Links for you

I have a lot of time to read, but turns out, not so much time to think or write. Though, I am reading less in the middle of the night during feedings - hooray!

So, here are some articles that I thought were worth sharing ...

Hair Day via The Hairpin - the honestly made me laugh out loud and I am not much of a LOL-type person

7 New Mom Essentials I Never Knew I Needed - I second her thoughts on lanolin and nursing tanks and I need to get me some concealer. I have not yet mastered reading actual books as she does ...

On Advice To Kids via The Awl - nice piece written by a gal who (it seems) doesn't have children, but portrays kids and parents very honestly. I especially liked this advice: "That sometimes not only you, but every other single person you might look to, has absolutely no idea what to do. No one."

Coping with Sleep Deprivation via The Happiest Mom -  For sure, the sleep deprivation this time around was the very most challenging thing we faced with Georgia. And, she is a good sleeper! I just totally forgot what it was like to be in a daze all the time and it made me more grouchy and less patient at the worst possible time. And I agree with her sentiments on "sleep when the baby sleeps" - easier said than done.

How I stopped worrying and learned to love The American Girl Doll  via Mom101 - very timely for us as Ellen is obsessed. I still think she is a little young for one of these dolls, but will likely get one some day. Nice perspective here.

You don't need my permission, but you have it anyway via Rookie Moms - like the sentiment here, especially because Georgia was taking ALL of her naps in her swing. It started out that she would nap in her boppy or vibrating chair or swing. She was sometimes swaddled, sometimes not. Sometimes swinging, sometimes not. Then eventually it became swaddle-swing-sleep and it worked well for us because it was easy. She slept fine in her bed at night so I wasn't too worried, but it still seemed like something I shouldn't be doing. But, you know what? You do what you have to do. She is now taking most of her daily naps in her bed and there was no transition issue - phew.

Toy shopping!

Otherwise known as something I don't enjoy very much.

At our house, birthday and Christmas come within 22 days of each other, so there is quite an inundation of "stuff". On top of that, add shopping for family, friends and the myriad of birthday parties that seem to be popping up and there is quite a lot of purchasing going on.

This year I started my birthday / Christmas shopping for Ellen in the summer. I am never, NEVER, that organized, but I really needed to be this year. I'm done purchasing for my nieces and nephew and our friends, with a few birthday party gifts stashed away. I thought it might be helpful to list a few of my favorite resources, as well as some of our most-played-with toys, for you sane people that haven't been obsessing about this for months.

Have you come across The Diminutive Review? It's a frequently-updated blog with great deals on children's clothing. So, not toys really, but still something you may purchase for your own child. Especially good for little bitty kids and/or atypical sizes, since it is all deep sale stuff.

I recently found Tinybop, Inc. - a blog / list of children's media (books, movies, apps, etc.). I haven't explored it much, but it seems there are some nice finds.

Also, to be redundant, Dinner: A Love Story has great lists of children's books if you are looking for inspiration (especially for girls).

I have one niece, in particular, who is an avid reader. I love buying her books and starting her on new authors or series. Around the holidays Costco often has inexpensive boxed sets of classic books for children / tweens. I have also found that Amazon can be helpful - search for a book you know they liked, then look at "what other's purchased" and chase it a bit. I think I found some good ones this year!

Also, Baby Cheapskate has nice lists of "Toys That Get Played With" by age. They are sort of generic, but I think that is kind of the point - the basic toys last the longest.

