Showing posts with label toddler summary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label toddler summary. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Brinley Toddler Summary: 36 Months Old {3 Years Old}

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This is a summary for Brinley from 35 months old to 36 months old. At the end of this period, she turned 3 years old!

SLEEPING
During this period, Brinley stopped napping every day. She would skip about 2-3 days a week. This is very normal for this age, but there are a couple of things to take note of when this starts happening. One is that your child will likely be cranky on non-nap days initially. Just think back to when you dropped to one nap a day--cranky mornings for a while. 

Another thing is that you will have to be more careful about you initiating skipping naps now. A short while ago, you could have your child skip a nap and she did great. Now, she is skipping on her own and if you add to it, cranky city! So I have to be aware of when she has skipped and when she has slept so I know how to expect her to behave if she needs to skip her nap.



EATING
Eating is good.

VACATION
During this period, we went to Wyoming for a vacation. She was great. She slept well and was good. While in Wyoming, we went on a hike that was about 3/4 of a mile up. This is the first hike we had Brinley walk the whole way up by herself. She had to be encouraged to keep going a couple of times, but she made it! And she was very excited to have some time on Daddy's shoulders for the walk back. 

SWIMMING LESSONS
Per my own advice, I had been handing Brinley off to her swim teacher, "going potty," and then I would go sit up in the mezzanine until her lesson was over. I never once saw her see me. I did this with McKenna for months and she never knew I was there. After two lessons, Brinley told me, "Don't go up there, okay. Just stay down by me." I told her I would stay as long as she was good and didn't cry for her teacher (which she hadn't, but I didn't want her to start). She agreed and she followed through. I still "went potty" so she could get going, but she would always watch for me to come back.

SUMMER DIVA
Yes. So Brinley is a little princess around here. Her three older siblings just adore the ground she walks on. They think she is the funniest and most amazing "baby" ever. If she squawks, they give her what she wants. 



I have explained many times that this is not okay and why, but they still had a hard time letting her cry about anything. As the summer continued on, she started to become a real diva. I explained to the three older children that she indeed was this way because of them giving in to her. They have made a commitment to get better about that. I told them she would likely have no friends if they continued to let her get her way all the time. Luckily she is not the only fourth child little girl in my neighborhood her age who is getting that treatment from her three older siblings. That mom and I have talked, commiserated, and made plans to get those two together during the school year to help them learn how to play withe peers. 

FAVORITES
Brinley loves to play with little princesses. She loves the magic clip princess. She loves to play with dress up clothes. She also really enjoys Barbies and the toy kitchen. Her favorite outside activity is the sandbox. 

SCHEDULE
This is her typical daily schedule for summer--not a lot of structure.

8:45 AM--Wake up/Breakfast/Get ready
Sometime between breakfast and lunch, have Independent play for 60-90 minutes
12:00 PM--Lunch
1:30/2:00 PM--Nap
4:30/5:00 PM--Wake up and Free Playtime
5:30 PM--Dinner
6:00 PM--Family Time
8:00 PM--Get Ready for Bed
8:30 PM--Bedtime

During the day, we will do learning activities, play outside, go for walks, go to the park, go do other fun stuff...what we do each day varies a lot.



HELPFUL BOOKS
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Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Brinley Toddle Summary: 35 Months Old

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This is what I found one day when I went to get her
up from her nap. She loves her books!
This is a summary for Brinley from 34.5-35 months old. This takes her up to one month before she turns three!

SLEEPING
Sleeping was good. She is staying in bed once I put her there. She isn't always thrilled to go to bed, but once she is there she is fine. 

EATING
Eating was also good. 

DENTIST
Brinley has also done very well with the dentist. She has not been a crier and she has done what they ask. We had a dentist visit during this period. She was not feeling cooperative. She didn't cry, but when the hygienist would ask her to open her mouth, Brinley would just look at her and shake her head no. After a few minutes of the nice hygienist trying to nicely ask Brinley to open her mouth, I went over to her, got my "mom face" on, and told her to open her mouth. She gave the hygienist a look. I am not sure how to describe it other than a very untrusting "Scuz." But she opened her mouth. All was well.

