Hannah Grace,
You are just one month shy of one and a half years old! That means you are closing in on two! Which means you will be heading off to college soon....well, maybe not, but it sure feels that way sometimes.
Your vocabulary has really taken off in the last month. You can now say at least 20 words. Here's a list of all the ones I can think of: mama, dada, han(hannah), gaga(grandma/grandpa), papa(her other grandfathers name), buhbus(bubbles, our dog), boober(blueberries), buhbuh(bye bye), bath, boo-boo, chee(cheese), hat, wawa(water), baba(baby), baba(Barney), emo(Elmo), ball, uh-oh, coo kee(cookie), nah(no), up. You also said your first sentence a few days ago.."more please", but I think it might have been a coincidence because you haven't repeated it since. Instead you just sign it. You sign lots of words too: please, eat, more, love, all done, thank you, yes, no, duck (along with a quacking sound), bird, and fish (my favorite...you smack your little lips together).
You still love your baby dolls and are constantly holding one or looking for one to hold. Our latest trick to help with diaper changes is to tell you that your doll, Tyler, needs a new diaper. (As a side note, that doll used to be daddy's when he was your age). We lay him on the floor and you come over to "help". You lay next to him and we talk about what a good job you both are doing. :). You love to dance with your baby dolls, give them kisses ("mmmmm"), feed them ("nom nom"), and put them to bed ("buhbuh"). You are going to be the best mommy some day!
Speaking of dancing, everytime you hear music (at home or in a random public place) you just have to dance. You start bouncing up and down and swaying side to side. It is adorable! Just today you were holding one of your baby dolls and we turned on some music. You immediately started dancing. You held your baby doll's hands and moved her around in an effort to make her dance too. I guess dancing is in your genes! I can't wait to sign you up for your first dance class!
You know most of your body parts now. You don't say them, but you point to them on a baby in a picture or yourself. You can also find them on mommy or daddy. Here are the ones you know: head, hair, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, ears, arm, hand, fingers, belly, legs, feet, and toes.
Daytime sleep is still a very rare commodity, but thankfully you are still a champion nighttime sleeper. You normally sleep 11.5-12 hours at night, without a peep! However, you never sleep more than one hour during the day. But I'm okay with that. It just means I get to spend more time with you every day! :)
You have unfortunately hit a very whiny stage. You have 4 molars coming in all at once, so that probably explains it, but man is it exhausting. You really gave us a run for our money last night when we were trying to have a nice family dinner at a local restaurant. You didn't want to sit in the highchair, you didn't want to sit in the booster seat, you didn't want to sit in either of our laps, you didn't want to stand up next to the booth, you didn't want to eat any of the food I brought....it was exhausting! We managed to shovel our food in and then at the end of the meal, you started screaming for "baba" (Barney) when we realized we had not used all our tricks. Daddy quickly pulled out his iPhone and started your favorite Barney episode! Thank you YouTube!! Why hadn't you asked for that earlier? You stood on the floor with the iPhone on the booth and your chin resting in your hands, SILENT and content! Ahhh. We got to eat the final two pieces of sushi in peace. Oh the life of a parent with a toddler...so luxurious! ;)
In an effort to not make this letter go on and on, here is a list of other things you have been up to this month:
- You weigh 26 pounds now and are still around 32.5 inches tall
- You are officially done using a pacifier and have dropped down to one nap per day.
- We had a lot of family time this month, with MeMaw and PaPaw and Aunt Audrey, Uncle Buddy, Cody, and Kyle coming to visit for a whole week and a trip to Panama City to see Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Julie, and Uncle Chris. You loved seeing everyone and were vey spoiled! ;)
- You can throw a ball overhand.
- You are obsessed with Barney! You ask to watch it all day long. I limit you to one episode per day, while I am preparing dinner. It really is the highlight of your day.
- You got 3 new teeth this month.
- You are still wearing a size 4 diaper during the day and size 5 overnights at night. However, this month we started using cloth again as well.
- You now wear a size 6 shoe....your favorite brown (and very smelly) size 5 shoes no longer fit, which really made you sad.
