Tuesdays at our house are pretty unscheduled- on purpose. Most other days of the week we have little activities we get out and do, but I like to save Tuesdays for whatever we feel like doing...sometimes that means we just play around the house, other times we are up and out doing something fun. But I like knowing that we are not on a "clock" on Tuesday mornings with somewhere we have to be...
6:15am: In my ideal life I am a morning person. Today I got up early and had some quiet time to myself before anyone else was awake and I LOVED it. I really would like to have this time every morning but it is a battle for me to wake up early. It is something I am constantly trying to improve upon because on days when I do have my quiet time early, I am nicer, more patient, more centered and just better prepared for the day!
7:15am: Lily woke up all smiles and had some reading time in her room while I got ready.
7:45am: Saying goodbye to Daddy. Already busy in her playroom...
...what I did not get to document here, was the big goodbye hug. It was one of my all time favorites and I was laughing too hard to capture it, but Lily was running around with her baby stroller and when it came time to give Daddy a goodbye hug, Joe scooped her up and she did not let go of her stroller! So it was a giant hug for Daddy, and Lily ...and the stroller. Super cute and funny.
...Lily loves to wave bye-bye and blow kisses to Daddy as he drives away....
...this is the tri-fecta shot....daddy leaving and the trash truck in the distance! Jackpot!!!
8:15am: Breakfast. More muffins for Lily! Yum yum!
...with some food in her tummy, it was time for some medicine for her ears... boo for ear infections! She always tends to get them when she is teething...and right now she is cutting four new ones at the same time! It could be a long few weeks around here! Poor pumpkin!
8:40am: Playing with her computer while I clean up the breakfast dishes, empty the dish washer etc...
9:15am: I called my brother. He lives in Wyoming and is so busy that it is rare that we get to have time for more than a five minute conversation here and there...but today, we got to talk for about 20 minutes. I decided to capture the scene while I was chatting as it unfolded before me. (Thank you Apple for your camera phones and speaker phones!) Here are some glimpses of Lily in her "natural habitat"... She loves to take the cushions off the chairs and jump on them.
...of course climbing up on the coffee table is a favorite activity. She knows she is not supposed to do this, but that never stops her. I try to be pretty consistent with saying 'no' on this one....
UP! ...this was a first... A couple of weeks back, she started trying to climb over the back of the big couch that was here. It was taller than her and would have been a big drop to the floor. Naturally we tried to keep her from doing this for many reasons, but she continued to try and in moments of sheer defiance, or when she felt I was not paying enough attention to her, she would run to the big blue couch, climb up and throw one leg over and say "No! No!" letting me know she knew I did not like when she did this and also knowing that I would come running over to stop her from falling over the back and landing on her head! Smart girl!
So...we rearranged our couches so the short one is in this location (where if she "fell" over the back of it, it might hurt, but she would not break her arm or leg like she might with the bigger one). She had not shown much interest in climbing over this short one until today. So while I was talking with my brother, in a split second, she was up and over with no problem! Not that I'm proud of this or want to encourage it- (because I don't) but I'm kind of happy that I documented it - it was a first for her and it just kind of seems like a right of passage for her...and I actually think she surprised herself. Thankfully and for whatever reason, I don't think she has done it since.
...OVER...
...DOWN!
...you would think I was on the phone for hours at the rate the room was getting messy, but I wasn't- just a busy gal doing her thing...
9:40am: We have been setting a lot of timers lately. I am learning that it really helps with transitioning for Lily. For example, if we are playing and I just try to stop her and say, "Okay, its time to go get dressed!" There are frequently melt downs, tears and lots of "No!" But if I set a timer and tell her what it means when it beeps, for example, "When this beeps, it will be time to go get dressed." There are zero issues! She stops playing on her own and runs to the stairs to go up and get dressed. She does not have a concept of time yet, so five minutes and thirty minutes are the same. It is a great "tool" that has been really effective for us. So today, we set the timer because we were going to head out to a Parents As Teachers playgroup that starts at 10:30.
...another great thing about setting timers, Lily loves to help push the buttons...
...she also loves to push buttons on our fridge. A couple of times, she has managed to shut off our ice maker without my knowing how to turn it back on! Thankfully, Joe knows all about this stuff!
...so during this time, Lily and I had a picnic with some of her friends in her playroom. She loves to have picnics...as long as I'm sitting right beside her kitchen, she will set the whole scene up for everyone and serve the food and tea. I love it. It will be fun this spring and summer to go on some real picnics with Lily!
...she is a big fan of this little computer that Nana gave her. It teaches about shapes, colors, and letters in both English and Spanish...
10:05am: When the timer went off, it was time to go upstairs to get ready. I put on some of Lily's music so I could get dressed and somewhat presentable, but she was not really excited about that. She wanted me to hold her the entire time I was getting ready. That did not go over well for either of us...
