Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Accessorizing with Mrs. Potato Head
Grandma and Grandpa were in town the weekend before last and brought R her very first Mrs. Potato Head. Naturally, R wanted to wear all of Mrs. Potato Head's stuff, too. The glasses were far too narrow for her head, so we pulled out last year's sunglasses and stuck the earrings on her ears. She loved them. She kept shaking her head so she could feel them dangling off of her earlobes. Of course they didn't stay on long, though.
Biiiiiig Cat!
I had to take a work trip to San Francisco a few weeks ago and Grammie and Grampie came down to keep J and R company while I was gone. While they were visiting, they took J and R to the Philadelphia children's museum. R was particularly taken by this cat, which was part of a really big (and, I hear, totally awesome) Alice in Wonderland display.For more than a week afterwards, we had this conversation over and over:
R: (out of nowhere) Biiiiig Cat!
S: What color was the cat?
R: BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG Cat!
S: Was it a big cat?
R: (holding arms out wide) Big Cat!
S: How big was the cat?
R: (insistently) BIIIIIG! CAT!
Fun in the Kitchen: Cornmeal
J is always coming up with creative ways to keep R entertained while he cooks. Some days she refuses to let him put her down (making it obviously impossible to chop vegetables or do anything at the stove). This was his solution one afternoon: a casserole dish, some cornmeal, and an assortment of measuring cups and spoons.
Sleep Issues Update--Cautiously Optimistic
We visited Grammie and Grampie this past weekend and had a GREAT visit. While we were there we were paying pretty close attention to R's wake ups. The first two mornings we were there she woke up very early (2:30ish, 3:00ish) but J was able to get her back to sleep by rocking her for a few minutes and then laying her back down, and both days she woke up close to or after 6.
The last morning we were there, I think J said she made some noises in the early morning but he didn't get up with her and she eventually went back to sleep, and woke up close to 6:30.
Today was our first morning back home and she did not wake up until actually close to 7!
It's been really weird for our room to be lightening up before we have to get out of bed. Kind of nice, too.
So you might be asking: what did we do to "fix" things?
Nothing, really... I would say the biggest change has been J giving her more time to get back to sleep on her own. We've also been giving her a little bit of Tylenol before bed because she is OBVIOUSLY working on her eyeteeth. She sticks her fingers in her mouth and bites on them, and has been gnawing everything in sight (including once, the wheels on her stroller, EW!) so our theory is that maybe she was up early because of teething pain.
At any rate, we don't plan to keep giving her Tylenol every night but we do suspect that that might have been at least part of the cause of the wake-ups. We'll keep you updated.
The last morning we were there, I think J said she made some noises in the early morning but he didn't get up with her and she eventually went back to sleep, and woke up close to 6:30.
Today was our first morning back home and she did not wake up until actually close to 7!
It's been really weird for our room to be lightening up before we have to get out of bed. Kind of nice, too.
So you might be asking: what did we do to "fix" things?
Nothing, really... I would say the biggest change has been J giving her more time to get back to sleep on her own. We've also been giving her a little bit of Tylenol before bed because she is OBVIOUSLY working on her eyeteeth. She sticks her fingers in her mouth and bites on them, and has been gnawing everything in sight (including once, the wheels on her stroller, EW!) so our theory is that maybe she was up early because of teething pain.
At any rate, we don't plan to keep giving her Tylenol every night but we do suspect that that might have been at least part of the cause of the wake-ups. We'll keep you updated.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Name Paintings
So we've ordered a painting for each of our nephews-- G, Li'l Tyke, and now Trucker. Here's a link to a picture of the painting we had done for Trucker. It's totally cute and we just heard from A&M that they really love it. I can't wait to get to see it in person! Check it out here.
p.s. We've now ordered three paintings, plus I won one in a contest, and these paintings are so cute and really reasonably-priced for custom-made artwork, so if you're interested, check out Penny Pickles Art (there's also a link to her blog on the side of this blog).
p.s. We've now ordered three paintings, plus I won one in a contest, and these paintings are so cute and really reasonably-priced for custom-made artwork, so if you're interested, check out Penny Pickles Art (there's also a link to her blog on the side of this blog).