Hannah Grace, you are something else! You are full of energy, full of love and full of surprises. Mommy and Daddy love you so much! We were just talking about how much we love you today. We think we love you more than any other parent in the world (of course, this is probably not true, but it feels that way to us). We are always aware of what a special gift you are to us. A little over two years ago now, we had come to the end of our rope in trying to have a baby. It just wasn't happening and we were devastated. And then came you! God was so faithful to us and we will never forget that. Even on the days when we are practically falling asleep while reading you a bedtime story or when we are shoveling food into our mouths in an effort to get out of the restaurant, we will always love you! You are the answer to so many prayers! We love you BIG!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
16 Months
Sweet Hannah,
Today you are 16 months old. You are nearly a year and a half. Wow. We have had another whirlwind month of growth and change.
Here's what you have been up to in the last month:
- You weigh 24.3 lbs and are 32.5 inches tall
- You still wear size 4 diapers during the day and size 5 overnight diapers at night.
- You are still wearing 18-24 month clothes and most of your 12 month clothes are getting too small.
- You wear a size 5 or 6 shoe.
- You now have 9 teeth...four on the bottom and 5 on the top.
- You can now use a fork pretty well. A spoon is not quite as easy, but we are practicing.
- You can sign several words: please, more, eat, all done, love, fish, cat, duck, bird, bunny, yes (you shake your head), no (again, you shake your head), and thank you (sometimes).
- You can say a lot of words too: mama, dada, buhbes (bubbles, our dog or the soap ones), buh buh (bye bye), ba (baby), buhber (blueberries), staber (strawberries), bah (ball), gaga (grandma or grandpa), mamaa (MeMaw), and papa (papaw).
- You make lots of sounds too: quack quack (duck), moo (cow), panting (dog), and brrr (car or plane).
- You are a climber! You love to climb on the couch and chairs and are getting very good at getting on and off.
- You run everywhere and very rarely fall. However, your knees are definitely showing the signs of being a toddler. You love to be outside, but the ground is a lot harder to navigate out there, which causes you to trip every so often. You have had bloody knees a lot this month, with the worst fall being at the 4th of July parade. Ouch!
- Our favorite activity this past month has been going to the playground at the church behind our house. I push you in your pink car and you point and grunt the whole way there and when make the turn toward the church, you get so giddy and start bouncing up and down. Once we get there you don't last long, but it's worth it just to see how happy you are!
- You love to read. You are constantly bringing us books to read to you. You hand us the book and then turn around and sit in our lap. So sweet. You love to read the same stories over and over and rarely let us finish one story before getting up to get another one.
- You know most of your body parts now and can point to them when asked.
This past month you had your 15 month doctor appointment. You were given two vaccines - MMR and Chicken Pox. I was very hesitant to get either vaccine, but in the end decided to just do them. I regret that decision a little. 8 days after those vaccines, you developed a fever, runny nose and slight rash on your chest and back. You were generally miserable and not yourself. Your sleep was messed up as well (even worse than normal, which is never good!). After a week or so of on and off low grade fever, you seemed to be feeling better. And then you had three teeth pop through - two lower incisors and one upper molar. So I can't be sure of what caused the fever and runny nose, as it may have just been from teething. But the rash makes me suspect the MMR vaccine. I'm definitely hesitant to get the second dose.
Our favorite thing you started doing this month is praying. It is truly the most adorable thing you do. When we say your bedtime prayers or prayers before meals, you snap your little head down and wait. You look up often, checking to see if we are done and if we aren't, you bow your little head again. Precious!!
We had a scare this month as well. This past weekend you fell out of your crib. You were not hurt, just a little shaken up, but my heart was racing for several hours after it happened. It was during your morning nap. You had woken up after only 30 minutes and were screaming (nothing out of the ordinary for you). I was washing dishes and decided I would finish them before going to get you up. Then I heard the tell-tale thud. I knew exactly what had happened. I ran upstairs and when I opened your bedroom door you were standing right there. You immediately stopped crying and didn't seem hurt at all. I inspected your entire body and didn't find any bumps or bruises. That afternoon I took the bumper out of your crib (which you had used to boost yourself out) which I guess I should have removed earlier. I just never thought you were string enough to hoist yourself over the railing. Guess I was wrong! ;)
One last major change this month...you no longer use a pacifier! Two nights ago, Daddy put you to bed and couldn't find a pacifier, so he just put you down. I was shocked that you slept the whole night through, for 12.5 hours, without a peep! Amazing! Then today you took your nap (we are only doing one now at 12pm) without one and again did good. It was very short (40 minutes) but that isn't anything new, so it seems like losing the pacifier hasn't bothered you at all. Such a big girl!!
