Sticker Bingo

The girls like to "do artwork" every day. I try to break it up and direct them towards different types of activities...

Some days they practice "impressionism" with a blank piece of paper and crayons.

Some days I draw a few things on a piece of paper for them to color (or scribble across, as the case often is), or basic shapes, or write their names in big letters.

Some days I let them use markers, the biggest lure of which is washing their hands in the sink afterwards.

And occasionally, I'm even brave enough to let them use finger paints.

Whatever our medium, the girls usually ask for stickers at some point.

I try to make playing with stickers a constructive activity, at least every other day or so. If I've drawn different shapes on their paper, I might direct them, "Can you put a sticker on the square?" (...not that they always follow directions exactly...).

One activity we've been playing lately is what I call "Sticker Bingo". I draw a grid on a piece of paper, and ask the girls to put one sticker in each box.



This is a particularly good example (excepting one square with three stickers). They don't always turn out this good, but the girls seem to enjoy the game.

I don't think our girls are quite old enough for "crafts" yet, so I'm always on the lookout for little activities I can engage them in...I'd love to hear other ideas!

Fab 5 Friday...and ME!!!

Even amid a bit of crazy, there’s still plenty of fabulous to go ‘round!

1) The girls were (sorta-kinda) singing “The Farmer and the Dell”. I was so proud of them, until I realized that Baby B was saying, “The farmer takes the wipes.” She is her mother’s daughter, as I sure do love my wet wipes!

2) A couple of times over the past several months, when I’d have a little one-on-one time with one of the girls, I’d ask if she wanted to look at a cookbook. We’d pile up in the living room, which is normally off-limits, and look at all the delicious pictures, pointing out fruits and veggies and forks and spoons. Lately cookbooks have been a bit of a fascination with the girls…particularly if they’re upset, they’ve been saying, “Wanna look at cookbook!”

3) On Saturday night, to celebrate our first day of potty training, we ordered a pizza. This was only the third time the girls have ever enjoyed this delicacy, yet they ate like seasoned pros. I don’t want to make a habit of it, but it sure was an awesome treat for us all.

4) During Week 1 of the Potty-capades, I’d vowed to stay at home. It’s been pretty easy, as we’ve had days upon days of rain…but on Tuesday afternoon, and again on Thursday, we were blessed with some sunshine. I chanced a 30-minute walk in the neighborhood with the girls, hand-in-hand, and it was WONDERFUL. The fresh air was fantastic, and the only “wet” was from stepping in a puddle!

5) Since it’s gotten a little warmer, I’ve been craving salad. Hubby and I have eaten a green salad with our dinners most nights this week, and I’ve given the girls about ¼ of a diced cucumber. They’ve gobbled it up, saying, “I love my salad!”

And what did I do for ME this week???

For the past three weeks, I’ve been getting up early on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to do a step aerobics workout, one that I haven’t done in at least a year. Most of my exercise for the past year has been with the jogging stroller, or an occasional solo jog. It’s been really nice to have a really intense cardio workout, all by my lonesome.

And (perhaps contrary to my working out!) I treated myself to a Dairy Queen Reese’s blizzard on Thursday night, also all by my lonesome. I had been thinking about that specific indulgence for days, and I thought I deserved it! And lemme tell you, it was some kinda good!

[Thanks to Dolli-Mama for hosting the 52 Weeks of ME! Challenge every week!]

The Wonder Weeks

Shortly after the girls were born, the book The Wonder Weeks was recommended to me.

It describes eight developmental milestones each baby should reach within her first eighteen months. The theory is that the verge of these milestones is a very vulnerable time for a baby…she knows something is happening to her, but she doesn’t understand what…and this generally leads to a period of fussiness as she organizes her newly-acquired skills into her control.

I didn’t actually get much use from the book. The milestones were outlined – of course – with the gestational age of a baby…and since preemies typically “catch up” between nine and 18 months, I was too overwhelmed at trying to gauge what would likely have been a sliding scale for the girls…times two.

Nonetheless, I appreciated the premise of the book. It makes sense to me in thinking how certain changes could be perceived as pretty overwhelming in the life of a child.

I hadn’t thought about the book in probably more than a year.

My sweet Baby A hasn’t quite been herself lately. She’s fine during the day – in fact she seems to be having a BLAST participating during the Potty-capades. :)

But waking up from naps and in the morning has been another story. My girls have always been content to wake up, chill out, and talk to themselves / each other for a little while. One of my favorite things during the past few months has been to listen to them for a few minutes over the monitor…you never know what you’re going to hear!