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Sleep Issues. Help?
So lately R's sleep patterns have been a bit wacky. For the longest time, she was in bed between 6:30 and 7, and all it took to lay her down was, well, laying her down and leaving the room after the bath and story.
Lately-- as in the last month or so, maybe longer, since I haven't really been keeping track-- she's wanted a song, sometimes 5 or 6 songs, while being held or rocked to sleep.
We thought at first the sleep stuff had to do with her being sick and not feeling good. That certainly seemed to be why she was waking up so early and having a hard time falling asleep. We all know how hard it can be to sleep with a stuffy nose and snot pouring out.
The stuffy nose and snot have all but disappeared. I haven't needed to follow her with a tissue for a week or more now. She's not sniffly or coughing.
Yet, she continues to wake up ridiculously early. Yesterday it was 3 a.m. J held her until around 4, when he woke me and I held her until she fell asleep with me in the bed in her room around 5, and we stayed in there until shortly before 6 when she woke up and started calling for J.
We rarely-- read, almost never-- have a day where she wakes up close to 6 on her own. We consider it a good morning if she doesn't make us get her out of bed before 5:30. It's really tough when she's up at 2:30, 3:00, 4:30, etc.
Is there *any* way, dear readers, to try and encourage her to sleep later?
We've already pushed back her bedtime to around 7:30, and this hasn't changed anything. In fact, the night before she got up at 3 a.m. she had gone to bed at 8 just because the nighttime routine ran late. Going to bed later doesn't seem to result in a later wake-up. And I hear about other babies the same age as R who sleep 11 to 12 hours at night. I realize all kids are different, so I'm not necessarily saying she should sleep just like them. Just that it's not ridiculous for us to think that she might sleep from 7 p.m. to 5:30 or 6:00 a.m.
We also have dark curtains in her room. They're not attractive, just curtains we had in our bedroom when we lived in Texas, but they definitely make her room darker and block morning sunlight so the room is not super-bright in the morning.
This is kind of driving me crazy. Why is she up so early? How can we encourage her to sleep a little bit later? And how can we wean her from needing us to rock and sing her to sleep for 20-30 minutes every night?
Lately-- as in the last month or so, maybe longer, since I haven't really been keeping track-- she's wanted a song, sometimes 5 or 6 songs, while being held or rocked to sleep.
We thought at first the sleep stuff had to do with her being sick and not feeling good. That certainly seemed to be why she was waking up so early and having a hard time falling asleep. We all know how hard it can be to sleep with a stuffy nose and snot pouring out.
The stuffy nose and snot have all but disappeared. I haven't needed to follow her with a tissue for a week or more now. She's not sniffly or coughing.
Yet, she continues to wake up ridiculously early. Yesterday it was 3 a.m. J held her until around 4, when he woke me and I held her until she fell asleep with me in the bed in her room around 5, and we stayed in there until shortly before 6 when she woke up and started calling for J.
We rarely-- read, almost never-- have a day where she wakes up close to 6 on her own. We consider it a good morning if she doesn't make us get her out of bed before 5:30. It's really tough when she's up at 2:30, 3:00, 4:30, etc.
Is there *any* way, dear readers, to try and encourage her to sleep later?
We've already pushed back her bedtime to around 7:30, and this hasn't changed anything. In fact, the night before she got up at 3 a.m. she had gone to bed at 8 just because the nighttime routine ran late. Going to bed later doesn't seem to result in a later wake-up. And I hear about other babies the same age as R who sleep 11 to 12 hours at night. I realize all kids are different, so I'm not necessarily saying she should sleep just like them. Just that it's not ridiculous for us to think that she might sleep from 7 p.m. to 5:30 or 6:00 a.m.
