Thursday, March 26, 2009
Anya
So what's new with Anya....She's definitely working on her fashion sense...she loves accessorizing and is getting much better at pulling an outfit together and actually matching it. We're trying to decide what activity to enroll her in. She's no longer swimming since she didn't need the one-on-one anymore and I just haven't looked into finding a group lesson for her. She definitely would love to pursue lessons. But she would also love dance, soccer, or gymnastics....ugh, too many choices! I know better than to let her try a couple of them- what if she wants to keep with both? Also, as time goes on, they will turn into more and more sessions/practices, etc. Factor in 2 more kids, with at least an activity each and we're setting ourselves up for chaos! She, of course, wants to do everything, but she has no concept of how busy that will become. Our evenings are already busy- she gets home from school at 4pm....by the time we factor in homework (some nights), dinner, bath, reading, and maybe a trip to the gym for me- and the day is done!
Baz
Where do I start with Bazzy boy? Well, his name is a good place- last night in the tub, he corrected me when I said something to Lorelei. "Her name is Lorelei Dawn". OK- my mistake!! So I asked him what his full name was..."Baz" No, your REAL name...."Bazzy boy...B-A-Z". Yeah, well that's adorable and all, but not your name, kid! So I asked him to repeat me...Se-bas-tian....he couldn't/wouldn't do it! Not Sebastian, Thomas, or E!!!! I am pretty sure that he's called Sebastian frequently enough that he should at least recognize it, but we've got to work on that!
I don't think I've blogged about his funny words....my favorite is "wardy" This is Baz-speak for "already" . I'm not sure why, but that's how he responds when you ask him to do something that he's already done. "I wardy brushed my teeth!". "Crocked" is another....that's how he refers to a CD that is skipping....it's crocked, which I think is a cross between cracked and scratched. He also points out "telephone parrot trucks" when he sees them!
Baz has been very into friends lately....which kids are and are not his friends. He wants everyone to be his friend (awwwww), but unfortunately he's got a couple of kids at Colleen's who are not of the same mind. One kid, B, often calls him "bad boy", even though Baz is probably one the better kids there. Luckily, B's little brother (who is closer in age to Baz), is sweet and plays very well with Baz. There's a little girl, J, who happens to have an older brother who went to pre-K with Anya, who is also kinda mean to Baz. We're not surprised since the brother was a troublemaker of sorts and often had scuffles with Anya, but we had hoped it would be isolated to the kid, not his sister, too. It sucks because Baz is so sweet and what can I tell him when he says that J is mean and makes him cry :( George had an elegant solution....."She's a girl, so you can't hit her back (when she hits him)....so call her fat!" Because every 3 year old girl is concerned about her weight, right? Anyway, I hope that these little situations prepare him to deal with tougher situations later on.
I don't think I've blogged about his funny words....my favorite is "wardy" This is Baz-speak for "already" . I'm not sure why, but that's how he responds when you ask him to do something that he's already done. "I wardy brushed my teeth!". "Crocked" is another....that's how he refers to a CD that is skipping....it's crocked, which I think is a cross between cracked and scratched. He also points out "telephone parrot trucks" when he sees them!
Baz has been very into friends lately....which kids are and are not his friends. He wants everyone to be his friend (awwwww), but unfortunately he's got a couple of kids at Colleen's who are not of the same mind. One kid, B, often calls him "bad boy", even though Baz is probably one the better kids there. Luckily, B's little brother (who is closer in age to Baz), is sweet and plays very well with Baz. There's a little girl, J, who happens to have an older brother who went to pre-K with Anya, who is also kinda mean to Baz. We're not surprised since the brother was a troublemaker of sorts and often had scuffles with Anya, but we had hoped it would be isolated to the kid, not his sister, too. It sucks because Baz is so sweet and what can I tell him when he says that J is mean and makes him cry :( George had an elegant solution....."She's a girl, so you can't hit her back (when she hits him)....so call her fat!" Because every 3 year old girl is concerned about her weight, right? Anyway, I hope that these little situations prepare him to deal with tougher situations later on.
So it seems that the blogging gods are just not my friends....when I do get a chance to try to write something, I get distracted and it disappears...poof! So I'm going to stick with a handful of brief entries so I don't lose them!
Lorelei is definitely acting like the 3rd kid- doing everything early!! She's sitting unsupported quite well, but that's too boring for her, so she plops down and starts scooting around. She's also getting up on all fours, so it's really a matter of days until she's full-blown crawling- ugh! She's also more typical in her need/want to put EVERYTHING in her mouth. Baz was so as interested in eating everything so I wasn't as worried when he became mobile, but L is another story. I'm going to have to re-babyproof!!!!
She's also jabbering a lot and blowing raspberries. She'll make her presence known! She's doing well with baby food, and like her brother and sister she favors veggies over fruits. In fact, after several attempts at each, I can't get her to eat bananas or peaches- weird kid! She will inhale a whole container of peas, beans, squash, carrots or sweet potatoes though!
Lorelei is definitely acting like the 3rd kid- doing everything early!! She's sitting unsupported quite well, but that's too boring for her, so she plops down and starts scooting around. She's also getting up on all fours, so it's really a matter of days until she's full-blown crawling- ugh! She's also more typical in her need/want to put EVERYTHING in her mouth. Baz was so as interested in eating everything so I wasn't as worried when he became mobile, but L is another story. I'm going to have to re-babyproof!!!!
She's also jabbering a lot and blowing raspberries. She'll make her presence known! She's doing well with baby food, and like her brother and sister she favors veggies over fruits. In fact, after several attempts at each, I can't get her to eat bananas or peaches- weird kid! She will inhale a whole container of peas, beans, squash, carrots or sweet potatoes though!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Mommy nirvana
So here I am....ok, as I started typing this it ended, but I WAS having a moment of bliss.....Anya is off at school, Lorelei sleeping in her crib and Baz was quietly watching Toy Story. I am comfined temporarily to the couch since the cleaning people just left and all of the floors are wet. Ahhhhhh, what could be better? A clean house and quiet kids! I suppose a fresh cup of coffee would make it a little better, but that's easily remedied.
So what's new here.....my blogging is really awful lately, so I don't even know what I've written about.
Anya is starting to get the hang of reading. This morning, she picked up a book on her own (!) and read it aloud to herself! The last page was long with a lot of words on it, so she asked for my help there, but she sounded out the entire rest of the book. This is progress because recently, she's been fighting reading because it's work. I think she's finding that she can recognize more and more words and sounds and it's not so hard anymore. Last week was tough for her in school...we got another note from the teacher....apparently she had a hard time following directions all week and it culminated with her hitting one of her friends! I know she has a temper and does occasionally hit her brother, but her friend? Granted, the girl was being mean and told Anya she couldn't come to her bday party, but not an acceptable reason for Anya to hit her. Luckily, by the end of the day, they were friends again and all was good, but it still warranted a note home and Anya had to sit out from free play that day. The same day was report cards. Anya's doing fine- her only "needs more work" marks were in the writing department. And honestly, I think it's because she just doesn't want to take the time to write properly (kinda like her momma??). She knows how to make all of the letters and when reminded she'll put proper spacing between words. She just loves math, otoh, and often starts making up her own addition problems to figure out- go Anya!
We're trying to go over much of her schoolwork because the way they're learning now lets them learn on their own. The teacher instructs them to just go to town and write what they think is right. My opinion is that it's OK for them to try first on their own, but then somebody goes over it and teaches them the correct way of writing. I worry that she'll learn her way and think that that's right. But I have no education experience, so who knows!
Lorelei is growing by leaps and bounds. I still can't believe she's goingto be 6 months old next week! She's getting more and more mobile each day. Yesterday, we put her in the swing (a portable one on the floor, FTR) and found her face down on the floor next to it!!! She was happy as a clam, but that was a surprise! I lowered the crib last week since you just never know when she'll figure out how to pull herself up on the rails. She's becoming more interactive, too. She tries to talk/sing back when you sing to her and she'll watch someone from across the room until they meet her eye and she giggles. Someone taught her how to blow raspberries too.
Rory has started with some solid foods, which she mostly loves. Rice cereal and oatmeal were big hits, but Barley not so much (big surprise). So far, she's liked veggies much more than fruits- peas, beans, carrots, and sweet potatoes get inhaled, while bananas and peaches get the closed lips. She's getting much better with naps and sleeping, with the occasional exception. She's down around 7:30 usually and up typically and 3:00 with an occasional 11-ish wakeup, then up for good around 6:30-7. Once she drops those middle of the night wakeups, life will be really good! She's also been taking 2 solid naps each day- at least 1-1 1/2 hours, sometimes 2. So now we can sorta of relax until she becomes really mobile- then the real fun starts!
