Blake the Babysitter

Blake and Janie have recently started playing well together and I'm finally able to let them play alone. I can't say how wonderful it is to be able to do this. Last week I put the kids in Blake's room each day for about 30 minutes to play so I could get things done. It is surprising how sweet Blake has become to her and I love hearing him say in a high pitch voice "It's ok Janie." or "I'm sorry Janie I didn't mean to." I cleaned the kitchen while they played but those cleaning efforts were not worth much when a huge disaster was created. Blake pulled every toy and book off of his shelves to give to Janie. Toy heaven.

Cheerios

Usually when I get ready in the morning I leave Blake in front of a movie so that he doesn't get into trouble. This morning he was busy playing on the floor with a handful of cheerios and bucket so I thought I'd risk it. I later called to Blake to see what he was doing. Lately his response when he is doing something he shouldn't is "Mommy, I don't know what I'm doing." He had climbed up to get the box of cheerios and dumped all of them out. He even made cheerio angels. Eric's only concern was that they were regular and not honey nut.

Museum Article

We go to our Children's Museum every Wednesday morning for story and craft time The kids love it and it is fun to visit with friends. A couple of months ago we got to know a nice lady named Melanie who works at the museum. She interacts with all the children and has been so nice to my kids. We also chat about life and she gives me good recommendations on restaurants in the area. We saw Melanie today and she asked me if I had read the recent museum newsletter. I hadn't so she grabbed one for me and showed me an article she wrote that was inspired by Blake. Blake is the boy in her story and it was fun to read and remember. I am grateful for good friends and for fun places to go with my kids during the week. Here is the article she wrote:

Baby Steps: One Step at a Time

Wow! We are in 2011. How did we get here? I imagine one step at a time, which reminds me of an educational lesson I experienced last month at the museum. I was reminded how important baby-steps are to our lives and the impact positive feedback has on building confidence and self-esteem.

It begins about four weeks ago. I was walking the floor at the Curious Kids Museum and found myself participating in the Wee Discover Program for mothers and their toddler's. They were having a friendly "mock" snowball fight with rolled up socks. It was cute watching 10-15 little heads dodging left and right. I decided to engage in the childish snowball "fight". Before I knew it, every toddler in the room was aiming and attempting to nail me with a snowball. I dodged, jumped,ducked and rolled my way to safety. Only to be attacked from the back side. The young "Toddler Warriors" were plotting together, and gaining confidence with every snowball they threw at me. Needless to say, I was having a great time and so were the children. You could hear the innocent giggles and the occasional shy child scream with excitement as she hits her target. I took a seat in the middle of the room to rest and catch my breath. I noticed a young boy sitting, grasping his mother's hand as if he was terrified, yet his eyes and facial expressions warranted additional observation.

As I observed, I begin to make a few funny faces and engage him in nonverbal communication. He longed to be brave and grab a snowball to throw at me, just like all the other boys and girls, but he was paralyzed by what would happen if he let go of his mother's hand. I tossed a couple of snowballs his way and he began to smile. He looked up at his mother and she gave him the encouraging and affirming nudge he needed to take that first baby step. He would throw a snowball at me and then run to hide behind his mommy. This proceeded on and off for about ten minutes. The snowball "fight" was coming to an end, and as I begin to pick up the socks my little "boy" friend was now one of the young "Toddler Warriors" plotting against me.

One step at a time--that is what it takes to get to where you want to be. That little boy needed to be acknowledged, encouraged, and given permission to explore. That is what I love about working at the Curious Kids Museum, we acknowledge, affirm, encourage and give permission to children and families to have fun and explore with their whole bodies.

FYI, my little young "Toddler Warrior" has become a friend. Each week when he arrives the first thing he does is find his friend, which gives him the confidence to take the next baby step. Remember we can and are making a difference in 2011, one step at a time.

Rainbow

This Week

Janie always tries to play with what Blake is playing with. I try to give her a different toy so she won't bug him. I told Blake to distract her so now he runs towards her with a toy and yells "stract her!" This is what he is doing here and he gets pretty forceful.

Happy Birthday Janie!

I love celebrating birthdays. Janie turned 1 yesterday. I wanted for us to go sledding but it was too cold. We didn't do much during the day because Blake and Janie's naps didn't match up. While Janie slept I took Blake to Walmart. I let him pick out a present for Janie and he chose a bowling set. Then when Blake napped I took Janie to the grocery store. If anyone payed any attention to her I told them it was her birthday. I just wanted everyone to know. We had our friends the Tippetts and Barlows over for dessert. Thanks for the pictures Kristen! I couldn't decide how to decorate Janie's cake but it came together when Eric found the huge teddy bear for her present. Janie loves to snuggle soft things. She will just lay on piles of pillows or even people with soft sweaters. Her bear was a hit.

I get weird on my kids birthdays and I think I feel sad because they are getting older. I like to look at pictures from when they are born.

Here are some things Janers is doing:

* Even though she doesn't say them perfectly, she says words a certain way so I know what she is saying. Mama, Dada, Elmo, book, cheese, ball, bear, amen, Bl for Blake, quack, moo, cracker, blueberry, balloon, ba ba, uh oh, Jesus, num num, meow.

* Has become a pickier eater lately

* She has a killer dance. I need to post a video because it is pretty awesome.

* She cries when she doesn't get what she wants.

* Gets so excited when Blake is around. She always goes to his room when he is napping because she wants to play with him.

* Loves patty cake, itsy bitsy spider, wheels on the bus.

* Has been walking for a few weeks now.

* Loves to be out and about

* Scrunches her nose when she smiles

Date Night

The Barlows watched Blake and Janie so that Eric and I could go on a date. We don't get out much and it was so nice! We went to Chilis and then to Target. So romantic. Kristen took some pictures of the kids. Janie and Sam have a thing for each other.