Funny Things He Does

Trying on his swim goggles.

One of my favorite things that Stan B does now is point at things and say "Mama" or "Papa" - depending on who uses it or who it belongs too. He will point at my car and say, "Mama!" He will point at Mike's car and say, "Papa!" It cracked me up when he pointed at a beer bottle and said, "Papa!" He'll point at certain mugs and say Mama or Papa too. Most recently while we were putting away dishes he grabbed a medium sized bowl, one that I primarily use and he said, "Mama!" Then he grabbed one of the large bowls and said, "Papa!" He did the same thing for plates. It was a very Goldilocks and the Three Bears moment. It made me realize that I am actually working on my portion control! (I've started Weight Watchers again, but not doing a very good job on watching what I eat although I have started exercising!)

Reading/listening to Uncle Sean read him a book! (It's a recordable book!)

The other day I was going to go for a run while pushing the Bear in the jogger stroller and I said to him, "Will you bring me my running shoes?" I had no clue if he'd bring me the right shoes, but he did! He brought me my runners! I was amazed.

Eating snow.

The other night I was cooking him dinner and I said, "Do you want broccoli too?" He ran to the fridge, used all his muster to open it, then opened the bottom drawer and pulled out the broccoli. He also pulled out the carrots. I was flabbergasted! He can also say broccoli now. It sounds like he's saying "Bali". He loves that stuff.

Flossing.

When I say, "Will you help me feed kitty?" He'll pick up her wet food bowl and hold it out for me while I put food in her bowl!

Trying on Tuka's hat.

More and more often when he needs his diaper changed he'll lie down on the floor and pat his belly. The sign for diaper is patting the front/side of your hip.

Throwing bark and rocks in the Eno River with Auntie C.

When I use the restroom he will say, "Pee!" and insist on sitting on the toilet. So I let him do that. I am not forcing potty training on him yet but am encouraging him when he asks...I'm trying to make it a positive activity. Even if he happens to pee on the floor I try not to yell at him, instead I try to say something like, "You peed. Next time you feel like you need to pee let's do it in the toilet." He usually will say, "Uh-oh!" when he accidentally pees on the floor. Yes, he goes nude after bathtime a lot. The other day in the bath, he was standing, and he pointed down and said, "Pee!" I looked down and one second later he started peeing. So, he knows when it's coming. He'll say pee when he's in his diaper too. I assume he is about to pee or peeing. Several times I have taken him to the toilet when he says pee so he can practice doing that and put 2 and 2 together. He has not yet peed in the toilet and that's o.k. although I'd prefer that over the floor.

Bath Play

Stan B's new favorite thing in the tub is to lie on his back and kick his legs or just simply lie there and enjoy the muffled sounds around him (his ears are usually just below the water.) I will knock on the side of the tub or make it squeak so he can hear all those funny noises. Lately I've just been sitting back and letting him enjoy the sensation of the water and sounds.

He has also been attempting to pick up his foam blocks with his spatula. It's been fun to watch, as if he is cooking in his tub-kitchen. Have a look-see:

cooking in the tub from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

Koh, Banky, Papi, Emmo and Choo Choo. That's All I Need.

Sucking on his paci while sleeping in the carrier as we hike along the Eno River.

I had a fellow mommy tell me that 18 months is a good cut-off time for the pacifier. She had her wee one quit the paci cold turkey on his 18 month birthday...and he slept 12 hours straight, or something amazing like that. Stan B started his life with sugar water pacifiers (thanks NICU! {sarcasm}) Then at home he wouldn't take it because a) it wasn't sweet like the NICU's pacis and b) BOOB! I was o.k. with him being anti-paci...I was sort of proud that he was anti-paci. Then his first teeth popped through and all of a sudden he loved the pacifier.

