Waking Up

In matching owl pyjamas

Our toddler spent the first two years of her life preventing her mother and father from sleeping. And now she seems to have transferred her intentions onto her sister. Anytime she notices her little sister nodding off, whether in the car or at home, she tries to wake her up. Sometimes she makes screeching sounds, and other times she commands her sister "wake up".  "What are you doing?" I sometimes ask her. "I waking up my sister", she points out the obvious.

I have tried explaining to her that when she was a baby, she too needed to nap often, and that I wouldn't let anyone wake her up. When that didn't work, I promised her that as soon as her sister was asleep, I would put her down in her crib, and give her (my toddler) my full attention. Neither did this phase her. I tried turning on her iPad, and opening up her favourite App...to no avail, as she quickly lost interest.

The other day, the baby was so exhausted that she fell asleep, despite her sister's loud protests. I was then able to put her down, and as promised, give my toddler my full attention. I tried to explain that in the future, we could play together more often without the baby if she let me put her to sleep. The next day proved that she had not learned her lesson.

I suppose the one good thing that might come of this is that the baby will become a heavy sleeper...

Almost crawling...

She Said

Trying on baby's hats

As I was contemplating the topic of this week's blog, I realized that the highlight of this last month has been our toddler's speech development. She regularly uses full sentences, and has said a few really surprising things recently:

"You go mama, I watch baby." She said, as she put a protective arm around her sister. I am not sure where she was expecting me to go...

"Are you Okay?" She asked her sister right after hitting her with a toy. She does this so often, I suspect she is hitting her sister simply so she can ask her if she is alright ...

"Go back over there" she says when we leave home for Grandma's house. She also says it when we leave Grandma's for home...

And just yesterday, she said "go away sun, I don't like you", as we were driving with the sun in her eyes.

And the sweetest thing of all, "I love you" she says regularly to her little sister. We are still waiting for the day she spontaneously says this to her mama and papa.

Out for a walk in autumn gear.

7 Months Old

meal time

Turned 7 months old on September 11th
Weighs 9 kg, only 3 kg less than her big sister
Dislikes diaper changes, and tries to get away
Eats three solid meals a day, and gets very messy in the process
Can move forward on all fours, but I wouldn't yet call it crawling
Has gotten really attached to her mommy, and dislikes it when she leaves the room
Takes three naps per day, between 30 and 90 minutes each
Sprouted two more teeth, for a total of four, and will gladly bite your finger
Still hasn't figured out how to sleep through the night...

The Pre-schooler

With Froggy

My toddler, the pre-schooler! I did not think she would make the transition so smoothly...

A few months ago, I decided to sign her up for pre-school at our local YMCA. The program runs from September through to June, is a half-day only, and begins at age two and a half. Starting at age 6 months, and up until this last June, we attended a mother-baby group at this very same Y. We got together with other moms and their babes, played in a well cushioned room, and sung songs with an animator. I often came across the  pre-schoolers at the Y, and commented to another mom how happy and healthy they looked.

Several months ago, I decided to sign our toddler up for the pre-school class called Separation. It started just this week. I signed her up for Tuesdays and Thursdays. At the time my thought process was two-fold...First that we had to start somewhere, and  that she couldn't handle more than two days per week. Secondly, that I would probably be staying with her for at least a month or two, and Tuesdays and Thursdays (starting in September) I would have help at home with the baby and housework.

The separation program seemed like a perfect fit for our toddler. They encouraged parents to stay with their tots until both were ready for "separation", and then encouraged parents to leave for short periods at a time. For instance by increments of 30 minutes.

I was certain that I would be the last parent left! This Tuesday was our first day. There were four other toddlers, and two teachers. Most parents stayed a few minutes. A few left right away. A couple stayed behind the door in case there was a problem. I stayed put, thinking that my toddler would not handle the separation well yet. At around 9:30AM, a half hour into the class, a few of the children started snacking. And that's when I realized I had forgotten her snack at home.

I told the teacher I would leave for just a few moments to find something at the vending machine. I was scanning the items in the vending machine for something healthy, when I saw one of the two teachers running towards me. Oh no, is she already crying?, I asked. In fact she was just fine! The teacher came out to suggest I not return right away! I handed her a granola bar , and agreed to give my toddler a chance alone.

