Tag Archives: Tanya Harris Franklin

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

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2015-12-23 16.44.36

Quinn with Her North Pole Message Machine

 

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me joy selecting a Christmas tree,  memorable moments decorating, festive and fun goofing around, partying all night, excitement while visiting Santa Claus, counting down the days, happiness at Sesame Place, bonding time making our own tree, befriending Santa’s elf on the shelf, creating a chocolate cookie candy train and receiving messages from the North Pole!

When I was younger, I was not only fascinated with Santa Claus but the North Pole as well. What I wouldn’t give to be granted a special trip to Santa’s Workshop in the North Pole. Though the likelihood of this happening is slim for me, especially as an adult, there is still a glimmer of hope for my daughter. While she is only two and a half and still learning about Christmas, Santa, where he lives and how he knows if she’s been naughty or nice, she does look forward to the communication she receives from her North Pole Message Machine.

Clementine, one of Santa’s head elves, Mrs. Claus, a few other characters and even Santa himself share little facts about what goes on in the North Pole from December 1st through December 25th. At this point, my eight year old niece, who has been spending some time with us for the past few days, does appreciate the North Pole messages a bit more than Quinn. But my daughter already has been able to make the distinction between the voice of one of the male elf’s and Santa. When I think she is not paying attention to the message, she perks up when Santa’s voice comes on and says, “That’s Santa talking from the North Pole! Hi, Santa!”  As Quinn gets older, I have a feeling that she will look forward to the messages more and more. I may be an adult, but I enjoy listening to them as they have added to the Christmas spirit and give us something special to look forward to after breakfast.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Tenth Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

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2015-12-22 12.07.29

Quinn and Her Big Cousin Decorating Their Train

On the tenth day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me joy selecting a Christmas tree,  memorable moments decorating, festive and fun goofing around, partying all night, excitement while visiting Santa Claus, counting down the days, happiness at Sesame Place, bonding time making our own tree, befriending Santa’s elf on the shelf, and creating a chocolate cookie candy train!

When I was younger, I loved making gingerbread houses out of frosting and candy with my siblings. Today, I still enjoy this activity, but I had the opportunity to do it with my daughter and my niece, who Quinn admires and looks up to as though she is her big sister. Now, there are so many constructions and sizes from which to choose. Initially my two and a half year old selected the Hello Kitty gingerbread figure. Then she chose a house, but after she locked eyes with the chocolate cookie train kit, her mind was set; that was the one she wanted.

This is an activity where I’m glad my niece was able to join us because Quinn is still developing her pincer skills, and she tends to take her big cousin’s lead on activities rather than having me, her mommy, direct her every move. While this was a fun activity, I must admit that it was difficult at times for me not to step in with my “type A” personality and say how “we” should design the train, but I held back and was able to simply appreciate the togetherness and bonding of cousins. I’m sure they both appreciated it as well. What’s funny is that I while I was deciding on an area where we could display the train, they both were thinking about what piece of candy or frosting they were going to eat first. They were, however, kind enough to design a caboose just for me, and Quinn eagerly offered a piece of candy from her train to her daddy. But if I want one for display next time just for Christmas, I guess I better get one for them and one for me.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Ninth Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

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2015-12-09 20.09.29

Quinn with Elf on the Shelf Friend

On the ninth day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me joy selecting a Christmas tree,  memorable moments decorating, festive and fun goofing around, partying all night, excitement while visiting Santa Claus, counting down the days, happiness at Sesame Place, bonding time making our own tree and befriending Santa’s elf on the shelf!

At two an a half years old, this is the first Christmas where my daughter truly knows who Santa is and was very excited to see him. Initially, she associated the red and white suit with Santa, so when I purchased the Elf on the Shelf for her, she thought the elf was Santa. When I explained that the Elf was coming to our home to help out Santa and to make sure she was behaving while he was busy preparing for Christmas, Quinn somewhat got the idea. Really, I just think she likes having a friend in the house who knows Santa. She even asked if her elf friend could come to her room to spend the night. I know this is not exactly how the elf is to be used, according to the story, but since Quinn is still young, I am going with the flow. Since she is an only child and is not in school, I occasionally hear her telling her elf friend, “Can you tell Santa I want Lambie for Christmas? I’m going to be good and listen to Mommy and Daddy.” My hope is that she will look forward to having her Elf on the Shelf friend watch over her on Santa’s behalf in the years to come.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Eighth Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

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2015-12-10 14.07.58

Quinn is ready to get started!

