Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
persistence and the frog swimsuit.
This morning I was doing laundry, changing bed sheets, (and just being an all-around awesome housewife) when Olivia came strolling into our bedroom with her green frog swimsuit half-way on. She then asked "on please" and I obliged; I mean she said 'please' and all! However, had I known the drama that would follow, I would have pretended I couldn't hear her.
Eventually I did convince her to change in to her tennis shoes so she could go play outside.
I got lots of questions from the older children in the cul-de-sac as to why Olivia was wearing a bathing suit. I simply replied "she wanted to". I'm sure they were either thinking, "Ms. Stephanie is nuts" or "wow, I wish my mom would let me do that'!! :)
Around lunch I made the executive decision to go grab lunch out. Honestly, I didn't feel like fighting to get her into her highchair (do you see a theme in her behavior lately?!?!!!) or dirty-ing up my kitchen. So we went to Sonic. After all, I had to choose something that was drive-thru; my daughter was still in her bathing suit! So we ordered lots ofhealthy food and ate in the car while watching a Baby Einstein DVD.
No 'mother of the year' awards are coming my way anytime soon. However, I could be a contender in the 'kept her toddler's meltdowns to a minimum' category!
Shortly thereafter she had added her Minnie Mouse slippers (at least 2 sizes to small, I would guess) and was happy as a clam. See? Happy and adorable and sweet....
However, then I decided we would go run some errands, and maybe catch a Gymboree class, before the storms hit this afternoon. I grabbed her a shirt and some shorts and the refusal began. Kicking, screaming, running away from me, crying, and pointing at her swimsuit saying "ribbit Aiya on" (interpreted as 'I want to wear the frog suit').
Now I could have pushed the issue (I mean who is really in charge here, anyhow!), but I decided to just let it go. It was Saturday morning after all. Nothing I had planned HAD to be done. So she spent the entire morning in her swimsuit and slippers.
Eventually I did convince her to change in to her tennis shoes so she could go play outside.
Around lunch I made the executive decision to go grab lunch out. Honestly, I didn't feel like fighting to get her into her highchair (do you see a theme in her behavior lately?!?!!!) or dirty-ing up my kitchen. So we went to Sonic. After all, I had to choose something that was drive-thru; my daughter was still in her bathing suit! So we ordered lots of
Thursday, April 14, 2011
children in church.
Okay, this may be a bit random, but I clicked on a link in one of my "Your Toddler: 22 months" emails that come monthly from babycenter.com. I don't even usually open these emails, but today I did. First, I learned that children at 22 months cannot typically jump and get two feet off the ground; they say this will take "several more months to develop". Well, Olivia can get some serious air under her jumps, so score one for her! ha.
I then clicked on this link. Go ahead and click on it. If you don't myventing commentary won't mean much. However, here is a recap for those of you who still didn't click on the link......a woman is asking about taking her 22 month old to church with her. She says her toddler is "loud and disruptive" and is concerned because there was a notice in the bulletin about the children's room in the back of the church where you can go if your child is "expressing themselves during mass".
I was totally prepared to read all of the reader comments that said things like "church is a place for quiet prayer" or "the nursery is there for a reason" or "you should definitely remove your loud toddler from the service". However, much to my shock nearly ALL of the responses agreed with her (that she should keep her "loud and disruptive" toddler in the pew with her!). I was shocked.
We always take Olivia to the nursery on Sundays. Sure, sometimes she screams and cries when we leave her, but she is much happier playing there than having to sit quietly (yeah right) next to me for an hour. Everything in life is a season and I very much look forward to the day where she will share in the sermon and worship service with us; however, this is not her time! She would not get anything from the service, and honestly, neither would I if she were next to me. In fact, I enjoy that time away from her. I like to pray/meditate without a toddler pulling on my shirt or having to keep one eye open so I can catch the next toy she is about to drop.
One response mentioned wanting to expose their children to God's love and that she thinks that her toddler needs to be at the service with her to do that. Well, here's an idea....how about Bible story time at home? Sing kid-friendly Christian songs? Read to your children from the Bible? Board books that tell of Bible stories? Expose your child in ways they can handle at this age (ie., short little snippets throughout their day). Olivia has only been with us in church a handful of times (except for when she was a sweet, sleeping, and quiet newborn;) and I can tell you that she still knows about Jesus' love. She tries to recite Bible verses with me and carries her Bible to me and asks me to read. She sings along when we sing 'Jesus Loves Me'. She points to the sky when I ask her where Jesus is. That to me is proof that she is not suffering on learning about Jesus just because she is in the nursery. I am doing my best to teach her about God's love just as I am commanded (Deuteronomy 6:4-12, specifically verses 6 & 7); however she is not in the pew being "loud and disruptive" during church. (can I get an Amen?! ;)
Thoughts? I am very interested in this since (from my Internet reading today) I seem to be in the major minority.
