We will get in to more creative activities next week. I owe you a good one!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Monday Fun Day ~ MLK Coloring Pages
We will get in to more creative activities next week. I owe you a good one!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Banner Play
I made a banner today. I am not sure if I like it but I needed something. I am in the top 200 blogs on Top Mommy Blogs now and randomly blogs are chosen to be featured on their home page. I couldn't take the chance that my blog be chosen and not have any banner! So we will call this a temporary fix until I have time to be a little more creative. It's not a bad start!
Positively Disasterous
Not feeling so hot today. I am really needing to focus on positives to find them. I always struggle a bit (emotionally) when my better half is out of town, so this week is probably going to be tough. On top of that though, I am feeling physically crappy which makes it so much worse. Let's just recap the disasters of the past week.
The worst thing that happened: The baby fell and banged his head on the coffee table. Now, I had those corner protector goodies on the table when I childproofed the home and the baby quickly pulled them off. All I was left with was sticky goo on the table which was not fun to remove. So I decided we would just have to be careful. Well, the inevitable happened. Logan was sitting in his chair that he got for christmas. I walked into the kitchen and it was at that moment (of course) that he fell into the table which made his head bleed. This was the first bleeding incident for us so you can only imagine how I felt. I wasn't sure what to do, whether we needed to go to the ER or put ice on or what. My husband assured me that the boy was fine and since he stopped crying after a minute, I supposed he was. We washed the wound, applied pressure and put a band-aid on. At least I was smart enough to buy cool band-aids for the kid in anticipation of some learning to walk mishaps. I felt awful but am happy to say that his head is just fine.
The next day I stupidly put the dog's water bowl on top of the washer and then started laundry. Once the spin cycle hit the bowl fell onto the kitchen floor and broke (its a plastic bowl and it broke) spilling water over then entire kitchen. Ok, so that wasn't too bad, but I do need to buy a new water bowl and it was annoying to clean up.
Then there was the following day when I stopped at In-N-Out on my way home. I learned my lesson a few months back that I need to put the food in a bag, not a box, when bringing it home. I always liked to get it in a box so that everything was placed nicely and such. One day however, that changed. You see, its hard to carry the baby and your burger and drink etc. and when I picked up my box with my half free hand, I managed to dump the whole thing on the ground. Well, some of the french fries landed on the floor of the car, but most of it was on the ground. I was so disappointed and never since have I gotten my food to go in a box! I have a whole system (sad, I know) where I place my drink in the diaper bag and carry the kid and my bag o' food in my hands / arms. This day however, I also splurged by getting a vanilla shake. I carefully placed the shake in the diaper bag as well and we successfully made it into the house! I went to place the baby in his christmas chair and place the diaper bag on an end table next to it. That's when it happened. The shake dumped over in his chair. Not just a little, the whole damn thing. The cover came off and the shake gushed out. I couldn't believe it. I rushed to clean it up before the melted ice cream seeped into all the crevasses of the chair and by the time I got it all taken care of my food was cold. Whatever. It could have been worse. I could have spilled it on the fabric couch or on the wool rug.
Alright. Enough with my disaster recap. I must say though, getting it out made me feel better. I am able to laugh about it now. Not the baby's cut, but the rest! Here are a couple reminders of the good times this past week!
For those of you that have followed us for a while, you may recall that my little darling broke the two and a half gallon fish bowl a while back. Since then the fish has lived in a small bowl that seemed cruel to keep him in given his previous home. Finally, this past week, I went out and got a new home for him! I am loving it and so is he! He is making bubbles again!
There were plenty of good times outside playing in the dirt! I love that our climate it generally warm, sunny and dry! It doesn't get better than that for me!
My silly boy thinks that all the dog's toys and goodies are his too. Every time I turn around he is putting the dog bones, dog food, and dog toys in his mouth. Yuck!
The worst thing that happened: The baby fell and banged his head on the coffee table. Now, I had those corner protector goodies on the table when I childproofed the home and the baby quickly pulled them off. All I was left with was sticky goo on the table which was not fun to remove. So I decided we would just have to be careful. Well, the inevitable happened. Logan was sitting in his chair that he got for christmas. I walked into the kitchen and it was at that moment (of course) that he fell into the table which made his head bleed. This was the first bleeding incident for us so you can only imagine how I felt. I wasn't sure what to do, whether we needed to go to the ER or put ice on or what. My husband assured me that the boy was fine and since he stopped crying after a minute, I supposed he was. We washed the wound, applied pressure and put a band-aid on. At least I was smart enough to buy cool band-aids for the kid in anticipation of some learning to walk mishaps. I felt awful but am happy to say that his head is just fine.
