Aches and Pains

Well it has been about 5 weeks now and I am still in pain. I called the dr and let him know again that my medicine wasn't working, so he told me to stop that one and he gave me a new arthritis medication to try. He also made me an appt for the reumetologist for Jan 2. I really I hope I don't have to wait until then to get some relief. My family dr still hasn't tested me for Lyme Disease so I think he should rule that out first.

I start my new job on December 10th and I really don't want to be sitting at a desk all day which will make me stiff and sore.

Speaking of my new job, we took Tyler on a tour of the day care he will be going to. He absolutely loved it. His cousin Hayden goes there and will be in his class, our neighbors little boy goes there, his cousin Chase and his cousin Wyatt, so he knows quite a few kids. Plus it's not just unstructured playtime. They have some curriculum too. They learn their ABC's, numbers, colors, and shapes. Which we have been working on at home. They also help with potty training, so I hope he sees the kids at school doing it and he will continue to do it at home. Right now he goes on the potty part of the time and only pee, but I am hoping it will help him go all of the time.

Tyler's Favorite

I know sometimes it is hard to get our toddlers to eat what we are eating...esspecially something that is good for them. Two of Tyler's favorite foods are meat and beans. So Chili works very well as a meal in our house.

My cousin Jill's Chili is my absolute favorite and I would like to share this receipe with all of you in hopes that it will be a favorite of yours as well.

Cook 1 lb hamburger
add 1 chopped Green Pepper
1 chopped onion
1 large can kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 large can baked beans
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 can sweet corn
chili powder
cumin
salt and pepper

Let simmer until heated through.

We usually add a little cheese to the top and eat with Frito Scoops or Tostitos Scoops. Great for football games or just a cold day! Enjoy!

It's been a long time!

Ughh....It's been along time, but here I am. Bryce is now almost 7 weeks old. It's tough to sit at the computer for more than a few minutes at a time. I have a new found respect for mothers...esspecially mothers of more that 1. Having a toddler and a newborn is crazy busy.

Bryce does not like to sleep during the day unless he is being held. Everytime he falls asleep and I put him down he immediately wakes up. Tyler on the other hand has gotten used to the baby, but he keeps telling me to put him down.

Luckily they both sleep good at night. Bryce usually gets up once during the middle of the night, around 2 ish. Then gets up for good around 6. Ty has also been getting up at 6, so sometimes I have to have both of them on my lap at the same time.

Jim is a teacher and therfore is done with work until late August, however he works a summer job at the JCC camp with Autistic kids, coaches legion baseball, plays softball on Monday nights and plays baseball for a collegiate league a couple times a week. s if that isn't enough he is starting to tutor a homebound student in July. So even though he has his summers off from school he doesn't really have them off. But we need the money since I am a stay at home mom and now we have two kids.

I am thinking about going back to work. It is really tough living on one income with the two kids, and sometimes I think I would appreciate them more if I wasn't with them all day. I'm not sure however if I want to go back to work full time or part-time. Daycare is so expensive and I really don't want them to be there full time. Esspecially Bryce, he is too young to be with someone else full-time. So I don't know what to do.

Tyler and Bryce

Well everyone says that two is easier than one, I believe this to be false. Maybe when Ty is4 and Bryce is 2 it will be easier because they can play together and keep each other entertained, but right now it is tough. Tyler loves his brother, he always is asking "where baby" or "where Bryce"? Or he says "let's go Bryce" or "come on Bryce". But Tyler is very jelous and has been acting out, especially when I need to be holding the baby to feed him or when I am changing him, or when I am trying to get Bryce to sleep. Ty has been doing things he would have never done before such as climbing on top of the hot tub to play with toys we put up there, climbing on top of the futon and turning the thermostat up to 80, pouring the dog food into the dog water, coloring on the walls, ripping his Notre Dame penant in half, and the list goes on and on. I have been trying to keep him in his daily routine as much as possible. In the morning when he wakes up, I go in his room to get him, get him his juice and we watch cartoons. I have been taking him outside to play and for walks as much as I can, now that the weather is warm again. And when he is acting up I try to have some one on one time with him, if time allows.

Bryce has been really good so far. He sleeps alot, and sleeps much better at night than Ty did. Bryce loves to eat, if he is awake, he wants to eat. Although he has started eating an oz and falling asleep and then waking an hour or two later and wanting to eat again. This has got to stop. He is also pooping constantly. It seems like 10 times a day, a little bit at a time, and then as soon as I change him he wants to be changed again! For a little guy, boy does he stink!