Little peanut, you are changing drastically every day and we are falling more in love with you every minute. Every day is not easy and we have lots of frustrating moments and tears (from both of us), but it's all so worth it! You are the most precious thing to us and we love you unconditionally! I never knew I could love someone so much!
Today you are 16 months old. You are nearly a year and a half. Wow. We have had another whirlwind month of growth and change.
Here's what you have been up to in the last month:
- You weigh 24.3 lbs and are 32.5 inches tall
- You still wear size 4 diapers during the day and size 5 overnight diapers at night.
- You are still wearing 18-24 month clothes and most of your 12 month clothes are getting too small.
- You wear a size 5 or 6 shoe.
- You now have 9 teeth...four on the bottom and 5 on the top.
- You can now use a fork pretty well. A spoon is not quite as easy, but we are practicing.
- You can sign several words: please, more, eat, all done, love, fish, cat, duck, bird, bunny, yes (you shake your head), no (again, you shake your head), and thank you (sometimes).
- You can say a lot of words too: mama, dada, buhbes (bubbles, our dog or the soap ones), buh buh (bye bye), ba (baby), buhber (blueberries), staber (strawberries), bah (ball), gaga (grandma or grandpa), mamaa (MeMaw), and papa (papaw).
- You make lots of sounds too: quack quack (duck), moo (cow), panting (dog), and brrr (car or plane).
- You are a climber! You love to climb on the couch and chairs and are getting very good at getting on and off.
- You run everywhere and very rarely fall. However, your knees are definitely showing the signs of being a toddler. You love to be outside, but the ground is a lot harder to navigate out there, which causes you to trip every so often. You have had bloody knees a lot this month, with the worst fall being at the 4th of July parade. Ouch!
- Our favorite activity this past month has been going to the playground at the church behind our house. I push you in your pink car and you point and grunt the whole way there and when make the turn toward the church, you get so giddy and start bouncing up and down. Once we get there you don't last long, but it's worth it just to see how happy you are!
- You love to read. You are constantly bringing us books to read to you. You hand us the book and then turn around and sit in our lap. So sweet. You love to read the same stories over and over and rarely let us finish one story before getting up to get another one.
- You know most of your body parts now and can point to them when asked.
This past month you had your 15 month doctor appointment. You were given two vaccines - MMR and Chicken Pox. I was very hesitant to get either vaccine, but in the end decided to just do them. I regret that decision a little. 8 days after those vaccines, you developed a fever, runny nose and slight rash on your chest and back. You were generally miserable and not yourself. Your sleep was messed up as well (even worse than normal, which is never good!). After a week or so of on and off low grade fever, you seemed to be feeling better. And then you had three teeth pop through - two lower incisors and one upper molar. So I can't be sure of what caused the fever and runny nose, as it may have just been from teething. But the rash makes me suspect the MMR vaccine. I'm definitely hesitant to get the second dose.
Our favorite thing you started doing this month is praying. It is truly the most adorable thing you do. When we say your bedtime prayers or prayers before meals, you snap your little head down and wait. You look up often, checking to see if we are done and if we aren't, you bow your little head again. Precious!!
We had a scare this month as well. This past weekend you fell out of your crib. You were not hurt, just a little shaken up, but my heart was racing for several hours after it happened. It was during your morning nap. You had woken up after only 30 minutes and were screaming (nothing out of the ordinary for you). I was washing dishes and decided I would finish them before going to get you up. Then I heard the tell-tale thud. I knew exactly what had happened. I ran upstairs and when I opened your bedroom door you were standing right there. You immediately stopped crying and didn't seem hurt at all. I inspected your entire body and didn't find any bumps or bruises. That afternoon I took the bumper out of your crib (which you had used to boost yourself out) which I guess I should have removed earlier. I just never thought you were string enough to hoist yourself over the railing. Guess I was wrong! ;)
One last major change this month...you no longer use a pacifier! Two nights ago, Daddy put you to bed and couldn't find a pacifier, so he just put you down. I was shocked that you slept the whole night through, for 12.5 hours, without a peep! Amazing! Then today you took your nap (we are only doing one now at 12pm) without one and again did good. It was very short (40 minutes) but that isn't anything new, so it seems like losing the pacifier hasn't bothered you at all. Such a big girl!!
