Two quick stories, and then a more in-depth look at what life is like today, with 28-month old triplets.
The kids received a bird clock for Christmas, and when a bird chirps, on the hour, every hour, they'll say that it's, "breakfast time!" "reading time!" "snack time!" "bathtime!" or whatever it is they're busy doing. Yesterday, Ada was playing with a toy when her sister took it from her. She started to cry, and just then a bird chirped. Through her tears, she declared, "Birdie says it's crying time!" It's a day later, and I'm still laughing.
***
About a week ago, the kids were in their bedroom, waking up. All I heard was Emma talking. Then Julia said, "No way!" Ada said, "No way!" and Emma responded, "YES, WAY!" They crack me up daily.
***
Watching the communication between them, and their growing sisterhood, is just amazing. Sure, they'll try to whack one another over the head with a toy, pull a sister's hair, occasionally lean in for a bite, and exhibit all sorts of toddler behavior that is both typical and frustrating. But they are also doing splendidly.
As of today, they no longer receive PT services. Julia and Emma are speaking in full sentences, in both languages, and Ada is regularly putting 3-5 words together. Julia and Emma's vocabulary is growing beyond the point where I can track it or count how many words they know. (It was over 400 words six months ago. Now it's definitely way way over a thousand, if not more. I can't think of anything they don't say!) Ada's language skills have blossomed the last couple of weeks as well. She is probably where her sisters were 6 months ago when they were evaluated. (They are ahead, she's on track.)
I rarely come to a standstill long enough to post here anymore. I feel usurped by our life, and I'm just kind of going with it right now to survive.
We are on triplet time day in and day out, which to me feels like everything is happening three times as fast. I'm constantly playing the part of strategist, negotiator, offense, defense, team medic, janitor, physical therapist, psychologist and any other role you can think of.
It actually feels like I haven't stopped to catch my breath in 3 years.
And it's no wonder, because when I do think about it, I went from stage 4 Endo surgery to 2 back-to-back IVF flare cycles, a high risk pregnancy, HELLP Syndrome, shingles, hematoma, 3 preemies in the NICU, 3 refluxers at home, a year of pumping breast milk, 3 CP diagnoses, speech, PT, OT, to an interstate move, adjusting to being a SAHM, and living in a rental house that's impossible to childproof adequately. (It's anxiety-inducing.) I am in that place that doesn't have a name. The one that is beyond burned out.
I now spend most of my days feeling utterly overwhelmed by toddler tornadoes, cleaning up what they left in their wake (they help, sort of) and trying to stay a step ahead when all I want to do is take a nap. But somehow I keep chugging along. When I take them places by myself, strangers often ask me how I do it, and they are always surprised when I don't pretend to be superhuman. On a particularly challenging day, I answered somewhat embarrassed, "Oh, I've already cried once today." And the mom shot me this look that was part relief and part empathy. Having triplets creates this sort of parenting no man's land that can be quite isolating.
I can't describe to you the level of multitasking it takes to have 3 same-age toddlers. It's like taking the most challenging multitasking jobs you've ever performed, but trying to perform them in an ever-changing office where nothing stays where you put it, with a soundtrack of maddening whining, the worst unpredictability you've ever experienced, serious distractions that can't be ignored or prioritized, and needing to run interference while trying to also cook, teach, and generally keep the show on the road. I have worked in fast paced environments, high stress jobs, and I'm no stranger to multitasking. But this is kicking my butt. Daily.
They are always taken care of, but I forget *my* bag/cell phone/car keys, etc. if it's not strapped to my body while I'm out with them. My brain's capacity is taxed to the max just keeping track of them, their needs, and their stuff and there's nothing left over for anything else. Sometimes I'll have everyone loaded in the car (after dressing and wrestling 3 octopi into winter gear: 6 socks, 6 boots, 3 hats, 6 mittens, 3 coats, 3 books to occupy them with). Then in that moment before I turn the ignition, I'll finally have a second to think and realize that I forgot something for me. Usually, I just say in my mind, "Screw it! We're leaving NOW before everything goes to hell in handbasket." And THAT is how I end up without water or food for me, without my cell phone, or like the last time: without my wallet. It is HARD doing this alone all day, without a support system.
Just having a moment to gather one's thoughts is such an indescribable luxury these days. Day-to-day is easier in many ways than when they were infants (we're finally sleeping!) However, the cumulative effect of being chronically exhausted while having to care for toddlers makes this harder than I ever thought it would be.
There is MUCH to celebrate in our lives, and I'll hopefully have a chance to voice that soon, but I just needed to capture my feelings today and the reality that is right now. I want to be able to look back on this in a few years and laugh.
