Hannah Swallowed a Penny: There I said it

My beautiful one year old teething daughter Hannah grabbed a penny and put it in her mouth. Everything goes into this childs mouth. I am always scared about the rocks, sand and misc. objects she finds and puts right in her tiny little mouth. She not only put the penny in her mouth but she choked on it all the way down while I was trying get it out.

Let's start back from the beginning shall we.

Lorelei was climbing on the stools to get to the counter which is where we keep all the toys that have been misused or fought over between the two girls. They get them back the next day. Anyway, while she is climbing and reclaiming some toys all while I'm in the kitchen getting a snack for her sister (only a couple feet away and staring right at her) she found a penny. I had no idea at first.

I came back into the room to get Hannah and Lorelei came up to me with this grin. "Don't I look pretty like a Princess?" I of course replied with a "Oh my. You sure do. You are beautiful." She grinned a mischievous grin and said "but I have something. Do you see?"

The penny was hiding in her fisted up hand. I explained to her that we needed to put the penny in her piggy bank right away and that she should not have grabbed it off the counter. Mistake number one. She illegally found the penny so I should have taken it away, but today has been one of those days. Unfocused and the kids have both been cranky.

Somehow I got sidetracked with Hannah and immediately forgot about the penny. I sat down with Hannah at this very computer to add something to my blog. Lorelei came up with the penny and sat it down on the table next to me and it dawned on me that I had forgotten. I talked to Lorelei about the penny again and very soon after yet again I forgot about it. Hannah climbed off my lap just as I was "x'ing" out and hand in mouth there goes the penny.

I was so scared but very smooth and controlled. I put my finger in her mouth to get the penny just as she started to gag, swallow, choke. Now I'm freaking out. I patted her back and try to get that little penny out of my daughter. I failed. She choked, couldn't breathe and then one single tear came down her cute little cheek.

I almost lost it. I looked at Lorelei and said "Oh my gosh the penny. Lorelei the penny. Your sister just swallowed a penny. Oh my gosh your sister just swallowed a penny!" She of course thought it was funny and I took a deep breathe. Okay on to the next step I thought. She coughed I gave her a drink of water and called the pediatrician. They were busy, busy, busy.

Finally after getting the busy signal with the office I called my husband to ask what I should do. Of course he said to call the doctor. I called again and again. Finally I got the receptionist when she tells me the nurse is on another line and I'd have to leave a message. OH man. I was about to cry.

I explain to the receptionist and she put me through. I spoke with the nurse and now I have to watch Hannah like a hawk to make sure everything goes down okay. Give her plenty of fiber and if the penny doesn't come out in a day and a half Hannah needs x-rays. If it's still there they have to go in and get it.

I feel like the worst mother on this planet. Combine the two worst and that is me. The nurse had to calm me down on the phone and tell me stories about when she was a girl. I feel like I should swallow two pennies and quarter to just make it up to Hannah.

After Googling over an over again I have realized that it does happen more often than I had thought. I have faith (hanging from a string) that it will be fine. Please be fine.

Pat a Cake Pat a Cake Lorelei Baked Me a Cake

So being the mommy and the one who bakes the cakes for the family I just assumed I would either buy a cake (for the girls to enjoy of course) or bake it myself. Before I even let that marinate Lorelei offered up her baking expertise. She was super excited and wanted to bake her mama a cake!

Here is a little preview of how wonderful the cake was. Hannah enjoying every bite of her slice of yummy cake! It was delicious and beautiful.

Here is Lorelei giving off her mischievous grin. She could not believe I was giving her permission to crack an egg. She quite enjoyed the idea and enjoyed the cracking even more. She was very gentle and it took a few whacks to get the job done, but the joy was evident the whole time!

CRACK! She didn't even get a shell in the mix. Of course we cracked the eggs first before putting anything in the bowl. I can thank my girlfriends and mother for the advice on that one.

Eeeer. I helped with this part just a little bit. I also had to help with measurements and reading the directions of course. You should have seen her face when I handed her everything and said go ahead. She was so sad. "But mom I can't do it all by myself." Don't worry it didn't get her down for too long. As soon as we got started she kept telling her sister that she was baking her mommy a cake. So proud.

Decorating the cake is a serious job. She did want to make me a ladybug cake, but I was not prepared with everything to accomplish that goal. Maybe next time.

