Adventures In Crafting: A Week Of Colors

Yes, I made it!  I completed a full month of creating crafts and activities for my son based on weekly themes.  This week was colors and it was fun and messy.

Monday

Green Day!  I started off the week planning on doing one color a day.  CJ had a visitor on this day which is just as exciting for me as I have the opportunity to see how other children like the crafts.  I don't know if it is because his friend is a girl or just her personality, but she always participates a little better in the crafts (she is 5 months older than my son).  I just put out green play dough, green crayons and markers to color leaves and a clovers that I printed and I also got out the green pipe cleaners.  Later in the day (not shown) I printed pictures of all things green and put them in a folder and went through the pictures with my son.

Tuesday

The color is Blue!  I had the idea of water and clouds so I recalled that painting style I did when I was a kid where you put globs of paint on the paper and fold it and press the globs out and the final product is this cool psychedelic painting.  We tried that and he seemed pretty interested.  The second craft was making clouds with cotton balls on blue construction paper.  He was mostly interested in the cotton balls and playing with the glue.  It was fun!

Wednesday

Halloween...mommy took this as a break to just let him learn about the holiday.  There were parties and trick or treating which he learned to really enjoy.  He called it "going to see the houses".

Thursday

He had his My Gym class and we just recovered from the holiday.

Friday

I got back in the game with Rainbow Day.  I found this website that made rainbows with Fruitloops, generic of course.  It was really fun separating the colors.  Once again, I had more fun making the rainbows than my son.  He enjoyed pointing out the different colors in the bowls which is the whole idea anyway.  We used cotton balls to make the clouds at the end of the rainbows.

Saturday

I added an extra multicolor day as I kept putting off making Jell-O.  I know Jell-O is supposed to be easy, but I clearly did something wrong.  I think it was a result of using different brands.  It was so messy that I came up with the idea of mixing the colors to see what we could get.  It was still fun and this time he found out that the craft was edible.

This is the last post of the series.  I am going to continue to do crafts every week and sometimes the whole week will be one theme and some weeks will be a mix.  Since it is a lot of work to do a weekly recap and blog every single thing, I will just randomly post with hit activities, good ideas I find online or any where, and all things pertaining to kids.

Things I Learned (Full Recap):
1.  Making themed week and planned crafts really helps both of us get through each day, but can me a lot of work on mommy to prepare.  Time goes by fast and he is not constantly begging to go play (at a playroom) or be outside every moment.
2.  I am not a bad mom if I just let him be independent sometimes and entertain himself while I get work done.
3.  I don't know how many times I will have to remind myself this, but not everything will work for him.

The Swap

Approximately one year ago, my dear friend who also happens to be my neighbor, brought up the suggestion of doing a Date Night Swap.  No, not swapping boyfriends or husbands, but babysitting for our kids.  One weekend she goes out and I would watch her little girl and the next weekend my hubby and I go out and she would watch our son.  This was the perfect situation because our children have to same schedule so the plan was always come to the person's house once the chickadees were asleep.  Then life happened and she was blessed with a baby boy and we took a break from that......

Well when I became a Stay At Home Mom...Sort Of, I got a real quick reality check when I found my house was not spotless like I assumed it would be if I was not working outside the home.  Amidst my frustration, the wheels got to spinning and I came up with another swap.  "Day Time Swap"!  I brought it up to my friend and we have been doing it for the past few months.  We each take each other's kids for 3 hours once a week, rotating each week.  I have got everything done from deep cleaning the kitchen to running errands like I did before I became a mommy.  My friend also usually cleans up, but one day treated herself to a shopping trip (Bjorn in tow of course) and was in heaven.  The best part is it works on either end.  If you are watching the kids, you child gets a play mate AND the hours we chose includes lunch so when you pick up your kid or the other goes home, it's nap time.

I recommend this to anyone who has friends or a friend that you trust with a child the same age.  Even start as a trial.  It is the greatest thing ever.  I am so grateful for my friend for coming up with the first swap, leaving me comfortable enough to suggest the second.

Adventures In Crafting: Shapes Week

This was another week that brought out the good ideas....and the cold virus.

Monday

I copied a craft I found online where you use Q-tips to create shapes.  This was the best as it required no purchases.

Here I printed out connect the dots shapes for coloring.  Just as I learned from my other crafts, he was clearly not able to draw the shapes.  But I drew them and he began to recite the color and the shape so he still learned something.

Tuesday

I made play dough using this unimaginably easy recipe and leftover food coloring.  Side note:  I had such a good time making the dough, I had to force myself to stop after the third batch.  I didn't have the right shape cookie cutters so I used a knife.  He wasn't really interested in the play dough, but really focused on the shapes I had made.  You see the pattern here...mommy has fun, CJ learns.

Wednesday

I finally got myself together enough to make pancakes in the morning and cut them into the shapes we're focusing on this week.  For our activity, I cut sponges into basic shapes and put paint mixed with water (had to save the paint) onto plates and let him soak and smush away on sheets of printer paper I taped together.  I also found pages online where there are hidden shapes and put them in a binder and even tried to make a story out of it.

By Thursday, the cold had overtook the household and we just tried to rest and keep him distracted from the fact that he wasn't going outside.  I really had to be creative here.

Things I Learned:
1.  Kids have endurance when they are sick so don't count them out.
2.  When the kids are sick, rest, because you could be joining them soon.