Little peanut, you are changing drastically every day and we are falling more in love with you every minute. Every day is not easy and we have lots of frustrating moments and tears (from both of us), but it's all so worth it! You are the most precious thing to us and we love you unconditionally! I never knew I could love someone so much!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
15 Months
You turned 15 months a few days ago, and I'm behind. I was away on a trip on your 15 month birthday with the other moms from our playgroup, so I missed it. But you were not lacking love or attention while I was gone. Grandma and Grandpa Vaccaro stayed with you while I was in Florida and showered you with lots of love!
15 months...this age is the best! You are so adorable right now and so much fun! You are super giggly and interactive. You amaze me! Your comprehension is astounding and your vocabulary is growing every day. Your latest obsession is climbing. You have figured out how to climb on to the couch, chair and anything else you can reach. When you are trying to climb up and can't quite reach, you start grunting as hard as you can. It is so cute..."uh uh uh". Your latest feat is the chair in your room. We have used that chair since the day you were born to nurse, read to you, say prayers, and sing your good night song. But now when we try to sit with you in the chair, you immediately start grunting to get down. Once we let you down, you grunt and groan, trying to get us to get out of the chair. Once we concede, you are so happy. You climb your way up the chair and perch yourself happily in it. Then we can proceed with reading your nighttime story. Little miss independent!
You are officially running and rarely fall anymore. But if you do, you just hop back up and keep going. Your new favorite word is "buh buh" (bye bye) and you say it all day long! You have also become a little tickle monster. You love to be tickled and to tickle everyone and everything! You tickle your baby dolls and make a little tickling noise while you do it, and just crack yourself up!
We have been remodeling our kitchen for the last month and it's been a bit of a nightmare. We have been without a kitchen for over a month now and using the dining room as our makeshift kitchen. But you have adapted well and even managed to take a record nap during the floor installation. Go figure. Hopefully we will have our kitchen back to full function by your 16 month birthday!!
Here are your 15 month stats:
- You still wear size 4 diapers during the day and size 5 overnight diapers at night.
- You wear 18-24 month clothing, but some 12-18 month stuff still fits as well.
- You wear size 5 shoes.
- Your hair is getting very long, almost covering your eyes in the front. It covers your neck in the back and flips out at the bottom. So much hair! I just wish I knew what to do with it!
- You have 6 teeth now...4 on the top and 2 on the bottom. I don't see any signs of more on the way, but I'm sure it won't be long. Speaking of teeth, you have started to really hate having your teeth brushed. Every night it is a battle to try to get just a few passes over each tooth (I mean you only have 6...shouldn't be too tough, right?!). Tonight I even tried using riddled toothpaste, but I actually think that made it worse. You tried to suck in the brush the entire time. My next attempt will be with with an electric brush. We'll see!
- You can now sign the word for "love". Amazing!! You cross your arms over your chest and squeeze tight. Every once in a while you will even point to me after you sign "love", saying "love you". MELTS MY HEART!!
- You still take 2 naps every day, one at 10am and the other at 2pm. Each one is about an hour, but the last few days the afternoon one has been 1.5 or more!! Love! We tried giving you just one nap per day, but that was a complete flop. You would only nap for 45 minutes and then be up for the rest of the day and miserable. After a week of trying, we went back to 2 naps. We'll stick with this for as long as it works. You go to bed around 7 or 7:30pm and wake up around 6:45 or 7am...can't complain.
We love you little peanut...all 15 months of you! :)
15 months...this age is the best! You are so adorable right now and so much fun! You are super giggly and interactive. You amaze me! Your comprehension is astounding and your vocabulary is growing every day. Your latest obsession is climbing. You have figured out how to climb on to the couch, chair and anything else you can reach. When you are trying to climb up and can't quite reach, you start grunting as hard as you can. It is so cute..."uh uh uh". Your latest feat is the chair in your room. We have used that chair since the day you were born to nurse, read to you, say prayers, and sing your good night song. But now when we try to sit with you in the chair, you immediately start grunting to get down. Once we let you down, you grunt and groan, trying to get us to get out of the chair. Once we concede, you are so happy. You climb your way up the chair and perch yourself happily in it. Then we can proceed with reading your nighttime story. Little miss independent!
You are officially running and rarely fall anymore. But if you do, you just hop back up and keep going. Your new favorite word is "buh buh" (bye bye) and you say it all day long! You have also become a little tickle monster. You love to be tickled and to tickle everyone and everything! You tickle your baby dolls and make a little tickling noise while you do it, and just crack yourself up!