We only gave him the paci at night for maybe a total of 3 weeks of his life; he would pacify mostly during the day. He could even go days without using it. So, he wasn't hooked. I kind of wish we took it away from him back then. But no. He uses it now more than ever. I would even say he is slightly obsessed with it. He will see it lying on the couch or the table and point at it and say, "Papi! Papi!" It's awfully cute. Several nights ago I suggested...no, I told Mike that we are going to stop with the pacifier because for the first time ever Stan B was going to bed and he said, "Papiiiiiiiiii!" in the most sad/sweet voice. It was strange because he doesn't sleep with it. I felt bad but stuck to my guns and told him he would have to figure out another way to help himself fall asleep. Yes, mean ol' Mommy - but I don't want him to depend on that for sleeping. I think he should learn how to fall asleep without any aids. 

Sleeping with Cow Star and Blanky

 So, Monday was day 1 of no paci. In the morning he said, "Papi!" and told him that we were not going to use paci anymore. I distracted him with a book. It was a daddy day care day and Mike reported to me when I got home from work that he was way more energetic and talkative than normal, which makes complete sense. He wasn't pacified. Mike's guess was that he would fall asleep more easily and sleep longer, if not through the night. He did fall asleep easily and woke at 2:50 am rather than midnight. Last night he fell asleep easily again!

Stan B can also sorta say Cow Star...He basically says something like, "Koh". He loves that thing. LOVES. He still makes the sign for Cow Star too. In the last month and a half or so he's grown attached to a blue, orange and white striped blanket that I call blanky. Yesterday morning for the first time he woke up, got out of bed and said, "Banky!" 

Holding "banky" tight.

One evening before bed, a couple of weeks ago, I said, let's look for Cowy. He made his sign for Cow Star. We found her and he held her. He saw blanky and grabbed it. He saw paci and wanted it. For some reason (maybe Mike pushed his hand to make him talk) Stan B wanted Elmo too (he says Elmo, "Emmo"). So we grabbed Elmo. Then he said "Choo Choo" and I told him that we can read that before bed (It's his book, The Little Red Caboose, that he's currently obsessed with.) But I felt like I was carrying around Navin R. Johnson a.k.a., The Jerk - the movie with Steve Martin. Particularly the scene when Steve Martin's character is leaving his mansion saying, 

"Well I'm going to go then! And I don't need any of this. I don't need this stuff, and I don't need *you*. I don't need anything. Except this. [picks up an ashtray] And that's the only thing I need is *this*. I don't need this or this. Just this ashtray... And this paddle game. - The ashtray and the paddle game and that's all I need... And this remote control. - The ashtray, the paddle game, and the remote control, and that's all I need... And these matches. - The ashtray, and these matches, and the remote control, and the paddle ball... And this lamp. - The ashtray, this paddle game, and the remote control, and the lamp, and that's all *I* need..." 

But in Stan B's case he is saying, 

"I'm going to bed then! And I don't need anything. Except this, [picks up Cow Star] And that's the only thing I need is this. I don't need this or this. Just this Koh...and this Banky. The Koh and Banky and that's all I need...And this Papi. Koh, Banky and this Papi, and that's all I need...And Emmo. Koh, Banky, Papi, and Emmo, that's all I need...and Choo Choo. Koh, and Banky, and Papi, and Emmo and Choo Choo, and that's all I need....Milk!"

and so on. Ha! 

I'll keep you posted on the new no-paci-policy.

Belly Flops

Belly flops are the newest, bestest thing when it comes to tub time:


belly flops from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

And here is why we have tub time:

mud puddle flop from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

Cracking the Mystery

I feel like I'm cracking the mystery of the terrible twos...well, not really but this little kid raising project that we've had going on here for the last 19 months has given me a lot of time to observe the inner workings of a toddler. Here is my insight:

I've talked about involving the Bear in chores and cooking before. I have sensed a near mini tantrum when I almost take the "easy way out"....or what seems like it would be the "easy way out" of a situation. These are moments where I'm sure other parents have gone through with their first thought of taking something away from their tot because it seems like the easiest route, because I have taken this route before. When we take this "easy" route, I've learned, we are missing out on a teaching/learning opportunity.  I'm slowly grasping that if you let them help it is actually easier and the fuss factor goes down to single digits...letting them be involved is actually the more rewarding route...and because it is rewarding it seems easier - of course it takes more patience, it takes the willingness to teach your child, and you have to accept that it might get messy.  It's one of those funny things where you can't-believe-it-'til-you-try-it kinda things; you think it would take more energy to show them how to do something and less energy to take it away from them and make them sit down and watch (and ultimately cry because you took something away from them [an idea, an object, a learning moment]). 

