Quick Easter Bucket!

Michael's Craft store is a dangerous place. We spent far too long wandering around the store in search of some fun craft ideas and had way too much fun!!
We decided to make our own Easter baskets/buckets this year. Here's what we did:
1) purchased a bucket with a matching shovel: $1
2) picked out cute spring and Easter stickers: $2
3) decorated the buckets
Voila! A super cute bucket to collect our Easter eggs and to fill with chocolate from Nana!

I made Annie's:

Chloe made her own!

1 Month from One!

Annie is almost a whole year old! When we met someone new at the park this week, she asked me how old my girls were. I paused and then said, "This one (referring to Annie) will be one next month." Could it really be?
Here are the new fun things Annie has learned in her 10th month of life:

• Says "Moo" when she sees a picture of a cow (or a horse).
• Took her first ride on a swing the end of March
• Cruises/walks along everything to the extent that she even climbs the walls. She also loves walking around while holding onto my fingers (not so good for my back, but Annie gets a thrill from it).
• Unbelievably quick at climbing stairs. She knows the stairs are dangerous and she always looks back when she starts climbing with a little mischievous grin on her face.
• Her third and fourth teeth popped out! she now has two on the bottom and two on top!
• She loves dancing to the music. Whenever she presses the buttons on her musical toys, she starts swaying back and forth.
• When we ask her if she wants a snack, she clicks her mouth and starts smacking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. She's always ready for a snack!
• If she hears the word, "No," she'll start shaking her head. (we have this one on video because it's really cute).
• Recently she started throwing food on the floor from her tray that she doesn't want to eat. Yesterday it was green beans that I had to sweep up after meal time.
• And the most exciting milestone of all......... She slept through the night!!!!! A whopping 10 hours straight of glorious shut-eye! 6am rolled around and Will was so worried that he went to check on her and woke her up. Oops.
  

And for your delight, some pictures from this month!

Baby in the Bath! Check out those teeth!

Storytime with Daddy: Reading Paddington, the adventurous little Bear.

Playing in the early morning with the sunshine streaming in.

Playing with big sister!

Swinging at the park!

Playing with her new truck on the court at the park.

Going for a ride.... or three!

This morning we met some friends for a fun outing at the Mall of America. Chloe had her pocket full of quarters and she was itching to go on some rides! We also have a wristband so she got to pick one ticketed ride to go on as well. The attendant even let me and Annie go on it for free!

Annie's first ride on a carousel!

Chloe picked the horse with the pink roses! And during the ride she kept shouting, "Giddyap!" and "Yee-Haw!"

Chloe's riding the city bus. You can see the mini-carousel behind the bus which we went on next.

Annie's driving the bus. She's got the whole shifting thing down already! Smart girl!

What a cute bus driver!

Annie on the mini-carousel. The little seat even had a seat belt so she wouldn't fall off!

We had a lot of fun exploring the mall and we even made a stop at the Tea Garden on the 3rd floor for some bubble tea!

Rock

Luke 23:50-54
"Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council, but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock. This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation, as the Sabbath was about to begin."

As we prepare our hearts for the Easter message of Christ, Chloe and I have been reading through the events in her kid's Bible. I have been very careful as to which details to include and which to leave out because at the age of 3, she has quite an imagination. The other night we were looking at the pictures and we came across a one page spread of the tomb where Jesus' body was buried. I explained to her that it was a really big rock and that it had a door made from another really big, heavy rock and that Jesus was inside.

Fast forward to today. We spent some time at the library choosing some new books and listening to a few new stories. As we were walking out of the library, Chloe spots a large rock that is part of the landscaping. Chloe says to me, "Who lives in that rock?"
"Nobody lives in that rock," I respond.
"Does Jesus live in that rock?"

It took me a few seconds to realize that she was connecting the story from the Bible to the giant rock in the library's lawn. Isn't it amazing that at the age of three, she not only listens to the stories of Jesus, but she's incorporating what she hears into her everyday life? I guess Jesus knew what he was saying when he told his disciples that we need to have faith like a child. We need to see Jesus everywhere we go, just like my 3 year old did today.

Preschool Drop-out

I'm beginning to think that three and a half year olds are not meant to spend the entire day at home. I don't know what it is about being at home that makes my child whiny, uncooperative, and seemingly helpless. She suddenly forgets how to put on her socks, refuses to try, and then ends up whining or crying and telling me she can't do it. I'm more than willing to help her navigate all this growing up stuff, but why does she behave differently at home than she does elsewhere? I suppose part of it is that home is her safe place - the place where she can show her raw emotions, the place where she comes to get her love tank filled, the place she doesn't have to be more than who she is.

Which brings me to preschool. In September, Chloe started "real" preschool through our local community education and was enrolled three mornings a week (2.5 hours/day). The idea of her being out with other children her age, being able to socialize and perhaps learn a few things was really appealing to me. She brought home evidence of her hard work: beautiful craft projects and paintings and different worksheets where the children practice cutting and pasting. Although much of what she was doing at school we were also doing at home, I thought the program was fun and age-appropriate. So why on earth did she have catastrophic meltdowns by the time we reached the front door? Why was she suddenly having potty accidents when she was fully potty-trained and hadn't had an accident all summer long? In October the students had a short break and during the week that she was home, she stopped having accidents! Hmmmm... obviously some type of connection. Is school too stressful for her? Every time we mention school she tells about the friends she played with and she always tells me that she likes it. Is she having too much fun and forgetting to use the bathroom (as her teacher suggested to me)? But she had fun all summer long and never forgot. I was really at a loss as to what to do. Eventually we decided that once we left for England in December, that would be a perfect breaking point. So I took her out of her Tues/Thurs class and just kept the Friday morning as her school day. Once she started going only Fridays, the meltdowns got worse. Perhaps it wasn't enough of a schedule or a routine that she had a really hard time adjusting? So in February, she was officially a preschool drop-out and we became a homeschooling family.

