Traveling with a Toddler

Well our first far away family vacation is a few weeks away and the preparation has already begun! I have a whole notebook filled with packing lists, information about flying with toddlers and the logistics of our trip. Our guest room looks like a tornado came through with piles of clothes, suitcases, toiletries, shoes, new small toys and vacation supplies everywhere!

I am both so excited and so nervous. We have never been away on a plane with Z before. This vacation requires us to fly and thus we have a 4 1/2 hour flight to prepare for :) I have read a lot about flying with toddlers. They say to have a new toy or book for every hour of flight. I could not afford to go out and buy 8-10 new toys (and I don't really trust the dollar store with all the lead paint issues) so we have borrowed from friends and family, bought a few things and took some books and dvds out from the library.

We borrowed my sisters portable DVD player. This will be key not only on the plane but during our vacation as well. Z loves his George and we might need him now and again while we are away. Last I counted we have about 12 "new" things for the plane I hope they make Z happy :) We have little trucks, an Elmo Dr kit, flashcards, a mini magna-doodle, books about trucks, 2 books with little mirrors in them, a foam puzzle book, a little wooden puzzle, stacking cups, word books and a brand new Baby Pro Ball dvd!!! He hasn't seen the ball movie in over 2 weeks (we had to return it to the library) and so he will be reunited with it on the plane ;)

Z will not have his own seat for this flight (I know what some of you are thinking right now) but there are 3 of us (did I mention my dad is going :)) so we will have our own row. I ordered the Baby B'Air so that he will be strapped to one of us during parts of the flight. We are bringing a car seat (this was a huge debate) and we ordered the car seat travel bag from One Step Ahead. We plan to check it and so we bought a cheap car seat that we will use as an extra when we get home. We also ordered Z a leash :) Another huge debate but so necessary where we are going and this one is cute and looks like a monkey!

Since Z drinks rice milk, we will be bringing a week supply. I am so nervous about bringing a box of it on the plane but they say as long as you declare the amount that you are bringing and that it is for a small child, it should be okay. I hope so!!!! We will be lost without it. We are also bringing a weeks supply of his favorite snacks, some baby food (yes he still eats baby food, I wish he would get past that) and boxes of Chex cereal :)

Once we get to our destination we have adjoining rooms with my dad. This will be so nice when Z has to nap or goes to bed early :) We also have lots of disposable bibs, forks, spoons, his meal time fun mat, dish soap to wash out his sippy cups with, baby medication, bouncy balls, his favorite stuffed friends, suntan lotion and his sun hut (yes we are going somewhere sunny).

We are all so excited we just need to make sure we have everything we need. If you think of something that you think we must bring....please let us know! I know that I will spend the next few weeks obsessing over Z and S's suitcases and I will be the one who leaves things behind ;)

All Aboard the Potty Train.....

Well Z has been chosen to participate in the second round of field testing for the new Baby Signs (R) Potty Training program! This program is designed to potty train children before the age of 2. I know it sounds crazy but it has already worked for so many people, many of whom have children less than one! I have one friend who tried it with her 2 1/2 year old and she was using the potty after the first day!

We got our kit in the mail and it is really cute (I have put it in my Amazon Store, which is over on the left). They have a train whistle (get it...the Potty Train), a board book, a children's DVD, motivational stickers and a parent guide. I found the parent guide to be easy to read and very informative. I read it in one sitting and I am in the process of putting together our plan for potty training :) I would start today but we leave for vacation in a few weeks and I would hate to have to start and then stop or worse yet have to potty train while we are away! So we will start as soon as we get back.

Z has seen the DVD twice and really loves it (I find it a little monotonous). He has learned the routine from the DVD and the 5 signs in the Potty Training program. The signs are potty, more, all done, wash (for wash your hands) and good job. We have also taught him poop...just because it is fun to do :) He also has his new potty which he loves! It is in our downstairs bathroom and he likes to sit on it (with his pants on) while I go potty and read. We have a stack of his books in the bathroom. It is very cute :)

I found this really cute potty watch online which I am going to order. You can set it to go off every 30, 60 or 90 minutes to help remind children (and parents) to use the potty. It plays either "London Bridge", "Oh My Darling" or "Are you Sleeping". The website has changed the words to the songs so you can sing a potty song every time it goes off ;)

So after vacation we will be up and running with potty training. I have to admit, I really nervous! I will keep you posted, I am sure I will have lots of stories to tell. They say the key is staying positive, patient and creative. We shall see....."chooo, chooo".

