Food battles. I never thought I would have them. My first child was an easy eater and I thought I must be doing it right. She loved everything I put in front of her and we have videos of her asking for more veggies right around the time most kids get picky. She would eat taco soup with extra butternut squash and spinach added in and I could put absolutely anything in her home-made tortilla and she would gobble it up. I didn't understand when other moms talked about food battles they had with heir children. But then I had my second child. She had major texture issues and then had to go dairy and gluten free for a while. It wasn't pretty. My first easy child took a clue from my picky eater and found her voice. And then adding in a third very strong-willed child only made dinner time that much more exciting. My husband had a crazy schedule for a while which meant that we didn't really have a family dinner time and I suddenly found myself with 3 adorable demanding little girls who had horrible table manners. Something had to be done so I came up with these 6 rules and they have helped tremendously. They aren't perfect rules for every family, but they have worked for us and I thought they might be helpful to others:
1. Wait until we pray to eat.
2. Before beginning, say "Thank you for the meal; the _______ looks delicious."
3. NEVER say, "I don't like..." Just quietly leave it on the plate.
4. Try a bite of everything; pick at least one thing to eat completely.
5. Do not ask for a treat unless you eat all your meat.
6. When finished, say, "Thank you for a good meal; may I please be excused?"
Showing posts with label toddlers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label toddlers. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Finding time to potty train the 2nd child...
A month before Abbi was due, I thought I'd see if Karlie would learn to use the potty... so I wouldn't have 2 in diapers at the same time. She did great (way better than I expected), but my horrible pregnancy back could not handle running her to the potty every time she realized she had to go and I gave it up after a day. I could hardly move that night. Call me a quitter if you want, but the girl wasn't even two yet and bending over was not my forte with a humongous belly!
Just one month after Abbi was born, Karlie decided she wanted to go potty. For two weeks straight, she used the potty every time Karis did. (Karis only goes 3 times a day: when she wakes up, before naps at 1:00, and before bed at 7:00) That would obviously have been the "perfect time" to officially bare her bum and get rid of diapers, but with a one month old who was nursing constantly and not sleeping much at night, I just didn't have the energy to fool with it. And I had the bizarre idea that Karis might potty train her sister all by herself so why interfere? Unfortunately, Karlie got bored with the whole thing after 2 weeks of being a potty pro and I was too tired to force the issue. I decided to wait for warmer weather.
When summertime hit, Karlie was staying dry in between diaper changes, usually filling it up only at naptime and bedtime. I knew she was ready but was amazed at the stubbornness of my two year old. She loved her new undies and kept them dry, would sit on the potty as often as I asked, but simply refused to fill it up. Treats did not matter. Food was obviously not the way to her heart as it was for Karis :) We had much traveling planned for the summer and I didn't want to fool with potential accidents or on our trips so I decided to give her until our last trip was completed and then give all her diapers to Abbi, come what may :)
We came home from our last trip two weeks ago and the very next morning Karlie gave all her diapers to Abbi. We had been talking about this exciting day that Karlie would finally be a big girl and she was ready and so excited. I had also thought really hard about what Karlie likes to do more than anything and had a major breakthrough: STICKERS! My girl will do stickers all day long if the stickers don't run out! So I ordered an awesome sticker book for her and informed her that every time she put something in her potty, she could do a whole page. After that first page, she got excited and was a pro from then on. She only had one accidentthe entire time and that was really my fault for forgetting to remind her to go because she had been doing so well. She is even staying dry at nap time!
So on the one hand, I feel a little guilty for making her wait so long to learn how to use the potty because the delay was really my fault each time. I just didn't have the time/ energy to persevere. But on the other hand, waiting so long made it really easy when I was finally ready to go for it! I'm so proud of my big girl!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Our nightly routine
A friend recently asked about our nightly routine with the girls and I thought I'd share it here: after getting on pajamas, we sing songs together. We started doing it because we wanted to teach the girls hymns, but it has kind of evolved into somewhat of a dance session for the girls to get out all of their energy My toddler usually spins around in circles and my 4 year old tries to be a ballerina. We take turns picking a song and they can choose any song they want, from Hymns to silly preschool songs. Then we do our memory work. We are currently working through a Questions and Answers book that is a kid's catechism. Then we do Scripture memory. We were doing large chunks of scripture, but we decided to take a break and do a cute ABC scripture booklet I found on Pinterest. Then we calm down by reading a Bible Story together. The absolute best Bible I have found for little ones is the Big Picture Story Bible. Last, we pray together and give silly kisses. My husband picks a different animal or character each night and they give that kind of kiss to everyone.
Now, when I write it out like this, it sounds like we do a ton, but we actually keep it very short and simple. We don't spend a long time on any of it. Probably the most time is spent on the singing because that is what the girls enjoy the most. We kind of play it by ear and see how tired they are and what is keeping their attention each night to determine how long we work on the questions or bible verses. The main thing is to have a routine that they enjoy and look forward to each night and they will learn from it. My suggestion would be to simply start singing a song or two and reading a short chapter from the Big Picture Story Book. Then as she gets used to looking forward to a routine, you can slowly bring in the memorization as a super special and fun addition. But she's still pretty young. I think I didn't even think to try memorizing much with mine til she was about 2.5 years.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Favorites for Toddlers
Baby dolls and accessories -- My girls just love them! I think Karis got her first doll when she about 7 months old and it has been her favorite thing ever since! My girls carry them around and put them in slings and pretty much take care of them all day long! We simply can't do anything around the house without a doll baby :) My girls have been given many different dolls, but they particularly love the Little Mommy Newborn Nursery doll. Keep an eye out for consignment sales, because you can find really good deals on fun accessories like baby doll strollers, swings, pack N plays, and play mats.
Fisher Price Little People and animals -- Oh, how my girls love them! I think they are way overpriced at the stores, but if you factor in how many hours my girls have spent playing with them, they are well worth any amount of money :) But once again, these are easily found at consignment sales and we haven't paid more than $5 for any set. We currently have the Noah's Ark, School Bus, Farm, and Alphabet Zoo. We usually only have one set out at a time, and switch them out every few months.
Here are a few of my girls' favorite things:
Puzzles, esp. Melissa and Doug -- Both of my girls have been obsessed with puzzles, and it started at the toddler age. They pretty much taught themselves their letters, numbers, and shapes by doing puzzles with us and asking us to tell them the name of each piece. I especially love the Melissa and Doug puzzles -- they have ones with big pegs for babies, little pegs for toddlers, and big floor puzzles for the older ones. My girls have loved them all!
Books -- My girls would read books with me all day long if I let them. They are always following me around the house and bringing their books with them to look at as I cook and clean. They've always loved books byBoynton, Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle, any Mother Goose collection, Raffi and other "singing" books, Curious George books, 5 Little Monkeys books, and Biscuit books. We've really enjoyed the Alphabet and Pre-reading Skills Bob books, as well as the Big Picture Story Bible. They are currently obsessed with "Alfie and Annie Rose," books by Jan Brett, and "I Spy" books. I could go on and on about our favorite toddler books, but I think that is plenty!
Doll house and people -- Definitely something else that my girls will play with for hours! I love to hear them talking to the people, imagining all sorts of scenarios, and telling me about what each character is doing. We started out with a worn old Fisher Price dollhouse that we found at the consignment sale for $5. Then my folks got the girls this beautiful wooden one with cute wooden people (from Cracker Barrel) for Christmas. Oh, they love it so much!
Kitchen set/food -- My girls love to cook just like Momma! Kitchen sets can be pricey, but just keep an eye out at yard sales and consignment sales :) I LOVE the Melissa and Doug wooden food and this stainless steel pots and pans set that the grandparents gave my girls. My girls have also been known to take their play-doh into their kitchen and make their own food :)
Dress-up clothes -- It is a very rare day that my girls don't wear something from their dress-up bin! Karis is currently obsessed with a ballerina outfit my folks gave her for Christmas and Karlie loves some purple sparkly butterfly wings. They are always putting on their tutus and they generally wear about ten different hats over the course of the day!
Stickers! 
These are definitely one of their favorite things to do at the table while I am making dinner. Karlie still has trouble getting them off the page sometimes, but luckily Karis is at a stage where she likes to help Karlie with her stickers. Nina bought them each these awesome Melissa and Doug sticker books last weekend and in just two days, they have almost emptied them! They especially love the "dress-up" stickers (kind of like paper dolls, only they stay in place!) They also LOVE the foam stickers, and my youngest seems to be able to get the backs off them more easily. but get them at a dollar store; they are expensive elsewhere.
These are definitely one of their favorite things to do at the table while I am making dinner. Karlie still has trouble getting them off the page sometimes, but luckily Karis is at a stage where she likes to help Karlie with her stickers. Nina bought them each these awesome Melissa and Doug sticker books last weekend and in just two days, they have almost emptied them! They especially love the "dress-up" stickers (kind of like paper dolls, only they stay in place!) They also LOVE the foam stickers, and my youngest seems to be able to get the backs off them more easily. but get them at a dollar store; they are expensive elsewhere.
I'd love to hear about some of your toddler favorites!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Weekly outings with my girls
The topic this week is about outings with our kids and things we do to make them go more smoothly. I figured that the easiest way for me to write about it would be to tell you where we go each day in a normal week. But first, let me just say that although I love to take my girls on fun outings, my favorite days are when we can stay at home and keep to our normal schedule. Things just go so much easier and more smoothly when we are home and the girls know what is going to happen next. So I try to plan all my errands for the same day or two and stay at home the rest of the week. However, we do have several activities that we do on a weekly basis that we all enjoy, and even more so during the summer time.
Mondays: Usually a catch-up day for us because I try to just relax and spend time with my family on Sundays. I don't do a lot of housework or cooking, so on Mondays we stay home and catch up!
Tuesdays: Possible Early Grocery Morning and then a normal day at home: We usually stay at home on Tuesdays, but if we have to go to the grocery store that week, we will go early right before my husband heads off to work. (I try to make a monthly meal plan and do most of my shopping at the Farmer's market, farm, or during our monthly trip to Trader Joes, so we don't have to go to the grocery store every week.) I like to go when my husband is available to help because Karis is currently in the "learning how to push a little buggy" stage. She listens very well, but often gets carried away and will run into things. So I usually put Karlie in the Ergo and push the big buggy while Mark helps Karis manage the little grocery cart. If I go without Mark, then Karis just walks beside the buggy instead of pushing her own cart. There are two things that help us get through the grocery store trip more smoothly:
1. Laughter. Karis is absolutely hilarious pushing that cart around. It is very easy to get all stressed out because it is inevitable that she will run into something or someone, but we just choose to laugh at her. She gets so excited and tries so hard to help. Almost everyone that she runs into laughs at her, so why shouldn't we all just have fun as she learns? :)
2. The "one-finger" rule -- Karis knows that she is allowed to touch things with one finger, but she cannot pick up anything unless we tell her to put it in her cart. This satisfies her unending curiosity and gives her a little freedom, but keeps her in check as well. I will warn that the rule is not so great if there happens to be glass bottles or other things that are easily broken, but she is always under our careful watch so we just warn her ahead of time that those things cannot be touched.
Wednesdays: Daddy date and toddler pool time: Wednesday is my husband's day off and he has gotten into the habit of taking Karis out to do whatever errands he needs to do. She absolutely loves it and looks forward to and talks about her "Daddy and Karis" time all week long. This week she went with him to the dentist, last week he took her to the local Seminary Student Center to watch the soccer game, and the week before that, they took the dog to her check-up at the vet. It just sounds like boring errands to me, but to Karis, it is very special and exciting! I usually pack snacks for her and a coloring book and markers to keep her busy if there is any waiting involved.
Toddler Time at the Pool: Last year, Karis was scared of the pool and we decided that we needed to go more often so that she would get used to it. A pool in our area offers "toddler time" from noon to 1:00 every day and it is only open to parents and children ages 4 and under. This was absolutely perfect for Karis because there were just a handful of Moms and little ones and she grew to love the pool. An hour is plenty of time to wear out a toddler and it was perfect for meeting Mark on his lunch break. I never had the nerve to go all by myself since neither of my girls could swim and I probably won't this year, either :) We haven't actually gone to the pool yet this year because I have been really sick from morning sickness, but I'm hoping to start next week. We always pack lots of snacks and a handful of pool toys.
Thursdays: Soccer class and the Library: My husband runs an awesome sports facility that offers classes in soccer, basketball, T-ball, and tennis to little ones. The soccer classes actually start at 18 months, so Karis has been going to soccer class with her Daddy since she was just a little thing! She loves it! It got a little more difficult once Karlie was born, because the younger ages are parent-child classes and I still had to be able to chase her around while carrying Karlie so Daddy could focus on coaching. I used a hotslingwith Karlie as a newborn and the Ergo from 6 months to a year. Once she turned one and started walking, however, she didn't want to stay in the carrier one bit! So now I just let her run around and chase balls and the other kids and it has worked out fine. It is definitely a work-out for me as well as the girls!
Library: My girls LOVE books and they LOVE the library! We don't go to story-time, although I think they would really enjoy it, simply because it doesn't fit our schedule as well. (Like I mentioned before, I try to stay home when I can, so we go to the library when we are already out and about :) Karis is really easy at the library. She loves choosing books and sitting on the fun carpet and looking at them. Karlie used to be easy at the library as well, when she would stay nicely in the Ergo while I picked through and found the best kids books. Now that she is mobile, however, she is obsessed with the books and really wants to get down and pick them out. I usually first set her down by the board books, because they are just in a big table and she can't really mess them up. I usually have about 5 minutes to myself to pick out a handful of good kids books while she is engrossed in the board books. After that, she is a crazy girl, grabbing books off the shelf left and right! Yes, I am working very hard to train her to have good library manners, but she doesn't quite have the hang of it yet :) I cannot describe to you how incredibly excited she gets when she sees all those books! After about 10 minutes of following Karlie around and teaching her to sit down and read the books she chooses (instead of throwing books around left and right :),I put her back in the Ergo so we can check out. Since I no longer have twenty minutes to leisurely browse through the books, my biggest tip is this: Utilize the online reserve function of your library!!! I usually reserve between 15 and 20 books each week so that I know that we will get home with plenty of good ones. If you run out of good books to reserve, check out some of these reading lists:
Websites:
Early Years Read-alouds -- Simply Charlotte Mason
Classical Christian EducationSupport Loop: 1000 Good Books List
The Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education booklist
Five in a Row booklist
Our Library's book list
Books:
The Read-Aloud Handbook: 6th edition by Jim Trelease
Honey For a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt
Friday: Stay at home and keep a normal schedule!
Saturday: Farmer's Market or our CSA Farm: My girls LOVE the farm! I buy most of our meat and eggs at the Farmer's Market, so I go there at least one Saturday a month. This spring, my family purchased a market share CSA from a local farm. We paid a sum of money ahead of time and can go every week to pick out fresh fruits and veggies at a discounted rate. During spring strawberry season, we went every single week with the girls to pick strawberries! It was so much fun and I love the fact that my girls know exactly where their food comes from. Now that it is so hot and I am so sick with morning sickness, we just go to the farm and buy what they have already picked almost every week. We also go to a different farm to get fresh milk, but I only do that once a month because I am part of a group with 5 other ladies and we take turns picking up milk for each other.
Sunday: Church: We attend a very small church and the children stay in the service. This is both wonderful and very exhausting, but we are blessed to have a very understanding church family. Rather than viewing the children as a distraction (which mine definitely are, ha,ha), they view them as an opportunity to minister to our family. They have told me so many times how much they enjoy it when I turn Karlie loose and let her come sit with them. I really appreciate this because it is an extremely loving environment in which to teach my girls obedience and the art of sitting still. So here is how we manage: Karis is three and is old enough to sit still for the entire service (usually a little more than an hour). We bring lots of snacks and a coloring book and markers (I LOVE the Color Wonder Markers and books!). She has learned to be quiet and sit with us, although sometimes if Karlie gets attention for being loud, Karis will start to act up and we have to take her out and discipline her. Karlie, on the other hand, is definitely still in the training period! For the first 9 months of her life, she slept in the Ergo while at church. But now she is very excited about being there and seeing all our friends and doesn't really want to sit still. So we are taking it slow. I figure that at 17 months, a half hour of sitting still is a reasonable expectation. So she sings, eats her snacks, looks at books and colors on my lap for 30 minutes. She is not always quiet and usually gets mad at some point and has to be disciplined a couple of times. But she is definitely getting the hang of it and I am really grateful to have such a safe place to teach her to sit still. After about a half hour, I let her walk around and visit with other members of our church family for the duration of the service. Fairly soon I plan to bump it up to 45 minutes, but she is not quite ready for it :)
So that is a summary of our weekly outings! Hope it was helpful and I would love to hear about places you like to take your kids and your tips for success!
Mondays: Usually a catch-up day for us because I try to just relax and spend time with my family on Sundays. I don't do a lot of housework or cooking, so on Mondays we stay home and catch up!
Tuesdays: Possible Early Grocery Morning and then a normal day at home: We usually stay at home on Tuesdays, but if we have to go to the grocery store that week, we will go early right before my husband heads off to work. (I try to make a monthly meal plan and do most of my shopping at the Farmer's market, farm, or during our monthly trip to Trader Joes, so we don't have to go to the grocery store every week.) I like to go when my husband is available to help because Karis is currently in the "learning how to push a little buggy" stage. She listens very well, but often gets carried away and will run into things. So I usually put Karlie in the Ergo and push the big buggy while Mark helps Karis manage the little grocery cart. If I go without Mark, then Karis just walks beside the buggy instead of pushing her own cart. There are two things that help us get through the grocery store trip more smoothly:
1. Laughter. Karis is absolutely hilarious pushing that cart around. It is very easy to get all stressed out because it is inevitable that she will run into something or someone, but we just choose to laugh at her. She gets so excited and tries so hard to help. Almost everyone that she runs into laughs at her, so why shouldn't we all just have fun as she learns? :)
2. The "one-finger" rule -- Karis knows that she is allowed to touch things with one finger, but she cannot pick up anything unless we tell her to put it in her cart. This satisfies her unending curiosity and gives her a little freedom, but keeps her in check as well. I will warn that the rule is not so great if there happens to be glass bottles or other things that are easily broken, but she is always under our careful watch so we just warn her ahead of time that those things cannot be touched.
Wednesdays: Daddy date and toddler pool time: Wednesday is my husband's day off and he has gotten into the habit of taking Karis out to do whatever errands he needs to do. She absolutely loves it and looks forward to and talks about her "Daddy and Karis" time all week long. This week she went with him to the dentist, last week he took her to the local Seminary Student Center to watch the soccer game, and the week before that, they took the dog to her check-up at the vet. It just sounds like boring errands to me, but to Karis, it is very special and exciting! I usually pack snacks for her and a coloring book and markers to keep her busy if there is any waiting involved.
Toddler Time at the Pool: Last year, Karis was scared of the pool and we decided that we needed to go more often so that she would get used to it. A pool in our area offers "toddler time" from noon to 1:00 every day and it is only open to parents and children ages 4 and under. This was absolutely perfect for Karis because there were just a handful of Moms and little ones and she grew to love the pool. An hour is plenty of time to wear out a toddler and it was perfect for meeting Mark on his lunch break. I never had the nerve to go all by myself since neither of my girls could swim and I probably won't this year, either :) We haven't actually gone to the pool yet this year because I have been really sick from morning sickness, but I'm hoping to start next week. We always pack lots of snacks and a handful of pool toys.
Thursdays: Soccer class and the Library: My husband runs an awesome sports facility that offers classes in soccer, basketball, T-ball, and tennis to little ones. The soccer classes actually start at 18 months, so Karis has been going to soccer class with her Daddy since she was just a little thing! She loves it! It got a little more difficult once Karlie was born, because the younger ages are parent-child classes and I still had to be able to chase her around while carrying Karlie so Daddy could focus on coaching. I used a hotslingwith Karlie as a newborn and the Ergo from 6 months to a year. Once she turned one and started walking, however, she didn't want to stay in the carrier one bit! So now I just let her run around and chase balls and the other kids and it has worked out fine. It is definitely a work-out for me as well as the girls!
Library: My girls LOVE books and they LOVE the library! We don't go to story-time, although I think they would really enjoy it, simply because it doesn't fit our schedule as well. (Like I mentioned before, I try to stay home when I can, so we go to the library when we are already out and about :) Karis is really easy at the library. She loves choosing books and sitting on the fun carpet and looking at them. Karlie used to be easy at the library as well, when she would stay nicely in the Ergo while I picked through and found the best kids books. Now that she is mobile, however, she is obsessed with the books and really wants to get down and pick them out. I usually first set her down by the board books, because they are just in a big table and she can't really mess them up. I usually have about 5 minutes to myself to pick out a handful of good kids books while she is engrossed in the board books. After that, she is a crazy girl, grabbing books off the shelf left and right! Yes, I am working very hard to train her to have good library manners, but she doesn't quite have the hang of it yet :) I cannot describe to you how incredibly excited she gets when she sees all those books! After about 10 minutes of following Karlie around and teaching her to sit down and read the books she chooses (instead of throwing books around left and right :),I put her back in the Ergo so we can check out. Since I no longer have twenty minutes to leisurely browse through the books, my biggest tip is this: Utilize the online reserve function of your library!!! I usually reserve between 15 and 20 books each week so that I know that we will get home with plenty of good ones. If you run out of good books to reserve, check out some of these reading lists:
Websites:
Early Years Read-alouds -- Simply Charlotte Mason
Classical Christian EducationSupport Loop: 1000 Good Books List
The Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education booklist
Five in a Row booklist
Our Library's book list
Books:
The Read-Aloud Handbook: 6th edition by Jim Trelease
Honey For a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt
Friday: Stay at home and keep a normal schedule!
Saturday: Farmer's Market or our CSA Farm: My girls LOVE the farm! I buy most of our meat and eggs at the Farmer's Market, so I go there at least one Saturday a month. This spring, my family purchased a market share CSA from a local farm. We paid a sum of money ahead of time and can go every week to pick out fresh fruits and veggies at a discounted rate. During spring strawberry season, we went every single week with the girls to pick strawberries! It was so much fun and I love the fact that my girls know exactly where their food comes from. Now that it is so hot and I am so sick with morning sickness, we just go to the farm and buy what they have already picked almost every week. We also go to a different farm to get fresh milk, but I only do that once a month because I am part of a group with 5 other ladies and we take turns picking up milk for each other.
