Playing Pretend



 Yesterday, I caught Sam and Anna playing drivethru with their cozy coupes.  Anna told Sam, "Here's your mocha." and handed him a piece of chalk.  Sam gave her a piece of chalk back as "money" and said "thank you!" then drove away.  After that, they switched roles and repeated it again.  This is not the first time they've done this- although usually I hear "mocha-chino" and until today, I could not figure out what they were talking about.

 

 

I guess that's a sign that I frequent the starbucks drivethru just a little to much, hahaha!  Most kids would probably play pretend with a McDonalds drivethru but we rarely go there, so I guess at least there's that!

 

2 and a Half Stats

I'm a wee bit late on this but, for record-keeping purposes, Sam and Anna's 30 month well-child check-up went uneventfully well.  Anna is now off vitamin D milk, since her weight is still steady on her growth curve.  My fridge thanks her for eliminating the need for 3 different kinds of gallons of milk at all times.  Sam and Anna got their flu -shots with only a minimal wince from Sam and we were on our way... after a stop at the bathroom mid-check up though, of course.

Sam's  2 1/2 Stats
Height: 35 1/2 in, 25-50%ile
Weight: 27 lbs 9 oz, 25%ile
Head Circumference: 49 1/2 cm, 50%ile

Anna's 2 1/2 Stats
Height: 35 in, 25-50%ile
Weight: 24 lbs 12 oz, 10%ile
Head Circumference: 48 cm, 50%ile

Big Bed Business

This big bed business times two is not for the faint hearted.  I had a feeling it wouldn't be easy, but I had hoped that within a few days it would adjust to being better than the crib fiasco we had started having at bedtime before the big beds arrived: the goofing off, climbing in to each other's cribs, pulling on the curtains crap.

One week in, and nighttime isn't any easier.  Anna likes to pull back her curtain and watch the world go by when she's supposed to be sleeping.  That's minor though.  We unfortunately had someone ring our doorbell during the first time we attempted sleep in the new beds, and Sam instantly got up to see who was here.  Now we can't keep him in his bed.  He always gets up.  Putting his crib back up isn't an option though, because he can scale the sides with his sleep sack on now.  Our nights consist of hours of putting him back to bed, and sometimes eventually laying with him or holding him so he will fall asleep.

That means that my so called "free-time" (if you want to refer to my child-less time to get stuff done, like laundry, clean, blog, work, etc. as that) is non-existent.  Last night, for example, I laid with Sam and got up at 10 pm (I had fallen asleep while in his room).  I'm really feeling stretched to my limit in that I don't have time to get anything done now- because I'm either at work or taking care of my awake children or asleep myself every hour of the day. 

The good thing is (since it helps to find something good about crappy situations) that Sam still doesn't get out of bed during nap time at daycare so our bed woes seem limited to home.

Dear universe: How on earth can we get our troublesome twosome to fall asleep in their beds easily without getting up or needing parental intervention???

***Editted to add: 
We did reverse the lock Sam's bedroom door, so we can lock him in (because he can open childproof door locks and unlock the regular lock on the door himself).  A baby gate won't work as he has scaled that thing since he was an itty bitty baby.  This kid was climbing out of pack and plays since 9 months old- the ONLY thing that helped us keep him from doing the same with his crib was wearing a sleep sack so his legs couldn't get separated enough to climb over  and that bought us enough time to make to to 2 1/2 years old.

Also, every night it is something new.  We've tried leaving the door open a bit so he doesn't feel so alone in the dark (as I'm guessing is a big issue for him, because, remember:  up until a week ago he had never slept alone.  I think it is understandable for him to have a little bit of difficulty in this transition to being alone in his bedroom with the door closed at night.  We give him 3 chances to stay in bed  with the door open a crack before locking the door closed, but after locking it, he becomes hysterical, and I can't do "cry-it-out" with a 2 1/2 year old crying at his bedroom door for his mama- I just can't when I can empathize how scary it must feel for him to be alone in the dark with Anna now in her own room.  I give it awhile, then go back in and give him another chance to stay in bed, which usually does it, but he's still so wound up that he moves all over his bed and cannot go to sleep on his own.  I'm sure he would eventually, but we're talking probably 10 pm and he needs to get woken up at 7 am on weekdays.  That just isn't enough sleep.

