Fresh fluffy snow

Week 179 motherhood with three year old and 14 month old: 

February 15 to 21, 2024:

• February 15:  We attended an EarlyON class again with the kids’ cousins and it was a really enjoyable time this time.  We went to the school location one near them (which we’ve been to two weeks ago when we tried the Mindful Me program) and there was a decent number of kids and adults there, which made it not too crowded and easy to move around.  The 3 year old liked arts and crafts and made 2 coffee filter flowers/butterflies (with water penetrating the marker colours which made it fan out on the coffee filter) and two construction papers where she used a glue stick to stick alphabet letters on, draw with crayons, and taped a puzzle frame on too.  She was really concentrated and worked on the task at hand for a long time.
• The 1 year old was walking around with grandma and playing with various items.  She really likes to sit on chairs and has been getting up on chairs all week by herself and sitting on it.  Too cute, haha.
• It was really nice to spend time with my SIL too despite the four kids between us.  We can talk more here than we do during family gatherings.
• During circle time, the 3 year old didn’t want to stand up by herself and dance again, so I just held her.  The facilitator sang, told stories, and danced with us for 25 minutes which I really appreciated — just like yesterday when the facilitator did the full 30 minutes of circle time of songs and dance.  I know all the lyrics to all the songs now haha.  I can sing everything and I love it.  It must be my teacher background because I really do enjoy being in the classroom environment and participating in these activities. ^_^
• This week, the secondborn is 14 months old and she can freely walk by herself now!  I know she was able to walk independently already but she preferred holding our hand.  Now she is more confident and able to walk by herself.  Yay, she is walking!  It’s so cute to see her walk.  Sometimes, she likes to walk with her hands up in the air.  It is so cute.  Have to soak up this short fleeting stage because before long, she’ll just be walking normally like a regular toddler/child.  This is a cute phase that is so short.  She still crawls sometimes but she can walk more and more on her own two feet now.
• This past week at Zumbini class, I warned the 3 year old ahead of time that I wasn’t going to carry her and that she needed to stand by herself.  Even if she didn’t want to dance or move, she didn’t have to but she couldn’t hang on me.  Thankfully, she listened/”behaved” and I was able to have a bit more freedom.  However, this week, the 1 year old wanted to be with me more and so I had to hold her and thus still couldn’t dance freely to the Zumbini songs either.  Oh, well.
• (Also importantly, we made sure that the 3 year old had a filling breakfast in the morning so that she couldn’t be hungry and complain about needing to be held.  It worked.  She was full enough that she didn’t even need to eat a snack after Zumbini which has not happened before!  She usually always needs to eat a snack after the EarlyON classes.)
• The 3 year old is always picky about me holding her and not holding her sister at the same time.  It’s a struggle.
• While at Zumbini, because the 1 year old was clinging on to me, she wanted to nurse, so I nursed her while we were in the giant circle.  One of the other grandmas there who was sitting next to me saw me nursing.  She asked me how hold my child was.  I said 14 months.  She said, “It’s time to wean her!”  Um, excuse me?!?  I told her straight up, “No.” And that nursing is healthy and normal and it’s good for her.  She then changed her tune (thankfully because I hate these kinds of judging people to begin with) and said yeah, she will get a strong immune system and then said her grandson drinks milk too.  Her grandson was eight months old.  She then said he needs milk before bedtime too.  I didn’t respond to her after that.  Ugh.  Why are people, especially women and the older ones, so so judgey like this?  Weird but good that she changed her tune to be a positive afterwards, but who are you to judge and say anything about how I feed MY child?  People are annoying.
• The 1 year old loves dumping out things from a bag or box.  Or clothes off of a shelf.
• This week, the toddler wanted to sit in the high chair too but instead of letting her do that because her sister sits there during meals, I took off the seat belt part and have her sit in the chair part that’s meant for the toddler stage.  Works out perfectly!  Now we have both kids in the “high chair” at the same time.  Good use of it.
