Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Proof that a big girl officially lives in this house
I set up Kiya's brand new twin size bed today. I took apart the rest of the crib and it is now official. Sniff Sniff. There is no longer a crib in this house at least for now :)
And here she is reading one of her favorite books :)
We have been home 18 months today. We came home with a less than 6 month old 12lb baby. Now we are 2 weeks away from a full fledged 2 year old that weighs close to 27lbs and has more spunk than I know what to do with sometimes. She is keeping me on my toes and in the last week I have gone up and down the stairs more times than I can remember returning her to bed at nap time.
That said she is the light of my life spunk and all and I am so proud of my big girl. She loves being a big girl. Last night she was just beaming with pride when she went pee pee on the potty before bedtime and got to flush the toilet. Now if we could just convince her that the hours between 3am and 5am are meant for sleeping and not singing/talking that would be helpful.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
18 months ago
18 months ago yesterday I walked up 4 flights of stairs and saw my sweet baby girl on the floor. Seconds later her nanny handed her to me and my 6 year long dream of being a mother had finally and really come true.
Here she was this tiny little almost 6 month old piece of perfection. She weighed 12lbs and couldn't hold her head up straight when she was sitting. She couldn't sit up unassisted and she couldn't really bare any weight on her legs. She was so tiny and sweet and well beautiful. I was in love. The feeling was definitely not mutual at first.
Kiya didn't really like or want to be held a lot. She was very independent and very cautious with her eye contact. Sh didn't trust me. To her I was merely a meeter of needs. Food, shelter, clothing, etc. I wasn't yet truly her mother.
Now 18 months later, Miss Kiya loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses. She can be a little on the clingy side more recently but that is age appropriate. She is a walking, talking, independent and lovely little girl.
We have come a long way in 18 months. She is coming into her own in this new role of being a big girl. She was never much of a baby baby. She never really liked bottles and she still likes to do things or try them by herself. We saw her strength in her referral picture. We knew she was one tough and cautious cookie. Cautious in the who are you and what do you want way. She is a little bit of a daredevil otherwise. She was more so before her cast but that doesn't stop her from trying to climb on the couch or out of bed.
She is smart, funny and really very sweet. These 18 months have not always been easy and she has faced some obstacles but has bounced back and is truly a resilient kid. She never ceases to amaze me.
We have developed this wonderful relationship that I hope nurtures and grows. She listens to me and I to her. We don't always agree and well since she is almost 2 you can imagine the meltdowns but either way our relationship is beautiful. It took time and will always need work but the big thing is she trusts me. She needs me. I need her. We need each other. She has taught me so much and I look forward to teaching her and watching her grow.
And while I rely on 4 shot lattes to get me through toddlerhood, I am so in love with this amazing little person. She challenges me and tests me and sometimes that is hard but it comes with being a parent. And I LOVE being a parent.
Here she was this tiny little almost 6 month old piece of perfection. She weighed 12lbs and couldn't hold her head up straight when she was sitting. She couldn't sit up unassisted and she couldn't really bare any weight on her legs. She was so tiny and sweet and well beautiful. I was in love. The feeling was definitely not mutual at first.
Kiya didn't really like or want to be held a lot. She was very independent and very cautious with her eye contact. Sh didn't trust me. To her I was merely a meeter of needs. Food, shelter, clothing, etc. I wasn't yet truly her mother.
Now 18 months later, Miss Kiya loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses. She can be a little on the clingy side more recently but that is age appropriate. She is a walking, talking, independent and lovely little girl.
We have come a long way in 18 months. She is coming into her own in this new role of being a big girl. She was never much of a baby baby. She never really liked bottles and she still likes to do things or try them by herself. We saw her strength in her referral picture. We knew she was one tough and cautious cookie. Cautious in the who are you and what do you want way. She is a little bit of a daredevil otherwise. She was more so before her cast but that doesn't stop her from trying to climb on the couch or out of bed.
She is smart, funny and really very sweet. These 18 months have not always been easy and she has faced some obstacles but has bounced back and is truly a resilient kid. She never ceases to amaze me.
We have developed this wonderful relationship that I hope nurtures and grows. She listens to me and I to her. We don't always agree and well since she is almost 2 you can imagine the meltdowns but either way our relationship is beautiful. It took time and will always need work but the big thing is she trusts me. She needs me. I need her. We need each other. She has taught me so much and I look forward to teaching her and watching her grow.
And while I rely on 4 shot lattes to get me through toddlerhood, I am so in love with this amazing little person. She challenges me and tests me and sometimes that is hard but it comes with being a parent. And I LOVE being a parent.
