Tag Archives: parenting

Feb6

Radio-Flying

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Radio-Flying

For her birthday, Analie got the Cadillac of Radio-Flyer wagons.

This wagon is not messing around.  It has six different seat configurations (drawing table, snack tray, with friends, without friends, flatbed, etc…) storage caddies, cupholders, and a UV protectant shade.

And safety harnesses.

Since it was gorgeous weather, we decided to (finally) set the thing up today and go for a spin around the driveway.  Analie invited her BFF Maddie to come play wagons and ride in her swing.

First of all, let’s all just have a giggle over the size difference.  Analie and Maddie are one day apart.  On the growth charts, they’re about 80% apart.  (Analie is the bottom 10%, Maddie is top 10%.)  It hilariouses me every time I see it.

And is this child not CUTE?  I would totally give her spoonfuls of sugar but her mommy would kill me in my sleep if she found out.

Analie was munching on Bunnies (her current favorite snack – do not get between the child and her bunnies) and Cheerios as they rode around the yard.  I’m trying to get her bigger but it’s not working.

Poor Maddie looked like she was suffering the entire ride, but I think it was just too bright outside for her.  I giggle when I look at the pictures, though.

Am I a meanie?

She looks like one of those celebrities with their hands out to indicate, “Please, no pictures!”

Aaaaaaand then Maddie discovered that Analie had food.

I love Analie’s look of MOMMY, SHE IS TOUCHING MY BUNNIES!

There is no question as to what what Maddie wants.  And also no question that Analie doesn’t want to share her bunnies.  (Just look at those selfish, pursed lips.)

Poor girl.

Look at my child’s gloating face…

Maddie was ready to be done with the wagon after 15 minutes or so, and then she got to experience…THE SWING.

So cute.

I love babies in swings.  They have this look of WOAH!  LIFE IS SO AWESOME! all over their faces; I just wish I could bottle it up and store it for rainy days.

When Ana’s swinging she always looks like her head is going to pop off from all her pressurized excitement.

Wouldn’t it be awesome to stay like that forever?

Feb4

Bathing Cutie

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Bathing Cutie

Analie loves to go in the bathroom these days.  Because in the bathroom are all kinds of delightful treats like tooth brushing!  and hand washing!  and bathtime!

Oh, and there’s the washcloth drawer that I let her empty.  She loves that too, maybe more than all the other stuff combined.

While in the bath, we let her brush her teeth which, I KNOW, is probably some kind of safety hazard.  Especially since she loves to lean down to the water, submerge her face and inhale.

So then she comes up sputtering with a toothbrush in her mouth.

And she thinks it’s hilarious.

She also learned to pull up onto her knees a few weeks ago, which I think is so cute.  Her tiny little arms gripping the tub ledge, soft rolls of chunk still visible.  I hate that she’s losing her baby chunk.

I need to feed her more marshmallows or something.  (Wait, that’s the wrong kind of chunk.)

Ana got a squirty flower bath toy for Christmas, and it’s her current favorite thing in the bath.

I’ve been squirting it at her since she got it, and a few weeks ago she figured out how to refill it with water and squirt herself.

And what, you ask, is her favorite thing to squirt?

Her face.

OF COURSE!  (When I squirt it at her face she opens her mouth and tries to catch and swallow as much as possible.  It’s the most hilarious thing.)

As soon as the flower runs out of water she always looks at it, with her face dripping wet, like WOW THAT WAS SO AWESOME!

Then she fills the flower back up with water and does it all over again.

And that is why you can’t give this child a bath without full body waders on.  She takes bath time by the horns and shows it who is BOSS.

Joie de vivre. 

Feb2

Analie has eight teeth. COUNT ‘EM.

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Analie has eight teeth. COUNT ‘EM.

This afternoon the weather was gorgeous, so we went outside to go mudding in the backyard.

I dressed Analie in her most awkward pair of pants, two pairs of socks, and two undershirts, thinking they might get ruined if she got super muddy.

But I needn’t have worried about her clothes.  She’s not into getting dirty, although I tried really hard to show her how to dig in the mud.

She does love Angus, though, so he tempted her to at least crawl a tiny bit off the blanket twice.  And then he got too far away so she went right back to where it was dry.

But how sweet is that smile?

My little girl is getting so big.  I love this stage; the curious wonder of a stick or rock she dislodged from the grass, the  fascination she has with picking furry bits of moss off the ground and handing them to me proudly.

Oh…baby girl…can we freeze time?

Jan27

Being a Mommy Counts

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Being a Mommy Counts

So, I read the “Don’t Carpe Diem” article everyone’s sharing around on Facebook.  And you know what?  I think I may be, like, the ONLY person on the whole Internet who didn’t love it.