There was one night of the past week where it was near text book- he went to sleep with minimal fuss.  Tonight he only needed us to go in once.  BUT he's still falling asleep much later than I'd like.  Back to the every time is something new:  one night he said he'd pooped, one night he needed to go potty, one time he decided to poop and then got poop on his comforter (ew).  Or his pillow drops on the floor and he cries for us to pick it up, or he wants to get re-tucked back in, or  ..., or ...., or.....

But one more good thing!: I can say that once asleep, we have no issues with either child- so that's something!  They both sleep through the night just as they did B.B.- Before Beds. :)

Maybe I just need to be more patient and realize that it has only been one week.  I just miss the days when my babes fell asleep quickly at bedtime with no fuss, and took almost 4 hour long naps in the afternoons.  Those were the days....

Hello, Fall!

Fall certainly is my favorite season of the year.  There's just no comparison to the crispness in the air; the richness in the beauty of fall colors, and the unmistakable smell of autumn.  My summer bucket list was a such a great tool in maximizing our summer, I thought it might be a good idea to carry the idea forward to the next season, so that in spite of the busy-ness between holidays and working full time, good intentions don't fall short as ideas for ways to enjoy fall get forgotten.  Here's my list of fall goals for our family:


Fall Goals

• Go camping
• Take a nature walk
• Create leaf art
• Go to an apple orchard
• Make homemade applesauce
• Bake fall goodies
• Rake a leaf pile and jump in them
• Sip apple cider
• Visit a pumpkin patch
• Take a hay ride
• Go through a corn maze
• Carve pumpkins
• Trick or Treat

A few just-for-me goals:

• Decorate for fall (because unless I put it in writing, it probably won't happen!)
• Drink pumpkin spice lattes (2 under my belt already, and fall technically hasn't even started yet)
• Enjoy fires in the fireplace

Wordless Wednesday- Kisses

Big Kids

After several nights in a row of Sam climbing into Anna's crib (while wearing a sleep sack) and tackling her every 2 minutes at bedtime, and several days in a row of reports of good naps in beds at daycare in separate rooms, we decided that it was time to make the switch to beds at home as well.   Oh well- the sleep sack trick to keep them from climbing out bought us over a year longer of crib use and for that I'm thankful. Sam and Anna have been napping at daycare in beds since they turned 2 and when we made the change in daycares in August, they continued napping in beds there as well.    For about 6 months it has worked just fine to nap in beds at daycare in separate rooms, but sleep in cribs in the same room at home.  But not so much anymore.  I was getting weary from the bedtime antics that seemed to be amping up- not decreasing.

All we did this weekend was basically make the transition from one room with two cribs to two rooms with two beds, and boy was it a lot of work.  First, we had to clear out our old guest room.  Then we went shopping for two beds.  We lucked out and bought mattresses and box springs at a local furniture warehouse sale this weekend.  My FIL is making bed frames for Sam and Anna and we should be able to get them in November so for now, they just have simple metal frames underneath.  While Sam and Anna napped Saturday, Daddy painted Anna's new room a not-babyish shade of pink.  Before nap, we had Sam and Anna pick their favorite pink paint chip from the collection of about 50 shades I brought home from the store.  After putting them down for nap, we picked our own favorites, and actually ended up picking the shade Sam selected first.  The rest of Saturday ended up finding new homes for the old guest room stuff once we realized there was no way we'd have enough time to disassemble two cribs and assemble two beds before bedtime.

Sunday we worked on moving around furniture between the two rooms and the cribs got removed before beds were made.  For now, Anna is keeping the white dressers and Sam will eventually get new darker work furniture.  I'm waiting until we have his bed, so that we can select a furniture color that goes with his wood bed frame.  Anna's bed frame will be painted white.

Naps in the new beds in separate rooms on Sunday went.... less than great.  For the first time sleeping in beds at home, we barely got them to fall asleep.  I consider it a minor miracle that both finally did sleep for a little bit.  I am surprised that after napping for so long at daycare without even thinking about getting out of the bed, the very first time we attempted a nap in a bed at home, Sam's feet hit the floor and he decided that it would be a good idea to open the door; repeatedly.  I thought for sure we'd have a while before reaching that point. 

