So much to catch up on! Well, this is as good a place to start as any:
December 14-19 we went on a Cruise with 16 other family members. My mom and Joe decided that they wanted all the kids/grandkids together for the holiday this year and instead of us all trekking to someone's house we hopped on a boat out of Tampa to the Western Carribean.
In attendance were:
Mom & Joe
Nate, Rhonda & Tiffany
Grannie
Mac, Mystie, Chase, Tori, Dawsyn & Morgan
Ginger & Brian
Lori & Scott
Me, Jeb & Alanna
When we left it was pretty darn cold here...about 10 above or so. Florida was a welcome change and upon arrival that evening, Alanna wanted to get into the pool with her Uncle Mac and cousins. There was a small snafu with the flight on the way out due to a storm that morning. All flights into Chicago were cancelled, but I'm pretty impressed with Expedia. Our itinerary had already been adjusted and we were rerouted through Dallas with only an hour and a half difference from our initial flight time. Overall, we got there about 4 hours later than anticipated, but still no real hassles which was very nice.
Alanna warmed up to everyone by the next morning and she and Dawsyn were best buds for most of the trip.
The ship was absolutely HUGE. Honestly, the rocking didn't bother me and was rather relaxing really..especially when trying to go to sleep at night.
The major problem we ran into on the ship was the toilets. Alanna was absolutely TERRIFIED of them. Similar issue happened on the airplane. She has no problems with potties in stores like Target or what not, but is deathly afraid of the airplane and ship potties. This led to an accident on the airplane right before we landed in Tampa which meant Mommy and Alanna needed to open the suitcases off of baggage claim to change clothes, but we wanted to be in shorts anyway.
Back to the ship potties...Alanna is potty trained and even does pretty well at night. So, Mommy in her infinite wisdom (haha) only brought pull-ups for nighttime and to my credit I did bring a few extra, but not enough for her to wear every day all day. Alanna would look at the potty and flip out.
I thought I had the solution, I really did. See, there's this kid's daycare with activities on the ship called 'Camp Carnival' and they have a potty chair!! Problem was, she wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with Camp Carnival. And honestly, can't say as I blame her. They didn't let the parents come in at all. Now this may be fine for a child who's in a daycare center or in school, but for a child that is used to a family type environment, this can be very scary. Had they even let the parents in for say the first morning for an activity or two she would have been fine, because she would have had a chance to acclimate to the new people with Mommy or Daddy there to show her it was ok. Hell, she would have been fine if the waiters were the daycare staff since she got more of a chance to get acclimated to them in one meal than to the staff in the Camp. Soooooooo...no on board daycare for us and no potty! Luckily, her cousin Morgan is about her size and still in diapers so I was able to beg some off of Mystie.
The cruise was nice, although not something I would try to do again with a 3 year old. Maybe a Disney cruise where there would hopefully be more options to keep her entertained and let Mommy/Daddy have some time too.
We did port in Cozumel and the weather was gorgeous. About 91 degrees. We had to take a small transport boat into land as Hurricane Wilma had demolished (and I do mean demolished!) the areas where the cruise ships used to dock. The shore looked very banged up and there was construction going on everywhere. We went to Playa Mia which is a paid inclusive beach and it was beautiful. Deep squishy sand and clear blue/green water. Alanna had an absolutely wonderful time playing with Dawsyn and Morgan in the surf. I was able to sneak away (thank you Aunt Ginger!) for about 30 minutes to get a massage on the beach. The masseuse was good and the price far less than in the spa on the boat, but what made it very nice was the sound of the birds, the breeze, and hearing the water hit the sand. What I didn't think about (DOH) was that the masseuse would use oil on my back. Now, for the most part, I don't tan or burn really. Actually, I'm still rather pale even after sitting on the beach. But, my back was a different story. I wandered past the drink hut on my way back to sit in the surf with the kids, picked up my pina colada, and plopped down to promptly and literally BAKE my back. My back was as red as Santa's hat. Ah well..thank heavens for aloe.
Got some wonderful pics as did everyone else and waiting for the collected cd of photos from Mystie so that I can go through them and create our after the holidays greeting letter (in lieu of Christmas cards).
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Friday, December 09, 2005
Monday, November 28, 2005
The Logic of a 3 Year Old
Part of our weekend activities were to put up the Christmas tree and decorations. We got everything taken care of and Alanna was preoccupied for a bit with her Dora game, so I decided to go ahead and wrap the presents we have to just get it out of the way and remove them from their various closet hiding places.
After lunch, Alanna went into the living room and spied the presents. Here is what ensued:
A: 'Mooooommmmy, I pick a present to open?' In this plaintative little cute voice.
M: 'No, honey, it's not Christmas yet. We need to wait to open our presents.'
A: 'It IS Christmas, I pick a present.' Absolutely convinced in her knowledge of what day it is.
M: 'No, sweetheart, Christmas won't come for a while yet, we need to wait please.'
A: Stomping into the dining room and taking my hand, 'I show you, Mommy. It is Christmas.'
She proceeded to lead me over to the patio door and point outside at the snow.
A: 'See!!! Snow! It IS Christmas!'
Gotta give her credit for the correlation. I explained that the snow was part of winter and that Christmas is in the wintertime, but not for a few weeks still. She seemed to take that well and hasn't touched the presents since or asked about them again. Jeb's laying bets that we'll come into a living room full of wrapping paper one day this week. I think she'll wait....we'll see ;)
After lunch, Alanna went into the living room and spied the presents. Here is what ensued:
A: 'Mooooommmmy, I pick a present to open?' In this plaintative little cute voice.
M: 'No, honey, it's not Christmas yet. We need to wait to open our presents.'
A: 'It IS Christmas, I pick a present.' Absolutely convinced in her knowledge of what day it is.
M: 'No, sweetheart, Christmas won't come for a while yet, we need to wait please.'
A: Stomping into the dining room and taking my hand, 'I show you, Mommy. It is Christmas.'
She proceeded to lead me over to the patio door and point outside at the snow.
A: 'See!!! Snow! It IS Christmas!'
Gotta give her credit for the correlation. I explained that the snow was part of winter and that Christmas is in the wintertime, but not for a few weeks still. She seemed to take that well and hasn't touched the presents since or asked about them again. Jeb's laying bets that we'll come into a living room full of wrapping paper one day this week. I think she'll wait....we'll see ;)
Monday, November 14, 2005
Some Catching Up
I guess I have a little catching up to do. I've been fighting off the crud for the past few weeks off and on and just haven't felt much like writing.
So, some recaps:
Halloween--
Alanna went trick or treating with Daddy and had a lot of fun. She came home with a ton of candy and is still 'pretending' trick or treat around the house from time to time as well as reading and re-reading her Dora Halloween book. Mommy took her to a community Halloween party earlier in the weekend and her absolute favorite game was the cake walk. She simply wanted to walk around and around and around to the music the whole time. I remember cake walks growing up--they pasted numbers on the floor and you walked until the music stopped, then someone drew a number from a bowl and if you were standing on that number you won. In those days though you actually got a cake. We used to have them at the church and you'd walk over to a table with all these cakes people had donated and got to pick one. This cake walk was simply for little pieces of candy and the numbers were on big pumpkins. Alanna didn't care though and just was excited by walking to the music.
Circus Class--
Alanna is no longer going to her circus class. The third class, she started exhibiting some signs of being frustrated with it. She wasn't at all interested in doing the stretching with her class and kept insisting that I be near her during the class. We thought maybe it was because she wasn't feeling the greatest and they'd had a week off.
The next week, I talked it up on Friday before class. She told me, "Mommy, I don't like Circus class". I asked her why and she said, "I'm too big." She says that rather than 'too little'. I explained that she was just the right size and that she'd get to see her friends and maybe jump on the trampoline and do somersaults. She told me, "I don't want to go." To her credit, she didn't whine or throw a tantrum, this was all matter of fact. So I told her we'd talk about it in the morning and see how she felt then. The next morning, she said the same thing, so we decided that we wouldn't go for that day.
Then the next week, we tried the same tactic. I told her that we'd be going to grandma's house after circus class on Saturday. She said she didn't like circus class. So, I again asked about somersaults and the trampoline. She told me, "Mommy, I do somersaults at home instead. I don't like it." So we decided that we were done with Circus class for now.
I think a lot of it was just too much too fast for her. She's never really had structure since she's always gone to an in-home daycare. They do activities, but not on a scheduled timeline. This was 60 minutes of structure from the moment they walk in the door until they leave. Even the rotations through somersaults, balance beam and such were structured. Nothing at all wrong with that, just a bit of an overload for her. And I think she knew she was the youngest/smallest which I'm sure also had an impact on her. We would never tell her she's last in the class obviously, but kids are darn smart and maybe we'll try it again if she's interested when she's older.
New Classes--
Since we believe that we do need to start introducing Alanna to some more structure in her life in preparation for preschool in a couple years. So, as Circus Class proved to be too much, I thought I'd check out some of the Community Classes instead.
She's now taking 'Pint Sized Picassos' on Tuesday nights for an hour. We've been to one class and she LOVED it. It's much more her pace and she's not the youngest there. They do an activity that's guided by the teacher for about 10 minutes, then they have open play while they set up for the next activity, then 10 more minutes painting or what not, then open play and so forth. She did great and was very proud of her artwork. I bought her a little door hanger at Ren Fest that has some clips on it for hanging artwork and she wanted it up right away.
She's also taking 'Kids in Motion' on Saturday mornings for 45 minutes. Jeb took her this weekend and again, she had a blast. This class uses sports concepts to do structured play. She's at the older age spectrum for this group which should also help build her confidence before we jump her into the next class. They played hockey with those big foam noodles, kicked soccer balls into nets (yes, uncle Scott will be pleased), and then played with a parachute. Remember doing those parachute games in Elementary school? Those were fun.
So I think we're now on the right track for getting her some structure, interaction with others her age, and not overwhelming her either.
So, some recaps:
Halloween--
Alanna went trick or treating with Daddy and had a lot of fun. She came home with a ton of candy and is still 'pretending' trick or treat around the house from time to time as well as reading and re-reading her Dora Halloween book. Mommy took her to a community Halloween party earlier in the weekend and her absolute favorite game was the cake walk. She simply wanted to walk around and around and around to the music the whole time. I remember cake walks growing up--they pasted numbers on the floor and you walked until the music stopped, then someone drew a number from a bowl and if you were standing on that number you won. In those days though you actually got a cake. We used to have them at the church and you'd walk over to a table with all these cakes people had donated and got to pick one. This cake walk was simply for little pieces of candy and the numbers were on big pumpkins. Alanna didn't care though and just was excited by walking to the music.
Circus Class--
Alanna is no longer going to her circus class. The third class, she started exhibiting some signs of being frustrated with it. She wasn't at all interested in doing the stretching with her class and kept insisting that I be near her during the class. We thought maybe it was because she wasn't feeling the greatest and they'd had a week off.
The next week, I talked it up on Friday before class. She told me, "Mommy, I don't like Circus class". I asked her why and she said, "I'm too big." She says that rather than 'too little'. I explained that she was just the right size and that she'd get to see her friends and maybe jump on the trampoline and do somersaults. She told me, "I don't want to go." To her credit, she didn't whine or throw a tantrum, this was all matter of fact. So I told her we'd talk about it in the morning and see how she felt then. The next morning, she said the same thing, so we decided that we wouldn't go for that day.
Then the next week, we tried the same tactic. I told her that we'd be going to grandma's house after circus class on Saturday. She said she didn't like circus class. So, I again asked about somersaults and the trampoline. She told me, "Mommy, I do somersaults at home instead. I don't like it." So we decided that we were done with Circus class for now.
I think a lot of it was just too much too fast for her. She's never really had structure since she's always gone to an in-home daycare. They do activities, but not on a scheduled timeline. This was 60 minutes of structure from the moment they walk in the door until they leave. Even the rotations through somersaults, balance beam and such were structured. Nothing at all wrong with that, just a bit of an overload for her. And I think she knew she was the youngest/smallest which I'm sure also had an impact on her. We would never tell her she's last in the class obviously, but kids are darn smart and maybe we'll try it again if she's interested when she's older.
New Classes--
Since we believe that we do need to start introducing Alanna to some more structure in her life in preparation for preschool in a couple years. So, as Circus Class proved to be too much, I thought I'd check out some of the Community Classes instead.
She's now taking 'Pint Sized Picassos' on Tuesday nights for an hour. We've been to one class and she LOVED it. It's much more her pace and she's not the youngest there. They do an activity that's guided by the teacher for about 10 minutes, then they have open play while they set up for the next activity, then 10 more minutes painting or what not, then open play and so forth. She did great and was very proud of her artwork. I bought her a little door hanger at Ren Fest that has some clips on it for hanging artwork and she wanted it up right away.
She's also taking 'Kids in Motion' on Saturday mornings for 45 minutes. Jeb took her this weekend and again, she had a blast. This class uses sports concepts to do structured play. She's at the older age spectrum for this group which should also help build her confidence before we jump her into the next class. They played hockey with those big foam noodles, kicked soccer balls into nets (yes, uncle Scott will be pleased), and then played with a parachute. Remember doing those parachute games in Elementary school? Those were fun.
So I think we're now on the right track for getting her some structure, interaction with others her age, and not overwhelming her either.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Monday, October 17, 2005
I've Become 'Mom'
Somehow this weekend, I became 'Mom'. I'm no longer 'Mommy', but now 'Mom'.
