Terrible Two's, plus a bit more

I think we have finally entered the terrible two's stage of Olivia's life. I've been waiting and waiting for this time to come, and even though I knew it was coming, I still am not prepared for it. Everyone that watches Olivia during the week just brag and brag about how well behaved she is for them. I am very proud of her for this. I just wish that she was as good for us. I'm not gonna lie. Olivia is very VERY well behaved when we go out in public for a two year old. I am usually very happy with her behavior when we go grocery shopping our out to eat. It is the time she spends at home with Ryan and I that she is at her worst!  She struggles to explain to us exactly what she is wanting so when we ask her to repeat herself, she throws a huge fit. Or when she wants to do something that she knows she can't do and we tell her no, she throws a huge fit. Some of her fits have lasted up to 30 minutes!  It is very exhausting when she does this. I am happy though, that she doesn't act that way for others because it is rather embarrassing.

The newest part of the terrible two's is that Olivia has picked up a few curse words. I am not going to sit here and claim that Ryan and I are innocent and she didn't hear some of them from us, but I know she hears them from one person in her life. I will say what she said Sunday night, I know she didn't hear from either of us!  The first time I heard her curse was actually last Wednesday night when my dad (papa jim) and brother (uncle bubba) came over for a visit. She was doing something at her table and when whatever she was doing didn't go right, she said, "What the Hell?!?"  We told her that she couldn't say that but could say what the heck.  Well, now I am not so sure about that either and last night I started telling her she could say what in the world. I think that sounds much better than heck or hell. 

Then Sunday evening is when she let the real curse words she knows come out. She dropped the F-bomb!  The first time she was looking at a book of Ryan's that doesn't have any pictures in it. Ryan was hanging up clothes and wasn't talking to her and all of a sudden she says, "This is F****** stupid!"  I asked her what she said and she told me she didn't know. I then told her that she cannot say that and that it isn't okay, but I didn't want to repeat the F-word to her because was afraid she would repeat it. Later that night, she was jumping on her mattress (which is on our floor because she won't sleep in her room), and she fell off almost hitting her head on our bed frame. When I told her to stop because she could get hurt, she did it again. Then I told her that was her last warning or she was getting time out and she looked at me and said, "Are you F****** kidding me?!?"  I immediately gasped and sat her on the bed for a long talk. Again, I didn't want to repeat the F-word to her so I just said that it is not nice to use curse words and when she does that it makes mommy and daddy sad. Then I went through the list of all the family (mommy, daddy, papa jim, pam, uncle bubba, granny, papa dale, sissy, emily, uncle kenny, aunt darleen, mama tammy, papa craig, grandma monica, tiffy, paige, mama jaci, papa bob, nunu, johnny, and jenny)  and how it makes them so sad when she uses curse words. I had her bawling by the time I was done talking because she didn't want her family to be sad. She has not used the f-word since Sunday, so I am thinking that I may have gotten through to her. I just hope that I can break her of using any curse words before she says something in public!

The weather is supposed to get hot again for a few days, so stay cool!!

busy, busy, busy!

It's been a while since I posted my last blog, but I can not say it was due to me being lazy!  I have been so busy with work and family stuff, I seriously haven't' had the time to just sit at the computer and type.

I officially started with my new class on Monday. So far so good. It's always hard with a new class. My kiddos that moved up were so good at knowing my rules and knowing that I am SERIOUS when I say it is time to pick up that it is hard to have this new class of kids that just refuse to pick up the toys. I've decided to implement a new behavior system with this group and I hope that it works for them. We set up our classroom rules and discussed how our sticker charts work, and I think they really get it. I had a few kiddos say today, "you better pick up your toy, because if you don't your name will be moved to yellow!"  Something new for me in this particular room is that I have a couple of children who are not all the way potty trained yet. When I taught in the 2 year old room, none of the kids were potty trained so potty time was scheduled into our daily routine. Potty time in the room I am in now is just when you have to go, just go.  I have not had any children who were not potty trained in this room yet, so it has been difficult to get back into the swing of things and remembering that they need to potty more often to keep their pull-ups dry. Hopefully with a bit more practice, I will get the hang of it again. And I am hoping that I can whip them into shape and get them out of pull-ups ASAP!  I do like to try to put them in underwear when I feel they are ready, but until they are staying consistently dry in their pullup when we potty, they will stay in their pull-up.