The first night sleeping in their own rooms in beds went better, but only because I laid with Sam until he fell asleep.  I was a little sentimental that it was the first time ever since before they were a speck of dividing cells that they spent the night sleeping alone, apart from each other.  Once they fell asleep, they both slept through the night without waking until they had to get up for daycare the next morning.  Whew!  I was worried that would have gone horribly wrong and I'd be up for hours in the middle of the night.  Thank goodness that wasn't the case!

We still have a lot to do- bed frames probably painted and put together one we get them, new furniture/dressers for Sam, wall hangings/decorations for both rooms, and remove the rest of the storage stuff in the old guest room closet.  For now though, our big boy and girl are sleeping in their own rooms in big kid beds-  the last bit of baby in them: their cribs, are gone.  And this mama is feeling just a wee bit sad that I'm never going to have a little one in a crib ever again.

Sam's bed

 

Anna's bed

 

Anna's room

 

First time sleeping in her big girl bed

 

First time sleeping in his big boy bed

Adjusting to a New Daycare

I did not imagine that the transition to a new daycare would go like this.

It has gone so much better than I thought it realistically would go.

Sam and Anna have done great.  The only hiccup in the entire newness of it all has been that Anna did not nap a few days in the first 6 days they spent all day at the new daycare.  But, she also decided to take a nap strike last Saturday at home in the middle of those 6 days, so I'm not faulting the new daycare that much for that hiccup in her normal routine.  They have had a few accidents (less than 1 a day between the two of them), but they have been potty trained for less than a month so far, so that doesn't phase me at all either.  The same thing could have happened at home too, if I was still with them all day long.

But most importantly, I know they adore their new daycare provider, Rachel.  They don't want to leave when I arrive at the end of the day.  They are excited to go in the mornings. Randomly one evening Sam stated, "I miss Rachel."  During our bedtime prayers, Sam and Anna have now decided we need to add in Rachel, Pastor Ben, and Eliza (their 6 month old daughter) every night.  Sometimes their dog Toby gets put in our nightly prayer too.  Now I know that she could still be the "shinny new thing" with lots of newness appeal and once that wears off, their enthusiasm could wane- but I do think it is a really good sign that a.) they are adjusting well b.) they are getting high quality care.

Overall, I am so happy with how easy and great the transition to a new daycare provider has gone for us!

Sam and Anna's Alphabet Book

I did it!  I had aspired to create an alphabet photo book for Sam and Anna for some time, and this summer provided the perfect opportunity to capture pictures for every letter.  As anyone who has ever created a photo book knows, though- amassing the photos is only a small part of the work.  Making a photo book can take tons of time, especially if you are a perfectionist like me and take extra time to get the formatting just the way you want.

Shutterfly's free 8 by 8 hard cover book code (SUMMERBOOK, expires Wednesday) gave me the push to get it done asap!

Here it is:

Click here to view this photo book larger

Summer Bucket List

So here's a recap of how our summer went.  I think we did a great job of accomplishing almost everything I set out to do!

My list for Sam and Anna:

1. Sleep in :)
2. Travel to Grandma and Grandpa's cabin
3. Visit other grandparents
4. Go camping (if I can forget the epic failure of last year)
5. Swim in a lake
6. Swim in a pool
7. Play in the sprinkler
8. Enjoy a boat ride
9. Go fishing
10. Play on the beach
11. Go to the Children's Museum
12. Check out current Lowes Build and Grow workshops
13. Cook/bake together
14. Read books outside
15. Sand and water table play
16. Go to a zoo
17. Watch trains
18. Watch planes
19. Blow bubbles
20. Use sidewalk chalk outdoors
21. Hike in the woods
22. Explore a nature center
23. Picnic
24. Bring a picnic to Daddy at work
25. Watch fireworks
26. Attend a parade
27. Celebrate the 4th of July
28. Catch bugs
29. Go to the library often
30. Use playdoh
31. Color
32. Make musical instruments
33. Buy food at the farmer's market
34. Feed ducks
35. Watercolor
36. Paint
37. Art projects weekly
38. Finger paint
39. Handprint art
40. Alphabet Days
41. Discover a new playground
42. Go to our favorite playground, KASH park
43. Eat Popsicles
44. Walk to get ice cream
45. Plant flowers
46. Pick vegetables from our garden
47. Mommy/daughter matching pedis
48. Visit a fair
49. Attend an outdoor concert
50. Eat dinner outside on the deck

The only thing we didn't do on their list was water table play.  Why?  I don't know- our sand and water table is still sitting on our deck.  I think maybe whenever we wanted to play in water we got in our pool, and whenever we wanted to play in sand we went in our sandbox and that's a big reason why.  I'm thinking we'll either give our table to our new daycare person, or sell it on Craigslist (where I got it from).  If it didn't get used all summer, then it's time to get rid of it, I think!

