Children’s Books

Toddler climbing out of crib

Escape Artists, Thrifting, and Fall Reading

I think Niva’s fence jumping habit is rubbing off on Sadie. I heard her stirring in her crib yesterday morning and checked her baby monitor to find this scene. We have two escape artists on our hands, lol.

Toddler climbing out of crib

Thankfully I caught her before she fully climbed out, but I feel like our crib days are numbered. Fellow parents, when did you switch your child from a crib to a bed?

We’ve been doing some fall-themed reading here in the Zottola household. Sadie really enjoys Biscuit books, so we added a few fall ones to our growing collection. 

Biscuit books

We don’t celebrate Halloween, and I’ve found it tough to find children’s books about fall that aren’t Halloween-related. When I saw Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch, Biscuit is Thankful, and Happy Thanksgiving, Biscuit I was so pumped! 

Do you like to go thrift shopping? I don’t go very often, but every time I do I always wonder why I don’t do it more often. I especially like to thrift clothes for Sadie because she grows out of things so quickly. 

My mom, Sadie, and I went on a little girls’ outing to a local thrift store and found a few great deals.

Thrifted toddler clothing

The bird top was $2.09 and the bunny rabbit jumper was $1.04. 

Thrifted toddler clothes

The red dress cost $2.09 and the adorable animal print sweater was also $2.09.

Penn State toddler outfit

Last but not least for clothing, Sadie scored a Penn State shirt for $1.04 and jeggings for $0.99. 

I couldn’t pass up the book section because, well, books. I grabbed a book that tells the story of Noah’s ark for $0.50 and a marriage book I’ve been eying up for years for $1.99. I’m excited to dive in. 

Love and Respect and The Story of Noah

What was the last item you got a great deal on?

When You’re Up Way Too Early

I would definitely consider myself a morning person, but 3:30 is a bit too early for me. Sadie, Niva, and I are spending the night at my parents’ house and little miss Niva decided to run around the house like a wild banshee this morning. I couldn’t fall back asleep, so here I am 🙂

Jimmy has been away on a trip to the Creation Museum with our church this week (I wasn’t brave enough to bring a toddler, so I held down the fort with Sadie) and I’ve been missing him a whole bunch. Sadie and I have enjoyed the quality time together, though!

Mom and toddler with masks on

We went to one of our local libraries the other day and it was glorious. Something about books and the quietness of a library just fills me with joy. I think Sadie likes it, too. We read a few books together, played, and left feeling very happy.

I’m pretty sure I made the same face as Sadie below when I got to see all the books.

Toddler on library steps in Carnegie Pittsburgh Library

I ended up checking out Lulu’s Cafe by T.I. Lowe and have been plowing through it each night when Sadie goes to bed. I also requested Little Women because it has been way too long since I last read that classic! Sadie brought home a Biscuit book and a book about gardening.

On Wednesday night, I was the teacher for the toddler class at our church, and Sadie was my only student. We had fun coloring and learning about the letter C, for Cornelius!

Mom and toddler at church

I’ve been doing lots of snuggling with Niva and Malcolm.

Jimmy snapped this photo before he left. I was happy because Jimmy and I always joke that whichever pet lays with one of us on the couch in the evenings likes us more, lol. Malcolm usually sits with me and Niva snuggles up to Jimmy but I guess they thought I needed the extra love?!

Girl with cat and husky laying with her

My mom figured out that Sadie likes Uncrustables sandwiches. I’m going to have to pick some up for my house because I have a hard time getting her to eat much of anything.

Seeing Sadie chow down on one of my favorite combos of peanut butter and jelly made my heart happy!

Toddler eating Smucker's Uncrustables

My mom and I took Sadie shopping yesterday and that was an interesting experience. It involved a bottle of glass cleaner spilling all over the floor, haha.

She had fun running around the parking lot in her new daisy skirt that I got off of Facebook Marketplace. Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace are downright dangerous for me! I want to buy everything, lol.

Toddler running through parking lot in black and yellow daisy skirt

I also filmed a vlog of our day together on Thursday since it had been a while since I last vlogged!

Are you a morning person or a night owl?

What’s your favorite type of sandwich?

Are you a fan of Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace?