Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
I do it me ownself.
I have finally faced the facts. I have a toddler. A toddler who wants to be independent. A toddler who is 'spirited', stubborn and somewhat short tempered. With us as his parents can we really expect any different?
Earlier this week I was getting frustrated with feeding Jackson. Every meal consisted of him screaming, craning his head away from the dreaded spoon in mommy's hand, clamping his mouth shut, and glaring at me. If I could manage to cram a spoonful into his mouth he would thoughtfully eat it, then start clapping and happily eat more. Until the next course, then the whole process started again. It was frustrating and irritating. After asking some other moms of toddlers for suggestions or insight I realized that all these dramatics were simply because he wanted to do it himself. He wasn't my little baby anymore who couldn't feed himself. He can and wants to do it himself.
So for the past few days I have been putting his food in his little plastic bowls and handing over his chubby little fork and spoon and watching him go to town. He's doing a remarkable job and makes only a slight mess. Luckily he hasn't started throwing his food on the floor yet (knock wood), and only occasionally runs his fork or spoon through his hair. At the suggestion of one of my friends, when he is wearing a long sleeve shirt then meal time become naked baby time too. But for the most part he ends up with a messy face and hands and that's it. But he certainly enjoys doing it! He is so proud of himself and enjoys the constant praise from mommy whenever he gets a big spoonful into his mouth, or when he successfully stabs something with his fork and gets it into his mouth.
He's getting to be such a big boy. Bittersweet.
Earlier this week I was getting frustrated with feeding Jackson. Every meal consisted of him screaming, craning his head away from the dreaded spoon in mommy's hand, clamping his mouth shut, and glaring at me. If I could manage to cram a spoonful into his mouth he would thoughtfully eat it, then start clapping and happily eat more. Until the next course, then the whole process started again. It was frustrating and irritating. After asking some other moms of toddlers for suggestions or insight I realized that all these dramatics were simply because he wanted to do it himself. He wasn't my little baby anymore who couldn't feed himself. He can and wants to do it himself.
So for the past few days I have been putting his food in his little plastic bowls and handing over his chubby little fork and spoon and watching him go to town. He's doing a remarkable job and makes only a slight mess. Luckily he hasn't started throwing his food on the floor yet (knock wood), and only occasionally runs his fork or spoon through his hair. At the suggestion of one of my friends, when he is wearing a long sleeve shirt then meal time become naked baby time too. But for the most part he ends up with a messy face and hands and that's it. But he certainly enjoys doing it! He is so proud of himself and enjoys the constant praise from mommy whenever he gets a big spoonful into his mouth, or when he successfully stabs something with his fork and gets it into his mouth.
He's getting to be such a big boy. Bittersweet.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Some great blogs.
There are a couple blogs that I read pretty regularly.
One, in particular, is about a mom of two kids and it's funny and sweet at the same time. My favorite post that she's done so far is this one: http://mom-101.blogspot.com/2008/08/truth-about-two.html
Another hilarious blog is: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ This one has me laughing every time I read it.
You should check them out. And let me know of any blogs you enjoy reading!
One, in particular, is about a mom of two kids and it's funny and sweet at the same time. My favorite post that she's done so far is this one: http://mom-101.blogspot.com/2008/08/truth-about-two.html
Another hilarious blog is: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ This one has me laughing every time I read it.
You should check them out. And let me know of any blogs you enjoy reading!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Our fantastic new soon-to-be double stroller!
Shortly after finding out that we were going to have another baby in December we started researching double strollers. There was no way I was going to buy one of those double wide or double long strollers! What a pain in the butt to push one of those in a store, on a sidewalk, through a doorway, not to mention folding one of those suckers up and cramming it into my car trunk! We would have had to buy a minivan just to transport our stroller.
Then I found the Phil and Ted's stroller. I fell in love with it. It is basically a single sport stroller that you can buy an additional 'jumper seat' for. The seat can either go onto the back of the stroller, or onto the top of the stroller. Without the jumper seat it is still the same size as a normal jogging stroller (actually smaller than our Zooper stroller). With the jumper seat on the back it is slightly longer. The only downside with this stroller is that it is more expensive than we could justify spending right now. Especially with my stroller addiction (although I think it is normal to own 3 different strollers, they each have their own function!).
Then while Brian's family was visiting us, Beth (Brian's grandma) surprised us and told us she would buy us our stroller!! Whoo Hoo!!!! So off to the kids store we went. They didn't have the jumper seat in stock right now so we have the single stroller and then when the second seat comes in they will give us a call. Not that we are in any hurry for it right now! This is a photo of the box the stroller came in (cracked us up!).
Of course the stroller required some assembly. ARGH!!! The instructions were ridiculous, they were mainly photos (but very hard to see photos) and the crappiest of worded descriptions! But we did get it figured out.
Once the stroller was all put together Jackson decided to have some fun with the boxes. Serves me right. I was just telling my 'fake friends' on the internet that Jackson has no interest in climbing. He has never tried to climb up on a couch or a chair. He's never attempted to climb up on something on the ground. Nothing. Until now.
Finally he can reach all of Mommy's books. Fantastic. And he will bring the boxes over there and pile them to reach the books. Smart little bugger!
Then I found the Phil and Ted's stroller. I fell in love with it. It is basically a single sport stroller that you can buy an additional 'jumper seat' for. The seat can either go onto the back of the stroller, or onto the top of the stroller. Without the jumper seat it is still the same size as a normal jogging stroller (actually smaller than our Zooper stroller). With the jumper seat on the back it is slightly longer. The only downside with this stroller is that it is more expensive than we could justify spending right now. Especially with my stroller addiction (although I think it is normal to own 3 different strollers, they each have their own function!).