Initially, I stayed behind the door for a few minutes. Then I wandered towards the main entrance. Still no crying toddler! So I decided to wander around outside. I found a grocery story, and picked up some ready-to-eat fruit for my daughter. I did a little window shopping. But mostly I could not believe I had some time to myself!

Wanting my daughter to have a healthy snack, I returned to the classroom at around 10:30. I found her happily playing with some plastic farm animals. We snacked together. At 11, the group headed outside, and I decided to join them. We crossed the street, hand-in-hand, and headed toward the Public Library. My daughter then quickly let go of my hand. I took that as my cue to exit, and left the group once again. I returned to the classroom just before noon. The other parents were arriving to pick up their children. A few of the children cried when they saw their parents. But not my toddler. In fact she was busy playing with some sand toys, and was the very last child to leave!

The experience went so well, that after discussion with my husband, I decided to sign her up for the  Monday, Wednesday and Friday group as well. The timing was perfect..My husband was off work this week, and could take care of the baby whilst I dropped off the toddler at pre-school.

The rest of the week went by without a hitch. On Wednesday, she had me carry her to the main entrance and up the stairs. But by Thursday, she was gleefully running to her classroom.

When did she grow so independent, I asked myself? I did not try too hard to answer the question, and decided to simply savour the moment, and my new-found freedom. Starting next week, I will be have three hours to myself on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. The rest of the week, I will have a baby with me...However it's funny how I have come to consider caring for one child at a time break...

Checking out her new Teddy

Boot Camp for Parents

Looking Pretty!

As I write these words, I am aware of soreness in almost every muscle of my body. A nice kind of sore, a post-workout kind if sore. An aching that I had previously been very familiar with.

Prior to Baby # 1's appearance, I used to work out daily, sometimes twice a day. During my first pregnancy, I toned down the intensity, but still exercised daily. On the eve of her appearance, I was spinning at my gym. When the instructor saw my belly, he became a little concerned. What if it pops out during the class, he asked? He followed this up by asking if there were any doctors in the class. When no one answered his query, I whispered that not only was I one, but that he needn't worry about the baby popping out quickly as it was my first pregnancy.

As it happened, Baby #1 made her appearance the morning after the aforementioned spinning class. I had every intention of staying in shape post baby, and then reality quickly settled in. Baby immediately became my top priority, and sleep deprivation was the main limiting factor to most things I was hoping to accomplish. As it happened, it would be over a year before I started getting back in shape.

Since Baby #2's appearance, I resolved to get back into shape sooner. If I thought taking care of one baby was difficult, I never imagined how taking care of two simultaneously would change my daily routine! I did however start jogging with the baby (in her stroller) at 4 months post-partum. Working out in a gym while I left the two of them with someone proved logistically difficult, but also left me feeling very guilty.

Until I discovered a new kid-oriented gym in our neigbourhood. The gym (www.gymagine.ca) opened up a few months ago, and includes two large studios and what they call a "tumble room". The floor of the Tumble Room is entirely covered in mats, and the room includes toddler-sized gymnastics equipment, as well as large mats of all shapes and sizes that you can easily arrange in an unlimited fashion as to create safe obstacle courses. The gym has a variety of classes for children and toddlers, but also offers "free-play" in the Tumble Room. We would drop in on rainy days, or very hot days. The gym charged per two-hour period in the Tumble Room. Our toddler thoroughly enjoyed jumping around, and two hours flew by.

Just last week, we went to the Tumble Room on a rainy day. The attendant behind the front desk mentioned that if ever I wanted to try Boot-Camp (one of a few classes for adults), that the kids could use the Tumble Room and would be supervised while we were in the adjacent studio. The very next week, I arranged to meet my husband after work at the gym, which is conveniently located walking distance from his work-place. He took care of the baby, our toddler happily played in the Tumble Room, and I tried Boot Camp.

The warm-up was so intense, that I was sweating within 5 minutes, and had doubts about finishing the class. "No pain, no gain" the instructor kept repeating. Somehow I made it through the 60 minute class. I felt rejuvenated, refreshed, and ready for more.

I have been to quite a few gyms that have childcare. But usually the children are relegated to a small room with a few toys and a TV. This gym was uniquely kid-oriented, but also catered to parents hoping for a work-out.

Hanging out in the Tumble Room