Baby A has been waking very abruptly, and crying right away, a very scared cry…nothing close to a “cry it out” cry where I think she’ll likely go back to sleep after a couple of minutes.

When I go in to see about her, she just wants to be cuddled and held.

It dawned on me a few days ago that she’s probably pretty uncertain about the changes her body is experiencing, and her new “responsibilities” in wearing big girl undies.

Potty training is not one of the developmental milestones outlined in the book, but I would gander that that logic still holds.

Like all the many milestones before these, I’ll continue to give Baby A lots of snuggles and reassurances…while I continue to reassure myself, like the fussy periods we’ve survived to date, that this, too, shall pass.

As my blogger friend Sara said a couple of days ago, “Potty on!”

(And can I tell you how much that made me smile…once upon a time having been a big Wayne’s World fan…not to date myself, or anything…)

It's Cramping My Style...

…this whole potty-training thing…

…and I’m not just talking about my style, as in, “I’d like to venture outside the four walls of our house one day again…”

…I’m actually talking about my style of discipline.

It doesn’t always hold for every situation, but when possible, I like to enforce consequences-based discipline. The girls need to understand that their actions breed consequences, and I try to do that in a very matter-of-fact way.

I try to take the emotion out of the situation, and – as much as I can – live by the words, “Never let ‘em see you sweat.” (Of course that’s much easier said than done sometimes!)

Throwing a toy over the baby gate means that toy goes bye-bye. I verbally reprimand the toy-thrower, “No, we do not throw toys,” and I set the toy across the gate, within her sight (so she doesn’t just forget about it).

Playing during mealtime means mealtime is over. I issue a warning, “If you play, it means you’re all done.” If the play continues, I remove the playful partygoer’s plate and allow her to sit in her highchair. I will give the her a second chance after a couple of minutes, but not a third.

I feel like this is really effective for our girls, and it’s something I can manage pretty well, too.

Where I’m getting hung up is with Baby A seeming to turn potty-time into a game.

In hindsight I made a big mistake by playing up the fact that she would get to help Mommy empty the potty chair into the toilet. In turn (I guess) she breaks her potty activity up into as many mini-sessions as possible. She will easily make five or six trips to empty a small amount of waste.

Occasionally I’ll put my foot down and tell her, “That’s not enough to empty,” but I feel like I have to tread so lightly.

My gut instinct is to use a familiar phrase and tell her, “If you play, it means you’re all done,” and put her undies back on and return her to the den…but I certainly don’t want to clean up the ramifications of her going in her pants. (With the handful of accidents she’s had, she hasn’t seemed too upset…so I don’t think the risk of a mess would be a big deterrent for her.)

As it is, I try to make the trip from the potty chair to the toilet as uneventful as possible…”Go directly to the toilet. Do not pass ‘Go’. Do not collect $200.” I am trying to be very matter-of-fact during these many trips, and only praise her when she’s actually finished.

And I’m trying to maintain my cool and “never let ‘em see me sweat”…even when I work up a true sweat from all the exercise.

I am plowing ahead, knowing that this phase, too, shall pass. I know that the novelty of a potty trip will eventually wear off, and Baby A will want to consolidate her business there so she can get back to her work at hand…like reading books, and playing puzzles, and building towers...

...or maybe she’s exhibiting early signs of a career in industrial engineering…the lure of the flushing toilet being far greater than any toy she’s ever seen.

Pathetic, I Know...but at Least I Learned Something

It happened gradually.

The girls first tagged along with me to my monthly hair appointment about a year and a half ago for Baby A’s first haircut. Six months later, they joined me again, both needing a trim.

Within the past six months, their hair has started growing so fast. They’re now coming with me for a trim every six weeks. And Hubby tags along to help juggle.

It happened so gradually that I didn’t immediately notice that something was missing from my world. It wasn’t until I found myself really looking forward to my dentist appointment that it dawned on me…

…where did my “me” time go?

Isn’t going to the salon supposed to be relaxing? Isn’t it a mama’s chance to sit back, maybe flip through a magazine, catch up with her hairdresser, and enjoy someone playing with her hair?

I know one day I’ll reclaim my hair appointment as mine. But until then, I guess I’ll have to make the most of my dental visits. The Little People can’t follow me there.

