Friday, August 10, 2012
Disciplining Your Kid...
SUCKS. It's no wonder that there are so many entitled brats in this world. Disciplining your kid is definitely not the easy road. It sucks to be the bad guy. But when I have asked you not to do something and you look directly into my face and do what I have asked you not to - aww hell nah, Mama don't play that. You are going to get your butt popped. There are some things in this world that are not acceptable. Running out into the street. Non-negotiable. Putting your feet on the table that we are eating off of. Unacceptable. So if you do these things (among plenty of others), you are going to get popped. Yes, it breaks my heart to see you cry. Every single one of those crocodile tears weighs on my heart when they fall. But I love you more than life itself and I am not going to let you act like that. So after you have stopped doing whatever it is that I asked you not to (and your butt got popped for) and I give you a hug after we talk it out, that hug is my way of showing you that I still love you even when you frustrate the mess out of me. So what that I let bath time be a little longer and you get to watch an extra Bubble Guppies before bed after an especially rough day. I may not have liked you very much at points during the day, but my love for you knows no bounds. You are my sweet girl and cuddling up with you is exactly what we both needed at the end of the day.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Carowine
It's Caroline update time!
*She refers to herself as a 'hot mess' now. When she does something funny, she'll just say 'hot mess' completely unprompted.
*She calls herself 'Carowine'. She started doing this when she would walk around with a fake phone and say 'Hello!' and then hand me the phone and I would ask if they wanted to speak to Caroline. It is precious.
*She knows just about all of her colors. She can point to and name blue, green, yellow, red, pink, purple, white, and black. She will walk around to stuff and say, 'Color's that?' It's pretty awesome to see her want to learn.
*If you count, she'll give you the even numbers up to ten! She will also go 1, 2, 6!
*She can point to all the different things on her face. She can close her eyes when you ask her to and she will stick out her tongue if you ask her where hers is.
*She now has some friends with her in bed. It used to just be her paci (now called 'Daci') and her bobo, but she is now joined by an elephant, the pig she took her pictures with, and another little pig we got at Ikea. She does a check before she goes to bed.
*For a couple of weeks now she has been telling us when she needs a new diaper. She'll just walk up to us and say 'biper' (diaper) and when we check she will usually have a pretty nice present in there for us. Do I see some easy potty training in our future? I'll keep you posted on that one.
*She has started to say 'love you' unprompted. Most of the time she will say it when we say it to her when she is going to bed, but every once in a while she will throw it out there on her own.
*Since she has been talking she has said, 'Oh, bay-bee!' I have no idea what she is really trying to say or where she got it, but she says it all the time and I can't help but laugh.
*I am getting a glimpse into a girly-girl. Mimi had some plastic bracelets and Caroline loves to put them on and walk around with her arms up so that they stay on. Mimi gave us a set to take home and she has walked around most of the afternoon with those things on. She is also into brushing hair. She'll brush anyone's hair that will let her and she is a fan of me letting my hair down so that she can get it nice and straightened out. Pretty soon I'll be like my mom and pay her a quarter so that she will play with my hair!
*She is requesting songs. She'll say 'Itsy', 'Happy', 'Star', or 'Sunshine' and then dance along as we sing them for her. It is cute 98% of the time - it is not cute anymore after a 4 hour ride home from the coast when we have gone through all of them a few good times!
*Her laugh is still one of my favorite things of all time. When we get her going she will belly laugh and then she gets hiccups EVERY SINGLE TIME!
*She still loves the Bubble Guppies and gets SUPER PSYCHED when they come on.
*I wrote in the last update that she was getting to the mean stage. That has gone almost as quickly as it came. The hitting and kicking is gone for the most part, even though she will scream when she gets told no. She has also gotten her butt popped a few good times for it!
*Her vocabulary is pretty big. There isn't a whole lot that she does that she can't ask for/talk about.
*She LOVES to buckle stuff. Sometimes we can clean her up from a meal and leave her in her seat for a good 10 minutes buckling her strap. She also has a habit of walking around to ALL strollers and trying to help them buckle their belts.
*We have been to the beach/pool a good few times this summer and the girl loves her some water. She is in that weird stage of wanting to be completely let go and hating to wear any type of flotation device. She'll kick it in her little boat for a bit, but the novelty wears off quickly. We went out into the ocean and she was pushing off of me so that I would let her go, but she LOVED being thrown over the waves. She also sits in the waves and says, 'Wee!' every time a new bit of water laps over her. This last time we went to the pool she would stand on the edge and start to count and semi-jump in. She also figured out that she can play on the steps and not have to be held by anyone.
