Puzzles, Salads, and a Toddler Trick for Dinnertime

Happy Friday! I'm so looking forward to the weekend! We have my niece's birthday party on Saturday and can't wait to spend some time in the sun with family and friends.  My hubby is home from being away for work and I don't know how other mama's do it! He rarely travels for training but by the end of his trip, I was ready for him to come home.  Read: Mommy needs alone time...by herself. Olivia really is a good girl, but you could tell she was missing her Daddy.   Now on to our totally random week ;) 

Since it was just the two of us for dinner, we ordered take out one night from a falafel place that I was excited to try.  It was really good and Livvy is a huge fan of hummus so we shared and everyone was happy. 

We made a couple trips to the park and enjoyed toddler time at our local library.  This is her third time being in the class, which runs for 6 weeks each time, and she loves it. Normally, Brynn comes with us but she wasn't feeling well so Livvy was a lone rider.  It was interesting to see how she did on her own and at first she was nervous but then jumped (danced) right in.  She also loves to do the puzzles there.  It's a great break in the day if we're bored and she loves books so it's a perfect place for us.  

Mid-week we were knee deep in toddler town and I needed to get some cleaning done.  She normally helps me, which I love because she's like a mini-me walking around spraying things, wiping, etc.  She even cleaned her kitchen, which was adorable because as she watched me cleaning out the fridge, she did the same with hers.  Afterwards, she was over it and moved on to better things...the dog food.  Have at it, kid.  I'll wash your hands.  She brought a pillow over and plopped down, "cutting" the dogs food as the dog watched her every move.  Honestly, it used to skieve me but now I need that four minute break to run around and get things done.  Again, there's always soap;) (Sorry, mom).

Keeping with the randomness of this post, I also discovered a fun way to get Olivia to eat things she may not always chose.  Since she's turned two (maybe even a little before) she's been more picky and eats very small portions before proclaiming "all done".  For lunch one day, I made her meatballs and diced them into four pieces and stuck toothpicks in them.  She ate every last piece!  I'll definitely be doing that again.  Obviously, you need to watch your little one because they can be sharp, but she was great with them.  

Lastly, I've always loved salads and I was browsing my Instagram feed (@thebirdsnestblog) and saw a delicious salad from Panera.  It was a quinoa salad bowl and looked so good so I had to recreate it.  I added fresh strawberries to mine and it was yummy!

How was your week?? Do you have any toddler approved tricks to get them to eat?  How about any yummy summer salad recipes?? I'd love to hear! XO