Play-Learn-Grow-Repeat

From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
When Jack was little, he had a plastic mechanical T-ball and bat toy he would play with. So when we asked him if he wanted to play “real T-ball” he jumped at the opportunity. He likes baseball, but he was too young to play until this year. So we have signed him up for another sport.

Our goal is to keep Jack active physically and socially with his friends. We aren’t sure exactly how the league is organized, nor the rules, nor do we really care, so long as he has a good time. Jack’s dad is excited to take him to the sporting goods store to buy his first baseball glove, bat and ball. Jack just has to work on catching, throwing, hitting and having fun. Luckily, I know how to do all of those things from my days playing softball.

Jack will do well with practice. His friends have older siblings who have exposed them to a range of sports and games. We are hoping to help get Jack up to speed while still having fun. A visit from Pappy soon will be a sure way to get in some practice.

Our schedule will be full with both soccer and baseball overlapping.  For a few weeks it will be a challenge.  I know both of my sisters are shaking their heads yes while reading this.  A few years down the road, adding Tate’s activities to the mix will be even a greater challenge.  I figure I have to live up to my minivan image, right?

From Monday Mom – Neetika:
If you were to follow me around the house lately, those are the words you would hear most frequently. Haley is mobile, curious and ridiculously grabby. Here is some of my running dialogue (feel free to imagine indignant baby shrieks throughout):

“No. Haley, We can read a book but we don’t have to throw all of them all over the floor.”

“What’s back there on the shelf? Oh, nothing. Stop. Stop it. Yes, you’ve found your vitamin drops. Great, we’ll take these a little later, ok? Ok, we’re putting it back now.”

“Yes, honey that’s where your clothes are, but we’re not opening the drawer right now. No. Stop. Here, look at this singing doll? Isn’t it so cool? Haley, leave the drawer. Stop.”

“Yeah! There’s your buddy Saint! We can pet him—no, Haley. Not the tail. Nice, nice. No!”

“Haley, no. That’s a plant. We don’t pull off the leaves. No, that’s not good. Okay, come over here. Stop it.”

“We don’t need to go into that cabinet. And we certainly don’t need to pull off the rubber band that’s securing it shut. Stop. Stop.”

All of this begs the question of why hasn’t there been more baby-proofing, and it’s a valid one. The answer is two-fold. My approach to baby proofing was that we would take it as it comes. I did not expect Haley’s motor skills, or her natural inclination toward defiance, to develop so quickly. I also feel that some parents baby proof to the extreme, so they can actually under-parent. It’s easier to take another look at your iPad or read a few more pages on your Kindle if your child is in what amounts to a padded cell. I did not want to be that way. It was important to me to be fully engaged.

And boy did I get what I asked for! Now that Haley is a more confident walker, I’m feeling like a boxing referee, and my job is to keep Haley from pummeling everything we own. Except I can’t blow a whistle to put an end to the melee.

Maybe since Haley reached the stage at which she’s getting into everything before age one, she’ll develop emotional maturity faster, too! Perhaps very soon, she’ll be done with the constant exploring and understand limits and obedience? Right, guys? That’s totally going to happen any day now. Right? Stop laughing.

I don’t do anything half way… If I’m actually going to get involved with something – whether it’s a file, an organization, or a hobby – I do it full out. There really isn’t a way to do it other than all in.

But after checking out Andrew’s Valentine’s loot, I’m feeling like a slacker mom.

Andrew picked out individual valentines for each of his friends. The girls got puppy valentines. The boys got Toy Story ones. He picked out which color each of their names were written in. He decorated each with stickers. We had a good time doing it.

One of Andrew’s friends decorated a construction paper tube, which housed not only a hand-made valentine, but a box of Toy Story posters that Andrew could decorate himself. Another one gave him a bag of homemade cookies as part of his valentine. A little girl gave him a bag full of chocolate hearts.

Really? Is that what I’m supposed to be doing? Am I supposed to bake four dozen cookies so that the 24 other kids in his class can take home baked goods? Is every kid supposed to get presents on MY kid’s birthday, even though there’s no party that they’re attending?

I don’t know… If that’s how things are supposed to work, then I’m clearly doing things all wrong. But maybe it’s okay to have varying levels of participation in this stuff. At least, I hope that’s the case!

What do you think?

Have a great weekend everyone

All three of my boys made me feel super special this Valentine’s day.  I received lots of hugs and kisses as well as super sweet handmade cards.  I LOVE getting handmade items from anyone, especially my family.  In return, I wrote love notes back to each of my boys.  Unfortunately, Jack accidentally dumped his milk all over my note to daddy.  Jack felt horrible and quickly tried to make a new one for him.  How cute!

I can’t forget to mention how much fun I had helping with Jack’s class Valentine party.  We all played “Cupid Says,” learned how to say “I love you” in several different languages and stuffed our faces with my red velvet cupcakes.  It was a fun morning, and I’m glad I was part of it.