*She still loves to brush her teeth and gets pretty mad when you go into the bathroom and don't put her up on the counter. She'll just stand there and say, 'Ahh!' until you help a girl out.
*She is starting to cut her eyes at you. Her facial expressions are out of control already!
*She will do something and then turn around and say, 'No, ma'am!' before we can. Then she runs the other way laughing.
*She tells Harley, 'No, sir!' even though she LOVES HIM. When we go on walks, she loves to hold his leash and she'll see 'Harwey walk!'
*She knows everyone's name in the family. She can say all grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.
*When we are telling her to do something and end with OK, she'll nod her head and say, 'Oh, pay!'
*At almost 17 months she is in size 12 - 18, 18 month clothes, size 3 diapers, and size 4 shoes. The diapers and the shoes will be changing in the not too distant future - especially with all this growing she is doing!
*She refers to herself as a 'hot mess' now. When she does something funny, she'll just say 'hot mess' completely unprompted.
*She calls herself 'Carowine'. She started doing this when she would walk around with a fake phone and say 'Hello!' and then hand me the phone and I would ask if they wanted to speak to Caroline. It is precious.
*She knows just about all of her colors. She can point to and name blue, green, yellow, red, pink, purple, white, and black. She will walk around to stuff and say, 'Color's that?' It's pretty awesome to see her want to learn.
*If you count, she'll give you the even numbers up to ten! She will also go 1, 2, 6!
*She can point to all the different things on her face. She can close her eyes when you ask her to and she will stick out her tongue if you ask her where hers is.
*She now has some friends with her in bed. It used to just be her paci (now called 'Daci') and her bobo, but she is now joined by an elephant, the pig she took her pictures with, and another little pig we got at Ikea. She does a check before she goes to bed.
*For a couple of weeks now she has been telling us when she needs a new diaper. She'll just walk up to us and say 'biper' (diaper) and when we check she will usually have a pretty nice present in there for us. Do I see some easy potty training in our future? I'll keep you posted on that one.
*She has started to say 'love you' unprompted. Most of the time she will say it when we say it to her when she is going to bed, but every once in a while she will throw it out there on her own.
*Since she has been talking she has said, 'Oh, bay-bee!' I have no idea what she is really trying to say or where she got it, but she says it all the time and I can't help but laugh.
*I am getting a glimpse into a girly-girl. Mimi had some plastic bracelets and Caroline loves to put them on and walk around with her arms up so that they stay on. Mimi gave us a set to take home and she has walked around most of the afternoon with those things on. She is also into brushing hair. She'll brush anyone's hair that will let her and she is a fan of me letting my hair down so that she can get it nice and straightened out. Pretty soon I'll be like my mom and pay her a quarter so that she will play with my hair!
*Her laugh is still one of my favorite things of all time. When we get her going she will belly laugh and then she gets hiccups EVERY SINGLE TIME!
*I wrote in the last update that she was getting to the mean stage. That has gone almost as quickly as it came. The hitting and kicking is gone for the most part, even though she will scream when she gets told no. She has also gotten her butt popped a few good times for it!
*Her vocabulary is pretty big. There isn't a whole lot that she does that she can't ask for/talk about.
*She LOVES to buckle stuff. Sometimes we can clean her up from a meal and leave her in her seat for a good 10 minutes buckling her strap. She also has a habit of walking around to ALL strollers and trying to help them buckle their belts.
*We have been to the beach/pool a good few times this summer and the girl loves her some water. She is in that weird stage of wanting to be completely let go and hating to wear any type of flotation device. She'll kick it in her little boat for a bit, but the novelty wears off quickly. We went out into the ocean and she was pushing off of me so that I would let her go, but she LOVED being thrown over the waves. She also sits in the waves and says, 'Wee!' every time a new bit of water laps over her. This last time we went to the pool she would stand on the edge and start to count and semi-jump in. She also figured out that she can play on the steps and not have to be held by anyone.
*She still loves to brush her teeth and gets pretty mad when you go into the bathroom and don't put her up on the counter. She'll just stand there and say, 'Ahh!' until you help a girl out.
*She is starting to cut her eyes at you. Her facial expressions are out of control already!
*She will do something and then turn around and say, 'No, ma'am!' before we can. Then she runs the other way laughing.
*She tells Harley, 'No, sir!' even though she LOVES HIM. When we go on walks, she loves to hold his leash and she'll see 'Harwey walk!'