Adventures In Crafting: Week of Five Senses

This was my favorite theme thus far.  I came up with so many ideas of how to make this into crafts and games for my son.

Monday

The day of Taste.  This was the best of the five as it was so fun to observe.  It was pretty simple, I searched around the house to see what types of foods we had and what type of flavor it produced and quickly made labels and cut.  I put them in whatever container was cleaned and lined them up in a way that would be appealing to my son and he went to work.  I think he only absorbed the concept of sweet, but it was so hilarious to watch his facial expressions after he tasted the different flavors.  Despite the look from tasting the lemon and lime, he kept trying it.  I was on the floor laughing hysterically because he just crawled back and forth on the table trying the lemon and then the lime.

I also created a book showing him how other animals eat.

Tuesday

The sense for this day was Sight.  After a morning attending his first art class, we ended the day with a glue the eyes on the face craft.  I printed clipart blank faces (making sure I at least had a male and female face) and printed different color eyes on card stock and cut them.  I had to throw in the plastic eyes that move, because they are his favorite.

Here we went into my closet, the only room than can be made dark in the day time, where I used a flashlight to create different visual images.  Believe it or not, each of these activities lasted only like 15 minutes.  He was not fully sold.

Wednesday

Touch, was the theme of the day.  It was also my turn to watch my friend and neighbor's daughter so we added an extra activity in, baking cookies.  It was so fun and the cookies were delicious.  Then I did a simple game with my son where I put different textured items in a brown paper bag and let him dig in.  He totally ignored the descriptions, but that didn't stop me from narrating every time he went into a new bag.

Thursday and Friday became free days.  Although I had hearing and smelling activities planned, mommy had some work to do.  A visit from the grandparents kept him entertained while I got to work.  Fortunately he has his My Gym class on Thursdays for his organized activity.

Things I learned:
1.  Just because I am excited about a craft or activity does not necessarily mean it'll go over well with my two year old
2.  Not age appropriate, doesn't mean he won't have fun with it.
3.  If you have things to get done, do so.  The children will survive.

Adventures In Crafting: Pumpkin Week

Between being sick and choosing a theme that left me appearing like a deer caught in the headlights, Pumpkin Week wasn't an out of the park hit.  It started off promising with a wonderful trip to Underwood Family Farms, but fizzled out after pumpkin painting.  I still hung in there to get through the week by perseverance and relying on oldies, but goodies.

Monday

Daddy took off and joined us for a wonderful trip to Underwood Family Farms.  CJ loved it!  There are pumpkins, rides for kids, farm animals, and a corn maze.  I had planned for theme weeks to end in a trip, but this place costs $12 per person on the weekends and that includes the munckin.  But during the week, it only cost us $9 and we used last years leftover tickets for the rides.  This was well worth switching up the schedule.

Tuesday

 We picked a mini pumpkin for our little one so it wouldn't be to overwhelming to handle and paint.  This project made me second guess using paint as a craft with this little guy.

Wednesday

I attempted to copy Play At Home Moms with the pumpkin magnet and tried to take it in a cheap direction and this one did not work out too well.  The magnets didn't stick well and he ended up just pulling them off the paper and the fridge.  It did, however keep him occupied for a second.  This day was when I reintroduced an activity from last week.

Using the picture board I made and the Woodsie cut-outs.  He had to match the letter blocks with the corresponding pictures.  Although I had to point out most pictures and tell him the letter, he got a few on his own.  I couldn't believe he actually had the patience to finish the whole board!

Thursday

Stamp day or should I say Diaster day.  It started off with me trying to have him make pumpkin stamps on white paper with different color ink and, well, you can see the pictures.

I also made a box tunnel, an idea I've adapted from several blogs and articles.  It was actually a hit, but I struggled adding the features I wanted.  It was supposed to have pumpkin lights inside.  He loved it though.  We ended up playing "mommy chase me into the box".  The day was also filled up with a trip to the store.

Friday

This was I am totally over it day.  I just took him to a local playroom and watched him enjoy himself.  I joined in intermittently to encourage pretend play.

Things I Learned:
     1.  Take time to learn what is age appropriate.
     2.  When in doubt rely on the basics
     3.  Come up with rainy day ideas (this includes mommy sick days)
     4.  Some activities won't work the cheap way, so don't be to proud to skip it.
     5.  Kids, unlike us, get pleasure out of simple things so if something doesn't work perfectly give yourself a break.

To Chaperon Or Not To Chaperon

After a recent event, my plan to always chaperon my child's field trips was reinforced to a great extent.  My husband and I took our son on a trip to Underwood Family Farms (for Pumpkin week) and it was amazing as usual.  My husband sent my son down a makeshift slide from farm equipment.  I looked up the slide trying to figure out what was taking him so long and it seemed like my husband was grabbing at something, a kid.  Next thing I know he is coming down the stairs holding the hands of a child that was crying uncontrollably.  She was so adorable with her little glasses, it broke my heart.

