Hello from BabyLand! Baby Lily has proven herself to be a model baby. She eats constantly and sleeps the rest of the time. I’ve made it into work a few times (woo hoo!) and that’s been exciting. I do love me some soap lab time and I miss my Brambleberrians when I’m home. It all depends on how the evening goes on if I make it into the office (with Lily, of course). Nighttime ranges between really great (woo hoo! Feeding at 11, 2 and 5!) and horrible (boo hiss! feeding at 11, 12, 1, 3, and 5 or any combo in between).
Miss Lily has developed a minor diaper rash, no matter how many times we change her diaper and try to keep her dry. We’ve done Gloves in a Bottle to lay down a protective silicone skin protector, Desitin, naked time (for the record, every single naked time has ended up with pooping or peeing on Mommy or the protective blankets). This is a typical baby thing; they have such sensitive skin. But, it’s sad and stressful to see.
Her brother is in the middle of the ‘Terrific Twos’ (eh hem). I swear, he has a temper tantrum about something almost every day. He doesn’t want a band aid on his bleeding toe. He doesn’t want to say ‘Please.’ He is upset that we are not letting him pour green kale (staining!) juice all over the floor. You name it, he’s flailed on about it. It’s challenging on sleep-deprived Chris and I. We haven’t figured out the best reaction – come down hard and discipline? Try to be patient? Diversion? We have been trying almost every suggestion from this blog post and so far, the ‘Mama’s Helper’ idea has resonated the best with him.
Grandma came up for an ENTIRE WEEK and saved my life. She did such an amazing job taking care of Jamisen, the garden, the house and ME. Jamisen asked for her several mornings after she left. He will be so happy when she arrives back next week to visit and help out for a few days. We are lucky to have her support (and all the Grandparents!).
He loves our reading time and graciously allows Lily to sit with us. He really has turned into a voracious reader and adores reading time. He plops up onto the bed, and grabs 15 or so books, piling them onto the bed one by one, and then we read a few books. He tries to get one more book, “Just one more! One more!” before having to go to bed every single night. We read every morning, before naptime and before bedtime.
I just ordered some truck books (He is obsessed with trucks!) and am considering making them prizes for peeing and pooping in the toilet (10 stickers = 1 book?). Maybe little toy cars at 5 stickers and then 10 stickers gets a book? I’m open to suggestions. Any great potty training ideas to help us out? He’s 25 months old so in theory, now is about the time we can start this process.
We’re looking forward to a great rest of the weekend. We traipsed to the Farmer’s Market this morning and have a play date today with his little friend Sasha. His Mommy, Heather, helped plant our garden (actual shot of the chard above) so we’re going to send her home with lots of these amazing veggies. We have more than we could ever use! And, we like to teach the valuable concept about sharing so it’s a win-in.
And, back to that potty training … got any ideas? Tell me (save me!). I’d love to hear them. It takes a village, or in this case, an entire blog to help me on this fun working mommy journey. =)
