In yesterday’s post, I talked about Nora’s new-found love of baking with her mama. And I also alluded to how she was giving me mini heart attacks while helping in the kitchen, since she was always standing up on one of our kitchen chairs.
Several months ago (we’re talking January), I first saw a Learning Tower over at my e-friend Kate’s blog. They had splurged on one for their son, Owen, because he, too, likes helping in the kitchen. But Kate wasn’t kidding when she called it a splurge, because Learning Towers retail for a whopping $200.
Now, I’m not saying it’s not worth it. Kate and Owen love theirs, and I’m sure we could’ve dropped $200 and been really happy with ours, too. But the thing was—I had seen something kind of like this before. And I had seen it on Pinterest.
I think you know where this is going now. (And well, I guess I sort of gave it away in the title of my post. Oops.)
I pinned this tutorial/these plans for a DIY Learning Tower about a year ago. It was before I had ever even seen the “store-bought” Learning Towers, and was way before Nora was ready for such a thing. But it looked cool and like it could be useful someday, so I pinned it to tuck it away for… well, the present day.
Two weeks ago, we headed to Home Depot with the supplies list, and I set up shop in the garage. I have never built anything from scratch in my life, so I took this on as a personal challenge. I figured if I can craft, I can do this.
And I was right.
Yep. I built that. (I’m kind of proud.)
Here’s a quick look at how I got here…
The starting pieces of lumber.
To make things more manageable, I broke up the work over several evenings. On that first night, all I did was measure and cut all of the pieces. It probably took me about two hours.
(Oh, and you’re going to see some amazingly sexy workshop clothes in these photos—you know, pajama pants, sweatpants, and fleeces. And I wore the same thing a few times in a row, so don’t be fooled into thinking I did all of this in just one or two nights!)
All of the cut pieces. Not a bad accomplishment for Night #1. And yeah, I did enjoy a beer or two during the process. Beer + power tools = totally fine, right? (In all seriousness, I took it easy.)
Then I started building. (It required a lot more measuring, too. Blah.)
Before I knew it, things started to come together.
Hey, it looks like the one in the picture! :)
Once it was officially built, I brought it into the house last weekend for Nora to try it out briefly.
She was a fan right off the bat. From here, you can stain it, paint it, or whatever. We opted to paint it a fun color—purple, because it’s Nora’s favorite. But first, I spent a few nights this week filling in all of the screw holes with wood filler, then sanding the whole thing with fine-grit sandpaper. Then, this past weekend, I spray primed and spray painted the whole thing.
Tonight, when I was getting ready to cook dinner and Nora demanded to be a part of the action—”Puh! Puh!” (Up! Up!)—I was prepared. I marched out to the garage and carried her new purple helper tower into the kitchen.
I gave her “jobs” (her favorite is to be taste tester). I let her “help.” She was a happy camper. And so was I.
The platform is adjustable. It rests on the ladder rungs, so as she gets older/taller, we can drop the level down a bit so she’s not towering over the countertop.
I’m really happy with how it turned out. I can’t believe I made it myself. And hey, it only cost about $40 in materials (including all of the spray paint). We had the correct size wood screws already on hand, so that saved us about $10.
It was a fun project, and a worthwhile one, too.
Questions? Feel free to ask! Again, the plans are from Ana White. And if you decide to make one on your own, good luck, and let me know how it goes! :)
Have you ever surprised yourself by completing a project you weren’t sure you could do? If you’ve built something from scratch before, what was it? How did it turn out? I have to say, I give a lot of credit to people who can do woodwork (like my dad and granddad!). Do you let your little ones “help” in the kitchen? What are some of the “jobs” you give them to keep them busy (and safe) in the kitchen?
Nora is a typical 2-year-old toddler. She is smart. She is hilarious. She amazes us with the things she is learning every day. She also has ‘tude for miles. And she wants to do whatever we’re doing. She wants to help. And heaven help us, she wants to do things BY HERSELF.
One morning a few weeks ago, I asked Nora (for the first time ever) if she wanted to help me bake some apple cookies bars. Girlfriend JUMPED at the chance, and soon I had an enthusiastic toddler balancing precariously on a kitchen chair next to me. I couldn’t walk more than a few inches away from her for fear she would fall, which made the whole process take about four times longer than usual.
BUT Nora had the time of her life. And so did I. It was one of those heart-warming, I-could-not-love-her-more type of moments. Doing something I’ve always loved (baking), and sharing that with my daughter? Completely priceless moments.