It turns out she was on a school trip and lost her group and was pinned at the top of the slide due to impatient children pushing past her.  Fortunately for us, she was wearing the school shirt so it was only a matter of minutes before we found matching red shirts and reunited her with the group.  When I approached them and they saw her they said "oh my goodness, we were looking for her" and they asked her "where were you".  One of the teachers said she followed another group and that is how she got lost.  The poor little girl was still in tears and hysterical.  She was probably 7 years old or so and very tiny.  We left her and the whole time I was holding back tears.  Then I became almost instantly angry.  I realized they did not appear to be looking for her.  Her mother sent her on a trip thinking she was safe and that the school would take good care of her.  She could have been snatched in moments by a predator.  This led me to think about a few things.  One, I will always make sure myself or my husband chaperon a trip.  Two, what if a parent can't chaperon.  What can they do?  I thought about what I would do, ask their methods of keeping the children together.  Ask how man children a going and how many adults.  If it seems not enough adults for he amount of children, see if more can be recruited.  Know where they are going and every detail about the place.  I know I have to let my child grow and can't hover too much, but will try to protect him as much as possible.

Adventures In Crafting: Alphabet Week-Day 5

Whew, I made it through our first week of crafting and it was awesome.  It's hard to imagine I began the week stressed, overwhelmed, and scared that I couldn't be THAT mom. CJ finally played the picture letter matching board game!  What a way to end the week, my perseverance paid off.  We went slightly off schedule today with a lot more independent play time than planned, but I was o.k. with that.

My awesome husband cut the Woodsie panels, this idea I got from the Play At Home Moms blog.  We did not use this this week.

Here, my son finally started playing the picture match game.  I was freaking out with excitement and probably became overly enthusiastic as usual.  I would tell him the item in the picture and tell him the letter it started with and he would find the letter on the board and place the picture.  Some pictures he described himself, but the best part is he actually went through the board in its entirety.

Our craft for the day was noodles and the letter 'N'.  He loved pouring these ones out.

 Next week is pumpkin week and I have decided that I will just consolidate the Adventures In Crafting series into one weekly post.  It is a lot to do a daily recap with a toddler and other projects.  See I am learning time management and how to let things go.

Things I learned:  When you find the right game, they can really focus.
                                If, somehow, one manages to keep a child focused for a long period of time,
                                a break should follow immediately to give them some free time to just be a
                                toddler.
             

Old School Learning

I was in the kitchen prepping a delicious vegetable dip when I remembered that I could use this as an activity or teaching moment.  So instead of just measuring ingredients and throwing them in the blender I started putting things into the measuring  cups and lining them up so it would look interesting to a two year old.  I grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the counter and called my son in with excitement saying "Ooh look what mommy has for you.  Do you want to help mommy?"  He ran over with excitement, mainly for being able to "push the button".  I had him pour each cup in one at a time and then he was given the task of turning on the blender.  In no time flat I taught my son how to help with cooking, the act of pouring, recognizing numbers (on the blender dial), and how to do things one at a time.  Not to mention, I got some cooking done.  It's nice to be able to take it back to the simple things when it is so easy to get overwhelmed and go overboard on new ways to teach the little ones.

Adventures In Crafting: Alphabet Week - Day 4

Thursday was a day of hits and misses.  The letter of the day was 'C' and I had planned three activities.  Today was also My Gym day which I love.  It got us out of the house and I am very pleased with their program for his age and I absolutely love the instructors.  Lucky for me one of them is male so I think that is good for my son.  I am realizing now that most programs for toddlers are scheduled around the average toddler schedule because everything we do starts between 10:00 am and 10:30 am.  I feel like the stars lined up for me on that or I just happen to choose a standard schedule for my child.  Anyway, 12:00 pm is lunch and around 1:00 pm nap.  While Connor napped I set up one of the activities, "Letters Around The House". I cut out large capital letters on my Cricut (you'll probably see that name a lot with these crafting projects) and taped them to items corresponding with that letter around the house.  Once CJ was up at around 2:45 pm, an almost two hour nap which is a treat for me, his gets a snack and free/independent play.  I set up the next craft which was cotton balls that are to be glued on the letter 'C' and I made a paper bag puppet cow to add some entertainment to the day.  I have become so obsessed with the puppet idea.  When the issue came up to introduce social aspects to my son's education, I realized I can use puppets.  Well before I could get started CJ recognized the letters and I began taking him around the house to find the letters.  He went ballistic.  He loved it.  He was so excited and running to find the next one and of course I began running as well, because this seemed to be a hit and that brought me an uncontrollable joy.

As expected at craft time it was dump everything out and put back in time again.  He did seem to show some interest in the cotton balls and their texture.  He kept trying to get back into the paint container during the whole process.  Caliapi the Cow (yep I gave it a name) just seemed to weird him out so I am figuring out at this point puppets may not be for him.  This craft did not last long and he got antsy so I had him help me clean up.  While cleaning up I had come up with pretending the 99 cent table cloth is a wave of water and I go hopping around the house making waves with it.  He loves it.  Anyway, the rest of the evening went like this:

5:15 pm - Dinner
5:30 pm - Sesame St.
6:30 pm - Milk and Cookies
7:00 pm - Medicine (he has asthma)
7:20 pm - Story in Bed
7:35 pm - Sleepy time

Things I learned:  Some kids just don't like everything despite how standard some things seem to be.