We also have dark curtains in her room. They're not attractive, just curtains we had in our bedroom when we lived in Texas, but they definitely make her room darker and block morning sunlight so the room is not super-bright in the morning.
This is kind of driving me crazy. Why is she up so early? How can we encourage her to sleep a little bit later? And how can we wean her from needing us to rock and sing her to sleep for 20-30 minutes every night?
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Did You Wear Green Today?
I didn't--my outfit was all cream and black. I don't think J wore green either, now that I think about it. R started out the day with pink pants that had small green hearts on them, but ended up in an all-purple outfit. I didn't even think to try and do a craft with her. We did go to the park, and I talked about the green grass a few times. Does that count?
I've got bunches of pictures and stuff to share with you, including some adorable ones from J's visit to the children's museum with R and Grammie and Grampie, and some cute-as-all-get-out pictures of R. More soon, once photos are uploaded.
I've got bunches of pictures and stuff to share with you, including some adorable ones from J's visit to the children's museum with R and Grammie and Grampie, and some cute-as-all-get-out pictures of R. More soon, once photos are uploaded.
21 months
Dear R,
Your 21st month was officially the month of "sick." You were on antibiotics two out of four weeks this month and dripping or coughing the rest of the time. We've taken you to the pediatrician's office three times, and your latest diagnosis is some kind of respiratory thing with a breathing machine, a steroid, and yes, the requisite antibiotic. Third round in five weeks.
We're desperately looking forward to a time when you aren't plugged up or needing us to follow you around with a kleenex. You are a champ at wiping your nose with your sleeve or arm, which usually means there's snot smeared all over your cheek and the back of your hand. I can't say I blame you, though-- it's got to be annoying to wait for Mom or Dad to notice that there's a nasal drip halfway down your lip before things get cleaned up. Thank goodness we've (hopefully) cured you of the habit of wiping your eyes after wiping your nose.
Your 21st month hasn't just been a series of illnesses, though. It's getting to sound like a cliche because I think I've said it every month, but there is so much new vocabulary and language stuff going on it's incredible. You're amazingly expressive and you have SO MANY opinions! You're not shy about sharing any of them, either.
Favorite words: "Yeah" and "Noohhhhhhhpe."
I've started echoing my father, who spent years following after me and my brothers insisting that we say "yes." The problem: I am pretty sure that you have learned to say "yeah" from me. I say "yeah, that's right!" and "yeah, very good!" and "yeah!" All. The. Time. I'm starting to think I should start some kind of jar. Every time I say "yeah" I drop in a quarter or something.
You've got please and thank you down pretty good, although we're still working on getting you to not yell what you want at the dinner table, and to stop asking for things by going, "EHHHH!" or "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" I just like that all I usually have to do is prompt you with, "what do you say?" and you instantly start saying "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeese!!!!" The only problem is that sometimes what I'm asking you is for you to actually tell me what you want, and the only response you'll give me is "Peeeese!! PEASE, PEASE, PEASE!!"
It is so fun to see you using your new vocabularies all over the place. I have a feeling the ride is only just starting.
Love,
Mama
Your 21st month was officially the month of "sick." You were on antibiotics two out of four weeks this month and dripping or coughing the rest of the time. We've taken you to the pediatrician's office three times, and your latest diagnosis is some kind of respiratory thing with a breathing machine, a steroid, and yes, the requisite antibiotic. Third round in five weeks.
We're desperately looking forward to a time when you aren't plugged up or needing us to follow you around with a kleenex. You are a champ at wiping your nose with your sleeve or arm, which usually means there's snot smeared all over your cheek and the back of your hand. I can't say I blame you, though-- it's got to be annoying to wait for Mom or Dad to notice that there's a nasal drip halfway down your lip before things get cleaned up. Thank goodness we've (hopefully) cured you of the habit of wiping your eyes after wiping your nose.
