Tonight, we were reading our bedtime story. Carder wanted to look at his favorite picture book instead of actually reading a story. I was letting him tell me about the pictures and pretend to feed me items from the pages.
We had been to the beach earlier in the week and he wanted to look at the beach page. He tried to feed me sand and I told him "Ewww, sand is yucky and dirty. I don't want to eat sand..."
He looked at me and said, "Mommy, wash it!"
Friday, June 28, 2013
Counting
Carder has this game he likes to play - he likes to count to 3 and then we are supposed to fake cry. For a long time, he skipped the "one" and would just say "2 3, Mommy". I am sure we perpetuated this dropping of the one because we would pretend to cry and then say "2 3, Carder".
We began making an effort to always say "1 2 3, Carder". And we began making him say his one if he wanted us to cry and this has resulted in consistent use of the number one.
The week befor last, when my parents were here, we were stacking blocks and counting them. When it came time for "6 7 8", he said the numbers in the right order with us (not after us).
This Monday, during his bath time, he decided to stick all of his bath toys down my shirt. We took them out one at a time and counted them. He counted to 3 and then stopped. I said 4 and prompted for the next number. We ran out of toys from my shirt at 7, but I still asked what came next. And from there, he counted all the way to 10.
His pediatrician said that by age 3 children can typically count to 3. I understand he skipped 4 so this doesn't count as all the way to 10. And he wasn't "counting objects" for every single number - he was just reciting the numbers. But still, I am one proud Mommy and I think I have one smart little boy!
Edited on 7/7/13 to add:
Tonight Carder was having Quesadillas for dinner. At one point, he began actually counting individual pieces of quesadilla (using a correct one to one ratio). He counted all the way up to 8 before he decided that he needed to take another bite. And he included 4. We are super proud!
We began making an effort to always say "1 2 3, Carder". And we began making him say his one if he wanted us to cry and this has resulted in consistent use of the number one.
The week befor last, when my parents were here, we were stacking blocks and counting them. When it came time for "6 7 8", he said the numbers in the right order with us (not after us).
This Monday, during his bath time, he decided to stick all of his bath toys down my shirt. We took them out one at a time and counted them. He counted to 3 and then stopped. I said 4 and prompted for the next number. We ran out of toys from my shirt at 7, but I still asked what came next. And from there, he counted all the way to 10.
His pediatrician said that by age 3 children can typically count to 3. I understand he skipped 4 so this doesn't count as all the way to 10. And he wasn't "counting objects" for every single number - he was just reciting the numbers. But still, I am one proud Mommy and I think I have one smart little boy!
Edited on 7/7/13 to add:
Tonight Carder was having Quesadillas for dinner. At one point, he began actually counting individual pieces of quesadilla (using a correct one to one ratio). He counted all the way up to 8 before he decided that he needed to take another bite. And he included 4. We are super proud!
Sunday, June 23, 2013
And Then We Spent the Night in the ER
A while back, Carder began to protest his high chair. We moved him into a booster seat at the table.
Also, call me a bad parent if you will, but I think it is next to impossible to sit right next to him the entire time he is at the table. If he wants second helpings or needs his hands wiped or drops his drink and you need to wipe it up or if you need to grab ketchup from the fridge...you just can't ALWAYS be right next to him. And he often eats better if you ignore him while he eats. And in our open floor plan home I am only a couple of steps away if I am in the kitchen.
This new seating arrangement has been working fine - except he has learned that he can use his hands and feet to push himself away from the table. Our chairs are pretty heavy, so typically this just results in pushing back. But sometimes, the front legs of the chair would lift off the floor.
After repeatedly telling him that he needs to stop because his chair would flip, he finally flipped it over. As we were getting ready to sit down to a meal, Carder was in his seat and I had walked into the kitchen to grab something else. I saw it happening and couldn't do anything to stop it. There was a huge thud as the chair hit the floor.
I was (and still am) fairly certain that he didn't hit is head on anything. He cried for a minute tops and said he was OK and then went on his merry way of playing and acting completely normal. I wasn't really all that worried at that point. We called the pediatrician just to be safe and his advice was to waken him a couple of times to make sure he wasn't too hard to arouse and that he knew who we were.
When we tried to wake him up before we went to bed, he was very groggy and hard to waken. And then he didn't want to tell us that Derek was Daddy or who any people in pictures were or who our dogs were. How much of this was because he was tired and 2 and what could be attributed to a concussion we weren't sure. So off to the ER we went. And I was in a panic.
We got checked in around midnight. After we were escorted into a room and got settled in, the nurse brought him a toy and a book. And within 5 minutes he was fully awake and telling us all about everything and was obviously fine.
3 hours later we saw the doctor (who confirmed he was fine) and were sent on our way.
Luckily he slept until 10 the next morning because we all needed the extra sleep!