The next day I stupidly put the dog's water bowl on top of the washer and then started laundry. Once the spin cycle hit the bowl fell onto the kitchen floor and broke (its a plastic bowl and it broke) spilling water over then entire kitchen. Ok, so that wasn't too bad, but I do need to buy a new water bowl and it was annoying to clean up.
Then there was the following day when I stopped at In-N-Out on my way home. I learned my lesson a few months back that I need to put the food in a bag, not a box, when bringing it home. I always liked to get it in a box so that everything was placed nicely and such. One day however, that changed. You see, its hard to carry the baby and your burger and drink etc. and when I picked up my box with my half free hand, I managed to dump the whole thing on the ground. Well, some of the french fries landed on the floor of the car, but most of it was on the ground. I was so disappointed and never since have I gotten my food to go in a box! I have a whole system (sad, I know) where I place my drink in the diaper bag and carry the kid and my bag o' food in my hands / arms. This day however, I also splurged by getting a vanilla shake. I carefully placed the shake in the diaper bag as well and we successfully made it into the house! I went to place the baby in his christmas chair and place the diaper bag on an end table next to it. That's when it happened. The shake dumped over in his chair. Not just a little, the whole damn thing. The cover came off and the shake gushed out. I couldn't believe it. I rushed to clean it up before the melted ice cream seeped into all the crevasses of the chair and by the time I got it all taken care of my food was cold. Whatever. It could have been worse. I could have spilled it on the fabric couch or on the wool rug.
Alright. Enough with my disaster recap. I must say though, getting it out made me feel better. I am able to laugh about it now. Not the baby's cut, but the rest! Here are a couple reminders of the good times this past week!
For those of you that have followed us for a while, you may recall that my little darling broke the two and a half gallon fish bowl a while back. Since then the fish has lived in a small bowl that seemed cruel to keep him in given his previous home. Finally, this past week, I went out and got a new home for him! I am loving it and so is he! He is making bubbles again!
There were plenty of good times outside playing in the dirt! I love that our climate it generally warm, sunny and dry! It doesn't get better than that for me!
My silly boy thinks that all the dog's toys and goodies are his too. Every time I turn around he is putting the dog bones, dog food, and dog toys in his mouth. Yuck!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
New Week New Interests
Logan has a few new favorite activities this week. His most beloved activity is playing outside with his dump truck. He has a shovel and rake that we use to gather up dirt and leaves mostly, sometimes a rock or small stick, and he piles everything up in the truck then dumps it over and over again! The boy would stay outside playing all day if I let him. I make a point to let him play outside twice each day. We bring his scooter bike outside and he enjoys riding that around too. I can't believe I have not captured a photo of this, but in the coming week will make a point to. It is so nice to finally be able to play outside. Just a few months ago I would bring Logan outside but he wouldn't do much other than sit around. Now he is extremely active and alert, wanting to learn about everything. He is constantly picking up pine cones, acorns, etc. and wants to know what they are. The dog enjoys our outdoor play time as well. Sometimes the baby will throw a ball for the dog to chase or tease the dog with a stick. So cute! Murphy prefers to spend his time basking in the sun though.
The dog crate has become a second home for Logan. He loves hanging out in there and especially enjoys when I peek in to 'find' him! He brings toys in and opens and closes the door over and over before finally getting out for a few minutes, then before I know it he is back in the cage! Silly boy! The dog doesn't think it is as cute as I do, but he's a good sport about it.
He seems to have taken a renewed interest in playing with his xylophone since we moved its location from the floor to a table.
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He seems to have taken a renewed interest in playing with his xylophone since we moved its location from the floor to a table. Now that the babe is becoming a stronger walker, he enjoys wandering through the house with Papa's shoes on. He loves unlacing these chukkas and tries really hard to lace them up, but hasn't quite mastered that skill yet!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Night Weaning ~ Finding Treasure
OK, so I know I said the last night weaning post would probably be the last, but I felt that I should share some of what's happened during our first week. Tonight is night seven of night weaning. Given that it has only been a week, I am extremely pleased with how everything is going. We are down to one feeding a day (the before bed feeding). Here are a few treasures we have found along the way (in addition to my boobs not hurting at all).
The baby likes to be rocked now. He never liked to be rocked before this. I tried more than a few times in the past to get the baby to rock with me and he was never content. Now, however he will rock with me if he wakes in the night and falls back to sleep. Awesome! One night he nursed and then when I went to put him in his crib he fussed. I picked him up and walked back to the living room and he pointed to the rocking chair! He pointed at the chair! I was so excited! We rocked and he went right to sleep.