Adventures In Crafting: Alphabet Week-Day 3

O.k., I am truly on a roll.  This craft day I was most excited about and to top it all off, we had an outing since I dubbed CJ well enough to be around other children (I thought he had a cold).  The day started off with the standard routine, but at 10:00 am instead of starting a craft or whatever  activity I had planned, we were off to the library for story time.  We arrived back home around 12:00 pm so it was already time for lunch.  He had free play with my phone apps.  This means, it's whichever game he likes most rather than theme of the week related.  Fortunately for me, I only have apps for him that stimulate learning.  The ones he happens to like are these puzzle apps which require dexterity, skill, and patience.  It freaks me out how well he plays them.  I do consider them along the lines of television so it is limited in the schedule.  Then it was nap time.  After nap there is independent play and then I set up for craft #2.  This was by far my favorite.  The letter of the day was 'B' so that meant buttons and his favorite, butterflies.  I cut out tiny butterflies that were to be used to decorate the letter 'B' I had printed on paper and a giant butterfly onto which he would hopefully glue buttons.

The outcome, CJ just played a game he created called "Dump The Buttons Out Of The Container And Put Them Back".  He shouted butterfly over and over again.  I got him to participate slightly by handing me buttons to glue onto the big butterfly.  I also tried a repeat of using the pipe cleaners to make the letter 'B' and decided to make glasses which I was requested to wear for a significant portion of the day.  Once again the craft lasted a significant amount of time, he helped me put the buttons away and the day just flew by with dinner, an hour of Sesame Street, and an alphabet bath (with alpha sponges) which he loved completing the day.  Yay, I really feel like I am getting less stressed and enjoying this time more than ever.

Things I Learned:  Having an outing incorporated into the day really allows me to reduce the amount of      
                                crafts and activities I have to prepare at home.  It also provides for a more balanced
                                day

Adventures in Crafting: Alphabet Week-Day 2

In the wake of Monday's failed events, I went into Tuesday with lowered expectations.  My schedule was already planned out, but as I have been noticing since I had began creating these MS Excel based schedules they serve merely as a guide and nothing more.  It keeps me focused and less scattered brained than I would be without one.  CJ woke up around 7:00 am and since the Valley is blazing hot, we try to get him outside as soon as possible.  I then decided to skip pushing the picture match game and let him play out back for a little longer.  By 11:30 am I busted out the craft box.  This was insanely exciting to me as this is our first home craft and I actually have a craft box for my son.

This day was letter A so I used the craft from an online website, I will post the link later, where they suggested making alligators by painting clothes pins green.  I thought this was an awesome idea and it was only partly because I already had clothespins in my personal craft box.  Well, to my surprise this one went well.  By well I mean I coaxed CJ into painting a little, but he was more excited about stacking the paint strips.  I had pipe cleaners in one of the boxes and ended up shaping the letter "A" and he loved that.  I took this as a win and it took up way more time than I expected and I even threw in teaching how to clean up.  Aside from letting him play only alphabet apps on my phone and playing all alphabet songs for a few minutes, those were the only alphabet activities that took for the day.

Things I Learned:  Go with the flow
                                Make up as you go along, it's more fun and organic
                                Any acknowledgement of the craft is considered
                                participation

Adventures In Crafting: Alphabet Week Day 1

So it's day one of my attempt to introduce a curriculum into my two year old's daily life.  This week is alphabet week.  The plan is to do alphabets and crafts relating to the alphabet all week.  I began shopping for the crafts on Sunday after I spent all of Saturday evening coming up with ideas and man was it stressful.  I also had to stick to a budget and couldn't just go buy anything my heart desired.

The plan was to start with an activity which I feel was an original creation but, as I have learned, I am sure it was an idea that I came across at some point in my research that penetrated my  brain and hid.  I made up a game where I was going to collect pictures from the internet that cover the whole alphabet and post them on a board.  CJ would then use alphabet blocks to connect with each picture.  Keep in mind.  This was the plan so I stayed up pretty late using a book to make a grid on the poster board because apparently in my shopping haste and excitement I forgot I would need a ruler at some point.  I then used a marker to make the lines pop and make the board more exciting and colorful my munchkin.  Before I knew it, it was too late and I was exhausted so I never got the pictures glued onto the board and I hadn't bought the Woodsie blocks for  to paste on the letters.



The next morning, when it was almost time (on the schedule) to play "Match the Picture with The Letter", I realized I didn't have a lot of time to glue the pictures on so I came up with writing the letters in the spots where the pictures go (I wanted to keep them in alpha order to reduce confusion) so I can be more efficient in my pasting.  Well that led to a new game, "Help Mommy Paste The Pictures On Their Corresponding Letter".  Well I wouldn't use the word corresponding with my two year old. Ha Ha.

As you can see from the picture, CJ found it more enjoyable to get on top of the board and point out the letters.  After a few minutes of coming up with creative ways to coax my son into playing the game with no luck.  I put the board away. Maybe we can try again later, I thought.

I was not prepared with my planned alligator craft so the day ended with me having to go to Wal-Mart to get more crafts, finding alphabet music and playing that for him, and his usual free play apps on my phone and sesame street.  I did continue to make attempts to play my picture letter game to no avail.  At the end of the day I felt defeated, but with the drive to do better next time and some valuable lessens learned

Things I Learned:  Know that all crafts and games will not take, be patient.
                                You can actually come up with multiple ways to play with crafts based on how the child              
                                 reacts or their interests.
                                 Be prepared ahead of time

