Week 130 motherhood of 2 year old and almost 3 month old:
- March 10, 2023: We went to our favourite AYCE sushi restaurant for grandma’s birthday lunch. Surprisingly, the toddler ate a lot more than usual during this visit. I nursed the baby before we left the door again (just to make sure she wouldn’t be hungry while we were out). It worked and she slept in the car seat during the whole time we were at the restaurant. Yay!
- The toddler held a hand roll (with egg roe) for the first time and ate it like an ice cream cone. She polished nearly all of it!
- Mar 12: For some reason, the toddler has been sleeping really early this week and waking up at 6:30am, but it works because it coincided with daylight savings starting. Some parents are taught to put their kids to sleep earlier by 15 minutes each night leading up to it, but we didn’t have to do that because the toddler self-adjusted by herself lol. She has been asking grandma to accompany her to sleep instead of DH. It’s good because she actually falls asleep quickly and grandma also leaves the room quickly. Most times when DH is putting her to bed, he falls asleep with her and doesn’t leave the room until up to 30 minutes.
- I had a chance to sit with the toddler today and watch her play. She didn’t need me to play with her, so I just observed. I was fascinated with her playing with the peg dolls and the magnetic tiles. She used a jenga block as a piece of “cheese” to give to the people to chew on and gave them time to chew too. She also remembers that the two red peg people are herself and her sister while the two green ones are of me and DH. There are interestingly two grandmas. I think DH randomly assigned the peg people to her once and she remembered it and assigned those people to the peg people once and for all. How does she remember it so easily and well?
- She put two square magnetic tiles together and herself and her sister peg dolls in front of it. She said they were watching TV. Wow, my mind was blown with that. She could manipulate the tiles to create something she was thinking of. I wouldn’t have thought of it as the TV. See? This is exactly why kids don’t need toys that serve an exact purpose for everything. They can use the tools or any item in front of them to play in their
- She started to put the square magnetic tiles on the fridge after discovering that the triangular ones stick to the fridge. It’s so creative.
- Ever since attending the EarlyON centre and having access to their calendar, I have been browsing it to see what programs we can attend. They are repetitive but are stationed in different areas across the city, giving us lots of options. We attended three virtual programs so far, one focused on singing/games and one on storytime. We learned the “good morning train” that was first sung at the STEAM workshop the other day. The toddler is so shy and refused to participate, never mind even looking at the camera. The program is so good and while I have my own personal feedback about the workshops, they’re free and better to have than not at all. I wish we had known about these virtual programs two years ago when the toddler was an infant, but alas, it’s better than not knowing at all.
- The “good morning train” song has been stuck in my head for the last two days now. We’ve been singing it to her to get her to remember and sing it back, but she’s not ready yet. Instead, she’s asked me to sing the “donald duck” song, which is actually the “Old MacDonald had a farm” song. I sing it and leave out the “O” part and the “there” part and she can fill it in. So good.
- She requested to use the potty today after dinner to poop. And she really got to it in time and sat there and produced some poop! Yay! We all cheered enthusiastically for her and she did it again with a second bowel movement as well as some pee too. She wore a pullup diaper afterwards. I hope she continues to pee and poo of her own regard. She’s going to be 2.5 years old officially later this week! I wonder when she will be out of diapers once and for all…
- We can’t force her to do anything these days as everything has to be done of her own accord.
- When she says she wants to eat something, I almost always let her. I don’t want to say “no” to her all the time. There’s already so much we say no to her for. Having incessant no’s is not fun for her and it would only lead to more acting out, which we don’t need any more of.
- The 2 month old (turning 3 months later this week) has been about the same. She smiles at us when we talk to her. It’s the best thing. She has more folds in her wrist now; she is so meaty! I love trying to burp her after a feed and to hear a satisfying burp.
- The secondborn really is neglected more often than the first.. the firstborn is just needy and always needs an eye to be kept on her. On the other hand, the baby is so chill and not mobile yet that we can leave her on the play mat or in the bouncer for a while to get things done before she starts crying or vocalizing for attention.
- Mar 15: We’ve been attending the virtual EarlyON programs almost every day, and the toddler has been showing great improvement at being comfortable seeing the instructors and other kids on the screen. She even started copying us and making hand movements and small bounces here and there for the songs and dances. So great to see her participate.
- We had her appear on the screen/turn our camera on for the first time today. We had a game this morning where the instructor showed a colour of an item and the kids were asked to show an item from home of the same colour. The toddler did so well with this activity and wanted more colours beyond what the instructor had planned.
- I realize how happy I am to sing along to these songs with her. Mr. Sun, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, When you’re happy and you know it, The Wheels on the Bus, etc. It reminds me of my childhood and how many great singalongs there are. I remember all the lyrics too.
- I’ve been holding the toddler, swinging her around, and going “hehehe” as a game with her and she loves it. She giggles and laughs so loudly.
- After today’s chiro appointment, I’ll be attending weekly visits instead of biweekly. The chiropractor said I’ve been improving a great deal already. The coming week, I’m assigned to do a plank a day and two stretches for my hamstring and inner thighs respectively.
- We are trying to check off all the items in our to-do list before DH goes back to work in about 12 days’ time. So fast that pat leave is leaving us soon.. no more errand running in the middle of the week or doing whatever we want.
- We took the baby’s passport photos finally! We went back to the place where we had the toddler’s passport photo done. It’s one of those fast 10-minute processing places in a mall. The guy there is so experienced and quick and efficient. He had a stool there for the baby to sit on while DH held her straight. The guy only had to snap three photos and we got the winning photo. So, so fast and easy and stress free. Such a 180 degree difference from the first place we attempted last time.