At our house, these things are in frequent rotation:
- Ikea child's table and chairs. This was for Ellen's 1st Christmas and has been used all day, everyday since. I should go back and pay more money for it, but I won't.
- Play kitchen / food / accessories. This was for Ellen's 2nd Christmas and gets played with all the time. She mostly likes to pack the food into bags and such and carry it around. The Haba Play Food is amazing (and a total choking hazard).
- Baby dolls. I think she got her first soft dolls at age 1, then bigger dolls and a stroller at age 2. The stroller is used all the time and Ells likes to diaper her babies. We (fortunately) haven't really gotten into all the baby accessories / changing of outfits, but I think that's coming.
- "Make believe" items - purse and accessories, doctor kit, vet kit. These were gifted at age 2 and 3 and she is really hitting her stride with the make believe play closer to age 4.
- Playdoh is popular, but it's kind of hidden away because it's such a damn mess.
- Art / coloring is probably the most popular activity at our house, and it's pretty basic - she is happiest with plain paper and markers. Coloring books are rotated in and out, but she is always happy with plain paper.
- Books, of course, and we have a million. These are mostly used at "quiet time" and bedtime. She can have a pile of books in her bed and read quietly until she falls asleep.
- Dress-up clothes. These are sporadically played with, but especially when friends are over or when she is avoiding quiet time (because it's all in her room). It's great to look for this stuff on clearance after Halloween!
- Games. These were gifted at her 3rd birthday / Christmas and do get played with quite a bit. Candyland is quite popular and tolerable to her parents. Spot It is a great card game that is fun for all ages (truly). Zimbbos is a fun building / balance game. Nice wooden pieces, will last forever. Ellen got Uno Moo and it has been pretty popular. I think we might be ready for the real Uno card game based on it's popularity with some of our friends.
- I also like the B. Toys line a lot with toys for all ages. The Pop Arty beads, in particular, are a favorite.

Anything we're missing? Any suggestions for 4-year-olds? I am mostly done with her holiday purchasing, but am always open to suggestions. :)

Play time

Artsy stuff is the primary time-occupier around here. Ellen does like to read, and play dress up (mostly when she should be having "quiet time"), and there is an occasional game or puzzle, but she always, always comes back to coloring.She is getting pretty good at coloring in the lines and likes some coloring books, but also really likes free form drawing on plain paper.

I recently picked up several pieces from the Todd Oldham Kids Made Modern line at Target. I'm not sure how long this line will last in stores, so I stocked up on a few of my favorites. I must admit that I initially purchased because they are so darn cute, but I really love their colored pencils, big and little, and their watercolor set. The little pencils are PERFECT for coloring on-the-go. They come in a round canister with a lid that is pretty hard to destroy, unlike the typical crayon box. My only gripe is that they don't come with a sharpener and Ells uses them pretty quickly! The watercolors also have lots of great colors and come with a little pad of watercolor paper, which makes all the difference. I love what Ellen dreams up and some of her pieces are frame-worthy. I just put an old sorority T-shirt on her (a "smob" she calls it) and let her go ....

I've been really keeping my eyes open for good sales on toys and such as we approach the end of summer. The "end of summer" sounds ridiculous, but back-to-school sales are right around the corner and then fall and then baby and then OHMYGODHELPME. I want to keep the holidays pretty low-key this year and would love to get my shopping done early .... any suggestions??

Toy overload

Again, from A Cup of Jo today, a topic I've been pondering - how to best deal with TOYS.

Motherhood Mondays: The Great Toy Experiment

I've read some similar ideas here and there over the last few weeks, then really started considering what to do with the overflowing toys because we are having 20-ish small children to our house this weekend. EEKS! I need to do a lot of cleaning, and removing of choking hazards, and then have a discussion with Ellen about what is fair-game and what she wants to put away. I was considering putting quite a bit of it away and not getting it back out?

We are fortunate in our new house to have a lot of storage space, so I feel much less that I am being swallowed by her things, mostly because I don't have to look at them all the time. Still, though, she has far too many toys, some of which rarely get played with. My approach generally is to have everything put away every night before bed. I've noticed if things are left on the floor or in piles, she'll just walk right past them the next day to get to something else. When Ellen plays with Erik, I'll often come home to a room full of things strewn all over the place. I know she has had an excellent time, but I also know that she won't pick up any of those items again to play with - she'll go and get something new.