The baby sleeps better now. Twice now he has 'slept through the night'. By this I mean, once he slept from 9pm - 530am. Last night he slept from 11pm - 7am, and I am pretty sure he would have slept longer except my husband's alarm is so damn loud. So, we have had two nights of complete rest in a week. How amazing that felt! Most other nights he has slept for for an hour or two, wakes up, goes back to sleep for about five hours, wakes up and then sleeps again for another couple hours at which point we get up. Five hours is more sleep than I have gotten in months so I'm taking it! One or two nights were pretty rough where the baby was up a lot and/or didn't easily go back to sleep.
The baby sleeps in his crib now. For several months it became the norm for the baby to sleep in our bed with us. I fully believe each family needs to decide what sleeping arrangement works best for them, but co-sleeping was not the best option for us. I was too nervous to co-sleep in the beginning months because I felt the baby was too little. Once the baby was a bit more robust, I became more comfortable with the idea and would allow him to get into bed with us as a treat. Then it got to the point where I let the baby sleep with us out of convenience. It was easier to get him back to sleep in my bed than to transfer him to his crib. Recently I started to feel a bit trapped as the little guy would sometimes not go to sleep unless he was in my bed. I am happy to say that since we started our night weaning, he has slept in crib every night! I think everyone sleeps a little better now. My husband and I don't have to worry about the little one in the bed and he gets to move around all night long without having us in the way.
He still loves me! I think it is important to note that although I am nursing less, the baby is just as happy, loving and sweet as he was prior to this process. Yes, he can become fussy, but that happened before too. Breastfeeding allowed for a very special bonding time between my son and I and while I will miss it and loved it while it lasted, I feel it is for the best that we move on. We still get in plenty of cuddle time each day!
The baby likes to be rocked now. He never liked to be rocked before this. I tried more than a few times in the past to get the baby to rock with me and he was never content. Now, however he will rock with me if he wakes in the night and falls back to sleep. Awesome! One night he nursed and then when I went to put him in his crib he fussed. I picked him up and walked back to the living room and he pointed to the rocking chair! He pointed at the chair! I was so excited! We rocked and he went right to sleep.
The baby sleeps better now. Twice now he has 'slept through the night'. By this I mean, once he slept from 9pm - 530am. Last night he slept from 11pm - 7am, and I am pretty sure he would have slept longer except my husband's alarm is so damn loud. So, we have had two nights of complete rest in a week. How amazing that felt! Most other nights he has slept for for an hour or two, wakes up, goes back to sleep for about five hours, wakes up and then sleeps again for another couple hours at which point we get up. Five hours is more sleep than I have gotten in months so I'm taking it! One or two nights were pretty rough where the baby was up a lot and/or didn't easily go back to sleep.
The baby sleeps in his crib now. For several months it became the norm for the baby to sleep in our bed with us. I fully believe each family needs to decide what sleeping arrangement works best for them, but co-sleeping was not the best option for us. I was too nervous to co-sleep in the beginning months because I felt the baby was too little. Once the baby was a bit more robust, I became more comfortable with the idea and would allow him to get into bed with us as a treat. Then it got to the point where I let the baby sleep with us out of convenience. It was easier to get him back to sleep in my bed than to transfer him to his crib. Recently I started to feel a bit trapped as the little guy would sometimes not go to sleep unless he was in my bed. I am happy to say that since we started our night weaning, he has slept in crib every night! I think everyone sleeps a little better now. My husband and I don't have to worry about the little one in the bed and he gets to move around all night long without having us in the way.
He still loves me! I think it is important to note that although I am nursing less, the baby is just as happy, loving and sweet as he was prior to this process. Yes, he can become fussy, but that happened before too. Breastfeeding allowed for a very special bonding time between my son and I and while I will miss it and loved it while it lasted, I feel it is for the best that we move on. We still get in plenty of cuddle time each day!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The Electronic Pacifier
“There’s another one” my husband said as we walked by the restaurant window. “Another what?” I asked. “Another kid watching a movie while his parents eat dinner.”
It appears parents today have become quite reliant on what we like to call the ‘electronic pacifier’. I remember the days when video screens began to show up in the back seats of vehicles; when portable dvd players moved to the necessity list of items to take on your trips. I also remember the days when playing the alphabet game and singing songs while on road trips was the thing to do. The age of the electronic pacifier is ever evolving as now we have iPhones and iPads to add to the mix. Is it a good idea to allow your child to use these devices? Is there a time and place for the use? And when is the right time? Is it at the dinner table?
I admit, my son is almost obsessed with tech goodies. His favorite non-toy toys include my husband’s iPad, my iPhone, the computers and remote control. We even gave my son, who is 13 months, my old iPhone when I purchased a new one. My husband put apps on it that are kid appropriate such as an alphabet game and a piano. Recently my son developed a liking for pretending to use the telephone. He thinks it’s the coolest thing ever and everything he picks up becomes a phone. My husband, being the genius that he is, created a Skype account for my son and now we can call each other on our phones. He loves it.