My beautiful cake by my three year old daughter. Candles and lighting by my wonderful husband. I even got to hear "Happy Birthday to you. You live in a zoo....." Of course she thinks it's a compliment because monkey's are cute and smell like bananas. ;)

Dedicated to My Mom

I suffer from a peripheral vision impairment. Well not really, but it seems as though I spend every thought and bit of energy on my girls. I focus so much on their needs that I can't see what is going on around me. Between the mile long walks (which I enjoy too), beach days (I also enjoy), craft projects (sometimes enjoy), playing games, building things, crafting things, what to eat and when to eat, when to use the potty and change the diapers, etc. (the list goes on).

I can't seem to see the mess we are creating with our whirlwind day or week. Then all of a sudden my blinders come off and viola! Mess! This is even after picking up numerous times a day, vacuuming at least every other day, mopping, toilet bowl cleaning, numerous dish washing throughout the day. You name it. I do it all day long. After all of that the day comes where I notice somehow I have let everything go. How does this happen?

I'll tell you how. All my kids do is eat, sleep (rarely), poop and make a mess of dishes and clothes and toys. Yikes. I kid you, but it seems like the universe is playing some kind of trick on me. "You want to be a good mom and spend all moments with your children teaching, playing, nurturing. Well ha! You have to spend half of that time if not more cleaning up after your dog, husband, self and two kids. Now find time to relax and be carefree with the family."

I remember as a little girl just resenting my mother when she stayed in when the rest of the family went outside to play. What could she possibly be doing that was more important and more fun than playing outside with us? Cleaning! Either that or goodness forbid mom needs a nap.

Speaking of naps, I have been trying something new. My girls share a room with each other and I have always put them to bed at different times as to not wake the other. Lately I have been trying to get them to fall asleep in the room, in their own beds at the same time. This is proving to be difficult.

Hannah falls asleep now all by herself as does Lorelei of course, but together is a whole new story. I put Hannah down while Lorelei wanted to sleep in her tent (an indoor tent shaped like a tree). I walked out to finish up some of the laundry I had been trying to fold. After all I was only a few feet from their door. It was completely quiet so I assumed they were on their way to sleep. All of a sudden I hear "Hannah no. Mom can you come and get me out of this crib?"

Have I shared that the new thing is Lorelei climbing into Hannah's crib and coaxing her into jumping. Well apparently that has changed to trying to sleep in the same bed with her. Lorelei had put her pillow, blanket and numerous guys in the crib as well as herself. I guess it wasn't as easy getting out of the crib as in.

This morning while helping Lorelei to the bathroom (the door has a toddler proof nob) Hannah tailed behind. She sat down outside the bathroom door to wait patiently like she almost always does. (Either that or she tries to steal her sisters underwear and run off to put them on.) This time I look behind me assuming she is still in the same spot and she was gone.

Walking out of the bathroom I assumed I would find her quickly, but nothing. I couldn't find her anywhere. I realized quickly that the one day I left the slider open with only the screen blocking her to the patio she had gotten out of my site. I freaked out running from room to room. My heart fell to my knees when I finally called her. "Hannah." Just as I finished her name I see her pop out from under the desk and say "Boo." Now you must be kidding me. How can my one year old be that sly?

A few days before that we had ate our dinner and decided to go out for ice cream and the park. What a treat. The girls had so much fun and were exhausted by the time we got home. Since we had left so quickly for our desert I had some unfinished business with the dinner dishes. Hannah was on one side of the room playing with her Dora chair while Lorelei was in the play area minding her own business quietly playing.

If you're a parent you probably smell something with the slight sent of mischief. Well you would be correct. Lorelei seemed to have gotten a hold of her water bottle and was pouring all of the water on her toys. This spot she had chosen was just out of sight of where I could see her from the kitchen. Her excuse was that they needed to be cleaned. I guess I can give her a "golden star" for cleanliness.

All in a days work for this momma. Thank you to my mommy for putting up with my mischief, but I'm sure I never created any (she says with a wink).

A picture of my mom and I chatting it up at Lorelei's party.

Projects to Do With the Kids

There are the ever most popular and beloved finger paintings, coloring books, water color paintings, crazy shape cutting, and many other basics we can do with our kids, but sometimes it's fun for me to make something special from all the basics or beef them up a bit.