Me I am feeling good. A bit tired, but good. I have started my diet yesterday. I'm not doing so good. It is really tough to diet after nine months of pretty much letting myself eat whatever and whenever I want. Started with this weeks shopping trip there will be no more soda, no more chips, no more ice cream in our house. Once what we have is gone it's gone. There will be many more fruit and veggies in our diets. I think this will help my energy levels increase a lot. I gained 25 lbs with this pregnancy, not too bad, but I still had a few pounds left from my first pregnancy with Ty, so I have some work ahead of me. Wish us all luck!

Is today the day?

Today might be the day! I went to the dr's on Wed and everything was good. I was already 2 cen. dialated, he is 7 1/2 lbs, and in head down position. Dr Kim did a non-stress test and he was concerned that the baby wasn't moving a lot so he scheduled another appt for Thursday. Again on Thursday I had a non-stress test and he was even less active than on Wed. I was sure it would be different because Kim and I had gone for lunch at a mexican restaurant, shopping and then to Starbucks. Well, he wasn't and Dr Kim still seemed concerned. He scheduled another non-stress test at the hospital this morning. I need to be there between 7 and 7:30, my test is at 8 and if baby still is not active then he will be inducing labor. I am scared and excited all at the same time. I am worried about Ty. I feel like it is so cruel giving him a new sibling. So many people have more than 1 child, and I want him to grow up with brothers and sisters, but I can't help feeling like he is going to get pushed aside and be very hurt. Did any of you other mom's feel this way when going on baby number 2? I am sure these feelings are normal.?

I think Tyler knows something is going to change. He has been very clingy lately. He wants to be held and carried everywhere. He snuggles much more, rocking in the chair with me while he drinks his juice or watching cartoons sometimes for way too long. But you see he was never a cuddler, and I really enjoy snuggling with him. And this morning we got a wake up call from him at 5:30! He never gets up this early.

Educating Toddlers Update

I want to thank Beth from PlaygroupDropout for posting my question about educating toddlers. We received a lot of really good feedback from the mom's out there. I know that Tyler is totally normal for his age. I think he is really smart even if I am his mom. Any way, I was on Babyzone.com and found a quiz called " What's Your Child's Learning Style?". There are three types of learners, auditory, visual and kinesthetic. After taking the test I learned that Tyler is a kinesthetic learner. Kinesthetic learners learn through touch, action, movement and hands on work. This is Ty. He never sits still, he is always in motion. They say the best thing for a kinesthetic learner is unstructured playtime.

Have any of you taken this quiz? I would be interested to hear if you have, and if not please take the test and let me know how the results turn out for you. If you have a kinesthetic learner, what do you do to promote learning?

Holiday Weekend

This is my real first day back to the normal. Today is my husbands first day back to work since last Wednesday. We had a chance to get a lot done. Jim painted Ty's room blue, and then another area with chalk board paint so he can have some fun coloring. I will let you all know how this goes. Will he think he can color on all the walls? Probably. On Saturday we went to an Easter Egg Hunt at the Church. Didn't go so well. Ty had lack of sleep since he had to sleep in our room the night before due to the paint fumes and he doesn't sleep well anywhere but in his own room. Then the "hunt" was scheduled for the same time as his nap so that was also against us. Then they made the kids wait to get started. Yeah right make a bunch of two year olds stand around the area where the eggs are until they blow a whistle. Ty could see the eggs and he tried to pull us, Jim holding him back while he is screaming. Needless to say, by the time they blew the whistle and we put Ty down, he flopped on the ground kicking and screaming! The only two eggs he got we because daddy picked up one to try and get him to follow suit and my cousin Kara picked up another in the same effort to get him going. Did not work! Ty was already too mad! Not a big deal, he doesn't need the candy anyway. Sunday we went to church, where Ty was a little angel. Then it was off for dinner at my aunts and then a visit with Jim's grandmother. Very lovely day. Yesterday, Monday we had a shopping day to gear up for the new baby. With only about a month to go we decided we better get some essentials in case he decides to surprise us early. We bought diapers, extra infant Tylenol, Mylicon, binkeys, and some other stuff. We had a few other stops to make at Best Buy, Target, the Mall and Babies R US. Tyler was awful the whole time! He cried, kicked, creamed and hit. We have taken Tyler out ever since he was born. He has never acted like this before, usually he loves being out, seeing people, getting peoples attention because he is an attention hog. But yesterday he was a bear! So embarrissing. I never thought he would ever act like that. I didn't want to be that parent with the child that is out of control. And seriously Tyler is not normally like that at all. We do not give in to these tantrums and yesterday was no exception. We got him in the car with a struggle. He arched his back, kicked and screamed. He cried so hard I thought he was going to throw up. His veins were popping out, his face red, sweat dripping and he cried half the way home, before falling alseep. He stayed asleep for a little bit when we got home, but woke up screaming again. He cried uncontrollably for 45 minutes. Nothing made him happy. I would like to hear from you and let me know what you do when your toddler acts up in public!

