Windy Morning Picnic

We enjoyed a windy picnic this morning at the park!  Cheese and crackers, strawberries, and water. Of course, Nala had her fair share as well.

Then this little munchkin decided to climb on the benches…  I let her explore and climb, telling her to be careful but trying not to hover.  Then, I take my eyes off her for 2 seconds, look back, and she’s falling through the crack at the back of the bench. It was a clean fall.  She got the side of her face slightly but it only stayed red for a few minutes and she cried for maybe 5 seconds total.  It was enough to make my heart skip a beat as I watched her falling but luckily she’s one tough cookie!

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! {A “Quiet Room Time” Story}

Soooo, this girl has been an absolute “bear” to get to sleep at night!  Unfortunately, that makes for looooong nights for her Daddy as he has become the primary bedtime go-to guy.

After attempting to dismiss the idea of cutting out naps (Seriously, she’s only 23 months old…how can she not need a nap?  Or rather, how can Momma not need nap time? ), we talked to a couple of friends who told us they cut out naps for their kiddos early on too and it worked much better for them.  So, we thought we would give it a try.  Obviously, Jos still needs downtime, as does her Momma, so we implemented some “Quiet Room Time”.  I set an alarm clock in her room for 45 minutes (we started out with a shorter time) and then put the baby gate up although I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before she learns to climb that!  I read a book or two with her and then tell her she can nap, read books, or play quietly while I go do some “Momma jobs”, and that when the timer goes “beep beep” Quiet Room Time is all done.

The first few times she fussed and fussed.  One time it got so quiet so I went to check on her and she had fallen asleep face down on the floor!   I let her sleep for a short time and then woke her up.  It’s not a perfect system yet but she does seem to fall asleep a bit more easily at night.  She still gets tired in the early evening though and will sometimes take a short nap in the car if we are out and about or in the swing at the park.

So, what does she do during Quiet Room Time?  The above photo helps you visualize this.  She pulls out all the clothes, diapers, toys, and books she can get her hands on and scatters them in various piles around her room!  Seriously, spending 30 minutes to get her to nap may be worth more than spending 30 minutes cleaning up her room afterwards! She then gets highly upset when I start to clean it up as if I’m disrupting her Grand Masterpiece.

The BEST thing though (finally onto the Beep Beep part of the story) is that yesterday at about 15 minutes before her alarm was set to go off she came to the baby gate and started going “Beep, Beep, Beep!  All done!” and I think she truly thought her tactic would work on me. She did this several times, as I was stifling my laughter in the other room, before she gave up.  When the alarm did go off she was VERY excited and ran to the baby gate beeping the whole way.  Ahhh, what a silly willy girl…LOVE her so much!

Flashback Friday

It’s been a long time since I’ve done a Flashback Friday and since I’ve been looking through old photos in preparation for a 2nd birthday slideshow then I thought I’d share some.  These are all of Miss J at around this time last year.  This first one cracks me up…this is classic Joslyn when she’s unhappy or in a situation where she isn’t fully comfortable.  Apparently, she wasn’t into shopping at Target on this particular day.  Thankfully now, she enjoys shopping a whole lot more!  I don’t exactly remember what caused her to be upset here…most likely though, a stranger said hello to her.

Playing with flowers in Nanny & Grampi’s backyard.

Playing with her dearly cherished Nanny!

Mixing bowls are great toys!

She had just started walking so she was still working on her balance.

Rocks and grass are a girl’s best friend!

And now for a few recent photos below…

Lunch and a music/dance party with her friend the other day.

Facetime with Nanny & Grampi!

Reading books, her favorite pastime.  She is constantly saying “read book, read book!”

Enjoying a vanilla steamer…YUM!

Hide & Seek at the park with Momma!

Fun looking back and seeing the growth!

Homemade Pop Tarts

I will reluctantly admit that I do like to indulge in pop tarts every now and then, but it’s so rare that I actually buy them that it is unsatisfying.  There’s this horrible guilt I feel when purchasing them because of the long list of not so healthy ingredients, and sometimes I even pick up the box, look at it longingly, only to put it back on the shelf.  It’s a vicious cycle!  No need to worry about that anymore…enter the homemade pop tart!

