Playing with the new water table

Week 200 motherhood with 3 year 10 month old and 18 month old. 

July 11 to 17, 2024:

• The older one is now 3 years old and 10 months — 2 months left until she turns 4 and kindergarten is just a month and a half away!
• We haven’t really been implementing the fear ladder for her getting-ready-for-school yet.  Instead, we’ve been focusing more on her efforts to potty train.  She still refuses to go to the potty.  I bought the rewards treats for her already and it’s been waiting in the fridge but she just doesn’t want to do it.  I even borrowed the Lovevery pee and poo books for her to read but she doesn’t want to do it.  When will the switch turn on?
• With that said though, she seems to not be drinking much these days in order to have much to pee out.  In the morning, her diaper isn’t that wet and we only change her about two or three more times during the day.  If she continues being like this, she might actually be able to last half or the entire day without having her diaper changed…  I think she needs to see other kids consistently using the potty in order for her to do it too.
• I love that the older one is always creative in her play.  This week, she took 2 swimming noodles and held them around like she’s an octopus — among other things.  She also flipped upside down one of the wooden kid chairs to put it on top of the other one.  Then she used the blanket to put it on top.  She tried to sit on it with and without the blanket too.  Then she gave this “throne” to one of her stuffed animals to sit on.  She is never bored at home.  She always finds new ways to play with the existing things we have.
• We attended the Creative Chefs class at the east Markham school.  The facilitators were slightly different here again.  Unfortunately, they really did end up making the same summer spring rolls that we made last week at the Markham main site.  I asked the facilitators nicely if they would be able to flip the menu since we would be attending but it was basically a no because of their grocery shopping list.
• The child chose the exact same ingredients (carrots and mango) and didn’t chop anything herself.  I helped her.  She did put the diced ingredients into the rice paper wrap though.  The facilitators bought a different type of rice paper wrap this time.  They thought it would be better because this one would take a shorter time to get soft, but I thought it was a worse quality one because it became mushy very quickly.  By the time we finished the wrap and placed it into her lunchbox to eat for later, the wrap had already fallen apart.  I think the previous one with the chewier harder wrap was much better.
• Again, the child drank the mango pulp like it was juice.  A lot of the other kids liked the mango pulp too.
• For this Creative Chefs class, I liked that the facilitators put in the effort for a “beginning” circle time and a “finishing” circle time where we did the train introduction song, sang about fruits, and talked about what we would be making first.  They also asked the parents what we expected to get out of the program, one by one.  At the end, the circle time included the Hungry Caterpillar story book and a treasure hunt around the classroom for the velvet fruits and vegetables from the book.  It was really well thought-out.  When we did the dancing songs, the child didn’t want to participate and want to be held.  I told her that she didn’t have to dance if she didn’t want to but I couldn’t hold her.  Thus, we found a nearby child sofa to sit on instead where she sat and listened to the songs instead.  This is a good promise, I think.  Some of the other boys were running around and not participating in the circle either.  I think this is good at least so that the child isn’t forced to participate but we don’t resort to her being held.
• When we left, she actually held her own lunch bag and put it around her neck (basically carrying it herself).  That was a good improvement.  I was really glad we were able to make it to this Creative Chefs class despite it being at a brand new environment.
• I ended up chatting with one of the moms there who I recognize from past events and spilling to her how the JTK at the Markham site was terrible lol.  I can’t help it.
• The 18 month old can walk down the stairs one step at a time with assistance now.  She holds the railing very well and slowly makes her way down.  Grandma taught her.
• The older one needs time at the playground to feel happy and I guess to decompress.  It is an easy activity but we just have to make time for it.
• Usually grandma is the one who can successfully put the secondborn into her high chair for eating.  She won’t do it with me or DH.
• I finally got a brand new water table for the kids!  It’s used, but it’s new to us haha.  I had been wanting the Step 2 water table with the waterfall but it’s difficult to buy successfully because other people on Facebook marketplace clamour for it too.  Thus, I finally succumbed and lowered my expectations and got a $30 one instead.  This one also has rainfalls and the gears rolling and moving on the side when water is poured in.  I think this was a very good investment and better than spending more than $75 on (the original price for the other water table would have been $120 and that’s not including tax yet either).
• The kids loved playing with it.  Finally a water table that doesn’t leak haha.  I couldn’t help but watch them play the first time we took it out for them to play.  I usually like to shower the moment I get home, but these little moments are fleeting and too precious.  Both kids can stand at the water table and play together (despite the older one not wanting to stand beside her sister).
• We attended the Fun with STEAM “summer camp” this week!  It’s called a summer camp but as with all EarlyON programs, the parent has to stay with the child.  I love it especially because it’s 4 days a week at the same site and the same facilitators.  This will help her get used to the program and the kids.
• The first day, the kids played with shaving cream and blue food dye.  It was such a hit.  The child sat there and played and giggled for a long time.  It took some time for her to get used to using the dropper but she had so much fun after.  She loved it so much that after we washed up and went to another station (painting the bird house), she returned back to the shaving cream station and played another round.  For the first time, I looked up to see the time and was surprised to see that it was already 1.5 hours into the program.  Time flies when you’re having fun.