Even in the midst of this chaos, I never forget how fortunate we are. How inexplicably blessed we are for having three healthy children. That thought alone is what motivates me to be the best mother I can be, even when I feel incapable or inadequate.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Time's a flyin'
Since I last wrote, the girls have celebrated their 2nd birthday, battled two rounds of viruses - we're still in the midst of the 2nd virus - added a few new 2-year molars, celebrated Halloween, learned to speak in full sentences, started counting and recognizing colors, and now it's Thanksgiving. They have been sick on and off for almost two months.
I can not keep up with them, our life, our house, our yard, or life in general. Everything seems to be whizzing by at a hundred miles an hour while I'm spinning round and round going, "What just happened? How can it be Thanksgiving?"
Add three sick, whiny, clinging teething toddlers who are agitated by one another's mere existence, and it's a recipe for out-of-control tantrums, very little sleep, and overall exhaustion. Nobody's sleeping and everyone's crying, me included. That's pretty much us the past two months. It's been miserable. Now I'm sick too, which is not something a SAHM can afford to be.
In the midst of feeling like I'm a hopeless mom, I had someone tell me I must be supermom. I said to the woman, "Well, my kids are two years old, but I'm the one having the daily meltdowns." You could just tell she was relieved to hear I'm a normal woman who reaches the end of her rope sometimes.
The kids were sick on their birthday, sick on Halloween, but I took them out trick-or-treating anyway. Since they were getting over colds, I took them to a local mall and kept them in the stroller instead of risking a night out in the cold.
Julia and Emma wanted to wear their bumble bee and ladybug costumes. Ada refused to wear her caterpillar costume, but I managed to talk her into a tutu instead. I just told everyone she was a forest fairy. She was not into the wings. Whatever. You WILL enjoy Halloween, damn it! They had a blast seeing everyone's costumes. The candy haul was something to behold - they each practically received their weight in candy. They tasted one lollipop each, which is more sugar than they've had... ever! What will happen to the rest of the candy? Only time will tell.
Since we're in survival mode, I've set my sights low and won't be cooking anything special for Thanksgiving. (We have no friends or family anywhere close.) I am, however, looking forward to a potential nap. If I can manage that, it'll be the best Thanksgiving ever.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I can not keep up with them, our life, our house, our yard, or life in general. Everything seems to be whizzing by at a hundred miles an hour while I'm spinning round and round going, "What just happened? How can it be Thanksgiving?"
Add three sick, whiny, clinging teething toddlers who are agitated by one another's mere existence, and it's a recipe for out-of-control tantrums, very little sleep, and overall exhaustion. Nobody's sleeping and everyone's crying, me included. That's pretty much us the past two months. It's been miserable. Now I'm sick too, which is not something a SAHM can afford to be.
In the midst of feeling like I'm a hopeless mom, I had someone tell me I must be supermom. I said to the woman, "Well, my kids are two years old, but I'm the one having the daily meltdowns." You could just tell she was relieved to hear I'm a normal woman who reaches the end of her rope sometimes.
The kids were sick on their birthday, sick on Halloween, but I took them out trick-or-treating anyway. Since they were getting over colds, I took them to a local mall and kept them in the stroller instead of risking a night out in the cold.
Julia and Emma wanted to wear their bumble bee and ladybug costumes. Ada refused to wear her caterpillar costume, but I managed to talk her into a tutu instead. I just told everyone she was a forest fairy. She was not into the wings. Whatever. You WILL enjoy Halloween, damn it! They had a blast seeing everyone's costumes. The candy haul was something to behold - they each practically received their weight in candy. They tasted one lollipop each, which is more sugar than they've had... ever! What will happen to the rest of the candy? Only time will tell.
Since we're in survival mode, I've set my sights low and won't be cooking anything special for Thanksgiving. (We have no friends or family anywhere close.) I am, however, looking forward to a potential nap. If I can manage that, it'll be the best Thanksgiving ever.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Saturday, October 01, 2011
Activities with toddlers: more inside ideas
A big thank you to everyone for your awesome comments and ideas. So many fun activities to try - I can't wait! It's often hard for me to come up with a fresh, fun idea when I'm alone with my kids, so it certainly helps to have a go-to list in the back of my mind that take very little prep time. Some of your ideas are staples in our house, and I thought I'd elaborate on that a little:
FORTS, TENTS & SOFT TOYS
We have made our fair share of impromptu forts, and always seem to end up with every soft toy animal under the sun piled up inside it. They love frolicking amongst a pile of soft toys.
It's a wonderful activity and one they enjoy greatly. Sometimes, the animals creep/crawl/slither/bound over the tent or fort and surprise the kids with a "boo" where they least expect it. Sometimes they make their "correct" sounds (hippo impression, anyone? anyone? Bueller?) before appearing, and sometimes they "fly" into the fort at high speed. We also play a guessing game when the kids are inside their play tent, because they can see the silhouette of each animal. On a few occasions, we've pitched our adult 2-man tent inside the house. Yes, we're that crazy.