My son has absolutely no interest in watching television. I suppose this is a good thing as it is recommended that children under two years not watch any television. Every now and then I will put on a kid movie to see if he will be captured and have not found that anything captures his interest. So, even if I wanted to use watching tv as a pacifier while we are out in public, I’m afraid I am out of luck. I am not sure that I would though. I think it is important for a child to learn how to have dinner, how to engage with others at a dinner table and how to be respectful, meaning able to hold it together for the hour we are there to eat. This being said, I bring an arsenal of items to keep my son occupied at the dinner table. Everything from teething biscuits to small trucks or stacking cups are found at our dining table. So is this really any different than the electronic pacifier?
Several moms have told me that being able to have their kid watch a program while they visit with friends or get a few things done is convenient. I have often thought that it would be a lot easier to get chores complete if my son would watch a movie. Is it really hurting anyone? I don’t know. My son is still young and I am not going to say that I will never resort to sitting him in front of the tv, because there very well could come a point when I feel like it is a good idea. I still am not a fan of the dinner table movie. Road trips, though, I completely understand letting your kid watch a movie if you are on a plane or in the car for hours. Perhaps not the entire time, but those trips can become very long with a cranky little one! I am not above putting a movie on his phone for him to view. Thank goodness I don’t have to carry around a case full of dvd’s in addition to the player. I like to minimize the ‘stuff ‘ when traveling.
I will say, I have on occasion given my phone to the baby when he wakes early in the morning so that I have a few minutes to wake up. He mostly just swipes his finger across the screen to turn the pages on my phone. He is pretty good at deleting apps too! While I let the baby play with the iPhone, I try not to use the iPhone. Does that make sense? I don’t rely on the electronic pacifier, but I let my son use electronics. I optimize the time I have while the baby naps and engage him in activities I am doing while he is awake. It turns out he actually likes to do laundry, dishes, and loves sweeping the floors. I sometimes look at him and can’t believe that he is my kid! I imaging in a few years his love of cleaning will dwindle as he develops other interests. Maybe not! One can hope!
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I admit, my son is almost obsessed with tech goodies. His favorite non-toy toys include my husband’s iPad, my iPhone, the computers and remote control. We even gave my son, who is 13 months, my old iPhone when I purchased a new one. My husband put apps on it that are kid appropriate such as an alphabet game and a piano. Recently my son developed a liking for pretending to use the telephone. He thinks it’s the coolest thing ever and everything he picks up becomes a phone. My husband, being the genius that he is, created a Skype account for my son and now we can call each other on our phones. He loves it.
My son has absolutely no interest in watching television. I suppose this is a good thing as it is recommended that children under two years not watch any television. Every now and then I will put on a kid movie to see if he will be captured and have not found that anything captures his interest. So, even if I wanted to use watching tv as a pacifier while we are out in public, I’m afraid I am out of luck. I am not sure that I would though. I think it is important for a child to learn how to have dinner, how to engage with others at a dinner table and how to be respectful, meaning able to hold it together for the hour we are there to eat. This being said, I bring an arsenal of items to keep my son occupied at the dinner table. Everything from teething biscuits to small trucks or stacking cups are found at our dining table. So is this really any different than the electronic pacifier?
Several moms have told me that being able to have their kid watch a program while they visit with friends or get a few things done is convenient. I have often thought that it would be a lot easier to get chores complete if my son would watch a movie. Is it really hurting anyone? I don’t know. My son is still young and I am not going to say that I will never resort to sitting him in front of the tv, because there very well could come a point when I feel like it is a good idea. I still am not a fan of the dinner table movie. Road trips, though, I completely understand letting your kid watch a movie if you are on a plane or in the car for hours. Perhaps not the entire time, but those trips can become very long with a cranky little one! I am not above putting a movie on his phone for him to view. Thank goodness I don’t have to carry around a case full of dvd’s in addition to the player. I like to minimize the ‘stuff ‘ when traveling.
I will say, I have on occasion given my phone to the baby when he wakes early in the morning so that I have a few minutes to wake up. He mostly just swipes his finger across the screen to turn the pages on my phone. He is pretty good at deleting apps too! While I let the baby play with the iPhone, I try not to use the iPhone. Does that make sense? I don’t rely on the electronic pacifier, but I let my son use electronics. I optimize the time I have while the baby naps and engage him in activities I am doing while he is awake. It turns out he actually likes to do laundry, dishes, and loves sweeping the floors. I sometimes look at him and can’t believe that he is my kid! I imaging in a few years his love of cleaning will dwindle as he develops other interests. Maybe not! One can hope!
If you enjoyed my post, please take a moment to cast an automatic vote for my blog by clicking on the banner below! Once you click you have voted! You can vote once per day! Thanks for your support.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
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