I Don't Need Two

Recently, we had a moment with Christopher that made us swell with pride. He celebrated a friend's birthday at school and they all got plastic Spiderman rings from the cupcakes. Christopher had two and was carrying them out of school. We were riding in the elevator with a new friend in the 4 year old class.  He turned to the little boy and asked him if he wanted the ring. The boy said yes and Christopher gave him one of his rings.

Later that night we were talking with Dad about his day and I was talking about what Christopher did in the elevator. He turned to his dad and said, "I don't need two."

Mike and I made eye contact and it was such an amazing moment realizing how big this little boy's heart is.

We choose our own clothes

At some point in time we had Christopher start picking out his shirt for school each morning. I don't exactly remember when, maybe during maternity leave because I did not want to get out of bed. Anyways, each morning I have him go get his shirt. This seems to expedite the process of getting dressed in the morning, especially since now he must get dressed before he can eat breakfast - seems to be a strong motivator for him and keeps us from having to ask him over and over again to get dressed. 

There have been some drawbacks to this process of helping himself.  For example this is what his closet looks like.  

I think he goes in like the Tasmanian devil and starts swinging his arms like a helicopter and just pulls his shirts half of the hanger. 

He then started breaking his hangers all together.  The first time he did this he made a big deal about it and wanted to try and fix it. Don't think it's that big of a deal to him anymore since there are several broken hangers on the floor now.

Finally, the last drawback is that now he wants to pick out his own bottoms too. Earlier this week this is what he wore. 

This is his cheese face. And then when I tried to get him to do it again so I could get him with his eyes open. He said, "I already said cheese, Mom." So I got this picture. I digress. This outfit isn't too bad. Some may even think it is fashion forward pairing a gray with a brown. 



But, I do not have pictures of him in his orange polo and navy, green and yellow plaid shorts or when he insisted that his Carolina blue pants matched his Carolina blue shirt - yes, they did indeed match. I held my tongue because I'm not sure if he is ready for the complimentary colors talk yet. He is only three. 

Goals for the weekend

The past few weekends I have gone into them on Friday with visions of me getting all these projects completed. They kind of look like this:

Putting our storage room back together after the debacle with the air conditioning and sorting clothes for donation.

Installing my iPad rack in the kitchen so I don't keep pressing my luck on not spilling anything on it while I'm looking at recipes.





Cleaning up Christopher's closet and donating old clothes.


Hanging hooks that I purchased almost a month ago to replace the command it ones that keep falling off and dropping my clothes on the floor.

Finally, putting together Christopher's new car seat that has been sitting in our front hallway for almost two months.


These all seem like an ambitious goal. Especially, because we have a birthday party to go to this weekend. But, hey I'm an ambitious girl and I figure there is nothing like airing my dirty laundry for the world to see that is better motivation to finally get these projects done!

Mikayla 8 Months

I still can't believe how fast the time is going by. I know they say it always seems to go by faster with the second. It just was hard to comprehend until it actually started happening. Just like when your pregnant with your first they tell you to sleep now because you won't after the baby is born, but I digress.

Mikayla's personality is still just exploding.  She is so adventuresome. She is into everything and quick as a cat. You can't take your eyes off of her for more than a few seconds. She loves shoes, cords, cats and anything of her brothers. She seems to be going through never-ending teething. I'm convinced that one morning she will smile at us and she will have a full mouth of teeth.

We finally decided that her 8 month "birthday" would be when we stop feeding her at night. The doctor recommended that we start this at 6 months. But, like I've said before she wants what she wants when she wants it. The first night did not go so well. We used the Ferber method, which we used with success on Christopher. She is definitively more stubborn than Christopher. He usually fell asleep before the ten minutes was up. Not Mikayla.  She was up for about an hour at 2 a.m., but Mike and I persevered. It's not fun, but we know in the end it's what is best and a couple hard nights of sleep will be worth sleeping through the night again for the first time in 8 months and give Mikayla the sleep she needs.

TV-Off Tuesday

I was more prepared for this TV-Off Tuesday's activities. However, maybe too ambitious.  We started out the evening with a photo shoot for Mikayla's 8 month "birthday."


Christopher wanted to get in on the action and take some pictures of himself too.



I gave Christopher the option of making cupcakes or playing outside. He chose making cupcakes. We made red velvet cupcakes with homemade cream cheese frosting. Sounds yummy, right?