*She knows everyone's name in the family. She can say all grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.
*When we are telling her to do something and end with OK, she'll nod her head and say, 'Oh, pay!'
*At almost 17 months she is in size 12 - 18, 18 month clothes, size 3 diapers, and size 4 shoes. The diapers and the shoes will be changing in the not too distant future - especially with all this growing she is doing!
Grands' Camp 2012
It is time for the annual Grands' Camp!! Last year was crazy and this year was even CRAZIER! To hear it straight from the horses mouth, Mimi herself is a guest blogger and did a GREAT recap for a GREAT week!
Day 3: Today is beach day!!! We packed up all six kids (yes, there WAS a time that Sarah and Mimi looked at each other and asked if they were crazy!) and headed to Oceanic Pier. The water was PERFECT and everyone had a BLAST!!! Michelle met us there to lend a hand and we were SO glad. All the babies liked-or didn’t like-different things about the beach. We are expecting to get a letter from Wrightsville Beach fining us for taking so much sand away-Jack loved eating it! We arrived home, filled the pool and everyone dipped in for a while to rinse off. Then dry clothes, lunch, and naptime for the babies. The older three made yummy strawberry jam. Then Mimi took them to the Teeter to get all the fixings for pizza. We came home and made the dough, rolled it out and topped the pizzas with favorite toppings. We have some excellent chefs in this family!! Our neighbor, Mrs. Shirley arrived with some donuts right as we were finishing the pizza. Boy, was that a real hit with everyone! Nellie yelled, “Nonuts!” THAT will surely stick with the Collins fam.!! Nia and Nellie spent the night – there were kids sleeping everywhere, but we could get it done for one night!! Next year there will be no pack-n-plays and they can all stay in the same room!!!???!!! A quiet house was a wonderful thing!!
Grands’ Camp – 2012
The week began
with Leslie and her family arriving on Saturday. It was a big night for Anna because she got
to sleep on the top bunk for the first time.
How exciting and she is “almost 5 (Mimi’s rule), so it was okay!” Early Sunday, Leslie and Will left on a
business vacation, so Mimi walked with Anna and Jack to her school and played
on the playground. FUN!! Sarah and her family arrived Sunday
afternoon. Anna, Jack and Caroline were
SO excited to see each other. Jason and
Harley headed back to Winston for football.
Leslie’s family brought a recordable card to Mimi for her birthday a
couple of weeks ago. On that card after
Anna and Leslie’s message was a song recorded in 1950 by Doris Day, “I love
you, a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck…”! Well, little did we know that it would become
our theme song for the week! All the
kids learned it, sang it and danced to it a hundred times – PRICELESS!!!
Day 1: Nia
and Penelope arrived early, so we got things started! Everyone made T-shirts with their handprint
fish. SO cute!! Then two pools filled
with cool water and a Slip-N-Slide made for a fun filled morning. All the cousins played and swam and slipped
and slid and drank pink lemonade (Thanks, Mrs. Mabie for the PERFECT gift!!!)
and just had the BEST time. Papa, Mimi
(yes!), Sarah and Michelle just couldn’t let the kiddos have ALL the fun! The ‘big people’ had their turns on the
Slip-N-Slide, too! It was an AWESOME way
to spend a HOT summer day!! We had a
picnic with sandwiches, chips and lemonade for lunch. A warm bath for the little ones and dry
clothes for the big folks and then nap and quiet time!!! Nice!
The evening was spent just watching the cousins play.
Day 2: Day
1 was so much fun, we did it again!! We
did add Papa’s tractor ride to the fun.
He attached the wagon to the tractor and he and Jack (the drivers!)
pulled the rest of the kiddos around the yard and up and down the street. NOBODY wanted to stop-especially Jack the
driver!! Greg showed up for lunch and we
had another picnic and added watermelon this time. It is FANTASTIC to eat watermelon outside,
with bathing suits on, sitting on the slip-n-slide! Mimi’s nephew, Oren, arrived in time to get a
little fun time in his bathing suit. A
warm bath and naps for the babies and Mimi and Papa took the three ‘big’ kids
for the afternoon at the N.C Aquarium, followed by a trip to Sweet Frog for a
treat!!