Stay At Home Mom.....Kind of

On July 30, 2012 at about 11:00 am, I became a stay at home mom and it was not by choice.  First and foremost being with my child every day is heaven on earth.  I didn't think it was possible, but I actually became more attached and more obsessed with him.  Shortly into this new change came the shock that being a stay at home mom was nothing like I thought.  My house was supposed to be spotless.  I would have dinner ready for my husband every night and I would make him breakfast and pack his lunch and blah blah blah.  Of course the veteran STAHMs are laughing at me or maybe those super ones are like what's the problem.  I first got caught up in taking my son every where.  I wanted to keep him active and social.    My son is a little slow on the social interaction and I was determined to change that....apparently immediately.  Previously my husband was at home with him during the day and of course men are a little (or a lot) more relaxed.  He had a daddy and me group, but that was the gist.  I was initially so overwhelmed; feeling like I was failing at my new "job".  Also, FYI, at the end of the day after I put CJ to bed I was exhausted and trying to figure out why the day felt harder than when I was working.  To exacerbate the stress, I had come to the realization that we may not be able to start him at pre-school when we thought which is three years old and maybe not at all or not until four.  We are talking over $400 per month for part time and over $800 per month for full time.  The next step for an overachieving, Type A person like myself that meant becoming a pre-school teacher asap.   After speaking with a mom friend we kind of came up with the idea of planning a schedule for the whole month of October.  And with each week, there would be a theme.  I researched a lot of blogs and websites and went crazy.   I dove in head first and became overwhelmed and depressed and stressed especially after looking at this website: http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com/   It is awesome, but as one of the moms point out they often have housekeepers and clearly the finances to facilitate all that they post.  Of course, that disclaimer went in one ear and out the other and I just panicked.  Fast forward to now and I am starting to realize I have to let some things go.  As a kind of stay at home mom, the kind of refers to the fact that I am trying to establish a new career, I have to realize you have to create a balance and be realistic.

Give a Snuggie???

I had read early on when we were going through the sleep in his own room phase that introducing a comfort item could help him sleep on his own.  Fortunately we didn't really have to try any tricks just the method mentioned in my previous blog.  For some reason, I now can't remember, we decided to introduce the stuffed bear his aunt bought him.  Oh yes, now I recall, it was for naps!  Although we had his bed time routine down packed, naps were not his/our strong suit.  Needless to say, the bear took.  It was so cute to witness.  He would walk around with his bear in a choke hold pulled close to his face or carry it around in his mouth like a puppy.  That was my favorite, he would latch on to his bear's snout with is teeth and just walk around like that.  Now he calls for him "Baya" whenever he thinks about him.  We try to keep bear restricted to bed time, but some times he like bear to be involved in reading time or just plain old comfort.  But word to the wise, the attachment can become a dependency.  One day I nearly broke my neck searching for "Baya".  I was so frazzled and desperate.  It was his bed time and my son was crying for  him and I couldn't find him and we have our routine so I was even more angered by breaking it in order to find the bear.  I found it, but realized I may have created a monster.  We went on a couple of trips and forgot "Baya" and were so devastated.  He was fussy, but he didn't call for "Baya".  Again we are at the point where we will not put him in the bed without "Baya" and he will not go quietly without him.  So you have to ask yourself did you want to be in this situation just to help him get comfy with sleep.  I say it is worth it, but beware.

The Sippie Cup War........Part Deux!

The battle is finally over!  A winner has emerged and the bottle is gone!  Hooray Hurrah!!  Yes, what our wonderful children do not know is that parents are in it for the long haul.  Our commitment and dedication to getting our little one off the bottle paid off.  It seemed as if it would never happen.  He loved his bottle, and truthfully, I loved to watch him drink from the bottle.  He had this methodical, mechanical suckling that was so adorable and soothing to him, but as we all know he does not need to be on the bottle any longer.  I have to attribute it to waiting.  Everyone pushes for 12 months and makes a new mom feel pressure to reach these target dates.  As I mentioned before, I talked to veteran moms that said just wait until they are ready or that their children were not off bottle until like 18 months.  So I can say at 16 months, my son kicked the bottle.  I think what helped was that we decided to not push it until he really got familiar and comfortable with his sippie.  We probably started water out of a sippie at 12 months.  Now, don't get me wrong, we did initially try to rush the bottle and that totally back fired.  When 15 months came around we reintroduced the sippie with milk in mornings only.  He would have it as soon as he woke up when he was thirsty and desperate.  That seemed to be natural for him and hey, don't judge we had to take advantage.  After a few weeks of that we brought the sippie for his bed time bottle (bottle right before bed) and while fussing he devoured every last drop.  The second  night was a cake walk and out went the bottle.  Next is cold milk...we are almost there!!!

The Window

So I am putting on my son's jammies this evening which consisted of a onsie and pj shorts.  As usual, we start on his back putting on his night time diapers (which are a Godsend...no more waking up soaked in pee pee), then we finish up with him standing on his changing table and me pulling up the shorts.  Once I put him back on the ground I realized the two side-shoulder buttons on the onsie needed to be buttoned.  He was eyeing his books on his book shelf deciding which ones to knock down so he can choose one to "read".  I went to button the onsie and I got a little sloppy and was struggling.  I started to panic and shake a little because he was approaching that moment where he would start fussing if I took any longer and finally I got them buttoned.  When I finished, all I could do is laugh that I was in such a panic to finish.  My heart was actually racing and that, my friends I dubbed "The Window".  Occasionally Boogie will give us a still moment where we can clip his nails, fix his clothes, wipe his face and if we do not finish in time he will scream or run and anything to avert the situation.  I realized that this has done two things, it has caused me to panic if for some reason my hand is too shaky or if I slip.   The other thing, is that is has made me a speed demon at some things like changing his diaper since he gives me like 10 seconds before he tries to roll over and stand up naked.  I tell you, I have to wonder who is really running the show.