They look yummy.




Christopher's favorite part was squeezing licking the frosting onto the cupcakes.


The frosting was yummy.



The cupcakes, were not yummy. I used a new recipe where we put in beets for the coloring.  I think it went down hill when I used coconut oil instead of butter and then it really took a tumble when I used canned beets instead of steamed fresh beets like the recipe called for. This is about all Christopher would eat, besides licking off all the frosting. Mike said they didn't taste too bad if he ate them fast.



Time to brainstorm new recipes for next TV-Off Tuesday.

Soccer Class Parents

So I need to get something off my chest. I really enjoy taking Christopher to soccer class every Saturday and I know that he loves going. However, there are parents that just irritate me each week. I've grouped these parents into types:

The Lazy Parent

The lazy parent brings siblings to the class and does not watch the sibling that is not in the class. When their toddler goes out on the field he/she leisurely follows the kid out their picks him up and brings him back. He/she is in no rush to get their barely walking toddler off the field where a bunch of 3 year olds are running around like a pack of dogs chasing a cat.

The Codling Parent

These parents really irritate me. These are the parents that have to sit on the side lines of the field because their child will not participate if they take five steps back and sit on the bench. Or they sit on their child's spot and the child sits on their lap between activities. They are distracting to the other kids and they are just letting their kids have control of the situation. We handle this by giving Christopher two options: you can play soccer on the field by yourself or you can sit with Mom/Dad on the bench and watch.

The Competitive Parent

These parents just make me laugh. When a dad is pushing his 2/3 year old daughter to run faster, kick harder and kicks the ball to her at full force. It's comical. These kids are 3. Stick to the basics, don't use your hands, kick the ball with your feet, etc.

The Pre-Occupied Parent

I think that these parents are almost more irritating than the coddling parent. They are so busy chatting with other parents they don't even notice that their child is: tangled in the goal net, picking up metal equipment and swinging it like a sword at other kids, pushing kids, taking kids balls, running around like a wild animal completely distracting the coach. I have the practice of allowing the coach to handle the behavior until Christopher's behavior is interrupting the class. For example, if the coach has to stop and address Christopher personally more than once for the same issue I will intervene. Last week one of these pre-occupied parents was so clueless to what her son was doing that when she looked up he was following instructions and she made a big deal praising how well he was listening, but not five minutes before he was on the other side of the gym doing the opposite the coach was asking.

Now, I'm not saying that we are perfect. I'd put us in the "too much stuff parent." I'm sure we irritate people by all the things we bring in, like a huge diaper bag, infant carrier, two coffee mugs even though we are probably 20 steps away from our car, and there is limited seating availability and walking room.

If there is one thing from this experience that I have learned first hand is how children can sense if they have control over the situation. I have never hesitated taking Christopher out of the class and giving him a time out in front of everyone. It wasn't fun at first, but I've learned to feel empowered by not caring what other's may think and I'm not going to modify our expectations of our children's behavior because I'm afraid what other's may think.

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend was full of moments where I realized how fast our kids are growing up. Christopher amazed Mike and I on how he calmly handled a few situations where it seems like the day before caused a major meltdown for him.

The first came when he went downstairs to self-serve himself a "bar." The open box was empty and he needed help opening a new box. This situation usually results in a screeching and stopping session about how he can't get a bar. Not this time. Mike and I were upstairs and we heard, "Mom, can you come down here please, I need some help." Mike and I had quite the "wow" moment.  We had a few of these moments this weekend where he was calm and polite. It was very rewarding to know all the - take deep breaths and calm down, we can't understand you, you don't get want you want when you act that way comments are starting to sink in. Now, let's not get to carried away, there were still time outs, crying, whining and he even missed out on his story last night for not listening during bath time. Our motto is if he can't listen to us then he can't listen to a story.

Now on to the pictures of our weekend. It started out with soccer as usual.






This time, Mikayla napped on me.  We are really cherishing these moments because we know she won't sleep on us for much longer. We still remember the sting when we realized Christopher did not want to sleep on us anymore - tear.






Don't worry, Mike did not miss out on his after soccer nap.





We played all lot.






And Christopher drank out of Daddy's water bottle - this does not make Dad happy.






