Lego Elephants

Wow!  I didn't realize that it's been almost a year since I last built something for fun.  Since the boy is sick at home.  It was a Lego day.  I decided to make an elephant and ended up making 2.

The distinctive feature in elephant 1 is it's realistic trunk.  The arm pieces used in the trunk allow it to swivel up and down nicely.   I couldn't find all the parts I wanted so I had to substitute some pieces in.  Note: the asymmetrical tusks, leg colours and shapes.  I wanted to build it one piece taller, but couldn't find enough grey cylindrical pieces - though I'm sure we have some somewhere...  It's a bit difficult to find pieces since most of them are now dumped into an Ikea bench.

For the second elephant, I started off with a piece I wanted to use for legs.  I inverted that part, then built up from there.  Because the piece is inverted, the studs are on the bottom of the legs.  I improvised attaching pieces on top to connect the legs with the body and head.

Here's a link to my Lego moc page: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/419398

Duplo Activities

Been busy with my new baby and preschooler.  We saw the duplo inspiration videos earlier this week.  Isaac loves the Ramps and Crashes, Biggest Bridge and the Marble Run video.  After that, Isaac wanted to make his own ramp.

It gave me some ideas and spurred me to do some building.

For a quick fun activity with kids - we made duplo bowling pins and a little lane for it.  I might want to try creating a lane with gutters next time.

This morning, I decided to build my version of a spiral train track.  It's 3 levels high and used 3 bridge halves to ramp up to the top of the spiral.

Weekly Update: November 14-18, 2011

This week Isaac made 2 mini loaves of bread in cooking class.  One was a rye bread and the other was a cranberry loaf.  I really liked the cranberry loaf, but Daddy thought it tasted too much like fruitcake for his liking.

 

On Tuesday Auntie K and G came over for a morning play date.  We made blueberry pancakes together.  They brought over some chocolate zucchini cake.  I need to remember to return her container.  As it neared 1pm, Isaac and G went a little crazy running around and chasing each other.  I think they both had a good time.  We need to organize our mini playgroup Christmas party soon.  In the afternoon, Isaac napped in the stroller while I went to the library to return some books and pick out some new ones.

Wednesday morning we arrived a little late to preschool.  Normally we're there before they open the doors. I guess we left the house a tad late.  I returned some more books while Isaac was at school.  When I got home, I noticed that the number of items we have at home and the number the computer system says we have checked out doesn't match up.  Isaac has 24 items at home, so keeping track of everything is tedious (since he messes up the pile).  Anyhow, I've had problems with books not getting checked in at least a couple of previous times so I try to keep on top of checking up after I make returns.  I was able to clear the book off our account, but they didn't want to do a shelf check to verify if it was there or not.  I'm tempted to go and look for that book the next time I stop by that branch.

Wednesday afternoon and evening Isaac complained about having a tummy ache and had diarrhea.  On Thursday morning, he still had diarrhea, but was acting completely normal otherwise.  He couldn't go to school so we played at home all day.

Friday we skipped out on meeting up with his playgroup friends.  Actually it was more because I was too tired to go.  My sleep schedule is a bit messed up at the moment because my nap times are at bad times.  I found Isaac's Christmas present at Value Village.  He's getting a 250 piece set of TinkerToys - it was complete though 2 pieces were broken (so I tossed them out).

Currently dvd requests: Dora the Explorer.  He likes the music and most of the characters except for Swiper the Fox.  He also likes watching All About Volcanoes - it's a video for young kids (about K-Grade 4 level).  I might borrow other videos from that series to see if he likes any of the other topics.

Missing Lego Pieces

Off topic again, but I just want to vent.  I opened up my Lego Fire Brigade 10197 set this evening and right  off the bat, I noticed missing pieces.  Thinking it might've been just a couple, I substituted in a couple of my pieces and tried to continue on... but got stuck again shortly afterwards.

It looks like my set is missing an entire bag of pieces.  My set is from batch 39R1.  I will be calling customer service tomorrow to see if they can send me the missing bag!  I looked online to find that lots of other people have the same problem with this batch.

Update: I called up customer service this morning and they're sending me the missing bag.  Hope it arrives in the mail soon.  The woman I spoke with was really pleasant and helped to resolve the problem quickly.

Update2 (Dec 9, 2011): The missing lego pieces finally arrive in the mail today!  Hooray!!!  I'm going to take a nap then start putting together the Fire Brigade tonight.

Lego Modular Sets

Ah!!  I'm so excited.  After staring at the pictures of the Pet Shop (10218), Grand Emporium (10211) and Fire Brigade (10197) on the Lego web site for awhile (well, since the Pet shop was released and I found out about the modular sets)... DH just bought me all three sets!