The moral of this story is - if you have a child who is getting to be a daredevil, wake them up in the middle of the night so that you can have a baseline to compare it should you ever need to waken your child from a deep sleep to check for a concussion!
Also, call me a bad parent if you will, but I think it is next to impossible to sit right next to him the entire time he is at the table. If he wants second helpings or needs his hands wiped or drops his drink and you need to wipe it up or if you need to grab ketchup from the fridge...you just can't ALWAYS be right next to him. And he often eats better if you ignore him while he eats. And in our open floor plan home I am only a couple of steps away if I am in the kitchen.
This new seating arrangement has been working fine - except he has learned that he can use his hands and feet to push himself away from the table. Our chairs are pretty heavy, so typically this just results in pushing back. But sometimes, the front legs of the chair would lift off the floor.
After repeatedly telling him that he needs to stop because his chair would flip, he finally flipped it over. As we were getting ready to sit down to a meal, Carder was in his seat and I had walked into the kitchen to grab something else. I saw it happening and couldn't do anything to stop it. There was a huge thud as the chair hit the floor.
I was (and still am) fairly certain that he didn't hit is head on anything. He cried for a minute tops and said he was OK and then went on his merry way of playing and acting completely normal. I wasn't really all that worried at that point. We called the pediatrician just to be safe and his advice was to waken him a couple of times to make sure he wasn't too hard to arouse and that he knew who we were.
When we tried to wake him up before we went to bed, he was very groggy and hard to waken. And then he didn't want to tell us that Derek was Daddy or who any people in pictures were or who our dogs were. How much of this was because he was tired and 2 and what could be attributed to a concussion we weren't sure. So off to the ER we went. And I was in a panic.
We got checked in around midnight. After we were escorted into a room and got settled in, the nurse brought him a toy and a book. And within 5 minutes he was fully awake and telling us all about everything and was obviously fine.
3 hours later we saw the doctor (who confirmed he was fine) and were sent on our way.
Luckily he slept until 10 the next morning because we all needed the extra sleep!
The moral of this story is - if you have a child who is getting to be a daredevil, wake them up in the middle of the night so that you can have a baseline to compare it should you ever need to waken your child from a deep sleep to check for a concussion!
Friday, June 14, 2013
Putt Putt & Family Fun
My family was here visiting from Georgia for a few days. As seems to be par for the course, Carder got sick as they were on their way. The first couple of days were spent trying to keep his fever under control (at times it was 102 even after fever reducer).
We spent the time that he was feeling up to it just hanging around the house and playing. There was an afternoon that we spent a couple of hours decorating our backyard with sidewalk chalk. Or, perhaps you could say we decorated Carder's pants with sidewalk chalk as his pants ended up being multi colored by the end of the activity.
When he finally felt a bit better, we decided to venture out to play putt putt. This was Carder's first time on a course and we weren't quite sure what to expect. We also got a later start than I had intended, so I was anticipating a meltdown fairly early in our course.
Carder decided that instead of putting from the tee, it was much more fun just to start his putt from right next to the cup. And instead of taking one turn per hole, he took as many as 4 or 5. Who can blame him, though? Aren't the best putts the ones that go in?
He did really well with taking turns and letting everyone take their shots. He did begin to meldown a bit on the 17th hole, but did wonderfully otherwise.
It really was a great deal of fun. I would highly recommend Miniature Golf as an activity with a toddler.
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| Carder Starting His Putt - from right next to the cup |
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| Another fine starting point for Carder |
Oh, and since the course was pirate themed, Carder got a bag of pirate booty and a pirate hat as well. Inside the booty was this little eye patch that has been quite a bit of entertainment for the toddler and adults alike.
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| Arghhhh! Walk the Plank, Matey! |
Monday, June 10, 2013
A Blossoming Imagination
It's funny how things happen all of the sudden. Or maybe it is because you suddenly realize it.
Carder's imagination is blossoming. In retrospect, it probably started out with pieces of food that were pushed around and sounded like a car. Or flew through the air like a plane.
But all of the sudden, we can see his imagination.
We were at the park when another child gave him an imaginary ice cream cone and he carried that cone all over the playground. He even asked his Daddy to hold it while he climbed up and needed both hands.
He started making us imaginary ice cream cones and feeding them to us.
And then, this morning, he decided his penguin needed to have a drink during breakfast time.
It really is cute to see him begin to play pretend.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
2nd Birthday Party
Carder's birthday party was a great success. All of the preplanning I had done really paid off as the days before the party weren't slammed with things to do. Except to finish that darned cupcake stand. And those Oreo pops that I had grand plans for (which could have been posted on the Pin.terest Fa.il website because I think I bought the wrong kind of chocolate to dip them in).
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| I used a computer program to make 2 pictures into a panoramic one. I didn't realize until after the fact that it photo-shopped the "R" out of birthday. Oh well. You get the idea... |
We did the grocery shopping on Friday, so Saturday we only had to get balloons and put out all the goodies. And run a 5K first thing in the morning...
