Toast 2 Mom

No Nap, No Fun

Lately Sydney has been resisting her nap. Now let me remind you, of my two, she is my sleeper. And my baby, the non-sleeping one, is actually finally starting to take good naps. It's a rare day around here when I'm able to coordinate the two. However recently I've been running them around in the morning and getting successful afternoon naps - aka, quiet time to get some things accomplished. Now, it is appearing that quiet time is going to be short-lived.

The so-so news, Sydney is very good at being independent and entertaining herself for awhile. The bad news is that even though she's not feeling like sleeping, she really needs to be. Her moods are drastically different from a good sleep day to a no sleep day. I find myself wishing I was the one taking the nap!

I'm hoping it's just a little phase and next week she'll be back to that afternoon rest I so wish for me....I mean her! :)

There will be popcorn, right?

Syd and I had a late night last night. I took her to her first movie (thank you Daddio!). I have been looking forward to our little outing for quite some time. I enjoy the movies so much that I couldn't wait to share the excitement with my sweetheart.

We went to see the move Earth. It's the movie version of the Discovery Channel series Planet Earth done by Disneynature. If you have not seen these series, you must. They are unbelievably beautiful and fascinating. The movie was just as amazing, especially on the big screen. Sydney has always enjoyed animals. I was hoping that even though this was not an animated show, it would be neat for her.

Basically anything was going to be neat for her because she knew she was going to get some popcorn. This girl loves her popcorn! Mommy ordered a small corn (which is not really that small) and had maybe four handfuls. Syd ate the rest, all of it.

When we sat in our seats, she focused right away on her popcorn. Then she wanted to know when the animals were going to come on. I told her we had to watch a few commercials first. After the third preview, she said, "they sure show a lot of commercials." I told her when our movie started that the lights were going to go off. She wasn't sure about that but seemed OK when they did. Daddio informed her that you have to be quiet in the theater. She would be quiet by constantly saying, "you have to be quiet."

When the movie began....so did the questions. "What's that?, where is that bear going? what are they doing? who's talking? where is the mommy? why is that lion doing that? where is the daddy? what is wrong with that monkey? ..." Luckily there were only two other people in the theater with us. So the questions didn't seem to interrupt.

Syd remained pretty focused for about the first 45 minutes. Then she began to squirm. But she never asked to go and still continued to ask more and more questions. When the show was over, she was ready. I asked her what her favorite part was. She said she liked the whales, sharks and dolphins. Thanks again Ariel and Nemo!

We had such a great time! I cannot wait for the next show. Here are a couple pictures from our girls' night out!

 
 

Mommy, will you lay with me for just one minute?

Most nights I am the one to put Sydney to bed. Many nights Daddio runs Sydney around the back yard and will read her many books. But I am usually the one for jammies, potty, teeth, drink, music and bed (always in that order).

The blankets get pulled on. The birdie machine turns on by her bedside and is reflecting birdies on the ceiling. The lights go off. Then I get my question. "Mommy will you lay with me for just one minute?"

As we approach summer nights, and the sun sets later, this results in later bedtimes.  When the sun is shining, it couldn't possibly be time for bed yet right? So by the time Sydney actually gets to bed, it is dark, it is late and Mommy has had a long day. When the question is asked of me to spend another minute in Mommy mode, I have to admit, many nights I am thinking, I really need some of my own quiet time now.

Most nights I rest with Sydney and watch the birdies for about two songs. Then I say my "sleep tights" and "I love yous". Most nights I don't think about my impatience to close the door and do my own things. Tonight, as much as I was ready for some down time, I realized how special these last few minutes of Sydney's day are and how much I should appreciate them.

We were resting together. Tonight she let me hold part of Kitty. Then she said, "Mommy would you like me to be your pillow and you can rest on me?" Then she started petting my hair. It hit me out of no where. Some day, and not very far from now, not only will my daughter not ask me if I want to rest on her as a pillow but she won't want me to put her to bed at all, let alone "lay for one minute".

As each day goes by, my big girl grows and changes and becomes more and more independent. And that is what it's all about. But as each day goes by, she's leaving behind a piece of that innocent and the simple moments too. So as much as I feel like shutting her door nightly just to wipe up the counter or clean the playroom or check my email instead of lying for one more minute, I need to remind myself those minutes won't last forever.

Give an inch, take a marathon

It's been our theme lately around here...

"Sydney would you like some ice cream?"

"Sure, Mommy!"

"Mommy why did you give me this ice cream?"

