Happy Holidays

Embrace the Camera: Dec. 9th

When my husband came home one day ready to sell me the idea of getting an Ipad, I'll have to admit that I wasn't thrilled with the idea. I had never been an Apple fan, and we surely didn't need another computer in the house. Yet, he was getting a great deal through a friend and he couldn't pass it up. The day he came home with the package he sat down and began downloading apps to show me how we can all benefit from the Ipad. He downloaded a library of e-books for me, connected us to Netflix, and downloaded many educational tools for Lily.

Lily was 14 months old when my husband sat down and went through one educational tool to another. He taught her how to point at animals to hear their sounds, and she quickly caught on. I thought it was the cutest thing...

By 18 months, Lily maneuvered her way through the Ipad like a pro. She would turn it on, sit down, and then scroll down until she found an educational app she wanted to use. She knew all the sounds of transportation (choo-choo), sounds of animals (moo), the alphabet, and many words.

Now, at 22 months...I take joy in watching her learn more and more every day.

                                        

She's great at spelling puzzles...

She can identify letters (even though she's bossy about it, ha!)...

She loves all sorts of puzzles, and is darn good at them. (excuse the bad lighting here)

We spend lots of time together learning, so I can't give the Ipad all the credit. I still love the traditional reading a book before bedtime, coloring books, chalkboards, board puzzles, and playing pretend. Nothing can replace those things. Yet, the Ipad does help from having to clean up after her a lot more. ;) 

This was Embrace the Camera Vintage Style...

dedicated to Lily's Godmother Lisa (who loves to see what Lily is learning)

and a huge thanks to my great husband!

Embrace the Camera: Dec. 2th

The Ipad has become a hot commodity in my home, and I usually find myself compromising with a toddler for usage time. I allow her to watch an episode of whatever she fancies on Netflix, usually it’s her favorite Veggie Tales episode, Sesame Street, or YoGabbaGabba. Last night YoGabbaGabba won out, and as usual…we sat down and watched it together before turning in for the night.

First, a 'cheese' for dad (thanks for the awesome pics). See, I give credit where credit is due. :)

Singing along.

Robert gets creative here by standing on a chair...but hey, I kinda love this image.

The Super Hero episode

It’s not so often that we use the Ipad to stream movies or TV shows though, this just happened to be the night that we did. On an average day Lily uses the Ipad for all the educational apps; they are amazing. She is learning all her colors, numbers, letters, shapes, animals, ect…and has mastered all the puzzles I have challenged her with. Okay, I’m beginning to sound like a commercial now. But seriously, I love this Ipad…and it deserves its own post later. ;)