PS-It's babywearing week!

I totally spaced and forgot that this week has been International Babywearing Week. Yeah...I'm such a slacker. I did a whole week of posts when it was International Breastfeeding Week. I guess because I don't wear Bug as often any more (he is so independent and prefers to walk) that I haven't been as dedicated to the babywearing community.

HOWEVER...I did want to just put in a little plug about how great it is to wear your baby. It makes life so much easier. Babies (and toddlers, usually) love to be close to mommy. Close enough to kiss. And I think mommies love to have their little ones close, too. It was also a pleasure for me to wear Bug in a sling or a wrap (my favorite carriers for a young baby). I loved to pat his little butt and smell his sweet head. And then, once Bug was older, I loved carrying him in a Mei Tai. It is so sweet when he falls asleep while tied onto me. Honestly, I opted to get a convertible car seat rather than an infant car seat, so I wouldn't even be tempted to carry Bug around in the seat.

If you are interested in babywearing, I would recommend WearYourBaby.com. It is my favorite website for all your babywearing needs. It has information on all different types of carriers, how to make your own carriers, how to use your carriers, and much more! Go check it out, and wear your babies close enough to kiss!

Family Visit

I know I've been slacking a little bit on posting lately. This past week I've had too many real laments (as in the mommy meltdown, psycho woman, not-so-funny ones) and I just don't feel like they should be put on this blog...at least not until I can laugh at myself!

And the blogging slump isn't going to get any better this coming week. My older sister and her husband are coming into town from NYC tonight! I'm so excited that they will be here this next week. My older sister was my best friend growing up. It is hard sometimes to not be able to see her and chat with her whenever I want. But this week I will get everything in that I can (and she and her husband love to have fun, so we are going to get a lot into our schedule!)

So, don't miss me too much. I may try to squeeze some hilarity in when I can!

Contribute 2009

I've mentioned before that my parents are now Scentsy consultants (I think, have I mentioned that???) They sell scented wax that is warmed by special ceramic warmers and a light bulb. Scentsy consultants are each considered small business owners. Scentsy (I wonder how many times I will have to type that word out throughout this post) has put together a campaign to support small, local businesses. The campaign is called Contribute 2009, Big Help for Small Business. On October 12th, all those who want to participate will spend $50 or more at a small business to help out. Please consider making a pledge to help this wonderful cause! [Click the button for more information.]

Somersault

Bug often bends over while standing and puts his head and hands right on the ground by his feet. I always try to get him to do a somersault, because he is so close to doing one on his own. All it will take is a little push from his feet, and then he will be able to do it all by himself.

We all know how well kids learn by example. So, I helped Bug do a couple somersaults. Then...I tried to do one myself. I guess, technically, I succeeded. But, holy mackerel, I think I nearly broke my body! I never thought of myself as "getting old"...most people still think of me as a baby! But I can tell you one thing: my tumbling days are behind me!

Boobs, Bleach and Blood

I used to go to my grandma's house all the time (yeah, that one). And, you know how grandmas are...she was making some homemade chocolate pudding. (Personally, I don't like homemade pudding, because it gets that layer of rubber on the top after it has cooled.) Anyway, she was standing there, stirring her pudding and chatting to me and some of my cousins. As she went to taste the pudding, a huge glob of it dropped off the spoon...right onto her large chest.

Now, you must understand. Most of the women on the paternal side of my family are rather well endowed. Ok, actually, they're enormous. Luckily? Unfortunately? I was blessed with a little bit of those genes. Sometimes I joke and say I got my boobs from my dad (because that is the side of the family they came from...not because my dad is large and has them himself...he doesn't. Actually, until my dad went to nursing school several years ago, he was quite scrawny.) Again, I digress.

So, my cousins and I all burst out laughing when that glob of pudding landed on gram's most available tarmac. And that day, I think grandma put a curse on my barely bulging, jr. high aged body. She told us all, as she wiped as much chocolate as she could off of her white shirt, that it wasn't funny, and we'd all have the same daggone problem in the short future. (She told us all this in not quite those same words. But there is no way to effectively put grandma into a blog!)

Fast forward to years after that pudding event. Grandma was right. I have made mountains out of mole hills. And every shirt has a toothpaste stain to prove it.

Oh, and there's that one shirt....that brand spankin' new brown one that I loved instantly....that has bleach. Right on the bosom. I didn't even have that shirt on when I used the bleach! Which brings me to my next topic. Bleach has magical powers. No, not for its cleaning ability. But for its ability to get EVERYWHERE even hours after the bottle was closed again. Not only did I find a spot of bleach on my new shirt. I found a spot on my bedsheets. The bleach is on the opposite side of the apartment from my bed!!! How on earth did those bleach spots get there. (Oh, and I KNOW the spots didn't happen while I was washing those sheets.)

It may have just been the fault of the sheets though. I bet they were begging to get stained. Calling all the stain-able liquids to them, pied piper style. Because, you know what? Later that night, the hubby got a random bloody nose. And after he had rushed to the bathroom, I noticed a couple small drops of blood, just a foot away from those daggone bleach stains.

The ultimate excuse

I use one excuse for almost all of Bug's terrible antics: teething. Well, that and "he's tired". If he is sick, he must be teething. If he is a downright cranky terror, he must be teething. If he is drooling profusely, he must be teething. If he has a diaper rash, he must be teething. And, you know what, more often than not, he actually has a tooth pop out shortly after the "teething symptoms". I guess it helps that at his age, kids are ALWAYS getting new teeth. I honestly don't know what excuse I will give him once he has a mouth full of teeth. But, for now, I am blaming it all on teething. Bug has 11 teeth now. And one tender bubble where tooth number 12 is working its way out of his gums. (Yeah, that explains a lot.)