Sunday: Church: We attend a very small church and the children stay in the service. This is both wonderful and very exhausting, but we are blessed to have a very understanding church family. Rather than viewing the children as a distraction (which mine definitely are, ha,ha), they view them as an opportunity to minister to our family. They have told me so many times how much they enjoy it when I turn Karlie loose and let her come sit with them. I really appreciate this because it is an extremely loving environment in which to teach my girls obedience and the art of sitting still. So here is how we manage: Karis is three and is old enough to sit still for the entire service (usually a little more than an hour). We bring lots of snacks and a coloring book and markers (I LOVE the Color Wonder Markers and books!). She has learned to be quiet and sit with us, although sometimes if Karlie gets attention for being loud, Karis will start to act up and we have to take her out and discipline her. Karlie, on the other hand, is definitely still in the training period! For the first 9 months of her life, she slept in the Ergo while at church. But now she is very excited about being there and seeing all our friends and doesn't really want to sit still. So we are taking it slow. I figure that at 17 months, a half hour of sitting still is a reasonable expectation. So she sings, eats her snacks, looks at books and colors on my lap for 30 minutes. She is not always quiet and usually gets mad at some point and has to be disciplined a couple of times. But she is definitely getting the hang of it and I am really grateful to have such a safe place to teach her to sit still. After about a half hour, I let her walk around and visit with other members of our church family for the duration of the service. Fairly soon I plan to bump it up to 45 minutes, but she is not quite ready for it :)
So that is a summary of our weekly outings! Hope it was helpful and I would love to hear about places you like to take your kids and your tips for success!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Our Potty Training Journey: A Matter of the Will
I have only potty trained one child, so I am by no means an expert! But I definitely had my share of frustrating days and learned a lot from it, so I wanted to share with you how it went. Let me start by saying that I have an amazing dear friend who decided to try early potty training with her absolutely adorable baby. She started started getting her baby used to the potty when she was only a month old. I know, it sounds crazy, but she had amazing success with it and her baby was pretty much potty-trained by 13 months! I just think she is awesome! Click HERE if you want to see the book that inspired her to try it. I was personally not brave enough to do such a thing, but when I found out that we were pregnant again and would have a new baby when Karis was just 20 months old, I decided to try to get Karis out of diapers before the new baby came...
Attempt #1 -- Karis was 17 months -- I had read The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers and was planning to use her method for potty training at a younger age. I tried to get her to just sit on the potty but she was deathly afraid of it and screamed bloody murder. In retrospect, I should have bought a bjorn pottythat is recommended for early potty training because it has great support and younger babies feel comfortable and secure in it. But I just decided that 2 in diapers wasn't the end of the world and we would try later :)
Attempt #2 -- Karis was 22.5 months and very excited about her little pink potty this time. I decided to use the method in Gary Ezzo's book because my sis-in-law had great success with it. Basically, you praise the child for staying dry rather than for using the potty. So we checked her diaper every 20 minutes, but it was always damp. I moved the timer down to 10 minutes, then to 5. It seemed that Karis was always a little damp so it was hard to reward her for staying dry. I think she just didn't have very good control yet. We had a very messy first two days, great success the 3rd day, and then on the 4th day Karis went ballistic and ran screaming away from me every time I even mentioned the word potty. I didn't want the potty to be a power-struggle, so I decided to follow everyone else's advice and wait til she was at least 2 before trying again. I still think the premise of the book is great and would work well if your child is ready, but Karis just couldn't seem to stay dry for any length of time. She just wasn't ready yet.
Final and Successful attempt -- Shortly after Karis turned 2, I started noticing that she was often dry in the morning when she woke up and after naps as well. And a lot of times I would go to change her diaper and it had been completely dry for several hours. I knew she was ready for potty training, but we had a lot of fun summer traveling ahead of us and I really didn't want to worry about finding a potty at the beach :)
When we finished our travels, we had 2 difficult weeks getting Karlie to sleep well again because all the traveling had really messed up her schedule. After we got her all straightened out, I told Mark that I ought to take the plunge and potty train Karis . He begged me to wait because we needed to have just one "normal" week after all the craziness of the summer.
Apparently, Karis did not want to wait because on Wednesday, she randomly asked to use the potty and stayed dry all day! I was utterly amazed at her perfect potty day but figured it was because we had just been reading this book and this book that we had checked out of the library. Needless to say, I highly recommend them :)
So with her leading, we took the plunge. Karis had her ups and downs for a couple of days and was very excited about her new underwear, going potty, and then getting her treat (some frozen smoothie, healthy chocolate candy, or power balls ). But then she simply stopped wanting to go potty at all. She would sit on her potty just fine while I read her books, but she never filled it up. One morning she started looking very uncomfortable around 10:30. So we sat on the potty for about ten minutes. Nothing happened, so I let her get up. But then she looked like she needed to go again, so we sat and read some more. (I put her potty in the living room so I didn't have to drag Karlie in the bathroom every time :) This went on until noon and we had to go eat lunch before naps. The minute I reached in the fridge, she went used the bathroom all over my floor. I was sooooo frustrated! I had wasted my whole morning trying to help her go potty and we still ended up with a mess!
Once I put the girls down for a nap, I called my Mom for advice. She recommended that if I was certain that Karis needed to use the potty, to tell her she had to sit by herself in the bathroom until she could see it in the potty. This would help her to focus on the job at hand. As soon as Karis woke up, I told her the new plan. She wasn't happy about it, because she had really enjoyed my attention when I read to her on the potty all day long :) It became a discipline issue immediately, which I had hoped to avoid. But it worked instantly! As soon as she knew she would get a spanking for leaving the bathroom early, she did her business immediately. I only had to discipline her the first 3 times, and from then on she happily did her thing. And the excitement on her face when she realized she could do it was enough reward to cover all the spankings :) For the next 2 months, she would run out of the bathroom with her undies around her toes, carrying her little potty seat to show me her success, yelling "Yay Karis!!!!" at the top of her lungs. It was hilarious and I was just so proud of her! Karis never looked back after that day and pretty much never had an accident again.
Summary: I know that all children are different, but for my sweet, stubborn 2-year old, discipline was definitely the key to teaching her one of the most basic skills of life. Potty training was fun for her at first, but when she grew tired of it, she needed to know that she could do it and that it was important to Mommy and Daddy. After that realization, she never looked back and has used the potty cheerfully without any accidents ever since!
