Simple happies

It's Muffin Tin Monday again! Today Haven's lunch included whole wheat pretzels, ranch "dip", carrots, cantaloupe, chicken breast, and a string cheese. She ate up EVERYTHING. It's such a simple thing, but Haven really gets a kick out of her tray with little cups (as she likes to call it.)

Sorry for the dark picture. And sorry if you think it's weird that I post pictures of my daughter's lunch in a muffin tin. Actually, I'm not sorry because she loves it!

I've been making a real effort to do more crafty and hands-on projects with Haven the last several weeks. She loves working together and getting to use glue, scissors or makers in any way, shape or form. I've also been trying to incorporate some hands-on activities that she can do while I need to be doing something else. Enter "The Rice Game". Seriously, I had no idea what a huge hit this would be, but she loves it. What we did: set out two small, shortish cups, glasses or bowls onto a small tray or cookie sheet (to help with clean-up). I filled one cup with rice and gave her a small little baby spoon and told her to transfer the rice from one cup to the next. It's a great hand-eye coordination activity and it has literally kept her busy for hours in the last week. Sometimes she gets tired of using the spoon and starts to pour it in. I've loved watching her problem solve and come up with her own ways to do it. Sure we've had a few grains of rice on the floor, but her enjoyment of this activity outweighs the clean-up by far. Simple things keep her happy!