Quiet Time (Toddler E Remix)

So 'quiet time' has been going well and toddler E has found his own way of expending his energy without bringing the house down with kung-fu fighting and screaming.

My mom recently bought the LeapFrog LeapReader pen and some of the compatible LeapFrog books for him to read with the pen. His current favourite is Disney Princess: Adventures Under the Sea. 

So he starts out sitting and reading his books with the pen.

16 September 2013

Let's use the LeapReader pen

Ok, forget the pen, let's just look at picures

I'm pooped, time to lie down and relax

And ends up lying down and looking at pictures at the end.

Gymboree Trial Session

A friend told me about Gymboree offering a free trial class so I signed up on their website and finally booked a trial for toddler E. There's supposed to be several children in one class but we were the only ones who turned up for the free trial. The staff at Gymboree told me it was because their Monday sessions were newly added to the schedule and not many parents have signed up yet.

Toddler E absolutely LOVED the place, all the props were just the right size for him to climb on and push around. He had a really good time in the session which gave his imagination a good workout baking an imaginary cake using props provided like little balls as 'chocolate chips' and a parachute as the 'mixing bowl'. The facilitator was a lovely lady who did a good job keeping his energy and enthusiasm high while playing and then winding down with a song at the end.

9 September 2013

Crossing the bridge

Up the ramp!

King of the hill

Toddler E had great fun but we did not sign up for the package in the end. I would have preferred if they offered sessions where we could pay as we attended but I understand that they would need a minimum number of participants in order to keep the sessions running so selling packages makes more business sense.

The Magic of Quiet Time

So I've posted before about toddler E giving up his regular afternoon naps. 

I was worried, really worried. How would I get some 'me' time during the day? The time that toddler E uses to take his afternoon nap is a block of precious child-free time for me to get things done (or just sit and stare at the wall which happens more often than not) and it keeps me going until bedtime. 

5 September 2013

Thank goodness for talking books!

I read somewhere that some parents change nap time into 'quiet time'. So the child does not necessarily have to sleep (this was causing all the drama between toddler E and I) but gets to play quietly with their toys or books and mama gets a break too.

So I decided to try it out and my 3 'either / or' rules for toddler E's quiet time are:

EITHER

1. Toddler E plays with his toys, but he has to play on his own 

OR

2. I will read story books to toddler E in bed where he usually takes his nap

OR

3. Toddler E will take a nap if he doesn't want to do either of the above

It's been working quite well, toddler E usually starts by saying he will play by himself, sometimes reading a book (looking at pictures or listening to an audio book) and he stays awake for the entire hour of quiet time but I can lie down for 10 minutes to recharge. And sometimes he'll ask me to read him a few story books then chose to nurse and take his nap.

This arrangement works because toddler E feels like he has a say in naptime and I still get some rest in between.

Hello Ling!

We went to Hello Ling! on 12 August which is part of the PLAYtime! series at Esplanade. The first instalment was Hello Paige! which toddler E enjoyed very much. 

Hello Ling! focused on light with shadow play and contrast between light and dark. The music was catchy and the actors worked hard in keeping their young audience interested in the show. 

Toddler E is not so enthusiastic about having his photo taken these days, so when I ask him to smile he gives me this face:

Stop with the photos, mom -_-

He was actually happy to be there, honest!

Bright lights!

And shadows!

After the show we had lunch at Toast Box and toddler E had his first ever Milo dinosaur! He loved it, obviously. I ordered fish soup to try and get him to eat a healthy lunch but refused most of it and just enjoyed his drink.

Potty Training 101

So toddler E is showing more signs of being ready to use the toilet. He's seen us using it and we've always kept the toilet door open and explained what we were doing whenever he asked. While he's been happy to pee in the grown-up toilet (albeit with a child seat insert so he doesn't fall into the toilet bowl) he's not quite ready to give up pooping in his diapers yet.

A couple of days ago, toddler E wanted to use regular underwear for his afternoon nap. I told him he might wet the bed while sleeping and he said, 'I will hold my pee-pee (that's our word for urine) when I sleep. Then I wake up and will be dry!' Since he was so enthusiastic I just went with it and slipped a waterproof sheet under him after he fell asleep.

And lo and behold, toddler E was dry! I was amazed, he held his bladder for a 2.5 hour nap. Immediately after he woke up, I asked if he wanted to use the potty and he said no. Took about 20 minutes before he said he needed to pee-pee but the hubby was using the toilet so toddler E had to go in his BABYBJORN Smart Potty. He's always refused it before but after he went in it this one time, he's become comfortable and has been going in it all the time now. This is great news for me because I don't have to worry about helping him up onto the adult toilet and keeping track of the child seat insert, sometimes I leave it on the toilet seat and the hubby gets a surprise the next time he goes to the bathroom.

I think we have been really laid back on potty training, not pushing him to use the toilet if he didn't want to and answering any questions he had as honestly as we could in terms a 2 year old could understand. I read somewhere that the bladder doesn't mature until 5 or 6 years of age and control before then can be difficult for a child.

Thank goodness using cloth diapers has kept the cost down as we did not have to buy as many disposables, thus there was no extra cost involved in letting toddler E take a longer time to get used to being diaper free.

My Lovely Toddler

Future rockstar :)

There's a lot of prejudice in this world. Race, gender, sexual orientation and probably more that I am not aware of. What I AM aware of is my son's right to be himself and we endeavour to create a safe space for him to express himself in whatever way he chooses.

Toddler E almost always chooses a pink coloured instrument during a musical playgroup that I take him to, he will speak up and ask the teacher for the 'Pink one!'. No hesitation at all. At a different playgroup, the teacher had to mediate between toddler E and a girl who wanted the same pink instrument. She asked toddler E to give it to the girl and offered him a green instrument. I could tell he was disappointed, he had gotten the instrument first why should he have to give it up to a girl? I told him he did a nice thing letting the girl have it and that he could have the pink instrument the next time.

At a family gathering, he was happily playing Disney princess figurines with his cousin, also a toddler who's name begins with an 'E' but one year older than him, and they had a great time. He likes watching both Mike The Knight and Sofia The First. He's also very attached to his Masked Rider belt (think Power Rangers but only 2 guys instead of 5 or was it 6 rangers?). Every toy has it's own merit and we do not limit him to 'boy' toys or avoid giving him 'girl' toys.

Just keep on being yourself toddler E, your happy shiny self that brightens up everyone's day.

Princess Todzilla

Slinky 'belt'

No More Nap?!!

So the day that I have been dreading seems to have arrived. I have been living in terror of this day ever since baby E came into this world and now it is finally here.

Toddler E has given up his regular afternoon nap. 

It started a couple weeks ago when he refused to take a nap in the afternoon, but it made him extra cranky and tired in the evening so I held out hope that it was just a temporary thing, just a passing phase.

Then a week ago, he kept refusing his nap and kept his spirits up until bedtime. So this week I am resigned to fate and the fact that toddler E is growing up. He still seems to take a nap every other day or so, but most of the time he is content to play through 'nap time', now known as 'quiet time' or 'give mama's sanity a break time'.

I will stop watching the clock. Him giving up this nap was incredibly stressful for me because my expectation was that he would nap until he turned 6 years old. I thought he was being extra stubborn about taking his nap and there was quite a bit of tears (from both of us) about the nap and his seeming refusal to just close his eyes and sleep.

Taken by toddler E

Toddler E is also getting pretty handy with the camera on my iPhone. Here is a picture taken by him which features his cute little feet (I AM his mother after all, his feet will always be cute to me).