The Sippie Cup War........Part Un

My son transitioned to cow's milk so smoothly.  Actually it was a little too smooth.  I mean I expected there to be some major telenovela dramatics when he discovered his milk was no longer coming from mommy.  I was a little sad to see that he didn't skip a beat.  The truth is, I was the one that needed to be weened.  It made me feel so crucial to his life when I was breastfeeding.  Then he started eating more solids so we reduce the amount of milk and we decided to implement water with a sippie.  There was a lot of spilling and choking in the beginning which gave me constant heart attacks. After a couple of months or so, he mastered the sippie....with water.  Around 13 months, we decided we wanted to try to get him off the bottles.  Everything we were reading said "Get Them Off The Bottle" with such urgency as if it's a critical situation (Let me point out, we never found a concrete explanation for the urgency).  We figured this would be a piece of cake since everything else went so smoothly.  Besides, he was starting to drink water so well from the sippie....WRONG!!!  Apparently these little ones know their liquids and have developed an affinity for how they drink their milk.  For example, I have to have my hot liquids extremely hot.  My husband likes his coffee black.  I like to eat ice cream out of a cup and apparently my son will only take milk from a bottle.  The first time we tried it we held the cup to his mouth and he took some and spilled most.  He wasn't really interested so we would pour it back in the bottle and he would have his way.  My husband is in a daddy group so one of the dad's told my husband his ped said it was imperative that they get their son off the sippie.  The ped further explained to just take the bottle away cold turkey and that the baby would fuss for like the first four days and then be over it.  Of course my husband translated that as, let's do that for our son.  He put up a fuss at the morning milk, but he drank some (approximately 2 oz.).  The afternoon milk went the same, but we noticed he was fussy all day.  At night, we have a pretty set and extremely consistent schedule that he knows to the "T".   The key part is that I put the bottle on our night stand and we put him in our bed to have a relaxing bed time drink.  Well instead of a bottle we had the sippie cup and I carried him in the room to protocol and he took one look at the sippie and lost his marbles.  He screamed bloody murder and in fear of not getting him to sleep, I caved and gave him a bottle.  Of course, we did not initially give up and decided it was the sippie.  Approximately 3 cup types later, we ultimately decided that my husband and I would revisit the sippie cup later down the road.  I talked to vet

Food For Them

It is a constant challenge trying to find things to feed my little one.  Combine the fact that he is limited in what he is able to chew with trying to maintain a healthy diet and you have a recipe for disaster.  In the beginning there was breastmilk and there is just no easier way to feed a baby.  Then there is the rice cereal, of course I started off early with the health food kick so I chose brown rice cereal.  He took it really well.  Next is the Stage 1 Gerber (or equivalent) baby food.  Let me just say the best thing I read was to start the babies on vegetables first before fruit.  We took that to the core and only gave him veggies for like a month or more.  He now eats all of his veggies, except green beans.  He eats peas, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash.  Once he was initially good with veggies and after we covered a wide range, we added fruit very slowly.

Oh, side note, we didn't start solids until 6 months.  The AAP recommends starting at 4 to 6 months.  Once our son turned 4 months I could not wait to feed him solids, because according to the old school and experienced moms, "he was going to sleep much longer".  I wanted to check with the doctor first so at his visit we discussed it with her and she suggested we wait until 6 months.  She had explained that since he was gaining weight so well with my breastmilk, we should wait.  Apparently their immature digestive system increases the risk of allergies.  I will not get too technical here although I'd love to do that, but that is the jist.  I went home disappointed and thankful all at once.  So two months later, yay, we started on rice cereal.  Let me be the first to tell you feeding him solids did not help him sleep any longer.  Also, those same moms were talking about putting the rice cereal in a bottle and letting them go to sleep.  It was plastered all over our paper work FEED CEREAL WITH A SPOON, NOT IN THE BOTTLE!  It is a choking hazard.  Man, people did some crazy things back in the day.  The funny thing is that I heard from moms later that their baby was on formula and solids and it didn't help them sleep better so I was relieved.  Also side note, anything you read about feeding times when they are only on milk usually only apply to formula fed babies.  That is something I really wish I knew earlier.

O.k. so Stage 2, I decided to start making some homemade baby food.  It is a daunting task, but so worth it knowing what is going into their bodies.  The easiest foods were sweet potaotes, carrots, squash, and peas.  I would roast them with no additives and blend them in a food processor.  It is amazing to find how much natural flavor is present in these vegetables.  I will say, however, adding cinnamon to squash and sweet potatoes will have them going bonkers for it.  Well at least that how it is for my son.  I didn't stop there though, I would start putting full dishes we made into the food processor.  Not everything works for them, but most do.