On the eighth day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me joy selecting a Christmas tree,  memorable moments decorating, festive and fun goofing around, partying all night, excitement while visiting Santa Claus, counting down the days, happiness at Sesame Place and bonding time making our own tree! I’ve always loved doing special art projects in school, and though my two and a half year old is not in day school, I want to ensure that she has the experience of doing special art projects for the holiday. Since she loves the Christmas tree, having her make one herself was a perfect idea. I had a vision of what I wanted us to create together, and we were able to get most of the materials from Target: green tissue paper, green shredded paper, colorful pom pom balls in multiple sizes, puffy red garland and a gold bow. We already had the construction paper,  Modge Podge matte finish and scissors.

We used an 11 x 17 green construction paper. I folded it in half and cut the paper on an angle to make the triangular tree. I thin folded and cut up the tissue paper in rectangular pieces. Then, Quinn took over the project by applying Modge Podge to the tree a little at a time with her sponge then placing the tissue paper on top. To give the tree some texture, we added the shredded green paper with a little more Modge Podge Glue. After allowing the tree to dry, we then added the red garland with glue and taped the backs to make sure it was secure. Then, we added the pom pom balls as ornaments. Once everything was dry, we put the tree on red construction paper as a backing and then added the gold bow as the star. This was a fun project for us both, and now we have two trees for Christmas!

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Our work is displayed on Quinn’s special frame for all to see.

All the best,

Tanya

Here’s a slide show of our project below:

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On the Seventh Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

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2015-12-19 14.27.45-1Selected and decorated the perfect tree, put up festive and fun decorations, partied, visited Santa: the count down has begun! While these are some of our favorite things about the holiday season, going on a special outing today with my daughter to see the special holiday shows, parade, and friends of Sesame Place put the “star” on top of the Christmas tree. This actually was our second time going because it just was extremely packed on Black Friday because it was 70 degrees, and we only saw the parade, but today it was in the low 40s but felt like the 30s at times. (I’m so happy we have a season pass and did not have to pay additional money for our second visit)  As we waited in line out in the cold for about twenty minutes, I thought to myself, “I’d rather not stay” and then tell Quinn, “Baby, it’s cold outside,” but she was just so excited, dancing around and saying, “We’re going to see the Elmo Christmas show, Mommy!” I sure was glad that show was indoors and happily put my two and half year old on my lap to warm up my frozen fingers.  If Quinn was cold, she  must have been so overcome with excitement that it did not bother her as she hugged Bert and Ernie and watched her favorite Sesame Street character, Grover, perform, “Run Rudolph.” Even after the parade, it took a lot of cajoling to get her to leave Sesame Place willingly. If I had to guess, I’d say one of my daughter’s Christmas wishes was fulfilled today, and that makes enduring the cold weather worth it!

All the best,

Tanya

 

 

On the Sixth Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

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The tree’s up, the decorations are festive and fun, we partied, and paid a visit to Santa. Now, with just a week to go until Christmas, the feelings of excitement and anticipation are beginning to build for my little girl as well as me. Back in early November, I stumbled upon a Melissa and Doug count-down Christmas tree at Home Goods and just knew it would be perfect for the holiday on multiple levels. Initially, my two and a half year old wanted to put all of the ornaments on the wooden tree, but once I explained to her that we would be counting down the days until Christmas and adding an ornament to the tree once a day, she understood. Now, she eagerly reminds me every day that we need to put an ornament on the tree. I really love this educational Christmas tree because it reinforces the importance of counting, well actually counting down instead of up, which is a skill Quinn is doing quite well with. She is able to count down from ten to zero. It also helps Quinn to understand basic math. Though the days of the week are not present on the tree, she sometimes refers to it as her Christmas tree calendar, which I think is great. I wish I had something like this when I was younger because I was always so excited for Christmas to arrive. Actually, even as an adult, I am still excited for Christmas to arrive and am eager to see the joy on Quinn’s face when she sees the gifts Santa has left her under the “real” Christmas tree.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Fifth Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

