Totally Toddler Thrusday - Mar 24

Mikey seems to be settling in and really enjoying our new place. He loves going up and down the stairs. He seems to go down in three different ways. One is walking while holding someone's hand (usually Daddy), the second is going down on his bum (usually with me because I will sit and go down with him) and the third is going down on his stomach feet first (by himself). The last way he can fly down really fast. I know he learned this from his cousin, and when they are together, they have races.

Earlier this week we went to the dollar store and picked up a few wall sticker sheets for his room. They are adorable, and he really seems to like them. There were 4 kits:

- race car which is above the head of his bed, and doesn't match anything else, but Daddy insisted on it.

- cartoon-y animals. He LOVES these, and points at each one and makes the noise or says the name (bear, lion, elephant). They come out as grr, grr, elly.

- cartoon-y humanized bunnies with a ball, balloons and dots. He loves to point out the ball (ba-ba) and balloons (ba-ba-ba).

- giraffe scene. There were two tall giraffes with cactuses, and I put the small giraffe from the cartoon set with a few branches all along one wall. I love this little family scene.

I also want to get a glow-in-the dark star kit to put higher up on the wall above the giraffes. I think it would be cute.

Mikey has also decided that when he drinks his milk, he needs to cuddle on my lap in his rocking chair, in his room. Which is a bit inconvenient, but very cute. And I love the cuddle time. He is really big into hugs and kisses still. He also plays with Daddy about it. If Daddy asks for a kiss, Mikey comes and gives me 10-15 kisses, while ignoring Daddy. Who makes a big deal of it, and tries to get Mikey's attention. It's a hugely popular game right now.

Totally Toddler Thursday - Mar 17

Just one little story today.

Last night, Mikey fell asleep the faster I have ever seen him do before. We went out to browse Rona for some shelving for the new place. We forgot the stroller, and since Mikey hates regular shopping carts (shout out to Home Depot who have awesome carts where kids face forward and have a steering wheel!), he alternated between walking and me carrying him. He is getting way too heavy for me to carry him. He also tends to lean back a bit, which makes it super awkward. This week, I have felt my hip start to lock twice while carrying him. Not good!

Anyway, at one point I was carrying him, and he decided he wanted Daddy instead. So I happily handed him over. He gave Daddy a hug, did a great big yawn, closed his eyes and passed out cold. Completely dead asleep. Didn't stir when I put him in the car, took him out, took his coat and shoes off, or put him in bed. Normally each step has him waking to look around, and then falling back asleep. And all this happened between 7 and 7:30, an hour before his normal bedtime. Tired boy!

Giveaway reminders:

* My giveaway for an adorable children's bowtie is open until Sunday evening, March 20. Enter on the giveaway post. Open to US/Can.
* The Lucky Leprechaun Hop is open until Sunday evening, March 20. I am hosting my giveaway on my book blog, and have several prizes. Open internationally.

Toddler Thursday Mar 10

 

This week I thought I'd talk a little bit about television. I am one of the those "horrible" moms who lets their kid watch tv. We often have it on for background noise, however I have been turing it off more often lately. We usually tune to either Treehouse or Playhouse Disney. They are both kid appropriate channels with no commercials.

Mikey usually tunes in for a bit, then goes off to play. There are a few shows that he really likes though.

1. Special Agent Oso - This is Mikey's current favorite show. When he hears the theme music start, he runs to watch. Points at the tv and yells "Oso, oso, oso" until someone agrees with him. He dances to the opening music. And watches transfixed by the whole episode.

2. In the Night Garden - The opening shows a little kid in bed, with circles being drawn in his palm. When the show starts, Mikey wants to snuggle and have this done to him too. And when the show ends, and Iggle-piggle waves goodnight, Mikey waves and says "bye" until the credits stop rolling.

3. Waybaloo - Mikey loves the "yogo" portion. He sometimes copies them a bit. But mostly he watches the little kids and cheers whenever they do.

4. Bobs and Lolo - Mikey loves dancing to their songs. They are more a commercial on Treehouse, but they have great songs. I should probably buy a CD of them.

5. Four Square - Mikey especially loves the movement segment. He has begun copying the movements with them. Although I always question the need for their spandex suits.

Do you let your kids watch tv? Do they prefer any particular shows?

Totally Toddler Thursday - Mar 3

This week was a bit of a change. It's the first week of no babysitter, of stay-at-home Daddy time. It was accompanied by a lot of less sleeping at night, a lot more tantrums, and huge crying fits when Mommy left for work (which of course stopped a min after she left, but she didn't get to see that).

We pulled the wagon out of the trunk with the intention of Daddy and Mikey walks, but winter returned and was freezing with severe wind. So hopefully the weather improves and the wagon can venture outside. For now, it apparently makes a great spot to eat a snack.

There was lots of wrestling and blanket forts. Playing with dudes and colouring on the iPad. Mikey seems to prefer that over actual colouring with crayons.

There were visits with the babysitter so his son and Mikey could play.

Lots of activities. But no pictures.

Coming up, there will be packing and cleaning as we prepare to move. And hopefully some adventures outside. Daddy has asked for lists to places to visit around our new place, and activities to do. Which I will try to provide, if I can find the time. Not sure why I have to do it instead of him, but whatever. I enjoy browsing everyone's ideas and activities.

Toddler Thursday Feb 24

This week was busy. We went to the bouncy castle awesome-ness on Monday (see post from Tuesday).

Going backwards, the weather was beautiful on Sunday. We had a few amazing days, and most of the snow melted. So we decided to go to the park, and see if we could use our wagon. We got the wagon at Christmas, put it in the trunk of the car to bring home, and then couldn't get it out. Since it was snowy and we have no place to store it, we just left it.

Well we decided it needed to come out. A quick look confirmed it was too big to go out through the back seats. It is about half an inch too big to get out of the trunk. It took some work, but we found out that if one person pushed down on the trunk edge and the other person pulled really hard, it was possible to get it out. Quite a bit of work!

On the plus side, Mikey loves the wagon. We walked all over the place, and not once did he try to climb out. In fact, when we got back to the car and took him out, he immediately got upset and tried to climb back in. There was quite a little tantrum when I tried to strap him in the car.

I am guessing that the wagon will be used quite a bit this summer.

Yes, those are cheesies. His favourite snack!

Totally Toddler Thursday - Feb 17

I received a very cute Valentine from my little man this week. Daddy and Mikey did some crafting and creating a man for me to keep at work.

Daddy did most of the work, but Mikey did all the gluing. Apparently he really likes gluing. So it's probably a good thing I bought a bunch of craft supplies for him to play with.

Mikey has not been having a good week so far. He got quite a few cat scratches at the babysitter's on Tuesday. That night he started running a fever around 103. Needless to say, neither of us slept much. And there wasn't much sleep happening yesterday during the day either. His fever broke around suppertime. He went to sleep fine, but woke up around midnight with the fever back.

Apparently he and Daddy played from 1-3 am since neither were asleep. I was definitely a sleep and heard nothing. They both woke up this morning only minutes before I left for work. Hopefully today is a better day.