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!!

Baker House Rules When You Have the Flu

I hate to be sick (then again, I guess everyone does). So, in an effort to not get sick, I place restrictions on what you can/can't/should/shouldn't do when you're sick. Now, please note that J is only 15 months, so he has no clue what a rule is, much less how to follow it. So, these are pretty much for the hubby. Feel free to use them in your own house. Enjoy!



Rules For When You're Sick



#1. Do not touch anything that belongs to me.



#2. Try to stay in one room, on one piece of furniture (i.e. living room/couch, bedroom/bed). This allows the rest of us (i.e. me) to know where it is safe to eat, sleep, sit, breathe.



#3. If I ask you "Did you touch my glass/pen/pillow/arm?" Do not laugh. I want an answer so I know whether to throw out/burn/wash the item.



#4. Do not ask me to make you toast. My theory is, if you can't get up to make a PIECE OF TOAST, you shouldn't be eating. However, I will bring you a glass of water.



#5. I don't need to know what just happened in the bathroom. I'll trust it was bad.



#6. Please don't touch me. Anywhere. For any reason other than I'm on fire. Even then, please ask first.

And we'll have fun, fun, fun til' the flu takes our fun away . . .

Rewind to a week ago Saturday (December 27, 2008):

Lunchtime.

Friends: It's cold here. Want to go with us to Key West?

Us: Um, okay.

9:00 p.m.: We leave. Four adults. Two kids (15 months and 5 months). Two cars.

What a blast! J did better in the car than either M and I could have guessed. We drove through the night (9:00ish p.m. until about 3:30 p.m. the next day). We stopped in St. Augustine Beach (beautiful town) for the night and left around 10 a.m. Monday morning. We arrived in Islamorada (a key about half down through the Florida Keys) around 4 p.m. Monday afternoon. We went to beaches (Bah'ia Honda - a must visit if you ever go), visited Key West, swam in the pool and just relaxed. The weather was in the 80's! I could seriously live there all year long. We left late Thursday morning and stayed overnight in Jacksonville. Then continued north to Charlotte, NC, where we arrived Friday evening. Saturday we visited with some friends who have a son 2 months older than J. They had a blast playing together! We left around 2p.m. Saturday and arrived home about 10 p.m. that night.

Even though it was a surprise trip, it was one of the funnest times of my life. We took our time and just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves.

That is, until we got home. Saturday night and Sunday everyone was fine. Monday morning M woke up feeling sick and wound up having symptoms of the flu. J and I left the house to go on errands in an effort to not breathe in any germs. Well, 2 miles before my mom and dad's, J threw up all over himself and the car seat. There I am, with all four windows rolled down, trying not to throw up myself. Poor J!!

We get to my mom and dad's and I strip J buck-naked outside on the porch (it's about 30 degrees out) so as not to get puke all through my parents house. Then I start taking apart the car seat so it can be washed in the washing machine. What a pain in the butt!! Luckily my dad was there to help disassemble and reassemble.

Speaking of my dad, I give him major kudos - when my sister and I were little he would go to the other end of the house if we were sick. He didn't "do" puke. Tonight, he helped take apart and wash Jack's vomit covered carseat without even the slightest grumble. My mom and I were amazed! If it wasn't my kid, I'd have been on the other side of the house! Apparently, being a grandparent makes you change your ways!

So, as I sit typing, M and J are both sleeping peacefully on the couch and loveseat, respectively. The dog is sniffling around like he has a cold. And I am sitting with the Purell hand sanitizer next to me.

Hide and Seek

Hide and seek is a great childhood game. One (or more) persons hide while another person seeks for them. The game can go on for hours. This is now my life.

J has recently started taking toys or random objects and hiding them. Now, you may be thinking, how hard can it be to find something a one year old hides. To that I answer, You don't know J.

I have found objects in the dryer, under the deck, behind the toilet, at the bottom of hampers and laundry baskets, under the couch, in the garbage can, in kitchen drawers and cabinets. If you catch him in the act of hiding something, he'll smile at you and then hand over the object. Probably all the while thinking, "Damn you, vile woman!" a la Stewie on Family Guy.

It's been 3 weeks since I've seen the bus driver. I have searched the house high and low. I'm pretty much ready to sign off on her. I miss her hard, smiling, plastic face in the front of the bus singing "Move on back, Move on back". But alas, I will probably find her stuffed in the back of a closet with a smile still on her face.