COMBINING TOYS TO MAKE A NEW GAME
Sometimes 30 minutes of fun is just a brainwave away. I often have to initiate a game, but then they run with it. They aren't really all that into building towers with anything except their mega blocks or nesting blocks, but I keep trying.
We recently acquired some of those awesome large cardboard bricks by Melissa & Doug. Our kids haven't really wanted to play with them yet. I started stacking them like "stairs" and invited a few soft toy animals to climb the "stairs" and voilà, a game was born. Every single animal in their collection ended up climbing "stairs" and sitting on "platforms" custom-built for them. Before I knew it, the kids were building with the bricks, having the animals walk up the stairs, feeding them, and having them walk down. This is a huge lesson to me not to write off any particular toy, but to "repurpose" it, or to think outside the box, if you will.
NO ENTRY
The kids have jumped on the guest room bed piled high with pillows, and frequently play in other "forbidden" (not fully childproofed) spaces for as long as my nerves can stand it. With triplet toddlers, you have to be hyper vigilant when they're not in a 100% childproofable space, so it's quite stressful for me, but oh.so.much.fun for them.
It usually goes something like this, "Don't touch that! Don't put that in your mouth! Get down from there! Don't pull on that! No jumping on that! That's not a toy. *sigh* Okay, let's go somewhere else, so I can start saying 'Yes!' to you again. Let's go! Go! Go!"
JUNKMAIL
Our girls LOVE receiving mail. Despite us unsubscribing from every known list on planet Earth, we still get enough neighborhood mailers. The kids even fight over them, depending on what is pictured. They now say, "Mail. ABCs!" when we retrieve the mail. I stuff opened envelopes with other pieces of paper, like receipts that would've been recycled.
We make paper airplanes from junkmail, crumple them to make lightweight balls, and we play a simple made-up game where I slowly approach a little hand holding an envelope or piece of paper and then quickly and unexpectedly "snatch" it from them without tearing it. This works great for multiples, because they never know who I'm going to target next and the anticipation is what makes this game fun for them.
They are so easy to entertain, *sometimes.* We have also accidentally stumbled on a fun game where I let a gazillion envelope-sized coupons "flutter" down on them. I stand and hold it above my head while they sit. It's similar to throwing leaves in the air, only it's cleaner and you can do it inside when it rains. ;-)
FLASHLIGHTS
The girls have recently discovered their own shadows, so shadow puppets and flashlights are definitely a big hit.
Please keep those fantastic comments and ideas coming. It's awesome to be able to draw on your collective wisdom.
FORTS, TENTS & SOFT TOYS
We have made our fair share of impromptu forts, and always seem to end up with every soft toy animal under the sun piled up inside it. They love frolicking amongst a pile of soft toys.
It's a wonderful activity and one they enjoy greatly. Sometimes, the animals creep/crawl/slither/bound over the tent or fort and surprise the kids with a "boo" where they least expect it. Sometimes they make their "correct" sounds (hippo impression, anyone? anyone? Bueller?) before appearing, and sometimes they "fly" into the fort at high speed. We also play a guessing game when the kids are inside their play tent, because they can see the silhouette of each animal. On a few occasions, we've pitched our adult 2-man tent inside the house. Yes, we're that crazy.
COMBINING TOYS TO MAKE A NEW GAME
Sometimes 30 minutes of fun is just a brainwave away. I often have to initiate a game, but then they run with it. They aren't really all that into building towers with anything except their mega blocks or nesting blocks, but I keep trying.
We recently acquired some of those awesome large cardboard bricks by Melissa & Doug. Our kids haven't really wanted to play with them yet. I started stacking them like "stairs" and invited a few soft toy animals to climb the "stairs" and voilà, a game was born. Every single animal in their collection ended up climbing "stairs" and sitting on "platforms" custom-built for them. Before I knew it, the kids were building with the bricks, having the animals walk up the stairs, feeding them, and having them walk down. This is a huge lesson to me not to write off any particular toy, but to "repurpose" it, or to think outside the box, if you will.
NO ENTRY
The kids have jumped on the guest room bed piled high with pillows, and frequently play in other "forbidden" (not fully childproofed) spaces for as long as my nerves can stand it. With triplet toddlers, you have to be hyper vigilant when they're not in a 100% childproofable space, so it's quite stressful for me, but oh.so.much.fun for them.
It usually goes something like this, "Don't touch that! Don't put that in your mouth! Get down from there! Don't pull on that! No jumping on that! That's not a toy. *sigh* Okay, let's go somewhere else, so I can start saying 'Yes!' to you again. Let's go! Go! Go!"
