. A Busy book ( as with every passing day she is showing more and more interest in buttoning lacing zipping )

9.Stuffed Alphabets

10.Eatable Crayons ... ya she loves sweets

Hmmm A LONG list lets see how much I can AC.COM.PLISH In 10 days :)

Learning About The Surface??

well that's what your baba thinks you are doing when you Draw on our "not so new" wooden sofa with a chalk in the lounge this afternoon...(alas don't have the camera wanted to show this art of yours to you one day.)
Those were the funny few minuets that I sure want to tell you about. When your baba with an amused expression asked me quietly to look at what you are doing for a a split second I was like what the HELL... "sofa too gaya" and what's next!! You never draw on walls or furniture and it seemed to me like a beginning of a habit i always dreaded and he wanted me to stop you. But as soon as I opened my mouth he was like " kya krr rahi ho cant you see she is learning about the SURFACE" shhhhh (aaH the artist!!)
And you know what ? for a moment the artist Mom in me skipped a beat that Oh I was about to keep you from such a "healthy " activity but thank God my logical/ not so arty/ tiered from keeping the house tidy/sick of your toys everywhere, side of mom took over... other wise you were planing to learn about your tables surface next ...hahaha no I didn't beat you or something just gave you a black sheet to draw on. And I assured my self that I might have stopped you from learning about more surfaces in our home with chalk there are plenty other ways you can learn about them.
Hmm now I have to think about those ways...................

How Can I Forget ....

... to share this fabulous underwater scene drawn by M on our way to Hyederabad. I just love the way little ones draw things their way, the boldness and confidence of her strokes and I just Wish that she keeps this even after going to school, hate the way they teach them how to draw in the so called art class at schools; that just sucks the Individuality out of it... ammm more on that sometime later, don't want to spoil the beauty right now ;)

Kindness Begins With Me !

WoW what a thought especially when it comes to share something with kids. As my kiddo is going to begin school coming January I am trying to figure out how to make it special for her and at the moment it seems more important than her next Birthday which is not due before Feb anyway . And in my search I found this really cute back to school idea shared by Wendy @ The shabby nest . I do need to figure out how to add a personal touch to the ideas that are floating in the blog sphere but till then I just love her HAPPY FIRST DAY banner and the concept of a year theme.

I would also like to share a very special blog just found its called Just Something I Made and she shares amazing vintage prints along with other creative stuff. This blog world keeps me mesmerised, cant believe how creative and generous these people are. Not sure even if I am contributing anything at all on my own.

Nesting Blocks

Now that M is up early today and its our potty training day two I didnt want to sleep while she was up, so reintroduced the nesting cups and this time as with potty issue she seems to understand the concept so easily. Though a lot of practice both for her eyes as well as hands is still requiered its very very nice to see that she wants to use the cups in a fashion that they are actually designed for, does it mean that she has started understanding spatial concepts in the teeniest lil way along with many other benifits this activity offers including

1.Visual and small muscular perception of dimensions.

2. This awareness of dimensions leads to observation of the child’s environment.

3. Helps to make smoother and more coordinated movement.

4. Math readiness by introducing concepts of smaller, larger, prepares for the decimal and number system.

wow am I expecting too much from a simple toddler play ?

Can You Count on Your Fingers???

Sorry not our original pic but close enough to whats i am going to talk about (don't remember where i got this pic from or sure would have given the ref.)

Yup that's what we are practicing these days never thought it would be that a great challenge for little toddler fingers. And Its adorable to see her putting so much effort and concentrate so much to hold her little finger with thumb to raise the rest of three fingers to point number three :)

we have started practicing in the sequence from index finger to thumb like index finger is 1 , index and the next one is 2 , index and next two make 3 all fingers raised together 4 and the whole hand with all fingers spread makes five But now i am also thinking to start from the little finger as well

I am sure its a nice exercise for her hand muscles that will help in her small motor skills But its lots and lots of fun as well , as for every number we do the high five style clap and it gives her a special pleasure :)

Try it with your lil ones and do tell us about it !!

....And Again We Are Ready For A Fresh Start....

of course i am talking about potty training what else ... hahaha
but this time the hopes are very high as M decided herself that she doesn't want to wear her diapers any more ( even the extra large size gets too tight)
The reward chart is really working and lot of credit also goes to "Learning to potty with Pee Wee Potamus" its about a little girl Kidzie who wants to grow up... though M still prefers to be a BAiBEE she still like her potty pals
and though we had a few accidents ... still our hopes are very very high this time :)
fingers crossed 0x0x0x0x
Will sure put up a pic of our potty chart as soon as I get my camera fixed.M gets to color a box and put a sticker of her choice in the box whenever she manages to do it in the "cAmmot". Otherwise mom just wrights the time and date in the box, it sure is turning out great!!