I don't like this transition at all. I tried doing the thing where when Alanna says 'Mom' I repeat 'MomMY', but it doesn't seem to have stuck. She's now decided that my new name is 'Mom'.
I'm not really sure why this bothers me, but it does. I'm not ready to be 'Mom'! 'Mom' makes me feel older and worse yet, makes me see that my little girl is growing up far too quickly.
I don't like this transition at all. I tried doing the thing where when Alanna says 'Mom' I repeat 'MomMY', but it doesn't seem to have stuck. She's now decided that my new name is 'Mom'.
I'm not really sure why this bothers me, but it does. I'm not ready to be 'Mom'! 'Mom' makes me feel older and worse yet, makes me see that my little girl is growing up far too quickly.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Click Monkey
Alanna has been getting very good with her toddler software and her use of the mouse. She practices/plays a little at daycare daily and then also a little at home.
So, for her birthday I found her a used P3 on Ebay to buy with her birthday money from relatives (some also went into her 529 plan). I set her up next to my computer on her small table with her chair and loaded on her toddler software. We also found a child's keyboard/mouse set online that's pink and is more geared to her size (about 2/3 the size of an adult keyboard/mouse). She came downstairs and was in heaven!
This is the point where we were shocked. We didn't realize how good she'd actually gotten. For most all of her games, she doesn't need our help any more. She can click the matching colors, follow the directions and does very very well.
We've implemented the no computer until after dinner rule as well as the time limit and will stand to that so that she doesn't become too much of a computer geek like us, but I think it's good for her to get the skills and far better than tv.
So, for her birthday I found her a used P3 on Ebay to buy with her birthday money from relatives (some also went into her 529 plan). I set her up next to my computer on her small table with her chair and loaded on her toddler software. We also found a child's keyboard/mouse set online that's pink and is more geared to her size (about 2/3 the size of an adult keyboard/mouse). She came downstairs and was in heaven!
This is the point where we were shocked. We didn't realize how good she'd actually gotten. For most all of her games, she doesn't need our help any more. She can click the matching colors, follow the directions and does very very well.
We've implemented the no computer until after dinner rule as well as the time limit and will stand to that so that she doesn't become too much of a computer geek like us, but I think it's good for her to get the skills and far better than tv.
Birthday Party
We had Alanna's small birthday party on Saturday and it was very fun. It really was more of a get together with other adults that happened to have kids too, but everyone had a nice time.
Everyone showed up about 1pm and we had a taco bar and cake. Alanna picked out her own balloons and cake a few weeks prior at Cub so Jeb picked them up in the morning while she and I were at her Circus class. We had saved a couple small presents from us and she got two others to open which she was thrilled about. I also had purchased a custom birthday hat for her from a lady off ebay that makes them with chenille and the boa feather material. It was absolutely adorable. After I get the pictures uploaded, I'll put one here too. It was yellow, with a purple number 3, Dora, and pink feathers at top and around the rim.
She got some very fun farm animal soaps/tshirts/wash mit from Aunt Woogie and Uncle Scott. The blue fizzy ones btw (Woogie!!) stain your bathtub...was able to get the blue ring off the sides, but I think going forward no more fizzies, just soaps ;)
She got a couple cute Olivia books (I'd never heard of Olivia, but she's this darling little pig) and this fantastic fleece Dora Princess no-sew blanket as well. I'd never seen these before, or I guess if I have I didn't realize how simple they were to make. She absolutely loves it and because it was personalized for her that makes it that much more special...it's also SUPER soft!
So on a quick tangent, I'm now addicted to making these. I made two blankets/pillows last night and they turned out really cute. I believe they're what I'm going to be doing for Christmas gifts as well. I found out that JoAnn fabrics will take Michaels' coupons. And since both have a 40% off one item every Sunday paper, you can actually use BOTH in the same purchase one for each piece of fleece!! So that makes each blanket between $8-$15 depending on the patterns--too cool!
Then the kids pretty much went off and played and the adults hung out and played Killer Bunnies. Again, if you've not purchased this game or played it, you are truly missing out on a lot of fun. We incorporated in the new 'Kinder Bunnies' and now have only not played with the White and Steel decks which maybe we'll get a chance to use in the next week or so.
After the first round of bunnies, we ate cake, then started in to round two and everyone headed home about 9.
Definitely a busy day, but all in all a success.
Everyone showed up about 1pm and we had a taco bar and cake. Alanna picked out her own balloons and cake a few weeks prior at Cub so Jeb picked them up in the morning while she and I were at her Circus class. We had saved a couple small presents from us and she got two others to open which she was thrilled about. I also had purchased a custom birthday hat for her from a lady off ebay that makes them with chenille and the boa feather material. It was absolutely adorable. After I get the pictures uploaded, I'll put one here too. It was yellow, with a purple number 3, Dora, and pink feathers at top and around the rim.
She got some very fun farm animal soaps/tshirts/wash mit from Aunt Woogie and Uncle Scott. The blue fizzy ones btw (Woogie!!) stain your bathtub...was able to get the blue ring off the sides, but I think going forward no more fizzies, just soaps ;)
She got a couple cute Olivia books (I'd never heard of Olivia, but she's this darling little pig) and this fantastic fleece Dora Princess no-sew blanket as well. I'd never seen these before, or I guess if I have I didn't realize how simple they were to make. She absolutely loves it and because it was personalized for her that makes it that much more special...it's also SUPER soft!
So on a quick tangent, I'm now addicted to making these. I made two blankets/pillows last night and they turned out really cute. I believe they're what I'm going to be doing for Christmas gifts as well. I found out that JoAnn fabrics will take Michaels' coupons. And since both have a 40% off one item every Sunday paper, you can actually use BOTH in the same purchase one for each piece of fleece!! So that makes each blanket between $8-$15 depending on the patterns--too cool!
Then the kids pretty much went off and played and the adults hung out and played Killer Bunnies. Again, if you've not purchased this game or played it, you are truly missing out on a lot of fun. We incorporated in the new 'Kinder Bunnies' and now have only not played with the White and Steel decks which maybe we'll get a chance to use in the next week or so.
After the first round of bunnies, we ate cake, then started in to round two and everyone headed home about 9.
Definitely a busy day, but all in all a success.
Flying Trapeze
This week's Circus class went a little bit better. I was able to sit with the other parents for most of it and didn't have to get up but a couple of times to redirect Alanna so that she stayed in line with the group. They actually did a few different things this time from last week.
They started again with taking the whole group for stretching/dancing, then came out to do the round robin of activities which this week started with Trapeze! They had two large mats about 1.5 feet high each stacked so that the kids could climb up on them and then take hold of the Trapeze bar. The kids would then swing forward, bend their knees and swing back and then forward again before letting go to land on a mat below them about 3 feet. Alanna did very well but like several of the kids wasn't as excited about letting go.
Then it was on to the somersaults which she's getting very good at, the balance beam and the little rainbow that they were to climb up and slide down. The only thing she really had trouble with this time was standing in line at the Trapeze since that one took longer for each kid to take their turn.
Then they split into two groups and Alanna went to go learn to throw and catch scarves. They took scarves, threw them into the air and then caught them and then took it one step further to clapping in between throwing and catching. She did well with the throwing and catching, but couldn't quite get the clap in between.
Next they came over to the jump rope. She's still having a bit of trouble with jumping with both feet together versus run-jumping or prancing over, but she got it a couple times and we'll keep practicing with the mini trampoline at home.
They started again with taking the whole group for stretching/dancing, then came out to do the round robin of activities which this week started with Trapeze! They had two large mats about 1.5 feet high each stacked so that the kids could climb up on them and then take hold of the Trapeze bar. The kids would then swing forward, bend their knees and swing back and then forward again before letting go to land on a mat below them about 3 feet. Alanna did very well but like several of the kids wasn't as excited about letting go.
Then it was on to the somersaults which she's getting very good at, the balance beam and the little rainbow that they were to climb up and slide down. The only thing she really had trouble with this time was standing in line at the Trapeze since that one took longer for each kid to take their turn.
Then they split into two groups and Alanna went to go learn to throw and catch scarves. They took scarves, threw them into the air and then caught them and then took it one step further to clapping in between throwing and catching. She did well with the throwing and catching, but couldn't quite get the clap in between.
Next they came over to the jump rope. She's still having a bit of trouble with jumping with both feet together versus run-jumping or prancing over, but she got it a couple times and we'll keep practicing with the mini trampoline at home.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Kof Kof
She's too smart for her own good.....
Yesterday, we didn't have daycare, so I stayed home with Alanna for the day. Got in her 3 year doctor's appointment and all looks good. The kid has eyes like a hawk though and in the process of getting her ready for the doctor's, I was pulling out some barrettes which happened to be in a little travel thing with some additional items, one of which was a Triaminic Grape Cough Strip. She spotted it and immediately wanted it. I explained, "No, honey, those are for when you're sick, they help you feel better; they're not candy."
Fast forward to this morning. I set her on the potty and started to fix her hair. Here's what ensued:
Alanna: "I hurt"
Mommy: "Where do you hurt, honey? Show me."
A: "I sick"
M: "You don't feel good?"
A: "Yes, I sick." Accompanied by a frownie face.
M: Feeling her forehead, "Hmm..you don't feel warm."
A: "I sick. I need grape." She looks to the drawer where she saw the grape strip yesterday.
M: "Honey, those are only for when you're really sick. I don't think you're really sick."
A: "I sick." Pouting face.
M: Getting the grape strip out and reading it. "Hmm..well this says you only need it if you're coughing, are you coughing?" More a rhetorical question than anything.
A: "Yes, *kof kof*" Most pathetic little fake cough ever.
M: Struggling not to laugh. "Hmm..well that didn't sound like a real cough to me. It also says it's for runny noses and you haven't needed a kleenex at all today."
A: "I sick." Accompanied now by lots of forced sniffles.
M: "Honey, medicine is only for when you're really sick. Taking it when you're not sick can make you feel yucky." Alright, then Mommy was naughty and caved in (bad mommy) and broke of a teensy weensy sliver of the strip and gave it to her. She ate it happily.
Daddy: "Do you feel better?"
A: With a huge smile "Yes!"
Hoh boy. So now I need to lay the hammer down if it happens again. It's that uncomfortable position of not wanting to second guess her symptoms if she really is sick, but also not wanting her to keep using ploys to get her way.
Yesterday, we didn't have daycare, so I stayed home with Alanna for the day. Got in her 3 year doctor's appointment and all looks good. The kid has eyes like a hawk though and in the process of getting her ready for the doctor's, I was pulling out some barrettes which happened to be in a little travel thing with some additional items, one of which was a Triaminic Grape Cough Strip. She spotted it and immediately wanted it. I explained, "No, honey, those are for when you're sick, they help you feel better; they're not candy."
Fast forward to this morning. I set her on the potty and started to fix her hair. Here's what ensued:
Alanna: "I hurt"
Mommy: "Where do you hurt, honey? Show me."
A: "I sick"
M: "You don't feel good?"
A: "Yes, I sick." Accompanied by a frownie face.
M: Feeling her forehead, "Hmm..you don't feel warm."
A: "I sick. I need grape." She looks to the drawer where she saw the grape strip yesterday.
M: "Honey, those are only for when you're really sick. I don't think you're really sick."
A: "I sick." Pouting face.
M: Getting the grape strip out and reading it. "Hmm..well this says you only need it if you're coughing, are you coughing?" More a rhetorical question than anything.
A: "Yes, *kof kof*" Most pathetic little fake cough ever.
M: Struggling not to laugh. "Hmm..well that didn't sound like a real cough to me. It also says it's for runny noses and you haven't needed a kleenex at all today."
A: "I sick." Accompanied now by lots of forced sniffles.
M: "Honey, medicine is only for when you're really sick. Taking it when you're not sick can make you feel yucky." Alright, then Mommy was naughty and caved in (bad mommy) and broke of a teensy weensy sliver of the strip and gave it to her. She ate it happily.
Daddy: "Do you feel better?"
A: With a huge smile "Yes!"
Hoh boy. So now I need to lay the hammer down if it happens again. It's that uncomfortable position of not wanting to second guess her symptoms if she really is sick, but also not wanting her to keep using ploys to get her way.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Running Away to Join the Circus
A coworker mentioned this to me a while back and I thought it sounded really neat! There is a school over in St Paul that is for the Circus Arts Circus Jueventas.
We went ahead and enrolled Alanna in their toddler class and her first class was this past Saturday. There were 12 kids there and she was the youngest having just turned 3. She actually did really really well aside from the structure piece of the class. There were about 4 parents that needed to be near their children during the class and I was one of them, but I think in the next week or two, I'll be able to sit back and just let her do her thing without having to be right there.
They started off with some stretching and she had a little trouble understanding what they wanted her to do, but figured it out halfway through with some help. Then they started into this round robin type routine where they began the kids starting down a ramp with a somersault then moving on to standing in a hula hoop and throwing rings over a cone, then to a balance beam which was not the traditional beam, but more like two flexible pipes duct taped together, and finally to a little 'hill' (Alanna called it a rainbow) that they had to climb up on one side and slide down the other. Then they repeated that cycle several times and near the end doing backwards somersaults instead of frontwards. Alanna caught on to the rotation near the end, but I think it was hard for her to stay in tune with where she should be going next versus just wanting to play on whichever one struck her fancy. She practically raced across the balance beam.
Then they split the kids into three groups and started them at different stations. Alanna started on the trampoline. She was to jump in one spot, circle her arms back, then stop on command putting her hands palms forward in front of her, then arms up above her head before walking back. She did really well with the stopping and putting her arms up, but wanted to run in place jump rather than jumping with both of her feet together.