This past weekend, Ryan took Olivia and I to the Mills Mall for the first time!  I didn't realize how flipping big that mall actually is!  We had a BLAST walking around and looking at all the shops. Olivia had lots of fun too until she was ready to pass out for nap and we were only half way through the mall. Her stroller isn't the best for sleeping so I felt really bad for her that she wasn't comfortable. We found lots of great deals on clothes though!  Since Livy's birthday is in June she got all summer clothes at her party. I love that she gets clothes, but that left us with NOTHING for the fall. The Children's Place has had some wonderful back to school sales going on and I just had to take advantage while I could. Old Navy had some great deals this weekend too!  We had the opportunity to go to the Carters store at the Mills....needless to say, the next time we have a baby, we will definitely be headed there!  

Speaking of babies, thanks to my husband, last week for one day, the Facebook world thought I was pregnant!  Believe me when I say that I am not!  Not that I don't want to be...because if we were financially ready for a maternity leave, we would definitely be trying for another one soon, but until we can get enough saved up to cover a maternity leave, we won't be having another baby.  Who knows though...that could mean a few months or another year...

Weekend Wrap Up

I took Olivia to the mall yesterday while Ryan was at the Shooting Complex for the last day of the Grand. Usually when Olivia and I go shopping alone, it is on a Thursday and the mall isn't really busy. Well, Saturday is a much different story. I couldn't believe how crowded the mall was. The stores weren't bad but the mall itself and the food court was crazy busy. I was going to take Olivia to get something to eat around 11:00 but after I got in line I realized that the crowd was so tightly packed that I couldn't breathe...and that there was no way that I could watch Olivia, my purse (which the zipper is broken), my phone in my open purse, order our food, carry our drinks and food, and push the stroller alone. It was right about when this happened, that my phone rang. I got out of line and to my surprise it was Ryan. He was bored at the Grand and decided he wanted to join us at the mall and for lunch. Needless to say I was ecstatic!  I pushed Olivia back towards Sears so we could get a lemonade from the pretzel stand and wait for Ryan, and that's when we saw him....the reason the mall was so packed full that day:

 The line for Sponge Bob wrapped from the escalators in front of JC Penney all the way to Sears.  They also had face painting, balloon animals, decorate your own cookie, and something from the pretzel place. Also, Macy's was having Hello Kitty!  Of all the days for me to pick to go alone to the mall, it had to be this one!  But I must say that I am thankful that Ryan decided to join us for lunch and shopping the rest of the afternoon!  I don't really know  how I would have gotten Olivia fed if he hadn't shown up. I decided that Ryan's isn't allowed to let us go shopping alone on a Saturday anymore until she gets older!  I doubt he is excited about that haha. 

Being the nice husband that Ryan is, and after spending last Thursday - Sunday away from the house at the Grand, he decided to buy me a new bag and sunglasses. I'm not all about labels, I just want a bag that doesn't resemble a diaper bag, and that functions the way I need it to, and that shuts all the way and won't let my stuff fall out! I don't know about you, but I'd say Ryan did an excellent job of helping me pick out a bag: 

 

As another gift from Ryan, he is taking Olivia and I to the Mills Mall next Saturday!  I have some coupons to the Children's Place and I want to go to their outlet store. I have never been to the Mills Mall, so I am looking forward to it very much!!

Time for school!.....wait, seriously?!?

The new school year is fast approaching, and with all of our older preschoolers going to kindergarten, this means I will be getting a new class of 3 yr old preschoolers. I am excited to be getting a new class, however, I am very sad to see most/all of my kiddos move up to 4yr old preschool. My very first class that I ever taught at DYC are all going to kindergarten next week.  It is hard enough to see them grow up, but this class that I am teaching now is going to be even harder to see them move up. I taught most/all of them when they were in the 2 year old rooms, and then when I moved to one of the 3 year old preschool rooms, I was excited to learn that most/all of my 2yr old kids were moving with me. I have had these kiddos for two years now and I am not ready to let them go. I love my kiddos and I love that they love to tell me all sorts of stories about the events of their lives. It takes such a long time to get to know a new class. And you wouldn't believe the age difference between a 3 year old and an almost 4 year old. It is incredible!  I am going to miss that the all the children in my class know the days of the week and the months of the year, etc and this new class isn't going to know the answers to my questions. But there lies the fun part. Now I get to mold new minds, preparing them for upper pre-k and kindergarten.  

Another positive note is that Fall is fast approaching. The fall months are my favorite to plan for because all of my lessons just come naturally. Actually September - May are the easiest to plan for...it is those darn summer months that really stink to plan for. I believe this is why school teachers take the summer months off....so they don't have to plan during these hard months! lol. just kidding!. 