Monday, November 8, 2010
My oh my...what have we done
Some how we managed to survive the weekend of change. Kiya did great with the potty training. There were a few times that she resisted and we just left the bathroom and went on with our day. She did have multiple successes though and she seemed really proud of herself. It for sure hasn't all clicked yet but it will.
Today will also be the first time at daycare that they will take Kiya to the potty. She says potty, knows that other kids go in there so we figured let's go for it. We do have a rule at home though that she can't flush the toilet or have toilet paper unless she goes pee pee or poop in the potty. I know some may say that is mean but otherwise she would just keep asking to go potty just so she could flush and wash her hands.
We also took the crib apart. It converts to a toddler bed. In my state of denial, I thought for sure Kiya would stay in bed. She stays on her mat at daycare at naptime so it didn't seem like a stretch. One loud thud heard from downstairs and we both ran up the stairs faster than the speed of light. Apparently she found a way out of her toddler bed. She either climbed over the bed rail or squeezed through the gap. Not fun. We put her back in bed and within minutes she was out again.
For safety reasons, we put the mattress on the floor for the rest of the night. Mommy foiled two other attempts over night to get out of bed. We are using the super nanny approach so first time she gets up we tell her it is bed time and put her back in bed. Second time she gets up we gain return her to bed and say good night. Third and subsequent times there are no words, we just return her to bed. I have seen this routine go on for hours on the TV show so our 30 some minutes until she fell asleep didn't seem that bad. We shall see how tonight goes.
Then there was this morning....my sweet, curious daughter got out of bed and decided that playing with diapers would be a good idea. She went to the cabinet and started to take diapers out and put them in the diaper pail. I heard a noise and went and saw her standing in the middle of the room with a diaper. I thought at first oh maybe I should change her. It was about 5:45am. So I changed her diaper and then realized there were 3 other clean diapers in the diaper pail. Sigh.
I put Kiya back to bed only to hear about 20 minutes later a very loud "all done". She was standing at the baby gate at her door. Dave was up with the dogs and it freaked him out. He wasn't expecting to see her there but there she was. He put her back to bed but again that didn't last long. She was up and out of bed again by about 6:30am, a full hour before she used to get up. I HATE daylight savings time by the way.
So needless to say I was up super early this morning with Miss Kiya. We are marching forward and will be purchasing a twin size bed for Kiya this weekend. The toddler bed thing isn't working out. We will make it work for the week but it has to go. We fully expect that she will get out of bed no matter what size bed she is sleeping in but the whole using the headboard to stand up and try to climb out of the toddler bed is so not safe. I don't want to hear anymore thuds so the mattress will stay on the floor.
I went shopping this morning for twin size bedding. That was more of a task than I thought it would be. I wanted something girlie, childish and that kind of went with her yellow walls. A lot of the bedding I saw was way too old looking or just plain ugly or covered with some cartoon character, etc. I wanted to stay away from that. 3 stores later and T.arget had what I was looking for. I will post pics after her room transformation this weekend.
Life with a curious, smart and super mobile toddler is exhausting but at the same time I wouldn't change a thing. She is a spunky little girl and while it is challenging at times she is super fun and life is never dull when you spend the day with Kiya.
Today will also be the first time at daycare that they will take Kiya to the potty. She says potty, knows that other kids go in there so we figured let's go for it. We do have a rule at home though that she can't flush the toilet or have toilet paper unless she goes pee pee or poop in the potty. I know some may say that is mean but otherwise she would just keep asking to go potty just so she could flush and wash her hands.
We also took the crib apart. It converts to a toddler bed. In my state of denial, I thought for sure Kiya would stay in bed. She stays on her mat at daycare at naptime so it didn't seem like a stretch. One loud thud heard from downstairs and we both ran up the stairs faster than the speed of light. Apparently she found a way out of her toddler bed. She either climbed over the bed rail or squeezed through the gap. Not fun. We put her back in bed and within minutes she was out again.
For safety reasons, we put the mattress on the floor for the rest of the night. Mommy foiled two other attempts over night to get out of bed. We are using the super nanny approach so first time she gets up we tell her it is bed time and put her back in bed. Second time she gets up we gain return her to bed and say good night. Third and subsequent times there are no words, we just return her to bed. I have seen this routine go on for hours on the TV show so our 30 some minutes until she fell asleep didn't seem that bad. We shall see how tonight goes.
Then there was this morning....my sweet, curious daughter got out of bed and decided that playing with diapers would be a good idea. She went to the cabinet and started to take diapers out and put them in the diaper pail. I heard a noise and went and saw her standing in the middle of the room with a diaper. I thought at first oh maybe I should change her. It was about 5:45am. So I changed her diaper and then realized there were 3 other clean diapers in the diaper pail. Sigh.