Your 21st month hasn't just been a series of illnesses, though. It's getting to sound like a cliche because I think I've said it every month, but there is so much new vocabulary and language stuff going on it's incredible. You're amazingly expressive and you have SO MANY opinions! You're not shy about sharing any of them, either.
Favorite words: "Yeah" and "Noohhhhhhhpe."
I've started echoing my father, who spent years following after me and my brothers insisting that we say "yes." The problem: I am pretty sure that you have learned to say "yeah" from me. I say "yeah, that's right!" and "yeah, very good!" and "yeah!" All. The. Time. I'm starting to think I should start some kind of jar. Every time I say "yeah" I drop in a quarter or something.
You've got please and thank you down pretty good, although we're still working on getting you to not yell what you want at the dinner table, and to stop asking for things by going, "EHHHH!" or "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" I just like that all I usually have to do is prompt you with, "what do you say?" and you instantly start saying "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeese!!!!" The only problem is that sometimes what I'm asking you is for you to actually tell me what you want, and the only response you'll give me is "Peeeese!! PEASE, PEASE, PEASE!!"
It is so fun to see you using your new vocabularies all over the place. I have a feeling the ride is only just starting.
Love,
Mama
Friday, March 13, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
So Much Fun!
J and I have been having a ton of fun with R the last few days. We have some photos to upload but I don't have time to get to them tonight. She's been super-cute and adorable and energetic and excited. She loves to have us read stories with her and play different games. She gets really into coloring and is incredibly enthusiastic about getting out the crayons and saying the names of all the different colors.
She's been peeing in her potty! So far the potty training is really not so much potty training as much as it is giving her the choice of trying to sit on the potty now and again throughout the day and around bath time. But she gets very excited about clapping when she finally does something in her potty, and she loves to flush the toilet.
For the first time, she's requesting specific stories to be read at bedtime. One of my favorites, Llama Llama Red Pajama, is, unfortunately, one that she refuses to let me read to her. She likes Baby Cakes and Kitten Red Yellow Blue and requests those often.
She's been peeing in her potty! So far the potty training is really not so much potty training as much as it is giving her the choice of trying to sit on the potty now and again throughout the day and around bath time. But she gets very excited about clapping when she finally does something in her potty, and she loves to flush the toilet.
For the first time, she's requesting specific stories to be read at bedtime. One of my favorites, Llama Llama Red Pajama, is, unfortunately, one that she refuses to let me read to her. She likes Baby Cakes and Kitten Red Yellow Blue and requests those often.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Jinxed?
So you know how I posted yesterday that one of the things that made me think R was getting better was the fact that she was waking up around 6 a.m. instead of 4:30? Well. Today she woke up at 4:30! Gah! And never really went back to sleep-- I held her for about an hour but she fidgeted a lot and didn't settle down completely. J eventually got up with her a little bit before 6 (well, actually, 7, because of Daylight Savings Time) and I slept for two more hours (!!!!!) Can you believe it? Sometimes I am a total lazy bum.
Anyway. We shall see what she does tomorrow. We're pulling for 6 a.m. instead of 4:30!
Anyway. We shall see what she does tomorrow. We're pulling for 6 a.m. instead of 4:30!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Recovering!
As I've written before, R has been sick off and on for the last month. Just at the end of this week, though, the tide has started to really turn, and I feel like she is definitely feeling a lot better.
Some clues:
1) She's waking up around 6 a.m. instead of between 4:30 and 5:15 a.m.. We think that the later wake up is partly a result of her cough and sniffles clearing up so she's not as uncomfortable or as stuffy. Whatever the reason, it is wonderful to have us both be able to be in bed until 6, and sometimes even 6:15.
2) She's not waking up in the middle of the night needing J to go in and comfort her. (Lucky me-- he does all the night wake ups, because, he says, it's more effort to wake me up and explain to a very confused and groggy me what's going on than it is to just go in and take care of things himself).
3) Her nasal drip only needs to be wiped off a couple times an hour instead of every 15 seconds.