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Quinn and Santa

Quinn and Santa

This Christmas season has been full of fun. We selected a tree, decorated the house, had fun with decorations and partied with family.  An activity that my daughter definitely enjoyed was paying a visit to the one and only: Santa Claus. Last year, she was just becoming familiar with the jolly, old elf and feared him. It took three separate attempts at different locations to get her to sit next to him for a picture with me sitting with her, of course. But this year, she knows exactly who he is, and loves looking at picture books with Santa or watching a show involving Santa.

Surprisingly, when we went to greet him last week, there was no line, so we just walked right up, and my little two and a half year old was able to converse with Santa for about five minutes. She was so personable and said, “Happy holidays, Santa!” She eagerly answered his questions about whether or not she’s been a good girl and told him that she wants Lambie, Doc McStuffin’s friend for Christmas. Watching her interact with Santa and witnessing her eyes light up put a smile on my face. Quinn is such a big girl, and it is such a gift to her her in my life and to give her some great childhood Christmas memories.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Fourth Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

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2015-12-12 19.51.14

Quinn Having Fun with Her Cousins at the Christmas Party

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas with selecting the tree, decorating and having fun with decorations. Interestingly, my little girl looked at the festiveness of it all and asked, “Are we  having a party, Mommy?” When I said, “We sure are!” my little two and a half year old began running through the list of potential attendees asking me if they were coming. She was so excited about our holiday party, which was this past Saturday, and she refused to take her nap for fear of missing the party altogether. Then, she managed to stay up to nearly midnight snacking on treats, playing games, chatting with any and everybody and having fun with her cousins. Though she is still young, it pleases me that she is already grasping the importance of family togetherness, especially around the holidays. Seeing her interact with her cousins reminded me of the fun I use to have with my cousins as we all gathered at my grandmother’s home. I hope this is a tradition not just Quinn but all of them come to look forward to because I certainly do.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Third Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

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2015-12-04 18.28.39

Quinn Wearing the Decorative Boots She Claimed as Her Own

Garland, twinkling lights, sparkly reindeer, glittery candles, snow globes and Santa: this year, my little girl not only loved selecting and decorating the Christmas tree but everything that turns our home into a magical, winter wonderland. Though we’ve been experiencing unseasonably warm weather, one of Quinn’s favorite activities has been parading around in turquoise glittery boots that are actually meant for decoration. For the first week after decorating, she would remove them at least once a day from the dining room table and put her two and a half year old feet in them with a big smile on her face. “Look at my new boots, Mommy!” I’d tell her repeatedly, “These are for decoration, honey.” But in the back of my mind I thought they looked so cute on her and wished they were actual boots she could wear for the holiday. In that moment, she reminded me of when I was little girl and used to happily prance around with silver tinsel garland wrapped around my neck as though I was a movie star with my mom telling me it was for the tree, not me. My little one is adding a lot of fun and sparkle, and I am truly enjoying it.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Second Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

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2015-12-14 08.10.27The Christmas season is full of wonderful activities to promote family togetherness that involve my two and a half year old. Yesterday, I posted an entry about her selecting our Christmas tree, so of course I need to post on the actual decorating of the Christmas tree. Last year, Quinn was more of an observer who occasionally tried to take an ornament or two off of the tree until I convinced her that it would hurt our tall, green friend. This year, she actually helped to put many of the ornaments on the tree while Christmas music played in the background. Though she had the tendency to put most of them in the same section, leaving parts of the tree bare, I beamed with excitement as Quinn bopped her head to the music while concentrating on putting the ornaments on the tree. “Look, Mommy! I put a blue one on the tree!” she eagerly informed me. The tree has been up for about two weeks now, and she enjoys stopping by to look at her handy work. “We decorated the tree and did a nice job. Right, mommy!” she says. “We sure did, Quinn!”  What a terrific way to celebrate the holiday with my little girl.

All the best,

Tanya