Oh Christmas Tree!

Once again, it's been too long between blogs, but I just had to write about how excited DS1 was helping Daddy decorate the Christmas tree that we finally got put up tonight. He hung most of the ornaments himself. We only needed to do a little rearranging because the tree will be inside the playpen again this year. DS2 still puts everything in his mouth and we don't trust him to not try to eat the tree or the ornaments. DS1 tried to climb up on the side of the playpen, though, so this will probably be the last year we use it. If it doesn't seem safe to just put it on the floor next year we'll have to come up with a new plan.

Blog to a Baby :: Publish Status

Blog to a Baby :: Publish Status

Reading to Baby Brother

It's a good thing that I am keeping this blog for my own enjoyment only and maybe to share with DS in the future. I know I haven't written in a long time. Life with 2 toddlers is quite hectic and it seems that whenever I think of something I want to blog, I'm either nowhere near a computer, or can't take the minute or 2 to login and blog it.

On to the topic of today... last night DS1 read 2 stories to DS2 at bedtime. The last few nights DS1 has been readily climbing up on his bed for bedtime stories. He has been sticking with "Shapes," "Colors," "Words," and "Numbers," which are all lift-the-flap board books with 10 pages each. It was so cute. DS1 was sitting on his bed, with DS2 in Daddy's lap on the floor. DS1 opened the book and read the page, then turned the book around so DS2 could see it, then DS2 lifted the flap. I suspect the way he was holding the book and turning it around is how his daycare teachers read to the kids.

Is Your Preschooler Gifted?

Is Your Preschooler Gifted?

Fall Harvest (Halloween)

At daycare they didn't celebrate Halloween this year, they talked about Fall Harvest. And the kids got to dress up and go to the college campus and "harvest" candy from other people who were dressed up. Hmmmm. It's all symantics.

A co-worker told me that the kids would be breaking a pinata at 10 am, so I went to the building and saw DS1. He had not been interested in any costumes when we went shopping, so last night I turned his orange long sleeve shirt inside out and painted a jack-o-lantern face on it. So we was "a pumpkin face" today. He enjoyed it! The kids got lots of candy and DS1 told me "we're trick or treating". The only part that I didn't care for was the pinata. The bigger (4-5 yr olds) had fun taking turns hitting it with a plastic bat, but it took an adult male several whacks to get it to break. Then the mad rush to pick up candy from the floor. DS1 was standing back and seemed a bit overwhelmed. I thought, "Great, teach the kids to be greedy and push their friends." DS1 did pick up a few pieces of candy, and there were adults up above (it was in an atrium area) dropping more candy away from the center so every kid probably did get some candy there. Not that there was any shortage of candy for the kids today, DS1's bag was not quite as big as a grocery shopping bag, and it had a good 2-4" of candy filling it. Quite a haul, actually.

You're Welcome

Yesterday DS1 said "You're Welcome" after I thanked him for something. We have never "taught" him "You're Welcome", just modeled it a lot. We have prompted for "please" and "thank you" on occasion, but don't much anymore. DH says thank you a lot but not please as much. So does DS1... hmmm. :-) DS1 even prompted me for "please" once last week when I asked for something without saying it. It got me thinking a lot about how it feels to be the one being prompted, so I try not to do that anymore.

DiaperFreeBaby -- I'm interested in this because I would like DS1 to start using the toiliet in as natural way as possible.

Alfie Kohn - Parenting - Selected Publications - Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job!" -- At first I thought I would not agree with (or like) this article. Even part way through it I was questioning (which is good, actually). But it made me realize that I am pretty good at this. My son says "I did it!" a lot, and he even said "You did it!" to his little brother when he sucessfully put the ball in the laundry basket.

I also noticed that is probably related a couple of days ago when we visited my dad. My sister and her two daughters were there. The older girl (Dear Niece) is almost 4. (DS1 is 2 1/2.) They got out some puzzles to do. DN asked Grandpa to help. Then DS1 asked for help, too. He doesn't usually ask for help with puzzles, and these were ones that he could easily have done without help. It seemed like when he saw DN "needing help" that he then "needed help" too. I don't know if DN really did need help with the puzzles or that she was wanting interaction, but seeing that behavior copied caught my attention.

Talking well

While doing one of his new jigsaw puzzles this morning, DS1 stuck his tongue out and said, "hair in my mouth". I tried to clear it for him since he didn't seem to be getting it. The great part is that he used to just say, "owie" when he got something like a hair in his mouth.

That incident reminded me that at DS2's birthday party on Sunday, the boys' cousin was surprised at how well DS1 was talking also. He asked me, "How long has he been talking?" I said that it has been quite a long time now. Since I don't have very many other references, I sometimes forget that his development is pretty impressive for a 2 1/2 year old.

finally waking up: Pictures! -- I posted my first comment on someone else's blog!

