Learning ABC's

First off, let me take a moment to admire my photography skills here.  This was NOT taken in Auto. I have started taking private lessons from a local photographer, Christy Baldwin.  I have a long way to go, but finally, finally it is all starting to come together.  I have read books, taken two different group classes, I have a fancy ass camera, and still I relied on Auto.  But things are a changing!

Ok, so now that we have that out of the way, let me tell you about Penelope and her ABC's.  I know I am partial, but the girl is a genius.  I am hoping that she got the best of both worlds, from her father and I.  I am emotionally and creatively very smart, I read fast and write well. Her Papa is an engineer, the kind that can do ridiculous math equations.  In his head.  I am not sure if she is ahead of the curve to be honest, but it sure feels like it.  She talks up a storm and knows every single letter of the Alphabet.  She can pick any letter out of a pile and say, P!  And then puts it the correct spot.  When they are all in, we will sing the alphabet song and I point to each letter as I sing.  She also likes me to make words with the letters.

We got this ABC puzzle at a garage sale for $1 and it is one of her favorite toys.  She will mimic how we played together by herself.  She will put them all in their spots and then line them up and pretend to make words.

We also have an Elmo Etch-a-Sketch and she loves to tell me what words to write. So we go down a long list of three and four letter words (Cat, Mama, etc) and I write them on the board.  Then I will pick a word to write and she will tell me what it says.  Basically reading.  She also likes to play this game when we are painting.

I am thinking about revamping her playroom and I would like to do this on one of the walls.  I would like to attach them to the wall via velcro or something else that is easily removable/attachable.  I would like her to start using the letters to making her own words.  I don't want to be a psycho tiger mom forcing her 2 year old to learn how to read, but she really enjoys letter play, so I want to go along with it and encourage it.

How did you teach your little one's their ABC's?   And p.s. thanks for letting me brag for a moment. :)





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By Best Kids Health Blog

Barefoot Books GA Review and Giveaway!!

Oh. My. Goodness. Get ready for this, Mama's!!

I had to contain myself when I opened up my little green bag, because I was out in public, but I wanted to squeal with delight, when I saw what goodies were bestowed to Penelope through our newest sponsor, Barefoot Books GA.

This is what Celeste, the owner of Barefoot Books GA, had to say about why she started her business:

"I saw an article in Mothering Magazine about moms who own their own home based businesses and Barefoot Books was represented. I have a background in Montessori education and know the importance of language and art in a child's life. Barefoot Books is the perfect fit for me and my family. My son loves to be read to and to pretend to read. The illustrations are amazing and the content is too! And the key to joining for me, was the fact that there is no pressure to sell or meet quotas. You can literally do as much or as little as you want. I love the complete freedom to run the business in a way that suits my lifestyle. It is such a great community of people too!"

P.S.  Celeste, also happens to be an awesome Doula, you can find her Doula info here.

Check out all these books that one lucky reader will win! And the one in the back comes with a sing along cd!

As I started to browse Barefoot Books website, I immediately resonated with the company. This is the kind of business I like to support! Check out their philosophy here. On top of that, their business strategy is providing opportunity for lots of women to have a flexibility in their career, in order to stay home with their kids, they call it living barefoot. Double points in my book!

This is the cute bag you will receive with all your goodies inside.  You will also get their catalog of all their book titles, even the catalog is goregous.  But, beware, you will want them ALL.

These Yoga Planet cards were what got me the most excited! As you all know, we are big on yoga around here. They are beautifully illustrated and have all sorts of yoga poses, games and relaxation ideas on each card. When I used to teach kids yoga (ages 5 to 12), I would use the Yoga Pretzels card deck and would allow each child to pick a card from the deck and ask them to "teach" their pose to me and the rest of class. The possibilities with games and independent play are endless with a stack of cards like this. If you want to make yoga apart of your family's lifestyle, and you are not a yoga pro yourself, this really is a must have.

Penelope is REALLY into farm animals these days. She loves to do her signs or make noises. Or rather, attempt to make noises, the only noises she has in her repertoire, is a really good elephant and very weird meow noise. Both are very cute. We even took her to a farm this weekend and she got to see all sorts of animals in person. You could just see her brain expanding while we were there! She was putting it all together that the animals in the books are real!

Anyway, so she saw the farm books in the stash, There's a Cow in the Cabbage Patch and The Farmyard Jamboree, and she grabbed it from my hands and sat down with it.

The one above is a board book and the picture doesn't do it justice, the art is actually pictures of hand sewn felt masterpieces! It's amazing!

You can put an order in till Dec 22nd with overnight shipment.  OR if you are local, Celeste has several titles in stock and she can meet up with you to deliver.  If you would like to place a last minute Christmas gift order, you can email Celeste at BarefootBooksGA@gmail.com or give her a call at 229-393-6210.

These are just a few of the titles she has in stock:

I Took the Moon for a Walk
Listen, Listen
African Animals ABC
Barefoot Book of Earth Tales
The Boy Who Grew Flowers


Are you excited yet?!  Well, this is whatcha gotta do to enter this giveaway:

MANDATORY ENTRY
Check out Barefoot Books GA and tell me what other products you love or what you love about their philosophy.

You must be a Mama and Baby LOVE Google Follower to participate.

EXTRA ENTRIES
Must include email address if not listed in profile. Each entry must be a separate comment.

* Become a fan of Barefoot Books GA on Facebook

* Tweet about this giveaway for 1 entry per day! Please include Mama and Baby LOVE in your tweet and leave me the permalink.

* Follow Mama and Baby LOVE on Facebook

* Blog about this Giveaway on your blog and provide post URL.

* Post about this Giveaway on Facebook and tag Mama and Baby LOVE.

Good luck everyone! Giveaway will run until 1.11.11! I will use random generator to pick a winner and will email the winner and announce it here on the blog. The winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be announced.

DISCLAIMER: I was not paid for this post. I was given the product to review, and I have provided my own honest opinion and ya''ll know me, I call it like I see it. Thank you, Barefoot Books GA for allowing us to review your products and for the awesome giveaway. If you are interested in having me do a review and giveaway for your business or product, or about our adveritsing pricing, send me an email at info at mamaandbabylove dot com.