More Elf Business

Pin It Oh, that silly elf, Bernard!

A few days ago, he appeared riding a reindeer!

Late that night, I caught him doing this:

Then, yesterday, he showed up with a note.

(He had also been coloring again. He traced the cookie cutters he dug out of our cookie cutter bin.)

The note (on a snowflake, written in red and green sparkle ink, of course) reads:

Dear Crazypants,
I left cookie dough in your refrigerator! You and Mommy can bake and decorate some cookies today! Remember to be a good listener!
Love,
Bernard

This note is for a 22-month-old, so simple is good.

(Also good, she forgot about the "decorate" part. Not only did it not happen that day, but Bernard was inspired later on.)

Here's a tip from Bernard to your elf:

Refrigerate cookie dough in small batches. Not only does that help keep it from getting too soft when you are working at toddler speed, but you may find that by the end of batch 2 that the next batch or so would be best if unassisted.

Bernard left us both plain dough and dough dyed green. We assumed that was for the trees.

While we worked, Bernard drank some (my) iced coffee and read A Feast for Crows.

The idea that Bernard would read Mommy's book was The Funniest Thing to V., so he read for a while.

That is, until he fell over into a mess of flour.

V. would not give up that he was dirty and needed a bath, but elves are somewhat modest, and Bernard was not about to just jump down and strip right there to hop into a bath.

While we were in the other room, this happened.

Personally, I was relieved that he didn't go for the traditional elf bath of marshmallows, because marshmallows are synonymous with crack in this household. Bernard would have found himself bubbleless and I would have been peeling a toddler off the vaulted ceiling. He's a smart elf, I tell you.

Cookie decorating didn't happen yesterday, so Bernard brought us a little inspiration this morning:

Cookie decorating supplies! How thoughtful, Bernard!

(Due to some last-minute holiday shopping that turned into a "run around the mall" fiasco and a nap boycott that ended 2 hours later than nap started, they did not get decorated today, either.)

We'll get to them. Eventually. Thanks to Bernard, we have all that we need save some time!

Passover Activity: Seder Plate

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I like to keep some sort of activity out, sensory bin or otherwise, that V. can independently walk up to and play with at any time.  Last week it was as simple as crayons and paper.  One day I got brave and left watercolors out.  (She tried to drink the paint water several times.  Even if the paint is non-toxic, I  didn't want her drinking it.)

For our seders, I found this cheap plate at Target.  It is colorful and fun, and kept her busy during the actual seder with some seder plate items I had knit for her last year and some matzoh I stitched up in the car on the way to my in-laws.  Once the seders were over, the plate went to her play table along with Elijah's cup (another cheap Target find, but not pictured because it has been rather popular for feeding Baby) and the pieces for the plate.

The books were gathered for the picture, but usually live in the living room.  They are National Geographic's Celebrating Passover (great photos, factual) and The Great Matzoh Hunt, which is a lift-the-flap book.  It doesn't use any Hebrew, which irked me, but features a duck, which V. loves.  She loves it so much that she tore all the flaps off her first copy, and fortunately was given a second copy (hidden from her grasp) by her great aunt.  (Afikomen prize, even if she made no attempt.)  The third book, below, is Tomie de Paolo's My First Passover, which is much more her speed. Once I unearthed the copy, I left it open to the seder plate page as a helpful suggestion.  (No pages to rip or flaps to tear off.  Sometimes I love board books.)

Dayenu! is one of my favorite Passover books for children (and it is a great haggadah!) but I didn't get to the library or Amazon soon enough.  Next year, if we aren't in Israel.

Having seen seder plates in action the past few evening, she had the basic concept down: put things into the spaces.

My little Magpie ran around the house and collected all the things she needed for her Seder plate in an empty wipe container.  Then she and her lizard set to work.

It's a work in progress.