It's Magic

As anyone who's talked to me this summer knows, we've spent quite a bit of time dealing with Hayden's napping and all things related. For 2 months after he mastered crawling over his baby gate we dealt with constant 5am wake up calls, random visits in the middle of the night, etc. It was horrible and we got no sleep.

At my wits end, I headed down to BabiesRUs to find the tallest prison, er, baby gate I could find. And I found it! Since then we've had loads of glorious sleep (minus the 1 month "brothers sleeping together" trial which has since failed).

And then...the day I'd been dreading...today.

Hayden was in his room "napping" hahahaha, or standing by the gate saying "Hi" to anyone who came into view. Corbin had just gotten up from his morning nap (why oh why can't he be an afternoon napper so I could get some alone time???!!) and was heading towards Hayden's room like usual. Hayden will hand him toys and such from the other side of the gate and Corbin loves this "game". Note this is a similar game to the one that caused us to end the room sharing experiement.

Today I was in no mood to constant move Corbin from the gate a million times and since I had some sewing I wanted to get done I said "Heck with it" and let them play "prison" or whatever their game is called. So Corbin happily played with each toy Hayden tossed over the gate and all seemed well.

Until...dum dum dum...out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw not one but TWO kids in the hall...uh WHAT?

I walked over and looked around the corner and there was Hayden out of his room and gate and playing in the hall corner, trying to go undetected. When he saw me, he looked up, smiled and said

"Tada!"


Later both children decided it was time to attack mommy and her sewing machine...so much for that.

Natural Consequences

Today is of course one of those monster days. Days where Hayden doesn't nap. Days where Mark is on the phone interviewing all day - in Corbin's room so he can have some peace. Days where Corbin is waiting impatiently for a nap he needs but doesn't want. Days where Hayden throws everything out of his room instead of napping.

And where I feel like screaming and even do throw my own mini-tantrum when Hayden's train tracks keep falling apart while I try to "create" the perfect railroad. ARGH! Doesn't help that Corbinzilla is dismantling all my hard work behind me. At one point I do the 3 year old frustration tantrum and just tear up all the tracks when I can't get them to balance on those stupid blocks.

My former explitives now turned into child friendly-ish statements like "this is stupid!!"

And then God threw me a softball...

I had just finished up my lunch - leftover fries which were "loaded" with cheese, jalapenos, and other good stuff. I had placed the plate in the middle of the table so the kids wouldn't mess with it.

Hayden being "unstoppable" at least by things like table tops and things accessible by chairs let his curiosity get the best of him.

I look over to see him spitting something out and stating the obvious "HOT!"

"Yes, kid - jalapenos are hot."

And then I laughed.

Activity Pouches

Activity Pouches have been something I've wanted to try for awhile. I'd seen them over and over on preschool sites or blogs and they sounded great. But my first few tries at even finding the pouches flunked! They had pencil boxes but not the soft pouches!! Now that it's back to school time, I've been able to finally find them - and on sale.

Our first activity pouch - Cutting!! I put to use some of our old paper and cut it into four squares. Then I bought a pair of safety scissors and voila!
It's an easy and cheap activity that he's been doing now for 30 minutes. At the end I grab a plastic bag and we "clean up" all the paper. Today's transition wasn't without a tantrum, but the tantrum ended quickly when I pulled out the Buddha Board.

I'm hoping to make several of of these activity pouches, including some that work well in the car.

Anyone else done this? I'd love suggestions for what to put in them!!

Brothers

Lately, the brothers have been becoming more of cohorts than enemies fighting over the last goldfish (although that still happens).

During Hayden's bath tonight, Hayden was handing Corbin (on the other side of the bath tub) foam letters one by one. Then the floating fish, then the boats, then...

SPLASH!!! An entire cup of water smack in his face.

I was about to start scolding, when I hear insane cackling coming from Corbin - who thought it was hilarious he just got doused by 30 oz of water.

What could I do? I just started laughing too.

Lessons Learned

I'm a slow learner, but I AM learning about this whole "mothering" and "homemaker" thing. And I've only been at it for a little over 2 years. So obviously, these lessons only go through age two of child raising. HAHAHA!

Things I learned:

1. I don't clean up the toys until nap time and bed time. It's a losing battle and a complete waste of time to pick up toys while children are still up and playing.

2. If you want to have a good nap time, have a really fun (and exhausting) play time.

3. When it's over 100 degrees, the best thing to do is just to give in and pull out the wading pools and sprinklers. Don't forget the popsicles and sunscreen.

4. Children learn by watching. Not eating dinner together deprives them of valuable skills. I learned this one the hard way. Within one week of us all eating together (with or without Daddy) Hayden learned to drink from a cup, use a spoon and fork, and sit in a regular chair (not a high chair). Lose the high chair as soon as possible. It might save a little mess, but it's not teaching them much.

