Terrible Twos!!!

Why? I might ask myself, Karma my mother replies. I was cursed and oddly blessed the day she ranted, "One day you'll have a child just like you."

Now, I have an almost two year old. Her face is losing some of her baby-ness. She is talking more and more. Daily she is learning new things, exploring more, I see her personality changing and developing before my eyes.

When I find my newly wrapped presents, unwrapped...
I tell myself she is just curious.
When I find this the second time, I reassure myself, she doesn't remember Christmas and is learning.
The third time today, I calmly counted to ten.

When My darling angel covered her face and hair with face wash. I washed her up proud that she wanted to be like me.
When I had to unclog the toilet, she was no longer allowed in the bathroom.

When She came running to me saying "pee mama pee" I knew I had a genius. Until she turned around to lead me to her potty and I saw poop on her butt and found little droppings down the hall to her diaper.

I marveled at her mind when she carried a chair to the kitchen to reach the counter. As I turned to get my camera, I was stunned to turn back around, and see she was smashing my freshly baked cookies.

She signed she was all done with lunch, I knew I had raised her well, all her carrots were gone. Then I lifted her out of her seat and they fell out of her shirt.

When she says no I respond calmly. I know how to do this.
When she refused her nap, I held firm. Consistency, really does work.

When she was asleep, looking like an angel I thanked God for this precious gift. So peaceful and innocent.

When she awoke and hit her brother, threw her snack, declared me a "mean mama" I still know I can do this. All days will not be like this. She is learning.

But, oh how a bottle of wine sounds real good right about now.

Thanksgiving Break

Baking Cookies

Playing in the snow

Enjoying the fire

C.J.'s class Thanksgiving

C.J.'s class had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. They performed two songs for the parents and then we all ate friendship stew together. The table were decorated with the childrens' artwork. Jasey and I went we had a wonderful time.

Tis the season...

I hear the parents talking about what they are buying, or how much they are spending. When did Christmas turn into a competition? Giving gifts isn't about who can buy the best one.

Giving your kids everything you never had, doesn't make you a better parent.

I feel disgusted at the shallowness suddenly surrounding me. The thanklessness, the attitudes, the greediness. I almost don't even want to do Christmas.

This is what I want my kids to LEARN:

1) No one owes you a gift, be thankful for everything.

2) Be thankful, because many kids don't get anything.

3) Be compassionate to the suffering of others and help out a person in need.

4) The best feeling is not receiving, but giving.

5) Life is more, than acquired objects.

6) Remember the true meaning of Christmas.

This is what I want my kids to REMEMBER:

1) Decorating the house as a family.

2) Watching Christmas shows together.

3) Baking cookies and listening to Christmas music.

4) Helping others.

5) Love, Family and Laughter.

6) Excitement of giving another person a gift.

We are doing so many things this year to enhance the Thanksgiving season, and I want to do the same for Christmas.

Mainly, I want to teach my children to love, Because love never fails.

Dr. Phil show

I just watched the Dr. Phil show about mommy confessions. I was in tears. The way this mom was choosing to discipline her 7 yr old son was appalling. Holding hot sauce in your mouth, forced to take freezing cold showers, jumping jacks, wall sits. This is too much. I do understand that she was frustrated. It is hard when you feel like you are trying everything and your child just won't listen.

I have a "strong-willed" child. He pushes my buttons, he's not fazed by most discipline. Its hard not to feel like a failure when your trying and trying and nothing is working. First you need to realize not all children are the same, what worked for one may not work for the other. Second, it is so important to keep your cool. Thirdly, parents should educate themselves on child development so you are sure your expectations are realistic. Fourth, never hurt a child!!!!!! Fifth, after the time out or scolding there needs to be a come together time to cuddle and hug. To tell your child that you love them so much and are trying very hard to teach them what is right and wrong.

The biggest thing that helped me was someone pointing out that my son has FREE WILL, sometimes he just chooses to make bad choices, through no fault of my own. I try very very hard to not think of things as failures but as temporary set backs. I could never imagine hurting my child I feel horrible for just raising my voice. There are things we do to curb problems in our house.

1) Eliminate caffeine.
2) Make sure they are getting enough PROPER rest.
3) Make enough time for physical activities.
4) I recognize certain times are very trying for kids, so I try to plan things around them.
5) We talk about what is expected and lay down rules, before they are expected to follow them.
6) We have sticker charts to reward good behavior.
7) We let the kids have choices in there behavior, while firming stating the consequence. "If you are going to choose to hit, you won't be allowed to play with us."
8) We recognize desired behavior. "I like it when you share, it makes me want to play with you again."

I wish I could say I was a perfect parent, but I'm not. Every day I just wake up and try my best.

Most importantly, if you ever feel like your loosing your cool, ask for help. Call a friend to come over or drop your kids off with some one. Or just stop everything and sit on the floor, pull them into your lap and just rock and hug. Nothing is so important then your children being safe.