Then she got to move on to the handstand/balancing area. There were two wooden blocks for her to put one foot on each. Then they had her lift one leg at a time and balance. Then they flipped her upside down to do a handstand. She has fantastic balance and did great with it!
Lastly, they took turns on the globe. This is a huge ball that they stand on and balance. She did great with it and actually turned around once without losing her balance.
So now, we practice. We got a little mini jumper trampoline to work with her on and I brought my pilates mat upstairs so that she could somerault and we'd do stretches. I was really worried that she wouldn't like it, but as soon as we got home she wanted to practice, so we'll see how next class goes.
We went ahead and enrolled Alanna in their toddler class and her first class was this past Saturday. There were 12 kids there and she was the youngest having just turned 3. She actually did really really well aside from the structure piece of the class. There were about 4 parents that needed to be near their children during the class and I was one of them, but I think in the next week or two, I'll be able to sit back and just let her do her thing without having to be right there.
They started off with some stretching and she had a little trouble understanding what they wanted her to do, but figured it out halfway through with some help. Then they started into this round robin type routine where they began the kids starting down a ramp with a somersault then moving on to standing in a hula hoop and throwing rings over a cone, then to a balance beam which was not the traditional beam, but more like two flexible pipes duct taped together, and finally to a little 'hill' (Alanna called it a rainbow) that they had to climb up on one side and slide down the other. Then they repeated that cycle several times and near the end doing backwards somersaults instead of frontwards. Alanna caught on to the rotation near the end, but I think it was hard for her to stay in tune with where she should be going next versus just wanting to play on whichever one struck her fancy. She practically raced across the balance beam.
Then they split the kids into three groups and started them at different stations. Alanna started on the trampoline. She was to jump in one spot, circle her arms back, then stop on command putting her hands palms forward in front of her, then arms up above her head before walking back. She did really well with the stopping and putting her arms up, but wanted to run in place jump rather than jumping with both of her feet together.
Then she got to move on to the handstand/balancing area. There were two wooden blocks for her to put one foot on each. Then they had her lift one leg at a time and balance. Then they flipped her upside down to do a handstand. She has fantastic balance and did great with it!
Lastly, they took turns on the globe. This is a huge ball that they stand on and balance. She did great with it and actually turned around once without losing her balance.
So now, we practice. We got a little mini jumper trampoline to work with her on and I brought my pilates mat upstairs so that she could somerault and we'd do stretches. I was really worried that she wouldn't like it, but as soon as we got home she wanted to practice, so we'll see how next class goes.
Two Ships in the Night
I'm a little behind in some of the things I wanted to blog, so forgive me as I ramble on.
This happened this past August while my mother and stepdad, Joe, were in town.
Joe keeps trying to corrupt Alanna in a haha funny look what Grandpa taught her type of way. For example he'll ask her if she wants a chew just to see the look on my face of horror.
We were in the van heading over to Lori and Scott's house and we drove past the movie theatre where we had gone to see 'Madagascar' recently. Alanna picks up on the smallest things sometimes and it never ceases to amaze me. She looked out of the window, saw the theatre and exclaimed 'Mad Ass Car!' to which mommy calmly replied, "Yes, honey, that's where we went to see the movie 'Madagascar' emphasizing the pronunciation. Joe latched right onto this and thought it would be fun to teach her some more words that sound like swearing.
He looked at her and said, "Alanna are you a Little Ship?" Mommy new perfectly well that Alanna has no problem saying her 'P's' even though Grandpa Joe was surely hoping they would come out like 'T's'. She replied, "I'm a Little Ship" and Mommy quickly jumped in and said, "That's right and Grandpa Joe is a Big Ship, isn't he?" To my delight, she replied, "Grandpa Joe is a BIG SHIP!"
Ha!
This happened this past August while my mother and stepdad, Joe, were in town.
Joe keeps trying to corrupt Alanna in a haha funny look what Grandpa taught her type of way. For example he'll ask her if she wants a chew just to see the look on my face of horror.
We were in the van heading over to Lori and Scott's house and we drove past the movie theatre where we had gone to see 'Madagascar' recently. Alanna picks up on the smallest things sometimes and it never ceases to amaze me. She looked out of the window, saw the theatre and exclaimed 'Mad Ass Car!' to which mommy calmly replied, "Yes, honey, that's where we went to see the movie 'Madagascar' emphasizing the pronunciation. Joe latched right onto this and thought it would be fun to teach her some more words that sound like swearing.
He looked at her and said, "Alanna are you a Little Ship?" Mommy new perfectly well that Alanna has no problem saying her 'P's' even though Grandpa Joe was surely hoping they would come out like 'T's'. She replied, "I'm a Little Ship" and Mommy quickly jumped in and said, "That's right and Grandpa Joe is a Big Ship, isn't he?" To my delight, she replied, "Grandpa Joe is a BIG SHIP!"
Ha!
Birthday
Alanna turned 3 on the 22nd. Amazing that the last 3 years have just flown by so quickly.
With the power out, I rationed her gifts to her so her birthday has really extended about a week long in entertainment value. We did go to the evil Chucky Cheese's restaurant on Friday night where they proceeded to give her a crown and balloon, free cotton candy (they're just loving the fact that they're jacking my kid up on sugar), and the opportunity to dance with a giant mouse to get free tickets.
The food is disgusting cardboard-like crust with some cheese and pepperoni smooshed on top, not that she noticed as she was far too busy feeding coins into the Hungry Hippos game and playing contentedly. Of course after we cashed in our tickets for her little play dress up purse, THEN she was hungry! She had a lot of fun though and that's what counts and I think we're safe now from the rat for another year. Hmm..wouldn't it be fun if Chucky Cheese and Mickey were in a wrestling bout?
I did need to move her actual Birthday Fiesta to this coming weekend as I just wasn't comfortable holding the party at our house with no power or moving it somewhere else on such short notice. Something just didn't feel right about having the kids outside playing after the storm results--here kids, go play with the downed power lines..that's right, the one right next to the chain link fence! Luckily, Cub was very accomodating about changing the dates for her cake and balloons and I know she'll have a great time. The weekend should be a lot of fun for her with her party coming on Saturday and then we'll be attending Dragon Tales Live on Sunday.
With the power out, I rationed her gifts to her so her birthday has really extended about a week long in entertainment value. We did go to the evil Chucky Cheese's restaurant on Friday night where they proceeded to give her a crown and balloon, free cotton candy (they're just loving the fact that they're jacking my kid up on sugar), and the opportunity to dance with a giant mouse to get free tickets.
The food is disgusting cardboard-like crust with some cheese and pepperoni smooshed on top, not that she noticed as she was far too busy feeding coins into the Hungry Hippos game and playing contentedly. Of course after we cashed in our tickets for her little play dress up purse, THEN she was hungry! She had a lot of fun though and that's what counts and I think we're safe now from the rat for another year. Hmm..wouldn't it be fun if Chucky Cheese and Mickey were in a wrestling bout?
I did need to move her actual Birthday Fiesta to this coming weekend as I just wasn't comfortable holding the party at our house with no power or moving it somewhere else on such short notice. Something just didn't feel right about having the kids outside playing after the storm results--here kids, go play with the downed power lines..that's right, the one right next to the chain link fence! Luckily, Cub was very accomodating about changing the dates for her cake and balloons and I know she'll have a great time. The weekend should be a lot of fun for her with her party coming on Saturday and then we'll be attending Dragon Tales Live on Sunday.
Friday, September 23, 2005
Friday, September 16, 2005
No More Diapers!!
Woooohooo! Well, that pretty much sums it up. We now will save a minimum of $16 weekly (don't worry I'm sure something else will come up that we end up having to spend it on) on diapers. Miss Alanna is officially potty trained and in her own words "big girl now!".
Something made her turn the corner in the last week and it all just 'clicked'. She's been wearing big girl panties during the day with no accidents and pull-ups at night, although she's been keeping those dry too. She actually wakes mommy up if she needs to go in the middle of the night.
Now we just have to work on phasing out the sticker and pez rewards, but they're still far less of a cost than the diapers were. I'm still getting used to 'trusting' her to tell us if she needs to go and her pants don't fit quite right now..they slide off her butt LOL! So, I'm having to safety pin them depending on the pair.
We're very lucky to have such a good little girl (makes me even more scared to even think about having another as we'd likely get jinxed). She decided to go poo poo first, then letting us know about pee pee quickly followed and right away she's dry through the night. I surely am not compaining!! :)
Something made her turn the corner in the last week and it all just 'clicked'. She's been wearing big girl panties during the day with no accidents and pull-ups at night, although she's been keeping those dry too. She actually wakes mommy up if she needs to go in the middle of the night.
Now we just have to work on phasing out the sticker and pez rewards, but they're still far less of a cost than the diapers were. I'm still getting used to 'trusting' her to tell us if she needs to go and her pants don't fit quite right now..they slide off her butt LOL! So, I'm having to safety pin them depending on the pair.
We're very lucky to have such a good little girl (makes me even more scared to even think about having another as we'd likely get jinxed). She decided to go poo poo first, then letting us know about pee pee quickly followed and right away she's dry through the night. I surely am not compaining!! :)
Monday, September 12, 2005
What I Say You Say
We've entered into the major 'parrotting' phase with Alanna. She'd go through little moments of repeating us before, but not for long phrases or sentences. Well, I can officially say we're past that.
Luckily, we've cleaned up our language in front of her considerably, so that hopefully she won't pick up anything *naughty* from home anyway. However, mommy did a boo boo this weekend.
We were heading to the grocery store on our mommy/daughter grocery trip and I went to turn to go up the next aisle and the car to my right blew her stop sign and shot me a dirty look. Talking to no one other than to myself and the closed windows in the car, I growled, "Look lady, you've got a stop sign!". To which I then heard this little bitty voice in the back say, "lady you have stop sign!" Oooops!
Now the other incarnation is that in a sick and twisted parental amusement sort of way, it's kinda fun to have her say things just for amusement sake because it comes out so darn cute.
An example of this happened last night. As mentioned in a previous post, Miss Alanna is a bit obsessed with the concept of money and we're trying (or Mommy at least is) to teach her that it doesn't grow on trees etc. So, Daddy was playing with her last night with her play cash register and fake groceries, ringing things up and paying for them. Alanna was all excited to show him the money in the cash register drawer (the little yellow coins actually from the Yahtzee game is what they were using). Next thing I hear from across the room is this little bitty voice saying gleefully, "I'm a Capitalist!!!" DADDY!!!!!!!
Luckily, we've cleaned up our language in front of her considerably, so that hopefully she won't pick up anything *naughty* from home anyway. However, mommy did a boo boo this weekend.
We were heading to the grocery store on our mommy/daughter grocery trip and I went to turn to go up the next aisle and the car to my right blew her stop sign and shot me a dirty look. Talking to no one other than to myself and the closed windows in the car, I growled, "Look lady, you've got a stop sign!". To which I then heard this little bitty voice in the back say, "lady you have stop sign!" Oooops!
Now the other incarnation is that in a sick and twisted parental amusement sort of way, it's kinda fun to have her say things just for amusement sake because it comes out so darn cute.
An example of this happened last night. As mentioned in a previous post, Miss Alanna is a bit obsessed with the concept of money and we're trying (or Mommy at least is) to teach her that it doesn't grow on trees etc. So, Daddy was playing with her last night with her play cash register and fake groceries, ringing things up and paying for them. Alanna was all excited to show him the money in the cash register drawer (the little yellow coins actually from the Yahtzee game is what they were using). Next thing I hear from across the room is this little bitty voice saying gleefully, "I'm a Capitalist!!!" DADDY!!!!!!!
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Uh Oh
In an effort to budget and also teach Alanna about money at the same time, we came up with the brilliant idea of going ahead and giving her an allowance.
This would accomplish a couple things:
1) Limit the amount of money Mommy & Daddy are tempted to spend on her.
2) Allow her to see the implications of her choices and let her pick out her own things that she wanted.
3) Help us to teach her about saving and sharing, as she must save a little of her money and give a little of her money every two weeks when she gets her allowance.
So far, it's actually worked pretty well. We don't buy her toys on impulse, she gets to weigh out exactly what she wants to spend her money on and is starting to figure out the concept of having to give something to get something at the store (i.e. things don't just *poof* into the house). We've also been working with the idea of saving the money in the piggy bank and showing her that the ATM is actually a big piggy bank for Mommy & Daddy by bringing her with when we deposit money and don't take any out so that she doesn't think it's just a money machine.
Here's the uh oh...
A couple weeks ago we went to the Renaissance Festival. On the way out the door Alanna piped up, "Spend all Daddy's money!!???"
And this past week, she was upset because she didn't want to go to daycare and blurted out in a hopeful tone, "Go spend money? That be fun!"
Hoh boy...perhaps we should have thought this through a little better....
This would accomplish a couple things:
1) Limit the amount of money Mommy & Daddy are tempted to spend on her.
2) Allow her to see the implications of her choices and let her pick out her own things that she wanted.
3) Help us to teach her about saving and sharing, as she must save a little of her money and give a little of her money every two weeks when she gets her allowance.
So far, it's actually worked pretty well. We don't buy her toys on impulse, she gets to weigh out exactly what she wants to spend her money on and is starting to figure out the concept of having to give something to get something at the store (i.e. things don't just *poof* into the house). We've also been working with the idea of saving the money in the piggy bank and showing her that the ATM is actually a big piggy bank for Mommy & Daddy by bringing her with when we deposit money and don't take any out so that she doesn't think it's just a money machine.
