Spare Toys

If you don't do this, I recommend you do. Especially if you are a stay at home mom. Winter is coming... you don't want to be left unprepared. (and if you are, don't say I didn't warn you!)

We keep new toys, unopened in their packages, stashed away in our basement. They range anywhere from a notepad & pencil from the dollar bin to more expensive things that I've found on sale.

About 6 months ago, I found the Melissa & Doug Fold & Go castle 70% off on some toy website. I don't even remember where it was, but they were even offering free shipping if you spent $40. So I bought a couple of toys Ian has been coveting at friends' houses and stuck them all away in the basement.

Why?

Sometimes, nothing breaks a "bad day" like a new toy! Typically when Ian starts to get rambunctious, we head out to a playground. This week, Aaron is pretty sick & I don't feel good about taking the boys to the playground. So Ian is on day 4 of no outside-the-house play this week. (Thanks to the rain, he hasn't even been in the back yard!) He's getting on my nerves. My haven't had more than 5 continuously-interrupted hours of sleep in 4 days, been puked on 4 times, have snot on my shoulder, nerves.

So that's why we keep spares in the basement. Ian is happily playing with a new toy, it will most likely keep his attention for several days (especially THIS one) and I'm not feeling ready to call the gypsies anymore. I am proud to say, though, that this is the first "big" spare toy I've gotten out at LEAST since March or so, what with Ian's birthday presents and the summer weather being good enough to get out as much as possible. I don't feel bad about today, I really needed something to get me through until Roger gets home.



A couple of rules I try to keep about spare toys:

1. If it is over $10 regular priced, it better be at LEAST 50% off or I won't buy it.

2. Anything else better be from the dollar bin at target or less than $10 on craig's list. (ha ha)

3. You can't use the "spare toy" trick more than once a month. It becomes useless if you do.

4. Dollar bin toys are good to toss in the diaper bag before doctor's appointments, special dinners, etc. Anytime you REALLY need the toddler to be GOOD without a lot of parental involvement.



Do you keep spare toys around? Do you have any rules for yourself about them?

We Haven't Forgotten

2 years ago tomorrow, 9/22, our friends lost their baby girl before they ever got to meet her. I just can't even begin to imagine the road they have walked since then.

I just wanted to say, publicly, that we have not forgotten. In my life, there is literally not a day that goes by that I do not think of them.

I am thinking of them tonight. And definitely tomorrow.

Preschool was a HIT!

Ian literally RAN into the building this morning. He was so excited. When his teacher opened up the door, he dropped his backpack in the hallway and went running in the door. This time, I decided (after reading a bunch of "tips for successful first days" websites) that I was not going to sneak out. I went over, gave Ian a kiss, told him I'd be back in a little bit and left.

While I was in the next room over dropping Aaron off, I could hear Ian crying. (It started after about 5 min) and then I heard him STOP crying! So I left and came home. It is only about a 3 min drive from our house, we could literally WALK there if we wanted to (except for the huge hill, but I COULD walk there... and I have walked there. Maybe I SHOULD walk there to get some exercise... ha ha)

I sat here for 2 hours and twiddled my thumbs. Ran the vacuum, got the house ready for the realtor to come back and take pictures. Went back to pick the boys up and as I was walking in, Ian was getting his diaper changed. His teacher pulled me aside to talk to me about Ian. She said he cried for about 4 minutes and stopped as soon as she got him set up with a coloring book and crayons. She said he never even fussed for another second after the initial fussing stopped.

Apparently he was very social and made friends out of all the kids... during story time they were all sitting in the circle and talking about what kinds of clothes all the kids were wearing. Miss JoJo said Ian stood up and pointed at his shirt, "LOOK! I have LIGHTNING MCQUEEN!" and was very proud and excited about it. Hee heeeee.

They painted and had snack and then it was time for me to come back.

He was really happy to see me and went right over and got his bag, went and gave his teacher a hug and high five and then pointed at the door and said, "Aaron!"

We went and got Aaron and neither boy wanted to leave! I had to drag them out of there! It was really kindof cute.

And a MAJOR weight off of my shoulders.

Aaron's teacher said he was such a joy to have in the nursery. She was asking me to verify that he was "really only 10 months old!" and that she was very impressed with how smart he is. She said he was more than capable of "running with the big dogs." (Since the nursery goes up to age 23 months, there were some older boys in there with him.)

Ian's teacher actually recommended we leave him from 9:00-1:00 instead of 9:30-11:30 so that he gets to experience the full schedule of activities and gets to have lunch with the kids. She also said that if we don't do the longer span of time, we should definitely consider adding a second day per week. (We'd like to, but our finances do not really allow it right now.)

All in all, both boys had a great morning at school and got good reviews from their teachers.


God Answers Prayers. I'm so happy today.




***By the way, do you like the slideshow format for the pictures so you can see more of them, or would you rather me post fewer pictures the way I usually do?****

What we did on Saturday

Trip to the Zoo

As much as a trip to the Aviary brings on a mammoth nap, a trip to the zoo does not. Ian never naps after the zoo. But we go anyway.