It's Letter Time

Check out our new letter board! It might not be the easel that I wanted off craigslist but it works great and takes up much less space. I bought the board (which is also a dry erase board) at Staples for $20. The letters are from Parents Magazine and can be found at Target. They are big and chunky and perfect for little hands. They were only $16.24 :) Z loves it and we enjoy singing the ABC's as we put the different letters up :)

Boys Weekend!!!

Well this past weekend S and Z went off on a boys road trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house. This was so that I could help throw a Bachelorette party and a Bridal Shower for my best friend L ;) From the sound of it they had a great time! There were fishies to feed, pancakes to eat, a first time sledding adventure, books, visiting with Z's auntie and uncles, an indoor golf game, balls to play with, trucks to see, a puppy to play with and of course Grandma M and Grandpa J.

Meanwhile, back at home I was very busy getting ready for the two parties. I did however make some time for myself and got a massage! It was so wonderful (S is going next week as a trade off) and I also got to workout for over an hour :) I loved having time alone to do whatever I wanted. I forgot what it was like to be able to get out the car and actually run into a store quickly :)

At the end of my nice day the girls came over for L's Bachelorette Party. We had lot's of good food, yummy drinks and played some really fun games :) I am now in love with the game Mad Gab! It is so much fun :) You have to check it out (I just put it in my Amazon store) it is so funny. We played it for quite awhile :)

By Sunday morning I was definitely missing my two guys. I got a very nice message on my voice mail from Z saying "Momma" and it made me tear up. I had a great time at the Bridal Shower and L seemed to really enjoy herself. Bridal showers are so hard on the bride (and I had 4). It is so wonderful that your family and friends love you so much and want to shower you with gifts, don't get me wrong, but it is so hard to be the center of attention! You have to wear your perma-grin, make small talk and have to sit and open presents while everyone watches. Because of all of the attention, you usually start to sweat and then you then have to make comments about each and every gift. L did a great job with all of that and she and her fiance got some really nice things. It was a very nice event!

When I got home my guys were here waiting for me with big hugs! It was so nice to come home and see them after 2 whole days :) Z was glued to my side and he seemed bigger! We had a very nice family evening and Z went to bed super early (he had not really slept that well the night before). After he went to sleep we put on our jammies, poured some leftover margaritas (not part of our diet) and sat down to watch a movie. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful weekend!

Babies, Sleep Problems and Lunar Eclipses

About a month and a half ago my grandmother called me to tell me

that if I wanted to have my babies two years apart, I should

get going. I thought this was a very funny thing coming from my

grandmother! I thanked her and explained to her that when Z could sit and color and or go to preschool for a few mornings

a week, we would talk :)

The truth of the matter is that I am just not ready. Call me selfish but I am really enjoying my alone time with Z and my sleep :) Z only started sleeping through the night about 4 or 5 months ago and I feel like a new person! He also stopped nursing around the same time so I am now able to eat and drink whatever I would like (I couldn't have dairy or soy for over a year!!)

Z was a very colicky baby due to his food sensitivities and was up all the time. Once we figured out the dairy and soy connections he was a little better but we had already developed some bad habits. In the beginning Z was up (like most babies) every hour or two. This lasted for quite a few months. He would have stretches of 3-4 hours but nothing more than that. It was so exhausting and S was not able to help out too much because I was nursing.

The other major problem we had was that Z slept in a bouncy chair for the first 6 months of life!!! We originally put him in the chair to help him sleep because he was so colicky. This position seemed to really help him and we were told to do whatever we had to so that we all got sleep. They said that you couldn't spoil a baby under 3 months.....well I am not so sure about that :) Z loved his chair and would scream whenever he was put in a flat position. I think he would have really loved to sleep on his belly (like his mommy) but we were discouraged from allowing him to do this. So in the chair he stayed. We finally moved him out (with a lot of tears) when he became too big for the chair (not to mention his 6 month appointment was coming and we didn't want to tell the doctor that he was still in a chair).

Once we had made the successful transition from chair to crib, it was time to let the child cry it out! Yes we let him cry...we used the extinction method. I read everything I could online, read the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley but in the end we followed the extinction method from Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. My best friend L was my coach and I thank god for her and support!