JUNKMAIL
Our girls LOVE receiving mail. Despite us unsubscribing from every known list on planet Earth, we still get enough neighborhood mailers. The kids even fight over them, depending on what is pictured. They now say, "Mail. ABCs!" when we retrieve the mail. I stuff opened envelopes with other pieces of paper, like receipts that would've been recycled.
We make paper airplanes from junkmail, crumple them to make lightweight balls, and we play a simple made-up game where I slowly approach a little hand holding an envelope or piece of paper and then quickly and unexpectedly "snatch" it from them without tearing it. This works great for multiples, because they never know who I'm going to target next and the anticipation is what makes this game fun for them.
They are so easy to entertain, *sometimes.* We have also accidentally stumbled on a fun game where I let a gazillion envelope-sized coupons "flutter" down on them. I stand and hold it above my head while they sit. It's similar to throwing leaves in the air, only it's cleaner and you can do it inside when it rains. ;-)
FLASHLIGHTS
The girls have recently discovered their own shadows, so shadow puppets and flashlights are definitely a big hit.
Please keep those fantastic comments and ideas coming. It's awesome to be able to draw on your collective wisdom.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
The real world
Sorry for the interruption in our regular "programming." We'll get back to that innocent world soon. Promise.
In the meantime, I'm reeling from news from the real world and struggling to process it all. A friend of mine suffered the worst attack imaginable recently. She had a seizure following the brutal attack, which left her unable to speak or move. She passed away on Sunday afternoon.
Another friend, a teacher with two young kids, committed suicide recently. Her kids are now with her ex, and have emigrated to another country, where their father lives.
I can't make sense of any of it, and I'm so incredibly heartbroken for these two families.
In the meantime, I'm reeling from news from the real world and struggling to process it all. A friend of mine suffered the worst attack imaginable recently. She had a seizure following the brutal attack, which left her unable to speak or move. She passed away on Sunday afternoon.
Another friend, a teacher with two young kids, committed suicide recently. Her kids are now with her ex, and have emigrated to another country, where their father lives.
I can't make sense of any of it, and I'm so incredibly heartbroken for these two families.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Activities with toddlers: inside
If you've come across a great resource for easy activities to do with toddlers, or have ideas on things to do to keep them occupied, please share by leaving a comment.
We sing, dance and read a lot, but I thought I'd attempt to capture some other ideas too.
I'm no authority on the subject of toddlers, and this is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but here are some cheap and/or easy strategies I've learned along the way from other parents, and ideas that have kept our kids gleefully occupied in and around the house while having fun and learning. I hope this helps an overwhelmed parent to claim a few moments of sanity!
ROTATING TOYS
Divide their toys into tubs/baskets/containers so they don't have access to all of their toys every day. Hide them in a closet or a room they don't have access to. Out of sight, out of mind. Then rotate the toys. I bring out a different tub every morning or whenever they become whiny/bored and it works wonders because they have renewed interest in their toys. I've found that at least 4 days is the ideal amount of time to "hide" a toy.
SWITCH IT UP!
Sometimes I change where the toys are kept that they have access to. I'll switch the contents of cubbies and containers around, or move the ballpit balls from one place to another. They often play with toys they haven't touched in days if they discover it in a new spot. It's fun to watch them "find" and rediscover forgotten items.
I often change which toys are kept in which room. Since we have 3 toddlers, we have childproofed our living room, our enclosed porch and a part of our lower level. When they start to get antsy, I herd them outside or into a new space with other toys. Often, changing the environment helps as much as changing the activity. More on that in part 2 and 3 of this series of posts.
CLEAN-UP SONGS AND GAMES
Before naptime and bedtime, we sing a clean-up song while I try to put things away. They don't always help me, but they're starting to help more often and for longer periods. Oh, those short toddler attention spans! Sometimes they'll put things away without prompting, and say in a sing-songy voice, "clea-mup... clea-mup!" just to dump them out again. This, of course, is what toddlers do best and is a worthwhile endeavor too. Just not as much fun for me.
But I do think it's starting to sink in. It helps them "categorize" and learn to search for items, and follow instructions. E.g. "Let's clean up all of the blocks. Oh, look, there's a block behind the teddy bear. Can you bring it to me?"
Let's pack up all of the red balls! (Hold up a red ball.)
Oooh, can you find all of the teddy bears among the soft toys?
This game is endless, depending on the characteristics you point out and your level of patience.
YOUR JUNK IS A TODDLER'S TREASURE
Our kids have way too many toys, but sometimes all it takes is a bunch of plastic containers. It can be your Tupperware, or not. Sometimes the bigger yogurt containers make excellent toys, because they can:
- fill them and dump the contents
- attempt to open and close the lids
- bang on them like a drum
Plastic bottles.