..."UP! UP MAMA!" (sad...)
...pig tails in, some snuggles too...life is much better!
...with Lily dressed now, I try to finish getting ready (and by that I mean, the bare minimum I can accomplish...shoes on, and hair combed...not styled and no makeup! I still have not figured out how some women look lovely and polished with their toddlers in tow...)...for me it's usually just the bare bones to get us out the door!
...Lily really likes to help. So one of her "jobs" is to help get her own socks. Sometimes this involves getting every set of socks out of the drawer, and other times she just walks over and grabs a pair and off we go...I just never know which one its going to be! But it is cute to see her remember she needs socks and then see her run over to her drawer and grab them for herself. It is amazing to see her capabilities increasing each day!
10:25am: Coat on, bunnies in hand...ready to head to playgroup!
10:35-11:30am- Playgroup! I don't know if you are familiar or not with a program called Parents As Teachers, but it is a free program that our school district offers here in Kansas City. It is for kiddos ages birth to three and it is all about learning to be the best parent for your child and learning about child development in ways that you can learn to be your child's first teacher. The goal of the program is to help kiddos be ready for kindergarten when the time rolls around. There are parent educators who come to your house each month and teach different developmental activities you can do with your child, new stages of development to be looking for in the realms of social, emotional, physical and mental and ways you as parents can foster growth in these areas.
We LOVE it and I have learned so much from our awesome parent educator, Miss Cara. I cannot recommend this program enough. (If you are interested, you might want to check it out soon because I think there may be waiting lists for enrollment). Our school district's program has drop in play groups twice a week where you can go to the center and have a free play time with awesome toys and sensory activities followed by a singing and story time. Lily LOVES it and I love seeing her so excited and stimulated by all of the fun things to do. It is all toddlers and their parents, so it is a fun way to connect with other families with kids the same age. (Although I have to say, its is hard to have conversations with other moms there because I feel like I am rushing all over the place keeping up with Lily, but I'm starting to recognize some other moms and make some connections which is fun for me!)
...ready for story time...
11:45am: Lunch time! Followed by nap time! It's been a busy morning, so I'm hopeful that today will be a good nap because I have a LOT to do!
12:25PM: After eating a quick lunch, I set out getting ready for our afternoon. I made some cucumber sandwiches for a tea party we were hosting this afternoon. Today was special because my aunt/cousin was in town from Colorado and Lily and I were hosting a ladies tea party in her honor. It was not a huge crowd or anything like that, just some of our female relatives who live here in town, plus it would be a fun reason to get out some of my pretty things I never get to use. I'm always looking for a reason to get pretty things out and put them to good use! I was really excited about it- but felt a little bit overwhelmed by all that I needed to accomplish in the next 3 hours. I was praying for a nice nap so I would have some time!
...a few glimpses of the chaos. We were no where near ready to host some company!
...these are my late grandmother's linen napkins...so pretty!
...the table is set and ready....we had scones, chocolate dipped strawberries, some raspberry crumble bars, chocolate cake balls, cucumber sandwiches and tea...
...these lovely smelling flowers were compliments of a sweet friend...they smelled divine!
3:30pm: ...Lily was up and dressed and ready for the party when the guests arrived. She wanted to wear her pink sparkly shoes...luckily I had gotten everything picked up and ready with 10 minutes to spare!
3:30-5:15PM - Tea Party time! We all had such a great time that we decided to have another one over Mother's Day weekend when Pam would be back in town and her daughter and granddaughter would be in town from California as well. I'm already excited!
Lily spending time with her Great-great Aunt Jean- a youthful 93 years old!
...Lily and Pam...
5:25PM: After everyone left, Lily and I hung out in the play room while we waited for Daddy to come home. She wanted to do some puzzles and read books...
...a glimpse of her on her tippy, tip toes trying to reach a book. I love this and wanted to snap a photo so I would always remember...
Our self-portrait of the day...
6:10pm: Dinner. With all of the snacking from the tea party, Lily's dinner was a little bit light tonight. It was fruit and a scrambled egg with cheese. She enjoyed the first few bites and then was done.
...and when I say 'done,' what I really mean is that she started throwing her food across the kitchen and eventually threw her plate onto the floor making a HUGE mess and breaking her plastic puppy plate. I was frustrated to say the least because I felt like I had been cleaning up and going full speed ahead all day long and I was DONE cleaning up messes. Only now, I had one final big mess on my hands. So...