We had been bouncing Z to sleep for 6 months on a big exercise ball. I am not kidding...our child was either rocked or bounced to sleep every single time. It would sometimes take 45 minutes to an hour to get him to sleep and this was cause for lots of tears. We did this 3-5 times a day and it was killing our backs! At the 6 month mark I had had enough...I couldn't take it anymore. I had tried methods from the No Cry Sleep Solution but they weren't working fast enough. I knew that if I didn't do something quick, I was going to lose it.

So one day I put him down for his nap and let him cry! He only cried for 20 minutes the first time, 15 minutes the second time and 45 minutes the third time!!! That was torture and I cried for most of that time too. I finally broke down and got him but then the fourth time he cried for 50 minutes and I stayed strong. After that he would cry for 5-15 min and finally he wouldn't cry at all (just talk).

It was a miracle! I had time to myself, my back no longer felt like it was going to break and my son was actually going to sleep on his own!!! He was still getting up 3 times during the night but at least he knew how to fall asleep on his own :)

Slowly but surely we worked out our bad habits and dropped a feeding every few weeks/months. It was hard work, there were lots of tears but we did it. Finally the 5 o'clock feeding was dropped and Z was sleeping 7-7! Hooray!!! We did it!!! I know much of our problems were our own fault but he is our first and we were so tired! Once we had accomplished this feat it was time to start thinking about weaning (a whole other blog topic).

So it has only been in the last few months that I have felt human again. I am sleeping, working out, losing weight, eating whatever I want, I am more organized and I can actually complete a thought (well most days). That is why I am not ready to enter into the pregnancy haze. Don't get me wrong...I loved being pregnant! I am just not ready to be back in my maternity clothes anytime soon :)

S and I do want more children (in fact I think S would like them now) but I would like to space them at least 3 years apart. I read an article in Parents Magazine not too long ago about the perfect spacing for siblings. At the end of the article I realized that there are pros and cons no matter what you do! I feel that the people who space their kids close together either had a really easy time with their first child or just want to get the sleepless nights and diaper years over with :) I am hoping that the three year span works out, S and his sister are three years apart and it seems to work :)

Okay, I know this blog entry is so super long but I have one more thing to share before you go...last night was the lunar eclipse. S spent most of the evening outside taking pictures of it (I have a few of his best here). The weirdest thing about the eclipse was that at 10:05ish when it was full...Z woke up, screamed out, jumped up and turned on his aquarium and then went back to sleep. Maybe he has a connection with the universe that we did not know about :)

Happy Sleeping Everybody!!!!

Bath Time for Toddlers

Well I feel the title of this blog should really be True Confessions of a Stay at Home Mom. Bath Time at my house as always been a struggle. When Z was a small baby he hated the water. He would cry from start to finish, no matter what we did. We were given many suggestions to help the process go smoother but nothing worked.

I remember being out this past fall with my friends C and K. I asked them to be honest and tell me how often they bathe their babies. I often find that the answer to this question is either every day or every other day. And where there are families who do follow these strict bath time routines, I also know that there are many families who are lying :) If your child hates to bathe or you lead a very busy life...the bath is the first thing that goes out the window. I am sure many families are lucky if their child makes it into the bath tub 3 times a week (which according to a segment I saw on the Today Show, is okay). C and K did admit that sometimes bath time only happens 2-3 but that they aim for every other day :)

Well at that time, we were lucky to get Z in the bath once a week. The experience was so terrible that all three of us in the house dreaded it. We tried different times of the day, would only bathe him if S and I were both there, tried soothing music, bubbles, toys, songs...you name it we tried it! Z hated to get his hair wet and so we tried baths without hair washing...he would cling to us as we tried to put him in the water (which was not too hot or too cold by the way). It was so strange to us because he loved the pool, lake and ocean! We even tried bathing him in a bucket with my mother in-law. She too soon realized that bath time was a losing battle.

Then come Halloween, something miraculous happened. My friend K Booed our house and left a bag full of goodies at our door. They were goodies designed to help make bath time easier for Z :) So that night we gave him a bath with these new toys and we had no tears! He even let us wash his hair. Now granted, we had been introducing new toys for some time but for whatever reason he allowed us to bathe him!