I can't wait for them to arrive.  I don't know which I want to build first.  When Daddy said he was buying me Lego, Isaac said he wanted Lego too.  I think I will let him play with the finished sets.  Of the three, he'll probably enjoy the Fire Brigade most.

I guess I should give an update about the boy too.  He is currently sick.  He has a runny nose and a cough with phlegm.  He's been sick since Saturday evening.  We ended up skipping out on the Wall-E screening at the planetarium on Sunday.  He also missed his cooking class and Twos Time this week.  We did end up going trick-or-treating at the mall.  I figured it would be ok since we were just staying indoors.

This morning Isaac and I woke up later than usual (8am instead of 6:30-7am).  We stayed home all day.  We spent the morning watching Cars and playing with Lego Duplo and K'nex.  After lunch, we tidied up all the toys and moved some stuff around to make space for the Christmas tree.  I put the tree up in the afternoon.   We spent the rest of the afternoon making "presents" to put under the tree.  I made 4 Lego boxes with lego ribbons.  Isaac made 2 Duplo "presents" that look like rockets.  One is for Mommy and one is for Daddy.  He skipped his nap today and started falling asleep on the carpet at around 5:30pm while playing with his Duplo trains and track.  I kept him up because it really was too late for a nap and he either would've missed dinner or wouldn't sleep until late.  We ended up putting him to bed at around 6:45pm with mommy milk and a story.  He was out as soon as we turned off the lights.  His nose is raw from me trying to remove/clear his mucus.  Poor boy.  I hope he'll sleep well tonight and feels better soon.  I really want him to be able to go to school tomorrow.

Update: Isaac is staying home today.  Mucous is still yellow.   Playgroup tomorrow, I'll have to see how he's doing tomorrow morning before we decide if he gets to go.  Swimming lessons start Saturday... and that's also up in the air.  Sunday we're meeting up with a friend from our birth group.

Growing and Learning: Cherishing Little Moments

Over the past week Isaac has been conquering some of his fears.  At his last Time For Fun class, he got up and joined the other kids to play with the parachute during circle time.  Normally, he's really scared and just sits with me to watch everyone else do that activity.  Also, he's been going into the shower a couple of times and doesn't mind getting water in his face.  In our swimming lesson today, he willingly dipped his nose into the water (which is also a first for him).

At the playground, Isaac raced with another kid to the slide.  When the other kid (E.) got there first, he suggested they go down the slide together.  I helped Isaac sit behind E. and they down they went.  They went on the slide again together several times.  Isaac kept asking "gether".   I think he had fun playing with E.  He also asked another mom at the park "Please" and pointed to some sand shovels and bucket before playing with them.

This morning when Isaac was helping me take out the garbage, he found a couple of baby toys in the garbage room, so I brought the back home and washed them.  One item was a Laugh And Learn activity table.  It was missing the spoon and the table legs, but seems to be working properly (and still had batteries in it).  The other toy is sort of like an infant activity cube (except it's not a cubed).  He was excited to play and figure out what each thing did.

I ordered some more duplo train switches from someone off Bricklink but with the postal strike, I don't think it'll be arriving any time soon.  No real finds from Value Village lately.

Crazy About Trains

This morning we had a play date at N's house.  As soon as I got Isaac's shoes off, he was off playing with the toys.  I went in and removed his jacket as he was playing.  He started off with the play kitchen, then investigated contents of a bin and picked out a mailbox.  Next, he played on their piano.  After, he spent the rest of the time putting together some train tracks then connecting a long line of trains together.  The boys played together for a little, but mostly played independently side-by-side.

Isaac got a 5 minute warning before we had to leave... but he was very upset to go.  He only stopped crying when Auntie C offered him a treat for the car.  I had a great time chatting with Auntie C.  It seems we have lots of interests in common.  I hope that we can get together again soon.

Duplo Lego Castle

We picked up a lego duplo castle set from a craigslist listing today.  I was a bit unsure about paying $30 for 90+ pieces of castle pieces and the picture posted was small and didn't clearly show what pieces were included. After putting the boy to bed, I washed the lego pieces and searched online for duplo castle building instructions.

It turns out that we now have two duplo castle sets: 4776 Dragon Tower and 4779 Defense Tower.  Structurally, the Dragon Tower is complete.  We are only missing one crest (lion), two poles and two flags (one of each: lion flag and a dragon flag) from the Defense Tower.  The sets did not come with any figures or accessories, but we have duplo figures we can substitute in (and of course our dragons).

On a side note, I am excited that Lego will be opening a store in the Toronto area.  I'm looking forward to visiting the store the next time we're in town.


We ended up ordering the Duplo Knight's Castle from BrickLink.  I also picked up some extra pieces from a listing off kijiji.  Now we have enough pieces to build a decent fortress.