Attempt #1 -- Karis was 17 months -- I had read The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers and was planning to use her method for potty training at a younger age. I tried to get her to just sit on the potty but she was deathly afraid of it and screamed bloody murder. In retrospect, I should have bought a bjorn pottythat is recommended for early potty training because it has great support and younger babies feel comfortable and secure in it. But I just decided that 2 in diapers wasn't the end of the world and we would try later :)
Attempt #2 -- Karis was 22.5 months and very excited about her little pink potty this time. I decided to use the method in Gary Ezzo's book because my sis-in-law had great success with it. Basically, you praise the child for staying dry rather than for using the potty. So we checked her diaper every 20 minutes, but it was always damp. I moved the timer down to 10 minutes, then to 5. It seemed that Karis was always a little damp so it was hard to reward her for staying dry. I think she just didn't have very good control yet. We had a very messy first two days, great success the 3rd day, and then on the 4th day Karis went ballistic and ran screaming away from me every time I even mentioned the word potty. I didn't want the potty to be a power-struggle, so I decided to follow everyone else's advice and wait til she was at least 2 before trying again. I still think the premise of the book is great and would work well if your child is ready, but Karis just couldn't seem to stay dry for any length of time. She just wasn't ready yet.
Final and Successful attempt -- Shortly after Karis turned 2, I started noticing that she was often dry in the morning when she woke up and after naps as well. And a lot of times I would go to change her diaper and it had been completely dry for several hours. I knew she was ready for potty training, but we had a lot of fun summer traveling ahead of us and I really didn't want to worry about finding a potty at the beach :)
When we finished our travels, we had 2 difficult weeks getting Karlie to sleep well again because all the traveling had really messed up her schedule. After we got her all straightened out, I told Mark that I ought to take the plunge and potty train Karis . He begged me to wait because we needed to have just one "normal" week after all the craziness of the summer.
Apparently, Karis did not want to wait because on Wednesday, she randomly asked to use the potty and stayed dry all day! I was utterly amazed at her perfect potty day but figured it was because we had just been reading this book and this book that we had checked out of the library. Needless to say, I highly recommend them :)
So with her leading, we took the plunge. Karis had her ups and downs for a couple of days and was very excited about her new underwear, going potty, and then getting her treat (some frozen smoothie, healthy chocolate candy, or power balls ). But then she simply stopped wanting to go potty at all. She would sit on her potty just fine while I read her books, but she never filled it up. One morning she started looking very uncomfortable around 10:30. So we sat on the potty for about ten minutes. Nothing happened, so I let her get up. But then she looked like she needed to go again, so we sat and read some more. (I put her potty in the living room so I didn't have to drag Karlie in the bathroom every time :) This went on until noon and we had to go eat lunch before naps. The minute I reached in the fridge, she went used the bathroom all over my floor. I was sooooo frustrated! I had wasted my whole morning trying to help her go potty and we still ended up with a mess!
Once I put the girls down for a nap, I called my Mom for advice. She recommended that if I was certain that Karis needed to use the potty, to tell her she had to sit by herself in the bathroom until she could see it in the potty. This would help her to focus on the job at hand. As soon as Karis woke up, I told her the new plan. She wasn't happy about it, because she had really enjoyed my attention when I read to her on the potty all day long :) It became a discipline issue immediately, which I had hoped to avoid. But it worked instantly! As soon as she knew she would get a spanking for leaving the bathroom early, she did her business immediately. I only had to discipline her the first 3 times, and from then on she happily did her thing. And the excitement on her face when she realized she could do it was enough reward to cover all the spankings :) For the next 2 months, she would run out of the bathroom with her undies around her toes, carrying her little potty seat to show me her success, yelling "Yay Karis!!!!" at the top of her lungs. It was hilarious and I was just so proud of her! Karis never looked back after that day and pretty much never had an accident again.
Summary: I know that all children are different, but for my sweet, stubborn 2-year old, discipline was definitely the key to teaching her one of the most basic skills of life. Potty training was fun for her at first, but when she grew tired of it, she needed to know that she could do it and that it was important to Mommy and Daddy. After that realization, she never looked back and has used the potty cheerfully without any accidents ever since!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Traveling with Little Ones...
I've found that traveling with little ones is utterly exhausting, but very rewarding. I love all the fun memories we make and hearing my 3-year old talk about a trip for months afterwards. I am constantly amazed by all that she remembers!
Our amount of travel varies in correlation to the stages of our kids. For example, Karlie (now 16 months) absolutely HATED the car until she was a year old. She never fell asleep, even as a newborn, and I would spend the duration of our car rides turned around in an illegal manner, trying to soothe her. So her first year we traveled as little as possible. Karis (now 3), on the other hand, was an easy baby and we went on many trips throughout her first year.
Our current normal travel consists of a 3 1/2 hour trip every few months to see the grandparents and a few trips to the beach during the summer. Since our girls are at pleasant traveling stages right now and we know that next year will be more difficult with a new baby, we have decided that this is our summer/fall to travel a lot! We just recently made a huge (for us :) 7 hour trip to Seabrook Island and although the car ride was very taxing, it was well worth it! (I blogged about what I learned that particular trip HERE.) Visiting the grandparents is usually fairly easy, because once we arrive, they take care of everything! But beach trips take a lot more planning and that is currently what is going on in my head right now. Here are my thoughts/tips in no particular order:
I totally agree with Leah that snacks are a huge help! Bring lots of snacks and save them for when the kids get fussy. Here is a list of my favorite healthy snacks that I now reference when planning for trips.
Consider having the kids split a "normal" meal instead of buying them each a kids meal when eating out.My family doesn't do fast food. I'm kind of a health nut, and I'm actually starting to rub off on my husband (finally!). So on car trips, we usually stop at someplace like Cracker Barrel. (We figure it is the closest to real food we can get on the road). We love it because it gives the girls a decent break so they can stretch their legs and it helps to get some energy out. Last time, we raced them up and down the porch and danced for about 20 minutes before getting back in the car. I'm sure that people must have thought we were crazy, but it really helped the girls. Cracker Barrel is more expensive, but splitting the meal saves money. Last time, the girls and I all split a grilled chicken tender meal. Because of all the sides and bread, and it was plenty for all 3 of us.