I'm still in shock when I realize that Baz will be 3 soon. Where did my baby go?? He's such a fun and sweet little kid. So loving and caring...he's really good at sharing, which I think is impressive for his age. His only real "issue" now is whining....omg does it suck, but we're trying to ignore or stop it asap because whiny kids are just awful. He's excited about his bday party at a reptile place....we took him there to see if he'd love it or hate it and he definitely loved it.
Baz lately has been into his friends. He asks Anya several times a day "Are you my friend?" He often talks about his friends B an R at Colleen's....and every time we go to the gym (i.e. Jim's), he's eager to make new friends or play with old ones. He's definitely got some charisma...do we have a politician on our hands? He's also showing interest in learning to read....he asks for us to point to the words as we read them. He knows the letters (at least capitals, haven't tried lowercase yet) and some of their sounds. We're working on numbers, too....he loves pushing the buttons on the microwave, which helps to identify them.
His fascination with construction trucks continues....since it's spring, we see more and more of them on our way to work each day. For some reason, he loves telephone "parrot" trucks lately and we see a lot of them! We have to go through the county buildings on our way to Nana and Dada's each morning so we can see the excavators and bulldozers, even though they're often still sleeping when we go by.
Sleeping arrangements are becoming an issue with Baz....a week or so ago, we put his bed up on a frame, which I had hoped would keep him in his own bed at night, but no such luck. Sometimes, I go to bed to find both kids in our bed! Anya starts out there so Baz doesn't pester her and they can both get to sleep, then we move her to her own bed. Baz wanders into our bed when he wakes up during the night, so on those nights I have to move both kids, but Baz eventually finds his way back.
Potty training is done for Baz....the only accidents he's had are due to aiming, not timing issues. In fact, I can't remember the last real accident he had- which puts him ahead of Anya in that respect! He's also doing great at swimming....the kid is in love with diving.
Well, it appears that my "me" time is over for today....stay tuned!
So what's new here.....my blogging is really awful lately, so I don't even know what I've written about.
Anya is starting to get the hang of reading. This morning, she picked up a book on her own (!) and read it aloud to herself! The last page was long with a lot of words on it, so she asked for my help there, but she sounded out the entire rest of the book. This is progress because recently, she's been fighting reading because it's work. I think she's finding that she can recognize more and more words and sounds and it's not so hard anymore. Last week was tough for her in school...we got another note from the teacher....apparently she had a hard time following directions all week and it culminated with her hitting one of her friends! I know she has a temper and does occasionally hit her brother, but her friend? Granted, the girl was being mean and told Anya she couldn't come to her bday party, but not an acceptable reason for Anya to hit her. Luckily, by the end of the day, they were friends again and all was good, but it still warranted a note home and Anya had to sit out from free play that day. The same day was report cards. Anya's doing fine- her only "needs more work" marks were in the writing department. And honestly, I think it's because she just doesn't want to take the time to write properly (kinda like her momma??). She knows how to make all of the letters and when reminded she'll put proper spacing between words. She just loves math, otoh, and often starts making up her own addition problems to figure out- go Anya!
We're trying to go over much of her schoolwork because the way they're learning now lets them learn on their own. The teacher instructs them to just go to town and write what they think is right. My opinion is that it's OK for them to try first on their own, but then somebody goes over it and teaches them the correct way of writing. I worry that she'll learn her way and think that that's right. But I have no education experience, so who knows!
Lorelei is growing by leaps and bounds. I still can't believe she's goingto be 6 months old next week! She's getting more and more mobile each day. Yesterday, we put her in the swing (a portable one on the floor, FTR) and found her face down on the floor next to it!!! She was happy as a clam, but that was a surprise! I lowered the crib last week since you just never know when she'll figure out how to pull herself up on the rails. She's becoming more interactive, too. She tries to talk/sing back when you sing to her and she'll watch someone from across the room until they meet her eye and she giggles. Someone taught her how to blow raspberries too.
Rory has started with some solid foods, which she mostly loves. Rice cereal and oatmeal were big hits, but Barley not so much (big surprise). So far, she's liked veggies much more than fruits- peas, beans, carrots, and sweet potatoes get inhaled, while bananas and peaches get the closed lips. She's getting much better with naps and sleeping, with the occasional exception. She's down around 7:30 usually and up typically and 3:00 with an occasional 11-ish wakeup, then up for good around 6:30-7. Once she drops those middle of the night wakeups, life will be really good! She's also been taking 2 solid naps each day- at least 1-1 1/2 hours, sometimes 2. So now we can sorta of relax until she becomes really mobile- then the real fun starts!