Day 3: Today is beach day!!! We packed up all six kids (yes, there WAS a time that Sarah and Mimi looked at each other and asked if they were crazy!) and headed to Oceanic Pier. The water was PERFECT and everyone had a BLAST!!! Michelle met us there to lend a hand and we were SO glad. All the babies liked-or didn’t like-different things about the beach. We are expecting to get a letter from Wrightsville Beach fining us for taking so much sand away-Jack loved eating it! We arrived home, filled the pool and everyone dipped in for a while to rinse off. Then dry clothes, lunch, and naptime for the babies. The older three made yummy strawberry jam. Then Mimi took them to the Teeter to get all the fixings for pizza. We came home and made the dough, rolled it out and topped the pizzas with favorite toppings. We have some excellent chefs in this family!! Our neighbor, Mrs. Shirley arrived with some donuts right as we were finishing the pizza. Boy, was that a real hit with everyone! Nellie yelled, “Nonuts!” THAT will surely stick with the Collins fam.!! Nia and Nellie spent the night – there were kids sleeping everywhere, but we could get it done for one night!! Next year there will be no pack-n-plays and they can all stay in the same room!!!???!!! A quiet house was a wonderful thing!!
Day 4: The
big kids had SO much fun at the beach in Day 3, we decided that all the big
people would go back for the morning.
Papa, Sarah, Nia, Oren and Anna headed to meet Greg and Michelle for sun
and fun. Mimi stayed home with the three
babies and they just played and played.
We read and sang and counted and played!! FUN!!
After lunch, Oren left with his mom and dad-we LOVED having him! All five kids that were left took a really
good nap. Papa headed to the airport to
pick up Leslie and Will and we all met at the pool at Greg and Michelle’s
apartment. Jason surprised us and joined
us there, too. We swam and played and laughed and had a great time. G and M grilled delicious hot dogs and we
even had s’mores for dessert at the fire pit!
A wonderful way to end precious days of cousins being together!!
All of this fun
would not have been possible without my girls, Sarah being here from beginning
to end and Michelle for coming during the days to help out. Thank you from the
top and bottom of my heart! I love you a
bushel and a peck!!!
I am writing this
Saturday morning. Leslie and Will had to
leave yesterday for other family functions.
Sarah, Jason and Caroline are staying until tomorrow morning. Yesterday afternoon, as Sarah and I were
sitting in the den floor watching Caroline play, the quiet was
overwhelming. Caroline was missing
everyone terribly! Good thing we are
getting together with Jeffro and the girls and Greg and Michelle tonight for
one last burger and a laugh! Tomorrow
afternoon will be totally quiet – I think I’ll take a nap!!!
God is good and we are a blessed family!
Friday, June 29, 2012
Almost 16 Months!
It really is cool to watch how much she is growing and learning every day. Since it is summer time (hell, yeah!) I am soaking up every second and making sure that I take a second every day to appreciate this time I get to spend with her. She has had a vocabulary explosion and is a complete parrot. She is also learning how to do stuff and complete actions with and without us telling her to do so. These are just a few things that I want to remember of this time in her little life.
*She can say any animal sound you give her. When she sees animals in TV or in real life, she is very emphatic with her animal sound that goes with it.
*Thanks to Baby Wise, she loves to go to sleep (most of the time). When you can tell she is getting tired (aka when she starts fussing a lot and getting mean) you can say, 'Let's go night night' and she'll say 'night night' and head straight to her room. Before bed at night when we have the whole routine, she can say night night (very Southern bell-ish) and love you (love eww). Talking about a great way to end a day!
*The girl loves her a cheese stick. Now when you give her one she'll say, 'Aahh, cccchhhheeeessseee' and get really excited. She saw one in the drawer in the refrigerator once, so now every time I open the fridge she yells, 'cccchhhhheeeessseeee!' She also LOVES mac and cheese and just calls it cheese.
*She loves a bath, but went through a phase of being a little bit skittish about getting water dumped on her head. I figured out that as long as I told her what was going on, she does better. So I usually wash her hair first to give her some bubbles, which she will start to ask for if I don't have any working in the first few minutes of the bath, and then I was her body. Tonight I washed her hair and then I was going to let her play and she looked at me and said 'toes' and then held her foot up. She knows after we wash her hair I soap up the fish sponge and we work from her head down to her toes. She'll start holding her feet out of the water as soon as I start working on her arms.
*The girl still loves some ice. Any time she sees ice or hears the ice machine from the fridge working she starts saying 'Ice, ice, ice, ice, ice, ice,' like a mad woman.