Really, sometimes I just can't handle my long days spent with a cranky toddler! I should be more understanding to his feelings. If he is whiny and clingy and fussy and angry because he has sore gums, I should show him more love. But, even if he is whiny and clingy and fussy and angry for some other reason, I should still love him.

What do you other moms do when you have a super cranky toddler?

Defiant Little Devil

Bug is quite your typical toddler. That means that he never listens to me and he is almost always disobedient. Sometimes, I wonder if he even really understands me. But then he is naughty after I KNOW he understood me, and I realize that he is being disobedient on purpose.

The other day, we went to our friendly, neighborhood grocery store as a family. After we got all of our groceries down the checkout belt, the hubby (who had been holding Bug) passed Bug off to me so he could pay. I put Bug back into the seat of our cart, squirming and fighting. I told him that it was ok, and that we were going to go home. Then, I told him to give me a kiss. And, as I leaned down with my lips puckered, Bug slapped my face. I sharply told him, "NO!" and that what he did wasn't nice. I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a young lady laughing at the exchange. It actually made me really mad to see someone laughing at my uncontrollable toddler. I guess I could look back at that situation and laugh. But, part of me looks back at that situation and wonders, how the heck do I get Bug to be nice and kind and obedient!?!

Elizabeth Pantley, (author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution and other books) has some fantastic ideas for how to get toddlers to be a little more obedient in her book, Kid Cooperation. This excerpt, called Get Your Toddler to Co-Operate! is from her book Kid Cooperation:

Toddlers and preschoolers require finesse to gain their
cooperation, because they have not yet reached the age at
which they can see and understand the whole picture, so simply
explaining what you want doesn’t always work. Robert Scotellaro is
quoted in The Funny Side of Parenthood as saying, “Reasoning with
a two-year-old is about as productive as changing seats on the
Titanic.” (He must have had a two-year-old at the time.)

You can get around this frustrating state of affairs by changing your
approach. Let’s look at two situations – first the typical (Titanic)
way:

Parent: David! Time to change your diaper.
David:No! (As he runs off)
Parent: Come on honey. It’s time to leave, I need to change you.
David: (Giggles and hides behind sofa)
Parent: David, this isn’t funny. It’s getting late. Come here.
David: (Doesn’t hear a word. Sits down to do a puzzle.)
Parent: Come here! (Gets up and approaches David)
David: (Giggles and runs)
Parent: (Picking up David) Now lie here. Stop squirming! Lie still.
Will you stop this!
(As parent turns to pick up a new diaper, a little bare bottom is
running away)

I’m sure you’ve all been there. Oh, and by the way, David is my son.
And this was an actual scene recorded in his baby book. Like you, I
got very tired of this. Then I discovered a better way:

Parent:(Picking up diaper and holding it like a puppet, making it
talk in a silly, squeaky voice)
Hi David! I’m Dilly Diaper! Come here and play with me!
David:(Running over to Diaper) Hi Dilly!
Parent as Diaper: You’re a nice boy. Will you give me a kiss?
David:Y es. (Gives diaper a kiss)
Parent as Diaper: How ‘bout a nice hug?
David: (Giggles and hugs Diaper)
Parent as Diaper: Lie right here next to me. Right here. Yup. Can I
go on you? Oh yes?!
Goody goody goody! (The diaper chats with David while he’s being
changed. Then it says, Oh, David! Listen, I hear your shoes calling
you – David! David!

The most amazing thing about this trick is that it works over and
over and over and over. You’ll keep thinking, “He’s not honestly
going to fall for this again?” But he will! Probably the nicest byproduct
of this method is that it gets you in a good mood and you
have a little fun time with your child.

When you’ve got a toddler this technique is a pure lifesaver.
When my son David was little I used this all the time. (I then used
it with my youngest child, Coleton, and it worked just as well.)
Remembering back to one day, when David was almost three, we
were waiting in a long line at the grocery store and I was making
my hand talk to him. It was asking him questions about the items
in the cart. Suddenly, he hugged my hand, looked up at me and
said, “Mommy, I love for you to pretend this hand is talking.”
Another parent reported that she called her toddler to the table for
dinner a number of times, when he calmly looked up at her, chubby
hands on padded hips and said, “Mommy, why don’t you have my
dinner call to me?”

And suddenly, the peas on his plate came to life and called out to
him; he ran over to join the family at the dinner table.

A variation on this technique, that also works very well, is to
capitalize on a young child’s vivid imagination as a way to thwart
negative emotions. Pretend to find a trail of caterpillars on the way
to the store, hop to the car like a bunny, or pretend a carrot gives
you magic powers as you eat it.

It’s delightful to see how a potentially negative situation can be
turned into a fun experience by changing a child’s focus to fun and
fantasy.

And it is so true...when I make things fun for Bug, he is so much more willing to cooperate with me. It becomes a game, and what toddler doesn't love to play a game with mommy?? (By the way, I think that Titanic diaper scenario should be renamed the "Mommy tries to change Bug's diaper" scenario!) Perhaps, as I learn to employ more entertaining ways of teaching Bug, he will be more willing to give me kisses in the grocery store!