Building instructions for the Duplo castle sets are available on Peeron:
Dragon Tower #4776-1
Knight's Castle #4777-1
Defense Tower #4779-1

Birthday Party Madness!

I went to bed at 4am - tired but could not fall asleep easily.  We got up at 7:30am.  I took a shower while Daddy fed the boy breakfast - applesauce.

We put on some shows for the boy to watch and worked in the kitchen trying to prepare the lunch for the kids and the veggie platter.  Daddy started moving things down to the party room.  We were running behind schedule!

At 9:14am, we were expecting our friend to come at 9am to help... BUT...

The buzzer for our front door was replaced during the week.  I didn't test it out yesterday... turns out our number was deleted from the system.  I had to go downstairs to let my friend in.  We go test the buzzer in the parking lot.  At least that works.

9:50am. I'm still in the kitchen cooking.  M&L buzz us from the parking.  They come up.  Michael brings stuff down and get M&L to help us set up the room.  Daddy goes to pick up a mango cake.

A bit after 10am, our first toddler guest arrives.  I'm still upstairs cooking - but I have to run down to let them in.  I turn off the stove and let the food continue to cook in the pot.

10:18am.  I'm done cooking... but there are still lots of stuff to bring downstairs.  I grab a load and head down but I left my cellphone in our unit.  UH OH!  When I went back up to our unit, I found I missed 2 calls.  Someone is buzzing us a 3rd time from the parking and someone is calling our home phone at the same time.  I try to let our parking guests in but for some reason, it's NOT working.  At the same time, I'm trying to talk on the phone with our guest waiting outside the front lobby doors.  People are confused as I try to sort out both calls at the same time.  I end up going down to the lobby, then dashing to the parking lot (to find Daddy letting our parking guests in).  Thanks Daddy!!

I bring our guests up to the party room, then continue to move stuff down from our unit.

Things finally settle down for a bit for me.  Daddy goes back up a few more times to get stuff we've forgotten.  I spend some time watching Isaac play and chatting a little with some of the other kids and parents.  We set up the juice and tupperwares of fruits and veggies.  Daddy orders some pizza.

The kids start snacking.  Watermelon seems to be a big hit with all the kids (except Isaac).

Daddy comes back with the pizza and I make a couple of trips to bring down the macaroni and sauce in our big pots.

Our final guests arrive.  Isaac looks ready to conk out and when I ask him if he wants to nap - he says yes.  I decide that we do the cake part before he falls asleep...

Isaac smiles and waits when he sees his cake.  He is incredibly happy as everyone sings "Happy Birthday" to him.  He has a huge grin on his face.  It melts my heart watching him.  He attempts to blow out his candle.  (I help him on his second attempt.)  We give him some cake.  It tastes like a chocolate brownie.  His lips are smeared with chocolate and blue fondant.  After that, his energy levels go up and he's ready to play again.

Guests start leaving.

M and L bring up Isaac's birthday present and he seems to LOVE it - a tricycle.  He spends a lot of time playing with it, sitting on it, dumping things from the basket out.  Me: I'm undecided about it. It's really cute, but the tires are plastic so it'll probably break pretty fast if we take it outside. Still deciding if we should keep it or switch it for something else.  A minor scuffle breaks out over the tricycle.

At around 2:30pm - Isaac has a meltdown as I am changing his diaper.  Daddy, M and L clean up the room and bring all our stuff up while I take him up for a nap but he would not sleep.  Potty time.  Then he wanted to eat more food.  He kept asking for more ham.  After we had some mango cake.  Isaac kept asking for and eating pieces of L's slice of cake.

I go to take a nap, but Isaac hangs out with Daddy, M and L.  M&L leave and Isaac comes to look for me.  I try to put him down for a nap, but as soon as I try to transfer him to his crib, he's up and screaming.  I think he's over-stimulated and over-tired.  Not a great combination.  We let Isaac open one present.

Daddy gives Isaac a bath.  Then we go down to look over the party room and do some spot cleaning.

We put the boy down for bed at around 8:30pm.

I still need to return the keys for the lounge before 9am.

Lego Train Set Arrived!

Yay, my new deluxe lego duplo train set arrived by courier this afternoon.  The box is sitting on our living room floor.  I don't know if we should open it now or wait until Isaac's birthday.  It comes with a lot of track some unique pieces (like a conveyer belt) and a battery powered train.

Isaac's latest obsession with Totoro hasn't faded yet.  He always asks to watch Totoro every day.  He's even starting to say "Totoro" very clearly now - instead of just referring to the little girl in the show, "May".  I'm considering getting some sort of Totoro toy for Isaac.  The problem with many Totoro toys in stores is that often they are just selling imitation copies... Usually some proportion of the Totoro features are off.  If I'm going to get a knock-off, I might as well make him one myself.  I might show Isaac another anime called Spirited Away.  It's a bit scarier than My Neighbour Totoro, so I don't know if he'd like it or not.