*We have reached the frustration time in her development where her mental need for indepence far out weighs her physical and verbal abilities. She has started showing her anger with yelling, hitting, and kicking. It helps to understand why she is doing this, but it doesn't make it any easier. Where is our sweet baby? Our sweet baby is growing up and it's our job to let her know that it is ok to be mad, but that she can't yell or hurt anyone else because of it.
*One of the very few parts of the above statements that is pretty cute is that she can now say sorry. I don't know where she got it from, but she says 'sah-wee' with her head cocked to one side. Pretty dag-on precious. Once she figured out when to use it, she'll now say anytime that someone has knocked her down or made her upset, kind of like saying they need to be sorry!
*The girl is also obsessed with shoes. Any time she sees her 'ssshhhoooooeeeesss' (said with some seriously pursed up lips), she wants them on. She'll grab them and get us to put them on her. Any time I go into her closet, she'll say 'sssshhhooooeeeessss'. Any time she sees anyone elses shoes she'll bring them to that person and get them to put them on.
*She is getting good at completing tasks. For instance, every time that Jason gets ready to go, she'll go and grab his sunglasses off of the table at the front door. If he doesn't need them or isn't ready to go anywhere, you can tell her to go put them back and she will.
* She loves to brush her teeth. Any time you say anything about brushing teeth or if she sees us doing it, she'll say 'Ahh!' and try to get up there with us.
*She has started spinning. I'm not sure where she learned it, but she'll start spinning and then hold her arms out like she is a little dancer.
*She LOVES LOVES LOVES the Bubble Guppies. Luckily it is a super cute show with some really good music, but all day she will point to the TV and just yell out, 'Bubble!' As soon as it comes on she gets the biggest smile on her face and starts grooving with them. We have to limit her Bubble time every day because she would already watch it over and over. Thank goodness for DVR!
*She is doing so well with talking and using words to help get her point across. One thing I cannot and will not handle is a fussy, whiny kid (haha, yeah good luck to me). So even now when she starts to fuss we tell her that she needs to tell us what she wants. Then she can say pretty much everything she needs - eat, hungry, pease (she has been signing this for a while, but has just started saying it which is really nice), drink, milk, more, help, ice, etc.
*She has about 16 teeth in her head. She's working on the 15th and 16th (her upper canines), but she can tackle anything food wise we give her. It is crazy to see her smile or laugh and see all those teeth! It wasn't too long ago that she had those two little nuggets and that was it!
*Changing her diaper has kind of become the same concept as the bath - as long as you tell her what is going on, she's happy as a clam. Through the use of the play-by-play, you can now tell her to put her legs up and she'll swing them up and hold onto them and say 'legs'. She can also say 'tuta' (stolen from Leslie and Will) and reach down and pat it. I guess that is the same as little boys (aka all males) reaching down there and just playing with their twig and berries just to make sure they are there.
*She has a snack when she wakes up from her afternoon nap (we are beginning the work of dropping that morning nap and getting her down to one a day) and as soon as we ask her if she wants a snack she yells out 'Nack!'
*She still loves to read books and it is crazy what all she knows now. You can ask her to find stuff on a page and you can see her eyes moving all over the page and then she'll point out what you asked.
*When the dogs start barking she'll say, 'Hush!' I wonder where she got that from?!
I'm pretty sure she is doing a thousand other things that we think is awesome and intelligent and precious, but this will do for now! We have one smart, precious, sassy little girl!
*She can say any animal sound you give her. When she sees animals in TV or in real life, she is very emphatic with her animal sound that goes with it.
*She is getting good with names. She loves looking at pictures and naming the people in them. Her favorites are Anna (which sound more like a really loud German Ana), Jack Jack, and Leslie (Wesie) since we see them the most often. She also knows the grandparents' names and walks around practicing. Any time she sees a gray-headed man, she'll say Papa really loud.*Thanks to Baby Wise, she loves to go to sleep (most of the time). When you can tell she is getting tired (aka when she starts fussing a lot and getting mean) you can say, 'Let's go night night' and she'll say 'night night' and head straight to her room. Before bed at night when we have the whole routine, she can say night night (very Southern bell-ish) and love you (love eww). Talking about a great way to end a day!
*The girl loves her a cheese stick. Now when you give her one she'll say, 'Aahh, cccchhhheeeessseee' and get really excited. She saw one in the drawer in the refrigerator once, so now every time I open the fridge she yells, 'cccchhhhheeeessseeee!' She also LOVES mac and cheese and just calls it cheese.