Helping with the dishes.

Here are two examples:

Feeding Dickie the Cat:

The Bear used to move the cat's bowls off the floor and onto the counter because he saw us doing that. We would do that so that he wouldn't eat or play with her food and water.  Then I decided to try and teach him how to feed her because I thought that was the logical next step on teaching him that Dickie the Cat needs nourishment too and that the food and water in her bowl aren't things to play with. One of the first days that I started this was a day where he grabbed her water dish (full of water) and I said, "Stan B, please put that down, that's for kitty." He was determined to put it up on the counter; he was trying to be helpful. I repeated myself. He kept trying to walk with it to the counter with the water sloshing to and fro. I grabbed it from him and he fussed. I explained that it was Dickie's water bowl and she used it to drink from. Instead of putting it back up on the counter and having him continue to fuss I said to him, "Can you put her bowl back on the floor?" and I handed the bowl back to him. He put it on the floor. It worked! (this time.) Another day he grabbed her dry food dish and dumped her food out, onto the floor. (GRRRRRRRRRRRR. This is where I can easily lose my cool. If I'm tired there is a higher chance of cool going out the window. But I managed to stay calm.) I swept up the food while Stan B held the dust pan and then we swapped: I held the dustpan and he swept. We aren't a very efficient team as Stan B's dustpan and sweeping skills have not been perfected but I think it helps to teach him that if we spill something we must clean it up. Instead of filling up the bowl myself I said, "Stan B, would you like to help me feed kitty?" and so I let him scoop out the dry food and put it in her bowl. I told him to put the cup back in the storage container and help me put the lid back on. He followed my directions perfectly (this time.) 

Helping make another batch of brussel sprouts with sweet potatoes (they are purple sweet potatoes!)

Kitchen Chores:

The only way I can put a dent in house cleaning is if I do much of it while caring for the Bear. Because he is so active it can be challenging to empty the drain, do laundry or wipe the table  while also making sure he doesn't start playing with the kitty litter. I could easily put up the safety gates and keep him out of the kitchen while I clean...and I have tried that but boy, is it a pain in the ass. If he's in the right mood he will stand there hemming and hawing to let him into the kitchen. I have involved him in cooking which he really seems to enjoy.  He has helped me with laundry by handing me clothes as I then place them in the machine. I can ask him to put things in the trash or recycling and he knows which is which. He helps me empty the drain by handing me dishes as I put them away. 

Helping Nana grate cheese.

By letting him be involved in things, instead of shielding him from them, there is a lot less combat in our household...fewer "nos" are spoken. There is still whining and crying and typical toddler traits but I think his involvement in things will help when these terrible twos are in full throttle because they are already helping now! (You can laugh at me later when they are in full throttle and I am overwhelmed with no clue of what to do!)

Comprehension

Kids are smart. Even though Stan B's speech is still developing, even though his pronunciation of words that he can say aren't perfect, he understands the things we say to him. Just because wee ones can't talk doesn't mean they don't understand. It doesn't mean they are stupid or slow. They are smart! They are amazing! He understands when I say, "Stan Burrito, that's not our mail. Come on." even though the word "mail" is not in his spoken vocabulary yet. He understands when I say, "Give the doggy a kiss." even though he has never said the word "kiss" before. Talking to our children is underrated. They comprehend more than you know. Talking to them is a huge part of their learning language. Before you know it he'll be cussing. Ha. Watch him comprehending my words:


comprehension from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

SNOW EVENT 2014

Here are some of the things that went down during SNOW EVENT 2014:


snow event 2014 from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

Mas Palabras

Stan B can say lots of things now. They may not all be perfectly enunciated but he tries and it's fun to hear him give it a go. I can say, "Can you say _____?" and almost every time he will try and say that word.