When Jack and I got home, we went through all of his valentine cards.  He loved the Spider-man valentine as well as a few with candy included.  There was one little valentine  in his pocket.  I asked him who gave it to him and he said with blushing red cheeks his friend (crush) Kelsey.   I couldn’t handle the cuteness and gave him a big hug.

Hope you had a happy Valentine’s Day!

At the end of last summer, my grandmother passed away. I was upset to lose her, but she had a long, happy life. Most importantly, she got to spend time with Haley. I’ll always be grateful that I have pictures of the two of them together.

Tomorrow, my parents are taking off for a trip to India. They are going to visit with family and settle some of my grandmother’s affairs. I haven’t been to India in a long time, but I decided Haley was too young for us to take this trip. I am really looking forward to showing her the country one day.

This trip will have a huge impact on me – even though I am not going – because we currently live with my parents. And to say that they “sometimes help out” with Haley would be somewhat of an understatement.

When we moved in with my parents to facilitate a sudden job change and move, I was nervous about raising Haley under the same roof as them, even temporarily. I knew there would be benefits to the arrangement as well as clashes, but what I worried about most was the feeling that I might not fully feel like her primary caretaker—too many cooks in the kitchen, so to speak. I now know that was pointless.

My parents watch Haley in the mornings while I drive Joe to the train station, and they enjoy helping out with evening bath time, but they also work full time. Day in and day out, I’m faced with the reality of stay-at-home-parenthood. It’s extremely challenging, but I feel proud ownership of it. It’s hard to entertain a baby all day, especially one as active as Haley. And sometimes, you just want to be able to go to the bathroom! But at least I’m doing it.

And it’s mostly on my terms. Of course, my parents are from a different generation, and they can’t understand some of my decisions. No crib bumpers or blankets, making all of my own baby food, letting the baby cry, back sleeping- it’s all foreign to them. They love her so much, I’m sure it’s difficult for them to see me make what they perceive as mistakes. I know it’s hard for me to see her getting a little spoiled by all of their attention.

Overall, though, it’s been great. Even though the times they relieve me from baby duty are sporadic and intermittent, I have come to rely on them. Getting out the door in the morning and wrangling a slippery baby in the bath should be interesting for the next few weeks. And I’ll finally know what it feels like to be doing it entirely and unequivocally on my own. Wish me luck.

From Friday Mom – Jaime:
We’ve been looking for a house for almost 2 years now. First down in this area, and then up north once I changed jobs. I honestly thought that we were never going to find anything and keep doing this insane commute every day… But the good news is that we’re getting close to being done with that!

The bad news is that we haven’t even begun to think about things like finding new pediatricians, new places to take Andrew on rainy days and – probably most importantly – a new daycare provider. It’s the stuff you don’t really think about until you REALLY need to think about it. I mean, we just got out of attorney review. Just did our inspection on Tuesday. We don’t close for another month, assuming everything continues to go well.

And if we don’t go check out the daycare place across the street this Saturday when they have their open house, they probably won’t have any spots left for Andrew – not just for April when we’re actually needing him to be in a new place – but for next SEPTEMBER. WHAT? People are booking spots now for September? I guess it’s the kind of thing I’ve had the luxury of not thinking about since we’ve had Andrew in the same place since he was 4 months old.

Which brings up another concern… He’s going to be somewhere new. Somewhere that is unfamiliar. Where everyone in the entire school doesn’t know and love him. Where he isn’t going to be the favorite kid of everyone in the classroom. Someone else will already have that role and Andrew will have to try to fit in.

I know. We all go through this at some point. And he’s still young enough that he should be able to do it easily. But I still feel badly that he’ll have to go through it.

Anyone have any ideas on how to make the transition easier on him?

Have a great weekend everyone

From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
Soccer practice has begun, and Jack’s next game is this weekend.  His league took a winter break and is gearing up for their spring season.  Jack and I have been practicing in the back yard in hopes of developing his skills.  Hopefully he will make a goal this season.

Last fall all the kids huddled around the ball trying to kick it in any direction.  Making goals for the opposite team and picking dandelions was the team average.  Now that the kids are aware of the rules and how the game is played I’m expecting some progression.

By practicing, we are trying to help Jack get more confident with the ball. He got a little frustrated last year when he was out played. I think he needs to be more confident to get better. We are happy so long as he is happy. Whatever the outcome of the game, I’m delighted to know Jack has fun playing.  He is a determined little guy.  Here’s to hoping for a winning season!

From Monday Mom – Neetika:
I’ve written before about how fast time goes by when you are a parent. We all know this. But last week at the doctor, I was simply stunned at how far along Haley has come. The doctor said that next month I could start giving Haley cow’s milk and begin the process of weaning, if I want. Weaning. From Breastfeeding. How did this happen? It seems like it was last week, I was stressing about how to “achieve a proper latch” and how much milk she was getting. There were days when I couldn’t wait until this moment. Now the idea of giving up nursing makes me feel incredibly bittersweet.