Question: Educating Your Toddler?

I have been teaching Ty his numbers, colors, and letters. He has been making progress. He tries to sing his ABC's with us, will repeat the letter after us, will repeat the numbers after us, will say he colors after us, he can also tell you the color blue and the color green if you ask him what color is this. I think or thought he was doing well.

Last weekend we were with my husband's family for a Easter Egg hunt and one of his cousin's has a daughter 3 weeks older than Ty. Her mother was bragging that she can recognize and tell you her whole alphabet, she can count 1-15 on her own, she can tell you all of her colors and she is now counting 1-10 in spanish. Are they drilling it in her day and night? Is she lying about how advanced(her word, not mine) her child is? Is she trying to make Ty inferior to her child? Am I not working enough with Ty?

I personally think Ty is doing very well and is right on schedule. He talks up a storm and knows everything we say. He is a little sponge.

Tell me your thoughts on this. Any suggestions? Any comments? Any opinions?

Activities for Entertaining a Toddler

As a mother with a young active toddler, I am always looking for activities to keep him entertained. I get bored doing the same things everyday and I know Tyler does too. I searched the web to find suggestions from experts and other parents. Here are some of the ideas that Tyler and I use, some I found and some I made up on my own. Some of the ideas are obvious and others take a little creativity.

1. Take your toddler to story time at your local library. The Lackawanna County Children’s Library has story time each day. Fridays at 10 AM is Laptime story hour for 0-23 month olds. Other area libraries have waiting lists, so call in advance to check this out. I must say I was very nervous to try this one out since Tyler is so active, but I must say that he loves it!
2. Join a playgroup or a toddler class such as Gymboree or KinderMusik. In our area, unfortunately, Gymboree has closed due to lack of turnout. KinderMusik is about $200 for the spring session and I am not sure the classes are going to take place due to lack of interest. Tyler loves other kids, so if you find any other suggestions for me of playgroups please let me know!
3. Arts and Crafts such as finger paints, coloring or make a homemade tambourines. Crayola makes a great finger paint set that only color on ColorWonder paper. The paint does not show up on walls, furniture or your childs hands or clothes.
4. Bake cookies or rice krispy treats. Toddlers love to help mom in the kitchen. Let your toddler pour in the ingredients or stir for you. They feel so important when they get to help!
5. Play with playdough. This is a great opportunity to teach your toddler colors and shapes!
6. Read a book. Reading books are so important to children’s development. For how active my son Tyler is, he still loves to read. Some of his favorites are: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, by Bill Martin and Eric Carle, Freight Train by Donald Crews, and Papa, please get the moon for me, by Eric Carle.
7. Go for a walk. Around the block, to the park, wherever. We live out in the country, we have no parks or blocks to walk around, but we have a horse barn across the road that Ty loves to visit. We feed the horses, pet the dogs and look at the goat, pig and geese. My family also owns a farm on the same road, so we can walk there for a treat. Strawberries, cherries, or apples depending on the season.
8. Have a picnic. Instead of having lunch inside, try a change of scenery. If it is too cold, like right now, why not put a blanket down in the living room and bring lunch in there. Use your imagination!
9. Have a pool party. Again if it’s too cold have one in the bath tub instead. If there is anything that will make my cranky toddler happy it’s playing in the tub!
10. Have a dance party! Turn on the cd player and put on your toddlers favorite tunes. Dance and sing your hearts out!

My Toddler Has a Mind of His Own

Tyler has been picking up everything. Talking so much more, picking up new words, new phrases, making sounds, trying to sing along with songs, learning something new everyday. I love watching him learn and develop into this little person. I love to hear him say "I wuv you" and "I wuv you, mommy". Now he even says please which sounds more like "cheese" and thank you which is "dank you", but totally unprompted. Another phrase I think is so cute is "I sorry, mommy" which he will tell me after he has his time-outs. Yesterday he began singing his "ABC's" maybe not perfectly, but he's trying. He has also begun to tell me when he wants a nap or to go to bed at night. He will say "nap" or "night-night", and we will go up in his room and he will climb in his bed and cuddle with his blankey. Tyler is getting to be such a big boy. He is still my little punkin head. So sweet. I cherish these little moments and look forward to more to come.