Update

Gee, I haven't written in a long time. DS1 has done a bunch of cute things lately. Yesterday was DS1's birthday, and after DH and I sang "Happy Birthday" to DS2, DS1 said "Happy Birthday to me," wanting us to sing to him to. So we did. :-) He can hop like a frog, with hands and feet, and moving forward. And he "hops like a Tigger", jumping straight up and sometimes landing on his feet, and sometimes landing on his bottom. I told him that it's a good thing that he has thick cushy cloth diapers on, or that landing like that would hurt.

Yesterday when we gave DS2 his birthday gift (a dog that barks and "sings" BINGO), we gave DS1 a set of 4 puzzles with 25 pieces each. I believe that these are the biggest puzzles that he has ever tried to do. The age range on them says "3-7". He isn't yet 2 1/2! He can do them all by himself! The first one took 13 minutes from the time we started unwrapping, until the last piece was in. A couple of times I handed him a piece and said, "try this one," (but without suggesting where he try it). It was hard to not help, but I'm really glad I didn't. He is so quick with puzzles it amazes me. I think he impressed his aunts and uncles today at DS2's birthday party, too. We took the puzzles so he would have something to play with while the adults were setting up and sitting around talking.

Reminiscing

Last night I talked with a friend who confided that she and her husband are using fertility treatment. I told her about my blog. Hi, J. After pointing her to the first entry this morning I started reading it again myself. It's been almost 3 1/2 years since I started blogging. This blog has evolved quite a bit. First it was fertility treatment, then pregnancy, then baby stuff. Now I have Blog To Another Baby also, that I started when I became pregnant the 2nd time. Life keeps changing!

Wisconsin Stem Cell Research Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison

NIH Stem Cell Information Home Page

Embryonic Stem Cell Research at UW-Madison -- I finally talked with the Dr. at Univ. Wisconsin about our embryo donation for stem cell research. We have had the papers for a couple of months but were not supposed to sign them until talking with a doctor from UW. He asked a few medical-like questions and a few psycological / reasons for doing this -like questions. Part of the reason for the questions is to help us clarify / confirm our decision, and part of it is to compare t he reasons that folks in the western hemisphere donate to reasons that folks in the eastern hemisphere (he mentioned Australia) donate for stem cell research.

Cuteness on the playground

Today while I was in DS2's room at daycare (for lunch nursing), DS1's class was out on the playground. One of DS1's friends saw me and DS2 through the window and started shouting for DS1. When he didn't come, the friend went and got him and brought him to the window, holding his hand. It was so cute! Then both big boys were waving & saying "hi" & knocking on the window. The friend started making faces to get DS2 to laugh, and DS1 started copying him. I've never seen DS1 stick his fingers on his cheeks like that to make a face before. He would look over at the other boy and then do what he was doing. That was cute, too.

International Children's Digital Library - Read free children books online -- This link was sent to me today by an unschooling email list that I read. It looks great so far!

KatsLair.com Version: Dangerous - a teen's own unschool page

Email to Unschooling In The Midwest group

Hi, I'm Nancy.

I'm mom to 2 boys, ages 25 months & 8 months. I love watching my sons figure things out and learn on their own, so I am learning all I can about homeschooling (specifically unschooling) now. I really like that the more I learn about unschooling, the more I like it and the more I realize how it is right for me. (Take learning about homeschooling and unschooling, for instance. :-) I hope that over the course of the next 3 years (before the older boy is supposed to enroll in school) I can demonstrate to my husband that it is the right way to go for the boys, too.

As a perfect example, my 2 year old son loves jigsaw puzzles. He is a whiz at them. Last Sunday a friend from church gave him 3 books, each with 5 12 piece puzzles. The frame is a plain rectangle and there are not lines to help show where the pieces go. He has only worked on puzzles with standard jigsaw shapes a few times. Last night (only 4 days after he got them) I watched him to one completely by himself.

What is Unschooling? - LeapingFromTheBox.com

Transition week

DS1 is "transitioning" from his 1-2 year olds room to the 2-3 year olds room this week. At lunch I peeked in on him in the older room. They were just getting ready for nap. His (current) teacher told me that he went over there before breakfast & was doing very well. I think it helped that one of the assistants that has been in his room all semester is in the older room 2 days a week for the summer (and today was the first day of that schedule). I hope things go well this week!

Puddles are fun

This morning on the way in to daycare, DS1 found a small puddle. We stopped and he stomped and splashed. I smiled. Then we went in.

Car trouble

On the way home from work Tuesday night, we lost power steering. We were only about a mile from home, so I figured I could make it. About a block later, the "electrical systems" light (the battery shaped one) came on. I drove slowly. Soon the temperature started to rise. When it hit the red I pulled over and stopped. We walked home from there. Fortunately it was only about 5 more blocks, no more than 1/2 a mile. After we got home, DH reminded me that the wagon was in the trunk. Oh well. DS2 rode in the sling, and DS1 did really well walking. He held my hand and we went "fast" a few times for fun.