We Went to the Aviary Again

And this time, Roger re-schooled me on how to use his camera to take better pictures.

The National Aviary is a really great place for kids and adults alike. They recently opened the new "Penguin Point" exhibit, which I showed in the last post about the Aviary. So now the NA has a pretty good balance of education and play. (Prior to Penguin Point opening, there was not much in the way of "play" available. Ian really, really loves the Aviary.

But Mama, I'm not tired!

Ok, ok, so going for a drive to get out of the house just doesn't cut it now? Dear Ian informed me yesterday that although it was 3:00pm and he woke up for the day at 7:45am, he was not tired. Even though he'd played in his sandbox outside in the 90 degree weather for more than an hour. Even though we'd left the house, and he had played all morning with his cars, crayons, and brother. Even though he takes a nap every day. Yesterday, he did not.

So what's a mom to do?

Take him to the Aviary the next day and run his little legs off! And withhold his lunch until the drive home so that he was eating in the car instead of falling asleep. Yep. It worked. He was sawing logs just a few minutes after coming home, having his milk, and reading a story.

It's unfortunate that Aaron doesn't seem to have the same appreciation for morning entertainment as Ian does... but I'm sure he'll grow into it.

Feeling Crumb-y?

Ian seems to only pose for pictures and put on cute smiles when his face is dirty. Such is the life of a 2 year old boy, I guess! (& hop on over to the4thvandervort to see some nice new pictures of Aaron, too.)

Feeling neglected?

Ian's blog readers, that is. You see, in the life of a 2 year old, there comes a point where there isn't a whole lot of "new" on a daily basis. So, I've been trying to come up with things to post, but it is hard. I don't think you really want to see a new post every day with the words Ian has added to his vocabulary. I could write a post every day with those words. He's increasing his vocabulary 10-fold every week. And the kid can sing twinkle, twinkle little star.

It just isn't all that exciting.

I could tell you that he's been enjoying making new friends at the local playgrounds. We go every time it is nice enough and Ian always makes new friends. But, that also isn't all that exciting.

We haven't been on any major outings recently. We have been laying low, while trying to get our house on the market. Reading stories before bed, watching Tom & Jerry episodes and eating lollipops and hot dogs.

It's been fun. It's also been ... a tad boring.

So

I don't recognize her.

So, I guess this is just a going to be a big old WHINE post... We had another rough night last night. Aaron wakes at his "normal" wake-up time around 3:30 and won't settle without Motrin.

Anyway, I don't even recognize this mother that I've become. I'll admit, I held Ian when he was an infant. A lot. I held him constantly and it probably caused a lot of his attachment issues now, but seriously, I was a SAHM and what ELSE was I going to do but hold my darling infant and watch him sleep.

I didn't ever really WANT to breastfeed. I felt a lot of outside pressure from my mom, sisters, etc. and so I decided there wasn't really any way out of it. So I breastfed. And it was hard. And my original goal was 6 months. And then, breastfeeding was really easy and I didn't know how to stop, plus I loved being the one person my baby really NEEDED, so I kept going after we hit 6 months. After 15 months of breastfeeding, my toddler gave it up. I didn't wean him, he weaned himself, and made room at the table for his little brother who was coming to dinner just 3 months later. So now, the girl who never really wanted to breastfeed in the first place is breastfeeding her 2nd child and has been for almost 10 months. Even though I'm totally burnt out on it and my sweet nursling is shredding my nipples up with his new [s]razorblades [/s]teeth, I keep going. I don't know how to quit. And my little attached baby doesn't like bottles. And, I don't want to quit. I like it. I'll miss it when we're done.

Oh, and then there's the sleeping...

Before Ian was born, I had this grand picture of how things would go in the realm of sleep. I'd having this delightful baby who would only ever smile and coo, never cry. I'd feed him, change him, and put him to bed in his crib, where he'd happily fall asleep and sleep all night. Ha ha. The first night home from the hospital, dear Ian was up every hour on the hour, screaming bloody murder. He was cold even though he was swaddled. At 4:00am, completely exhausted and desperate, we put him in our bed between us. And he slept. It was glorious.

SO we let him sleep there. Until he was 10 weeks old and that was IT. We put him in his crib, cold turkey, and that's where he stayed. Until the wee hours of the morning, when I was so tired I was delirious, so I brought him back to our bed. And then he got his first cold, and he slept with us.

Finally, his brother was born and Ian had to learn to sleep in his own space. But, the baby now sleeps with us.

If you would've asked me before Ian was born if I would ever cosleep with my children, I'd have told you, "hell no!" And yet, here I am, 2 years later, with a baby in my bed.

I'm frustrated. A victim of my own changing views on mothering. I hold my babies. I wear them. I nurse them. I don't like Cry-it-out. My baby doesn't take a bottle. And he doesn't like being held by anyone other than me for any length of time, even his daddy. I am tired.