We put Lily in "time out" because she knows she is not supposed to throw her food all over the place. I know she knows this because when ever she is throwing it, she is looking at me, throwing it and saying, "No No!" So needless to say, I am really looking forward to this part of toddlerhood being behind us. I'd also like to say that this method of "time out" is not really effective. We are not officially in the "time out" stage of life, but we are rapidly approaching it! Tonight Lily just sat there in her chair facing the dark living room talking to herself and saying, "HIMama!" "HiDada" and having a grand old time.
7:30PM: Dinner for Mom and Dad. Tonight's feast was a noodle pack and some left over cucumber sandwiches. It was quite tasty, but nothing fancy or nutritious! Thank goodness I have a hubby who will eat whatever! It was an easy, quick meal.
8:15PM: This evening there was a major explosion at one of our favorite outdoor shopping areas in town. Over dinner we watched and read a lot of news coverage on this incident. We normally don't have technology at the table, but this was a pretty big deal in our city tonight...
9PM: I worked on the blog. This month I am doing a series of 28 days of posts about things I love about Lily. It was a lot of fun to do, but posting every day is a difficult challenge!
10:15pm: With the day's events all cleaned up and put away, Joe and I settled in to catch up on some Downton Abbey and called it a day. All through this season of the show, we seemed to be a few weeks behind.
Over all, it was a busy and fun Tuesday!
12:25PM: After eating a quick lunch, I set out getting ready for our afternoon. I made some cucumber sandwiches for a tea party we were hosting this afternoon. Today was special because my aunt/cousin was in town from Colorado and Lily and I were hosting a ladies tea party in her honor. It was not a huge crowd or anything like that, just some of our female relatives who live here in town, plus it would be a fun reason to get out some of my pretty things I never get to use. I'm always looking for a reason to get pretty things out and put them to good use! I was really excited about it- but felt a little bit overwhelmed by all that I needed to accomplish in the next 3 hours. I was praying for a nice nap so I would have some time!
...a few glimpses of the chaos. We were no where near ready to host some company!
...these are my late grandmother's linen napkins...so pretty!
...the table is set and ready....we had scones, chocolate dipped strawberries, some raspberry crumble bars, chocolate cake balls, cucumber sandwiches and tea...
...these lovely smelling flowers were compliments of a sweet friend...they smelled divine!
3:30pm: ...Lily was up and dressed and ready for the party when the guests arrived. She wanted to wear her pink sparkly shoes...luckily I had gotten everything picked up and ready with 10 minutes to spare!
3:30-5:15PM - Tea Party time! We all had such a great time that we decided to have another one over Mother's Day weekend when Pam would be back in town and her daughter and granddaughter would be in town from California as well. I'm already excited!
Lily spending time with her Great-great Aunt Jean- a youthful 93 years old!
...Lily and Pam...
5:25PM: After everyone left, Lily and I hung out in the play room while we waited for Daddy to come home. She wanted to do some puzzles and read books...
...a glimpse of her on her tippy, tip toes trying to reach a book. I love this and wanted to snap a photo so I would always remember...
Our self-portrait of the day...
6:10pm: Dinner. With all of the snacking from the tea party, Lily's dinner was a little bit light tonight. It was fruit and a scrambled egg with cheese. She enjoyed the first few bites and then was done.
...and when I say 'done,' what I really mean is that she started throwing her food across the kitchen and eventually threw her plate onto the floor making a HUGE mess and breaking her plastic puppy plate. I was frustrated to say the least because I felt like I had been cleaning up and going full speed ahead all day long and I was DONE cleaning up messes. Only now, I had one final big mess on my hands. So...
We put Lily in "time out" because she knows she is not supposed to throw her food all over the place. I know she knows this because when ever she is throwing it, she is looking at me, throwing it and saying, "No No!" So needless to say, I am really looking forward to this part of toddlerhood being behind us. I'd also like to say that this method of "time out" is not really effective. We are not officially in the "time out" stage of life, but we are rapidly approaching it! Tonight Lily just sat there in her chair facing the dark living room talking to herself and saying, "HIMama!" "HiDada" and having a grand old time.
7:30PM: Dinner for Mom and Dad. Tonight's feast was a noodle pack and some left over cucumber sandwiches. It was quite tasty, but nothing fancy or nutritious! Thank goodness I have a hubby who will eat whatever! It was an easy, quick meal.
8:15PM: This evening there was a major explosion at one of our favorite outdoor shopping areas in town. Over dinner we watched and read a lot of news coverage on this incident. We normally don't have technology at the table, but this was a pretty big deal in our city tonight...
9PM: I worked on the blog. This month I am doing a series of 28 days of posts about things I love about Lily. It was a lot of fun to do, but posting every day is a difficult challenge!
10:15pm: With the day's events all cleaned up and put away, Joe and I settled in to catch up on some Downton Abbey and called it a day. All through this season of the show, we seemed to be a few weeks behind.
Over all, it was a busy and fun Tuesday!
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