June 12, 2011

i've created a monster

A sidewalk chalk loving monster that is.  I suppose there could be worse things.  We were trying to figure out what outdoor toys/things to get Ryann, since she absolutely loves being outside now.  I decided to grab sidewalk chalk at Target because hey, I like coloring with sidewalk chalk so I figured at least I'd be entertained.  I sat down to show Ryann what to do...

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(this was obviously a too lazy to wash my  hair, put on make-up or real clothes kind of day.  oh well :o)

She was thrilled!  The first day we had it out there was just lots of walking around, picking up the chalk, putting it down, sitting here, sitting there, touching the stuff I was drawing.  And she was talking nonstop.  I have no idea what she was saying, but she was just chatting away as she moved all over the driveway.

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look at all those little flips, the hotter it gets, the curlier it is!
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clothes and shoes get pretty messy these days...
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"OH NOOOO!" as the chalk rolled down the driveway :o).  Another favorite phrase!
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Thankfully she took one bite and pretty much deemed it disgusting.

Since the first day we had it out, all Ryann wants to do is go 'ow-tide', and then instantly runs to the garage searching for the chalk.  And now she knows just what to do with it.  She moves about the driveway leaving multicolored scribbles here and there.  I love it.  It is an all out meltdown every time we have to go back in the house now.  And seriously, everything is always covered in colored dust.

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Sometimes she is a little hoarder!
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honestly, she wasn't eating it, just smearing it all over her face when she tried to carry five or more pieces at a time.
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note to self, stop putting my child in white!

Completely unrelated (well sort of, she is holding chalk in this picture), Ryann has started having a really hard time when people leave, or saying bye to people.  And I wouldn't necessarily say it is separation anxiety again.  If she sees anyone leaving she starts to cry.  As in, we were at Target and it was raining, Chris ran out to pull the car up, a few seconds later another couple walked out of the store, Ryann said bye, and then started bawling.  Seriously?  You don't even know these people!  She cries when we tell grammy and papa bye on the phone.  And yesterday there were lots of tears as she watched daddy drive away in his car...

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I suppose she will get over that eventually, right?

What are your toddler's favorite outdoor toys?  Yes there is a park pretty close by, so we can go over there for a swing or a slide, but we need some stuff that Ry can play with in the yard.  Any suggestions?

12 comments:

Libby's Life said...

A water table is great! They can distract for hours because kids LOVE water and it's not messy... just put them in their diaper or a swimsuit and your covered. We just got one as a birthday gift for my son from his Mimi and he loves it. So that's something that might really be good. A small swimming pool is also good. Target has some great ones this year with slides and squirters on them. We got one that is a giraffe and it has a slide and the giraffe squirts water out of it's mouth. We haven't gotten that out yet because it's not quite warm enough here yet for that but where you are it definitely would be! I also think any kind of push toy or car that they can sit in and drive around are great. My son got a Little Tikes truck for his birthday from his grammy & Poppa and he absolutely loves it. Probably his favorite toy EVER right now. Those are just a few things I can think of off the top of my head. Hope those can help a little. :)

P.S. your little girl is absolutely adorable... and you dress her so freaking cute! Oh and who cares if you go a day without dressing in real clothes! You have a little girl to play with... that is way more important than getting all dressed up. Even though it does make you feel like a human when you have a little one! So don't feel like you're the only one out there who does that because I do it all the time.

Ashley S. said...

My daughter is two and she LOVES sidewalk chalk! I just wish we had an actual driveway for her to use it in!

These are such cute pictures! Love the "chalk" face! :)

Meaghan said...

Looks like she's a crafty girly like her mama! So so cute :)

LizHergert said...

Aww that pictures of her grasping all the chalk is just PRECIOUS! What a sweet little one you have.

kyna... said...

I second the water table! Ellie absolutely LOVES her water table! There are also some smaller toddler slides that are fairly inexpensive and keep them busy at this age.

Annie said...

Ahh she's so cute! I can't believe how much she's talking already--so fun!

We live right in the city so we don't have a yard, but we do have a roof deck (thankfully) that Millie is totally obsessed with. Right now she's into bubbles and her mini watering can. But we're planning to get a water table too. It's so nice how much they like to be outside!

Erin said...

Definitely a water table! Not sure I would have gotten one if it wasn't given to us, but that thing is awesome for all the reasons the above commenters say. Mostly that it keeps them in one place! Annie loves buckets and shovels and putting rocks in buckets and walking around with them.

lalalovely lindsay said...

My little Ellie loves her water table, just as everyone has already mentioned :o) She also has the turtle sandbox and that's a lot of fun. Bubbles and sidewalk chalk are also favorites around here, as well as a kiddie pool.

Jen said...

Ryann is way too cute. I love her little dresses!

My son is the same age as Ryann and he LOVES his sisters old playhouse. We had bought a pretty basic one a few years ago and he plays in it all the time....drags his chair in there, throws things through the windows,tries to climb out the windows, lots of fun :)

Nikkie said...

We take harper's ride on toy outside a lot so she can scoot around. We also got an inflatable pool she loves.

We are suffering the separation anxiety thing right now. It makes it tought to even go to the bathroom.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the idea on the chalk!

Morgan who is a little younger than Ryann by about 2 months I think loves her water table.

AMS said...

Instead of saying "Bye" to the kids I say, "I will be right back" or "See you later!" It normally keeps the tears at bay since it doesn't sound like it will as long then. :)