We rinse small soda/juice bottles, remove the labels and lid (choking hazard) and hand them a bunch of straws. Our kids have spent a solid 30 minutes inserting straws into soda bottles and dumping them out again. Great for dexterity and working on fine motor skills. Of course, this is a closely supervised activity because of the straws.
Wooden spoons. These make great mallets to bang on stuff.
Stainless mixing bowls (oh, shiny object!)
Measuring cups. They have three different sets of stacking cups, but my measuring cups are more interesting to them because they are stainless steel and have handles.
Colorful tins with pictures.
BOXES
Keep big boxes. We go through so many diapers (sorry, planet Earth, as much as I wanted to, I ended up not having it in me to clothdiaper three). We always have big diaper boxes on hand. These make awesome toys to climb on top of, sit on, climb into, and dump stuff into and out of. We've pushed them around the house in the boxes too, making swoosh!, zoom!, brrrm! and beep beep noises. They also like pushing them around more than their expensive push toys.
AIR MATTRESS
In our former life, we used to go camping. Now the air mattress is an excellent way to spend 30 minutes on a rainy day getting some exercise. Jumping at this age is a critical skill to learn, and when your kids have gross motor delays, it serves a very important purpose while having fun.
PLAY KITCHEN
We purchased a play kitchen from Craigslist for $60 (it retails for over $300.)
TUB CONTENTS
We have tubs with:
1. Small animals.
Some are finger puppets, some are plastic toys, some are bathtime animals, and some are soft toys.
2. Tiny little books.
They love books and have board books out all the time, but what makes these books special is that they're tiny and fit neatly into a tin that I wanted to discard but decided on a whim to keep. The tin has kept them almost as busy as any other toy, trying to open and close it, bang it, put other stuff in it. And they discover these books anew every time they play with this tub. Because there are sooo many of the little books, they never get tired of them.
3. Wooden blocks and stacking toys.
4. Puzzles with handles.
They still can't get them in by themselves, but we talk about the pictures on the puzzles (mostly anmimals) and try to match them to their "friends." I make silly farm animal or wild animal noises, tell them about the animals, and talk about what each animal eats or does.
They now get it right 100% of the time, although for the longest time I thought they weren't really into puzzles. I just kept at it and now they love it. Don't expect them to finish the puzzle, but praise praise praise if they point to the matching object, or attempt to bring the piece to where it belongs. The girls occasionally get a piece fully into the puzzle, and they're so proud of themselves when it slips into place.
5. Hand puppets.
Some are cheap washcloth "mittens" with animals on them (duck, seal, frog), but we also have an "Assemble a monster" toy. It's a velcro hand puppet made of fleece with different eyes/noses/horns/arms/legs that you can velcro anywhere on the hand puppet.
We make funny noises for each monster. Their monsters give hugs and kisses, are fed "milk" and whatever they can dream up, and sometimes do unexpected un-girly like things, like burp and then we giggle and talk about what to say. "Monster, when you burp, you need to say, 'Excuse me!' Teaching the monster is so much more fun than whining at my kids about manners! And they learn without feeling like I'm admonishing them. Goodness knows, they get preached out all day long, "No! Don't touch that!" "That's not a toy!" "That's dangerous!" "That's sharp/hot/dirty (fill in the blank)" so it's a wonderful change of pace when I discover a fun and effective way of getting the same message across.
>> UPCOMING POSTS:
- Backyard activities with toddlers
- Activities in the community
- I'd like to compile a list of their favorite purchased toys (with links to examples) and will post that soon.
>> QUESTIONS:
With the girls' 2nd birthday coming up soon, what were some of your kids' favorite toys at age 2? Or if you have a toddler or are around toddlers, what have you seen them play with most?
>> If you have any tips to keep toddlers occupied, please share. We're always on the lookout for ideas. My sanity depends on it. (Yes, all about me.)
We sing, dance and read a lot, but I thought I'd attempt to capture some other ideas too.
I'm no authority on the subject of toddlers, and this is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but here are some cheap and/or easy strategies I've learned along the way from other parents, and ideas that have kept our kids gleefully occupied in and around the house while having fun and learning. I hope this helps an overwhelmed parent to claim a few moments of sanity!
ROTATING TOYS
Divide their toys into tubs/baskets/containers so they don't have access to all of their toys every day. Hide them in a closet or a room they don't have access to. Out of sight, out of mind. Then rotate the toys. I bring out a different tub every morning or whenever they become whiny/bored and it works wonders because they have renewed interest in their toys. I've found that at least 4 days is the ideal amount of time to "hide" a toy.
SWITCH IT UP!
Sometimes I change where the toys are kept that they have access to. I'll switch the contents of cubbies and containers around, or move the ballpit balls from one place to another. They often play with toys they haven't touched in days if they discover it in a new spot. It's fun to watch them "find" and rediscover forgotten items.