November

This year we have chosen to do some activities at home to enhance the Thanksgiving season. When I think of Thanksgiving I want my kids to know about the 1st Thanksgiving, Why the Pilgrims came to America, To know about the Indians, To learn to be thankful etc...

I found some awesome pilgrim, Indian and a ship printables online. I wrote a short sentence on the bottom of each picture and had the kids color them. When they were done we read the pages as if they were a book. We went over three main learning points; 1) The pilgrims came to America from Europe on a ship, 2) They came for Freedom including religious freedom and 3) The Indians, who already lived here, helped the pilgrims find food.


Another day, we read scripture about giving thanks. I wrote them on paper and the kids colored them while I read the versus and then we drew pictures of what we are thankful for. We chose Psalm 105:1 and Psalm 106:1.




We have also chosen to teach our children about cheerful giving. We let them help us pick out healthy food for a food drive at C.J.'s school. We talked about things we might need someone to give us if WE didn't have any money. It was a new concept to C.J. that there are people in this world that don't have enough, or children that don't have parents. Jasey I'm not sure got it, but hopefully next year she will understand more. I want my children to grow into adults who are able to show compassion, empathy and giving.

Jasey

So, Jasey's potty training is going well. On Sunday morning, she came into the bathroom while I was taking a shower took her diaper off and sat on her potty. Low and behold she went pee. Then today she told me twice "mama pee" and went into the bathroom with a dry diaper and preceded to pee in her potty. It's exciting, but I am careful not to push her.

Yesterday, the kids had their dentist appointments. Both are cavity free!!!!! They did so well letting the dr. look in their mouths. Jasey cried a little bit,but got a cool toy in the end and was happy.

So Jasey loves to dress up. She will spend hours in her room emptying her dresser and trying things on and taking them off. I think this is great. I love her imagination as she throws together different combos, and this is great for motor skill development. So the other night Chris and I were in the kitchen when she comes in again, to so us her newest outfit. She was being cute and I admit looking good, But the best part was when she turned to leave.

School part 4

C.J. was about 1 and a half when we noticed his speech wasn't developing as fast or as clear as one would hope. We got his first evaluation done at 2 years and he was still average, but on the lower end. We were advised that he would more then likely have many new sounds emerge in the next six months. During that time I read and read to him, we practiced talking and I tried very hard to make him slow down and say things clearly. Also during this time he had his four front teeth removed. He was reevaluated at 2 years and 9 months. While he had learned many new things, he had also aged 9 months and was placed even lower on the scale. We were advised to receive speech therapy. We tried to go through the child care connections, but it was a mess, the directer quit, they had to reschedule 3 appointments. The one appointment we did have he didn't want to talk. Finally 6 months after that I contacted a private speech therapist and we began working with him on his speech, doing things to strengthen his tongue and jaw, practices to make him pull his lower jaw back and ways to pronounce certain sounds. We continue working on this daily.

One thing people don't realize is how hard it is to learn to read if you are not pronouncing a word correctly, for example my son thinks "really" starts with a "W" because he pronounces it "weally". So in addition to working on speech, we also work on the alphabet and proper pronouncement of each letter. We have sight words we practice. We also have a preschool book, where we identify what words start with what letters and practice drawing the letter.

I'm not a slave driver. I want him to excel, but how can I expect him to sounds things out if he can't say things correctly? So this is why we do this. It has also improved his fine motor skills, letter and name recognition.

The flash cards and preschool book I bought at Walmart. The sight words I made at home.

Basketball

So this year is C.J.'s first year playing basketball. we are doing a Start Smart Basketball through Park and Rec. He is loving it. Every practice they stretch and then move among 4 stations, learning and practicing new techniques. They work on passing, dribbling,shooting a basket, walking while dribbling and running sideways and so forth.

It has been so much fun to watch him do something he loves. He suddenly seems so grown up. I'm excited that he is showing an interest in sports. This can be a fun way to get exercise, improve motor skills, learn to follow directions, work as a team, make friends and develop a live long love of being active. You can see his self-esteem rise and build as he masters new skills.

Green

So I have many wonderful friends who are "Green" and just very amazing. I have to say I've been inspired. While we are far from "Green", we do a couple things and I find myself doing more. Thanks, to Brittany's blog "My Journey to Going Green" I remain inspired and receive a lot of great ideas.

1) We recycle cans.
2) We use all extra paper to start fires in our fire place.
3) We bought green light bulbs, that last longer and use less electricity.
4) I find my self reusing glass jars.
5) We save our old torn up jeans to cut squares out of them, and my Grandma makes these awesome Jean Quilts.
6) We use our fireplace in the winter.
7) My husband picks up trash on Rampart, to throw away.

I'll post more as I can think of them and as I start doing them. I'm glad my kids can see how we are caring about our environment.