A few Just-For-Me Goals:
1. Scope out garage sales for toddler stuff
2. Hold a garage sale to get rid of baby stuff
3. Read 6 or more adult books
4. Tutor a kindergartner and 2nd grader
5. Take summer graduate classes
6. Set up big kid rooms and get new carpet
7. Attempt potty training

Yeah- I did less than I wanted to on my list.  The 2nd grade tutoring fell through, and I wasn't sad about that.  I am disappointed that the new carpeting and room transition didn't take place, but we bought a new oven, washer, AND had to replace our back window on the back of our SUV all in August; the month we had planned to pay for the new carpeting and furniture.  Plus, I took over 6 graduate credits ($$$) this summer, and we waited longer than I originally planned for the big potty training event, so timing wise it just seemed like a better idea to put it on hold.  Now I think we'll wait until Sam and Anna are completely settled into their new daycare routine before we shake up their world again by putting them in big beds and separating them into two rooms.

Overall though, not too shabby!  My top goal was to make the most of my summer with Sam and Anna, and I certainly accomplished that.  We had a blast and did so many things.  We went on three big trips to see grandparents: to my MIL's cabin, my FIL's home 8 hours away, and camping with my parents and brother's family.  We played a lot; did a lot of art; swam tons, and had a bunch of firsts too; like first fireworks and first time fishing plus we overcame my biggest parenting fear of potty-training two at the same time.  I'm okay with the fact that I didn't really tackle any house projects- I'll have plenty of time for that when they are older and don't really want to play with me during our summers off of school!   I read somewhere that we only get 18 summers with our children, and three of mine are already gone.  Now I just have 175 days of work to go before I get to do it again!

T and U!

For letter Tt, we read books about tigers, turtles, trees and of course, trains.

Sam and Anna's tiger handprints.

 

They made dot marker T and t.

I brought home colorful tape to make tape art.

 

We also made trains by painting paper tubes and attaching them together with paper clips.

 Sam and Anna decorated paper plates and then I put them together to make a tambourine.  They had fun shaking them after I put rice inside!

 (Sam made Thomas and Percy on red railroad tracks on his plate- can you tell?)

We practiced fine motor skills by putting toothpicks into a cheese container.

We explored painted towel tubes and made some shapes with them.

Sam and Anna practiced tracing Tts and coloring objects that begin with t.

They also sorted turtles by size: large, medium, and small.

 

Of course, we had to play with trains a lot (but that's what usually happens on a daily basis around here regardless of what letter we're on).

We had fun wearing tutus (yes, even Sam). In fact, Sam was even more happy as a clam  than Anna to be prancing around in his tutu.  It was super cute seeing them dance together, holding hands.

We ate trains for lunch (the corn is smoke from the smokestack).

We also had to visit two trains near us.  This yellow train car is within walking distance of our house.

When grandma came to visit we took her to the black steam engine Sam and Anna love to climb up on.

 
No train visit is complete without going up on the red caboose!

 

 

For letter u, we didn't do as much because I was back working long hours setting up my classroom.

 

Sam and Anna made umbrella handprints, with thumbprint raindrops.

We matched shapes on umbrellas.

And also put umbrellas in size order.

Sam and Anna traced Uus and colored U objects.

They colored umbrellas by matching the color words.

We did dot marker Uus of course.

Sam and Anna also made underwater scenes with sea animal foam stickers.

They made umbrellas with muffin wrappers, pipe cleaners and dot markers too.

 

Finally, we ate a underground snack: dirt and worms!  This was definitely a special treat for us because we almost always have a healthy snack.

Anna wasn't so sure about the dirt and worms.

 
But my sweet-toothed Sam loved it- especially the gummy worms!