We have been remodeling our kitchen for the last month and it's been a bit of a nightmare. We have been without a kitchen for over a month now and using the dining room as our makeshift kitchen. But you have adapted well and even managed to take a record nap during the floor installation. Go figure. Hopefully we will have our kitchen back to full function by your 16 month birthday!!
Here are your 15 month stats:
- You still wear size 4 diapers during the day and size 5 overnight diapers at night.
- You wear 18-24 month clothing, but some 12-18 month stuff still fits as well.
- You wear size 5 shoes.
- Your hair is getting very long, almost covering your eyes in the front. It covers your neck in the back and flips out at the bottom. So much hair! I just wish I knew what to do with it!
- You have 6 teeth now...4 on the top and 2 on the bottom. I don't see any signs of more on the way, but I'm sure it won't be long. Speaking of teeth, you have started to really hate having your teeth brushed. Every night it is a battle to try to get just a few passes over each tooth (I mean you only have 6...shouldn't be too tough, right?!). Tonight I even tried using riddled toothpaste, but I actually think that made it worse. You tried to suck in the brush the entire time. My next attempt will be with with an electric brush. We'll see!
- You can now sign the word for "love". Amazing!! You cross your arms over your chest and squeeze tight. Every once in a while you will even point to me after you sign "love", saying "love you". MELTS MY HEART!!
- You still take 2 naps every day, one at 10am and the other at 2pm. Each one is about an hour, but the last few days the afternoon one has been 1.5 or more!! Love! We tried giving you just one nap per day, but that was a complete flop. You would only nap for 45 minutes and then be up for the rest of the day and miserable. After a week of trying, we went back to 2 naps. We'll stick with this for as long as it works. You go to bed around 7 or 7:30pm and wake up around 6:45 or 7am...can't complain.
We love you little peanut...all 15 months of you! :)
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
14 Months
Little Peanut,
You are 14 months old today and I'm more in love with you today than ever! You have become a little person these last few months, with your own distinct personality, which I love! You look more and more like a little girl instead of a baby these days, which makes me a tad bit sad, but also thrilled to see you growing into such a beautiful girl!
You are developing quite the personality. Lately you have been very giggly and silly. You love to play hide-and-seek, rough-house with Daddy, dance, do the motions for several songs we sing at music class (Itsy Bitsy Spider, Two Little Eyes, Round and Round the Garden, Tick-Tock), and give lots of kisses!
This month we hit a major milestone - I stopped nursing you. This was a hard decision, but one I knew needed to happen before I leave you with daddy for 3 nights in June. We started by dropping the bedtime one and daddy was in charge of putting you to bed for about a week. Then the next weekend we dropped the morning one and again daddy was the one to get up with you and feed you breakfast. What would we do without him!? I am still dealing with the pain of weaning (physically and a little emotionally) but you seem to have moved on just fine, which is great! We have decided not to give you cows milk, which has been a bit of a controversial decision, but you are getting calcium in other ways (cheese and yogurt) and we are sure to feed you vitamin rich foods like salmon, eggs, spinach, beans, broccoli, peas, and almond butter.
Here are your 14 month stats:
- You still wear size 4 diapers during the day and now wear size 5 overnight diapers at night.
- You wear mostly 12-18 month clothing, but you are really in between sizes right now. 12 month stuff is a little small and 18 months is a bit big.
- You are back to eating like a champ after having a bit of a picky stage a few weeks ago. You eat most foods now, as long as we save the carbs for last. Once you see pasta or bread, you will eat nothing else!
- You LOVE the Praise Baby DVD we bought you for our car trip to FL. And let me just say that I love it too! While we rarely, if ever, let you watch tv, I don't mind letting you watch Praise Baby from time to time.
- You have added one word to your speaking vocabulary - You now say "buh buh" for Bubbles (our dog). And you can also sign "help" now. But despite your lack of true words, you talk all the time. This just started recently, where you will have a full conversation with yourself or a stuffed animal. Precious!
- You LOVE baby dolls! You pretend to feed them your toy food (especially the bananas), give them sips of water from your sippy cup, put them down for a "nap" before you take your own, and give them lots of hugs and kisses.
- You understand so much! You understand what "no" means and most of the time you obey. When I say it's time for "night night" you start waving goodbye to Bubbles and head toward the stairs (to your room). When I say its time to change your diaper, you head for the playroom (where we keep your diapers). When I ask you if your hungry, you walk right to the kitchen (you are ALWAYS hungry!). When I saw it's time to put your shoes on, you get so excited and try to get them on your feet. It's scary how much you understand!
