Adults Live Here Too

I finally did it! I moved most of J's toys upstairs to his room. I had two bookcases, bins, books, big trucks and more 'stuff' all over my living room. So, I moved the two bookcases and all the miscellaneous trucks upstairs to J's bedroom and the playroom. Now my living room looks (almost) like it did before we had J.

I had been feeling smothered by all the kid stuff for a few months now. It seemed we were forever picking toys and books up. I spent alot of time picking out my decorating style/furniture/etc for my living room when we moved in almost 5 years ago, and the toys and such were overshadowing my hard work!

I think J actually likes not having all those toys downstairs. I kept his favorite books, a small lined basket full of his Tonka trucks, and a few other 'prized' toys he plays with alot in a corner of the living room. Now he can actually find the book he wants without ripping all the books off the shelves (we had over 150 books on the bookcase). I plan to circulate the toys every week or two so he always has 'new' toys to play with downstairs.

And now I'm going to go sit in my 'adult' living room and enjoy how neat and clean and kid-free it is. Well, other than the kid that lives here!

Paper Towels in My Sink

So, J loooves to brush his teeth. Usually he'll spend a good 5 minutes in there just brushing away. Great - can't complain about good dental hygiene! But he almost always manages to do something when he's in there, such as but not limited to:

a) Put his toothbrush down the sink (this one really, really makes me have to count to 10 to keep my head from exploding)
b) "Washing" things that aren't washable in a sink
c) And putting things (washcloths, paper towels, bath toys)above the drain that stop water from going down the drain, and thus causing water to nearly overflow.

Thankfully, J runs out to find me (if I'm not there) as soon as he realizes he's caused trouble.

Yesterday we went to Pittsburgh to see the Nina and the Pinta, recreations of Columbus' ships, which was really neat to see. By the time we went on the 2nd ship, J was pretty much done learning about history. So, he and I took a walk along the river towards the city while the rest of the group finished looking at the ships. Jack was leading and he kept pointing way ahead of us. At first I thought it was the bridge. Nope. Ducks? No. The boat? Nah.
Finally, I asked where exactly we were going. J points toward downtown (which is a good mile (or two) away.
"Um, you want to get something to eat?" I guessed (it was 12:30).
J nods profusely, "Yeah!".
"Where do you want to go?"
J points to the skyscrapers again.
"J, we can get there faster by driving."
J immediately does an about-face, points towards the direction we came from, nods and takes off speed walking. The boy was hungry!

Today J and I worked on colors (matching the lids of his Dot Art markers to the markers themselves and then he handed me the colors as I asked for them) and then we did his "I Can Spell" book (http://activitymom.blogspot.com/2009/10/spelling-mats.html), followed by our (abstract!)art activity (cotton balls, paper plate, glue and markers). We had a busy day today, but it was a succesful, fun day!

Busy Day and Binoculars

Today we had playgroup. J had alot of fun (as usual). The craft for today was binoculars (toilet paper tubes, covered in construction paper). He loves them! Usually he isn't interested in craft time at playgroup (too many toys to play with!), but today he loved it!

Also at playgroup today was an interesting discussion on the H1N1 vaccine. It was interesting to me who got the vaccine for their kids and who didn't and their reasons.

Tonight we went out to dinner with friends and Jack had a great time flirting with the hostess (we were sitting close to the front door). It was so funny because he had been smiling and batting his eyelashes at the hostess. Then our waitress came over and was talking to him. He literally brushed her off and then pointed to the hostess, like 'move out of the way waitress, you're ruining my mojo'. I think he's going to be a heartbreaker when he gets older!

Talk Already Would Ya!!

J doesn't talk. At all. By age 2, most kids are easily using at least 40-50 words. I have heard J say about, ohhh, 10. But he always lets you know what he wants/needs and answers your questions/requests, and can follow 3 and 4 step directives. The pediatrician isn't worried, and neither am I. I just figure he'll talk when he's ready, but I try nonetheless.

I have tried withholding things to get him to use his words. He just shrugs and walks off.

I have tried getting him to watch my lips and repeat what I say. He laughs.

But I think I have found his weakness: my 'stupidity'.

Yesterday we were looking at one of those Discovery Kids books that has all kinds of pictures in it. Usually J points to stuff and I name it and then I'll name stuff and he'll point to it. Yesterday this was what happened:

J points to a picture of a cat.
Me: Oh, that's a mouse.
J looks at me like I'm insane and shakes his head no.
Me: I'm sorry. Silly mommy. That's a horse.
J shakes his head no.
Me: Oh. Well, if it's not a horse, and it's not a mouse than what is that Jack?
J: Ca
Me: Oh, a cat! You're right!

We played the same 'game' again with the dog picture (he said daw). Then he caught on to what I was doing and reading time was over.


Today I built J a tent using the kitchen table. He thought that was really cool. So did I. I have been waiting for him to be old enough to appreciate the blanket tent and it's funness and goodness. I tried when he was closer to a year old, and I quickly became bored when, for the 10th time, J pulled the blankets off the table and rolled all over them.

