Saturday, November 26, 2011

Playgrounds

Oh man. Today is such a beautiful to go outside! It's the end of November and it's feels like the middle of September. I love global warming! Hahaha no I'm just kidding.
There's this app for iPhone called "Playgrounds" from Parents.com and Kaboom. It's pretty awesome! The only thing that's not so awesome is that I don't know anyone who also had it.
You can find local parks and make play dates.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Switched, but surprisingly easy..

Hey, it's been a while and I'm so tired! I want to lay in bed and knock out! Anyway I totally forgot to inform you that I switched from bottle to sippy cup for my daughter's milk. So it's official, no more baby bottles. Wow, I'm kind of upset that she can't stay a baby forever.
Can you believe I cried the other day thinking that the day that she is a teen and says ugh I hate my mom is coming soon! I'm terrified! I don't want her to hate me, but it's the stupid cycle of life isn't it? Moms or whoever is the one constantly takin care of a child is super person. You give and give, and sacrifice so in the end your kid can despise you. :(
Anyway let me get back to the original topic of this post.
So it went smoothly. My daughter hasn't asked for the bottle or complained so that was easy, unlike the rest of the things in parenting.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Toys for the Picky Toddler

As the holidays of gift-giving approach, we like to shower our kids with gifts. Well at least I do. I went to toysrus.com and made a wish list for my daughter. (By the way, I just had a Roasted tomato and mozzarella panini from Starbucks and it was SUPER delicious! Along with that, a Gingerbread latte. Plus I'm listening to Christmas music and having some alone time while my little gingerbread naps). Just wanted to share the little bit of joy bestowed on me on this lovely Saturday afternoon. So as I was saying, I made the wish list in hopes of adding it to Christmas cards I planned on sending out. I don't know when that's going to happen, because we just spend too much money on our Christmas & Birthday gift; my husband and I. We got iPhones, not the new one (4s) because that's way too expensive.
Moving on, lol, I added to the wish list toys I know my daughter wants. It also helps that when I was a kid my dad spoiled me with lots of toys :) He was pretty strict with everything else. So with that being said, I know about cool toys. Now, let's keep in mind that my daughter has a nice variety of toys now so if I don't mention it, she probably has it lol.
I had a shopping cart on her list, but I took it out because I saw one at Walmart for $10!!! Amazing! So here's what's left:
Crayola Color Wonder Makers and Coloring Pad
Crayola Color Wonder Fingerpaints and Paper
She loves dogs so a fake "real" one will do. FurReal Friends GoGo My Walking Pup
Teach My Baby/Toddler Learning Kit
Imaginarium Sensory Ball- Jumbo
Power Wheels Fisher Price Barbie Little Trail Rider ATV Girls Sports Quad
Fisher Price Little People Noah's Art Playset
Hello Kitty CD Boombox (she loves music)
Step 2 Neat & Tidy Cottage
Folding Slide
Fisher Price Little People Wheelies Stand n' Play Rampway
Mega Bloks Building Bag 80 Piece
Just Like Home Angled Broom
Step 2 Prepare and Share Kitchen Set
Pink Doodle Pro
So far that's it. If you got any ideas please let me know :)

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Kids Can Have An Anxiety Disorder?