Here's the uh oh...
A couple weeks ago we went to the Renaissance Festival. On the way out the door Alanna piped up, "Spend all Daddy's money!!???"
And this past week, she was upset because she didn't want to go to daycare and blurted out in a hopeful tone, "Go spend money? That be fun!"
Hoh boy...perhaps we should have thought this through a little better....
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Duct Taped Diapers
The ingenuity of sleep deprived parents will probably never cease to amaze me.
Last week when we got to daycare on Monday, we knew we were in for a heck of a week upon seeing the other 2.5 year old with boogers running out of his nose. Ut oh..the infamous summer cold had arrived. Sure enough, Alanna came home Tuesday with a runny nose and a grumpy attitude due to not feeling well, which meant she, Mommy and Daddy didn't sleep well. Off to daycare we went again Wednesday with her little stash of medicines that really don't work anyway. Weds night we were greeted by the booger princess and her sleepy, grumpy attitude when we picked her up.
I should explain. Alanna is blessed to have the best of both her Mommy and Daddy in how she reacts to being sick. When Mommy is sick, she wants to be left alone..period. Don't touch me, don't come near me, here's money go away and leave me alone to medicate and sleep. When Daddy is sick, the opposite is true. Daddy gets very needy, pouty, and whiney. He is much more of a fix it, make it better, get me soup pllleeeeease kind of sick. So, mix those two combinations. Having trouble with it? Here, imagine this: Mommy, I want mommy, big hug, need water, no want juice, no no no no!!! There you have it. Fun fun fun.
So anyway, back to Wednesday night. We caved in and let her fall asleep in our bed. This is a very rare occurrence. I woke up about 1am and she was sound asleep, so I went to move her back to her own bed (part of our routine if she sleeps with us so that she doesn't get used to it and want it all the time). I got her back into her bed and went to change her diaper. Threw it away and reached for a new one when I heard a crash in the other room. I rushed out to see what it was and Dippy was on top of the piano attempting to kill a fly and had knocked over a picture frame. I rehung the frame, scolded Dippy, killed the fly and returned to Alanna's room with a diaper in hand in record time. She'd wet the bed.
So, off came the sheets, the child was now awake and very upset. I called to Jeb to get me a warm washcloth to clean up said child and after he was done went to put a new diaper on. I should mention that this new diaper came from a new package. I'd never heard of 'defective diapers' before, but apparently we got a whole package full. The left tab wouldn't stick!! So, whilst I'm racking my brain and trying to convince her that she wants to wear a pullup--with no success I might add, my ingenious sleep-deprived husband rushes back into the room and DUCT TAPES the diaper onto her.
I think the lady at Pampers was laughing so hard she was crying by the time I told her the story and she agreed to send me coupons for new diapers. Which to their credit said coupons arrived yesterday in the mail and the latest package is not defective....
Last week when we got to daycare on Monday, we knew we were in for a heck of a week upon seeing the other 2.5 year old with boogers running out of his nose. Ut oh..the infamous summer cold had arrived. Sure enough, Alanna came home Tuesday with a runny nose and a grumpy attitude due to not feeling well, which meant she, Mommy and Daddy didn't sleep well. Off to daycare we went again Wednesday with her little stash of medicines that really don't work anyway. Weds night we were greeted by the booger princess and her sleepy, grumpy attitude when we picked her up.
I should explain. Alanna is blessed to have the best of both her Mommy and Daddy in how she reacts to being sick. When Mommy is sick, she wants to be left alone..period. Don't touch me, don't come near me, here's money go away and leave me alone to medicate and sleep. When Daddy is sick, the opposite is true. Daddy gets very needy, pouty, and whiney. He is much more of a fix it, make it better, get me soup pllleeeeease kind of sick. So, mix those two combinations. Having trouble with it? Here, imagine this: Mommy, I want mommy, big hug, need water, no want juice, no no no no!!! There you have it. Fun fun fun.
So anyway, back to Wednesday night. We caved in and let her fall asleep in our bed. This is a very rare occurrence. I woke up about 1am and she was sound asleep, so I went to move her back to her own bed (part of our routine if she sleeps with us so that she doesn't get used to it and want it all the time). I got her back into her bed and went to change her diaper. Threw it away and reached for a new one when I heard a crash in the other room. I rushed out to see what it was and Dippy was on top of the piano attempting to kill a fly and had knocked over a picture frame. I rehung the frame, scolded Dippy, killed the fly and returned to Alanna's room with a diaper in hand in record time. She'd wet the bed.
So, off came the sheets, the child was now awake and very upset. I called to Jeb to get me a warm washcloth to clean up said child and after he was done went to put a new diaper on. I should mention that this new diaper came from a new package. I'd never heard of 'defective diapers' before, but apparently we got a whole package full. The left tab wouldn't stick!! So, whilst I'm racking my brain and trying to convince her that she wants to wear a pullup--with no success I might add, my ingenious sleep-deprived husband rushes back into the room and DUCT TAPES the diaper onto her.
I think the lady at Pampers was laughing so hard she was crying by the time I told her the story and she agreed to send me coupons for new diapers. Which to their credit said coupons arrived yesterday in the mail and the latest package is not defective....
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Things that Make me Happy
These are the simple things that make me happy. Now of course there are the larger items (family, my daughter, world peace blah blah) but those I'm just very blessed to have and don't feel like blogging sappy long sentences about. :)
So, instead..to entertain you and myself for a few moments here are the other floofy items that make me happy: (feel free to add yours in comments)
*Fraggles...I like Fraggles
*Venti Skinny Vanilla/Mint Lattes from Starbucks with a Cranberry/Orange muffin
*Pedicures with flowers on my toes
*Whatchmacallit candy bars
*Money that comes in the mail or that you find in a pocket or drawer that you're not expecting.
*Unexpectedly light traffic on a commute to or from work.
*An item you didn't know you needed on the clearance rack at Target for more than 50% off.
*Jelly Nougut candies in bulk that are still soft--not the hard rock ancient ones
*Finding a ladybug somewhere unexpected.
So, instead..to entertain you and myself for a few moments here are the other floofy items that make me happy: (feel free to add yours in comments)
*Fraggles...I like Fraggles
*Venti Skinny Vanilla/Mint Lattes from Starbucks with a Cranberry/Orange muffin
*Pedicures with flowers on my toes
*Whatchmacallit candy bars
*Money that comes in the mail or that you find in a pocket or drawer that you're not expecting.
*Unexpectedly light traffic on a commute to or from work.
*An item you didn't know you needed on the clearance rack at Target for more than 50% off.
*Jelly Nougut
*Finding a ladybug somewhere unexpected.
Where Can I Order a Tower.....
It's begun. Not that we thought it wouldn't, but just didn't realize it would be so soon!
Blonde hair, blue eyes, dimples...it was inevitable.
This morning after fixing Alanna's hair, I asked her to go put her shoes on while I finished getting ready. She decided to play dress-up. She has a little Princess Dressup trunk that her cousins got her last Christmas. It has skirts and tops for Aurora, Belle, Cinderella and Snow White in it. We've added a few dress up items as we find them. I come out to get her out and into the car and she's wearing the pink Aurora skirt (Aurora is Sleeping Beauty in case you didn't know), top, crown, and 'glass slippers'. I decided it wasn't a battle worth fighting and let her wear it to daycare over her regular clothes.
She walks in, struts right over to the lil 2.5 year old boy, Trayton, there and does this little stance where she held her skirt out and said 'Seeeeeeeeeeeeee'. Then pointed at the little Sleeping Beauty broach on the shirt....I don't think she fluttered her eyelashes, but she may as well have.
I think daddy now wants to bring a shotgun and ask Trayton what his intentions are.....
Blonde hair, blue eyes, dimples...it was inevitable.
This morning after fixing Alanna's hair, I asked her to go put her shoes on while I finished getting ready. She decided to play dress-up. She has a little Princess Dressup trunk that her cousins got her last Christmas. It has skirts and tops for Aurora, Belle, Cinderella and Snow White in it. We've added a few dress up items as we find them. I come out to get her out and into the car and she's wearing the pink Aurora skirt (Aurora is Sleeping Beauty in case you didn't know), top, crown, and 'glass slippers'. I decided it wasn't a battle worth fighting and let her wear it to daycare over her regular clothes.
She walks in, struts right over to the lil 2.5 year old boy, Trayton, there and does this little stance where she held her skirt out and said 'Seeeeeeeeeeeeee'. Then pointed at the little Sleeping Beauty broach on the shirt....I don't think she fluttered her eyelashes, but she may as well have.
I think daddy now wants to bring a shotgun and ask Trayton what his intentions are.....
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Daycare Interview Questions
Since interviewing an in-home daycare provider is a scary thing and a real pain in the butt, I hope maybe someone can benefit from my vast experience (not by choice necessarily) and use my compiled interview tips/questions for daycare providers:
Name of Provider/Daycare:
Address:
Phone:
Date/Time of Interview:
Hours/Flexibility:
Tuition:
Pets (if yes, what kind and where are they when the children are around)/Smoking/Fenced Yard?:
Holiday/Vacation/Sick Days Provider:
Holiday/Vacation/Sick Days Child:
Sick Child Policy:
Medications?:
How long have you been providing care?
Why do you do daycare?
What is your philosophy in raising children?
Do you have first-aid/CPR and child development training?
What is your process in the event of an emergency?
Do you have a current state license?
Do you participate in a state subsidized food program?
How many children do you care for?
What is the maximum number of children you will take?
What are the ages of the children you currently have?
Are there other individuals that may be caring for my child?
Is the home secure from strangers during the day?
Do you receive personal visitors during the day?
What is a typical day like?
Television?
Computers?
Outside?
Naps?
Field Trips? How do you transport/May I see the transportation?
How do you discipline a child?
How do you comfort a child?
Toilet Training?
What meals/supplies do you provide, what do I need to provide?
Communication with Parents?
Are parents encouraged to visit?
Tell me about yourself, hobbies, likes/dislikes?
The interviewees To Do List:
Obtain a Copy of Contract?
Obtain and CALL References (at least one from a child that has left)?
Call the County to validate the provider's license and ask if they have had any complaints or negative action taken against them.
Take your child with you to the interview. Observe how they interact with the provider. ASK your child (if they're old enough) if they liked so and so and if they'd like to visit again.
OBSERVE while you're there:
Cleanliness
Safety of environment
Child friendliness/stimulation of environment (are toys accessible, are there learning posters around..what is the central focus of the room? If it's the TV beware!)
Name of Provider/Daycare:
Address:
Phone:
Date/Time of Interview:
Hours/Flexibility:
Tuition:
Pets (if yes, what kind and where are they when the children are around)/Smoking/Fenced Yard?:
Holiday/Vacation/Sick Days Provider:
Holiday/Vacation/Sick Days Child:
Sick Child Policy:
Medications?:
How long have you been providing care?
Why do you do daycare?
What is your philosophy in raising children?
Do you have first-aid/CPR and child development training?
What is your process in the event of an emergency?
Do you have a current state license?
Do you participate in a state subsidized food program?
How many children do you care for?
What is the maximum number of children you will take?
What are the ages of the children you currently have?
Are there other individuals that may be caring for my child?
Is the home secure from strangers during the day?
Do you receive personal visitors during the day?
What is a typical day like?
Television?
Computers?
Outside?
Naps?
Field Trips? How do you transport/May I see the transportation?
How do you discipline a child?
How do you comfort a child?
Toilet Training?
What meals/supplies do you provide, what do I need to provide?
Communication with Parents?
Are parents encouraged to visit?
Tell me about yourself, hobbies, likes/dislikes?
The interviewees To Do List:
Obtain a Copy of Contract?
Obtain and CALL References (at least one from a child that has left)?
Call the County to validate the provider's license and ask if they have had any complaints or negative action taken against them.
Take your child with you to the interview. Observe how they interact with the provider. ASK your child (if they're old enough) if they liked so and so and if they'd like to visit again.
OBSERVE while you're there:
Cleanliness
Safety of environment
Child friendliness/stimulation of environment (are toys accessible, are there learning posters around..what is the central focus of the room? If it's the TV beware!)
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Head Doctor
My funny quip for the day:
Alanna is currently fascinated with doctors. Her Uncle Steve broke his hand and had to go to the doctor to feel better. Her Grandma Jackie had to go to the doctor to fix her back and Mommy is going to the doctor for her eyes.
She even has a little Sweet Streets Hospital and a Pet Salon with her "Animal Doctors" that she plays with.
Last night I had a headache, so after playing outside I came in to lie down for a bit. Alanna came in and I told her that "Mommy's head hurts, so Mommy needs to lie down for a little while."
She promptly replied, "Mommy needs a head doctor!!!"
Jeb's been telling me that for years.....
Alanna is currently fascinated with doctors. Her Uncle Steve broke his hand and had to go to the doctor to feel better. Her Grandma Jackie had to go to the doctor to fix her back and Mommy is going to the doctor for her eyes.
She even has a little Sweet Streets Hospital and a Pet Salon with her "Animal Doctors" that she plays with.
Last night I had a headache, so after playing outside I came in to lie down for a bit. Alanna came in and I told her that "Mommy's head hurts, so Mommy needs to lie down for a little while."
She promptly replied, "Mommy needs a head doctor!!!"
Jeb's been telling me that for years.....