*She loves a bath, but went through a phase of being a little bit skittish about getting water dumped on her head. I figured out that as long as I told her what was going on, she does better. So I usually wash her hair first to give her some bubbles, which she will start to ask for if I don't have any working in the first few minutes of the bath, and then I was her body. Tonight I washed her hair and then I was going to let her play and she looked at me and said 'toes' and then held her foot up. She knows after we wash her hair I soap up the fish sponge and we work from her head down to her toes. She'll start holding her feet out of the water as soon as I start working on her arms.
*The girl still loves some ice. Any time she sees ice or hears the ice machine from the fridge working she starts saying 'Ice, ice, ice, ice, ice, ice,' like a mad woman.
*We have reached the frustration time in her development where her mental need for indepence far out weighs her physical and verbal abilities. She has started showing her anger with yelling, hitting, and kicking. It helps to understand why she is doing this, but it doesn't make it any easier. Where is our sweet baby? Our sweet baby is growing up and it's our job to let her know that it is ok to be mad, but that she can't yell or hurt anyone else because of it.
*One of the very few parts of the above statements that is pretty cute is that she can now say sorry. I don't know where she got it from, but she says 'sah-wee' with her head cocked to one side. Pretty dag-on precious. Once she figured out when to use it, she'll now say anytime that someone has knocked her down or made her upset, kind of like saying they need to be sorry!
*The girl is also obsessed with shoes. Any time she sees her 'ssshhhoooooeeeesss' (said with some seriously pursed up lips), she wants them on. She'll grab them and get us to put them on her. Any time I go into her closet, she'll say 'sssshhhooooeeeessss'. Any time she sees anyone elses shoes she'll bring them to that person and get them to put them on.
*She is getting good at completing tasks. For instance, every time that Jason gets ready to go, she'll go and grab his sunglasses off of the table at the front door. If he doesn't need them or isn't ready to go anywhere, you can tell her to go put them back and she will.
* She loves to brush her teeth. Any time you say anything about brushing teeth or if she sees us doing it, she'll say 'Ahh!' and try to get up there with us.
*She has started spinning. I'm not sure where she learned it, but she'll start spinning and then hold her arms out like she is a little dancer.
*She LOVES LOVES LOVES the Bubble Guppies. Luckily it is a super cute show with some really good music, but all day she will point to the TV and just yell out, 'Bubble!' As soon as it comes on she gets the biggest smile on her face and starts grooving with them. We have to limit her Bubble time every day because she would already watch it over and over. Thank goodness for DVR!
*She is doing so well with talking and using words to help get her point across. One thing I cannot and will not handle is a fussy, whiny kid (haha, yeah good luck to me). So even now when she starts to fuss we tell her that she needs to tell us what she wants. Then she can say pretty much everything she needs - eat, hungry, pease (she has been signing this for a while, but has just started saying it which is really nice), drink, milk, more, help, ice, etc.
*She has about 16 teeth in her head. She's working on the 15th and 16th (her upper canines), but she can tackle anything food wise we give her. It is crazy to see her smile or laugh and see all those teeth! It wasn't too long ago that she had those two little nuggets and that was it!
*Changing her diaper has kind of become the same concept as the bath - as long as you tell her what is going on, she's happy as a clam. Through the use of the play-by-play, you can now tell her to put her legs up and she'll swing them up and hold onto them and say 'legs'. She can also say 'tuta' (stolen from Leslie and Will) and reach down and pat it. I guess that is the same as little boys (aka all males) reaching down there and just playing with their twig and berries just to make sure they are there.
*She has a snack when she wakes up from her afternoon nap (we are beginning the work of dropping that morning nap and getting her down to one a day) and as soon as we ask her if she wants a snack she yells out 'Nack!'
*She still loves to read books and it is crazy what all she knows now. You can ask her to find stuff on a page and you can see her eyes moving all over the page and then she'll point out what you asked.
*When the dogs start barking she'll say, 'Hush!' I wonder where she got that from?!
I'm pretty sure she is doing a thousand other things that we think is awesome and intelligent and precious, but this will do for now! We have one smart, precious, sassy little girl!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Mo mo mo...
Now that Caroline is walking and talking all over the place, I love getting quick little videos of her cuteness.
We made it!!!
Today I picked Caroline up from her last day of daycare until August! Even though we LOVE where she is, I am so excited about her getting to sleep good naps and getting to spend the whole summer with her.
I love time lapsed pictures, so let's compare:
I love time lapsed pictures, so let's compare:
Here we are the morning of the very first day. Notice that my eyes are swollen from all the crying I was doing (and was about to do). She was just 5 1/2 months here!