5. Toddlers don't need bathing suits just to hang out in the backyard.. Just send them out to the wading pool fully clothed. This is so much easier and protects them so much better from the sun than some skimpy swimming trunks.

6. Most of the baby gear is optional, even unnecessary.

7. You only need to buy one good sippy cup per child. Since I've done this I've saved myself TONS of dishes and finding weird stuff growing in cups. If there is only one, they know which one is theirs, and you'll never leave anything in there if you know you need to wash it each night. Hayden has the green cup and Corbin the orange version - simple.

8. Just give them water. I stumbled into this one through Hayden's intolerance of juices. He got horrible diaper rash with anything acidic so we avoided juices. Hayden's cup always has water in it, he only gets one other drink and that's milk. Saves a lot of money in the food budget and probably the dentist trips down the road. Since Hayden only drank water, we've started the same thing with Corbin now, and he's just fine with it.

9. Pay attention to what you put in their crib that first year. That random blanket or stuffed animal just might be "THE" blanket or "THE" dog they drag around with them for years. It better wash well because it will be poop and pee covered at some point.

10. Learn to laugh at them and yourself. It's cheaper than drinking.

And an extra...

11. Sometimes you might just need that glass of wine at 5pm - and that's ok.

Trials and Errors of Parenting

This week has been rough. Let's face it, most weeks are rough, haha.

If I suck this much at parenthood now, imagine how suck-tacular I'll be at it in 10 years.

I've been blessed with one of those "strong-willed" children. If you don't have a strong-willed child I'm sure you're throwing on your judging hat right now and getting ready to spout the usual rhetoric about disclipline and consistency. Cause obviously, it must be lacking right?

My answer to that is HA HA HA. Hahahahahahahahaha. I hope your next one is just like mine.

The word stubborn doesn't even fully describe Hayden's personality. By the way, I threw in a pic of Corbin because Hayden's in a phase where he doesn't want his picture taken. Most of my pics these days are of Hayden's back while he runs away.

Just about every parenting advice or philosophy flunks on Hayden. He is a unique child.

For example, we'd been increasingly concerned over how picky Hayden was becoming over food. His dinners often go picked through with only the bread, fruit or cheese eaten. He would only try new foods through force. So I applied the old "Keep serving it until he eats it." So when he didn't eat it at lunch, we served it for dinner, etc. Yeah, he would rather STARVE himself than give in. He got so hungry he woke up early talking about his belly and then still wouldn't eat. When he did finally eat it (through force/coercion) he threw it up. His stomach couldn't handle any heavy foods. So that TOTALLY backfired. He spent the rest of the day eating whatever he wanted - puffs, crackers, bread - all his favorites

Last month we attempted to put the boys in the same room together. Hayden thought it was entertaining to put every toy in the room into Corbin's crib. Including dangerous things like pillows and blankets. He scolded him very seriously about this, but he continued to do it every night from that point on. We went three weeks and still he was doing it every morning. We have now moved Corbin back out of the room.

Don't get me wrong, Hayden is a sweet and extremely loving child. But if he gets something in his mind - no amount of chastisement is going to change it. What I've heard from others is that you have to find their "button" - something they love that is punishment to take away. With Hayden's current communication level this isn't something I can utilize fully right now. Explaining consequences of a more abstract level doesn't click with him. Hopefully, as his speech catches up I'll be able to use some of those techniques. But as of right now - my hair is all pulled out...I hope I make it through this stage.

My new attack plan is to establish a firmer routine, since Hayden responds to routines well. It will also help him with transitions if he knows what to expect each day. With Mark being home right now job hunting, this has been hard - every day seems to be different. But I'll figure it out.

Cheap Meals

It's been awhile, but I haven't forgotten about my "Money Saving Food Tips". I just want to make sure it's a good one before I add it.

Money Saving Food Tip #2:

HEB Seasoned Chicken Leg Quarters! Right now these are going for $1 a lb. Which means you get 4-5 leg quarters for around $3-$4!!! Last night we had a friend over for dinner and it was enough for Mark, our guest, Hayden, and myself to each get a leg quarter and we still had one left over! Well, I ate it later that night it was so good - but does that really count?

They are pre-seasoned and delicious. We grill them out back and then serve them up with whatever veggies we have in the house. I had just purchased a bag of red potatoes at the farmer's market for $2. So our meal cost a whopping $6 dollars for all 4 of us.

We loved these so much (that was the second time we cooked them) that I stocked up on 3 more trays of them this weekend.

These have been a delicious Godsend for us since we're watching money right now - but I just had to pass on the info to you!!