We have a fenced in back yard and beautiful (sunny but not too hot) weather, so we planned to have most of the party outdoors. I wanted to make sure the kids had fun and organized games are a bit hard for this age group.
There was a bubble station with several different types of bubbles set up on a table (which was covered with a plastic tablecloth for easy cleanup). This was a very popular station for all the kids. I had anticipated it's popularity and placed the table in a shady spot.
There was an art easel with both paper and a chalkboard and plenty of markers and sidewalk chalk.
There was Carder's basketball goal and a plethora of balls.
There were trucks and cars and every riding toy we own in the backyard.
Party guests (well, except for Derek's family as they were already there before party time) started arriving right on time at 4:00. We had used ballons staked to the ground with golf tees to mark our house and I think everyone found the place fairly easily.
The house and the yard filled up fast. Even though we invited guests from several different areas of our lives, everyone seemed to mingle well. The adults had fun relaxing in the backyard while the kids ran all over the place and had a blast.
Carder shared his toys incredibly well and the only altercation between kids seemed to be a slight spat over the Co.zy Cou.pe.
We sang the birthday song and Carder blew out a candle on his cupcake. And then refused to eat the cupcake. (Don't worry, I ate it. We don't waste cupcakes at our house.)
When it came time for opening presents, we brought them all out into the yard so that none of the kids had to stop playing to watch another kid open his presents. I also brought out the gift bags at that time so that there would be something for everyone to open.
It went so much better than I could have ever imagined. I even had one mom tell me I should write a book on how to throw kids parties, so I will call it a win!
Thursday, June 6, 2013
2nd Birthday Party Planning
Carder's 2nd Birthday party is this coming weekend. Although his 1st Birthday party turned out just fine, there was a part of me that felt like I has "skimped" on his party because I didn't make a lot of things myself. Although I know it makes no difference to him, I wanted his 2nd Birthday to have more effort on my part.
So, a few weeks ago, I began planning and creating. Thanks to Pin.terest, I had more ideas than I had time.
I started out with the invites. I used to make our own Christmas Cards each year, so making party invitations was a lot of fun. I did do something a little bit different this time and I printed certain parts of the invitation rather than hand stamping/writing it all. Other parts were added as embellishments by hand - like the ribbon and the foam ball stickers. They were delivered to recipients in pretty clear envelopes that look really cool in real life but make picture taking tricky due to the glare.*
So, a few weeks ago, I began planning and creating. Thanks to Pin.terest, I had more ideas than I had time.
I started out with the invites. I used to make our own Christmas Cards each year, so making party invitations was a lot of fun. I did do something a little bit different this time and I printed certain parts of the invitation rather than hand stamping/writing it all. Other parts were added as embellishments by hand - like the ribbon and the foam ball stickers. They were delivered to recipients in pretty clear envelopes that look really cool in real life but make picture taking tricky due to the glare.*
My next inspiration was for a cupcake stand. I decided pretty quickly what I wanted the top of the stand to look like and I think it turned out great.
The cupcake stand itself wasn't as much of a slam dunk. I found a few tutorials and examples online and it looked pretty easy. I couldn't find premade cardboard cake rounds without having to buy them in bulk, so I decided to make them myself. Derek brought home some boxes and I set to work. Getting perfectly round cardboard circles was not quite as easy as I had thought it would be. After covering them with wrapping paper and edging them with ribbon, they didn't look quite like I thought they would, but they would do. The spacers became my problem. Nothing I tried made seemed sturdy enough. Since putting cupcakes on an unsteady stand seemed like a recipe for cupcake disaster, I scrapped that plan and went with a new one. I am currently in the process of making another one out of boxes. Since there will be no flimsy risers involved, I think this one will work.
I also made picks to stick in the top of the cupcakes with the same foam stickers I used for the invitations.
I made a personalized birthday banner (thanks to my friend Xio who could flip letters upside down with her newer computer and software!!!)
I found a giant bubble wand and a couple more smaller ones. I made some Super Bubble solution to use at the party to blow big bubbles.
Next were the gift bags - inside are homemade bubbles (from the Super Bubble Recipe), play dough, funny glasses, foam ball stickers, temporary tattoos, and some fruit snacks.
I have also made thank you notes too!
Still on the to do list are chocolate covered Oreo pops (that will look like baseballs and basketballs) and finishing up the cupcake stand.
And of course the food...This is where I have opted to take the easy route on a few things and buy a fruit tray and a veggie tray and I ordered my cupcakes (baking isn't my strongest suit).
Hopefully these last couple of days will be productive and Carder will have a wonderful 2nd Birthday!
*Should you decide that you would like to mail things in clear envelopes, I think I got them here. But you can Goggle Clear Envelopes and find other suppliers. They come in many shapes and sizes and are a great way to showcase your hand made cards. Just be forewarned that the USPS charges more to mail them because they can't be machined.
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