I often change which toys are kept in which room. Since we have 3 toddlers, we have childproofed our living room, our enclosed porch and a part of our lower level. When they start to get antsy, I herd them outside or into a new space with other toys. Often, changing the environment helps as much as changing the activity. More on that in part 2 and 3 of this series of posts.
CLEAN-UP SONGS AND GAMES
Before naptime and bedtime, we sing a clean-up song while I try to put things away. They don't always help me, but they're starting to help more often and for longer periods. Oh, those short toddler attention spans! Sometimes they'll put things away without prompting, and say in a sing-songy voice, "clea-mup... clea-mup!" just to dump them out again. This, of course, is what toddlers do best and is a worthwhile endeavor too. Just not as much fun for me.
But I do think it's starting to sink in. It helps them "categorize" and learn to search for items, and follow instructions. E.g. "Let's clean up all of the blocks. Oh, look, there's a block behind the teddy bear. Can you bring it to me?"
Let's pack up all of the red balls! (Hold up a red ball.)
Oooh, can you find all of the teddy bears among the soft toys?
This game is endless, depending on the characteristics you point out and your level of patience.
YOUR JUNK IS A TODDLER'S TREASURE
Our kids have way too many toys, but sometimes all it takes is a bunch of plastic containers. It can be your Tupperware, or not. Sometimes the bigger yogurt containers make excellent toys, because they can:
- fill them and dump the contents
- attempt to open and close the lids
- bang on them like a drum
Plastic bottles.
We rinse small soda/juice bottles, remove the labels and lid (choking hazard) and hand them a bunch of straws. Our kids have spent a solid 30 minutes inserting straws into soda bottles and dumping them out again. Great for dexterity and working on fine motor skills. Of course, this is a closely supervised activity because of the straws.
Wooden spoons. These make great mallets to bang on stuff.
Stainless mixing bowls (oh, shiny object!)
Measuring cups. They have three different sets of stacking cups, but my measuring cups are more interesting to them because they are stainless steel and have handles.
Colorful tins with pictures.
BOXES
Keep big boxes. We go through so many diapers (sorry, planet Earth, as much as I wanted to, I ended up not having it in me to clothdiaper three). We always have big diaper boxes on hand. These make awesome toys to climb on top of, sit on, climb into, and dump stuff into and out of. We've pushed them around the house in the boxes too, making swoosh!, zoom!, brrrm! and beep beep noises. They also like pushing them around more than their expensive push toys.
AIR MATTRESS
In our former life, we used to go camping. Now the air mattress is an excellent way to spend 30 minutes on a rainy day getting some exercise. Jumping at this age is a critical skill to learn, and when your kids have gross motor delays, it serves a very important purpose while having fun.
PLAY KITCHEN
We purchased a play kitchen from Craigslist for $60 (it retails for over $300.)
TUB CONTENTS
We have tubs with:
1. Small animals.
Some are finger puppets, some are plastic toys, some are bathtime animals, and some are soft toys.
2. Tiny little books.
They love books and have board books out all the time, but what makes these books special is that they're tiny and fit neatly into a tin that I wanted to discard but decided on a whim to keep. The tin has kept them almost as busy as any other toy, trying to open and close it, bang it, put other stuff in it. And they discover these books anew every time they play with this tub. Because there are sooo many of the little books, they never get tired of them.
3. Wooden blocks and stacking toys.
4. Puzzles with handles.
They still can't get them in by themselves, but we talk about the pictures on the puzzles (mostly anmimals) and try to match them to their "friends." I make silly farm animal or wild animal noises, tell them about the animals, and talk about what each animal eats or does.
They now get it right 100% of the time, although for the longest time I thought they weren't really into puzzles. I just kept at it and now they love it. Don't expect them to finish the puzzle, but praise praise praise if they point to the matching object, or attempt to bring the piece to where it belongs. The girls occasionally get a piece fully into the puzzle, and they're so proud of themselves when it slips into place.
5. Hand puppets.
Some are cheap washcloth "mittens" with animals on them (duck, seal, frog), but we also have an "Assemble a monster" toy. It's a velcro hand puppet made of fleece with different eyes/noses/horns/arms/legs that you can velcro anywhere on the hand puppet.
We make funny noises for each monster. Their monsters give hugs and kisses, are fed "milk" and whatever they can dream up, and sometimes do unexpected un-girly like things, like burp and then we giggle and talk about what to say. "Monster, when you burp, you need to say, 'Excuse me!' Teaching the monster is so much more fun than whining at my kids about manners! And they learn without feeling like I'm admonishing them. Goodness knows, they get preached out all day long, "No! Don't touch that!" "That's not a toy!" "That's dangerous!" "That's sharp/hot/dirty (fill in the blank)" so it's a wonderful change of pace when I discover a fun and effective way of getting the same message across.