When I looked back on what I wrote her last trip (after the fact), I commented that kids can suddenly get scared so I had done some practice at home before our visit to the dentist. I didn't do that this time! I will have to remember my own advice next time around. 

BOOK THIEF
This girl loves books, which of course makes me happy. I am constantly removing books from her bed. When she is awake, she will spend time putting more books into her bed to look at during nap time.

Sometimes she thinks if she hides like this, I won't see her for nap time.

VACATION
We had a fun vacation this month. We went to Breckenridge, Colorado. It was about a ten hour drive to get there. Brinley was super good for the drive. She played with little princesses, looked at books, listened to music, played with ponies, listened to books on "tape," and did some PBS show watching. She slept well while we were there. Everyone was in need of a bit of vacay detox when we got back, but we made it through.

Panning for gold in Colorado

SWIMMING LESSONS
Brinley started swimming lessons this month. Her first lesson went really well! She was nervous. I think when we went to California last Fall and she "tumbled in the waves" it made her a bit nervous around water. She is kind of like a little orangutan baby clinging to her teacher, but she isn't crying or anything. 


SCHEDULE
This is her typical daily schedule for summer--not a lot of structure.

8:45 AM--Wake up/Breakfast/Get ready
Sometime between breakfast and lunch, have Independent play for 60-90 minutes
12:00 PM--Lunch
1:30/2:00 PM--Nap
4:30/5:00 PM--Wake up and Free Playtime
5:30 PM--Dinner
6:00 PM--Family Time
8:00 PM--Get Ready for Bed
8:30 PM--Bedtime

During the day, we will do learning activities, play outside, go for walks, go to the park, go do other fun stuff...what we do each day has varied a lot so far.

HELPFUL BOOKS
This list contains affiliate links.
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Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Brinley Toddler Summary: 34.5 Months Old

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Brinley and me at a baseball and softball game (they
were actually right next to each other so we were watching
both). She is my ball watching buddy.
This is a summary for Brinley from 34-34.5 months old.

SLEEPING
Sleeping is great! She had a day of testing getting out of bed at nap time. I heard a door slamming and was about to go have a talk with the older kids on not slamming doors--especially during naptime--when I stopped and thought. I realized the sound had come from Brinley's room. I checked the video monitor (love) and saw her bed empty. I talked through the monitor (seriously an awesome feature) and told her to get in her bed. She quickly did. 

Being able to talk into a the video monitor is seriously fantastic. A lot of times kids will test getting out of bed in order to have a visitor. Other times, the child gets some thrill out of seeing you frustrated and will get out of bed just to see your reaction (so if you do have a child who gets out of bed and you do not have a monitor, do your best to remain perfectly calm). I love being able to just tell Brinley to get back in bed without having to go to her room and let her expand her scientific testing with the process.

EATING
Eating is good. Nothing new or different. 

SICK DAY
One morning, I got Brinley up for the morning and saw her hair was wet. It didn't seem sweaty so I checked her bed and determined that she had thrown up. It was recent and there were no food chunks (sorry for the TMI, but really, this is a parenting blog and we parents talk straight about bodily fluids). 

She wasn't upset or anything. I set her on the ground and started to strip her bed. As I did, she started to throw up more (though dry heaving would be a more accurate description). I caught the little fluid that came out in her blankets I had taken from the bed. 

I then took her straight to the bath. I know a lot of people don't do showers or baths on sick days, but for me personally, I always feel better when I am clean so I always give my kids showers and baths when sick. Then I pulled her hair all up and away from her face so she couldn't throw up in it more. 

She did not want any food. I grabbed a bowl for her and demonstrated how to throw up into it. Then I got her comfortable and turned on some PBS kids. She watched some shows and threw up in her bowl one time (yay! That is a great milestone--learning to throw up in the bowl rather than everywhere else). 

