Super Beasts is Serious Fun at The Little Gym #Review #Giveaway

Hannah has a lot of words. Sometimes she forms comprehensible sentences, other times she does not. After we tried our first Super Beasts class at The Little Gym of Vaughan, I thought they must have found a toddler with a flair for the English language who detailed everything the perfect gymnastics class should include - because Super Beasts (a Parent/Child Class) was everything Hannah wanted and more.

The class is 45 minutes long, but time passes by quite quickly. First there is a welcome song, where the children get to use musical shakers and other instruments. Then there is some group play - the first time we went we played with bean bags, the second class brought out balls and the parachute to the absolute joy of my daughter.

Piggy Paint safe and "pretty" for my daughter's little piggies

"Open." "Me." "Pretty."

These are the words my daughter says when she a) sees a bottle of Piggy Paint, b) extends her foot for a pedicure and c) the morning after when she checks out her toes.

Since the day she was born, I was waiting to paint her super cute, teeny tiny toenails. She had eyed my polishes for awhile, so I was happy to find out about Piggy Paint so she too could enjoy having coloured nails (and boy is there a rainbow of Piggy Paint selection on Nail Polish Canada.)

Baby Sign @ the Toronto Public Library

Hannah has started to blow bubbles with her drool. Sometimes I will blow raspberries at her and she'll respond by doing her thing. It's nice to communicate in other ways versus her crying.

Another way you can communicate with your baby is through sign language. So I was really excited when my library began it's Baby Sign class, which started last week.

The class is led by Library staff member Melissa. Her sibling is deaf so she is fluent in sign language. She was super encouraging and patient as us parents slowly learned the signs.

The class consisted of learning signs for words frequently used by parents and caregivers (such as Mommy, Daddy, baby, milk, bed, more, please, thank you...) and she taught us three songs that we can sing and sign - "The More We Get Together", "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "I Love You" (yes, the Barney song *shudder*).

Hannah really likes when I sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" with the hand actions (hey, being a camp counselor for kids 4-6 and being peed on by other people's children has FINALLY become helpful...) so she loves when I sing and sign to her.

Now when she cries for a bottle, I try to remember to sign "milk" so hopefully she will start to recognize that sign is associated with being feed. Just like she knows when we put her bib on the formula train is pulling into the station.

Unfortunately the cute blond boy who caught her eye at Baby Time was nowhere to be seen, but there's always next week!

Baby Sign continues at the Maria A. Schuka library until June 26, 2012. For details, please click here.

Reflections on a first Mother's Day

Yesterday I celebrated my first Mother's Day. My Mom, Hannah and I went to Red Lobster for lunch.

It was a nice time to reflect on how lucky I am to be my Mother's daughter and how lucky I am to be Mother to Hannah. It also made me realize how much closer to my Mom I've become since Hannah was born and I became a mother myself - probably because once again I am seeking her advice.

After post-secondary school when I moved out, I didn't really "need" my Mom. After a year in the working world, paying your own bills and living on your own, you don't really inquire and check in with your Mom to see what shoes you should wear out to the bar, or how long is an acceptable amount of time for the guy you are dating to text you back. When it comes to life, it seems like your Mom has stopped being the person you go to and your friends are the wise ones when you have problems that need to be solved.

But as soon as Hannah started to grow and move in my belly, I was all questions with my Mom. Apparently I got some just desserts - when my Mom was pregnant with me I wouldn't stop kicking her ribcage. Hannah was the same way in the womb. I hated to nap, but was quite content in my stroller soaking everything in. Hannah also hates to nap for fear of missing out on anything.

I'm also very lucky in that my Mom only gives me advice when I seek it. I was formula-fed. My Mom supported my breastfeeding Hannah, and I know she will stand behind all my decisions even if she would do (or did do) things differently. My Mom has definitely eased my transition into becoming a Mom. And I am sure she will remain steadfast even into Hannah's teenage years, where I am sure to receive even MORE just desserts.

I hope all the Moms out there had a great Mother's Day! It's the cherry on top - to be recognized for doing the best job in the world.

Baby Time is FUN Time at the Toronto Public Library

On Wednesday morning, Chris and I took Hannah to her second "class". I was quite nervous about how she would react.

The first class we ever attended she cried loudly for a good 10 minutes and then fell asleep for the rest. I guess to be fair I should mention her first class was a breastfeeding class at Sunnybrook and she attended before she was even 24 hours old.

Regardless, I was still curious as to how she would behave when we took her to Baby Time at the Toronto Public Library.

The 30 minute program for babies 0-18 months old includes songs, rhymes and the reading of interactive storybooks. The class gives parents and caregivers suggestions and ideas on how to encourage reading as the child ages.

Turns out, Hannah was an almost perfect pupil (other than starring at the blond baby boy beside her for a good 10 minutes - first crush already?!?!).  She cooed and even joyfully squealed while we sang some of the songs. I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed bouncing her, tickling her and singing to her too. And I even learned some new songs that I now sing to Hannah at home!

We will definitely be going back when the program resumes at our library in July. In the meantime, I can't wait to take her to Baby Sign at our branch which is starting in a couple of weeks.

To learn more about Baby Time and to find a library near you that runs the free program, please visit www.torontopubliclibrary.ca. Please note some locations require registration before the class.