Milestones | Marriage Confessions Milestones | Laugh. Fight. Stay Married.

This weekend Gracie and Bean went to my parent’s house so that Chris and I could have a yard sale and not have to worry about chasing kids around. While they were up there, Gracie took her first steps! I was kind of bummed I missed them, but I’m just so glad she’s starting to walk! She came home and took a few steps on Sunday afternoon with me and Chris, and at daycare this afternoon they said she walked around a little bit. But tonight she was walking a lot. After this video was taken, she took off across our living room all on her own, chasing Lucy. She’s a girl on the go now! I’m so proud of her!

13 comments | posted in About Gracie, Gracie Girl, Milestones, The Romper Room | tags: babies, milestones

A couple months ago, I accidentally stumbled on an article through Pinterest on the things your child needs to be able to do before they enter Kindergarten. Normally, I avoid milestone charting like the plague. They just stress me out, and it’s like Chris says, “Have you ever seen a college student who isn’t potty trained and still drinks from a sippy cup?” But somehow I found this article and was instantly sucked in.

Most of the things Bean can do pretty well, like recognize numbers and letters, can follow one and two-step instructions, can sort and characterize by different features, and definitely has an eagerness to learn. There were some things on the list that he just isn’t ready to do yet, but that I have no doubt he will master within the next few years, such as cutting shapes out of construction paper, sequencing pictures in a logical order, and using shapes or letter-like objects to communicate ideas on paper. But there were a handful of things that he certainly had the ability to learn, and we just hadn’t thought to teach him yet.

One of those things was learning the names of all his immediate family members. He now knows me, Chris, and Gracie’s full names (and thinks it’s hysterical that Chris and I have actual, real names besides Mom and Dad), along with all his grandparents. And we also worked with him on learning both upper and lower case letters, which he is getting really good at recognizing. But the one that I think I am the most proud of is that he can now spell his name.

We tried writing his name and having him tell us the letters, and that worked, but he couldn’t ever repeat the letters without looking at them. Finally, I wised up and realized that Bean memorizes best when he’s singing a song. So, I turned his name into a little chant (don’t tell Chris, but it’s more like a cheer from my cheerleading days…and before you ask, I was a reject cheerleader on the reject cheerleading squad in 8th grade…not too many fond memories there). Within a day or two, Bean could spell his name using that chant. Over the next few weeks, I practiced the chant with him by asking him to spell his name at unpredictable times to see if he could truly recall the information, and he always could. Gradually, he dropped the chanting pattern and can now spell his name in a normal inflection, and can recognize it when it is written. Though, when I ask him to spell his name with a camera in his face, he hams it up pretty good…

So the lessons learned in this spelling experience:

A) If you’re trying to teach your child how to spell his or her name, try a chant or song because they are easier to remember for kids.

B) Milestone charts (while they aren’t the end all, be all of parenting) aren’t really the worst things in the world. When I stop freaking out about them, they can actually be a very useful tool to help guide my parenting.

C) Bean can cheer with the best of ‘em.

19 comments | posted in Growing Bean, Milestones, parenting, Parenting Ideas, The Romper Room, Toddlerhood, Video | tags: parenting, toddlers

Bean is entering a new phase. I think this must be the three-year-old behavior people warned me about. These days, Bean is like a PMS-ing tiny warlord hyped up on steroids. He’s emotional, moody, demanding, bossy, and very rambunctious. My sweet, shy, quiet little two-year-old has become a little turd.

I say it with love, but it’s true.

The biggest change in him would have to be his roughness. I remember a few months ago we were at a birthday party for a little boy in Bean’s class who was turning three. There were other three-year-old boys there and I remember watching them push and shove and literally roll around on the ground playing in the dirt. Meanwhile, Bean was hanging out over on the sides, kind of close to me, just watching and checking things out. I remember thinking, “Thank goodness Bean isn’t a rough boy.”

Oh, boy.

It’s like all the rough and tumble that comes with being a boy just suddenly came surging through Bean in the past two weeks. He’s rough and pushy now. He kicks things and jumps on things and throws things and takes things from Gracie. I don’t think he’s intentionally being mean, but it’s like he can’t control it. He reminds me of the Hulk.

All these changes are driving me crazy! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said, “Michael, is that how we play nicely?” over the past two weeks? Bean hasn’t sat in time out in months, but lately I feel like he’s been in time out more than he’s been out of it! To a certain extent I’m trying to let him ride through this phase. I know this is just part of being three and being a boy, so I try not to stay on him ALL THE TIME. But at the same time, there are rules in our house that we do not break. We share toys, we don’t push or kick, we treat our toys nicely. And no matter what phase my kids are in, those rules have to be followed. Which is usually how Bean ends up in time out…

The difference between the two’s and three’s from what I can tell is that at two, they are still learning how to control their emotions. You get random outbursts and meltdowns because they are learning how to use those emotions and actions, so they can’t really control them yet. And then they learn how to control them, so they like to practice using them – like, a LOT. Two was tough, but the actions (no matter how frustrating) made sense in some way.