Rollerskating
There's a ToysRUs near us that's going out of business. Being the sale savvy mommy that I am, I immediately decided to take a shopping trip. While there, we saw roller skates for Alanna. These are like the ones I had as a kid (except mine were metal) where you adjust them and fit them over the top of your tennis shoes. These are plastic pink with Disney Princesses on them and came with Princess elbow and knee pads for the slick price of $9. So, I got them and planned on tucking them away for next summer figuring a 2 and a half year old was not big enough for roller skates.
Alanna wouldn't have it. She'd seen them, so therefore they were something she HAD to try. So, after much hmming and hahing about it, I told her yesterday morning that after work when we came home that Mommy would help her roller skate. I completely expected one of two things to happen:
1) She'd forget about it.
2) She'd try it and not be able to do it and decide she didn't want them any more.
Promptly upon walking in the door at daycare, she ran up to me, gave me a huge hug and grinned while saying "Roller Skates!!" #1 was out of the picture.
True to my word, after dinner I suited her up and took her outside to the top section of our driveway. I was amazed. She did GREAT! She walks around in them rather than really skating, but she only fell on her bottom twice and both times got right back up to try it again. And she didn't want Mommy to hold her hand. Wow, I can't believe how fast she's growing up!
When did my baby become a toddler and my toddler a little girl?
Alanna wouldn't have it. She'd seen them, so therefore they were something she HAD to try. So, after much hmming and hahing about it, I told her yesterday morning that after work when we came home that Mommy would help her roller skate. I completely expected one of two things to happen:
1) She'd forget about it.
2) She'd try it and not be able to do it and decide she didn't want them any more.
Promptly upon walking in the door at daycare, she ran up to me, gave me a huge hug and grinned while saying "Roller Skates!!" #1 was out of the picture.
True to my word, after dinner I suited her up and took her outside to the top section of our driveway. I was amazed. She did GREAT! She walks around in them rather than really skating, but she only fell on her bottom twice and both times got right back up to try it again. And she didn't want Mommy to hold her hand. Wow, I can't believe how fast she's growing up!
When did my baby become a toddler and my toddler a little girl?
Friday, June 17, 2005
Here's a new show that Alanna has taken a liking to. It's called 'The Backyardigans'. Pretty cute actually, but I'm a little confused as to what the heck the pink character "Uniqua" is. Granted she's unique alrighty...but WHAT is she? An over grown ant?? Left to right, I know that there's a moose, a hippo, a penguin, Uniqua, and a kangaroo. Help me out? What the heck is she?? Backyardigans
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Cute Alanna Moments
I need to get out the video camera tonight and capture some of these on tape to immortalize for future embarassment potential. She's just into everything right now and is a major sponge--picking up new things moment to moment. Some recent cute items of note:
* Alanna is now singing a lot at home. Her favorite song at the moment is:
"Twinkle twinkle little star, wonder are, row row boat, merrily, eeyi eeyi oh moo moo." Sung exactly as quoted.
* Alanna is working on going down the stairs walking rather than crawling. Quite a feat considering the number of stairs to our basement and that they're fairly narrow. She learned a stair "dance" at daycare where she puts her hand on the rail, steps down, and then slides her hand down the rail. It looks rather cute though because she sings it with rhythm and shakes her bottom as she goes think jazz..."Step and Sliiiiiide, Step and Sliiiiiiiide."
* Alanna is a fantastic helper around the house. She really likes to pick up and clean with Mommy and I think is maybe just a little OCD as mommy is too. Her favorite thing is to help throwing things away. Last night she wanted a snack before bed and she was soooo intent on cleaning up before she went to sleep that she threw both the bowl and cup away in her diaper pail before going to sleep. Took us a little creative thinking to figure out where they were.
* Music is a large part of Alanna's life both at home and at daycare. At daycare they're working on identifying the different kinds of music and the dances that go with. I was putting away laundry listening to the radio and Alanna was dancing around her bedroom the other night. A song that had a very 70's feel to it came 0n and she shouted out with a grin, "DISCO!" and then began doing the John Travolta finger pointing dance.
* Alanna is now singing a lot at home. Her favorite song at the moment is:
"Twinkle twinkle little star, wonder are, row row boat, merrily, eeyi eeyi oh moo moo." Sung exactly as quoted.
* Alanna is working on going down the stairs walking rather than crawling. Quite a feat considering the number of stairs to our basement and that they're fairly narrow. She learned a stair "dance" at daycare where she puts her hand on the rail, steps down, and then slides her hand down the rail. It looks rather cute though because she sings it with rhythm and shakes her bottom as she goes think jazz..."Step and Sliiiiiide, Step and Sliiiiiiiide."
* Alanna is a fantastic helper around the house. She really likes to pick up and clean with Mommy and I think is maybe just a little OCD as mommy is too. Her favorite thing is to help throwing things away. Last night she wanted a snack before bed and she was soooo intent on cleaning up before she went to sleep that she threw both the bowl and cup away in her diaper pail before going to sleep. Took us a little creative thinking to figure out where they were.
* Music is a large part of Alanna's life both at home and at daycare. At daycare they're working on identifying the different kinds of music and the dances that go with. I was putting away laundry listening to the radio and Alanna was dancing around her bedroom the other night. A song that had a very 70's feel to it came 0n and she shouted out with a grin, "DISCO!" and then began doing the John Travolta finger pointing dance.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Boo Boo
Last night I had a migraine. Thank goodness I don't get them very often anymore, but this one was a doozy. I think it was brought on by the barometric pressure drop. So, when I got home I laid down. Right before Alanna's bedtime she came in to "play" with Mommy. I had to explain that we had to be quiet because Mommy's head hurt. She gave me a kiss on the forehead to make it better and then promptly darted off. I heard her open a drawer in the bathroom and then she came back with a Dora bandaid for me to put on my "boo boo". Too cute!! :)
Monday, May 09, 2005
Mother's Day
I had a very nice, quiet Mother's Day weekend. Alanna and Jeb gave me the gift of time and space so I could be a bum all weekend which was wonderful. I also got a bottle of perfume and toe rings as well as a colored all over card from Miss Alanna.
Hot Springs Recap
Gosh, I'm way behind on posting. I don't think that it's probably worthwhile to try to catch you up on everything so I'll post a few things that cover the highlights.
Alanna & I went to Hot Springs to visit my mom and Joe from April 26th in the evening through Monday, May 2. We had a very nice time even though the weather was a bit unseasonable.
Alanna loved seeing the animals out at the barn and has absolutely no fear of any of them. She got to ride Ferdinand, the bull and see a one day old colt as well. I think her favorite thing was chasing the calves though.
Alanna & I went to Hot Springs to visit my mom and Joe from April 26th in the evening through Monday, May 2. We had a very nice time even though the weather was a bit unseasonable.
Alanna loved seeing the animals out at the barn and has absolutely no fear of any of them. She got to ride Ferdinand, the bull and see a one day old colt as well. I think her favorite thing was chasing the calves though.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
We Need a Bigger Bed
On the weekends, Alanna likes to come in and hang out with Mommy & Daddy in our bed for a bit before getting up. Normally, the weekdays this doesn't happen as she doesn't really want to wake up before 7. This morning was an exception. She woke up happy at about 6:30 and decided she wanted to come to our bed.
This means that she dragged in her blankie and pillow. Then she went back for two more blankies. Then she went back for Garfield, Bear Bear, Dolly, Pony & Lamb..which took two more trips.
Between the stuffed animal family, the toddler, the three extra blankets, Jeb, me and the two cats--we need a bigger bed. Or I really really need to lose weight.
This means that she dragged in her blankie and pillow. Then she went back for two more blankies. Then she went back for Garfield, Bear Bear, Dolly, Pony & Lamb..which took two more trips.
Between the stuffed animal family, the toddler, the three extra blankets, Jeb, me and the two cats--we need a bigger bed. Or I really really need to lose weight.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Kangaroos Flying out of my Ass
Ok, so kangaroos aren't flying out of my ass.
Alanna has trouble sleeping at night. No real surprise since Mommy and Grandpa on mommy's side were never good sleepers and still aren't. I wake up about 3-5 times nightly on average. So we've done several things to encourage Alanna to stay in bed even if she's not "sleeping" when it's night time.
We put up a push light near her bed. One of those round lights that you push and it turns on or off. This way she has access to her own nightlight and it's within reach. We've put several toys/books in her room as well. The toys are all "quiet" toys and we've been teaching her that it's ok to be awake and play quietly, but that she needs to stay in bed. This is also true of bedtime. She goes to bed at 8:30 but typically doesn't fall asleep until 9:15 or 9:30. Often when we go to bed, we sneak into her room, turn off the push light and collect the toys out of her bed.
Sometimes it's pretty bad and there are toys everywhere in her bed with this little girl wedged in an odd position between them.
Last night I asked Jeb to go up (I was on the phone with Dell tech support--don't ask) and remove the Little People from her bed. He came back down and I asked if there were toys everywhere to which he responded "Yep, I pulled a kangaroo out of her ass."
He didn't really pull it out of her ass, but she does often end up laying on some of the toys for short periods of time until we can dig them out from under her. For those of you completely lost, here's a pic of the Little People set she was playing with last night. Kangaroo
Alanna has trouble sleeping at night. No real surprise since Mommy and Grandpa on mommy's side were never good sleepers and still aren't. I wake up about 3-5 times nightly on average. So we've done several things to encourage Alanna to stay in bed even if she's not "sleeping" when it's night time.
We put up a push light near her bed. One of those round lights that you push and it turns on or off. This way she has access to her own nightlight and it's within reach. We've put several toys/books in her room as well. The toys are all "quiet" toys and we've been teaching her that it's ok to be awake and play quietly, but that she needs to stay in bed. This is also true of bedtime. She goes to bed at 8:30 but typically doesn't fall asleep until 9:15 or 9:30. Often when we go to bed, we sneak into her room, turn off the push light and collect the toys out of her bed.
Sometimes it's pretty bad and there are toys everywhere in her bed with this little girl wedged in an odd position between them.
Last night I asked Jeb to go up (I was on the phone with Dell tech support--don't ask) and remove the Little People from her bed. He came back down and I asked if there were toys everywhere to which he responded "Yep, I pulled a kangaroo out of her ass."
He didn't really pull it out of her ass, but she does often end up laying on some of the toys for short periods of time until we can dig them out from under her. For those of you completely lost, here's a pic of the Little People set she was playing with last night. Kangaroo
Monday, April 11, 2005
Weekend
This weekend was absolutely beautiful outside. Spent a lot of time with Alanna playing out back. Mommy also got treated to a new bike and we bought a bike seat for Alanna. I spent most of Saturday morning attaching it to Jeb's bike. It's definitely secure...don't think it's ever coming off LOL! We donned our helmets or as Alanna calls them "bike hat!" and off we went. My new bike rides sooooo much more smoothly than the old one (which we freecycled) and it was nice to get some exercise in. Going to try to do it nightly weather dependent.
Jeb helped a LOT with the house this weekend, very nice and it allowed me to put in a little time adjusting some things for the work system we use for reporting issues. We'll see how the changes go over. Baby steps. At least we're working towards improving the process, even if it means a couple steps forward then one back. Progress is progress.
Jeb helped a LOT with the house this weekend, very nice and it allowed me to put in a little time adjusting some things for the work system we use for reporting issues. We'll see how the changes go over. Baby steps. At least we're working towards improving the process, even if it means a couple steps forward then one back. Progress is progress.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Thursday, April 07, 2005
No Birthday For You
At Alanna's Daycare they have birthday parties for the kids. Each other child (8 total) is to bring a small gift for the birthday child. Typically we pick up something between $10-$15. Our daycare provider always notifies us at least a week so that we have time to do so. Chloe's party was supposed to be Tuesday. We brought in Alanna's gift for her on Monday.
Tuesday rolls around and Paula explains that Chloe's party had to be rescheduled because all the other parents forgot.
How much must that suck!
"Your birthday's been cancelled due to lack of participation"
Tuesday rolls around and Paula explains that Chloe's party had to be rescheduled because all the other parents forgot.
How much must that suck!
"Your birthday's been cancelled due to lack of participation"
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
I remember!
I remember what it is I wanted to blog about today. Alanna is on a website for the rocking horse manufacturer that we ordered her custom horsie from.
Yee Haw!
Yee Haw!
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Grey Duck
Alanna is learning how to play Duck Duck Grey Duck, much to Mommy's dismay. I believe that the only people in the world who play "Duck Duck Greay Duck" are Minnesotans and Wisconsinites. I grew up playing Duck Duck Goose.
I have gathered a lot of evidence as to the correctness of Goose over Grey Duck. There's a Hasbro Game , here's the formal description of the game , even a movie .
Up until recently, I'd vehemently denied any good reason to play Grey Duck over Goose. I mean really if you're going to discriminate you may as well just be blatant about it. For those who have no idea what I'm referring to, the primary difference between the variations is that in Grey Duck, the person walking around says different colors of ducks instead of saying Duck Duck Duck Duck Goose! they say things like Red Duck, Blue Duck, Green Duck, Grey Duck!!
Josh finally gave me a good reason. His logic is that you can psych the other kids out more with Grey Duck by stretching things out since the final word is always Duck, whereas in Goose you can pretty much tell when the person starts the word if you're going to have to jump up and give chase.
So, the other night Alanna was sitting on her bed with her nightlight on and we heard her saying "red duck, blue duck, green duck, french fry duck...." French fry duck? Hmm...that's a new one.