4) She's just more chipper. She has been getting into different songs and books the last few days. Not just going along with them, but being really enthusiastic about them and laughing-- oh, the laughing! that has happened a lot more lately it seems. Sweet baby laughter.
5) She's easier to cheer up and/or distract when she's having a tantrum. That's not to say she doesn't occasionally have a meltdown because I hold her spoon the wrong way or put the wrong lid on her sippy cup or grab the wrong book off the shelf, but they're shorter and she's more willing to be led in a different, happier! direction.
This is all good news.
Of course, it probably also means we're just at the end of one stage and ready to meet some other, new, parenting challenge. But for now, I'm just enjoying it. We had a really delightful day with her today. It helped, of course, that the weather was downright balmy and gorgeous.
Some clues:
1) She's waking up around 6 a.m. instead of between 4:30 and 5:15 a.m.. We think that the later wake up is partly a result of her cough and sniffles clearing up so she's not as uncomfortable or as stuffy. Whatever the reason, it is wonderful to have us both be able to be in bed until 6, and sometimes even 6:15.
2) She's not waking up in the middle of the night needing J to go in and comfort her. (Lucky me-- he does all the night wake ups, because, he says, it's more effort to wake me up and explain to a very confused and groggy me what's going on than it is to just go in and take care of things himself).
3) Her nasal drip only needs to be wiped off a couple times an hour instead of every 15 seconds.
4) She's just more chipper. She has been getting into different songs and books the last few days. Not just going along with them, but being really enthusiastic about them and laughing-- oh, the laughing! that has happened a lot more lately it seems. Sweet baby laughter.
5) She's easier to cheer up and/or distract when she's having a tantrum. That's not to say she doesn't occasionally have a meltdown because I hold her spoon the wrong way or put the wrong lid on her sippy cup or grab the wrong book off the shelf, but they're shorter and she's more willing to be led in a different, happier! direction.
This is all good news.
Of course, it probably also means we're just at the end of one stage and ready to meet some other, new, parenting challenge. But for now, I'm just enjoying it. We had a really delightful day with her today. It helped, of course, that the weather was downright balmy and gorgeous.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Snow... Day 3
And the snow stuck around for a few days, so J and R got even more fun out of it. Here they are making a snow chair and having fun sitting in it.
Snow... Day 2
Then, overnight, we got a ton more snow. It totally rocked. We all got a snow day out of it. Here's J taking R out in the snow once again. Their little snowman from the day before got completely buried. (He also fell over). I didn't go outside because I no longer own snow boots and didn't want to get my feet wet. J also does not own snow boots and put plastic bags over his socks before putting shoes on. Fortunately R has a kick-butt snow suit that includes little waterproof boot covers, so she had nothing to worry about.
Snow... Day 1
It snowed the other weekend and J and R went outside and made a snowman. The snow was wet and perfect for packing and rolling snow. R had a lot of fun looking at the snowman and poking various sticks in it.
Proud Mama!
Here's a post in which I proceed to shamelessly brag about R.
She recognizes the signs for the numbers 1-10, and regularly counts all kinds of things... "One, two, five! twooo, five, fiiiiiiiive"
She clearly recognizes colors. She will often refer to things by their color, randomly observing, "Bown! Yellow! Geen!" The color she is most enthusiastic about is yellow. She seems to always say it louder and more excitedly than she does the others. She most consistently uses the sign for Red when she says red and occasionally uses the sign brown when she says brown. Other colors she tends to just say without adding the sign. Blue is the color she has the most difficulty with, and she often seems to be randomly guessing color names when we ask her to identify something that is blue.
She can say "A, B, C, D, E, F, G" although she often omits one or more of the letters when she says them. She recognizes the sign for A and B but so far always falters at C.
She soaks up animal sounds like a SPONGE. We have been dutifully trying to capture more of them on video, but more often than not we get videos of her snivelling for the camera because she wants to look at the screen on the other side. (This is the big drawback of having a camera that shows the pictures immediately after you take them!)
