Things to do with a one-year-old...

Now that I am a (mostly) stay-at-home-mom (SAHM), I've been looking for ideas of things to do with a toddler. Joseph's not walking yet, but his ability to get into anything and everything that I don't want him to has made me realize that we need to get out of the house regularly for my sanity and to help him have fun doing things he's allowed to do (safe and fun! yay!).
In my searches, I came across a few things that might be useful to other Rochester-area SAHMs (or SAHDs!) and thought I'd post them up here:

• Library storytimes: Some libraries have age restrictions (i.e., 15 mo+), but quite a few allow babies of all ages. Check out the Monroe County Library website for more information! I've posted a few samples below:
• Baby Storytime
  Thursdays, October 13, 20, and 27 from 10:30—11 a.m.
  Henrietta Public Library - Community Room
  Age Level: Child (0 mos. - 2 yrs.)
  Storytime for babies and their caregivers! For infants to 23 months with an adult. Babies will experience books, nursery rhymes and songs with puppets and fingerplays. Registration required.
  
• Baby Story Time
  10/14/2011; 10:15 am - 10:45 am
  Ogden Farmers' Library
  Age Level: Child (0 mos. - 18 mos.) Bring your baby to the library! Join Miss Laura & Miss Sandi for stories, music, fingerplays and more. A great socialization opportunity for your little one. No registration required. 

• Community centers: Although I sadly live in a place without an abundance of good programs, there are lots of rec centers around the area that have kid- and baby-friendly programs available for non-residents! Two that I've heard good things about are Perinton and Webster.

• Indoor play places: I wasn't aware of these until recently. I've heard they are better for kids who are older (e.g., walking and able to climb safely), so look forward to checking it out in the future. One I've heard of is Kango Play Center, which is $80 for a year membership.

• Strong Museum of Play: This is a great place for kids of all ages (well, crawling and up). I was given a membership recently, so plan on going a lot! Joseph really enjoyed his first time there. A year-long membership for a family (2 adults plus all kids under 18 in the household) is only $96! Totally worth it if you ask me. Also, kids under 2 are free!

• Seneca Park Zoo: We still haven't gone to the zoo... but I'm looking forward to it when we do! A membership here is $75 year. Children up to age 3 are free!

• Other classes:
• Luvaboos has a variety of classes available: https://www.luvaboos.com/articles.asp?id=296

• Eastman School of Music (pricey, but if you're into music it might be nice): MusicTIME Toddler/Infant Music at Eastman - A unique program for infants and toddlers (ages 4 months to 2 years) and their parents/caregivers. MusicTIME features musical activities that include songs, rhymes, bounces, tickles, moving to music, and listening. Information and guidance on musical development in young children and home-based activities is also provided. Tuition: $136 per 10-week session

Other websites I've found with lots of information and ideas are:

• http://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com/content/indoor-fun-greater-rochester
• http://talesfromthecrib.blogspot.com/2007/03/things-to-do-with-one-year-old.html

Tell me if you have other ideas too! I'm especially looking for indoor or at home ideas as winter approaches!

One Year

My little guy turned the big number 1 on the 15! It's been interesting watching him grow and try to start to walk! Exciting and scary at the same time.

Here are some photos of the cake and such:

Big monkey cake for the grown-ups - recipe below!

Little monkey cake (w/ alternate frosting) for the birthday boy!

SMASHED!

I had a lot of fun making these! The cake recipe is one I found on Smitten Kitchen - I've included it below. I did one and a half times the recipe so that I had enough to make an extra 12 cupcakes and 3 mini cakes in my Pampered Chef one-cup glass baking bowls. (One of these was the little boy's cake shown above.)

Two-Layer Banana Cake from Smitten Kitchen
3 1/2 cups (14 3/8 ounces or 406 grams) cake flour
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons (8 grams) baking soda
3/4 teaspoon (5 grams) salt
3/4 teaspoon (2 grams) cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces or 227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (7 ounces or 200 grams) sugar
1 cup (7 5/8 ounces or 218 grams) packed golden brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups mashed or pureed very ripe bananas (5 to 6 large)
6 tablespoons (3 1/4 ounces or 91 grams) sour cream or (weight will vary) plain yogurt
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of 2 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper, then coat the paper and sides of pans with butter and flour, or a nonstick spray. [You'll also want to butter and flour 3 muffin cups or ramekins.]

Whisk cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl and set aside. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until blended. Beat in eggs one at a time, then bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Beat in dry ingredients in two additions just until combined. Divide batter among two pans; you’ll want approximately 5 cups of batter per pan. [Fill your 3 muffin cups or ramekins two-thirds of the way up with batter and divide remaining batter among your 2 9-inch pans.]

Bake cake until tester inserted into center of each layer comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes. [Muffin cups should bake for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Please watch them carefully.] Cool each layer in its pan for 15 minutes before flipping out onto a rack to cool the rest of the way.

Buttercream Frosting - this was a French buttercream that my pastry chef sister made for me! I split the recipe into 2/3 and 1/3 - the 2/3 got an additional 5 oz of melted semisweet chocolate to make the brown, and then the 1/3 got 1 spoonful of the chocolate frosting and some drops of yellow food coloring to make the yellow part of the monkey face. The link above is to a similar recipe, although I can't promise the niceness of having someone else make it for you!

Alternate Frosting
I didn't want Joseph to have a ton of sugar, so I mixed cream cheese and applesauce together for the frosting on his cake. (Joe I says it tasted pretty good!) I then decorated with leftover chocolate buttercream.

All in all we had a good time. Joseph still went to bed at a reasonable time, even with staying up to 'open' his presents (ok, Mom and cousins might have helped him a bit with that). I'm so proud of him and of making it a whole year as a mom! (Without serious injuries! haha)

One year! (Almost!)

It is hard to believe but my adorable son will be the big number ONE tomorrow! Hooray!!!

We have come so far so soon - it seems like only yesterday that he was a smushy little ball of love, barely able to move, and today Joe told me that he saw Joseph start to take steps! CRAZY!

We rearranged the living room and dining room last night (since the projector bulb broke, there's no need to keep it in the layout we had before) so he now has more room to wander. It feels much more open now, and he has a little corner all to himself (already full of toys!). Pictures of the birthday boy and the new layout will be forthcoming once I find the card reader for the camera. ;)

So now the question is: do we replace the projector bulb ($200 and will last for about 4 years) or do we pony up the big bucks and buy a TV (probably in the $600-$800 range)? We haven't owned a TV since we got married, but with Joseph starting to be more into things it might be nice to watch some Veggie Tales or Sesame Street once in a while without having to set up a projector screen.

Mom-i-verse, what say you? Is TV good in moderation or better to just avoid at all costs?