But this three-year-old thing? From what I can tell, now it’s not about learning to control those emotions and actions, it is knowing what’s right and wrong and deliberately choosing the wrong, just to try and cross the line. I’m sure that psychologically he’s learning about boundaries and limitations right now and that these little acts of defiance are to test our limits, so I’m glad that Chris and I are holding firm about what rules we have in our house. But GEEEEZZZZ! This is going to be tough!

Last night Bean was particularly challenging. He wasn’t being very nice to Gracie and I ended up sending him to bed early because of his behavior. This morning wasn’t much better as Bean pitched a total temper tantrum about not having a THIRD bowl of cereal because we were running late for school. By the time we got to daycare, I have to admit that I was ready to drop him off. I had told him that he could have breakfast at daycare since he didn’t get to finish his bowl of cereal at home, so I took him into the cafeteria to eat after we’d dropped off Gracie. Normally, if Bean eats breakfast there, I just drop him off and he sits at a little table, eats his breakfast, and then the cafeteria girls take him to his classroom when he’s done. But this morning when I went to drop him off, he took my hand and looked up at me with those big blue eyes of his daddy’s and said, “Mommy, will you sit with me?”

I was so late for work already. So, so, so late. But it was so nice to see my sweet boy shine through for just a minute and so I sat down with him and we ate breakfast together right there in the middle of the daycare cafeteria. There was the normal rush of morning drop off going on around us, but Bean ate his waffle and talked to me like we were the only people in the room, and soon I felt like we were. It only took him about 10 minutes to eat his waffle, and then I walked him to his classroom before I left. And I smiled all the way to school.

Three is going to be rough. I can already tell. But three might also be very surprising on random Tuesday mornings, and that part I’m really looking forward to.

23 comments | posted in About Beanie, Angry Bean, Boys, discipline, Growing Bean, Milestones, parenting, The Romper Room, Toddlerhood | tags: Family, parenting, toddlers

Oh, my Gracie Girl. How I love that child. I simply cannot believe that she is turning one at the end of March. I keep redoing the math and checking my calendar just to be sure that it really is here. Gracie, on the other hand, has been counting down the days. I think she thinks she gets a drivers license on her first birthday. I haven’t had the heart to tell her that the only car she’s getting will be made by Fisher Price. And have pedals.

I really need to start planning Gracie’s birthday party, but there’s been so much going on that I haven’t sat down yet to really think it through. I do know that I’m going with a “You Are My Sunshine” theme. There will be lots of yellow and white, lots of daisies and baby’s breath, and lots of sunshine and cloud balloons (because Pinterest has me believing that I can just whip up balloon figures now…).

I think I’m going to try to bring in some pink and maybe a few brighter colors, too, just to give it some pizzazz. All the pictures I’ve seen online (Pinterest strikes again!) have given me great ideas, but I think adding some more color would make it much more playful. I mean, it is a first birthday party, and not a champagne brunch…

(I do love this white ruffled table cloth, don’t you?)

Last weekend I bought this outdoor table cloth at Target for our deck table. I thought it added just the right amount of color, especially if there were yellow and white decorations and place settings on the table.

And I definitely think I’m going to try making this tissue paper wreath for our front door, but using yellow tissue paper. I thought that would be super cute with maybe a big pink and white gingham or polk-a-dot bow on it, maybe?

And I found this on Pinterest, too, and I think it would be really cute to try and make. I’ll be honest, though, I doubt very seriously that I will have the patience or the time to make something this cute. But, maybe I could do a giant flower pot with these photo flowers sticking out of it instead? That might save some time.

Whatever I do, it’s going to be low key and easy. I went back and forth about whether or not to have a big party for her birthday, with friends and some of her classmates from school. But then I reconsidered. I mean, one is tough for entertaining. It’s not like she would really play with anyone yet. I remember Bean’s two-year-old party was fun to have friends at, but for the first birthday, I think family will be better. We’re sticking with family and a few close friends for this soiree. But, of course, that means all my imaginary friends get to attend via my blog posts, of course!

Puffalump is getting bigger and bigger every day. She’s crawling, cruising, and standing like a champ. She keeps us on our toes more than ever, but I guess that’s what one year olds do, isn’t it?

One year olds.

Oh, man.

HOW IS SHE A YEAR OLD ALREADY?!?!