Her favorite things to do these days are color, make piles of hoarded items, and occasionally play in kitchen or vet. That's about it. That also leaves about 89 toys in her play room  and big girl room that languish on the shelves.

How do you deal with this?

Marshmallows

We were at Erik's work holiday party the other night and heard a cute story. One of his coworkers has a 4-year-old daughter who got really nervous last year visiting Santa and could only think to ask for marshmallows. Ha! Marshmallows it is (was). Her parents and family commented all year on how charming and sweet and funny it was. So ... year 4 ... she geared up for her conversation with Santa. She sat down on his lap, got nervous again, and could only think to ask for marshmallows!

Her parents will get her a few other special things, but it got me thinking ... how much do you pay attention to what your child asks for from Santa? Ellen has asked for NOTHING. Well, let me correct myself ... today I pushed her (yes, December 23rd) about what she wanted to ask Santa for. She was watching Cat in the Hat and asked (shockingly!) for a Cat in the Hat water cup. Ruh roh. Lesson learned. I will keep my mouth shut next time.

Though ... Santa pulled through on the water cup. Hallalu-yer!

Santa didn't go too crazy this year, though I think I over compensate because birthday and Christmas come so close together that I feel the need to stock up on some gifts for the year, but I think she would be happy with virtually nothing. If Santa brought a stack of copy paper and some Sharpies she would be thrilled. I buy her things because it makes me happy, but does it make her happy? I'm not so sure.

Life won't always be this simple ... in fact, this may be the last year ... something for you mama's with younger kids to keep in mind.

Happiest of Holidays to you and yours!

Your Santa?

When Santa visited my childhood home, we had lots of unwrapped gifts, displayed perfectly. He was very generous!

When Santa visits our house now, he does pretty much the same thing.

What happens when Santa visits your house?

I saw this post on Design Mom and it made me start thinking about Christmas Morning. I feel like this Christmas with a 3-year-old will be the start of something memorable and a good age to add some traditions. If we ever have another child, it would be nice to have some established guidelines rather than the general gift-free-for-all approach that we have been using.

Does Santa follow some rules when he comes down your chimney?

File this one away

Have your kids really entered the baby doll phase? Ells plays with babies here and there, and talks about her babies a lot, but kind of treats her dolls/bunnies/bears/dogs all the same. She hasn't gotten into feeding / changing / napping babies yet, but I think the day is coming.

I saw this Corolle baby today on Cool Mom Picks. Pricey, but I LOVE the idea of using your own sweet baby clothes for dress up.



How does this compare to American Girl dolls? I'm honestly trying to avoid that place as.long.as.possible.

The Big 3

Any advice on good gifts for the 3-year-old set? Miss Priss has both a birthday AND Christmas coming up and I'm very short on ideas for gifts.

She really doesn't NEED anything, but there has to be something to open and something for the Santa list. We are at capacity on books and the most popular books lately seem to come from the library anyway. She has a play kitchen that she loves, but there are already enough accessories for a small nation. The new playroom does not have any more floor space for a 'big' gift. I was thinking about a balance bike, but it seems cruel to gift that in December when it can't be used for months.

Further, it seems that most toys are baby toys, for ages 1-2, or for 4 and up. She plays with plenty of things that are choking hazards (hooray for great parenting!), so that's not the issue, but I'm just not sure she would be interested in some of the board games and such. What age does the dress-up obsession start? I was kind of thinking of stalking the post-Halloween sales for some dress-up goodies.

I'm at a loss ....

Lovin' the lovey

This is a cute idea with lots of applications ...

I found it via Lilly's Notebook - Hippopota - via the New York Times:

And here is the Hippopota website if you want to order a custom photo ... starting at $500. I think this is ripe for a DIY, no?

Play Pin-cess, mommy?

I previously mentioned my unease with princesses.