I put Kiya back to bed only to hear about 20 minutes later a very loud "all done". She was standing at the baby gate at her door. Dave was up with the dogs and it freaked him out. He wasn't expecting to see her there but there she was. He put her back to bed but again that didn't last long. She was up and out of bed again by about 6:30am, a full hour before she used to get up. I HATE daylight savings time by the way.
So needless to say I was up super early this morning with Miss Kiya. We are marching forward and will be purchasing a twin size bed for Kiya this weekend. The toddler bed thing isn't working out. We will make it work for the week but it has to go. We fully expect that she will get out of bed no matter what size bed she is sleeping in but the whole using the headboard to stand up and try to climb out of the toddler bed is so not safe. I don't want to hear anymore thuds so the mattress will stay on the floor.
I went shopping this morning for twin size bedding. That was more of a task than I thought it would be. I wanted something girlie, childish and that kind of went with her yellow walls. A lot of the bedding I saw was way too old looking or just plain ugly or covered with some cartoon character, etc. I wanted to stay away from that. 3 stores later and T.arget had what I was looking for. I will post pics after her room transformation this weekend.
Life with a curious, smart and super mobile toddler is exhausting but at the same time I wouldn't change a thing. She is a spunky little girl and while it is challenging at times she is super fun and life is never dull when you spend the day with Kiya.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Big girl room, potty training and more
Change is a coming to our house in the form of all things big girl. It makes me happy and sad to see Miss Kiya growing up. It is happening so fast but she is ready to be a big girl. I kind of think she has always wanted to be a big girl. She wasn't much in to being a baby until she figured out that she got more attention that way. So we battled that for awhile especially with daycare but not anymore. (Before she walked they would carry her places instead of putting her down and making her hold their hand and walk from point a to point b. The Mama Bear stepped in an a former teacher of Kiya's to make sure that wasn't going to continue and it hasn't.)
First up, the removal of the crib from Miss Kiya's room. This weekend we are transforming her crib into a bed. Bed rail and gate have been purchased. Room has been cleaned. 4 bags of baby girl clothes were donated. It is time. Time for the crib to go.
Next up, potty training I think... This one is tough. She is definitely showing a lot of the signs that she is ready but not all. We know exactly when she is going poop and if we ask her if she is she says yes. Last night we asked her if she was and she said yes and we asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty and she said yes. So diaper on we went over to the potty and she sat down. So I kind of think we could get her to go poop on the potty but not sure about the other. She drinks A LOT of milk and water throughout the day....she is sometimes dry after nap but not usually. She wets A LOT at night. Do we go for it? Wait a few more weeks until she is officially two?
I am going to talk to her teachers at daycare about it today and see what their process is like. If we are doing it we are all doing it together and I don't really want it to be a long drawn out 6 months of sort of potty training. I know night time potty training will take longer and I am okay with that but I don't want to rush things if it means it will take forever to get her daytime potty trained. I would rather wait and still change diapers.
Kiya has fully entered the terrible twos. Sigh. She can throw a tantrum like no other. They aren't frequent so when she does throw one boy is it a good one and usually over something very trivial. We are just rolling with it. We know it is a phase and will pass. We ignore as best we can and take breaks when needed.
She has also decided that whining is the best way to get things. Wrong answer in this house. We have a no whining policy. If she wants milk, to sit on the couch, her book, her blanket or whatever she needs to use her words not just point and whine. So the plus side she is learning a bunch of new words but the downside is that sometimes mid whine she starts to meltdown and needs a break.
We are working on manners so if she wants a book it is book please or in Kiya speak book peas :) And if she wants her milk and says please and we get it for her with some prodding she will say thank you. She is getting better at saying thank you but sometimes we ask her, Kiya what do you say? And her answer: say with a grin. Sigh. We have a spirited one on our hands for sure.
So that is where we are for now...phasing out all things baby and getting ready for our big girl to shine like the superstar that she is.
First up, the removal of the crib from Miss Kiya's room. This weekend we are transforming her crib into a bed. Bed rail and gate have been purchased. Room has been cleaned. 4 bags of baby girl clothes were donated. It is time. Time for the crib to go.
Next up, potty training I think... This one is tough. She is definitely showing a lot of the signs that she is ready but not all. We know exactly when she is going poop and if we ask her if she is she says yes. Last night we asked her if she was and she said yes and we asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty and she said yes. So diaper on we went over to the potty and she sat down. So I kind of think we could get her to go poop on the potty but not sure about the other. She drinks A LOT of milk and water throughout the day....she is sometimes dry after nap but not usually. She wets A LOT at night. Do we go for it? Wait a few more weeks until she is officially two?
I am going to talk to her teachers at daycare about it today and see what their process is like. If we are doing it we are all doing it together and I don't really want it to be a long drawn out 6 months of sort of potty training. I know night time potty training will take longer and I am okay with that but I don't want to rush things if it means it will take forever to get her daytime potty trained. I would rather wait and still change diapers.
