One Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed!

We had a dreary, rainy day today.  Not so bad on its own, but I woke up with a nasty cold and was not in the mood for anything.  After a few hours of laying on the floor and reading books here and there, Olive was starting to get on my last nerve get very rambunctious.  Since we couldn't go outside, I made a little bounce house in my living room.  I moved the coffee tables out of the room, grabbed my daughter's crib mattress, threw it on the floor, and lined it with pillows.  Then I resumed my position on the floor - wrapped in a blanket and sipping tea - and let her go at it.

...and go at it she did!

At some point, she decided that the mattress should be flipped over.  She looks like she's in pain, but she's really just being dramatic.  Don't worry, I wouldn't let her give herself a hernia.  :)

I swear, sometimes I think she's secretly practicing to enter the World's Strongest Baby Competition.  She'll walk over with something she clearly should not be carrying while saying, "Heavy!  Heavy!".  

I definitely give this "indoor excess energy activity" 5 Stars!  The best activities are: simple, free, open-ended, and use things you already have on hand.  Mattress jumping definitely fits all those categories!

I hope you all have a fun weekend and maybe let your little monkey jump on the bed!

Sticker Fun

My daughter loves to peel the stickers off and stick them onto all kinds of surfaces, but mostly paper and herself.  A few months ago, I tried the whole sticker thing with her and she would just end up getting really frustrated when she couldn't get the sticker back off from where she stuck it.  Now that she's a little older, she understands it more but she also has learned what surfaces are better if she wants to get the sticker off (her shirt, her nose, a smooth surface play table, the carpet, etc.).

Stickers are great because you can buy them everywhere and they come in an infinite number of pictures, colors, styles, even textures and scents if you want to get really fancy.  I've been buying my stickers recently from my local creative reuse depot.  They sell mixed up sheets of stickers for $0.05 a sheet.  I can get a huge variety for a very small price.  Another good sticker option are those free address labels companies send you in the mail (yes, I know they expect you to donate to them, but I can't let the stickers go to waste, now can I?).

Peeling the stickers - something that took time to learn how to do.

A nose - a perfect place for a sticker!

"I think I'll put this right on my shirt...perfect!"

"Which sticker should I choose next?"