"Oh, I just thought you would like some. You're a good girl. I love you, and I thought you might like some."

"Oh. Well thanks! I was wondering if you might like to give me some jelly beans for being a good girl too??!"

Yep, only three and already looking how to sucker me into giving more.

We have a second child, don't we?

My sweet baby Cheekers is anything but quiet.

Being the second born has its advantages...and disadvantages. It's hard to say if one outweighs the other. Because she can't use her words yet, she spends most of the time grunting or screeching to make it known that not only are we not providing her with what she wants but that this is not to her liking either.

Compared to Sydney, who didn't have to fight for attention, Natalie can come across as impatient, volume challenged (noisy) and assertive. It may seem as if I'm picky on my little cutie pie, quite the contrary. I find her survival skills quite fascinating. I like to watch how determined she can be. I like to see her strength. I like to try and figure out how this early in life she manages to know so much and can get so much.

Yes, my sweet baby Cheekers is anything but quiet, except at meal time... For some reason, during meal time, Cheekers sits in her high chair, quietly eats her food and quietly waits to be cleaned up.

Meal time, as you know if you've read this blog at all, seems to be all the time. I am always preparing some meal or form of food for the kids. It's a toss up whether I dread meal time or clean up time following meal time. Most of the time, I shove cold (should be hot) food into my mouth, while standing up, so that I may then pick up all of the mess (trail of food) I threw around the room in order to prepare the meal. It is a time management game...that often leaves my quiet little Natalie sitting in her high chair for too long.

I clear my plate; Natalie sits quietly, almost done with her food. I clean up Sydney's plate; Natalie's done, sits quietly. I put away the food, Natty sits quietly. I look at her and say, "I'm almost ready to clean you up, little girl," as she sits quietly with peach juice drying in her fuzz hair. I load the dishwasher, she sits. I wipe off the counter, she sits. I gather up the garbage, she sits. I put the dish towels in the laundry room, she sits. I fix my ponytail and take a breath, ahh done. I scan the room. I spy Natalie quietly sitting, looking at me, waiting to be cleaned up.

Yes, there are advantages and disadvantages to being the second born. An advantage, you get things handed to you without even saying a word. Disadvantage, you can't say, "hey, don't forget you have a second child over here!"

My sweet Cheekers, I could never forget you. Thank you for your mealtime patience with Mommy!

Surprises around every corner...

Staying at home with my girls is so very, very rewarding. We get to choose our fun and be flexible with our schedule and enjoy each other so much. However there are those moments in the day where the tasks become tedious and the stress levels can rise. Rest assured, though, those moments don't last long because with the clever staff I have, there is always a surprise around every corner.

For example, just a few short hours ago, a couch was just a couch. With the turn into the living room, the couch is now an indoor swimming pool for Ariel.

Then at breakfast, the rug under the kitchen table was just a rug. By lunch, it's a meadow for Ariel and her pet pink duck to play in.

There are these and many more surprises like this that make me smile...often!

I'm Beginning to See a Pattern Here

From very early on, Sydney has been a liner-upper. She began by lining up her Einstein blocks around fifteen months of age. She then moved onto lining up her animals. Even food occasionally. Naturally being the OCD person that I can be, I was pleased as punch to see this "cuteness". For awhile though, the lining up began to fade. In fact, instead of lining things up, she began swirling things up. Luckily this did not last too long, and the lining up is present again and even more advanced than ever. 

In fact I was talking to my Mom the other night mentioning how much Syd has been lining things up lately. When she colors, she uses a marker and when finished perfectly lines them side by side. At bedtime, she lines up all of her animals at the foot of her bed (to watch her sleep?). She straightens her books on the shelf and also her jellybeans. My Mom mentioned that this is a good time to start pattern work with her. If she likes to line things up, then maybe she'll start grouping things together. I paused for a minute because I was not sure if this was something other than what I thought it was. Because Sydney has been interested in pattern recognition for quite some time now. One of her common remarks every day is noticing colors - on her, on me and in nature. "Mommy, my t-shirt the same color as your toes and the petals on that flower."

Probably my favorite pattern work by Sydney lately has been her lining up her princesses beside the Clippos (and sometimes on top of the Clippos, used as dancing platforms for the princesses). Today she decided to create this pattern (below). It actually went on after I took the photo. She lined up the princesses, then all the farm animals. She started with the black and white animals. Then she lined up the white goats. Then she did all the black animals. Then lastly, the pink pig. 

I'm not sure what career Sydney will one day hold, but I'm eager to find out.