I'm still in shock when I realize that Baz will be 3 soon. Where did my baby go?? He's such a fun and sweet little kid. So loving and caring...he's really good at sharing, which I think is impressive for his age. His only real "issue" now is whining....omg does it suck, but we're trying to ignore or stop it asap because whiny kids are just awful. He's excited about his bday party at a reptile place....we took him there to see if he'd love it or hate it and he definitely loved it.
Baz lately has been into his friends. He asks Anya several times a day "Are you my friend?" He often talks about his friends B an R at Colleen's....and every time we go to the gym (i.e. Jim's), he's eager to make new friends or play with old ones. He's definitely got some charisma...do we have a politician on our hands? He's also showing interest in learning to read....he asks for us to point to the words as we read them. He knows the letters (at least capitals, haven't tried lowercase yet) and some of their sounds. We're working on numbers, too....he loves pushing the buttons on the microwave, which helps to identify them.
His fascination with construction trucks continues....since it's spring, we see more and more of them on our way to work each day. For some reason, he loves telephone "parrot" trucks lately and we see a lot of them! We have to go through the county buildings on our way to Nana and Dada's each morning so we can see the excavators and bulldozers, even though they're often still sleeping when we go by.
Sleeping arrangements are becoming an issue with Baz....a week or so ago, we put his bed up on a frame, which I had hoped would keep him in his own bed at night, but no such luck. Sometimes, I go to bed to find both kids in our bed! Anya starts out there so Baz doesn't pester her and they can both get to sleep, then we move her to her own bed. Baz wanders into our bed when he wakes up during the night, so on those nights I have to move both kids, but Baz eventually finds his way back.
Potty training is done for Baz....the only accidents he's had are due to aiming, not timing issues. In fact, I can't remember the last real accident he had- which puts him ahead of Anya in that respect! He's also doing great at swimming....the kid is in love with diving.
Well, it appears that my "me" time is over for today....stay tuned!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
5 months
Wow- how can Lorelei be 5 months old already??? Actually, she seems to act older than that- thanks to big brother/sister. They both took forever to figure out how to roll over and scoot around, but she's mastered both of those moves long ago. I had to drop her mattress down today because she's sitting up so well that she could be able to pull herself up with the rail.
Another try...
So Baz woke up happy (yay!) and is watching Cars (and by watching, I mean reciting it with the movie and then pointing out each and every car), so I'm going to try again.
Baz is now 1 month shy of 3 years old and amazes us every day. He's still the lovable, adorable kid, but he's throwing in a few new characteristics. He's learning how to manipulate his environment (and us) with whining. Anya definitely went through a phase like this and eventually toned down the whining, but it's painful for us now. The newest thing for him is lying. If he wants something and one parents tells him no, he's say that the other said yes. So far, he hasn't caught on that we usually compare notes (if we even have to) and that he then gets a time out for lying, but it's only been a coule of days. On the way to work the other day, he didn't have daddy to "help him", so when I didn't turn to go past the construction trucks that he wanted to see, he told me "man said we have to go that way". That one had me laughing for a while!
He's stll fixating on trucks and trains. He's noticed a lot of telephone repair trucks as well as diggers, excavators, and bulldozers in our travels. It's always cute hearing him point out a "telephone parrot truck"! I have a feeling this spring/summer will be spent parking near construction sites so we can watch the trucks work!
Sebastian is now completely potty-trained, thanks to Daddy's motivation. About 3 weeks ago, George was home with the kids on a Sat and decided to start the timer method. Baz wore only underwear and we made sure the little potty chair was easily accessible to him and set the kitchen timer for 20 minutes. Every time it went off, he had to try to pee in the potty. Rarely did he not have any, but he also only had a couple of accidents. It took about a week of using the timer before he didn't need it anymore, but I'd say it was effective. After the first day, he was like a trained puppy.... the timer would go off and he'd jump up, exclaim "potty time" and run to the potty. Poop was a bit harder to do- the kid did not want to sit on the potty. Once he finally showed interest at the right time, I coerced him into sitting for a few minutes by looking at the box of the truck that would be his reward for pooping in the potty. Lo and behold, it worked! After that, there were no more accidents and he has not needed any prompting at all- yay! I put a pullup on him for nap and bedtime, but he often wakes up dry from his nap, so he could be done with pullups altogether soon!