And here's our hot mess this morning. She is now a big 15 month old. Walking and talking and sassing all over the place. Now notice that my eyes are closed because I'm smiling so big that my cheeks aren't leaving room for anything else! We made it!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Wrapping Up 1 Year of Daycare
This is a note to myself for the future when I have to do the daycare beginning again (and no, not the near future) and all other parents that have the big 'D' hanging over their head with a baby on the way or a little baby that is going to have to head to daycare pretty soon.
I was very blessed and lucky to have a husband and a family that was there to support me and allow me to stay home for a full 12 weeks with Caroline and then go back to work for a few weeks until summer hit. So unlike a lot of parents that have to send their kids to daycare when they are 6 weeks old, Caroline was 5 1/2 months before I had to drop her off for the first time.
I wrote a post about the madness of finding Caroline's school and I also wrote a post a month into the school year about how it sucked, but that we were doing ok.
Now that summer is so close I can almost taste it, I want to reflect on the year and what role daycare has played in our lives (so I can reread this is in August when we have to start this whole thing up again and down the road when we have another little one that I am going to drop off for the first time).
The bottom line of that second post was that taking Caroline to daycare every day sucks. When I get down to that very bottom line, that hasn't changed. In a perfect world I would be able to stay home or only work part time so that I could spend as much time with Caroline as possible. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen - which I have totally accepted. I do love being a teacher and while I am at school I work really hard and like to believe that I am good at what I do. That doesn't make me miss Caroline any less.
I remember asking my good friend Alexis if it ever got easier to drop your kid off at daycare. (This was during the early days when I would show up to school crying because I had cried all the way from C's school to mine.) She assured me that it did and she was right. Over the past year, it really has gotten easier. There are mornings when I know she is tired or that she doesn't feel good and I want nothing more than to just take her home and let her get in her bed. Other than that, dropping her off has just become what we do. We are moving so fast in the mornings that it really does help that I don't have time to think about it. Jason gets her up and gets her breakfast going while I get showered and dressed and start packing us up. Then we wipe her down, make sure everyone gets sufficient kisses for the day, and we are off. I like to have dance parties in the car, because that always makes her wiggle a bit in her seat with a big smile and the occasional laugh. That is enough to get me through the day. Then I put in my 8+ hours and wrap things up so I can get in my car and go get her as soon as I can. When I am at work, I really am able to be at work (which I didn't think would be possible). I have her picture all over my desk and my room and I think about her all throughout the day, but I am able to focus on work, because I know she is being taken care of. When we get home, all I want to do is watch her play for a little bit, listen to her talk and laugh, and hopefully let her get a litle bit of a nap. Then we eat dinner, play for a bit, jump in the bath, and get ready for bed.
With all of that happening on any given week day, the time I have to sit down and let her crawl up into my lap and read a book together is about as good as it gets. Alexis once told me that she is a better mom because she is a working mom. She has more patience because she doesn't have to deal with the same things all day long. Now, I totally understand where she is coming from. If I was home and read 50 books a day, I don't think reading a book to her would be so awesome. Now every single book I get to sit down and read to her gets my full attention and there is nothing else I'd rather do in this world.
Another thing that I have learned this year is that you can't put a price tag on your peace of mind. When we were looking at daycares, price was one of the first things we talked about. How in the world were we going to find $700 in our bank account? I had friends tell me that somehow, there is enough money to write that check every month. Our life has changed in order to make sure we have that $700 a month and every month, it is right there for us. Even though $700 is a lot of money, I pay every single cent knowing that Caroline is loved, taken care of, learning a ton, gaining invaluable social skills, and having tons of fun. She gets excited when I ask her if she is ready to go to school in the mornings and when we get there and I open that door, she yells to announce her arrival and the kids that are already there yell out, 'Carowine is he-uh!' Ms. Val and Ms. Nita absolutely love her and tell her that every day when I come to pick her up. She doesn't sleep as much as we'd like, but if that is the only thing I have to complain about, I think we're doing ok. I also think that once she starts walking, she will wear herself out and she'll start napping like she needs to. They have an awesome curriculum and do crafts every so often that we proudly hang on our fridge. Since they are a five-star center, they do things as well as they can be done. They are regulated through the state and even though I would totally trust them if they weren't, it makes me feel good to know that they have other people to answer to that are making sure they are doing what is best for our kids.