• The second day, the kids took their painted birdhouses to decorate and assemble.  The child didn’t stick many things on her birdhouse as she could have.  I helped her put together and hammer the pieces together — not easy for some adults nevermind the child.
• They had an activity where they had milk on a sheet pan.  Then the kids put different drops of food colouring on it and then put a Q-tip with dishwashing fluid on it.  By putting the Q-tip in the sheet pan, the colours immediately separated and burst apart.  It was really neat to see.  However, there wasn’t much to do with this afterwards and it wasn’t as fun as the previous day’s shaving cream activity.
• They also had a “volcano” station where the kids could pour coloured vinegar into the volcano-shaped tin foil filled with baking soda.  It was neat but again the fun was kind of short-lived.
• The kids also painted a pot!
• The third day, unfortunately I think because DH brought out the water table for them to play in the morning, the child was a bit dehydrated/tired/hungry before EarlyON, so she had a huge meltdown.  Good thing she was already strapped in the car seat otherwise there would have been no way to bring her.  She cried the entire 18 minutes of the car ride and kept crying when we were in the parking lot too.  It was really tough for me.  I had to wait it out as there was no reassuring that would help her.  She kept saying she didn’t want her sister (a common thing she says) and then crying in bursts.  She also wanted grandma to be with her and hold her.
• I called DH and grandma on the video call but it didn’t help that much.  Time was what she needed.  It took about 30 minutes in the parking lot before she finally settled down, ate some grapes and cheese, and then because she needed to wash her hands, we went into the EarlyON.  She did have to be carried but I allowed this because at least it allowed us to leave the car and enter the site.
• Once inside, we washed our hands like usual and then went straight to the station where we decorated the Kleenex box.  We were to make a DIY car!  Neat concept.  (I was so grateful that someone in the buy nothing group was able to give me an empty Kleenex box as we don’t have any at home — the community to the rescue!)
• I told her that I would help her decorate the car if she didn’t want to (anything to get her to go into the building at least).  She eventually started to decorate it herself.
• We also filled the pot she painted the previous day with some Anemone bulbs and soil.
• The other station was to make a kite!  Another great STEAM activity.  The kids could decorate their kit, attach the two rods to the kit, attach stringers and then the string for it.  Because we had missed 30 minutes of the session, by the time the child was really into the decorating, it was time to clean up.  It was too bad because she was so focused on it.  She also used scissors to follow the line I had drawn in the kit to cut it out.  She did a great job considering it was her first time doing something like this.
• I appreciate that the facilitators were very understanding (I told them she was having a bad day and that she had been crying in the parking lot prior to entrance) and they didn’t force us to clean up to join the circle time.
• When we did finish, we washed our hands and did end up joining the circle in time for the new song (“pow kee we”?).  I was surprised she actually wanted to join the circle because we could have just stood/sat behind the others, but I was really glad she joined.
• As always, she was happy to eat her snacks in the lunch box in the car afterwards.  She later told me in the day that she was happy.
• We made it to the park that evening after dining out where both kids played in the park.  The older one loves running quickly now.
• The secondborn used a stick to draw in the sand!  This was really cool.  She made so many marks like a tiger claw in the sand haha.
• The 3 year old drew a “W” in the sand with her stick.  She can write it.  I wonder which other letters she can write if she really wanted to?  She also mentioned the number “5” in our walk.  She saw the uppercase letter for “W” and the lower case too!
• On the Monday, we had the last hurrah for our visiting relatives.  They hosted a joint birthday party for the MIL and their daughter.  The older child wasn’t shy and didn’t hesitate to eat this time when it was time for dinner.  It takes repeated exposure to new environments and people for her to easily warm up.
• The secondborn was so popular with everyone.  She was the only toddler who sat by herself at the kids’ table to eat from her plate.  Everyone wanted to go and play with her.  She knew how to do high fives and fist pumps and do the “fist stacking game” with her aunt.  She always gives everyone the brightest and sweetest smiles.  No one can resist her lol.
• It is still so sweet in the mornings when the 18 month old wakes up, looks at me, and says “ma ma”.  It’s the best thing ever.
• We have been trying to wean her at night by DH giving her milk but it worked for two nights and then didn’t anymore.  We decided not to get a mini fridge in the room because I decided that we can just use a cooler with ice packs instead!  One less item in the house and who knows how long we would use it for either.
• How can we wean this child off of her nighttime feeds?  How can we make her learn to sleep by herself and self soothe?
• In the daytime, because I’ve been taking the older one out to the summer camp session, the secondborn has had less daytime feeds.  This is a step in the right direction.
• DH and I had our third date night out (since we started this two months ago).  It was nice to have dinner by ourselves and talk.
• The 18 month old loves bringing me board books for me to read to her.  She asks me to read more than the 3 year old does these days.  However, I do read with the 3 year old at the EarlyON sessions.
• The 3 year old has specific things she wants to wear and likes to pick.  Same thing now with the secondborn.  She also likes to pick what to wear.
• The 18 month old says “maaaa” when she sees a cat lol.  Close.  It should be “mau”.  It’s too cute how she says things.  She will always shriek in happiness and point when we see dogs or other animals when out.  She waved at the moon too when we saw it at the park lol.