The very next week, we baked again. We were finishing up at the grocery store and I was buckling her into her car seat when I said, “When we get home, you can bake cookies with Mommy!” and she said, “YEAH!!” We drove home as usual, Michael and I talking or whatever in the front seat, Nora keeping herself busy in the back. When we got into the house, Michael and I set out to unload groceries. Nora, on the other hand, made a BEELINE for the kitchen table, and began pulling/pushing one of the chairs over to the counter.
I was absolutely amazed: 1) That she had retained the “We can bake cookies when we get home” message from 10 minutes earlier, and 2) That she remembered how the week before, she had stood on a kitchen chair to help me. I know that’s probably not an abnormal ability (the memory) at her age, but there are times when I am still amazed by it. This was one of those times.
And so we baked. This time? Pumpkin cookies.
And then we made pumpkin oatmeal cookies the week after that.
In the middle of all of this, I was on a mission to create a better way for her to help me. (More on that in tomorrow’s post.)
What are the hobbies that you share with your children? Things that you were “into” in the pre-baby days, that you’ve carried over into your parenthood role, and are now passing on to your kids? It’s my hope that someday, Nora will remember all of these hours that she spent with me in the kitchen, and that they’ll be as special to her as they are to me.
Maybe I’m imagining it, but it seems like we haven’t had the greatest weather this fall. We had a great summer, so I can’t complain too much, but it feels like we’ve had a lot of rain since September hit. And if it’s not rainy, there are very gray skies.
Today, it was a really nice day—almost too warm for fall, actually—so instead of coming home from work and heading into the kitchen to make dinner, we decided to throw a frozen pizza in the oven and spend our time playing outside. After all, we still hadn’t introduced Nora to the fun that is playing in the leaves.
Our girl was happy to play outside in the fresh air.
She is obsessed with picking these berries off of our shrubs and bringing them to us. It’s crazy what they latch onto as “fun” activities.
To distract her from the berries, I brought out a basket of sand toys she received for her birthday. Who needs actual sand?
As it turned out, sand toys (especially buckets) are really fun with leaves, too. BIG SMILES.
So simple. So fun.
When you grow to be an adult, leaves suck. They are just another chore to add to the long list of chores. But then you have kids, and through their eyes, you learn to see the fun in them again.
I predict at least a few more jaunts in the leaves this fall.
Oh, and how about the outfit? Crazy cute, huh? The boots slay me. Nora was in “a mood” this morning, and I had to literally wrestle the boots onto her, and quickly distract her while she cried “BOOOOOOTS!!” and tried to kick them off immediately. I normally choose my battles and if she wants to wear purple crocs with an outfit that doesn’t match them, whatever. But today, I fought and won. And it was totally worth it. :)
I don’t have much opportunity to really play with photography anymore. But on Saturday, we were visiting with our nephews and I had the urge to try to get more than just “snaps.” I twisted on one of my favorite lenses and headed outside after the kids.
5-year-old Brendan was the most cooperative. I got this shot in just a couple of frames.
Nora was not going to look at the camera. No way, no how. But I still love this shot of her. Those curly pigtails (she looks like Cindy Brady!). That gorgeous little pouty mouth.
3-year-old Logan made me work for it. But he fell for all most of my bribes. :) Sweet boy.
How fun it was to download these images off of the camera tonight. I had almost forgotten what it’s like to photograph a cooperative subject! Hopefully Nora will see the light and begin responding to my bribery soon enough. It’s the only way!
Any photographers (pros or hobbyists, even the “momtographers”) out there with tips on how to get two-year-olds to look at the camera? We get lucky a lot of times when we team up–Michael jumps around and makes her laugh behind me, and I snap away. But when I’m trying by myself? So hard. She purposely ignores me (I guess she’s practicing for her teen years).
Any recent favorite photos to share?
We discovered within the last week or so that Nora has a new talent. (Excuse my mommy bragging for a minute, eh?)
She can catch. And boy, can she throw.
Go figure. :)
She is also really good at choreography…
Nora is also a very talented actress…
THE DRAMA. This was actually tonight. I had her help me with baking a batch of cookies for tomorrow, and she was NOT.HAPPY. when we were done plopping the batter on cookie sheets and they had to go into the oven. She wasn’t even crying, she was just dramatically flopping over onto the counter to express her discontent. She also kept peeking out the side of her hands to make sure we were watching.
TODDLERS. Or maybe GIRLS. I don’t know. But it’s certainly entertaining.
I love her more every single day.
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