>> UPCOMING POSTS:
- Backyard activities with toddlers
- Activities in the community
- I'd like to compile a list of their favorite purchased toys (with links to examples) and will post that soon.
>> QUESTIONS:
With the girls' 2nd birthday coming up soon, what were some of your kids' favorite toys at age 2? Or if you have a toddler or are around toddlers, what have you seen them play with most?
>> If you have any tips to keep toddlers occupied, please share. We're always on the lookout for ideas. My sanity depends on it. (Yes, all about me.)
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Attachment, and reflections on personality
Attachment to Blankets
The girls are very attached to their "blankies" and "bershies" as they affectionaly call them. The blankets receive numerous hugs, are sometimes "fed" milk from a sippy, stroked, soothed, kissed, and are on the receiving end of the sweetest, whispered, "I love you, bershie" words.
The blankets remain inside the house, and they now say their goodbyes to the blankets at the top of the stairs each morning when we head outside. So cute.
Attachment to Toys
On the soft toy front, each child has a favorite lovey. Ada has an Otter, "Otterjasie" Julia has a panda, "Pandamonium" and Emma has a puppy, "Ore." The soft toys sleep with them, and are always near during the day. When we head out the door, the soft toys go along for the ride, whether it's in the car, the stroller or the Choo Choo wagon. Oh, how I love the sweetness of toddlerhood, when every fear can be assuaged by a lovey.
Lovey Personalities
Julia feeds Pandamonium "bamboo" from her sippy cup or spoon, and has squeezed him and loved on him that he's a shadow of his former self.
Julia insists that he understands English only. Whenever she has him in her arms and I'm speaking Afrikaans, she says to me, "Panda... English!" and then I have to repeat whatever I said in English, for the panda's benefit, you see. Cracks me up every time. She also laughs when I start speaking English to him. This child absolutely loves language. She has totally figured out that each object has at least two names. If I only give her the one name for something, she'll request to hear it in the other language. Blows me away.
Emma loves on her puppy all day long. She whispers sweet nothings in the puppy's ears, pets him, hugs him to death, and strokes his head. Puppy is often covered with her blanket and rocked to sleep. It's really sweet to watch her express her love. She's very gentle and sweet with puppy, and it reflects our most sensitive child's personality. She is most attached to her blanket and sucks on it to soothe herself, but the puppy is never far from her either.
Ada's otter uses his tail to tickle her feet. She makes him do that - it's not something I showed her. She says, "tick tick tick" and giggles. She greets him with, "More Otter" ("Morning, Otter") every morning when she wakes up. Ada loves her otter, but is not as attached to him as her sisters are to their lovies. Everything Otterjasie does reflects Ada's fun-loving, outgoing, confident personality.
Sharing Lovies
Every now and then one child will pick up all 3 lovies, and express their undying love for all 3. This is usually only "tolerated" for a minute or two at a time by her sisters, before someone reclaims their soft toy. If someone picks up the "wrong" soft toy on purpose, the owner will reclaim it by handing her sister the "right" soft toy.
The girls are very attached to their "blankies" and "bershies" as they affectionaly call them. The blankets receive numerous hugs, are sometimes "fed" milk from a sippy, stroked, soothed, kissed, and are on the receiving end of the sweetest, whispered, "I love you, bershie" words.
The blankets remain inside the house, and they now say their goodbyes to the blankets at the top of the stairs each morning when we head outside. So cute.
Attachment to Toys
On the soft toy front, each child has a favorite lovey. Ada has an Otter, "Otterjasie" Julia has a panda, "Pandamonium" and Emma has a puppy, "Ore." The soft toys sleep with them, and are always near during the day. When we head out the door, the soft toys go along for the ride, whether it's in the car, the stroller or the Choo Choo wagon. Oh, how I love the sweetness of toddlerhood, when every fear can be assuaged by a lovey.
Lovey Personalities
Julia feeds Pandamonium "bamboo" from her sippy cup or spoon, and has squeezed him and loved on him that he's a shadow of his former self.
Julia insists that he understands English only. Whenever she has him in her arms and I'm speaking Afrikaans, she says to me, "Panda... English!" and then I have to repeat whatever I said in English, for the panda's benefit, you see. Cracks me up every time. She also laughs when I start speaking English to him. This child absolutely loves language. She has totally figured out that each object has at least two names. If I only give her the one name for something, she'll request to hear it in the other language. Blows me away.
Emma loves on her puppy all day long. She whispers sweet nothings in the puppy's ears, pets him, hugs him to death, and strokes his head. Puppy is often covered with her blanket and rocked to sleep. It's really sweet to watch her express her love. She's very gentle and sweet with puppy, and it reflects our most sensitive child's personality. She is most attached to her blanket and sucks on it to soothe herself, but the puppy is never far from her either.