Buy a new CD or "hide" a favorite one for about a month before a big trip. Save it for when the ride gets too long and the tempers get short. We stumbled upon an old favorite on our last trip and I was amazed at how excited the girls were to hear it again and how they instantly calmed down and stayed peaceful for the duration of the CD.
Stickers can be entertaining for quite a while! I randomly bought a pack of those neon circle label stickers at the grocery store as we were leaving town and they turned out to be the best distraction for my 16 month old. They were really easy for her to get off and she was quite happy decorating a notebook (and her car seat :) for a good 30 minutes! My 3-year old LOVES sticker books (a book with a bunch of stickers in the middle of the book and she has to figure out which page they go on).
Take lots of pictures and put them in some kind of a book as soon as possible. My daughter LOVES looking at pictures of past trips, and it helps her to remember even more. She still talks about a beach trip we took when she was just a year old because she looks at the pictures so often.
My main job when preparing for a long trip is meal planning. Our family usually tries to save money by using our kitchen instead of eating out. We might have one special night for eating out, but the rest of the meals are up to me. As much as I enjoy cooking, however, I don't want to spend my vacation slaving away. Instead, I make ahead several of these meals that freeze well and have them all ready to go in the oven when we need them.
My husband prefers duffle bags over suitcases because he says they compress easily for packing and only take up as much space as we pack. We bought THESE inexpensive bags at Target in different colors for all of us and we have been really pleased with them. Every time he packs the car, my husband mentions how glad he is that we switched to duffle bags :)
A wagon is helpful for almost every trip! We just recently got a van and have been able to bring our wagon on trips for the first time. We have taken it on a camping trip and a beach trip and have been incredibly thankful for it both times! On our last trip, we packed all the beach toys right inside it and it was all ready for us when we arrived. Our particular beach had a LONG trail to get to the shore and the girls were always grateful for a ride home after playing all morning in the hot sun.
Go with grandparents or friends whenever possible so that you can relax more and maybe even get a date with your husband!
Our amount of travel varies in correlation to the stages of our kids. For example, Karlie (now 16 months) absolutely HATED the car until she was a year old. She never fell asleep, even as a newborn, and I would spend the duration of our car rides turned around in an illegal manner, trying to soothe her. So her first year we traveled as little as possible. Karis (now 3), on the other hand, was an easy baby and we went on many trips throughout her first year.
Our current normal travel consists of a 3 1/2 hour trip every few months to see the grandparents and a few trips to the beach during the summer. Since our girls are at pleasant traveling stages right now and we know that next year will be more difficult with a new baby, we have decided that this is our summer/fall to travel a lot! We just recently made a huge (for us :) 7 hour trip to Seabrook Island and although the car ride was very taxing, it was well worth it! (I blogged about what I learned that particular trip HERE.) Visiting the grandparents is usually fairly easy, because once we arrive, they take care of everything! But beach trips take a lot more planning and that is currently what is going on in my head right now. Here are my thoughts/tips in no particular order:
I totally agree with Leah that snacks are a huge help! Bring lots of snacks and save them for when the kids get fussy. Here is a list of my favorite healthy snacks that I now reference when planning for trips.
Consider having the kids split a "normal" meal instead of buying them each a kids meal when eating out.My family doesn't do fast food. I'm kind of a health nut, and I'm actually starting to rub off on my husband (finally!). So on car trips, we usually stop at someplace like Cracker Barrel. (We figure it is the closest to real food we can get on the road). We love it because it gives the girls a decent break so they can stretch their legs and it helps to get some energy out. Last time, we raced them up and down the porch and danced for about 20 minutes before getting back in the car. I'm sure that people must have thought we were crazy, but it really helped the girls. Cracker Barrel is more expensive, but splitting the meal saves money. Last time, the girls and I all split a grilled chicken tender meal. Because of all the sides and bread, and it was plenty for all 3 of us.
Buy a new CD or "hide" a favorite one for about a month before a big trip. Save it for when the ride gets too long and the tempers get short. We stumbled upon an old favorite on our last trip and I was amazed at how excited the girls were to hear it again and how they instantly calmed down and stayed peaceful for the duration of the CD.
Stickers can be entertaining for quite a while! I randomly bought a pack of those neon circle label stickers at the grocery store as we were leaving town and they turned out to be the best distraction for my 16 month old. They were really easy for her to get off and she was quite happy decorating a notebook (and her car seat :) for a good 30 minutes! My 3-year old LOVES sticker books (a book with a bunch of stickers in the middle of the book and she has to figure out which page they go on).
Take lots of pictures and put them in some kind of a book as soon as possible. My daughter LOVES looking at pictures of past trips, and it helps her to remember even more. She still talks about a beach trip we took when she was just a year old because she looks at the pictures so often.
My main job when preparing for a long trip is meal planning. Our family usually tries to save money by using our kitchen instead of eating out. We might have one special night for eating out, but the rest of the meals are up to me. As much as I enjoy cooking, however, I don't want to spend my vacation slaving away. Instead, I make ahead several of these meals that freeze well and have them all ready to go in the oven when we need them.
My husband prefers duffle bags over suitcases because he says they compress easily for packing and only take up as much space as we pack. We bought THESE inexpensive bags at Target in different colors for all of us and we have been really pleased with them. Every time he packs the car, my husband mentions how glad he is that we switched to duffle bags :)
A wagon is helpful for almost every trip! We just recently got a van and have been able to bring our wagon on trips for the first time. We have taken it on a camping trip and a beach trip and have been incredibly thankful for it both times! On our last trip, we packed all the beach toys right inside it and it was all ready for us when we arrived. Our particular beach had a LONG trail to get to the shore and the girls were always grateful for a ride home after playing all morning in the hot sun.