Now on to finger foods.  My son took a while to get his first tooth and then the subsequent other teeth.  I was dismayed as I was so excited to get him to finger foods.  Then I researched I realized something that made me laugh.  As adults, we actually use our molars to do the real grinding and babies don't get those forever.  Turns out the gums are hard and strong enough to chomp certain foods.  Everything just has to be over cooked and/or soft.  The can have teething crackers, bread, soft fruit, etc.  With only four teeth my son is eating beef and broccoli, lasagne, chicken dishes, peas, chopped fruit (no citrus until later), real brown rice, pasta, and more.  Turns out he is like mama and loves flavor.  I have a couple of recipes on the blog and I will add more, but here are suggestions

Breakfast
Healthy Pancakes (recipes will be posted later) - use baby food for sauce no syrup
Whole Wheat English muffin with cream cheese and babyfood fruit
Cottage Cheese
Yogurt
Cut up Turkey Sausage
Baby Oatmeal Cereal (they could still use the iron)
Whole Wheat Waffles (recipe on the blog site)

Lunch
Sunflower Seed Butter Sandwich (thin layer only)
Steamed Sweet Potatoes (Trader Joe's has fresh ones cut up like fries)
Steamed Carrots
Peas (smash first in the beginning stages of eating finger foods)
Whole wheat pasta with ground turkey and marinara sauce (see picture, only 20mg sodium per serving)*
*It's easier to chop the pasta into pieces right after cooking before adding anything
Anything you made for yourself, but chopped up

Dinner

Choose a brand that is right for you (Plum is most expensive)

Same as lunch

Snacks**
Puffs,
Cheerios
Fruit
Squeeze Pack are good for on the go (see pic) - they are just baby food in a squeeze pack
Cheese Chopped into small cubes (Colby Jack is awesome and it is a recommend first cheese)


**I am working on some new ideas

His Favorite Fruits
Mango
Peaches
Cantaloupe
Honey Dew Melon
Bananas

Some notes, I got a tip online to roll slippery fruit in flaxseed or crushed cheerios.  I also spoon feed anything that is not a solid piece of food so I always combine a spoon fed item with a finger food.  They tend to prefer feeding themselves, I think.

Write Out A Plan and Then Throw It Away!

Write Out The Plan and Then Throw It Away

I know my son is almost 15 months old now, but I was just watching “Tia & Tamara” and Tia was crying and complaining that the books tell you everything except what happens when things don’t go the normal way.  Well the funny thing is not going the normal way is the normal way.  I am just not sure why it isn’t talked about as much so I will share.

I remember looking around in my Lamaze class and being the only pregnant woman in the area designated “Absolutely No Epidural”.  My Lamaze instructor had pointed out 3 or 4 sections in the room each based on your level of decision making to have an epidural.  The majority of the group was split between “I am flexible” and “I want to start without having an epidural, but if I really need it I will take it”.  I was beyond committed to that choice.  My mother didn’t have an epidural with two deliveries and my mother stopped her sister from getting an epidural at one of her deliveries.  Needless to say, she was not invited to the next birth.

My husband and I had it all planned out.  We were so excited about how to relax me so I can go au natural.  The facility where we would be giving birth had DVD players.  Our Lamaze instructor was pro epidural free so she gave a lot of methods to relax.  We had breathing; we were going to use an exercise ball which I happened to already have in my possession (it wasn’t being used for anything else).  I figured my water was going to break late at night and I would say “Honey, wake up, it’s time”.  I planned to have my bags packed weeks before my due date, we would bring my relaxation CDs, comedy DVD’s so I can laugh, and anything else that would make me feel great.

My baby shower was June 26^th.  My mom wanted it later, but I was like oh you know we shouldn’t have it so late.  My due date was August 1^st.  We had just moved into our first home June 21^st and I was going to begin my maternity leave a week after my shower.  I had PLANNED on working until 2 weeks before, but I just got really tired and he was really pushing on my pelvis.  My shower was wonderful, my mom and best friend, aka sister, did a great job.  We had so much stuff, it was insane.  Everything filled my son’s nursery.  I was so excited, I was going to nest and put everything away perfectly and we were going to set up his crib which was in a box in the garage…

That Monday (June 28^th), the last week before maternity leave, I went in to work at my usual time of 7:00am and I just didn’t feel right.  I strangely told my co-worker, “I feel so weird; I don’t think I am going to make it through the week”.  Throughout the day I began to feel gushes of fluid come out, but as I learned from a previous scare and L&D visit that it was probably just incontinence since my amniotic fluid tests came out negative.  Yet, it just seemed to be a little too much this time.  I talked to a co-worker, mother of a daughter, and fellow pregmo and she was like “uh you should go to the doctor”.  Then I called L&D and they were like, come in.  Please note, they always so come in.  It is the only time they want you to be overly cautious.  I drove myself to the hospital and on the way I called my husband at work and said “I think you should come this time”.

I went to the bathroom and collected a urine sample as instructed, stood up and watched in shock as a puddle of clear fluid gushed onto the ground.  Yep, my water broke.  The strange thing is that it took three tries to confirm amniotic fluid.  The doctor initially saw negative results and based on my bathroom fiasco took and ultrasound only to find that my fluid level was low and said I may have to stay for two weeks before they can induce since I was only 34 weeks.  She actually told us do not make plans when she attempted the test one final time, to which we ignored and began making plans. 

At approximately 5:00pm that night, I was induced (checked in at 1:00pm).  First they started with a pill, then the Pitocin.  I held my ground for 14 hours and asked, how much longer since I was only 1 cm dilated and 30% effaced, my mid-wife estimated another 10 hours.  I was hesitant, I cried, I apologized to my mom for not being strong enough and I got my epidural.  Fourteen hours later, I pushed my 5 lb. 7 oz. boy out.  The NICU team was standing by, they took him over to the bed they had set up right away, and I didn’t get to see his face.  They assessed him and did their entire preliminary test and then they took him out of the room.  Excuse me, what happened to laying him on my chest like the movie I saw in Lamaze class and watch him find my breast and latch.