• This weekend, our friend invited us out to the hills for a little toboggan sledding.  The 3 year old was eager for it and we all donned our warmest layers, snow pants, scarves, gloves, etc. (we couldn’t find the 3 year old’s gloves though…).  When we got to the hills with our friends, the 3 year old actually wanted to slide with me first.  Unfortunately, when I did it, I tumbled down with her with me.  I felt my head hit the ground and it gave me a slight headache the rest of the day… which was a bit concerning at first.  Even more so was the fact that the 3 year old had a bloody philtrum.  Ah!  DH took her to the car since we didn’t have any tissues with us and alas, that was the end of her sledding trip right then and there.  I slid down the hill one more time to get the hang of it and still slid sideways.  I was just not used to it… the incline nor the icy hill.  I went back to the car and we decided to go elsewhere to a smaller, less steeper hill.  The 1 year old was asleep all this time, which was fine because it was her nap time.  My friends were so apologetic that it was not a good experience but these things happen and it is what it is.
• At the smaller park, the 3 year old had a good time playing in the soft fluffy snow.  It was really relaxing and peaceful.  The fresh fallen snow was so nice to see and it was such a great opportunity to be outdoors.  It didn’t snow much this winter at all which is abnormal and the kids weren’t able to to play in the snow much either.  This was only the first time she did this entire season.  We made snow angels and tried to make snowballs but the snow was too soft.  We dragged the sled around and asked if the 3 year old wanted to ride in it but the initial fall traumatized her.  DH went down the smaller hill slope and let her see that it was safe.
• She wanted to pull us in the sled and take turns too.  Upon heading back in the car, she agreed to ride in the sled and let us pull her.
• For successful dinner outs, the 1 year old must not sit across from me or beside me.  If she sees me and I am not holding her, she will cry because she wants to be with me.  But if I’m sitting at a spot (like with an adult between us) where she can’t see me, she can sit in the Fisher Price tray and chair and eat relatively nicely.
• When we were out having a Peking duck feast over the weekend, the 3 year old also ate really well.  She ate like at least two Peking duck wraps.  She ate it so well.
• While at a family gathering dim sum, the 1 year old wanted to walk around when she was full.  She held my hand and walked the restaurant.  She was careful not to get into people’s ways though and grandma later told me that one of the servers commented how “well-behaved” she was.
• We ended up tobogganing again the next day at the same first park (we went back because I thought that I had lost my mittens there — turns out they were in the other car; phew!).  But this time, the snow on the ground had become much more compacted and less soft.  Thus, it was even more slippery to slide down the hill with.  I didn’t even attempt it this time lol.  DH did though.  The 3 year old and I ended up sliding down the hill just on our butts; it was THAT slippery.  We also ended going to the playground where she went on the swings, down the slide, and played around.  She loves playgrounds the most.  DH and I were commenting that the 1 year old hasn’t been to many playgrounds; not as many as the 3 year old has.  The 3 year old also ended up desiring to be pulled back to the car.  She laid there flat on the sled.  She also liked to specify who to pull her.  It couldn’t just be DH.  It had to be me.
• For Family Day Monday, we took the kids to Kortright Centre for Conservation again where there was a “Family Adventure Walk” adventure in the woods day.  We paid $10 for the whole family to attend.  It was a nice winter day, zero degrees.  We were all bundled up once again.  The 1 year old was so cute in her little one-piece winter coat.  The 3 year old didn’t even wear this outfit when she was this age.
• While there, DH and the 3 year old sledded again (although she only wanted to do it once down the hill), we roasted marshmallows (just like in the autumn time when we were there), and surveyed what activities were there.  After roasting marshmallows (they taste extra good in the crisp winter air so gooey and warm), I was nursing the 1 year old and she ended up falling asleep so I held her.  I was nap trapped for most of the time we were there.  DH brought the 3 year old around to look at various activities.  I did too after I escaped.  The “snow snakes” activity was super cute and fun.  The “making medicines” kitchen was neat too.  We checked out the gift shop in the visitor’s centre too.  We didn’t do all that much this time because it was harder to move around with both kids needing to be held (the 3 year old didn’t want to walk by herself again).  I know we’ll be back though if they continue having these family day activities at Kortright.  I can’t rave enough about these events.  They’re so good for the family and for the soul.