There are many reasons I enjoy breastfeeding. First of all, the bonding aspect is really nice. A baby’s instinct is that his mother will provide him with milk from her breast. It’s so primal, so natural. As Haley has grown and started to understand the concept of me as her caretaker, I can feel that feeding from the breast means something to her as much as it does to me. Breastfeeding is also incredibly convenient. You’re always ready to go, no extra equipment needed! You don’t just nurse for nutrition either. It’s been a lifesaver for getting Haley to sleep, soothing her when she’s teething, and calming her when she’s fussy. There have been times Haley has clunked her head and wailed, and the only fix was a little nursing. Minutes later, she’s ready to play!

Of course there are things I won’t miss. Feeling tied down because I can’t leave her for long stretches, for starters. And there’s the biting, which as you can imagine or may know yourself, is not very pleasant. In some sense, I’m getting my body back to myself—so small thing.

Weaning is a part of Haley getting older, and that’s the hardest thing about it. I don’t know when that magical day will be, but I know I won’t be ready for it.

From Friday Mom – Jaime:
My dad’s birthday was last Friday. (I apologize for not doing the birthday shout out in last week’s post, dad.) It was the day before Andrew’s kid party and he could talk about little else. Friday night he was an absolute crazy man. His rendition of singing happy birthday to my dad went on for…forever. When I got back on the phone my mom told me that this was normal birthday craziness and that my sister and I did the same thing before our parties. Actually, she told me we were completely unbearable and no one would want to be around us – but we’d return to normal shortly after the party.

Turns out, she was absolutely right.

He was in full on cranky kid mode all morning. He refused to take a nap and managed to conk out less than 30 minutes before his party. We woke him up out of a dead sleep to get ready, which prompted a massive temper tantrum about why we were even having a “STUPID” party at that “STUPID” place. (Ummm… you begged for it, kiddo. What do you mean you don’t want it????)

Despite the rockiness leading up to walking through the door, once we got there, the party went well. Everyone – especially Andrew – seemed to have a great time. His friends were really cute coming over thanking me for inviting them. Only one actually did it without parental prompting. (I was duly impressed) Andrew and my dad eat cake the same way – icing only – and I’m still not sure which one of them consumed more of it.

Afterwards, in the midst of a total sugar high, Andrew tore into all of his presents. His was totally impressed with all the new loot. His friends got him lots of artsy stuff, which is great, and we’ve been playing his new games all week.

Just as predicted, Andrew settled back into being himself after all the presents were open and the wrapping paper was thrown away. He curled up in my lap and thanked me for his party.

Because I’m a glutton for punishment, I took him out to see Beauty and the Beast later that night. He remembered to say please and thank you, held my hand through most of the movie (unless he was using those hands to shove Skittles into his mouth) and reminded me where I parked my car so we wouldn’t get lost in the parking lot…again… (LONG story – don’t ask)

I’m glad I had my mom’s warning that what we were experiencing pre-party was totally normal and, more importantly, temporary. I’m also glad that we’re a year off from having this kind of experience again

Have a great weekend everyone. And thanks (again) to my parents who are watching Andrew while hubby and I are away in New Orleans.

Oh…and for all you baseball fans…yes, it may be time for the Super Bowl, but pitchers and catchers report very soon. Can’t wait for the official start of Spring!

From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
Jack and I attended an open house for incoming Kindergarten students.  As we walked up the school’s sidewalk, dozens of “Jack memories” flashed before me.  Memories like bringing him home from the hospital, watching him walk for the first time, getting his first boo boo, saying I love you and those exhausting days/nights trying to figure out his sleeping routine.  How is it possible that Jack will be five years old and beginning Kindergarten soon? As cliche as it sounds, time flies by when you’re having fun.

Prospective students and their parents gathered in the auditorium.  We all said the Pledge of Allegiance (which Jack shouted proudly) and were educated on the Kindergarten syllabus, awards and many other informational facts.  Selected students from the school sang their school song, and we watched a slide show of the Kindergarten class accomplishments.  I was happy to see Jack very interested in what the teachers and students had to say.  I know he is super excited about Kindergarten next year because he often says he is ready for “big school.”

We were able to tour several of the classrooms, along with the library, cafeteria and gymnasium.  Quickly, my own memories of Kindergarten came to mind.  Unfortunately, my Kindergarten classroom no longer exists.  I would have loved to show Jack the classroom I attended.  Our tour was fun.  Both Jack and I saw what every room looked like and also how to find our way around the school.  It was obvious the amount of reading, writing and hands on projects the students are working on, since they were plastered all over the walls, desks and hallways.

Jack loved the desks and the “tree house” like reading nook.  One of Jack’s concerns was getting lost.  I reminded him he had no problem finding his way around preschool and the same would go for Kindergarten.  He thought the school was “totally awesome” and wanted to start tomorrow.  From a momma’s perspective, I can’t tell you how happy I was to hear those words come out of his mouth.  I’m grateful for everything he has learned at home and through preschool.  I can only hope he excels in his educational goals over the next fifteen years and beyond.