Kiya has fully entered the terrible twos. Sigh. She can throw a tantrum like no other. They aren't frequent so when she does throw one boy is it a good one and usually over something very trivial. We are just rolling with it. We know it is a phase and will pass. We ignore as best we can and take breaks when needed.
She has also decided that whining is the best way to get things. Wrong answer in this house. We have a no whining policy. If she wants milk, to sit on the couch, her book, her blanket or whatever she needs to use her words not just point and whine. So the plus side she is learning a bunch of new words but the downside is that sometimes mid whine she starts to meltdown and needs a break.
We are working on manners so if she wants a book it is book please or in Kiya speak book peas :) And if she wants her milk and says please and we get it for her with some prodding she will say thank you. She is getting better at saying thank you but sometimes we ask her, Kiya what do you say? And her answer: say with a grin. Sigh. We have a spirited one on our hands for sure.
So that is where we are for now...phasing out all things baby and getting ready for our big girl to shine like the superstar that she is.
Monday, November 1, 2010
2 weeks and boy am I tired.....
Kiya has been a full time walker for 2 weeks now and I am exhausted. The whining and walking has seemed to stop. Sometimes she still wants to hold a finger but more and more she just takes off.
We were in a bookstore with my mom and she was EVERYWHERE and doing it all by herself. She would walk up this aisle and down this one and wouldn't touch a thing really to adjust her balance. Sometimes she would stop a little and adjust or take a couple steps backwards and then off she went again. I was so glad to have my mom there to help me keep an eye on her. And so proud of Kiya for not tossing all the books on the floor. She actually behaved very very well.
Our Birth to 3 therapist wants her to practice walking on all sorts of surfaces. Kiya does sidewalks fine, and the playground okay but grass not so much so we are going to work on it. Our therapist let Kiya borrow a shopping cart and she LOVES it. She pushes it all over the house turning and steering and running into stuff and backing up and then off again.
We had this great (?) idea to bring Kiya to a local grocery store and let her push this little cart through the store by herself. Again so glad Dave was with me. He followed her and I tried to shop. She went so fast and was again all over and loving it. She even wanted to put stuff in her cart. The first thing she grabbed was sun dried tomatoes, ICK. So those went back and we gave her some lettuce instead and then she wanted bananas and in the lunch meat area she just reached out and grabbed a package of honey smoked turkey breast. We didn't really need it but when we tried to put it back she grabbed it again so we let her keep it. She ate it for lunch when we got home.
She kept wanting to do her own thing and went to the check out line a few times before we were ready. I missed a bunch of stuff that we needed so had to go to the store again today but it was so worth it. She had such a smile on her face. Sure we had a meltdown or two when she wasn't allowed to go a certain way but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I wouldn't necessarily take her by myself unless it was a small trip for just a couple of things and I could focus on her.
I am so excited to see her new found independence but it is tiring this mama out and I am having a second cup of coffee mid afternoon to keep up with her.
We were in a bookstore with my mom and she was EVERYWHERE and doing it all by herself. She would walk up this aisle and down this one and wouldn't touch a thing really to adjust her balance. Sometimes she would stop a little and adjust or take a couple steps backwards and then off she went again. I was so glad to have my mom there to help me keep an eye on her. And so proud of Kiya for not tossing all the books on the floor. She actually behaved very very well.
Our Birth to 3 therapist wants her to practice walking on all sorts of surfaces. Kiya does sidewalks fine, and the playground okay but grass not so much so we are going to work on it. Our therapist let Kiya borrow a shopping cart and she LOVES it. She pushes it all over the house turning and steering and running into stuff and backing up and then off again.
We had this great (?) idea to bring Kiya to a local grocery store and let her push this little cart through the store by herself. Again so glad Dave was with me. He followed her and I tried to shop. She went so fast and was again all over and loving it. She even wanted to put stuff in her cart. The first thing she grabbed was sun dried tomatoes, ICK. So those went back and we gave her some lettuce instead and then she wanted bananas and in the lunch meat area she just reached out and grabbed a package of honey smoked turkey breast. We didn't really need it but when we tried to put it back she grabbed it again so we let her keep it. She ate it for lunch when we got home.
She kept wanting to do her own thing and went to the check out line a few times before we were ready. I missed a bunch of stuff that we needed so had to go to the store again today but it was so worth it. She had such a smile on her face. Sure we had a meltdown or two when she wasn't allowed to go a certain way but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I wouldn't necessarily take her by myself unless it was a small trip for just a couple of things and I could focus on her.
I am so excited to see her new found independence but it is tiring this mama out and I am having a second cup of coffee mid afternoon to keep up with her.
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