I was going through  my “catch all” basket on my kitchen counter which is where various recipes I want to try get deposited.  Well, sometimes they sit there for literally months before I get to them or put them away as they are not in season anymore.  As I was cleaning out my basket two nights ago I came across one for homemade pop tarts that came from a Rachael Ray magazine, I think.  So, I decided to try it out and it was successful.

Here’s what you do…

Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.  Take pre-made or homemade pie crust and roll it out.  Cut into 2×3 in. squares.  Brush the edges with 1 beaten egg.  Place 1 teaspoon (I’ll use more next time and maybe make them a bit bigger) jam or Nutella in the center and then top with another half.  Use a fork to press and tightly seal the edges. Poke holes in top of each pastry. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 400 degrees and cool on wire rack.  Drizzle with icing (1 cup confectioners’ sugar and 3-4 teaspoons milk mixed until smooth) Enjoy!

So easy and yummy AND I feel much better about eating these, not to mention giving them to my darling girl!

Teacher/Child vs. Parent/Child Relationship

As a teacher myself, I understand that children generally behave one way with their teachers and another with their parents.  Admittedly though, seeing this in effect with my very own kiddo still baffles/amazes me!!!

My darling girl is getting quite comfortable with the daycare she goes to once, sometimes twice, a week for a couple of hours.  This is GREAT and I’m so thrilled she is comfortable, well taken care of, and loved by Miss Heidi and her friends there.  It’s such a wonderful feeling to get photos texted to me of her playing with the other kiddos and to hear the positive reports when I pick her up.  She is still sad and most often cries (not today) when I leave her which is hard but let’s be honest, a part of me enjoys that she still needs her Momma too.   When I go to pick her up, she seems happy to see me but often I think she would like to stay a bit longer.  Again, all good stuff, but I’m still struck by the irony of it all.  Parents are the “bad guys” for leaving and then they become the “bad guys” for picking up.  I often hear about things she does with total cooperation for Miss Heidi yet whenever her Momma mentions the same things at home, a torrent of protests ensue!   For example, she apparently let Miss Heidi put sunscreen on her today without batting an eyelash but when Momma wants to do that all he** breaks loose!!

As I said, I understand this on an intellectual level and know this is just the way it goes with kiddos but it still astounds me seeing it firsthand, as a parent!  I definitely have a new appreciation for what it feels like being on the parent’s side of things now!  That being said, all these stories assure me that my girl is in a great place right now, she’s enjoying herself and having fun, and she feels safe and comfortable in her surroundings, and that is the BEST!

So proud of my Big “Baby” Girl!

{The photo above is from last week at daycare.  She was enjoying some lunch and didn’t even know Momma was already there and snapping photos. }

Joslyn’s First Flowers {From A Boy!}

Joslyn’s friend, Z, stopped by with his super sweet Momma yesterday and put some flowers on our door for May Day!  Jos was napping and I thought I heard a knock although it was very quiet so I went down to investigate and found our friends leaving these flowers on the doorknob.   I left them for Jos and when she woke up I told her she had a surprise from Z on the front door.  As soon as we walked downstairs she pointed to the door and said “pise” for surprise making sure I didn’t forget as she clearly had not.  I opened the door and she was delighted to find her flowers.  She smelled them and then gave me a still sleepy grin.

Thank you friends for the sweet thought!

Sunshine & Popsicles

Oh, this girl!  Apparently the sunshine makes her silly!  We were out for a walk and she decided she wanted to walk on the trail with her belly sticking out!

She also enjoyed splashing in the cold, cold water.

These next two were taken the day before the photos above.  These two make me smile.  We were out for a walk and the Mommas were not prepared for the munchkins splashing in the water like they did.  Jos led the way and I finally gave up and decided her shoes would dry and that we had an extra diaper in the car.  Z started out slow but once that boy got wet there was no stopping him! He kept trying to go out further and further and was giggling up a storm.  They both were soaked but the fun they had was well worth it!  As for the next day…you notice I got with the program and had Jos wear her water shoes.

Love this little guy!  And so does Jos!

And onto the popsicle part…someone’s Daddy is keeping the freezer stocked with popsicles lately and there are no complaints from us!  Jos and Justin eat the red ones and let me have all the tangerine ones…win, win!  Although Little Miss always asks for a couple bites of mine too.

Looking forward to warm weather this weekend and hopefully no wind!  I have a feeling more popsicles and splashing are in our near future!