I do hope, that I get to have my class roster soon though. I would really like to start preparing for my new class. Not that I am ready to push my old class out the door, but I absolutely hate to start a new class with nothing of 'theirs' on the walls. I like to make cubby tags, table tags, name tags on the door and circle time, sleeping spots, etc. and have that all done for when they arrive the first day. I believe that this makes the room seem more friendly and not so blank! It is nice for parents to feel comfortable and have a 'home' for their child and not just another room to put their things in. Seriously, it would be nice to get my roster soon...and not at the last minute. hint hint! :)

Well, that's all I've got for now. Time to get Olivia to bed.

Mommy's kisses can heal the world

One of my most favorite things about being a mommy is that at the moment, Olivia believes that my kisses can heal anything. Take today for example, Ryan and I took Olivia swimming at a friends house, as she was exiting the pool area, she fell off of a small rise in the concrete and scraped her knee. Ryan went to get her up off the ground and she cried, "Oh no! I need a band aid!" After applying the band aid, while still whimpering, she said, "Mommy, kiss it and make the ouchie better." I bent down, and kissed her band aid and she said, "tank you mommy, you make it all better." I know it is a little silly but it makes my heart melt that she needs me in that way. She is growing up so fast and is officially no longer a baby anymore. My 2 year old daughter is officially potty trained! 

I have had people ask me about how we went about potty training. We didn't have any fancy tricks, I promise. We introduced potty training to Olivia when she was about 18 months old. We didn't push it on her, but just wanted her to get comfortable with using the potty. We did buy her a toilet insert in case the introduction went well and she wanted to continue using it and big girl pullups for easy access.  Pullups were not a good choice for us. Olivia has never had an allergy to diapers, but for some reason, pullups seemed to bother her waste line. I believe it was because the smallest size we could get was a 2T, when her waste line at 18months was still fitting in 12month pants. We immediately switched back to diapers. It went well for the first couple of weeks, and then we got busy with life and kind of dropped the subject. As Olivia's birthday was fast approaching, one day at work, a coworker brought her baby cousin or niece (I can't remember) into work for a quick visit. The little girl was wearing underwear and was younger than Olivia. I couldn't believe it, and at that point I decided it was time to hit potty training hard!  I did some research online and stumbled onto an article about going straight from diapers to underwear. I can't remember what the article was called or I would post a link for it on here. The article said that sometimes it was best to just put a child into underwear and take them to the potty every 30-60min, but to also let them have a few accidents so they can understand why they should not potty in their underwear. I talked it over with Ryan, and that weekend, we went to purchase Olivia her first set of big girl underwear. She was so excited because she got to pick them out. I put them on her that weekend, and she did great! We also purchased an elmo potty chair because even with a step stool, Olivia was not quite tall enough to get onto the potty without one of us lifting her.  We did have quite a few accidents, but that following Monday, I sent her to her aunts house in underwear and she only had one accident. Seriously from that point on, Olivia wants to go potty on the big potty and not in her underwear.  Seriously, she will scream at us in the car that she has to go potty, even when she has a diaper on because she hates having accidents.  We just recently have even taken her in the car to Fair View Heights and no accidents!  We do make a stop about half way there to go potty just in case, but still, we have yet to have an accident in the car!  Now the only time that she wears a diaper is nap time, overnight sleeping time, or if we are in the car and know we aren't going to be able to stop for a break. I couldn't be happier that we no longer have to buy mass amounts of diapers, but i am a bit sad that my baby isn't a baby anymore.   So my advice to anyone looking for potty training tips is: PUT YOUR CHILD IN UNDERWEAR, IT WORKS! 

And speaking of my growing up, Olivia has no fear of the pool which is a good and bad thing. I love that she likes to swim, but she has no idea that she will just sink to the bottom if she jumps in. She knows she has to wear floaties, and be in a ring, or with mommy or daddy holding her, but she likes to jump off the side of the pool into our arms. I like letting her do this because 1. it is fun, and 2. it wears her out, but I am afraid that she isn't going to understand that we have to be there to catch her. The same goes for the diving board. She LOVES to jump off the diving board into my hands. I get it...the thrill of jumping off the board is exciting for her, but again, she just leaps with no fear what so ever and again, I am afraid that if I looked away for one second, she would just jump right in.  We only recently allowed her to go under the water for the first time. She absolutely does not understand the concept of holding your breath. I can get her to do it for about one second, but then she smiles and laughs. The previous time I took her swimming, I dunked her three times. All three times, she came back up choking on water. This time, I only dunked her twice. The first time she choked just a little bit and the second time not at all. She may be starting to "get it" but I am definitely not ready to just let her go. I'm glad she had fun today though and I am glad that Ryan decided to take today off of work to spend the day with us since he will be gone, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Grand in Sparta.