She recognizes the signs for the numbers 1-10, and regularly counts all kinds of things... "One, two, five! twooo, five, fiiiiiiiive"
She clearly recognizes colors. She will often refer to things by their color, randomly observing, "Bown! Yellow! Geen!" The color she is most enthusiastic about is yellow. She seems to always say it louder and more excitedly than she does the others. She most consistently uses the sign for Red when she says red and occasionally uses the sign brown when she says brown. Other colors she tends to just say without adding the sign. Blue is the color she has the most difficulty with, and she often seems to be randomly guessing color names when we ask her to identify something that is blue.
She can say "A, B, C, D, E, F, G" although she often omits one or more of the letters when she says them. She recognizes the sign for A and B but so far always falters at C.
She soaks up animal sounds like a SPONGE. We have been dutifully trying to capture more of them on video, but more often than not we get videos of her snivelling for the camera because she wants to look at the screen on the other side. (This is the big drawback of having a camera that shows the pictures immediately after you take them!)
Monday, March 2, 2009
It's Just a Phrase
Life in Toddlerland is quite a bit different from parenting a baby. Of course there are the ubiquitous battle of wills and the "I can do it" moments. To offset these, there seem to be fewer recognizable milestones. It's not exactly about firsts anymore. First words, steps, foods, etc. are things of the past. Who records "first jump" or "first mean face" in the baby book anyway? But there really are fantastic new moments happening all the time. We just don't realize what she's doing, or we assume that she's been doing that thing for a while and we just hadn't seen it. (A lot of things she picks up these days S and I tend to look at each other and say, "She must have got that from daycare")
Anyway, I do want to go on record here to say that R has been saying plenty of phrases lately. I don't know if I'd count them as sentences yet, but she's really getting across a lot more ideas by putting different sounds together. Some examples of what she said today:
coat on
daddy go
mommy sleeping
Stop it!
While giving her a bath tonight, S was chewing on some gum. Lately, R has been chewing her tongue a lot from teething, making it seem like she has something in her mouth (other than food). When she noticed her mommy's gum, she became interested and started saying "open mouth. Ahhh." A near perfect immitation of me asking her to open her mouth and say ahh when looking for lint or old food picked up off the floor.
Even when only using one word, she tends to be pretty good about making her meaning clear. "Downstairs" accompanied by pointing down and getting her face right in yours and nodding leaves little doubt that she wants to go downstairs. Pulling your arm and then patting at a particular spot on the floor while saying only "sit" gets its meaning across too. I even heard a story from her daycare teacher that she repeated instructions to a friend to "walk away" while pulling her along behind her. She repeated it for us later that day too. "N, walk away. N, walk away."
As you see from examples, she is very comfortable giving commands. Not only do we have a great communicator on our hands, but a budding future dictator.
Anyway, I do want to go on record here to say that R has been saying plenty of phrases lately. I don't know if I'd count them as sentences yet, but she's really getting across a lot more ideas by putting different sounds together. Some examples of what she said today:
coat on
daddy go
mommy sleeping
Stop it!
While giving her a bath tonight, S was chewing on some gum. Lately, R has been chewing her tongue a lot from teething, making it seem like she has something in her mouth (other than food). When she noticed her mommy's gum, she became interested and started saying "open mouth. Ahhh." A near perfect immitation of me asking her to open her mouth and say ahh when looking for lint or old food picked up off the floor.
Even when only using one word, she tends to be pretty good about making her meaning clear. "Downstairs" accompanied by pointing down and getting her face right in yours and nodding leaves little doubt that she wants to go downstairs. Pulling your arm and then patting at a particular spot on the floor while saying only "sit" gets its meaning across too. I even heard a story from her daycare teacher that she repeated instructions to a friend to "walk away" while pulling her along behind her. She repeated it for us later that day too. "N, walk away. N, walk away."
As you see from examples, she is very comfortable giving commands. Not only do we have a great communicator on our hands, but a budding future dictator.
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