Parenting Toddlers

I hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s day and I have a little tip: take some time! Take some time together with you and your loved one, or with you and your friends, or JUST FOR YOU. If you can balance taking time for yourself, you will be a better parent. Sorry today is so short - I’m running around doing little Valentine’s day treats for the kiddos. I’m also working on a great article about how to bring a new puppy into a home with a toddler…trust me, it’s a good one!

Sorry I wasn’t here for a few days! I took a little time off this weekend to enjoy the kids. It always amazes me how quickly we can forget to enjoy our kids! It gave me a good topic, though! The hubby and I realized the other day that there were tons of things that we haven’t exposed the kids to. Now we live in a very small area, but there are still things that we’ve avoided, such as the local museum. About a half an hour away from my home there is a museum. The main focus of the museum is on nature, so there are TONS of stuffed wild animals. It gives you a good idea of the kinds of animals you’d find right in our area, as well as the animals that exist around the world. We had avoided the museum for a long time - first because we forgot all about it, and then becuase we thought Babygirl would have a problem with the animals. Last weekend we chose to give it a shot.

Boy, was I wrong.

Babygirl LOVED the museum! She kept pointing at all the birds and she wasn’t even scared of the large animals, like the bears and the huge moose. She still says that the peacock is her favorite, and she was even able to connect the Peacock to the character in Barbie as the Island Princess. Toad, at seven, enjoyed it as well, and now, thanks to the upper level of the museum, he wants to own a sabre.

The lesson? Don’t avoid things in your area because you’re worried how your children will react. Also, don’t look for places that are made JUST for kids. This museum is NOT a children’s museum, but the kids loved it! We didn’t try the planatarium that was attached to the museum yet (it get really, REALLY dark in there and we didn’t want to press our luck), but it’s definitely on our list! So look around your local area - I’ll guarantee that there is something you haven’t tried yet that your kids will love!

Hi! My name is Randi and I’ll be your guide through the formative, yet crazy world that is Toddlerville! So, let’s see, what makes me qualified to run Parenting Toddlers? Well, I’m 28 and have two beautiful children (I count three children on the days that my husband’s being whiney). Toad is now 7 and Babygirl is 3. So, technically, I guess my daughter is on the outside edge of toddler-hood. I love talking about toddlers, however, and being a licensed foster parent means that I never know when I’ll have another one in my home.

We live in Vermont (read: Hickville), and my husband works in a furniture factory. I’m a stay-at-home-mom and full-time freelance writer. My mother works at a special school for children who have “issues” (both emotional and developmental), and I help them out by taking children who are considered to be OCS - I’m still not sure what the letters mean, but basically these are kids that have acted up and have to be out of the school for the day.

So what can you expect from this blog? While it’s under my reign, you can expect my thoughts on discipline, food (I have one of the fussiest kids…), naps, toys, and everything that has to do with raising a toddler and a family, because any toddler is highly impacted by the type of family life they have.

So welcome to Parenting Toddlers, and I hope that you’ll know if you have any questions that I’d love to answer them! Just leave a message in the comments…

I just noticed that I’d been tagged by Angie. Here’s the deal: Since I’m not looking to turn this into a meme blog, I’m just going to tell you eight things about me. If you’d like to share things about yourself, leave them in the comments or post them on your blog. Consider this my way of tagging the Internet.

Eight things about me:

1) I currently have a moderate sunburn on the back of my neck and between my shoulder blades. I spent a grand total of 15 minutes outside yesterday, which normally wouldn’t cause me to burn… except that I just lopped off about 10 inches of hair, exposing virgin skin to the sun’s rays. Ow!

2) I really like the new haircut, fried neck-skin aside.

3) There is always a pile of laundry in my kitchen, because that is where the washing machine is and I think that if I keep them together I will get more laundry done. Note: this does not actually work.

4) I have five cats.

5) And a guinea pig.

6) All of us (plus my son and my husband) squeeze ourselves into a small two-bedroom apartment. To date, no blood has been shed.

7) My son will turn down ice cream in favor of green beans, because we’re hippies like that.

I haven’t eaten at McDonald’s in almost a year.

Okay, guys. One-two-three GO!

Hi, folks. I hope you’re all ready for copious amounts of cuteness.

I’m going to take this week to figure out WordPress and decide just how many directions this thing’s going to go in. This means that for the next three days, you’re going to hear a lot of trivial stuff about my very own child. Next Monday, we’ll get into the real stuff — advice, tips, stories, product reviews, all that jazz. Bear with me until then, okay? I promise it’ll get better.

I suppose, before I start setting myself up as some sort of toddler authority, I should give you a little background. I’m a 20-something small-town girl with a degree in print journalism and about 15 years of experience in chilcare. I started babysitting pretty steadily when I was barely into the double digits, and I seem to have focused on the little ones right from the start. When I was 19, I became a licensed childcare provider in my state and did a little daycare from home for a while. Now I’m a mom myself — I have a two-year-old son who cracks me up on a consistent basis, and I think I’m doing a pretty good job with him. (With a little help from my husband, of course. You know how it goes.)