I have gathered a lot of evidence as to the correctness of Goose over Grey Duck. There's a Hasbro Game , here's the formal description of the game , even a movie .
Up until recently, I'd vehemently denied any good reason to play Grey Duck over Goose. I mean really if you're going to discriminate you may as well just be blatant about it. For those who have no idea what I'm referring to, the primary difference between the variations is that in Grey Duck, the person walking around says different colors of ducks instead of saying Duck Duck Duck Duck Goose! they say things like Red Duck, Blue Duck, Green Duck, Grey Duck!!
Josh finally gave me a good reason. His logic is that you can psych the other kids out more with Grey Duck by stretching things out since the final word is always Duck, whereas in Goose you can pretty much tell when the person starts the word if you're going to have to jump up and give chase.
So, the other night Alanna was sitting on her bed with her nightlight on and we heard her saying "red duck, blue duck, green duck, french fry duck...." French fry duck? Hmm...that's a new one.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Where does it come from?
I'm going to have to have a discussion soon that I never thought I'd really have to have. I think in parenting there are a lot of those types of discussions that hit your radar just before they're going to happen.
Alanna knows that milk is somehow related to cows. She knows that eggs are somehow related to chickens. As far as the exact relationship, we haven't had to breach that YET. But, I'm feeling that the age of questioning is nearing.
This morning when I was making my sandwich, she wanted some. So I said bologna? And she said, Yes! So I gave her a piece which she promptly called, "pony". I corrected her and explained it was "bologna" not "pony". But then I got to thinking. Sooner or later I'm going to have to explain where meat comes from and the exact relationship on the milk and eggs thing.
This is the phase where you could really do some damage to your child. I remember thinking horseradish came from horses for the longest time and it really messed up my head......
Alanna knows that milk is somehow related to cows. She knows that eggs are somehow related to chickens. As far as the exact relationship, we haven't had to breach that YET. But, I'm feeling that the age of questioning is nearing.
This morning when I was making my sandwich, she wanted some. So I said bologna? And she said, Yes! So I gave her a piece which she promptly called, "pony". I corrected her and explained it was "bologna" not "pony". But then I got to thinking. Sooner or later I'm going to have to explain where meat comes from and the exact relationship on the milk and eggs thing.
This is the phase where you could really do some damage to your child. I remember thinking horseradish came from horses for the longest time and it really messed up my head......
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
That Mom
This past weekend Alanna and I went to two Easter Egg hunts and dyed eggs.
On Saturday morning, we went to an egg hunt at the city hall. Everyone lined up and waited to get inside. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but when we got inside after about 30 minutes of waiting in the cold (luckily the sun was shining so that helped) each child got to pick out 5 plastic eggs from a laundry basket. Then if they had yellow slips of paper they got regular prizes and if they had red slips of paper they got a big prize. The prizes were all donated by local merchants and were really nice. They had bikes, wagons, huge stuffed animals and such. Alanna got all yellow slips of paper and got a $5 bill, two Ty stuffed dogs..really cute ones, a little bouncy ball thingee, and this Big Whale Inflatable ride on toy that I think we'll give to her cousins since it's too big for her. She thought it was great fun and really likes her new "puppies".
Then Saturday evening I took her to an event at Brooklyn United Methodist. We brought a dessert to share. I made about 3 dozen different colored Jello eggs. That night I was "that Mom". I've always secretly wanted to be "that Mom". You know, the one who makes the best treats and always seems to have it together and is just envied by the other moms. The Jello eggs were an absolute HIT. They were the first treats gone and all the kids were excited about them and the moms wanted to know how I made them. It felt nice to finally be "that Mom", not that it will last, but at least it happened once.
Kinda makes up for Alanna breaking my heart the other night with "Go AWAY, Mommy!!!" Ah, the independence has begun.
On Saturday morning, we went to an egg hunt at the city hall. Everyone lined up and waited to get inside. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but when we got inside after about 30 minutes of waiting in the cold (luckily the sun was shining so that helped) each child got to pick out 5 plastic eggs from a laundry basket. Then if they had yellow slips of paper they got regular prizes and if they had red slips of paper they got a big prize. The prizes were all donated by local merchants and were really nice. They had bikes, wagons, huge stuffed animals and such. Alanna got all yellow slips of paper and got a $5 bill, two Ty stuffed dogs..really cute ones, a little bouncy ball thingee, and this Big Whale Inflatable ride on toy that I think we'll give to her cousins since it's too big for her. She thought it was great fun and really likes her new "puppies".
Then Saturday evening I took her to an event at Brooklyn United Methodist. We brought a dessert to share. I made about 3 dozen different colored Jello eggs. That night I was "that Mom". I've always secretly wanted to be "that Mom". You know, the one who makes the best treats and always seems to have it together and is just envied by the other moms. The Jello eggs were an absolute HIT. They were the first treats gone and all the kids were excited about them and the moms wanted to know how I made them. It felt nice to finally be "that Mom", not that it will last, but at least it happened once.
Kinda makes up for Alanna breaking my heart the other night with "Go AWAY, Mommy!!!" Ah, the independence has begun.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Stretched Pennies
I was reading something somewhere...I think it may have been Reader's Digest, about how those stretched pennies you can get in machines at different tourist attractions make great collectibles for children. We took Alanna to the Children's Museum on Saturday and they had one of those machines there. For $.51 you can get a penny stretched out and stamped with the logo of your choices and the words "Minnesota Children's Museum".
I got her one with a dragon breathing fire because they have a really neat Castle activity display there right now that she just loves. Then I put it into her little dragon trinket box on her dresser. I agree with the article, these will make nice, inexpensive, fun, space conservative collectibles.
So, if you're somewhere with a $.51 penny stretching machine and feel like getting one for Alanna, I'm sure she'd love it. She's just infatuated with coins and the designs on them :)
I got her one with a dragon breathing fire because they have a really neat Castle activity display there right now that she just loves. Then I put it into her little dragon trinket box on her dresser. I agree with the article, these will make nice, inexpensive, fun, space conservative collectibles.
So, if you're somewhere with a $.51 penny stretching machine and feel like getting one for Alanna, I'm sure she'd love it. She's just infatuated with coins and the designs on them :)
Monday, March 07, 2005
Belly Jeans
Someone has introduced my daughter to jelly beans. I know this because I went to Target this weekend to get some Easter basket goodies. When I came home, before I could shuffle the bags and tuck away all of the goodies, Alanna had already dug in and pulled out a bag of jelly beans. She held them up to me triumphantly and exclaimed, "Belly Jeans!!!". Now, I know she's never had jelly beans in our house, so that leaves several potential suspects:
Woogie
Daycare
Grandma Jackie
Hmm.....
I must admit, "belly jeans" was hysterical and really really cute. She is now just calling them "beans", but she's pretty possessive of them. We had to put some in a little bowl because she refused to let anyone near the large bowl of them. I have all of the other treats tucked away so the Easter Bunny can fill some plastic eggs and hide them in a couple weeks.
A disturbing thought just ran through my head. Thank goodness she's two and saying "belly jeans" in reference to candy and not 16 and saying it as something that she plans on wearing out of the house!
Woogie
Daycare
Grandma Jackie
Hmm.....
I must admit, "belly jeans" was hysterical and really really cute. She is now just calling them "beans", but she's pretty possessive of them. We had to put some in a little bowl because she refused to let anyone near the large bowl of them. I have all of the other treats tucked away so the Easter Bunny can fill some plastic eggs and hide them in a couple weeks.
A disturbing thought just ran through my head. Thank goodness she's two and saying "belly jeans" in reference to candy and not 16 and saying it as something that she plans on wearing out of the house!
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Potty Training
We've begun more earnestly potty training in our house. Alanna started to show interest in the potty over last summer, so we brought home a little training potty. She'd sit on it and sometimes go, but for the most part was more interested in the novelty of it than really using it.
After she turned two, I bought some Dora Pullups which she really likes to wear because they're like big girl panties. So, we turned that into a reward as well. If she'd try to use the potty, she could wear her Dora pullups rather than her regular diapers. It works fairly well, but she's still not all that interested in the potty on her own--she has to be prompted.
Then she lost interest completely in the little potty, so we went and got a Dora soft potty seat for the big toilet to use as she needs it. She thought that was pretty neat, but again has to be prompted to use the potty. I even put a little basket of potty books in the bathroom that she can read when she's sitting there.
Now, we've moved on to the Potty Chart. This is a posterboard chart that I created Sunday with little squares for stickers for each time she goes peepee and big squares for bigger stickers each time she goes poopoo. She really likes the sticker chart. She's already gotten 4 peepee stickers and is excited to get more...so hopefully now we're making a bit more progress. Heck, last night she even told Jeb "Goooo poo poo!" with the go having this upward lilt to it. It was really funny to hear from the other room. Of course, then she proceeded to sit on the toilet for 10 minutes with nothing happening, then got off, got a diaper on and promptly made a stinky. Ah, one step at a time.
After she turned two, I bought some Dora Pullups which she really likes to wear because they're like big girl panties. So, we turned that into a reward as well. If she'd try to use the potty, she could wear her Dora pullups rather than her regular diapers. It works fairly well, but she's still not all that interested in the potty on her own--she has to be prompted.
Then she lost interest completely in the little potty, so we went and got a Dora soft potty seat for the big toilet to use as she needs it. She thought that was pretty neat, but again has to be prompted to use the potty. I even put a little basket of potty books in the bathroom that she can read when she's sitting there.
Now, we've moved on to the Potty Chart. This is a posterboard chart that I created Sunday with little squares for stickers for each time she goes peepee and big squares for bigger stickers each time she goes poopoo. She really likes the sticker chart. She's already gotten 4 peepee stickers and is excited to get more...so hopefully now we're making a bit more progress. Heck, last night she even told Jeb "Goooo poo poo!" with the go having this upward lilt to it. It was really funny to hear from the other room. Of course, then she proceeded to sit on the toilet for 10 minutes with nothing happening, then got off, got a diaper on and promptly made a stinky. Ah, one step at a time.
Where do they get these ideas????
So, Sunday I was trying to get a few things done downstairs and watching Alanna at the same time. She darted off for a moment from where she had been coloring next to my computer desk. It got too quiet....a mom instinctively knows when it's too quiet. Too quiet means something is going on that shouldn't be. All of a sudden I hear this "splish splish". My immediate reaction is to stand up and say, "Alanna get out of the toilet." She's been helping a lot around the house lately and really enjoys it, even saying "I help!" When we clean the bathroom, she likes to help scrub the toilet with the scrubbie thing so I figured she had the handle in there again (the scrubbies are flushable so there wasn't one on it).
I round the corner and she comes running out gleefully with this guilty smile on her face. She had DIPPED HER HEAD IN THE TOILET!!!! Ok, I admit it--I laughed, a lot. I tried really really hard to keep a straight face, but my god the child had given herself a swirly!
It's truly not funny, it's actually rather dangerous. I dried off her head and turned to tell Jeb what had happened. She spins around runs back into the bathroom, splish, and comes out again with wet hair dripping in her face from toilet water. This time, I did not laugh, but explained that we don't put our heads in the toilet and dried her off again.
Next came the trip to Target to pick up the toilet locks. They're these suction things you put on the back of the toilet with this plastic arm that swings over and holds the lid down when the toilet is not in use. The package is what really got me though...It said that the toilet lock will keep out kids, pets, and toys. My question is this: If the kids and pets are not playing in the toilet, how do the toys get in there? I had this visual of the toys from Toy Story playing in my toilet... a little diving board...ok maybe my imagination is a wee bit too active.
I round the corner and she comes running out gleefully with this guilty smile on her face. She had DIPPED HER HEAD IN THE TOILET!!!! Ok, I admit it--I laughed, a lot. I tried really really hard to keep a straight face, but my god the child had given herself a swirly!
It's truly not funny, it's actually rather dangerous. I dried off her head and turned to tell Jeb what had happened. She spins around runs back into the bathroom, splish, and comes out again with wet hair dripping in her face from toilet water. This time, I did not laugh, but explained that we don't put our heads in the toilet and dried her off again.
Next came the trip to Target to pick up the toilet locks. They're these suction things you put on the back of the toilet with this plastic arm that swings over and holds the lid down when the toilet is not in use. The package is what really got me though...It said that the toilet lock will keep out kids, pets, and toys. My question is this: If the kids and pets are not playing in the toilet, how do the toys get in there? I had this visual of the toys from Toy Story playing in my toilet... a little diving board...ok maybe my imagination is a wee bit too active.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Yahtzee
So yesterday while Alanna & I were at Menards there was a radio promotion there for Kool 108 FM. It's a cities station that plays 60's & 70's music that honestly, I've never listened to. On our way out of the store, they had this little table set up. The guy was explaining to some lady in front of us that she needed to roll yahtzee in 3 rolls or less and she'd win a prize, but that no one had won yet.
I picked Alanna up and the guy handed her the cup. I told her "roll it like at home honey, pour out the dice". She dumped them out and to everyone's amazement got 5 1's!!! The guy was like "She won, she won! And on one roll!" They gave us a t-shirt (I think yahtzee was worth more than a t-shirt, but oh well) and took our picture. Alanna even said "I won!" and was not really sure what she'd done, but was grinning anyway.
Need to take her to Vegas.....
I picked Alanna up and the guy handed her the cup. I told her "roll it like at home honey, pour out the dice". She dumped them out and to everyone's amazement got 5 1's!!! The guy was like "She won, she won! And on one roll!" They gave us a t-shirt (I think yahtzee was worth more than a t-shirt, but oh well) and took our picture. Alanna even said "I won!" and was not really sure what she'd done, but was grinning anyway.