- You have 5 teeth now...3 on top and 2 on bottom.
- Your napping schedule has been a bit off lately, making me think you might be getting close to dropping to one nap per day. We'll see....
Hannah, you are so precious to us! We so enjoy watching you grow into the sweet little girl you are becoming. God blessed us immensely when He gave us you!
We love you!
You are 14 months old today and I'm more in love with you today than ever! You have become a little person these last few months, with your own distinct personality, which I love! You look more and more like a little girl instead of a baby these days, which makes me a tad bit sad, but also thrilled to see you growing into such a beautiful girl!
You are developing quite the personality. Lately you have been very giggly and silly. You love to play hide-and-seek, rough-house with Daddy, dance, do the motions for several songs we sing at music class (Itsy Bitsy Spider, Two Little Eyes, Round and Round the Garden, Tick-Tock), and give lots of kisses!
This month we hit a major milestone - I stopped nursing you. This was a hard decision, but one I knew needed to happen before I leave you with daddy for 3 nights in June. We started by dropping the bedtime one and daddy was in charge of putting you to bed for about a week. Then the next weekend we dropped the morning one and again daddy was the one to get up with you and feed you breakfast. What would we do without him!? I am still dealing with the pain of weaning (physically and a little emotionally) but you seem to have moved on just fine, which is great! We have decided not to give you cows milk, which has been a bit of a controversial decision, but you are getting calcium in other ways (cheese and yogurt) and we are sure to feed you vitamin rich foods like salmon, eggs, spinach, beans, broccoli, peas, and almond butter.
Here are your 14 month stats:
- You still wear size 4 diapers during the day and now wear size 5 overnight diapers at night.
- You wear mostly 12-18 month clothing, but you are really in between sizes right now. 12 month stuff is a little small and 18 months is a bit big.
- You are back to eating like a champ after having a bit of a picky stage a few weeks ago. You eat most foods now, as long as we save the carbs for last. Once you see pasta or bread, you will eat nothing else!
- You LOVE the Praise Baby DVD we bought you for our car trip to FL. And let me just say that I love it too! While we rarely, if ever, let you watch tv, I don't mind letting you watch Praise Baby from time to time.
- You have added one word to your speaking vocabulary - You now say "buh buh" for Bubbles (our dog). And you can also sign "help" now. But despite your lack of true words, you talk all the time. This just started recently, where you will have a full conversation with yourself or a stuffed animal. Precious!
- You LOVE baby dolls! You pretend to feed them your toy food (especially the bananas), give them sips of water from your sippy cup, put them down for a "nap" before you take your own, and give them lots of hugs and kisses.
- You understand so much! You understand what "no" means and most of the time you obey. When I say it's time for "night night" you start waving goodbye to Bubbles and head toward the stairs (to your room). When I say its time to change your diaper, you head for the playroom (where we keep your diapers). When I ask you if your hungry, you walk right to the kitchen (you are ALWAYS hungry!). When I saw it's time to put your shoes on, you get so excited and try to get them on your feet. It's scary how much you understand!
- You have 5 teeth now...3 on top and 2 on bottom.
- Your napping schedule has been a bit off lately, making me think you might be getting close to dropping to one nap per day. We'll see....
Hannah, you are so precious to us! We so enjoy watching you grow into the sweet little girl you are becoming. God blessed us immensely when He gave us you!
We love you!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Tot School - 13 Months
This week was our first week officially doing Tot School. We have been doing our own version for months now, but it was time to make it official. As a warning, this will be a long post since it is out first time doing Tot School. I want to be sure to explain exactly what the day-to-day looks like for those readers that might be curious. Future Tot School posts will not be this detailed.
For those that are not familiar with Tot School, please click on the picture above to find out more, but the main gist is playing with a purpose. I have found that Hannah has been roaming from toy to toy without much attention given to any one item. I felt that she wasn't getting all she could out of each experience. I also wanted to make myself more accountable for what we are doing during the day. The teacher in me needs direction and purpose in the activities we do on a daily basis. Since I am home full-time with Hannah, I feel that it is my job to expose her to as many things as possible. While we call it Tot "School", it is in no way a rigid teaching environment. We continued to play as usual, but I was more purposeful in structuring the activities and the environment.