I don't recall that I ever went through a princess phase, though admittedly my memory is crap. I think most little girls go through a dress-up / fancy dress phase, though I think when we were children the number of princesses was much smaller (i.e. Cinderella - DONE), and most certainly the Disney marketing machine was nothing like it is today.

Miss E really doesn't talk about princesses yet, but I know that day is coming. She likes to wear tiaras and jewelry, but that is the extent of the dress up so far. I want to have an appropriate response when the princess train roars through our house ...

So, to my point, do any of you get Parents magazine? There was a nice article this month (which I can't find online) called The Power of the Princess. It includes an interview with Peggy Orenstein about her new book, Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the New Girly-Girl Culture.

I certainly can't summarize the book, but one of the main points is that a lot of parents try to avoid princesses at all costs, only to miss the fact that traditional fairy tales often highlight young women who are resourceful, clever, humble and who show strength of character.

Her advice?
1. Tell the fairy tales. Find a version you like and read it together. Movies aren't bad, just consider supplementing with different versions of the story.
2. Don't limit girly things. It's OK for your daughter to love Barbie and dress-up, but give your daughter tools to build a treehouse or fort or castle for her dolls. Encourage a variety of interests.
3. Give your girl choices. Instead of always saying No, figure out what you can live with (princess-wise) and let her choose from those things.

How have you addressed this?

Consider it tackled

What did I do with my day off yesterday?

Why, organize the clutter, of course!

There are few things that make me as happy as purging, cleaning and organizing THE STUFF before the new year begins. I measured our cabinets, had a plan of attack, and accomplished the goal. Success!!

I purchased some clear boxes at Target to house craft supplies, Playdoh and accessories, and Legos.
We had a small basket in our family room that collected the miscellaneous dolls and toys that didn't otherwise have a home in a drawer or behind closed doors. Despite moving several of the items to the "baby" box in storage, it was still overflowing. I was hoping to find a large storage container with a lid - a nice looking basket or box or something, but I didn't want to spend a ton of money and couldn't find anything I liked on short notice.

We had gift cards to spend and I found these large canvas containers at Pottery Barn Kids. So, free to us and it does the trick. I was hoping for the neutral color, but they were out of stock (of course), and red matches our room OK without looking too childish. We actually got the floor model, which I would recommend, because it was already put together and steamed!
My other goal was to find some way to corral all the food and kitchen accessories that came with the new kitchen that Santa brought. I didn't want to buy a large storage-type piece of furniture, because it was going to be very visible in my living room. I also only had a pretty small corner to work with and I wanted covered / stacking storage.

I took a look on the basket aisle at Michael's and they had two decent looking rectangular woven baskets with hinged lids, two different sizes. They aren't the sturdiest things in the world, but look fine and hold all the gadgets for less than $40 total on sale. Sold.

You can see that I don't have much real estate to work with here, and even less with the new kitchen, but I now have glimpsed the hours and hours of entertainment this will provide the Girl. Worth the sacrifice, no?

Strategic storage

Well, it has started.

We had our first round of family Christmas and I am already overwhelmed by the number of new things that will be taking up residence in our home.

Until this point, I feel like I have done a decent job of finding hidden storage in a drawer here, or a cabinet there, and most of Ellen's things can be hidden when desired. We are pretty much at capacity, though, and even though I purged some things recently, she still really plays with most of it on a rotating basis.

My current plan is to wait to see the extent of what Santa brings, then shop the after-holiday sales for some decent looking storage containers with lids. (All of this storage is in our living and dining room, of course, not in any magical playroom).

My only tip at this point, as the mother of a young girl, is to have a stash of small boxes or containers on hand for the myriad of little treasures that come through your door. Miss E brought home about 48 Silly Bandz yesterday, which I promptly put in an old Christmas tin. She is more willing to keep them in one place if I show her what that place should be, and she has just as much fun moving them in and out (and in and out and in and out) of that box.

How are you strategic in attacking toy storage?

A-ha moment!