I then clicked on this link. Go ahead and click on it. If you don't my
I was totally prepared to read all of the reader comments that said things like "church is a place for quiet prayer" or "the nursery is there for a reason" or "you should definitely remove your loud toddler from the service". However, much to my shock nearly ALL of the responses agreed with her (that she should keep her "loud and disruptive" toddler in the pew with her!). I was shocked.
We always take Olivia to the nursery on Sundays. Sure, sometimes she screams and cries when we leave her, but she is much happier playing there than having to sit quietly (yeah right) next to me for an hour. Everything in life is a season and I very much look forward to the day where she will share in the sermon and worship service with us; however, this is not her time! She would not get anything from the service, and honestly, neither would I if she were next to me. In fact, I enjoy that time away from her. I like to pray/meditate without a toddler pulling on my shirt or having to keep one eye open so I can catch the next toy she is about to drop.
One response mentioned wanting to expose their children to God's love and that she thinks that her toddler needs to be at the service with her to do that. Well, here's an idea....how about Bible story time at home? Sing kid-friendly Christian songs? Read to your children from the Bible? Board books that tell of Bible stories? Expose your child in ways they can handle at this age (ie., short little snippets throughout their day). Olivia has only been with us in church a handful of times (except for when she was a sweet, sleeping, and quiet newborn;) and I can tell you that she still knows about Jesus' love. She tries to recite Bible verses with me and carries her Bible to me and asks me to read. She sings along when we sing 'Jesus Loves Me'. She points to the sky when I ask her where Jesus is. That to me is proof that she is not suffering on learning about Jesus just because she is in the nursery. I am doing my best to teach her about God's love just as I am commanded (Deuteronomy 6:4-12, specifically verses 6 & 7); however she is not in the pew being "loud and disruptive" during church. (can I get an Amen?! ;)
Thoughts? I am very interested in this since (from my Internet reading today) I seem to be in the major minority.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
month 21 (and all of the others that I've missed)
Tomorrow Baby Girl turns 22 months old. Not sure how that happened, but it did! Ahhh! Now to recap her current skills for the baby book. I'm not motivated for categories, so here is a list as things come to mind. And no pictures this entry....I've put all of the recent cuteness on here already. Basically, I am out of material! ha.
Height: at least 33 inches, but not too sure
Weight: 28 lbs
-has started eating less and less and some days flat out refuses breakfast
-is my "milk hound" as she is always always always trying to pressure me into giving her more milk
-bedtime is between 7:30 and 8 and she sleeps for 12 hours (however, we still have some night wakings here and there, but I'd rather forget about those so I won't document how bad they have actually been on occasion over the past few months)
-walks, runs, jumps, balances on one foot
-repeats a majority of the words I say over the course of the day
-uses lots of 2 word combinations and an occasional 3 or 4 word combination (examples from today "dada truck home" and "baby night-night bed")
-still refers to herself as "Aiya" and will say her name to indicate she wants to do something herself
-counts to ten independently (although she likes to start with 7 for some reason! ha)
-attempts to sign her "ABC's" while we sing them....we will get there eventually!
-makes marks on her chalkboard/paper, while saying the letters I-V-I-A, (always in that order) followed by "Aiya" while 'writing' her name....if I could only get her to put those first 2 letters on there she would actually be verbally spelling her name!
-would prefer to play outside all day, every day
-can blow bubbles using the bubble wand
-loves to ride in Andy's truck (ie., sobs and throws herself on the ground when she can't ride along with him)
-is still a Mommy's girl
-takes one nap a day for an average of 2 hours (goes down around 12:30)
-Sarah across the street is still her best friend
-screams and tries to run away while getting dressed on most days...ugh
-serves us plate after plate of food from her kitchen set
-loves to color and draw on her chalkboard
-is very affectionate to her toys (ie., is often seen kissing her baby dolls, books, and animals)
-becomes very concerned when she sees someone crying, whether it be on TV or in real life
-hates having her teeth brushed
-loves to dance
-responds to the "Boiler Up" Purdue chant with "toot toot" (this is SO cute and proves that she is a true Boilermaker at heart!)
-often talks about our family members that live far away
-likes to have Andy and I kiss and hug (she will literally push us together or say "mama hug/kiss" when Andy is kissing her to indicate she wants him to kiss/hug me too.....the little matchmaker;)
-when asked what she is thankful for during prayer she always says "daddy" (some cute things she's said have been water, bread, airplanes, truck-meaning Andy's, kitty, Sarah, baby, and cheese). I love this part of the day because I just never know what she is going to say. However, she has never mentioned mommy :(
Favorites:
foods: grapes, cheese, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, Goldfish, turkey hot dogs
drink: milk
books: Blue hat, green hat, Where is baby's mommy?, lift the flap books, Goodnight Moon, Counting Kisses, and any book of animal pictures
words: (as in I hear these all day long) mama, uh-oh, outside, truck, hi, Emily (the neighbor), daddy, airplane
-funny things she says: "hey you" while pointing her finger at you (thanks to Nana!), "mmm good" when she likes what she is eating, "alright alright alright", and "heavy" while carrying something big or heavy, like her step-stool
things: animals of any kind, her baby dolls, her kitchen set, books, balls, puzzles, shoes, airplanes, jumping on the trampoline
shows: Dora the Explorer, Curious George, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Baby Einstein videos
songs: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, Wheels on the Bus, Hot Dog (Mikey theme song), Jesus Loves Me, and If you're happy and you know it.