sheep = peesh

pee = pee

tea = tea

knee = knee

poo = poo

ball = ball

Nana = Nana

Tuka = Gaga or Ducka

Dickie = Dacky

doggy = doggy

cow = koh

moo = moo

Mama, Papa = Mama, Papa

thank you = tanky

please = peas

moon = moo(n) the "n" is very soft sounding

snow = noooo

no = nooo

no snow = nooo noooo

truck = buh, chuh

bus = bus

train = choo choo

bye bye = bah bye

more = moe

squirrel = quirl

car = cah

water = wahwah

Sue = shuu (he said that one time!)

Carter = darter (he said that one time too!)

Nala = Nana

shoe = shoe

I'm sure I forgot some words you can see my last list here.

He now can sign "thank you" and "please". He'll do thank you on his own, and appropriately! I still have to ask him to sign/say please but I do think he starting to grasp what please means. Yay!

He is also great at making sounds with his tongue. He can cluck (which I haven't gotten on video yet) and he can roll his Rs! Have a listen:

noises from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

Walking Stick

The Bear saw Tuka walking with a walking stick so now, whenever he finds a good stick, he picks it up and walks with it, just like Tuka did:


walking stick from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

On

I can walk out of the room and when I come back I almost always see something like this happening:

His thing right now is climbing onto stuff and balancing or walking on it...or even bouncing/jumping up and down on it:

 Sometimes he just likes to perch on something other than a chair or the couch:

Snow. Snow. Snow.

That pic is from yesterday...it's outside of my office building. Daycare and UNC were both closed so Mike stayed home with the cub. The pic below is from the day before yesterday...only about 4 hours after it started snowing! Stan B enjoyed wiping off the thick pile of snow on each turned over recycling bin. We walked to some hilly spots and took the sled for a spin.

...And here is a video from the snow storm that we got at the end of January:


snow walk from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

Snow Run

We had our first snow storm at the end of January. It wasn't a ton...maybe an inch or two...the next day most of it had melted. Stan B enjoyed running in the melting snow while it was sunny outside...more so than being out in the super cold falling snow. Here he is running and laughing:


snow run from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

Meanwhile we got at least 4 inches of snow yesterday. A much bigger snow storm than the one above. I actually was stuck in a traffic jam from people not being able to make it up a hill and another jam because of an accident from sliding cars. It was a bit dicey. Thankfully I was in Mike's new-to-him all wheel drive and it handled perfectly.

Frying Pan Shuffle

Having fun with balance:

frying pan from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

Buds

We had a delightful visit with my parents at the end of January. I think Stan B remembered my Mom; he smiled at her quickly when she sat in the car when scooping them up at the airport. He definitely recognized my Dad, for when he saw him Stan B pointed at him and made a sound like, "Huh!" and smiled. It was cute.

I took them down to the creek for our typical little hike and the Stans looked like two peas in a pod:

That pic makes me think of Piglet and Pooh Bear walking in the Hundred Acre Wood. On our way out of the creek there was a pile of bamboo that a neighbor had cut down and put out for collection. My Dad grabbed a piece so that he could trim it into walking sticks for himself and my Mom since there are some steep and rocky parts of the creek walk. As my Dad dragged the bamboo by one of it's twigs Stan B took hold to help carry it back home:

The tradition of falling asleep on my Dad continues. This was right before we left for the airport. Stan Poco conked out at the side of Stan Grande:

 

Even with so little space in our crammed house we carved out room for our guests and I wasn't sure what we were going to do when they left as they had cooked and cleaned and babysat non-stop. We miss you so much!