Then while Brian's family was visiting us, Beth (Brian's grandma) surprised us and told us she would buy us our stroller!! Whoo Hoo!!!! So off to the kids store we went. They didn't have the jumper seat in stock right now so we have the single stroller and then when the second seat comes in they will give us a call. Not that we are in any hurry for it right now! This is a photo of the box the stroller came in (cracked us up!).
Of course the stroller required some assembly. ARGH!!! The instructions were ridiculous, they were mainly photos (but very hard to see photos) and the crappiest of worded descriptions! But we did get it figured out.
Once the stroller was all put together Jackson decided to have some fun with the boxes. Serves me right. I was just telling my 'fake friends' on the internet that Jackson has no interest in climbing. He has never tried to climb up on a couch or a chair. He's never attempted to climb up on something on the ground. Nothing. Until now.
Finally he can reach all of Mommy's books. Fantastic. And he will bring the boxes over there and pile them to reach the books. Smart little bugger!
Our trip up island
We got back yesterday afternoon from our trip to Comox. It was a great weekend! We got to our hotel at a good time, got all settled and then went into Courtenay for dinner.
Jackson woke up many many times through the night on Saturday night. It all started with just his normal waking up around 10pm and was pretty easy to get back to sleep. Then he woke up again around 11:15pm with a night terror. If you've never experienced a child with a night terror it is a horrible thing. He was doing this terrible frantic cry that just hurt your heart. There was nothing we could do to make it stop until we were finally able to fully wake him up. He acts like he is wide awake the whole time but he's actually still asleep. Once he was awake we took him out onto the balcony and he hung out with us for a few minutes, happy as a clam. Then he went back to sleep fairly easily. He did wake up a few more times through the night because he also got a cold. Doesn't it figure, go away for a little vacation and he gets a cold!!
On Sunday we drove up to Mount Washington. Brian and I have lived on Vancouver Island for 3 years and have never been to Mount Washington! It was only about half an hour from Courtenay/Comox and the drive was quite pretty. Once we got to the village we went for lunch and then took a chairlift to the top of the mountain. The lift took about 15 minutes and the view was spectacular. Jackson was not too sure what to think about the ride. He sat between Brian and I and I made sure we both had a hold of him (Brian thought I was being paranoid but I did not care!).
At the top of the mountain we hiked around a bit so that we could take in all the views. You could see all the island mountains, as well as some on the mainland. You could see all the other islands and the cities down below. It was really pretty.
Jackson loved being able to hike around and did NOT want to be carried at all! He's quite the little daredevil! Luckily the trails were fairly easy to navigate and somewhat groomed. He only fell and scraped up his lip once. It wouldn't be an adventure without a little blood!
On the chairlift ride back down Jackson decided he wasn't as fond of the journey. He was tired and a bit antsy so he kept trying to get onto Brian's lap, then my lap, then between us, and back again. It was a little nerve-wracking being up that high with a squirmy little toddler, but we all made it to solid ground.
After our trip to Mount Washington we headed back to Comox and went for a walk along a boardwalk. We saw fish, crabs and seals among the boats. Jackson didn't care about any of that, he just wanted to push his stroller along the boardwalk. Mr.Independent.
All in all it was a good trip. A fantastic way for Brian's family to end their visit (I hope it was at least!). They headed out today for the return leg of their journey. I hope they have a great drive!
Jackson woke up many many times through the night on Saturday night. It all started with just his normal waking up around 10pm and was pretty easy to get back to sleep. Then he woke up again around 11:15pm with a night terror. If you've never experienced a child with a night terror it is a horrible thing. He was doing this terrible frantic cry that just hurt your heart. There was nothing we could do to make it stop until we were finally able to fully wake him up. He acts like he is wide awake the whole time but he's actually still asleep. Once he was awake we took him out onto the balcony and he hung out with us for a few minutes, happy as a clam. Then he went back to sleep fairly easily. He did wake up a few more times through the night because he also got a cold. Doesn't it figure, go away for a little vacation and he gets a cold!!
On Sunday we drove up to Mount Washington. Brian and I have lived on Vancouver Island for 3 years and have never been to Mount Washington! It was only about half an hour from Courtenay/Comox and the drive was quite pretty. Once we got to the village we went for lunch and then took a chairlift to the top of the mountain. The lift took about 15 minutes and the view was spectacular. Jackson was not too sure what to think about the ride. He sat between Brian and I and I made sure we both had a hold of him (Brian thought I was being paranoid but I did not care!).
At the top of the mountain we hiked around a bit so that we could take in all the views. You could see all the island mountains, as well as some on the mainland. You could see all the other islands and the cities down below. It was really pretty.
Jackson loved being able to hike around and did NOT want to be carried at all! He's quite the little daredevil! Luckily the trails were fairly easy to navigate and somewhat groomed. He only fell and scraped up his lip once. It wouldn't be an adventure without a little blood!
On the chairlift ride back down Jackson decided he wasn't as fond of the journey. He was tired and a bit antsy so he kept trying to get onto Brian's lap, then my lap, then between us, and back again. It was a little nerve-wracking being up that high with a squirmy little toddler, but we all made it to solid ground.
After our trip to Mount Washington we headed back to Comox and went for a walk along a boardwalk. We saw fish, crabs and seals among the boats. Jackson didn't care about any of that, he just wanted to push his stroller along the boardwalk. Mr.Independent.
All in all it was a good trip. A fantastic way for Brian's family to end their visit (I hope it was at least!). They headed out today for the return leg of their journey. I hope they have a great drive!
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