I had my dental cleaning yesterday, and – as much as is possible with someone’s hands in your mouth – I had a riveting conversation with my dentist.

We extolled the virtues of different kinds of floss…waxed versus unwaxed…satin glide…traditional floss versus dental picks.

[I think I might try those dental picks. Particularly during the winter months, I struggle with dry skin on my hands. I’ve gotten quite a few dental floss cuts on my forefingers, and I think those picks would eliminate that risk.]

And I always pick his brain on questions about the girls’ dental health. I thought I’d pass along this tidbit I learned…

He said that most pediatric cavities he sees are in the molars, usually between the teeth…and in the front teeth.

For the molars, it’s important to start flossing as early as possible. For the front teeth, watch how your kiddos are drinking…I’ve read that straws are actually helpful in getting liquids past the front teeth.

So there.

From me to you.

What I learned at the dentist…made possible since I was intent on making the most of the adult conversation time.

It’s a little pathetic, I know…but at least I learned something.

Another Case of Nature vs. Nurture...

…where Mother Nature reminds me she’s not to be dismissed!

I have often thought that having multiples highlights the “nature” side of the developmental equation.

If I had only one child, I surely would think that so much of what she did – or didn’t do – was a result of my influence over her...

…she doesn’t like asparagus? Clearly I didn’t eat it frequently enough when I was pregnant.

…she often prefers to hop like a bunny instead of walking in a straight line? I haven’t been playing enough classical music to allow her to properly organize her thoughts.

…she religiously skips the number fourteen every. single. time? Obviously I’m not enunciating when I count aloud.

…she whimpers like a puppy if bathwater gets anywhere near her face? I should have booked those infant swimming lessons after all.

But with twins, there’s a certain reassurance when you see that at least one of your kids can stack up blocks almost as high as her head, while the other can recite countless nursery rhymes.

It’s a reminder that – even with very similar stimulation – every child is different.

Our recent Potty-capades have been a great example of this. If you’d asked me a year ago about potty training, I would have told you that I hoped to have the girls trained by the time they were two. And of course I would do it at the same time.

Over the past year, I’ve continued to experience the ease of certain transitions if I am willing to wait until the girls are “ready”. That in mind, I didn’t even consider trying to train the girls before they turned two. They had shown no signs of readiness, so I certainly wasn’t going to stick my foot out there, sure to have it peed upon!

We were bee-bopping along this spring, when Baby A told me – out of the blue – that she needed to sit on the potty. That was about five weeks ago, and since that time we’ve warmed up to the potty bit by bit. Baby B showed a little [copycat] interest, which I indulged, but Baby A has led this initiative.

On Saturday morning I got the girls up and put a pair of undies on Baby A. She sat on the potty at least 50 times – I swear! – but she didn’t have the first accident! Baby B asked to wear undies over her diaper, and she asked sit on the potty a couple of times, although she didn’t have any successes.

I’ve exposed the girls equally to potty opportunities, but Baby A was just more “ready” than her sister. While I’d love to get this training business over in one fell swoop, I’m not going to try to push Baby B to meet her sister’s timeline.

This is just another example for me of the role of nature and the individual differences in each of my girls.

It’s up to me as their mother to recognize and “nurture” those differences to each of their growth and development.

***

For any of you keeping score, Day 2 didn’t go quite as smoothly as Day 1. Baby A had a total of four accidents, two of which required carpet cleaning. :) My guess is that it was a combination of the girls’ excitement over some of the Easter festivities (although we didn’t leave the house all day), along with my preoccupation with orchestrating said festivities.

Both nights, though, I put on the girls' nighttime diapers. Immediately before bed, Baby A asked to sit on the potty. It seems pretty huge in my mind that she doesn’t want to just go in her diaper.

Throughout the past two days, I've been so proud...

...proud of Baby A for being such a big girl...proud of Baby B for being [relatively] patient while her sister got a lot of attention during all those trips to the potty...and proud of myself for staying [relatively] calm, cool, and collected (and not even having to dip into my Emergency Preparedness Chocolate Stash!). Go, us!!!

Our Sweet Little Bunnies

The girls had such a fun time opening their Easter baskets this morning. They each got a board book, a Reese's egg, and a small tea set split between them.


I changed them out of their pretty dresses before I let them sample their chocolate, though!

They each enjoyed 1/4 of a Reese's egg. I think that's enough for the season...the rest is for ME! :)

Wishing you and yours a blessed Easter!