Hello there!
I haven't been here in a hot minute. lol I'm trying to be current with my vocabulary. Actually I wanted to know if there was a list of the acronyms young people use nowadays. I used to be young :( I don't remember getting too old to use "tubular" language. haha. Anyway, I read this article in Parents Magazine about shy kids. Which is so funny, because I used to work with children, before having one of my own. There was a little girl who never spoke and played by herself or with one other girl. The moment she actually spoke I began clapping and saying, "Good job; using your words!" I was so excited I told her mom that she used her words to express her feelings, and her mom said, "Oh yeah, she's a bladder mouth at home. She's always talking." I just thought to myself that maybe she's just not comfortable with me or the amount of students in the room. Well according to this article she could have a socializing problem.
So if you want to read the article its in the November 2011 issue of Parents on page 38. I'm not sure, but maybe you can find it on their website. Now why am I writing about this? You might have a child who's like this and never knew it might be an issue. I, on the other hand, have a child who socializes with all whether it's nicely or evilly. lol!
The proper name for this anxiety disorder is Selective Mutism (SM). It affects "1 in 140 early-school-age kids." Don't worry! It's not like you can't do anything about it, you can! If you don't do anything about it, it might "lead to broader social anxiety." The Child Mind Institute in NYC recommends that you help your kid by practicing a few things that might will help in this "freeze-up" situation. An example they gave in the article was this: If you plan on going out to the ice-cream store, for example, you might want to practice what you want your child to say. Rehearse asking for vanilla on a cone with sprinkles. Then do it a few more times before going to the ice-cream shoppe. After she completed the task, tell her she's a big girl for speaking up and for using her words, and that is wasn't so scary to ask for what she wanted. If you want more information on this check out childmind.org

Thursday, November 3, 2011

The Battle of Teeth Brushing

Hey ladies! (and gentlemen, for those of you who aren't ladies lol) I just wanted to let you know what I recently did to help me with the Battle of Teeth Brushing. I read somewhere (forgot where, of course what's new), that buying a Spinbrush and having your child pick their own toothbrush would help with The Battle. It didn't work! No I'm just kidding lol. Of course, it worked! I had a hard time looking for one that my daughter would like, but nonetheless I found my helping buddy!
I went to Pathmark and they were having a sale on some Spinbrushes, plus I had a coupon for Arm & Hammer  Spinbrush for kids from last Sunday's newspaper. :) Score!!! You know how happy I was. I'm shopping, I'm saving, and it's going to make life easier.
They had mostly boy themed toothbrushes, and the girl's themed were Princess Cinderella, Dora and something else (again I forgot). I didn't pick the Princess (even though her plates are of the Disney Princesses) because she doesn't know who that is, and I didn't pick Dora, because she's a stranger too (we can't afford cable so she hasn't seen them). I found a dolphin one and I was going to take that one. But then, I found...There's two, there's four, there's six, there's eight...Thomas the tank engine. My girl likes that show and especially loves the theme song. So when I showed that one to her, she immediately let go of dolphin brush and played with Thomas the toothbrush!
This morning the battle was won, by Mom the smart lady who never gives up lol. She brushed her teeth with the Spinbrush, with my help of course and that was that!
Spinbrush selection

Location, Location, Location...for a changing table.

Hey guys!
So I moved my changing table right in front of the window in my daughters room. Boy does that help a lot! As I'm sure your baby does, she hates getting her diaper changed. Again, I had to find a way for her to calm down so I could change her. I keep the thermometer and tube of teething gel close by so she can play with that. I don't know why she likes both of those things, but hey I don't question if it's in my benefit. lol! By the way, if you're looking for something to entertain your kid while you change his/her diaper, make sure the object (or toy) you pick is only for diaper time or else they'll get tired of it.
Back to the position of the changing table. After bath-time I get my little girl ready fairly easy, even hough she fusses sometimes about getting her clothes on. She stares out the window while I put her clothes on, clean her ears, comb her hair etc. I'll ask her to look for a dog outside, because she likes them, or I say "Is the baby outside?" or she'll simply say "Vrrooom" while she watches trucks pass by.
Location for the changing table was important, because it helped me out with one of the many hectic parts of the day/night.
Oh and for those of you who care, I'm enjoying some hot chocolate... Yeah, no coffee. I know, what a surprise lol.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Parenting Tips

ParentingCounts.org has these cheesy commercials, but they're so true and I love them for that. Also at the end of the commercial there's a baby sitting and my daughter loves that. Every time she sees him she says "bebe" meaning baby in Portuguese (and a lot of Latin languages for that matter). When I first saw these commercials it actually gave me a lot of the parenting tips I use in my life. So Thank You parentingcounts.org for helping me out. Some things seem obvious, but for a first-time parent who's bombarded with how to do things, it's a big help!