Need to take her to Vegas.....
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Movin' On Up
I never thought I'd be so happy about a toilet, but I must admit I'm rather proud of myself. We now have a snazzy push button flush toilet upstairs. I went to Menards this morning with Alanna and found the regular handle and the spiffy push button and thought "Well, how much harder can it be?". Sure enough it wasn't tough at all and our toilet is now all top of the line with a push button on the side. Jeb swears it flushes faster and more powerful too...I'll take credit for that as well even though not sure I really did anything to impact that :) So, we've flushed the toilet several times tonight just to marvel at how it works--guess we really don't need much to stay entertained after all.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
MRI Followup
This morning was Alanna's MRI follow up appointment. I think I will sleep well tonight :)
The MRI showed that the cystic mass on her cheek is indeed a lymphatic malformation (which was what the dr was leaning towards for diagnosis.) The mass is very unusual in a good way in that it is completely contained. This is fantastic news! Most lymphatic malformations spread out and have very undefined edges making removal difficult and often unsuccessful...they typically can only get part of it. The likelihood of a full removal is very very good in Alanna's case. We're working with a well-known and respected cranio-facial pediatric surgeon and his recommendation was to wait a couple more years to do the surgery. The likelihood is that it will eventually enlarge, but hopefully not before she is 4 years old.
At that time, they will do surgery. He will be able to come in just in front of her ear, so there should be no scarring on her face, and remove the sac and fluid permanently. In the event that it swells or changes size before that point, we simply have to call him to schedule the surgery earlier since we have already done all the prep footwork and proactive steps that are necessary. So for now, it's just a matter of seeing him every 3-6 months for a re-evaluation.
Good news! :)
The MRI showed that the cystic mass on her cheek is indeed a lymphatic malformation (which was what the dr was leaning towards for diagnosis.) The mass is very unusual in a good way in that it is completely contained. This is fantastic news! Most lymphatic malformations spread out and have very undefined edges making removal difficult and often unsuccessful...they typically can only get part of it. The likelihood of a full removal is very very good in Alanna's case. We're working with a well-known and respected cranio-facial pediatric surgeon and his recommendation was to wait a couple more years to do the surgery. The likelihood is that it will eventually enlarge, but hopefully not before she is 4 years old.
At that time, they will do surgery. He will be able to come in just in front of her ear, so there should be no scarring on her face, and remove the sac and fluid permanently. In the event that it swells or changes size before that point, we simply have to call him to schedule the surgery earlier since we have already done all the prep footwork and proactive steps that are necessary. So for now, it's just a matter of seeing him every 3-6 months for a re-evaluation.
Good news! :)
Sneaky Sneaky
Miss Alanna decided to be mischevious this weekend while Mommy was trying to finish taxes. Let's just say it involved kitty litter, kitty litter deodorizer, and toilet paper. I'll leave it to your imagination and add that the cleanup involved a lot of laughter, a very proud looking little girl, and a vacuum cleaner.....
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Alanna's MRI
Yesterday morning was an emotional roller coaster. I got Alanna to the Children's Hospital at 6:45am for her appointment. We were brought back into a room by a nurse and the procedure was explained to me as we went over the health history. Then she came back into the room with a second nurse to insert the needle for Alanna's IV.
Alanna was such a trooper and it just broke my heart to see her uncomfortable at all. The nurse tried to insert the needle, got the vein and then went to test the flow and the vein collapsed. During this Alanna whimpered "Hurt, Ouch, Done Now" and cried, but didn't scream or push at the nurse at all. So, the nurse tried again on the other arm and the same thing happened. By this time, I wanted to cry I felt so badly for her. The second nurse decided to try and went very very slowly. I cringed the entire time she was digging for the vein as Alanna cried. She did get it though and then they taped up Alanna's hand so that the needle wouldn't move at all. She was such a good girl and wiped her tears and even told the nurses "Thank you".
We went into the MRI exam room and the dr explained how the sedation would work and told me that the Propofal would act very very quickly, within seconds once the drip was started. They began the drip and I figured that she would flutter her eyelids and just kinda pass out similar to a fainting spell. Not at all, it was near immediate. They began the drip, she whimpered when the sting started and then her head dropped to the side and she was out completely.
It was so strange to see my little girl on the table in front of this HUGE machine. They hooked her up to what seemed like a thousand monitors (for which I'm thankful) even putting one on the bottom of her feet, but she just looked so tiny and helpless and I can't get that visual out of my mind. I can't even imagine how a parent or child goes through this when a child has a chronic illness...I suppose they just do because they have to like we did yesterday. But it can't be easy and that visual of her in front of the MRI after I kissed her forehead and had to leave to the waiting room will always bring me tears I think.
After an hour of waiting and reading 60 pages of my book that I will have to reread since I can't remember them, they brought me into Short term recovery where she was sleeping on the bed. I sat next to her to be there when she woke up. She woke up after about 10 minutes and wanted to be cuddled and have a drink of juice, but was in a good mood and aside from the uncomfortable process of taking the tape off of her hand she was just fine. I think the Bugs Bunny sticker (bandaid) helped.
We got McDonald's breakfast on the way home and she ate a LOT--eggs, pancakes, sausage, hashbrown and cinnamon roll. Of course, I also bought her a little pony happy meal toy which she thought was pretty neat. We spent the day doing a lot of snuggling. She seemed to feel fine, but was very needy/clingy yesterday which was ok because I think I was too.
We'll get the results next Tuesday morning and see what the dr recommends then.
Alanna was such a trooper and it just broke my heart to see her uncomfortable at all. The nurse tried to insert the needle, got the vein and then went to test the flow and the vein collapsed. During this Alanna whimpered "Hurt, Ouch, Done Now" and cried, but didn't scream or push at the nurse at all. So, the nurse tried again on the other arm and the same thing happened. By this time, I wanted to cry I felt so badly for her. The second nurse decided to try and went very very slowly. I cringed the entire time she was digging for the vein as Alanna cried. She did get it though and then they taped up Alanna's hand so that the needle wouldn't move at all. She was such a good girl and wiped her tears and even told the nurses "Thank you".
We went into the MRI exam room and the dr explained how the sedation would work and told me that the Propofal would act very very quickly, within seconds once the drip was started. They began the drip and I figured that she would flutter her eyelids and just kinda pass out similar to a fainting spell. Not at all, it was near immediate. They began the drip, she whimpered when the sting started and then her head dropped to the side and she was out completely.
It was so strange to see my little girl on the table in front of this HUGE machine. They hooked her up to what seemed like a thousand monitors (for which I'm thankful) even putting one on the bottom of her feet, but she just looked so tiny and helpless and I can't get that visual out of my mind. I can't even imagine how a parent or child goes through this when a child has a chronic illness...I suppose they just do because they have to like we did yesterday. But it can't be easy and that visual of her in front of the MRI after I kissed her forehead and had to leave to the waiting room will always bring me tears I think.
After an hour of waiting and reading 60 pages of my book that I will have to reread since I can't remember them, they brought me into Short term recovery where she was sleeping on the bed. I sat next to her to be there when she woke up. She woke up after about 10 minutes and wanted to be cuddled and have a drink of juice, but was in a good mood and aside from the uncomfortable process of taking the tape off of her hand she was just fine. I think the Bugs Bunny sticker (bandaid) helped.
We got McDonald's breakfast on the way home and she ate a LOT--eggs, pancakes, sausage, hashbrown and cinnamon roll. Of course, I also bought her a little pony happy meal toy which she thought was pretty neat. We spent the day doing a lot of snuggling. She seemed to feel fine, but was very needy/clingy yesterday which was ok because I think I was too.
We'll get the results next Tuesday morning and see what the dr recommends then.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Preoccupied Mind
Tomorrow is Alanna's appt at Children's for her MRI . Alanna was born with a cyst on her right cheek near her ear and just back and below her eye. This was discovered when I was 6 months pregnant on her ultrasound. Short version, 8 ultrasounds and an MRI later they determined that she would not have brain damage, be blind or deaf on that side, but that they didn't know what it was or what damage it could do in the future. When she was born, we were told that so long as it didn't change in size or shape and wasn't causing her discomfort to wait until she was about 2 to have it re-evaluated. That's where we're at now.
The cranio-facial pediatric surgeon that we're seeing is unsure as to what it is and is leaning towards calling it a lymphatic malformation but wants the MRI to determine more.
She's a beautiful little girl, the cyst is really not overly noticeable and I feel a bit like a selfish, superficial person for wanting it taken care of. I keep asking myself if this is really necessary, after all it's just a bump. But I keep coming back to the fact that they really don't know for sure what it is and it's very close to her eye and ear so what if it enlarges and puts pressure on those nerves or what if it ruptures? And from a purely cosmetic point of view is she going to want a bump on her cheek for the rest of her life? Would a tiny scar that could be covered with a dab of concealer or that would maybe fade in the years to come be preferable to her?
We are so blessed to have such a wonderful daughter who is happy and healthy. Am I doing the right thing? I guess every parent has to battle that question.
All I know is the what ifs of not knowing for sure what it is and what damage it could do are far worse than the MRI and sedation we'll have to go through tomorrow. If something were to happen and we hadn't taken the opportunity to investigate it further, I'd be shattered.
The cranio-facial pediatric surgeon that we're seeing is unsure as to what it is and is leaning towards calling it a lymphatic malformation but wants the MRI to determine more.
She's a beautiful little girl, the cyst is really not overly noticeable and I feel a bit like a selfish, superficial person for wanting it taken care of. I keep asking myself if this is really necessary, after all it's just a bump. But I keep coming back to the fact that they really don't know for sure what it is and it's very close to her eye and ear so what if it enlarges and puts pressure on those nerves or what if it ruptures? And from a purely cosmetic point of view is she going to want a bump on her cheek for the rest of her life? Would a tiny scar that could be covered with a dab of concealer or that would maybe fade in the years to come be preferable to her?
We are so blessed to have such a wonderful daughter who is happy and healthy. Am I doing the right thing? I guess every parent has to battle that question.
All I know is the what ifs of not knowing for sure what it is and what damage it could do are far worse than the MRI and sedation we'll have to go through tomorrow. If something were to happen and we hadn't taken the opportunity to investigate it further, I'd be shattered.
Monday, January 31, 2005
Black Plague of Death
Yes, yes..I'm posting already sheesh! . I think I'll begin with the death vomit disease that invaded our home last week, which I'm comparing to Black Death . Ok, so it wasn't that bad, but in all the sicknesses I've had I'd rank it right up under pneumonia as 2nd worse and one that I would only wish on my worst enemies. As a side note, if you are wondering if you're on my worst enemy list you can likely relax as by having this blog address you can be fairly certain you're not in danger. However, I am a scorpio and fickle as well as prone to hold grudges, so that could change at any moment. But, I digress.
So Tuesday night we go to pick up Miss Alanna last week and we get there to find out she has just puked on the daycare provider's couch. Ok, so a part of me was thrilled that it was her couch and not our car...selfish I know but a true thought nonetheless. We pick her up, comfort her and get her home to a fun-filled night of throw up, diapers, crying (both her and mommy) and finally sleep.
I make arrangements to dial in from home and do as much work as possible while caring for a sick child on Wednesday since she can't go to daycare.
Wednesday night we get a call from daycare....now our provider has the plague and there will be no daycare on Thursday. Did I mention that daycare is one of the best birth controls out there? In a panic we call in the cavalry....Scott & Lori! To the rescue the tag team watch Alanna all day Thursday.
Thursday night was our work party casino night. So off we go to gamble and have a good time. Except, we get there and near the end of the night I start feeling kinda woozy. I didn't have anything to drink other than water because we had driven together and I was the one driving us home. So, I tell Jeb that I'm not feeling that great. But, he's on a winning streak and wants to stay for the auction. He was having so much fun that I feel bad pulling him away. Off I go to hang out in the bathroom while waiting for him to finish the auction.
Onward to our 35 minute drive home....almost made it home...almost (I'll leave any other details out here just because you probably don't want to know, well aside from there still isn't puke in our car so that's a good thing). Spent the night miserable as well as the next day. Had to beg Jeb to stay home to care for Alanna because I could barely make it from the bedroom to the bathroom and back again let alone care for a 2 year old who still had to stay home from daycare.
So over the weekend from Thurs night until Sun afternoon I can't eat anything and can barely drink any water.
On a happy note, I'm down 13lbs for the month. Not really the best way to lose weight, but in light of feeling like death warmed over, I'll take it as a bonus.
So Tuesday night we go to pick up Miss Alanna last week and we get there to find out she has just puked on the daycare provider's couch. Ok, so a part of me was thrilled that it was her couch and not our car...selfish I know but a true thought nonetheless. We pick her up, comfort her and get her home to a fun-filled night of throw up, diapers, crying (both her and mommy) and finally sleep.
I make arrangements to dial in from home and do as much work as possible while caring for a sick child on Wednesday since she can't go to daycare.
Wednesday night we get a call from daycare....now our provider has the plague and there will be no daycare on Thursday. Did I mention that daycare is one of the best birth controls out there? In a panic we call in the cavalry....Scott & Lori! To the rescue the tag team watch Alanna all day Thursday.
Thursday night was our work party casino night. So off we go to gamble and have a good time. Except, we get there and near the end of the night I start feeling kinda woozy. I didn't have anything to drink other than water because we had driven together and I was the one driving us home. So, I tell Jeb that I'm not feeling that great. But, he's on a winning streak and wants to stay for the auction. He was having so much fun that I feel bad pulling him away. Off I go to hang out in the bathroom while waiting for him to finish the auction.