Yesterday and today we have been down to 1 car. The good news is that we know that both carseats will fit in "Daddy's car" now. The bad news is that it is costing over $800 to fix things. We want to get a new vehicle and are hoping to be able to hold out and wait until Toyota's hybrid SUV comes out next spring. DH's parents have a Prius now and really like it. We have ridden in it (before kids) and liked it too, but it's not big enough for all 4 of us + luggage. Hopefully the car will be ready at the end of the day today, like the serviceman said yesterday.

Field trip to the zoo

DS1 is going to the zoo on a field trip this morning. This is his first daycare field trip that neither I nor DH are going along. I dropped off his carseat (along with his wagon) this morning.

Toddlers: To Tame or to Trust - The Natural Child Project

Surviving the Toddler Years - The Natural Child Project

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Saturday was DS1's 2nd birthday. We got him a wagon (to share with DS2) a 3-CD set of Toddler games (Pooh, Mickey, Roly Poly Olie), and a puzzle of his name. We had cupcakes with dinner but he didn't quite "get" blowing out the candles. On Sunday we had a family dinner at Ryan's (a restaurant). Almost everyone was there. One SIL and 2 of her kids didn't make it, but my brother who works out of town waited until after the dinner / party to return. DS1 got several nice presents from his aunts, uncles, and cousins. He got money from Papa (my dad), and got an outfit and 2 books from Grandma & Grandpa (DH's parents). He also got 2 shirts from his daycare teacher.

Speaking of daycare. He will be moving up to the 2-3 year old room soon. They normally do it within a week of the child's 2nd birthday. However, the teacher is going to be changing rooms at the end the semester (mid-May), so DS1 and a couple of other kids in the other toddler room will wait and move together after the new summer teacher is selected. I am really glad about that, because I was concerned that DS1 would get moved to the new room, just start to get used to things, then have the teacher leave.

DS1 is doing so many things now. He is talking a lot, and other people can understand him a lot, too, not just Mom and Dad. :-) He is climbing stairs holding onto the railing or our hand (if the railing is too high). Sometimes he even steps directly to the next step (L-step R-next step) instead of both feet onto the same one (L-step R-same step L-next step). He is a whiz at puzzles, easily doing those with individual spots for the pieces and able to do "toddler / 2-4 yr" puzzles with 8-12 pieces. He can do puzzles where the shapes go along with parts of the picture, and he can do simple ones where the pieces are shaped like "normal" puzzle pieces.

Au Pair in America - My niece is considering going to college where I work. Since she lives out of the county, she must either live in the dorms or with a relative. Even though I recommend the dorms, we have offered to let her live with us. This webpage has some Au Pair tips that might be relevant to us, even though she isn't going to be doing that much child care and isn't from another country.

Mothering Magazine -- Anger Management for Moms: "Let's face it, most stuff with kids is small stuff." -- This line is a good one. Yesterday evening, while DS2 was asleep and DH had just left for several hours, I put DS1's silverware in the dishwasher after dinner. He saw me do it. He didn't want me to close the dishwasher. I closed it anyway and he started crying and saying "open". After a couple of minutes of talking to him and trying to distract him, I just wondered, "why not open?" So I opened the dishwasher instead. He pulled out some silverware, and we talked about dishes, silverware, and even counted some. After a couple of minutes, he put the silverware back (after I asked him to), then he pushed the rolling drawer back in (without being asked), and closed the dishwasher. I'm glad I recognized that a couple of minutes playing with dirty dishes was better than several minutes of crying and having both of us going into the rest of the evening in a bad mood.

Upperroom | Devotional - God's Waves - a nice reminder of how children and parents can be reminder of God's interaction with humans.

The Unprocessed Child: Living Without School - Free Sample Chapter

Strewing Their Paths -- Today have been a very unworking day. I missed 2 hours, separately for dropping off my car for some recall work, then picking it up again. I've been reading a lot. I realized that I still learn best in the unschooling way. I've been reading like crazy about something that interests me right now, but have barely looked at a book that I "need" to read for work.

I've even thought of offering to homeschool my sister's kids (one is 3 1/2 now & the other is due this week). I know that 4 kids would normally be "a handful" if the adult was trying to get them to do the same thing at the same time. But in unschooling, that wouldn't be necessary at all. I'm even starting to try to come up with a catchy sounding name for our unaccredited private school (which is what Kansas homeschoolers have to be).

Mary Griffith - On Unschooling -- Saving some more links for future reference.