Signs she knows: mommy, daddy, baby, kiss, teddy bear, bath, all done, please, thank you, bathroom, car, friend, cereal, milk, water, drink, eat, bib, blanket, sleep, phone, hurt, help, dog, cat, elephant, duck, bird, book, stop, go, more, diaper, cookie, hot (and probably a handful of others that aren't coming to mind)
Height: at least 33 inches, but not too sure
Weight: 28 lbs
-has started eating less and less and some days flat out refuses breakfast
-is my "milk hound" as she is always always always trying to pressure me into giving her more milk
-bedtime is between 7:30 and 8 and she sleeps for 12 hours (however, we still have some night wakings here and there, but I'd rather forget about those so I won't document how bad they have actually been on occasion over the past few months)
-walks, runs, jumps, balances on one foot
-repeats a majority of the words I say over the course of the day
-uses lots of 2 word combinations and an occasional 3 or 4 word combination (examples from today "dada truck home" and "baby night-night bed")
-still refers to herself as "Aiya" and will say her name to indicate she wants to do something herself
-counts to ten independently (although she likes to start with 7 for some reason! ha)
-attempts to sign her "ABC's" while we sing them....we will get there eventually!
-makes marks on her chalkboard/paper, while saying the letters I-V-I-A, (always in that order) followed by "Aiya" while 'writing' her name....if I could only get her to put those first 2 letters on there she would actually be verbally spelling her name!
-would prefer to play outside all day, every day
-can blow bubbles using the bubble wand
-loves to ride in Andy's truck (ie., sobs and throws herself on the ground when she can't ride along with him)
-is still a Mommy's girl
-takes one nap a day for an average of 2 hours (goes down around 12:30)
-Sarah across the street is still her best friend
-screams and tries to run away while getting dressed on most days...ugh
-serves us plate after plate of food from her kitchen set
-loves to color and draw on her chalkboard
-is very affectionate to her toys (ie., is often seen kissing her baby dolls, books, and animals)
-becomes very concerned when she sees someone crying, whether it be on TV or in real life
-hates having her teeth brushed
-loves to dance
-responds to the "Boiler Up" Purdue chant with "toot toot" (this is SO cute and proves that she is a true Boilermaker at heart!)
-often talks about our family members that live far away
-likes to have Andy and I kiss and hug (she will literally push us together or say "mama hug/kiss" when Andy is kissing her to indicate she wants him to kiss/hug me too.....the little matchmaker;)
-when asked what she is thankful for during prayer she always says "daddy" (some cute things she's said have been water, bread, airplanes, truck-meaning Andy's, kitty, Sarah, baby, and cheese). I love this part of the day because I just never know what she is going to say. However, she has never mentioned mommy :(
Favorites:
foods: grapes, cheese, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, Goldfish, turkey hot dogs
drink: milk
books: Blue hat, green hat, Where is baby's mommy?, lift the flap books, Goodnight Moon, Counting Kisses, and any book of animal pictures
words: (as in I hear these all day long) mama, uh-oh, outside, truck, hi, Emily (the neighbor), daddy, airplane
-funny things she says: "hey you" while pointing her finger at you (thanks to Nana!), "mmm good" when she likes what she is eating, "alright alright alright", and "heavy" while carrying something big or heavy, like her step-stool
things: animals of any kind, her baby dolls, her kitchen set, books, balls, puzzles, shoes, airplanes, jumping on the trampoline
shows: Dora the Explorer, Curious George, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Baby Einstein videos
songs: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, Wheels on the Bus, Hot Dog (Mikey theme song), Jesus Loves Me, and If you're happy and you know it.
Signs she knows: mommy, daddy, baby, kiss, teddy bear, bath, all done, please, thank you, bathroom, car, friend, cereal, milk, water, drink, eat, bib, blanket, sleep, phone, hurt, help, dog, cat, elephant, duck, bird, book, stop, go, more, diaper, cookie, hot (and probably a handful of others that aren't coming to mind)
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
baseball isn't just for boys!
Daddy has begun to pass his favorite pastime down to Baby Girl. Her skills need lots of fine tuning, but she sure does like to swing the bat!
 |
| taking a break to watch the Thunderbirds fly over the house (or maybe she is watching her homerun fly over the fence!;) |
Saturday, April 9, 2011
look to the sky!
Friday we picked up Andy early from work and headed to the flight line to watch the Thunderbirds practice for the Charleston Air Show.
The base has a performance for military the day before the actual show so that we don't have to fight the traffic on the day of the airshow, which is much appreciated!
Olivia loved the airplanes! She kept saying "more, more" and would then get excited all over again when they would zoom past us again. It was a fun family afternoon.
 |
| see them flying behind us?! |
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
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