What does all of this mean for you? It means that I (mostly) know my stuff, and that you’ll find it in a (mostly) readable format. It also means that sometimes you’ll come here for advice and instead find a story like the one I’m about to tell you.

See, I can’t resist bragging about my kid. He’s cute, y’all, and recently he’s been especially cute. He’s figured out that he can say things that aren’t strictly true. He’s not turning into a big lying liar or anything, he’s just started realizing that he can use his imagination or his wishes to bring a little sparkle to reality. Rumor (by which I mean, child development books) has it that this is a good sign — it means that he’s learning how to use his very own mind. It does lead to some pretty funny moments, though, because he just isn’t good at it yet. He knows he can get out of things by stretching or shifting the truth, but he hasn’t caught on to what Mommy will buy and what Mommy will squash.

Okay, there’s the backstory. The real story is that we were in the car almost all day yesterday, cashing my check and going shopping and making appointments. Driving, driving, driving in the heat. Connor’s nap was disrupted by all this and on our way home he slumped in his car seat, vaguely sweaty, with his eyes at half mast. “Look at that,” I said quietly to my husband. “That’s a tired boy.”

Connor immediately sat bolt upright in his seat, snapping his eyes open as if he’d just been waiting for me to say those words. “I not tired, Mommy. I am just fake tired.”

All right, maybe you had to be there. In any case, I’ll have better stuff for you next week. For now, I’d like you guys to email me and tell me what you’d like to see here. Got a question? Need some advice? Menu planning? Toddler jokes? I do this for you, you know.

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone. Hope you are all spending some quality relaxation time with the family. Don’t worry, the laundry will be there in a few days, I promise.

Here’s the Sunday Sixteen for this holiday weekend!

1. Alex’s took his very first steps all on his own this week. He walks like a pro everywhere, but still refuses to let go except for these few steps so far. He insists on at least having someone’s finger to hold on to, though he hasn’t figured out yet that the finger isn’t really helping him any.

2. Yesterday I got a tick bite. Haven’t so much as seen a tick in almost a decade, and sure enough, I get bit when I’m pregnant. Lyme disease can cause all sorts of problems for a developing fetus, some of them very, VERY serious, so were being very watchful for any symptoms at all. Luckily, so far we seem to have escaped safely. Please pray for my little developing one that things stay that way!

3. Because of #2, I have moved into SUPER CLEANER mode. Everything that can possibly get bleached or washed or changed or wiped, etc. is getting it. The idea that a tick got on me just makes me feel …. ewww …. yucky.

4. On better news, hubby and I went out and got ourselves a new mattress this weekend!! It is superbly comfortable and they’re delivering it today!! I can’t wait.

5. Alex’s favorite foods this week, blueberries, beef ravioli, grilled turkey and cheese, and steamed veggie mix (green beans, carrots, corn and lima beans).

6. Still no morning sickness for yours truly!! I’ve had one or two bouts of feeling a bit queasy, but it only seems to last a few minutes and disappears as fast as it appears.

7. Easy recipe for this week: Cream Cheese and Chive Pasta Skillet. I’ll post the recipe for everyone in the next day or so.

8. Best Mom Beauty helper: easy enough, a new Simmons Beautyrest Pillowtop Mattress! I need to catch up on my beauty sleep!

9. To date we have had no more ear problems, no fevers, no anything since Alex’s ear tube proceedure. I know it’s only been a couple of weeks, but it’s a big step since we couldn’t go more than two days without something previously!

10. Alex has suddenly become deathly afraid of changing stations in restaurants or gas stations, or even the mall. You know what I’m talking about, those fold down from the wall changing tables that are available in most public restrooms. Alex has suddenly started getting upset and clinging to me for dear life whenever I try to use one to change him. I’m guessing he’s got more depth perception and suddenly realizes he’s high up?

11. Standing in the bathtub has become a challenge once again. Alex understands he’s not allowed to stand in the tub, but he continues to push the envelope and then get extremely aggravated when he’s made to sit down every time regardless.

12. I think we’re in the process of moving from two naps a day down to one. It’s hard to tell though, since Alex’s only meltdown mode is usually late evening around 6pm, at which time it’s only an hour or two before he goes to bed for the night anyway.

13. I can tell I’m getting well into my second month of pregnancy, because I am suddenly getting extremely tired. It’s funny, I’m up and ready to go in the morning, but by the time Alex’s nap time comes around, I could fall asleep standing up!

14. Unfortunately, as of the end of the month, I won’t be here at Parenting Toddlers anymore. I’m simply getting too swamped with my part time work, keeping up with Alex, and especially staying rested during this pregnancy. I will continue to post when I can on my personal blog, Toddler Tactics, so feel free to check in and visit Alex and I there when you get a chance.

15. I miss sushi. Did you know you shouldn’t eat sushi when you’re pregnant? Actually, from what I’ve researched, it turns out there’s pretty much about the same risk of getting sick when you are pregnant as there is when you’re not, but when it comes to pregnancy, I’ve just never been a big risk taker.

16. This is the last official Sunday Sixteen, hope you enjoyed them!