So at the end of the day, we are all doing great. Caroline is happy and is in a great place with great people while her Daddy and I work hard to make sure she has a good life. We all live for the weekends and those precious moments when we get to spend the days in our PJs catching up on sleep and laughter. And right around the corner is what I have been looking forward to since August 17th - SUMMER TIME!!!
I was very blessed and lucky to have a husband and a family that was there to support me and allow me to stay home for a full 12 weeks with Caroline and then go back to work for a few weeks until summer hit. So unlike a lot of parents that have to send their kids to daycare when they are 6 weeks old, Caroline was 5 1/2 months before I had to drop her off for the first time.
I wrote a post about the madness of finding Caroline's school and I also wrote a post a month into the school year about how it sucked, but that we were doing ok.
Now that summer is so close I can almost taste it, I want to reflect on the year and what role daycare has played in our lives (so I can reread this is in August when we have to start this whole thing up again and down the road when we have another little one that I am going to drop off for the first time).
The bottom line of that second post was that taking Caroline to daycare every day sucks. When I get down to that very bottom line, that hasn't changed. In a perfect world I would be able to stay home or only work part time so that I could spend as much time with Caroline as possible. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen - which I have totally accepted. I do love being a teacher and while I am at school I work really hard and like to believe that I am good at what I do. That doesn't make me miss Caroline any less.
I remember asking my good friend Alexis if it ever got easier to drop your kid off at daycare. (This was during the early days when I would show up to school crying because I had cried all the way from C's school to mine.) She assured me that it did and she was right. Over the past year, it really has gotten easier. There are mornings when I know she is tired or that she doesn't feel good and I want nothing more than to just take her home and let her get in her bed. Other than that, dropping her off has just become what we do. We are moving so fast in the mornings that it really does help that I don't have time to think about it. Jason gets her up and gets her breakfast going while I get showered and dressed and start packing us up. Then we wipe her down, make sure everyone gets sufficient kisses for the day, and we are off. I like to have dance parties in the car, because that always makes her wiggle a bit in her seat with a big smile and the occasional laugh. That is enough to get me through the day. Then I put in my 8+ hours and wrap things up so I can get in my car and go get her as soon as I can. When I am at work, I really am able to be at work (which I didn't think would be possible). I have her picture all over my desk and my room and I think about her all throughout the day, but I am able to focus on work, because I know she is being taken care of. When we get home, all I want to do is watch her play for a little bit, listen to her talk and laugh, and hopefully let her get a litle bit of a nap. Then we eat dinner, play for a bit, jump in the bath, and get ready for bed.
With all of that happening on any given week day, the time I have to sit down and let her crawl up into my lap and read a book together is about as good as it gets. Alexis once told me that she is a better mom because she is a working mom. She has more patience because she doesn't have to deal with the same things all day long. Now, I totally understand where she is coming from. If I was home and read 50 books a day, I don't think reading a book to her would be so awesome. Now every single book I get to sit down and read to her gets my full attention and there is nothing else I'd rather do in this world.
Another thing that I have learned this year is that you can't put a price tag on your peace of mind. When we were looking at daycares, price was one of the first things we talked about. How in the world were we going to find $700 in our bank account? I had friends tell me that somehow, there is enough money to write that check every month. Our life has changed in order to make sure we have that $700 a month and every month, it is right there for us. Even though $700 is a lot of money, I pay every single cent knowing that Caroline is loved, taken care of, learning a ton, gaining invaluable social skills, and having tons of fun. She gets excited when I ask her if she is ready to go to school in the mornings and when we get there and I open that door, she yells to announce her arrival and the kids that are already there yell out, 'Carowine is he-uh!' Ms. Val and Ms. Nita absolutely love her and tell her that every day when I come to pick her up. She doesn't sleep as much as we'd like, but if that is the only thing I have to complain about, I think we're doing ok. I also think that once she starts walking, she will wear herself out and she'll start napping like she needs to. They have an awesome curriculum and do crafts every so often that we proudly hang on our fridge. Since they are a five-star center, they do things as well as they can be done. They are regulated through the state and even though I would totally trust them if they weren't, it makes me feel good to know that they have other people to answer to that are making sure they are doing what is best for our kids.
So at the end of the day, we are all doing great. Caroline is happy and is in a great place with great people while her Daddy and I work hard to make sure she has a good life. We all live for the weekends and those precious moments when we get to spend the days in our PJs catching up on sleep and laughter. And right around the corner is what I have been looking forward to since August 17th - SUMMER TIME!!!
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