Ada's otter uses his tail to tickle her feet. She makes him do that - it's not something I showed her. She says, "tick tick tick" and giggles. She greets him with, "More Otter" ("Morning, Otter") every morning when she wakes up. Ada loves her otter, but is not as attached to him as her sisters are to their lovies. Everything Otterjasie does reflects Ada's fun-loving, outgoing, confident personality.
Sharing Lovies
Every now and then one child will pick up all 3 lovies, and express their undying love for all 3. This is usually only "tolerated" for a minute or two at a time by her sisters, before someone reclaims their soft toy. If someone picks up the "wrong" soft toy on purpose, the owner will reclaim it by handing her sister the "right" soft toy.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
4-word sentences
First off, let me confess: we don't bathe our kids every night. *gasp* Last night was a non-bath night. My husband came home just around bedtime, and the girls were desperate for some dad attention. In our temporary home, he is the one who bathes them, because my back can't handle it. (I used to just jump in the tub with them, but our temporary house has a tiny bathroom and even tinier bath.)
Ada's genius solution to spend more time with dad? Her first 4-word sentence ever: "Ada vuil - pappa bad" which translates to: "Ada dirty - daddy bath" What a clever stalling tactic before bed! Her exact wish wasn't granted, but her daddy did scoop her and her sisters up and gave them some extra hugs and playtime before bed. Too sweet.
This morning, Emma said, "Pappa gone. Work. Mamma home."
I just love this newfound level of communication they have with stringing words together. It's lovely to hear them express themselves, to find out what's going on in their heads, and for me to be able to talk in complete sentences, and know that they're grasping what I'm saying.
There is so much chattering happening now that I find myself saying, "Hang on. One at a time. What did you say? (pointing to child)" I chuckle as I'm writing this, just imagining the preteen and teen years. Oh.my.word! And already, they're on their play phones constantly.
I'm seeing more tantrums, less patience, more exerting of their wills, and more typical 2-year old behavior. So I've started to offer them choices, and picking my battles. For example, when getting them dressed, I'll ask, "the pink shorts or the blue shorts?" Now, whenever I bring their clothes, Julia says, "Julia choose (shorts/dress/pants/shirt)!" like she's expressing first dibs on selecting. Classic! Simply awesome to watch their personalities develop and to watch them learn new skills.
Ada: independent, tinkering, exhuberant, loves exploring stuff
Julia: daredevil, social butterfly, loves jumping, climbing and singing.
Emma: gentle, cautious, loves reading and running full tilt.
The above is what they would naturally gravitate to if we aren't doing any structured activity.
All of them enjoy reading, singing, dancing and being around people, and are extremely observant. They note things that they hear, see or smell, that would just otherwise pass me by. Through them, I've become much more aware of other aspects of our world. The crickets chirping, the wind blowing, an airplane passing overhead...
Ada's genius solution to spend more time with dad? Her first 4-word sentence ever: "Ada vuil - pappa bad" which translates to: "Ada dirty - daddy bath" What a clever stalling tactic before bed! Her exact wish wasn't granted, but her daddy did scoop her and her sisters up and gave them some extra hugs and playtime before bed. Too sweet.
This morning, Emma said, "Pappa gone. Work. Mamma home."
I just love this newfound level of communication they have with stringing words together. It's lovely to hear them express themselves, to find out what's going on in their heads, and for me to be able to talk in complete sentences, and know that they're grasping what I'm saying.
There is so much chattering happening now that I find myself saying, "Hang on. One at a time. What did you say? (pointing to child)" I chuckle as I'm writing this, just imagining the preteen and teen years. Oh.my.word! And already, they're on their play phones constantly.
I'm seeing more tantrums, less patience, more exerting of their wills, and more typical 2-year old behavior. So I've started to offer them choices, and picking my battles. For example, when getting them dressed, I'll ask, "the pink shorts or the blue shorts?" Now, whenever I bring their clothes, Julia says, "Julia choose (shorts/dress/pants/shirt)!" like she's expressing first dibs on selecting. Classic! Simply awesome to watch their personalities develop and to watch them learn new skills.
Ada: independent, tinkering, exhuberant, loves exploring stuff
Julia: daredevil, social butterfly, loves jumping, climbing and singing.
Emma: gentle, cautious, loves reading and running full tilt.
The above is what they would naturally gravitate to if we aren't doing any structured activity.
All of them enjoy reading, singing, dancing and being around people, and are extremely observant. They note things that they hear, see or smell, that would just otherwise pass me by. Through them, I've become much more aware of other aspects of our world. The crickets chirping, the wind blowing, an airplane passing overhead...
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