Go with grandparents or friends whenever possible so that you can relax more and maybe even get a date with your husband!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Teaching my toddler
I don’t do any “formal” teaching with my 2-year old, Karis. I really don’t think you have to work very hard to teach toddlers. They just naturally soak up every bit of information around them. So I thought I'd just share some ways that we have really enjoyed learning together and some of our favorite resources:
1. Doing what Mommy does --- Karis helps me do all my chores. I could get them done much more efficiently during naps and after she goes to bed, but I usually save them for her. It takes longer and might even be twice the work, but she loves it and is learning so much! She sweeps the floor, helps me put clothes away, and even does dishes. (Ok, maybe she just likes to play in the bubbles, but she is always there right beside me! :) We use all natural cleaners like vinegar and tea tree oil, so she even helps me scrub the bathrooms! Cooking is absolutely her favorite thing to do. Karis has put her little fingers in everything that I have cooked ever since she was big enough to stand on a chair by me at the counter. She is actually getting to be quite a helper now because she knows the names of all my cooking utensils and can hand me things. If I am chopping vegetables, then I give her the My Safe Cutter from Pampered Chef and she just saws away at her own little carrot. Sometimes it can be frustrating, like today when we were making Healthy Chocolate Candy (her potty training treat :) and she sneezed right in the pan. But it’s always so much more exciting to do it with my toddler!
2. Singing – my toddler learns through song better than anything else! I always have songs in my head, so when Karis was very young, I just started singing them out-loud to her. She already knows so many hymn/worship songs by heart and will randomly start singing "Holy, Holy, Holy," "Tis' So Sweet," or "My Jesus I Love Thee" while doing dishes or swinging outside. It melts my heart. I know that she doesn’t completely understand what the words mean yet, but I hope that as her understanding grows over time those words will be as special to her as they are to me. I thought I would try to teach her Bible Verses, but my stubborn 2-year old had absolutely no interest whatsoever until I put it to a melody and started singing the Bible Verse. Now she begs me to sing it over and over! Songs are also great for teaching the alphabet, numbers, etc. My Mom is a speech teacher and made me a copy of one of her teaching Cd's, Sounds Like Fun. There is one song that goes through each sound that a letter makes and a word using those sounds. Within a week, Karis could make every sound on the song and was singing the whole thing to me from memory! It is also a very mellow CD and is great for calming my girls down on car trips :)
3. Reading
My First Bob Books – These are cute little colorful books with silly pictures and stories. Karis loved the Alphabet set when we got it at 18 months, and she started really loving the Pre-Reading Skills set about the time she turned two. But even before she could completely follow the stories she loved flipping through the cute little books and looking at the silly pictures. I went ahead and bought them because they are all bound together in a fat cover at the library and Karis really enjoyed having all the separate little books to flip through so much more.
My “A” Sound Box books – There is a “sound box” book for every letter and Karis thinks they are so much fun! Because of these books, she has started picking out letters in other books that we read!
My Very First Library by Eric Carle – These are fun because the board book is cut in half to enable the child to read it on his own, kind of like a puzzle. For instance, Karis sees the blue top page and will flip through to find the matching blue bird on one of the bottom pages. The library includes colors, shapes, words, and numbers.
Anything by Dr. Seuss – I have been so amazed that my busy toddler will sit through several of these long books at a time. She absolutely loves the Cat in the Hat, The Diggingest Dog, and especially Go! Dog Go! The last one is my favorite because it taught her prepositions correctly at a really young age.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear – I love this book because of the repetition and color recognition. I started reading it to Karis when she was just days old and so far, this is the only book that Karis can read completely on her own.
4. Coloring – It sounds simple, but it is really the best preparation for writing I can do with her! And I love it; it is so relaxing! I color with her and help fix her fingers if she forgets the correct way to hold the crayon. We “chat” about the picture we are coloring, the color of our crayon, or sing whatever song pops into her head. It is definitely one of my favorite things to do with my girl!
Well, this post ended up being a lot longer than I expected, but I hope that I was able to convey that teaching a toddler does not have to be hard work at all – it can be pure fun and a completely natural part of your everyday routine!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Learning about nutrition: favorite books
Most of you know that I've gotten really interested in nutrition ever since my toddler started eating food. The most thorough book in that arena is Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and I highly recommend it. I learned so much from reading it and it totally changed my mindset about food. However, it is long and a little overwhelming. It makes you want to completely change your diet, but its just too much to do at once. So it should be on your reading list, but just not the first book you pick up. There are a couple of others I'd recommend first:
Another one of my favorite books is Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Mary Enig. This book is an easy read and is awesome! It explains why the current low-fat diet is so bad for you and why your body needs "good fats" like high quality coconut oil, olive oil, and butter. And guess what? Eggs are awesome, too! (See why I like this book? :) The book also contains a bunch of good recipes that I use regularly, especially the cereal and granola recipes. I'd recommend this book to anyone, whether he wants to lose weight or not!
I've just discovered a new favorite author: Nina Planck. She wrote 2 books about nutrition that are easy to read, thorough, and actually make you feel like eating healthily is feasible. These are the 2 books I'd recommend anyone start with. Real Food: What to Eat and Why is the best nutrition book I've read for someone just learning about nutrition. She is honest about her journey to understanding nutrition and very personable and understanding. My only complaint is that she comes from somewhat of an evolutionary mindset, but her research is good nonetheless.
Real Food for Mother and Baby: The Fertility Diet, Eating for Two, and Baby's First Foods is a book I wish I had read before I ever even tried to get pregnant. Did you know that your body actually needs fat in order to conceive? Or that soy products can cause infertility? Or that pregnant women need meat and salt, not iron supplements? Delaying the introduction of certain solid foods doesn’t prevent allergies. Cereals are not the best foods for tiny eaters; meat and egg yolks are better. From conception to two years, the body’s overwhelming needs are for quality fat and protein, not for carrots and low-fat dairy. Yep, I learned a lot from this book and cannot recommend it highly enough if you are thinking about getting pregnant or have a baby under 2 years. Its my new favorite book!
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