Our Parents as Teachers educator came for our 22-month visit and she gave us a flier on an upcoming class about block-building. She mentioned that Americans focus primarily on reading and music skills in early childhood, while many Asians focus primarily on math and science skills in early childhood. I had never heard anyone phrase it this way, but it was a total light bulb moment for me!

Think about it ... what activities are aimed at young children? Music classes and reading time at the library. We have gajillions of books and Girly loves reading them, which I obviously encourage. She loves playing with musical instruments and listening to music. I think these are important skills, but I wish I could say that I put an equal emphasis on math and science skills, but I don't and I bet you don't either.

Playing with blocks is a good way to build understanding of math and science concepts - they say it helps develop numeracy (the understanding of numbers in everyday life), just like literacy is the understanding of letters and words. You probably already use a lot of math and science words in your normal play with your kiddo, but I've never focused on them.

Math words: long, tall, narrow, order, top, square, less, more, curve, add, count, outside, triangle, lines, patterns, big, little, rectangle ...

Science words: rough, smooth, smallest, heavy, whole, bigger, after, first, next, balance, light, weight, gravity, system ....

Don't underestimate your child's ability to learn these concepts!

Addendum

So, after the last post about raising girls, I feel the need to issue a clarification. Or a retraction. Or an admission ... whatever.

I truly didn't think that our Girl was aware of princesses. We don't play princess, or have princess dolls or books or any kind of princess paraphernalia.

We had a Mom & Daughter pizza and fro-yo date last night and there happened to be a little sidewalk sale party event. As Girly busted a move to the DJ, a nice lady gave her a little tiara comb for her hair. It was the sparkliest-pinkest-sparkle fest you've ever seen. And she loved it, of course.

But - the best (?worst) was that she then proclaimed - for our entire walk to the fro-yo shop - My Pin-cess! MY Pin-cess! MINE PIN-CESS!

So, not only do we have a serious case of the MINE's (!!!), but she apparently knows about, and adores, princesses.

Awesome.

oh, girls

I had one of those 'big picture' moments recently ... can't remember how I stumbled on it ... blog? Twitter? Facebook? ... but it made me freeze in my tracks and just think, whoa, this job is SO huge.

The job of raising children, but especially the job of raising GIRLS.

I wish I could remember how I found it, but please read this post: Redefine Girly - A New Way to Parent Young Girls. Even if you have boys, I think some of the points are interesting and might make you think again about the young girls in your life.

When I was buying big baby items (pack n'play, swing, bouncy seat, exersaucer), I intentionally tried to make them as gender-neutral as possible, thinking we might have a boy some day. I tried to do the same thing with the itty bitty newborn clothes that I thought we could use for more than one baby, girl or boy. That was more challenging, as those of you who didn't find out the gender of your child can attest to.

How is it that marketing and corporate greed (i.e. the need to buy 2 of every product - one pink and one blue) has slowly, but surely, contributed to the concept of gender in our society? I am certainly not qualified to comment on the intricacies of our society and economy when it comes to gender roles, but I think you can see it in the aisle at Target and elsewhere. Why is it so hard to find neutral kid clothing? Do PJ's have to be covered in princesses - for little babies who don't know any better? Why do I see other girls, about age 2, who look like tarts? Why are the simple, child-appropriate clothes often so pricey, out of the reach of the majority of Americans?

Grrr.

All this being said, I certainly do like the color pink and we have a lot of it. I make an effort, though, to buy Girly clothes that are NOT pink - which can be harder than you think. I try to buy more simple or traditional clothes - no words if I can help it. (I have a friend who was searching for plain, brightly colored onesies for her little boy and couldn't find them anywhere for a decent price. Target recently filled this gap, but seriously, was this rocket science?).