Mikayla has some teeth coming in. So there was a lot of this:







We then decided to leave the house as a family and go see Winnie the Pooh - it's a really cute movie. One of the best parts was hearing all the kids in the theater giggling.






This was Mikayla's first movie. We did not know what to expect because she doesn't really pay attention to the TV. She seemed to enjoy it, but she talked a lot so I spent most my time in the hall. Christopher loves the popcorn. Not too easy taking good pictures in a movie theater.






About half way through the movie. I realized I was wearing these shoes with a sun dress. These shoes usually don't leave the house. I was in such a hurry to leave with everyone that I didn't realize I had not put on my flip-flops.





Dad was used as a jungle gym. I am laughing behind the camera because usually this is me.






I finally moved Mikayla's mattress down. Before:






After. Side note - the crib skirt doesn't really work at this level.




I went ahead and moved it to the lowest position. I have been putting this off for a few weekends. But when she did this:






I decided we could not wait any longer. She also stood on her own for about 3 seconds. Again, this girl is not even 8 months yet.

Christopher and I took pictures of each other.






Say Cheese, Mom.







Sundays is double bath day. They both really enjoy baths together.






We then read a story together. Nothing like getting them all wound up before putting them to bed.






Mike and I closed out the weekend with plyos again and I tried cooking bok choy for the first time.






Here's to a new week!

Christopher's Story about Mom

My mom is Gena. She likes to have a party. My party. We watch the new Woody on TV. She likes to eat bagels. She pushes me in a shopping cart and she brings me outside. I love my mommy.

Christopher's Story about Dad

For Father's Day and Mother's Day the teachers at daycare wrote stories with Christopher about us.  Below is the story he wrote about Dad. 

My daddy's name is Michael. My daddy looks like Spiderman and Ironman. We live at my house. I like to give daddy hugs and a really big hug. I like my daddy to kiss him.

My daddy like to eat bagels. My daddy works at home. I don't know what he does. Daddy takes me to the doctor.

Stay tuned for Mom's story.

I'm going to tell the worm

On our way home from school (daycare) Christopher and I usually have very interesting conversations.  Sometimes they involve him telling me he doesn't want to tell me about his day he wants me to tell me about my day. He then proceeds to ask me all the questions I normally ask him about his day. Somedays, he gives me directions on how to get home. 

Wednesday it was about a bird. He asked me what the bird was looking for and I said a bug to eat. Christopher replied, "Nooo, Mom. The bird is looking for a worm. I'm going to tell the worm that the bird is looking for him." When we get home Christopher promptly walks over to the almost fossilized worm in our garage and says, "Hey, worm. Bird is looking for you. Mom, the worm isn't moving." I tell him the worm is taking a rest. 

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

TV-Off Tuesday

ast week I decided to start a new tradition in the Redding household - TV-Off Tuesdays. Last week was pretty successful - until bed time. We had some unfortunate bathroom incidents that I do not care to relive by sharing the details. I was prepared with as much enthusiasm I could muster after a long work day and prepared an activity for Christopher and I. We cooked some muffins. He had fun. So naturally, this Tuesday he was excited about TV-Off Tuesday. He even told a random parent on the way out of daycare that it was No-TV Tuesday. I was excited, that this tradition was going to stick.  This week, I did not prepare any activities and figured we would wing it by playing together. 

We started TV-Off Tuesday with a dance party in the garage to Boom, Boom, Pow and Forget You - Christopher's two favorite songs. He then wanted to sit in the driver's seat. I told him no and he promptly stopped his foot, crinkled up his nose and sad, "Mom, you need to share." Which I replied I think it's time to go inside. We then had some self-serve grapes. Christopher really enjoys doing this.

He then sits on the window seal and eats grapes. 

Things were going well, until about 15 minutes in to TV-Off Tuesday and Christopher promptly told me:

It's Movie Tuesday, Mom - you know that?

We were able to keep the TV off all evening without any tantrums - that's a success in itself. But, next Tuesday I'm going to have a pre-planned activity and not wing it. I'm thinking we will try this recipe for Cookie Dough: http://www.mightyvegan.com/2011/07/18/chickpea-cookie-dough/  Here is what Mikayla thought of TV-Off Tuesday.

It wouldn't matter, this girl has no time for the TV. Never pays any attention to it. Which is the opposite of Christopher at this age. I think he had a full blown addiction to Yo Gabba, Gabba by 7 months.