Onward to our 35 minute drive home....almost made it home...almost (I'll leave any other details out here just because you probably don't want to know, well aside from there still isn't puke in our car so that's a good thing). Spent the night miserable as well as the next day. Had to beg Jeb to stay home to care for Alanna because I could barely make it from the bedroom to the bathroom and back again let alone care for a 2 year old who still had to stay home from daycare.
So over the weekend from Thurs night until Sun afternoon I can't eat anything and can barely drink any water.
On a happy note, I'm down 13lbs for the month. Not really the best way to lose weight, but in light of feeling like death warmed over, I'll take it as a bonus.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
The Value of a Dollar
So this weekend, I tried to teach Alanna about money. Last Christmas, we bought her a piggy bank . She loves her piggy and is constantly trying to sucker us out of coins to put in it. Then she will kiss the piggy. Perhaps this is an unhealthy relationship with money, but she's learning to save it and it's damn cute, so I haven't tried to change the behavior.
Piggy was getting awfully fat, so I decided it was time for a trip to the bank. We emptied Piggy's coins and birthday bills into a ziplock baggie and tucked it into her Dora purse. Then off to the bank we went.
At first when I put the coins on the counting tray, she was a little concerned because it was "mine money" as she told me. I said yes, but that we were going to trade in the coins for bills. As soon as the machine started, she was entranced and thrilled by watching the coins swirl around. We took her receipt to the cashier and she got her bills to put back in her purse.
I then explained that we could go to Target and she could shop for something to buy with her money. Or that she could save it and put it back in Piggy. At Target she was sooooo good and looked around for about 20 minutes, never running off, but seriously looking at things. She found a Wiggles Guitar that she really liked. I asked "Is that what you would like to buy?" She replied, "I like it, I buy it." Too cute! I melted on the spot.
I thought we'd have a battle at the checkout when she actually would have to give the cashier some of her money, but it was no problem She handed over the $16 and took her change then put it all back in her purse with mommy's help. When we got home, she showed Daddy and was so proud saying, "I bought it." Then we put her money back in her Piggy for another day.
Piggy was getting awfully fat, so I decided it was time for a trip to the bank. We emptied Piggy's coins and birthday bills into a ziplock baggie and tucked it into her Dora purse. Then off to the bank we went.
At first when I put the coins on the counting tray, she was a little concerned because it was "mine money" as she told me. I said yes, but that we were going to trade in the coins for bills. As soon as the machine started, she was entranced and thrilled by watching the coins swirl around. We took her receipt to the cashier and she got her bills to put back in her purse.
I then explained that we could go to Target and she could shop for something to buy with her money. Or that she could save it and put it back in Piggy. At Target she was sooooo good and looked around for about 20 minutes, never running off, but seriously looking at things. She found a Wiggles Guitar that she really liked. I asked "Is that what you would like to buy?" She replied, "I like it, I buy it." Too cute! I melted on the spot.
I thought we'd have a battle at the checkout when she actually would have to give the cashier some of her money, but it was no problem She handed over the $16 and took her change then put it all back in her purse with mommy's help. When we got home, she showed Daddy and was so proud saying, "I bought it." Then we put her money back in her Piggy for another day.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Sick Kid
I hate feeling helpless. I'm not good at feeling helpless. Yes, I admit I'm a control freak and feeling helpless does not work for control freaks at all.
Alanna is sick today. She's got this squeaky lil voice from a sore throat and runny nose and fever. I have her believing now that her medicine is a "treat" and the Sudafed orange flavored chewable and Tylenol Meltaways help with that as they look like little candies. The bad side of my "treat" theory is that I have to be ultra careful (we already are) to make sure that she can't get her hands on the medicine as she now thinks it's a candy. I hate the feeling that I can't do much to make her feel better.
She has an MRI scheduled next week to take a look at the facial cyst and determine the best course of treatment. That makes me feel helpless too. They will have to sedate her so that she lies still in the machine. I've got this mommy guilt going on wondering if I'm doing the right thing by putting her through this. But I can't get over the fact that if we don't and something happens like infection or swelling that could compromise facial nerves that we'd regret it for the rest of her life.
Fuck helpless feelings.
Alanna is sick today. She's got this squeaky lil voice from a sore throat and runny nose and fever. I have her believing now that her medicine is a "treat" and the Sudafed orange flavored chewable and Tylenol Meltaways help with that as they look like little candies. The bad side of my "treat" theory is that I have to be ultra careful (we already are) to make sure that she can't get her hands on the medicine as she now thinks it's a candy. I hate the feeling that I can't do much to make her feel better.
She has an MRI scheduled next week to take a look at the facial cyst and determine the best course of treatment. That makes me feel helpless too. They will have to sedate her so that she lies still in the machine. I've got this mommy guilt going on wondering if I'm doing the right thing by putting her through this. But I can't get over the fact that if we don't and something happens like infection or swelling that could compromise facial nerves that we'd regret it for the rest of her life.
Fuck helpless feelings.
Monday, January 10, 2005
Talking Toys
So one of my coworkers found this fun site of writing ideas here and wrote from one of the topics today. I'm in a rambling mood and one of the topics is near and dear to my heart right now.
So, I'm going to write about "What if Toys Could Talk?" Actually, I'm tweaking it a little bit to address the talking toys that have invaded my home over the past two Christmas/birthday seasons.
Last year, the first talking toy entered our household on Alanna's Birthday. Hug & Learn Baby Tad. We thought he was pretty cute and Alanna loved figuring out that if she pushed the shape that was lit up it would play a song. The "2 minutes until Night Night" started to get a little old and hearing him come on in the middle of the night in her crib when she'd roll over was a bit disturbing as well.
Then came the Chucky Doll of talking toys, for Christmas we got her SingALong Carebears . These little suckers are spooky as hell! Their heads move and they sing and recognize eachother. So, you'll push the hand of one and it will look at the other bear and say "Hi Wish Bear" or whatever then they'll start singing together. I keep expecting one of their heads to swivel and for it to be like the Clown Doll from Poltergeist . Damn, I hated that doll.
This Christmas, her aunt Hope and uncle Jer got her a Dusty the Talking Vacuum . This seemed like a cute idea as she's now really into pretend play and loves to help mommy with the housework. However, whoever designed this little monster had a sick and twisted time doing so...or a clean freak mother. I expected it to say things like, "It's fun to clean!" and "You missed a spot" or "Let's clean the carpet!" But Nooooooooo, this bugger is giving me a complex. She will roll it over the carpet and it says, "Who made this mess?" "Let's clean up this pigsty" It's giving me a complex over the cleanliness of my house.
And most recently the NUKFairy brought the Talking Vanity mentioned in a previous post. This one at least says nice things, but the biggest problem with all of these talking toys is that there is no volume control. The one toy with a volume control she has is a barnyard music thing that does different songs in animal sounds. Imagine Twinkle Twinkle sung by a chicken. The volume is right where she can figure it out though, so when we turn it down, she simply turns it back up or turns it off and on again to reset it.
Toymakers are sadistic fuckers.
So, I'm going to write about "What if Toys Could Talk?" Actually, I'm tweaking it a little bit to address the talking toys that have invaded my home over the past two Christmas/birthday seasons.
Last year, the first talking toy entered our household on Alanna's Birthday. Hug & Learn Baby Tad. We thought he was pretty cute and Alanna loved figuring out that if she pushed the shape that was lit up it would play a song. The "2 minutes until Night Night" started to get a little old and hearing him come on in the middle of the night in her crib when she'd roll over was a bit disturbing as well.
Then came the Chucky Doll of talking toys, for Christmas we got her SingALong Carebears . These little suckers are spooky as hell! Their heads move and they sing and recognize eachother. So, you'll push the hand of one and it will look at the other bear and say "Hi Wish Bear" or whatever then they'll start singing together. I keep expecting one of their heads to swivel and for it to be like the Clown Doll from Poltergeist . Damn, I hated that doll.
This Christmas, her aunt Hope and uncle Jer got her a Dusty the Talking Vacuum . This seemed like a cute idea as she's now really into pretend play and loves to help mommy with the housework. However, whoever designed this little monster had a sick and twisted time doing so...or a clean freak mother. I expected it to say things like, "It's fun to clean!" and "You missed a spot" or "Let's clean the carpet!" But Nooooooooo, this bugger is giving me a complex. She will roll it over the carpet and it says, "Who made this mess?" "Let's clean up this pigsty" It's giving me a complex over the cleanliness of my house.
And most recently the NUKFairy brought the Talking Vanity mentioned in a previous post. This one at least says nice things, but the biggest problem with all of these talking toys is that there is no volume control. The one toy with a volume control she has is a barnyard music thing that does different songs in animal sounds. Imagine Twinkle Twinkle sung by a chicken. The volume is right where she can figure it out though, so when we turn it down, she simply turns it back up or turns it off and on again to reset it.
Toymakers are sadistic fuckers.
Sunday, January 09, 2005
Followup
NukFairy: This actually has gone very well this weekend (knock on wood). Friday night I snipped the tip off of the NUK and gave it to Alanna. She looked at it funny, then looked at me. I made this big happy deal out of it being broken and that meaning that the NUKFairy was going to come. She looked at it, said "broke" and then "No." and popped it in her mouth. Saturday morning it "disappeared" into the trash can and the big girl present arrived in her crib. She LOVED the little play vanity and at naptime only fussed for about 5 minutes when she realized the NUK was really gone for good. Same thing last night. About 5-10 minutes of mild fussing and then she fell asleep. So, I think it worked!
Wedding: Scott & Lori are now married and on their way to their Cruise as I write this. It was a very nice short ceremony and they both looked fantastic. I got about 30ish good pics and there were 4 other people taking pictures as well. Here's the link to the photos I took: Lori & Scott's Wedding.
Wedding: Scott & Lori are now married and on their way to their Cruise as I write this. It was a very nice short ceremony and they both looked fantastic. I got about 30ish good pics and there were 4 other people taking pictures as well. Here's the link to the photos I took: Lori & Scott's Wedding.
Friday, January 07, 2005
NUK Fairy
Tonight's the night the NUK Fairy will be coming to visit. What's the NUK Fairy you ask? For those who are parents, you know exactly what a NUK is although in your home it may be referred to as a binky, plug, paci or some other name. Those who are not parents may believe it is something closer to this.
When we had Alanna, we vowed we would not use a NUK in our house. Well, one night Mommy caved in and really wanted sleep and *pop* in goes the NUK, sleep ensues and hence the point we are now at, which is a 2 year old with a pacifier. To our credit, we have been pretty good about weening her off of it. Since she was one, she is not allowed the NUK in the waking hours and only uses it at naptime and bedtime. However, the time has now come for the NUK to go away completely.
I consulted message boards for mommy's and talked to other parents and have decided that the way our NUK is going away is by method of NUK Fairy.
So, tonight I'm cutting the tip off the NUK so that it is broken. I'm hoping this is what will happen:
Alanna-- "Broke!"
Me-- "Yay! That means the NUK Fairy is coming and she'll take the NUK to fix it for a baby since you're a big girl now and don't need it anymore"
Alanna-- "Faiwy?"
Me-- "Yes, the NUK Fairy will come and bring you a Big Girl gift and take the NUK away for a baby. You're not a baby anymore, you're a Big Girl! Yay!"
Alanna-- "Ni Ni" and hands me the NUK complacently getting tucked in and going to sleep.
What will probably really happen:
Alanna-- "Broke!"
Me-- blah blah about NUK Fairy
Alanna-- "NOooooo! No no no no!!"
Me-- blah blah about NUK Fairy
Alanna-- "Noooo!!!!" Crying and tantrum ensues until she falls asleep
Mommy & Daddy take away the NUK, replace it with Big Girl Toy and awaken to only go through the same tantrum at naptime and bedtime tomorrow night.
Well, we can hope!
When we had Alanna, we vowed we would not use a NUK in our house. Well, one night Mommy caved in and really wanted sleep and *pop* in goes the NUK, sleep ensues and hence the point we are now at, which is a 2 year old with a pacifier. To our credit, we have been pretty good about weening her off of it. Since she was one, she is not allowed the NUK in the waking hours and only uses it at naptime and bedtime. However, the time has now come for the NUK to go away completely.
I consulted message boards for mommy's and talked to other parents and have decided that the way our NUK is going away is by method of NUK Fairy.
So, tonight I'm cutting the tip off the NUK so that it is broken. I'm hoping this is what will happen:
Alanna-- "Broke!"
Me-- "Yay! That means the NUK Fairy is coming and she'll take the NUK to fix it for a baby since you're a big girl now and don't need it anymore"
Alanna-- "Faiwy?"
Me-- "Yes, the NUK Fairy will come and bring you a Big Girl gift and take the NUK away for a baby. You're not a baby anymore, you're a Big Girl! Yay!"
Alanna-- "Ni Ni" and hands me the NUK complacently getting tucked in and going to sleep.
What will probably really happen:
Alanna-- "Broke!"
Me-- blah blah about NUK Fairy
Alanna-- "NOooooo! No no no no!!"
Me-- blah blah about NUK Fairy
Alanna-- "Noooo!!!!" Crying and tantrum ensues until she falls asleep
Mommy & Daddy take away the NUK, replace it with Big Girl Toy and awaken to only go through the same tantrum at naptime and bedtime tomorrow night.
Well, we can hope!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