Maybe that’s because Analie is in such a magical stage right now.  Guys, every single day I get all misty and choked up because she is so amazing and so sweet; I just wish she’d stay like this forever.

But I know she won’t.

And I hate that.

Sure, yesterday she noticed I hadn’t latched the Tupperware cabinet and emptied the entire thing on the kitchen floor within a matter of 25 seconds.  But the look on her face of utter joy in the discovery was absolutely unparalleled.  It took me probably 2 minutes to clean up and reorganize the disaster once she was down for a nap, but two minutes of my time is a drop in the bucket when it comes to filling Analie’s days with the beginnings of rich life experiences.  (Even if it IS only Tupperware.)

Sometimes I feel frustrated by the negativity that can surround being a mommy.  I feel like we mommies get so caught up in expecting our children to behave like they’re years older than they really are so it will be more convenient for us…when what they really need is for us to get on our knees with them (even though it HURTS these days, right?!) and crawl around the house, pull stuff out of drawers and bang blocks together.

Discover life on Analie’s terms.  Not mine.

And isn’t that why I chose to become a mommy?  To do life with my baby?  Even when it hurts?  Or annoys me?  Or wears me down?

Maybe this stems from the increasing panic I am feeling about losing my “baby” as she grows up.  But Analie’s earliest picture of Jesus is going to be what she sees in Joey and I.  And one of my biggest prayers these days is that what she absorbs about Him isn’t that she has to fit into the predetermined behavior box we’ve made for her based on the behavior books we’ve read by well-intentioned Christian authors, or just what makes our lives more convenient.

I want the moments to matter.  The late nights and early mornings aren’t forever.  And I know that someday, when I look back on the early years of Analie’s life, I don’t want to regret my lazy parenting choices.

(AND OH MY GOSH, doesn’t the Internet make it so easy to be a lazy mommy?  Does for me!)

I hope nobody reading this feels judged.  That’s totally not my intention.  Because I am at least 60% less awesome at being a mom than I think I am.

But I’m Analie’s mama.

And I’m the only one she’ll ever have.

I want to make it count.

Jan23

One Perk About Having A Late Crawling Baby

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One Perk About Having A Late Crawling Baby

Analie is, like, the least advanced baby when it comes to movement.  She’s all, Yeah, I know about that cool toy you have over there, but WHATEVS MOM, I’M COOL WITH THIS PIECE OF LINT I DUG OUT OF THE CARPET.

Short version, it has been difficult to entice her to crawl.

Finally, finally, FINALLY, the Wednesday before Christmas, girlfriend started crawling.  (And it’s good that she did, too, because I’m pretty sure our pediatrician was about two weeks away from firing me as a mother.)  Ana’s crawling progress has been slow but steady, but over the last week she’s really gotten if figured out.  More often than not I’ll turn around to make sure she’s still in the same room as me and catch the wobbly backside of my child as she haphazardly scootches herself along the wood floor.

It’s so hilarious.

Last week, Analie discovered Angus’s food bowl.

Several times on Wednesday I told her no and distracted her with one of my mixing bowls.  (Because she loves to alternately stir and whack Angus with the spatula.  Surprisingly he thinks this game is fun too.)

The next day as I was loading the dishwasher and she and Angus were playing on the kitchen floor, she suddenly took off for his food bowl.

I busted out my first Mama Voice and said, “Analie.  NO.”

She was leaning forward with her tiny little hand was outstretched to the food, but when she heard my voice, she JUMPED. (Then I freaked out that I’d been too firm with her.  (Did I yell???!  I need a hidden camera!))

Analie sat up and stared at the food bowl.  She didn’t move.

I continued to freak out in my mind that maybe what I had thought was my firm voice had really been a yell.  (One of my parenting goals is to be just like my mama and speak firmly but with no yelling!  EVER!)  I wished I wasn’t looking at the back of her head, because I wanted to see those little wheels turning; one thing I love about this stage is that Analie can’t keep her emotions off her face.

It seemed like forever, but was probably only about two seconds, before Analie turned around and happily crawled back to the mixing bowl and picked back up where she had left off.

Victory?

The very next day, we repeated the same situation, right down to the mixing bowl and spatula toy on the floor. But this time when I told her no, I used only a fraction of the firmness I had used the day before.  And you know what?  She immediately turned around!  AND SHE HAS IGNORED HIS FOOD BOWL EVER SINCE!

I am totally expecting her to sneak over there again. But for our first NO! crawling boundary, I am so proud of Analie.

And I’m also glad that she waited so long to start crawling.  Because I’m not worn out by saying no yet.  (That’ll probably hit next week, right mamas?)