• As expected when we got back to the car and on the road, both kids fell asleep.  The 3 year old was snoring especially loudly too.
• We went to an AYCE sushi restaurant and the 3 year old did well by sitting by herself and eating.  She ate a lot, including a cup of steamed egg and 2 cups of yogurt desserts!
• Yesterday at the Twinkle Toes program (third class), it was sports and physical activity themed.  It was cool that they had props like mini soccer and basketballs, paper plates as “skates”, hoops and balls, and yoga mats to do yoga with alongside reading the “I am Yoga” book.  It is such a well-thought-out program.  Unfortunately, there were two new families who joined us on this day… the unfortunate part is not the families joining us but it just so happened that they were the uncooperative “misbehaving” type.  The caregivers weren’t in tune with the program and didn’t care if the child was running around or playing with the props at the “wrong time”.  One child was running around and not following the program at all.  It was very disruptive.
• Later, when we were asked for feedback about the program (now that it is the second-last class), I asked the facilitator why the program registration was full for the class but it was always low attendance.  The facilitator told us that there was a mistake on the website and that instead of a capacity of 10 families, it had a capacity of 10 people instead.  Wow.  Such tragedy.  Our family already comprises of 4 people; almost half of the capacity.  I wish they could have changed it.  It sucks that the two families who came to the first class never came again for the second and third class.  No wonder it was so empty and awkward.  I really wanted the 3 year old to do this program alongside other kids her age so she could move and learn how to dance too.  Otherwise, the Twinkle Toes program is excellent and very well structured.  I would totally join it again — especially at another EarlyON location to see how they run it differently/the same.
• I also was glad that the 3 year old cooperated with me because I warned her in advance that I couldn’t hold her during the class and that she needed to stand by herself.  She did so, which I was glad.  And during a point when she said she did want to be held, I asked if she was hungry and she was.  Thus, we had a snack.
• We attended the “Toddler Time (10 to 30 months)” program at the EarlyON Centre today for the first time which also had the Water Babies special guest come in talk about water safety.  I also invited the SIL and her kids too so they could check out this location (because she’s never been to this one either).  It wasn’t as “fun” this time around because there were a lot more kids around.  Last time at the school location, there weren’t as many people and we were really able to chat and sit together to do arts and crafts.
• During snack time, the 3 year old was feeding the 1 year old.  It was cute because she let her bite off the cracker and then finished the second portion herself.  And she didn’t want to continue snacking until her sister was around again.  But the 1 year old always likes to wander and walk off.  So much hot and cold/love and hate with this child.
• I’m glad that DH can bring the two kids out with him to have dinner with his parents about once a week.  It gives me time to relax and not cater to anybody but myself.  I can eat in peace or scroll on my phone.  I always have a million things in my head.  I’m thinking about the next EarlyON program or Flashfood or TGTG or what else is on my to-do.
• This week also, we brought out the Chinese workbooks that grandma’s friend gifted us from Hong Kong.  They’re workbooks for a preschooler to practise connecting dots to draw lines, shapes, alphabet letters, and simple Chinese characters!  The 3 year old is really into drawing these days.  Grandma was helping her and guiding her how to do the worksheets.
• The 1 year old likes using her own fingers to feed herself.  She has been showing interest in using utensils as well.  She can also drink milk using an open cup!
• When I’m eating, she will wander and walk over to me to eat a spoonful of yogurt or a bite of bread or whatever else I’m eating.  Then she will go back to where she was playing.  Then repeat.
• This also marked the first time that I brought a kid or both to an EarlyON program five days in a week!  Holy smokes.
• The 1 year old has started to do scrunchy faces on purpose.  It’s very interesting…
• She’s also in the habit of saying “hehhh” when she wants something or wants us to do something.  She doesn’t use her words yet which she should be learning soon.  For now, she goes “hehhh”.