Baz is also showing an interest in school lately. He points out where we would turn to go to the preschool that Anya went to (and he will too). We'll probably start him in a 3 year-old program in the fall....I think he'll thrive in that environment.
He's a great napper still, too. I'm pretty sure Anya made it to about 3-1/2 taking an afternoon nap, but I can't remember exactly when she gave it up. I do know that when she stopped napping, she HAD to go to sleep by 7 and slept all night long. Baz isn't so bad with the nightwakings....he does get up, but he just comes into our room and either camps out on the floor next to our bed or climbs in with us. Last night, our bed was completely taken...we usually put Anya down in our bed until both kids are asleep and then transfer her to her own bed. When I went to move her last night, Baz had already come into our bed, so their room was empty and both big kids were in our bed! Oh, and Baz is now in a full-fledged twin bed now. He's been on the mattress/boxspring on the floor, but over the weekend we decided to pull out the frame and set it up. I was a little nervous about him falling out while sleeping or climbing out, but so far so good!
Baz is now 1 month shy of 3 years old and amazes us every day. He's still the lovable, adorable kid, but he's throwing in a few new characteristics. He's learning how to manipulate his environment (and us) with whining. Anya definitely went through a phase like this and eventually toned down the whining, but it's painful for us now. The newest thing for him is lying. If he wants something and one parents tells him no, he's say that the other said yes. So far, he hasn't caught on that we usually compare notes (if we even have to) and that he then gets a time out for lying, but it's only been a coule of days. On the way to work the other day, he didn't have daddy to "help him", so when I didn't turn to go past the construction trucks that he wanted to see, he told me "man said we have to go that way". That one had me laughing for a while!
He's stll fixating on trucks and trains. He's noticed a lot of telephone repair trucks as well as diggers, excavators, and bulldozers in our travels. It's always cute hearing him point out a "telephone parrot truck"! I have a feeling this spring/summer will be spent parking near construction sites so we can watch the trucks work!
Sebastian is now completely potty-trained, thanks to Daddy's motivation. About 3 weeks ago, George was home with the kids on a Sat and decided to start the timer method. Baz wore only underwear and we made sure the little potty chair was easily accessible to him and set the kitchen timer for 20 minutes. Every time it went off, he had to try to pee in the potty. Rarely did he not have any, but he also only had a couple of accidents. It took about a week of using the timer before he didn't need it anymore, but I'd say it was effective. After the first day, he was like a trained puppy.... the timer would go off and he'd jump up, exclaim "potty time" and run to the potty. Poop was a bit harder to do- the kid did not want to sit on the potty. Once he finally showed interest at the right time, I coerced him into sitting for a few minutes by looking at the box of the truck that would be his reward for pooping in the potty. Lo and behold, it worked! After that, there were no more accidents and he has not needed any prompting at all- yay! I put a pullup on him for nap and bedtime, but he often wakes up dry from his nap, so he could be done with pullups altogether soon!
Baz is also showing an interest in school lately. He points out where we would turn to go to the preschool that Anya went to (and he will too). We'll probably start him in a 3 year-old program in the fall....I think he'll thrive in that environment.
He's a great napper still, too. I'm pretty sure Anya made it to about 3-1/2 taking an afternoon nap, but I can't remember exactly when she gave it up. I do know that when she stopped napping, she HAD to go to sleep by 7 and slept all night long. Baz isn't so bad with the nightwakings....he does get up, but he just comes into our room and either camps out on the floor next to our bed or climbs in with us. Last night, our bed was completely taken...we usually put Anya down in our bed until both kids are asleep and then transfer her to her own bed. When I went to move her last night, Baz had already come into our bed, so their room was empty and both big kids were in our bed! Oh, and Baz is now in a full-fledged twin bed now. He's been on the mattress/boxspring on the floor, but over the weekend we decided to pull out the frame and set it up. I was a little nervous about him falling out while sleeping or climbing out, but so far so good!
Drat!
I've been moving around all morning hoping to get a chance to catch up and post all the wonderful things our kids have been doing. I even managed to get Baz and Lorelei to sleep at the same time, but I made the mistake of prioritizing laundry over blogging :( Of course, this means that the second I sat down to wake up the computer, I heard "mommy, mommy, MOMMMMYYY!!!! I'm done!" SO there you have it- the end of my "break"......but I did complete just about all of my household tasks for the day (including packing for tomorrow) already, so there is a TINY chance that I might get to come back to this later. Stay tuned!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