As I look around the room, most of our toys are gender neutral. We have a couple of baby dolls, which are of course fine for little boys or girls, and a pink car and pink purse that were gifts. I guess we've done a decent job, and I will continue to make the effort. I know our Girl will express her opinion about the toys she likes and wants in no time, but I will try my hardest not to steer her in one direction or another.

Switching it up

A few random thoughts for today:

1. We switched Girly to 2% milk. Our pediatrician suggested we could make the switch whenever, as long as she was getting other full-fat dairy, and we just finally did it. Perhaps the fact that she gained 1 pound in about 2 1/2 weeks pushed us over the edge. (It was mostly due to post-sickness rebound, but still). She didn't give a hoot, and maybe it will even be healthier for Mom and Dad.

2. If you have your act together (unlike me), you might be able to take advantage of the lingering summer sale items that are still around in some stores. If you know any kids who have mid-winter birthdays, their parents sure appreciate the thought of toys that can be put away to pull out several months down the road. Same goes for end-of-winter sales for those kiddos with summer birthdays. I suppose this might not work when kids are old enough to realize that the toy won't be useful in the near future, but Girly doesn't mind the deception.

Cleaning house

Here is my advice about cleaning toys:

Stop cleaning your toys.

The End.

I'm not really kidding. I cleaned Girly's toys a few times when she was just starting to really move around and mouth things, and it was a whole production with bleach water and air drying and the like. Then, I never really did it again.

If we have lots of kids over I might run a few things under hot water, or if she has been sick I might clean a few things, but in general - NOPE. She is in daycare for heaven's sake - there is no germ I can banish from my house. (We also haven't **crossing fingers** had the dreaded GI bug yet. That would require some sanitizing).

Our teethers are just frozen washcloths, so they all go in the wash anyway.

Save yourself some time and effort. Spend your free time doing something fun, like, oh I don't know, laundry?

In case you are an overachiever, here are some toy-cleaning tips from our friends at SafeMama.

Have baby, will travel: the car edition

I have been delinquent in describing our first car trip with Girly and I have forgotten a lot of the details (or, more likely, blocked them from memory). The destination was wonderful, but the coming and going? Not so much.

Here are just a few little tips -

Motion sickness:
We didn't know our girl got sick in the car. Looking back, I think she had just caught the bug that made her sick, sick, sick (because she threw up 10 minutes into the trip - that isn't motion sickness), but she also clearly had some degree of motion sickness, as evidenced by the dry heaving 4 hours into our trip. I suggest you call your pediatrician before you leave and ask if there is any medication you can give to your child and get the dose, just in case. Better to have it on hand than to have to go searching for it in a strange town.

Also, pack plenty of extra wipes and plastic bags in the car - there is all sorts of dirty-ness on road trips, puke or otherwise. We finally learned (after lots of puking) that a bib with a big pouch at the bottom can help contain the mess and make your kid and the car seat easier to clean.

If you are traveling with a special blanket or animal (lovingly named dee-dee in our house), be careful with its use. We have two dee-dees, fortunately, but both were thrown up on in the first 10 minutes, unfortunately. I wish, wish, wish I had kept one on reserve - just in case. ("Just In Case" became the theme of our trip.)

Finally, I was so super excited to use the portable DVD player to help pass the time - quietly. Turns out, a sick kid in a rear-facing car seat who watches movies continues to get sick. Bring plenty of reinforcements to fill the time.

Which is a nice transition to ... Toys!
I made a special solo trip to Target to find all manner of fun things to fill our time. Turns out that it is surprisingly hard to find age-appropriate toys that are quiet and good for the car. Whatever happened to the plain ol' Magnadoodle? I got the Target version, which has a laughable name, but was compact and good for travel. Otherwise, it was just some books from the $1 section and some colors. We bought a little keyboard for the trip home because Girly LOVES banging on the keys. We would have taken out the batteries, if it wasn't for the dreaded tiny screwdriver, but it did take her almost an hour to figure out how to turn it on!