Z now loves the bath. He signs bath and runs to the stairs wishing that you will follow him. Z would take a bath every day (twice a day) if we let him!!! He loves the water, to splash around, loves the Dan Zanes cd we play and does not mind getting his head wet or water in his eyes. It has been a complete turn around thanks to K and her Boo Bag :)

So why do I still not bathe Z everyday or at least every other day? Well we have a new problem on our hands......he now cries hysterically when you take him out. It is torture getting him out of the tub and so we are lucky if we hit 3 baths in a week! If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to comment. My only successful strategies so far have been timing Z's bath with S's homecoming or bribing him with a special game. And when all else fails, I just take his tearful, squirmy body out of the tub and try to dress him as quickly as possible so that we can move on to the next thing.

So yes I admit it....my child does not bathe everyday! I am sorry if that offends you, I will continue to work on it. For now, my little Z will be bathing 3 times a week (2 times with me and once with S) and as I said before...the Today Show said that was okay :)

A Very Special Guest

Well we had a very special guest stay over the other night and we were all sad to see her go! One of my all time favorite students G came to spend the night and help out with Z. I met her and her mother half way at a coffee shop and it was so nice to sit, relax and catch up with them. I use to work at a very special school where we truly got to know our students and their families. This particular family is very special to me and G's mother even sang at my wedding :) The kids from this family have all stayed over our house before and it is always so much fun to have them around :)

Z was a bit shy when G first came in but before we knew it they had bonded over a game of basketball. It was then true love and he played with her all night long! They played ball, she drove him around on his car, they danced together and had lots of fun with bubbles. She helped feed him his dinner, got him in his jammies and Z showered her with hugs and kisses ;) At bedtime G read Z his books, she then gave him a big hug goodnight. When G went to leave the room Z let out long wail. He started to sob because he did not want to leave all the fun he was having with her. It took S quite a long time to get him relaxed and sleepy.

Then it was my turn to have G all to myself :) We ate dessert, chatted, played video games and watched a really silly show on TV. It was so nice to have her over. The next morning Z was beside himself when he saw G again and spent the morning playing with her. When we had to drop her off he was very upset. He cried when she got out of the car (I think he has a little crush on her) and G looked so sad to leave her new little friend. It was such a nice visit and we will have to have her back again really soon :) Thanks G for all of your help, you were the perfect mothers helper!!!!

A Fun Day with Daddy!

Well we just had the best morning :) S is off from work today so he let me have some ME time and workout while he got Z and himself ready for the day. It was so nice to start my day with my workout and not have to worry if I was going to wake Z up with my step aerobics ;) I also got to take a nice long shower!!! It was the best.

We then went out for our Z day :) We started off for breakfast at a nearby diner. We are in a low-carb contest this week so while Z filled up on pancakes.....S and I enjoyed a veggie omlette with turkey sausage. We both said no to homefries and toast (big move for us) and got sliced tomato instead :) Z loved this diner and was bouncing up and down to the fun 50's music.

After a wonderful breakfast we took Z to the local indoor playground to play. S had never been to one of these and was a little overwhelmed. Z had a ball and it was nice to share this experience as a family. After our playtime was over we went to the grocery store for some family shopping (hunting for low carb foods).

It was such a nice morning and I was sad to see it come to a close. I hope that we will make a habit of having these special times with Z :) Thanks S and Z for a great family day!!!!

Church with a Toddler...take II--Continued

He did so well!!!! He was the perfect angel (and a good looking angel at that). We did have one moment that had us all nervous, he saw his dad proceed in and put his arms out for him. When S smiled and kept on walking Z let out the longest and most high pitch cry. He sobbed for a few moments but then my dad held him and all was well. It did help having my parents there, Z went back and forth between them and was so good. He only left with my dad for about 5 minutes during the sermon but sat through the rest of the service!!!! I was so proud of him....there is hope for our plane trip coming up in a few weeks :)

Thanks mom and dad for helping us out! Congratulations S and Good Job Z :)

Church with a Toddler...take II

Well we are going to give it another go! Z and S are dressed and ready to go (of course I am not) and the toys, books and food are packed for another Sunday worship. S is still going to sing in the choir this week but I have backup this time.....Grandma and Grandpa are coming to church! I really hope that this helps the situation and that Z is distracted by them and thus leaves S alone. Maybe 3 adults are better than 1 :) They won't be able to come every week but if today works out, we have discussed S singing in the choir every other week. That way we can go to church 2 times per month as a family (which is why we joined in the first place). It seems like the perfect compromise, we shall see. Well check back later and I will tell you all how it went. Pray for us or wish us luck! Which ever seems more natural for you :)