We have used old diaper boxes and made them into baby doll beds and school buses for 'L' so her guys could ride around inside them. I unfortunately didn't take any pictures of this escapade but I can explain.

Bus

1. Let the toddler/preschooler apply glue to one side of the diaper box after you folded in or cut off the top flaps yourself.

2. After the side of the box is saturated undoubtedly in glue help apply the choice of color your child chose for their bus. We chose yellow. (Repeat this step until all sides are covered)

3. While the glue is drying help cut out rectangles for shapes. I made long strips out of basic construction paper and let her cut across to make the rectangles. Also make larger shapes for the front window and back windows.

4. Let toddler/preschooler apply glue to the backs of the rectangles and help guide them to where the windows should go. Let them have fun. If one is out of place let it be. It'll still be a bus to them.

5. If you are comfortable with your drawing skills ask your child who they want to drive the bus and ride in the back. Draw faces of animals or family members in the windows. In our case Daddy "drove" the bus and the family as well as many animals rode in back.

6. Add any personal touches like sparkles or stickers if you'd like. This would also work for the people riding the bus if you'd like.

7. Finishing details like dividing the doors with a line and adding handles, lights etc.

Your bus is complete! Let your child enjoy their new homemade toy they had a hand in making.

Baby Doll Bed

1. Using an old diaper box you now have two options. You may cut the corners half way and fold or cut the remaining flaps to make shorter sides or you may later add a pillow to fluff up the middle. We made both beds.

2. Choose the color of the baby doll bed and let your toddler/preschooler apply glue to one side of the box and help apply the paper. Repeat until all sides are covered.

3. Choose stickers, paints, crayons or cut out more shapes and glue to the sides to let your child express themselves.

4. Finish the project with your own personal touch. I added a small beach pillow for the mattress and let her use her old receiving blankets for baby doll blankets.

All done! Let your child enjoy her reward after all of her hard work; the baby doll bed!

Another project we ventured in was a bouquet of roses or daffodils. This was a lot of fun because she got to collect some things from the beach and I used what I had lying around the house.

Fake Flowers in a Vase

1. Choose your vase. You can use an old one you have lying around, a plastic cup or one of your kids cups. I had a plastic, pink vase lying around after receiving it as a gift when 'H' was born.

2. Go to the beach and have fun! You can go to the beach, park, playground or your backyard, but make it fun. Let your child choose all of the fun stuff like rocks or shells to go inside the vase to hold down your small vase.

3. Go home and collect the rest of your supplies. I used bendy straws for the stems but you can use colorful pipe cleaners if you'd like. For the pedals we used baking cups in the traditional size and the small size for tiny cupcakes.

4. Fill your vase with all of your goodies. You may clean whatever you found first if you wish.

5. Mom, poke holes in the center of your baking cups after counting out how many flowers you would like to make. You can double up the baking cups to make numerous pedals or just use one per stem. Let your child decide.

6. Let your child slide the baking cup onto the bendy straw. We cut a bit of the tip off being that it would stick out too far through the flower. The baking cup will stick well to the "bendy" part of the straw if you did not make your center cut too large.

7. Add any personal touches like leaves made from more pipe cleaners or construction paper glued or taped on. My daughter didn't want to make leaves but wanted to add pieces of straw in the bottom with the rocks and shells so more flowers had a chance to grow.

Sit back and take a break. Display your childs beautiful vase of flowers in their room or in the center of your table. 'L's is still in her room to this day.

You can also make maracas out of old water bottles. For little fingers you can use macaroni noodles and let them drop them in. Older kids might like using a funnel and spilling in rice. You can decorate the outside with stickers, paper or even paint. Another favorite is making masks out of paper plates. We enjoy making crowns out of construction paper. I'll even ask 'L' for an animal and I will cut out a frog for instance, but add a construction paper band for a crown. She ran around in this crown until it fell apart. Which in some cases may be very quickly!

I hope you enjoyed some of these ideas. Don't forget to check out more sites like www.babycenter.com or other mommy sites for more projects and check back here for more crafts in the future. You can come up with your own ideas too! Make them kid friendly and they don't need to be gorgeous but they do need to be fun and age appropriate. Enjoy the time with your children.