 

 

Jan3

Early Learning Activities: Week 1 (Look At Me!)

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Early Learning Activities: Week 1 (Look At Me!)

One of my parenting goals for the year is to be more intentional about structuring Ana’s playtime and reading more books.  I’m going to be starting an activity binder with themed activities based on seasons and ages, but I’m still thinking through how I want to lay it out. Once I get it all beautiful in my mind, I’ll go to Target and buy the tabs.  (GUYS. I just have to disclose that in my imagination this binder is tab-tastic and has at least two different sizes so I can denote sub-tabs.  I’m actually hoping for 3 sizes so I can go into sub-sub-tabs.  Is that overkill?!?!)

Anyway.  This week we’re working on colors and self-identification.

Our project was to take a big piece of paper, trace Ana, then color in her eyes, nose, mouth and hair (pausing after each to point out where it was on the picture, then on her face and mine), and clothes.  Using the main color in her outfit, I was to let color on her “clothes” and repeat the color over and over again.  Then I showed her two colors and see if she could pick that color.

Ready to make a “Look At Me!” picture with your kiddo??

Me too.

LET’S GO.

First, I assembled my supplies.  It’s all stuff you have around your house.  (Apologies in advance for these horrific photos.  Ana goes bonkers for cameras so it has to be point and shoot all the way for these kind of activities.)

I cut a Trader Joe’s sack to make a long piece of paper, and got crayons based on what I was going to dress Analie in (all purple to make it easier for her to identify the color) and a pen for tracing.

Then I realized that it’s not a good idea to trace a squirming child on carpet.  So we moved to the hardwood.

Step 1: Lay out of focus child on paper.

Step 2: Trace your child and then show the drawing (if you can call it that) to your child.

Step 3: Draw eyes, nose, mouth, hair and feet.  (I was not able to photograph this because Ana was like WHAT IS THAT AWESOME THING IN YOUR HAND MOM!?!?!?!?! and kept lunging.)

Step 4: Let your kid color their clothing. Preferably they color the clothing which is on the paper, not the clothing which is on their person.  But whatevs if they color themselves a little bit, right?  Because it will wash out.

Step 5: Allow your child to explore the crayon.  (Ana quickly determined that crayons are not tasty, but they are still fun to put in our mouths.  This use of crayons was discouraged. So was drawing on the wood floor.  Hi, Joey!)

Step 6: Admire your child’s coloring and praise them for doing a good job.  Don’t worry about coloring inside the lines, that will come later.

Step 7: Work on coloring a little bit more every day this week, emphasizing the same color (in our case, PURPLE.)  Continue to point out the facial features on the picture and on your child, encouraging them to identify their nose, mouth, eyes, etc.

Step 8: At the end of the week, allow your child to watch you cut the picture out of the bag.  Then post it on the wall in her room, or on the fridge. (Except I have OCD about things on my fridge.  I hate it.  I may make an exception for my child, though…maybe…)

YAY FOR US!  First week of intentional learning activity is in the bag.  (In this case, quite literally, it’s ON the bag…)

Dec19

ME TOO, GUYS!

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ME TOO, GUYS!

I was laying on the floor playing with Analie who was pulling stuff out of her junk mail bag (yes, my child plays with junk mail and she loves it) when Joey leaned over and gave me a kiss.

I’M SORRY.  IT HAPPENS.  I HAD TO PUT IT IN THE STORY OR IT WOULDN’T MAKE SENSE.

Anyway, when Analie saw what was going on and she immediately leaned forward and smashed her face right in between ours. Then she giggled like she’d gotten in on something really awesome.

I haven’t been able to stop laughing since.

Dec13

The Next CEO Of Starbucks

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The Next CEO Of Starbucks

Analie goes totally postal when she sees us drinking coffee.  She reaches her arms out (and/or starts flapping), sets her jaw, and growls for us to GIVE! HER! THAT! MUG! NOW!  PLEASE.

The past couple of days I’ve given her my coffee mug after I finished it.  And as soon as he gets it, she’s grabbed it with both hands and held it up to her mouth just like she’s seen Mommy do.  It’s hilarious because it covers her entire face. (I totally need to get a photo of this.  I am a failure.)

She started reaching and growling for my coffee mug this morning, and it wasn’t even close to being empty.  So, I thought, I’ll just let her taste what’s in there and nip this little problem in the bud.

(Point of detail: I drink my coffee black.)

I held the mug to her face and she put her tiny hands on either side of it.  We tipped it toward her mouth and she took a little drink of straight up black coffee.

I expected her to grimace and cry.

Instead, she flapped, squealed, and lunged for the mug again.

Plan = Backfired.