Entertainment for parents?
I checked out some books on CD from the library for when Girly was sleeping (which, shocker, wasn't all that often). I ended up getting a series of short stories by David Sedaris, which were really funny and perfect because we could just listen to it in short bursts if necessary.

Snacks!
I bought a lot of special treats for the trip, as my plan was to feed Girly from the time we left until the time we arrived, just to keep her happy. "Minnesota crackers" we called them. Turns out a sick kid wants nothing to do with cheese bunnies, so more for me, thankyouverymuch.

In general, I hope you travel to a place where there are friends / grandparents / aunts, uncles, cousins / random strangers (kidding, kidding) who can take care of your kid for a little bit and give you a breather!

Also, last tip: bring a spare set of car keys that you DON'T keep in the car. No need getting trapped anywhere. I did have the forethought to renew our AAA membership the day we left, though it didn't help when the keys were locked in the trunk in Minnesota. Apparently, we don't have coverage for stupidity.

Uninspired

We are in a rut.

Summertime should be a really great time to do tons of activities with your kids, but I am struggling to fill our days off. It has been SO STINKING HOT here that being outside isn't enjoyable. We haven't even been to the pool yet this summer because I just can't figure out a way to get there without messing up nap time or bed time or burning ourselves to a crisp.

I also am not feeling creative enough to fill our days (indoors) with crafts and imaginative things. I read a lot of blogs in the evenings after Girly goes to bed and I inevitably find some very creative mom who creates some wonderful play thing for her child. Then I feel guilty and boring. Sigh.

At almost 19 months, I think we are on the cusp of Girly really being able to participate and pay attention to some crafty projects. We try to color, but she chew-chew-chews on all the crayons, then runs straight for the white furniture the first chance she gets. Oh no you don't. I'm wondering if a more tactile project might keep her attention for 74 more seconds?

I like The Artful Parent blog and I just found a post on the Top 10 Art Materials for Toddlers.

Make and Takes has a lot of crafts, including a section for Kids Crafts.

Made by Joel is pretty great - a stay-at-home dad who creates amazing crafts for his kids. A lot of it is beyond the average person, but might inspire something similar.

What are you doing to fill these long summer days? Wanna come do it at my house?

p.s. I usually draft my blog posts a few days in advance. The day I wrote this, I was inspired to try painted pasta necklaces with Girly. We walked to the store to buy our supplies. We outfitted ourselves in smocks and prepped the supplies. We had a massive full-on tantrum that involved paint and dried noodles all over the place. We stomped our feet in frustration. Here's my point ... it's nice to have positive expectations for your child, but don't set them up to fail. Girly clearly wasn't ready for our crafty day and it just made me mad. It wasn't nice for either of us.

Silver lining

We recently had our 18-month visit with our parent educator from Parents as Teachers. We talked a lot about music as a good tool for toddlers to teach listening skills. (Lord knows, we could stand to improve on those over here).

Coincidentally, we received a music kit as a gag baby gift from the Huz's co-workers. They thought it was hilarious that our future baby would drive us crazy. Fast forward and I just got it off the shelf a few weeks ago. It does kind of drive us crazy, but Girly really loves it. I added a drum made from an old oatmeal container with seeds inside. The band is in session.

The best nugget I learned, though, was about Girly's tendency for early rising. Our parent educator used to teach elementary school and she has three school-age children. She went back to work full-time after her first child was born and said that her oldest child still gets up early, gets dressed quickly and independently, and is always ready on time to leave for school. Our educator stayed home full-time after her 2nd and 3rd children, and she let them sleep in and their morning routine was much more leisurely. Now, it's a daily struggle to get them up and out of the house.

She was encouraging and said that the things you find hardest to deal with as babies and toddlers are often the things you are most thankful for as your kids get older. (i.e. sleeping, eating, napping, sleeping and - oh yeah - SLEEPING).

So, having an early riser won't solve all our future problems, but I am a little bit more accepting of the idea now.

(A little).