On Monday I introduced Hannah to Tot Trays. She had 3 trays with one activity on each. The tray is used as an organizational tool and as a clear boundary for when it is time to clean up. The only rule we had was that she could only play with one tray at a time and had to clean up one tray before moving on to the next.
We started with a puzzle. She had very little interest in the puzzle, but was fascinated by the tray! I figured she would be since they are new and shiny. As a side note, these were not the trays I had originally wanted, but while looking for plastic ones at hobby lobby, an employee told me about some trays they had in the back that had small chips in them. He said they would give them to me for 90% off, making them $1 each. I couldn't pass that up. So, yes they are hideous, but they are very sturdy and were very cheap! :)
After the puzzle, we moved on to plastic eggs and an egg carton (in our Easter theme). She loved this activity! This was the second time she had played with these, so I knew they were a hit already. These kept her busy for about 10 minutes. She was most interested in opening all the eggs and shaking the egg carton around.
The last tray was blocks. These were also a hit as she loved knocking over the towers I built and trying to build her own. Stacking is a skill we have been working on for quite some time, so to see her making progress is great!
The rest of the day was spent running errands and we made a trip to the library, where Hannah ran all around. We did squeeze in some table time (where Hannah sits in her high chair and does an activity on her own) while I made dinner. I had her practice drinking water out of a regular cup (that was messy) and then she played with a magnet tray (a cookie sheet with magnets on it) and the plastic eggs again.
On Tuesday I changed up two of her Tot Trays. I kept the plastic eggs and egg carton out since she loved them so much the day before. But the other two were changed to the ring stacker and containers with Pom Poms. The containers were a hit! She was determined to put the lids on herself, but would get very frustrated when she couldn't get them off. I used that opportunity to teach her the sign for "help". She doesn't sign it perfectly, but she has adapted her own version. :)
On Wednesday (our last day of Tot School for the week) I kept the same trays out for her, which she enjoyed. We also did blanket time for the first time. I have debated about wether or not I wanted to even invest the time and energy to teach her this. For those that don't know what blanket time is, it's a principal from the Babywise series. Essentially, you place your child on a blanket with a few toys and require them to stay on the blanket for a set amount of time. We started with 3 minutes and Hannah did pretty well. She tried to crawl off the blanket a few times, but each time I place her back on and told her to stay on the blanket. Thankfully she didn't throw a fit and was okay with it. I'm pretty sure it went so well because it was new and she wasn't really sure what was going on. I hope to continue blanket time and increase the time over the next few weeks. We also did Table Time, with a shaving cream bag. This turned out to be a flop, as all she wanted to do was eat the bag. Live and learn! ;-)
Overall, our first week of Tot School was a success. It was short because we left for FL on Thursday afternoon. I don't think I will write a weekly update of our Tot School, just because I know I won't have the time, but I thought I would give an update if our first week and plan on updating every so often. But my main purpose in writing this post was to share the link above with other moms so you can get some great ideas for ways to play purposefully with your child!
Have fun!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
13 Months
Hannah,
I am a few days behind in writing this letter, but I have a good excuse....you! I am busy chasing you around the house these days. Two weeks ago you decided to start walking and you haven't stopped yet. You went from taking a few steps here and there to full on walking overnight...literally! The drastic change is astounding! Just today you taught yourself how to stand up without holding on to anything, so now you are a real, full time walker! Wow! Your balance and agility amaze me. You can turn around without flinching or bend over and pick up a toy with no trouble at all. Nothing slows you down.
You are so much fun these days! You are a little person now and I honestly love this stage. If I could freeze you in time, I would. You aren't saying much at 13 months, just "dada" and "mama" still, but you make lots of sounds that have meanings, like the barking sound you make when you see a dog, "uh oh" when you drop something, "uhuhuh" when you want something, "doh dee doh dee" just to be cute, and a lot of other grunts and whines. But your best way to communicate is through sign language. You can sign several different words now: please, thank you, eat, milk, more, all done, duck, and bunny. I need to brush up on my signing skills so I can teach you more.
Here's what you are up to at 13 months:
- You are wearing mostly all 12 month clothing, but some 18 month stuff is starting to fit. I finally packed away all your 9 month stuff.
- You are still wearing size 4 diapers, but now you wear size 5 at night.
- You are a champion nighttime sleeper, sleeping 12 hours every night, without a peep. This makes me so happy! Your napping has even improved a little this month. You still take 2 naps, each about 1 hour long. While I know this is not great, I am happy with it.