Yesterday while I was napping, Daddy was watching Isaac.  He took a slice of orange and tried to swallow it whole... he ended up choking and threw up.  Apparently he was ok because he wanted another slice of orange afterwards.  When I got up, I asked why the couch was wet - so Daddy told me what happened.

The last few days he seemed to be regressing a little - will sit on the potty but refused to go, and he even pooped in his diaper (even though I gave him a chance to go on the potty about 10 minutes before).  Today I made an effort to get Isaac to go the to potty more frequently (bribing him with Daddy's Totoro pull toy).  So far his diaper has been dry for the past 6 hours.

This afternoon, I tried out to make white chocolate flourless cakes.  Isaac helped with adding ingredients into various pots and bowls, and he also helped with some stirring.  When I put his "cooking table" away, he got upset (and wanted to do more cooking).  It reminded me about some cooking classes for kids I read about.  In Vancouver there are some "cooking" classes that are offered for 2-3 year olds.  There are about 10 spots per class, 10 sessions that run for 1.5 hours once a week.  If these classes are offered again in the summer or fall,  I might try to register Isaac for one.  He would have a blast!

Note to myself: I reduced the recipe for 5 servings and it was enough for about 3 mini loafs.  The cakes turn out very yellow because of the eggs.  I didn't test out the fondant recipe last week, so I will try it tomorrow.  I need to see how hard/easy it is to prepare, much it makes, how it tastes, and how tricky it is to handle.  I'm still undecided about using this cake recipe for Isaac's birthday cake.

Must Refrain From Toy Shopping For The Rest Of This Month...

Ok. I just ordered the deluxe lego duplo train and an extra set of straight tracks from the lego website.  It was super expensive.  Grandma and grandpa: some of Isaac's birthday money is going into the train set. The rest is going into his bank account.  THANK YOU!!!

I must not shop.  I must not shop.  Let me repeat that one more time... I MUST NOT SHOP.  Except for any incidental birthday party costs, food, and clothing needed for the boy, I will try not to buy additional toys... at least for the rest of this month and next month.  Instead of walking to Value Village, I think I will have to avoid going there.  We will walk to the library or city hall instead.

Time to find a new hobby/obsession.  I will have to look into doing more random arts and crafts and try to teach Isaac to sing songs.  He's starting to "fill in words" in a couple of songs and books.  He sings part of "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and will say "I" for his name and "mama" for my name in a welcome song we learned from our creative movement class.  I'm going to work on "Twinkle twinkle little star" and the alphabet song with him.

Huge pile of dishes in the sink.  Time to start washing them... or putting them into the dishwasher.

Building Toys

I love Lego!  That said, I find it fun playing with different types of construction/building toys.  Currently we are amassing a collection of Duplo Lego.  I like the look and feel of the pieces and their durability.  There are a variety of different pieces and sets that add variety and make it interesting for Isaac to play with.  The main frustration with duplo bricks in general is that they come apart pretty easily so when we build a tall tower, it tends to topple over.  I'm still looking to pick up a few more specific sets if I can find them on sale from Lego, Toys R Us or at Value Village.

Mega bloks can be used with duplo blocks, though they feel a little cheaper in quality and the nubs aren't finished as nicely as the duplo nubs.  There are also a variety of mega bloks sets and they generally cost less then lego ones.  I confess that I bought a mixed bag of mega bloks just to get some of the duplo pieces that were included in the bag, then donated the mega bloks back to value village.  We were recently given a mega bloks pirate ship, though we left it at the Grandparent's place.  I will have to see what the boy thinks of it and what we can do with it.  We will test it out in a few months when we go visit our family.

I found a small set of Infinitoy Zoob with 15 pieces.  These are pieces are ball / socket types of parts which can snap together in different ways.  We can't really do too much since we only have 15 pieces, but Isaac likes to pull the pieces apart when I snap them together.

We were having a web chat with grandparents the other day and we needed to keep the boy entertained  in his booster seat, so I whipped out a "new" building set from Value Village.   He was very focused playing with the bricks and spent over an hour trying to see what they could do and how they worked together.  Morphun Junior Blocks come in square and triangular pieces of varying height (depth).  Some square pieces have nubs on top - these look like the duplo 2x2 pieces except they have a ridged 1/2 circle indentation on each side and a ridged circle on the underside.  The pieces connect with slide-in spindle pieces or by stacking square nubbed pieces on top of each other.  The nubbed pieces are compatible with Duplo (provided the spindles don't stick out if they're used).  I like the different ways the pieces can connect together and it's great that it can work with duplo bricks.  The only disappointment is that Isaac broke a Morphun brick by jamming a spindle through a square block.