Elmo

Auntie Jen and family handed down the lovable talking Elmo to Stan B for Christmas:


elmo from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

The good thing is, Stan B really likes Elmo and Mike and I even don't mind him so much (we thought he'd be annoying). There have been creepy moments though...like stepping on him in the middle of the night to hear him say, "Elmo LOOOOVES getting kisses, heeheehee!" but after swearing under my breath I can't help but laugh. He's a red furball 'o' love.

Screen Free...Trying to Be

I don't know where I heard "Screen Free 'Til the Age of Three" because I couldn't find anything online about that but found tons of stuff on trying to keep your child screen free before they are 2. In fact the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends that. You can read more about that here. So Mike and I have tried our hardest to keep it screen free for our little, energetic munchkin. I think we've done  a great job actually. He's almost not interested in the T.V. when it's on. He'd rather play with his toys. If a basketball game or football game is one he'll look at the T.V. and say, "BAALLL!" If he sees a commercial with a dog in it he will say, "DOGGY!" If he hears clapping on T.V. he will clap along. If there is a song that comes on that inspires him to dance, he will dance. Most of the time he will go back to playing with his toys and books. He sees us on the computer and will climb up onto the chair and start smacking and pushing buttons on the keyboard:

Neither of us have smart phones or iPads of any sort so we don't have to deal with that...yet. I think the one time we really sat him in front of the T.V. to watch something was when he was a bit under the weather and he watched the french film "The Red Balloon" which is only 30 minutes long, but he sat and watched the entire thing. (You can watch it here if you like...it was one of my favorites when I was wee.) I do find myself more aware of what I see on T.V. or on the computer when I know his little eyes are watching. I am  more sensitive to the violence that I see (there is so much violence in cartoons that we don't even think about!) So I am always talking over things and telling him how that would really hurt if we did that in real life. The other day he got up on the chair and typed on the computer and somehow pulled up iTunes and managed to get a song to play all on his own and then he started to dance on the chair:

So, it's challenging to go screen free but we try our hardest. We almost never (with the exception of The Red Balloon and sometimes some PBS show) plop him in front of the T.V. as a way to get a breather for ourselves. We like our misery. Just kidding. Stan B is our cable T.V. he is so much fun to watch.

19 Months and Climbing

Stan B is 19 months old today.

He loves climbing - He loves challenging his balance - His word count grows on a daily basis - His favorite book, as of today, is probably The Little Red Caboose (chooo chooo!) - He likes pretending to cook - He still loves throwing things - He learned how to kick from our neighbor across the street who was pretending to be Bruce Lee (the neighbor is a 7-year old) - He still loves his cow star and blanky - His favorite shoes are his rain boots - He is still nursing - He really likes broccoli and nori but definitely has a sweet tooth as well.

Happy 19 months of life to our growing boy!

Giant Hands

He loves trying on big people shoes as well as big people gloves. Here he is in Papa's gloves playing hide n seek:

And here he is trying on big dishwashing gloves at my parent's friend Brian's house:


floppy gloves from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

Rain Boots

This happened before rain boots were purchased:


stream walk from erin kawamata on Vimeo.

Now we have rain boots. They are his favorite pair of shoes. He will grab them and bring them to us as if to say, "LET'S GO OUTSIDE!!! WHO NEEDS COFFEE WHEN YOU'VE GOT RAIN BOOTS!"

Good Parenting

Here we are in the snow! It snowed last week! And the Bear went sledding for the very first time!

One of my favorite blogs is Teacher Tom (he's a preschool teacher in the Seattle area). He always has such wisdom to share. He shared a Mister Rogers quote on good parenting the other day. You can read the entire quote on his blog here. It was such good timing as I was talking about my parenting insecurities when I wrote the post "Parenting Improv".

Here is part of the Mister Rogers quote:

"...But one of the most important gifts a parent can give a child is the gift of accepting that child's uniqueness." ~Mister Rogers

I love the entire quote and it really makes me think about why I react the way I do in certain situations. It's mostly because of my insecurities as a parent (and a person). This will be a good thing for me to work on; to become more confident and to realize that he is a unique human who is quite different than me but that I can accept him and nurture him with love and respect.