- You help us get you dressed (when you want to), by putting your hands through the holes or lifting your legs into your pants. But your favorite part is putting on your shoes. You lift your foot in the air, with a big smile on your face. You love shoes! You are wearing a size 5 shoe now.
- You eat all kinds of foods now and love most everything, except veggies. The only veggies you really like are peas, potatoes, carrots, lima beans, corn, and broccoli (sort of). Your favorite foods are cheese, meat and all bread products! That apple didn't fall far. :)
- You are still nursing 2 times per day, morning and night. I keep thinking about dropping one or both of these, but I just don't think we are ready. The only reason I am thinking about dropping them is because it's what other people think we should do, not because we want to. So I think we will continue until you don't show an interest or I'm worn out. But right now I love those few minutes of snuggle time and so do you. Why would I take that away from you?
- You can roll a ball back and forth with me and you can even kick a ball as you walk around.
- You love to be outside. Now that the weather is so nice, we spend a lot of time in the back yard. You love riding around the neighborhood in your pink buggy.
- You have 3 teeth now. One of your top teeth just came in and you have at least 2 more right on the verge of breaking through. Your latest pastime is grinding your teeth together...not my favorite thing!
Next week we are starting Tot School (www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/TotSchool.HTML), which is basically just playing with a purpose. The teacher in me just has to be sure that I am exposing you to as much as I can and being purposeful with what we are doing everyday. I will be sure to post an update of how things go.
We are so proud of the little girl you are becoming and love you so much! You have completely turned our world upside down and we love it!
We love your little peanut!
Friday, April 8, 2011
iPad Mania and Other Randomness
How did we ever live without this thing? It has taken over my life. Haha Just kidding, but it definitely is addicting! Last night I had a horrible night sleep because I couldn't stop playing words with friends in my head. Has that happened to you or am I the only crazy one? Years ago when I played free cell all the time, the same thing would happen. When I close my eyes I see the letters and start making words...crazy right!
In other news, I apparently thought it would be a good idea to chop off the tip of my thumb this morning. Ouch! I was preparing a delicious beef stew for Hannah, while she was eating breakfast (obviously the beef stew was not for breakfast...it had to cook all day). I was doing great..chopping away and feeling all supermom like. Next thing I knew I was sawing through the tip of my thumb....nice visual, right? I didn't know what to do...wash my hands to get the raw meat out of the wound or apply pressure first? It started bleeding so much, that I chose to apply pressure and not worry about the thousands of bacteria breeding on my skin. That choice was also easier because it meant that I didn't have to look at the tapping wound. I immediately called Brian, just in case the cut was so bad that I passed out or something. I figured it was probably in Hannah's best interest for me to notify another adult of the siutuation. I am happy to report that I did not need to go to the emergency room, but I have been changing the bandaid every couple hours and it is gross! It really is amazing how incapacitating it is to not be able to use your thumb. I tried to take a picture of the nastiness, but it wouldnt show up in the picture, so you can thank the camera for sparing you.
Anyone have fun plans for the weekend? We have another weekend with nothing on the calendar, which makes me smile. I get to do my favorite thing...spend lots of time with my two loves.
I'll leave you with this video of Hannah walking!
Walking!!!
In other news, I apparently thought it would be a good idea to chop off the tip of my thumb this morning. Ouch! I was preparing a delicious beef stew for Hannah, while she was eating breakfast (obviously the beef stew was not for breakfast...it had to cook all day). I was doing great..chopping away and feeling all supermom like. Next thing I knew I was sawing through the tip of my thumb....nice visual, right? I didn't know what to do...wash my hands to get the raw meat out of the wound or apply pressure first? It started bleeding so much, that I chose to apply pressure and not worry about the thousands of bacteria breeding on my skin. That choice was also easier because it meant that I didn't have to look at the tapping wound. I immediately called Brian, just in case the cut was so bad that I passed out or something. I figured it was probably in Hannah's best interest for me to notify another adult of the siutuation. I am happy to report that I did not need to go to the emergency room, but I have been changing the bandaid every couple hours and it is gross! It really is amazing how incapacitating it is to not be able to use your thumb. I tried to take a picture of the nastiness, but it wouldnt show up in the picture, so you can thank the camera for sparing you.
Anyone have fun plans for the weekend? We have another weekend with nothing on the calendar, which makes me smile. I get to do my favorite thing...spend lots of time with my two loves.
I'll leave you with this video of Hannah walking!
Walking!!!
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