But now that she's at home for all hours, every day, I'm beginning to think that this isn't working either. While the meltdowns and potty accidents have subsided, she's definitely 3 going on 13 and we have our moments. With long, isolating winters, it's enough to drive anyone crazy. But imagine being stuck inside with massive amounts of energy and nowhere to burn it!

Now that it's spring, things are beginning to look upward. We've gone on a few walks outside and Chloe has gotten to play outside almost every day for the past week or two! And we've started looking into some different schools for the upcoming school year. Our number one contender right now is a private school called The French Academy which would offer the structure, rigor and creativity that we're looking for - all in French! Of course, the downside is that it's a private school and would require me to find a job that's at least a half-time position to pay the tuition. Number two is Christian preschool where she could go two or three days a week for 2.5 hours/day and it's also where her BFF goes.

I guess it all comes down to the fact that we really want what's best for Chloe. And we're praying we make the right decision for her and for our family!

3 Cheers!

Annie slept for an 8 hour stretch last night!!! WHOO-HOOO!!! Granted it was from 6:30pm - 2:30am but this is the longest stretch ever! I nursed her and then she slept until almost 6am!

To read more about our sleep journey click here and here and here!

Having a child who doesn't sleep well, sleep can become an almost obsession. Wanting to read books about sleep by sleep experts (and there are many - all with different researched-based perspectives), scouring the Internet looking for tips from other people in baby/parenting forums, writing down techniques and coming up with sleep plans.... it all seems so exhausting. But not nearly as exhausting as NOT actually sleeping.

Earlier this week, I participated in a Live Health Chat via The Chicago Tribune's website which featured two of the leading sleep experts and pediatricians: Dr. Marc Weissbluth and Dr. Bob Sears. They have very different perspectives on night time sleeping.

Dr. Weissbluth, in his book Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child gives parents a solution to the child's night-waking (assuming that night-waking is a problem) with the premise that a baby can and should sleep well and through the night and a well-rested child is not only a happy child, but one who can function with full potential. He is the doctor who coined "sleep training." His approach is definitely met with resistance as he advises parents to let their child "cry-it-out" in order to learn to self-soothe with the aim that the child will no longer need nighttime visitors.

Dr. Bob Sears (along with several members of the Sears family) advocate for the Attachment Parenting lifestyle. In his book The Baby Sleep Book he explains that nighttime waking in babies and children is normal and that they should be parented to sleep - i.e. rocking, nursing, singing, shushing, etc. - and that when the child awakens in the night, the child should be attended to. Crying is not necessary and could trigger feelings of abandonment and learned helplessness ("Nobody is coming to me when I signal for help = Nobody cares about me"). And that the high level of stress hormone in the body (cortisol) could alter the normal brain functions of the child.

So what's a parent to do???

I'm definitely more of an Attachment Parenting kind of mom (babywearing, breastfeeding, highly attuned to my children's emotional radars), but while participating in this chat, I found Dr. Weissbluth to actually be more helpful! Even though I won't be letting Annie "cry-it-out", Dr. Weissbluth's comments on baby sleep were actually constructive and practical. One of the things I took from this chat was that Annie could be waking up frequently because I'm putting her to bed too late. She was going to be between 7-7:30. Sounds reasonable, right? Well, last night my little cherub was fast asleep by 6:30pm. And although she made a few noises and cries, she settled down by herself and went back to sleep. And she never cried for more than a few minutes (until 2:30am which is when I went in to nurse her).

I'm still aiming for Annie to be able to put herself to sleep and stay asleep for longer stretches of time, but for today, I'm going to rejoice that she got a beautiful 8 hours in a row!!

10 Months Old!

And if I'm doing my math correctly, this means that in two months, my baby is going to be 1!!!!! I'm not sure if I'm ready for that... Where's the "pause" button?
This past month has been characterized by non-stop movement. Crawling everywhere (and quickly), standing, pulling up to stand on everything, and now in the last week, Annie has started walking while holding onto things!
The other night we were all sat at the table finishing our supper. Annie wasn't quite done eating but Will went to the bathroom and turned on the water to get Chloe ready for bathtime. After Annie had finished, I took her out of her seat and set her on the floor. Within seconds she was crawling down the hall, towards the bath and started shouting, "Ba! Ba!"

Crawling after the ballwhile playing bowling with Mommy, Daddy and Chloe

She's figured out how to walk in her walker now!

Just this week, she learned how to take steps while holding onto the lion!

The look of determination!

Walking along the fireplace (not the safest place...)

She's talking a lot and can say Mama, Dada, ball, bath, more, and a few other words. She's still waking 2-3 times per night, (much to our irritation) and she has two naps during the day - a 1.5-2 hour first nap and a 45 minute one later in the afternoon. She loves to laugh and play with Chloe and go on lots of outings to the library, Barnes and Noble, and play areas. She's a great eater and eats pretty much whatever we eat - just cut into small bits. Her favorite foods are cheese and peas!