She ate applesauce for lunch and had no issues for the rest of the day. Brinley was a little trooper on her sick day.

SUMMER
Brinley is loving summer. Her siblings are home all day every day. She has lots of fun time to play with them. It is interesting how different life can be for different kids. For Brayden and Kaitlyn, summer days were just like any other days. For Brinley, they are significantly less structured. We do do a lot more playing in summer and therefore Brinley's days are not as consistent from day to day. I do strive to keep her nap most days. She also has independent play most days (though last week she didn't have it one of the days all week). 

Kaitlyn (8) has been getting Brinley up and feeding her breakfast most mornings. Guys--it is fantastic. They both love it. I love it. Kaitlyn has even gotten her out of the bath, diapered her, dressed her, and combed her hair. I might be really sad when school starts. I love seeing Kaitlyn nurture Brinley and Brinley loves being doted upon by her older sister. I love seeing Kaitlyn get all of this mommy practice, also. Kaitlyn will be such a fun and sweet mom some day. She tends to give in to fits, but she is learning over time how to stick to rules. It is a good experience for them both. 

SCHEDULE
This is her typical daily schedule for summer--not a lot of structure.

8:45 AM--Wake up/Breakfast/Get ready
Sometime between breakfast and lunch, have Independent play for 60-90 minutes
12:00 PM--Lunch
1:30/2:00 PM--Nap
4:30/5:00 PM--Wake up and Free Playtime
5:30 PM--Dinner
6:00 PM--Family Time
8:00 PM--Get Ready for Bed
8:30 PM--Bedtime

During the day, we will do learning activities, play outside, go for walks, go to the park, go do other fun stuff...what we do each day has varied a lot so far.

HELPFUL BOOKS
This list contains affiliate links. 
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Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Brinley Toddler Summary: 34 Months Old

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Brinley is a good sport. This is a picture she took of her feet as she sat on the couch
and entertained herself at the end of the year Kindergarten party. She was good to
play independently and good to clean up all of her messes on her own.
This is a summary for Brinley from 33.5-34 months old (she is 2 months shy of 3 years old).

SLEEPING
The crib to bed transition has been such a breeze. She doesn't get out of bed. She stays there when we put her down and doesn't get out until we come in to get her again. I am still leaving a few books for her at each nap and at bedtime. She typically looks at least one book in her bed before she goes to sleep. 

EATING
Eating is going well. She has typical toddler moments. At times, she will want to stop eating sooner than she is really done because she thinks of some fun thing she wants to play. I can tell if she is full and if she is just thinking of something fun to do. If it is something fun to do, I will require a certain number of more bites before she leaves. 

With toddlers, it is a good idea to give a small amount of each food--like 1-2 Tablespoons of each food. Then you can add more if they eat it and want more of it. It seems to be less overwhelming to them. 

SICKNESS DIVA
I have figured out something about Brinley that I haven't had with my other children. In the days before she gets sick, she becomes a real diva. She gets super sensitive to being late for a nap and she gets so she really likes to make other people upset. 

I came to this realization one day. The same day, a mom of a boy in Kaitlyn's class randomly told me that in the few days before her son gets sick, he is like a totally different person. I was so glad to hear that because it validated what I thought was probably true! 

On one of these days, before a cold set in, and an hour after her nap was supposed to start, we were at the park. Brinley decided to throw wood chips on people and upset one of her friends her age and a 6 year old boy. She got the most thrill from the 6 year old boy. We left the park immediately.

A hard thing is you don't initially know that a sickness is coming on. Your child starts to be a punk and you wonder what has gone wrong. Then a cold sets in and you think, "Oh that explains it!"I will have to be more mindful of these signs so I don't do things like keep her up past her nap with poor other kid around for her to antagonize. 

The crazy thing is that she is normally such a sweet girl. When she goes diva, it is a shock. 