Late Night Learning

Exploration Place

DS1's daycare class went to a children's museum / activity center called Exploration Place on a field trip this morning. I went too. It was great fun! I tried not to point him toward or away from anything in particular. He loved climbing up a spiral staircase (about 2 floors worth) and checking out what was up there. I did carry him down, though, because they were metal and pretty tall, and very narrow at the center of the spiral. Since I didn't have a watch to know when our hour ("meet back here in an hour") was up, I did get a little nervous and we went looking for the others when all but 1 of the other kids and adults were no longer in sight. He kept saying "Wow! Wow! Wow!" when we got to the airplane / flight room. He also did very well taking turns with another boy (older, and not from our daycare) riding the 10 foot long "roller coaster". It was a great morning!

Unschooling.com's Message Boards -- Kansas Connections

NHEN New to Homeschooling - main page - Beginning Considering - Homeschooling Information from the National Home Education Network

Sandra Dodd on Unschooling

Unschooling the Gifted Child: Defining the Challenge from Within -- the definitions and information here may be very important for our family soon.

What is Unschooling? -- Mama's fantasy du jour.

When a Child Says "No." - The Natural Child Project -- We're starting to get lots of "no" answers and statements from DS1. I do already talk to him about his feelings and acknowledge that he is sad or hurt or upset. This goes a step further, though.

American Infertility Association Press Release: First IVF Registry - I read about this in Prevention magazine. I want to register DS1. I believe it is good to help with research, for the good of society and also for our possible benefit. I have not found out how to get him on the registry yet. It will be interesting to compare his general health with his younger brother, who was conceived without any medical assistance.

I did it!

DS1 spoke a complete 3 word sentence this morning: I did it. We were putting pop-beads together, and he hooked the 2 ends together to make a circle, then clearly said, "I did it." Wow!

Is Your Child Ready? -- DS1 shows some toilet training signs or being ready, but we're going to wait a while yet. We do encourage him to sit on his toilet whenever he wants, and he often sits next to it on the floor when having a BM in his diaper.

Chart Jungle's Free Charts

Bed!

DS1 slept in his new toddler bed all night last night. We did find him on the floor (with his blanket) about 11pm, right before we went to bed. DH lifted him back onto the bed and he didn't wake up, so we don't know if he crawled out of bed with his blanket or if he rolled out (onto 2 pillows that are there just for that reason) and didn't wake up.

Preschool Activities

Preschool Activities

K12: Education for a Lifetime - Online Education, K-12 Curriculum, Virtual School, Homeschool, Home School, History, Math, Language Arts, Science, Music, Art, Cyber School, Cyberschool

Dad's and Mom's Corners, by Steve and Teri Maxwell -- I have read many of these articles so far and am getting a lot out of them.

Dad's and Mom's Corners, by Steve and Teri Maxwell

Managers of Their Homes, a book by Steve and Teri Maxwell, on Titus 2

Suggested Readings on Homeschooling

Five in a Row: First Things First

Five in a Row: In the end ...

Five In A Row

Here are several links to FIAR, a method / curriculum for using early reading for life long learning preparation (and homeschooling, too).
Five in a Row: Parents Treasury of Creative Ideas for Learning Readiness

Bedtime issues

We are still having trouble at bedtime. DS1 cries and even kicks when DH is holding him. When put in his crib, he cries and reaches out to be picked up. What's a parent to do? Finally, after a couple of 5 minutes crying in bed alone, and being held but still crying, I went into the bedroom too, and DS1 calmed down and was asleep in 5 minutes. The odd part is that I didn't hold, touch, or even talk to him. I just sat down (holding DS2) on the footstool by DH and DS1. DS1 saw me and stopped crying in less than a minute, and after a couple more minutes he was out cold.

His daycare provider says that it could be a stage of not wanting to miss anything else that is going on. And when he sees that we are all in there, then he knows he's not missing anything and will go to sleep. Also, having a standard bedtime routine (even if the time has to fluctuate based on our evening schedule) might help.

Sleep, glorious sleep

After a really rough night Monday, last night was wonderful! DS1 had a bit of resistance getting to bed, but that is common when DH is gone and DS2 is awake and needy at DS1's bedtime. Finally they were both asleep. DS1 slept until I woke him a little after 7 this morning. DS2 woke only 2 times during the night to eat, one of which was about 5 minutes before my alarm clock.

Mothering Magazine -- Experts -- About a 2 year old waking a lot at night.

I haven't blogged in quite a while. We had a nice break from work and daycare. We drove from Kansas to Idaho (2.5 days in the car each way) to celebrate Christmas with paternal Grandma and Grandpa, and had a good visit. DS1 has fought getting into the carseat both mornings this week but is fine after a few minutes on the road and is happy to arrive at daycare. This morning he even fought getting dressed. On a happier note, he said "cracker bath" which means "my cracker is in the bathtub" after throwing it in there while I was getting ready this morning.

Mothering Magazine -- No Time for Teaching: Spontaneous Learning at Home