Potty training

Sorry no cute pic this time. It has been a week. Chris has been working some crazy hours (snif) I miss him when he's gone. I swear my kids act totally different if Chris is not here, and if he works late and our bed time routine differs, they can tell and get really hyper it seems like.

So this week Jasey has been taking her diaper off non-stop and wiping herself with wipies,toilet paper, tissues. Really annoying and messy. I also noticed some irritation and took her to the Dr.'s she had a yeast infection, very common in little girls. He asked if we had been doing bubble baths and just two weeks ago I bought a different kind of bubble bath that was on sale. Soooooo, no more bubble baths at the moment.

However, she is still taking her diaper off. I tried telling her no, taping it on with scotch tape and nothing is working. So we are beginning to potty train. I felt that I pushed it too young with CJ and didn't want to make the same mistake. She seems ready. She will tell me immediately if she pees, she has her pink potty that she loves, she can put on underwear by herself, pull her pants down by herself and climb on and off the big toilet by herself. She also seems interested.

I'm not pushing it, she wears big girl underwear during the day in longer increments. We set a timer and go sit and 'try' every 30-45 minutes. i take her right when she wakes up and right before she lays down. When she has success we praise her and she gets a piece of candy.

Today is day two and no success today, but yesterday she said pee and then we went and sat and she did it!!!!! I guess it's just one day at a time.

November

So today we had corn and talked about the Indians. My son wants to know what they ate corn because it taste bad. Jasey discovered if she pinches a kernel just right it can and will shoot across the room. When trying to explain that they didn't have the same kinds of food as we do now, and that they had to grow their own food, my son thought and pondered this. For a split second I thought we was realizing all that we have. Then he declares he hates corn and wants to be done eating.

On another note we played out side this afternoon, such a beautiful fall day it turned out to be!

Family Style Dinning.

(First, please excuse my kitchen, we decided to paint so that is why everything looks so empty and bare.)

After I began allowing my kids to self pour their drinks and drink only out of actual cups that stay in the kitchen by the way. Both began to show more interest in meals. So I began letting them self serve and letting C.J. set the table.

We start off with C.J. giving each place a plate, napkin and fork. Then he makes sure each spot has a cup and that their little pitcher is on the table. Next, I place all our food into bowls or on plates that are not hot and set them on the table each with a tong or spoon in it. After we ash hands we set down and the kids pour their drinks and we begin passing food around and they serve themselves. Jasey does make a mess. She also spills while pouring, whatever. She does however drink out of a cup by herself without spilling and she is one.

The rule is they have to have some of everything and at least take a bit of everything. C.J. has been eating way better, he really enjoys being involved. Eating this way encourages manners and communication. They both also put their plates and fork in the sink and help clean up their mess. I noticed how when everyone is involved in readying the meal, serving and cleaning up the meal. It actually runs smoother. I'm not worried what they are doing as I'm fixing or cleaning up the meal, I know, because they are right their.

Another thing I have noticed just from sitting together and eating is that C.J. copies us and Jasey in turn copies him. They are using their utensils more and correctly. I see Jasey developing way more motor skills as she watches him spoon, pour, wipe, drink, stab and attempt to mimic. I am seriously excited how well this is going.

Catching up

If only I could just have a camera crew following me around to capture my life for me. Chris is now back at work, his vacation was very productive and I am loving my new kitchen floor. I even got new rugs!! Oh the things that excite you in life. Now we just have to paint and trim.

As we enter into November and creep up on thanksgiving. I sit here and wonder what can I do to enhance my children's learning. To me this is very important, because as a while I feel society isn't has grateful or thankful has we should be.

I want my kids to be thankful for what we have, to appreciate what we have and to learn that happiness isn't something that can be bought. I want my kids to make the most of everything they have even if they don't have the most of everything.

I'd be very interested in hearing what other family's do to teach their kids thankfulness.

Pouring

One of the things that they work on in preschool is pouring their own drinks. I have to say I buy the gallon plus size pitchers and it never occurred to me that my kids need to learn to pour. To remedy this situation, I found a small glass pitcher and four sturdy glass glasses. Plastic cups are not very useful in pouring because they tip over easily. Before we attempted pouring our drinks we practiced pouring in the tub, with cups and little medicine cups.
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Halloween

Halloween this year was busy,busy. On Thursday the 28th, I went to C.J.'s class and helped out with their little Halloween party. It was a ton of fun. I was at the play dough center. It gave me a chance to meet my son's friends and put a lot of faces with names. I also was able to see more of their class room and see how the teachers interacted with the kids. It made me miss my preschool teaching days.

Since we were advised against bring in edible treats, we picked out spider rings, kaleidoscopes, and pencils to give to our friends.

Then Thursday night we went to treat-street at the high school. It was fun, I'm glad we went early, before it got really busy.

On Sunday we went trick or treating at Walmart, Safeway complex, stopped to get our free happy meals at Burger King, and then hit the houses. By 8 pm we were done and my kids were tired. We ended at my mother-in laws house were we had some snacks and hot cocoa.