Today we also practiced putting nuts onto screws (fine motor skills). J has a hard time getting the nut onto the bottom of the screw, but once it's started he does pretty well. He easily recognized which nut went with what screw (the screws were 3 different sizes).

Oh, and on another note, we met my cousins' baby for the first time tonight. N is almost 4 months old and I was holding him when we were getting ready to leave. I asked J if we should take baby N home with us. "Noo!" came the reply with alot of head shaking. When asked who should take the baby home, he pointed to the baby's mom and nodded. Guess he's not ready for that sibling yet.

Which is good, cause neither am I!! haha

Is that a sack of potatoes? Nope, just a kid sleeping in the shopping cart . . .

I was just reading another website I frequent, and someone was saying how their kids (preschoolers) go to sleep on their own, in their own beds. The mom had worked on this since they were born (putting them in their own bed, putting them down while they were still awake, etc). But, she says she wonders if the joke is on her because her kids won't sleep anywhere but in their own beds (not even in the car), meanwhile she sees other kids sleeping while their moms shop/eat out, etc.

I admit: I'm the mom with the sleeping toddler in the shopping cart.


Since before he was born, Mike and I had decided that we didn't want our kid to have a dyed-in-the-wool, can never be changed schedule. Our lifestyle isn't 'scheduled'. Although I'm a very organized, list-making maniac (I make lists of lists I have to make), overall our life is pretty much a crapshoot. haha We like to go out to a late dinner and go grocery shopping around 9 or 10 pm some nights. We like to sleep late and have lazy mornings. I like to pick up and go out to lunch/shopping/for a walk in the park on a whim.

We have always dragged J along with us. He can sleep through the dog barking, kids screaming, and the phone ringing while sleeping in the car, in his stroller, in his own bed, or even in a shopping cart. We rarely plan around naptimes or bedtimes. J just sleeps when he's tired. Some days we sleep in until 10a.m, other days we are up at 7a.m. Some days we have breakfast at 11a.m., sometimes it's at 8a.m. Sometimes we go to bed at 1 a.m., but most of the time it's 9ish.

J goes with the flow and is a happy, healthy child. It has worked for us, although I know other people think I'm crazy for not having a schedule (they've even said so!!). One mom I know who asked for advice on how to get a baby on a schedule. I told her I wasn't a good person to ask! lol However, she did become a scheduled mom and it works for her and her child wonderfully.

HOWEVER (here's the disclaimer), I would like J to put himself to sleep in his own bed without me laying with him. But someday he will. For now, I'll enjoy laying with him and snuggling while he dozes off into dreamland.

Time Warp

J is now 2, and with it comes the dreaded double edged sword question: To nap or not to nap?

We are smack dab in between nap=staying up until 11pm or 12am vs. no nap=cranky by dinnertime and in bed by 7 or 8pm. And the days he doesn't nap, he makes it up for the apparent lack of sleep by napping the next day.

I'm just not sure what the best course of action is. I guess we'll just feel it out as we go, but some days it's maddening trying to figure out which is the better course to take.


On another note, I hope everyone voted (or will vote) today, despite the fact that were no 'big' elections. Regardless of whether you're Democrat, Republican, Independent or a big purple dinosaur, your vote still counts and you are still voting for people that will represent you.

And don't forget to take your little ones with you. A pain in the butt to drag them to the polling place? Yes. Absolutely. But the educational aspect and process of voting is a simple 'teach by example' moment for even the youngest of babes.

Making a U-Turn

After catching up on some of my favorite blogs, I have decided to come back to my own blog and develop it into what it was destined for from conception - a quick, handy, (hopefully) daily 'journal' of being a mom. It's for my own enjoyment, but I hope others can get something out of it too.



So, here it is November and I feel like I'm finally getting back into my groove. J and I are back into our daily routine of having time set aside for a learning activity and a craft activity.



Our craft today was cutting colored paper (cardstock) into scraps and then gluing said paper onto white cardstock. We practiced our colors, cutting skills, and glue management. If you have kids, you know what glue management refers to.



Our learning activity was me showing J a flash card with a color (red, yellow, blue, green). He would find the corresponding colored clothespin and drop it into a glass jar. This was the first time we played this game (usually we clip the clothespins onto the cards themselves), and although the first round went slow, we 'raced' to see how fast we could fill up the jar the 2nd round.



My favorite Mom moment of the day: Jack and I were playing with Play-Doh. I was ready to clean up but he resisted, so I said he could play for another few minutes. We had lunch and then got busy doing other stuff and I totally forgot about the Play-Doh until close to dinner time. I go to the table expecting to find hardended Play-Doh rocks, but all the Play-Doh was put back in the containers. As I glance around to see if my husband came home early and cleaned it up, or hey, maybe the dog really is gifted, I realize that my little man cleaned it up and even matched the right color play-doh to the right color container!

It's the small things that make me smile - and make me proud!!