LOOKING AHEAD
Our next big move will be potty training. I have been verbally warning Brinley many times a day that this will happen soon. "Soon you won't wear diapers anymore! You will wear panties and go potty on the potty." She responds, "No, I pee in my diaper." She does not like her growing up milestones. But I did the same with the bed transition and she warmed up to the idea and even got excited. I will not let her go past 3 without doing it. I will probably wait a few weeks until after a big trip we have coming up involving an all day drive each way. I don't want more potty stops than necessary. I will keep talking about it and feeling her out until she seems more ready, or start close to 3--whichever comes first. 

SCHEDULE
This is her typical daily schedule.

8:45 AM--Wake up/Breakfast
9:15 AM--Get ready
10:00 AM--TV time
10:30 AM--Independent Playtime
11:45 AM--Help get lunch ready/hang out with me doing stuff
12:15 PM--Lunch
12:45 PM--Learning Activity (sometimes this is in the morning slot before lunch if getting ready doesn't take as long)
1:00 PM--Sibling play with McKenna
1:30/2:00 PM--Nap
4:30/5:00 PM--Wake up and Free Playtime
5:30 PM--Dinner
6:00 PM--Family Time
7:30 PM--Get Ready for Bed
8:00 PM--Bedtime

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Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Brinley Toddler Summary: 33.5 Months Old

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This is a summary for Brinley from 33-33.5 months old.

SLEEPING
Big news here! Brinley moved to her twin bed and out of the crib.

Brinley started to be more open to the idea of a big girl bed when I would tell her she would soon more over. She thought that sounded like fun most of the time. 

We set up her bed one Saturday night. Sometimes we don't do things in the ideal way now that we have four kids. Ideally, we would have done this on a Friday night so we could have a couple of weekend nights to work things out. We also would have not done it on the same night we had Brayden's birthday party with friends (yep, that is the night we did it). But we always go with what timing just seems right and it seemed like the right day. We also have to work around the family schedule, and taking down a crib and setting up a twin bed take time. We have more time to do those things on a Saturday.

Despite things not being ideal, Brinley handled it perfectly. She was excited. She set her stuffed animals and dolls all up in her bed the way she wanted them. She stayed in her bed! She slept great. She stayed in her bed until we got her up in the morning. 

The bed transition has gone very well. During one nap, she hopped out of bed to get some books off of her night stand to look at. I spoke into her monitor and told her she needed to stay in her bed. She paused for a moment, thinking, and then responded, "I am." She didn't say it in a sassy way--she sounded a bit confused. She obviously considered herself getting a book and getting right back into bed to not be getting out of bed. I decided that I don't mind her having access to some books to look at in bed at her age. Before nap and bed time, we pick three books to set on her night stand that are okay for her to look at in bed (I am always careful to make sure the books are very toddler proof since one time Kaitlyn destroyed some books in bed). She stays in bed since her books are right there for looking at. 

I am very happy with the transition! 

EATING
Eating is good. 

PLAYTIME
Playtime is continuing on as usual. She had a few days where she got out of her room a few times each independent playtime. It is always to get help with dressing some doll. I always start my response to that with reminding the child to stay in the room and being patient. I totally get wanting help with difficult things, but I also want her to work at solving her own problems and I think that for a short time each day, she can play with things as they are if she can't take care of it on her own. 

BOUNDARIES CONTINUED
We had some good times this time period with boundary testing. Getting out of Independent Playtime is just one example. She did fun things like intentionally spill her Cheerios all over the floor during Brayden's evening of excellence for his gifted and talented program. Good times. It makes her being good for her bed change even more amazing.

SCHEDULE
This is her typical daily schedule.

8:45 AM--Wake up/Breakfast
9:15 AM--Get ready
10:00 AM--TV time
10:30 AM--Independent Playtime
11:45 AM--Help get lunch ready/hang out with me doing stuff
12:15 PM--Lunch
12:45 PM--Learning Activity
1:00 PM--Sibling play with McKenna
1:30/2:00 PM--Nap
4:30/5:00 PM--Wake up and Free Playtime
5:30 PM--Dinner
6:00 PM--Family Time
7:30 PM--Get Ready for Bed
8:00 PM--Bedtime

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