I was able to see him on my way to recovery and by see him I mean look at my baby attached to tubes and face covered in mesh so the oxygen mask will not come off.  The NICU doctor was like no other doctor I had ever seen.  He talked to us like we were family and like it felt our pain, it was insane.  I was checking his credentials, this is not doctor behavior, I thought. 

Needless to say, my Boogie was in the hospital for 7 days to recover from fluid in the lungs (a result of being early).  The awesome thing is that a 5 lb 7oz baby is big for a preemie so he was a champ.  I think he might have been an 8 pounder.

Moral of the story, things rarely go according to plan.  Doctors say it is rare (I forgot the percentage) for people to deliver on their due date.  I was always warned about delivering early due to my fibroid, but I thought I was in the clear.  We should have a base for what we want and then be prepared to do whatever it takes to deliver a healthy happy baby with a healthy happy mama.  My son doubled in weight so quickly, thanks to the help of the NICU nurses (one of which was a breastfeeding Nazi) he latched like a champ and you would have never thought he started with a feeding tube and formula.  So remember, write out a plan and throw it away!

Vegas Baby! (Traveling with a Tot)

Bright lights, cling clang of slot machines, hooting and hollering of drunk people winning at the tables are all sounds that I welcome when I am in Vegas.......normally, but when I was pregnant and then when I was with child those were all danger zones.  Las Vegas was me and my husband's prime local vacation spot every September (for his birthday) and then in February, but it is just no place for a pregnant woman or children.  But after 2 years of waiting, we decided to go for my husbands 34th birthday.  How would we pull this off with a 14 month old.....we did!

The first must, was the lodging.  There was no way I was bringing my precious baby through a smoke-filled casino so we stayed off the strip.  Secondly, we need space and a refrigerator and a functioning kitchen so I can stick to feeding him his healthy food.  We stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations at the Convention Center.  It was pretty nice and the room was huge.  It was only $76 per night.  Now that is of course with the amazing deals that my husband finds.  Finally, we needed a nanny and since I put my millions of dollars into my yacht and mansion, we brought grandparents.

The ride down to Vegas was spectacular.  My son actually stayed up for the whole 4.5 hour drive so thank goodness mommy was prepared.  The key was "The Toy Bag" and by the toy bag, I mean a bag in which I put several of his toys.  The trick is variety rather than quantity.  I brought different types of toys as so many children's toys are similar.  The next thing was I would only bring one out at a time so each one would distract him and catch his attention because it would be something new.  It was absolutely exhausting since I had worked that day.  As we approached Vegas I was excited because I knew he would go to sleep immediately.  We checked in and found out that their "crib" was actually a play pen.  Now some people may have expected this, but when I see the word "crib" I expect a crib.  Fortunately, my germophobia, had me prepared and I brought his crib sheet.  We also ended up putting some extra sheets in the bottom because it is not really padded.  Now fast forward to bed time.  I was so ready to get hopping to the casinos so we put him down and the screaming began.  What, you mean he didn't fall right to sleep in this new foreign place and foreign bed.  Yes, I wasn't thinking.  Well after the 30 minutes that felt like 2 hour, he went to sleep and mommy and daddy left for the casinos.

O.k., I must rewind back to the set up.  When we arrived in the room, we put the food we brought away prepped his bottle, and the most important thing, set the room up for a tot to roam around. First there's the matter of the outlets.  We brought the plug protector and thank goodness we brought the whole container because we learned, "hotels" have a massive amount of outlets.  Next, we dealt with the corners.  The coffee table was below his head so we just had to keep an eye on him, but there was the matter of the dining table.  We just set the chairs up so they blocked the corners and the other side was pushed up against the wall.  We obviously could not install the safety locks on cabinets in drawers so you just have to keep doors closed and never let them any where out of sight.  Finally, I brought disinfectant wipes to wipe off all surfaces he would touch including the bathtub.

The second day, Boogie had already acclimated to his environment.  He took his naps right on schedule and because of the previous day's events, the naps were long.  It was awesome.  Although, I was a zombie only having 3 hours of sleep (the price of fun), I went grocery shopping for fruit and his lunch and dinner.  We only went out once during the day and during his naps so the grands could have their fun.  The second day we took him to the pool which was awesome and he loved it and the Vegas sun was so merciful on us so we really were able to enjoy it.  We made it an early night to recover for the lack of sleep.

The third day, we took him the the Lied Children't Museum and he loved it.  We enjoyed ourselves as well.  They have something for all ages, even a 14 month old which is why they charge children starting at 1 year of age.  We had the grands put him to bed that night so we could get out early and have dinner before Ka.

All in all it was such a wonderful trip.  To go out and have Vegas fun and then come back to this gorgeous, precious little being.  I think you have to remember, you can drink as much or party as hard because you will have to go back to being a parent in a couple of hours.  It was totally worth it.  We plan to do it again and probably not change a thing.  Well we actually didn't have a good system to toss his poopie diapers and since we have a Diaper Jeanie, we were forgetful of the powerful stench that can come from such a cute tiny little person.  There were multiple times where I thought our suite had a sewage leakage.  We ended up sneaking and throwing them outside of the hotel, we're not that cruel.  We'll have to work on how to solve this one.