Little Person Encounter

At the grocery store today, Alyssa was watching a gentleman put stuff away.  He just so happens to be a little person.  Loudly she says to Daddy, “Look Daddy, that man is small!”  The man heard her and approached the shopping cart.  He said, “That’s right, I am small.  I was born that way.”  Then he said, “Well, you’re small too!  How about a high five?”  She was afraid and wouldn’t give him a high five.

Children are so honest when it comes to simple observations.  Sometimes, it can even be embarrassing to parents.  She’s already pointed out the difference in skin colors and asks what’s wrong with people if there’s something different about them.  Sometimes I try not to respond in attempt not to draw attention to her, but if she’s persistent I politely explain without making the situation even more embarrassing.  I hope she learns discretion sooner rather than later.

Puzzled?

Alyssa’s love for puzzles is fascinating.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  I remember when she used to get frustrated with board puzzles and they were only 9 pieces.  When she finally mastered them, she was so proud.  “Look, Daddy!  I did it!” she’d exclaim.

A week ago we decided to move up to 25 piece puzzles.  These are standard puzzles with oversized pieces.  We picked Cars and Care Bears to start.  At first, she would get frustrated and ask for help.  I explained that you have to look at the picture and find the rest of the piece.  I also tried to explain that the puzzle makes a rectangle with the flat edges out.  It didn’t take long for her to get the hang of it.  It now takes her about 15 minutes to solve a puzzle by herself!  So, we picked up a Dora puzzle and a Disney Princess puzzle that creates three stand-up princesses.

The princess puzzles vary in difficulty and do not have a standard edge.  I thought they were going to be too hard for her, but she did it!  The fascinating part is how she goes about solving the puzzle.  She divides them first by color to separate the princesses.  Then, she picks one piece and tries all of the others in that spot until she finds a match.  She talks to herself and says things like “No, this doesn’t go here.” and “Where’s Belle’s hand?”  I watched in amazement.  I think we’ll be looking for puzzles with 50 pieces soon.

I never realized how beneficial puzzles are for young children.  They provide brain food for little minds.  Puzzles help children develop a range of skills such as eye movement, eye-hand coordination, and concentration.  They teach self-confidence and problem solving.  They learn to isolate colors and search for designs and shapes.  They make mistakes and learn from them.  They stimulate the thinking side of the brain and force them to focus on problem solving skills such as process and logic.  They are experimenting with process and learning which way works best for them.  Upon completion of a puzzle, they have a sense of achievement.  All of these skills can be transferred to every area of a child’s life.

Additionally, it’s a great way to entertain your child with something other than television or cartoons.  It’s amazing when you see them so focused on completing a task and so proud to accomplish it.  It’s rewarding for both the parent and child.  If you haven’t introduced puzzles yet, I highly recommend it.  You too will be puzzled!

Shower Baths

I didn’t realize how exciting it was to take “shower baths.”  I let Alyssa take a shower one time and now she requests “shower baths” instead of regular bubble baths.  She absolutely loves turning on the shower and standing under the water.  She loves it so much that she doesn’t want to get out!  I have to keep telling her, “just a few more minutes.”

When we’re in a time crunch, I don’t mind because that means we’re in, washed, and out.  However, for three years I’ve thoroughly enjoyed our bath-side conversations.  It was our alone time together, a special time for mother/daughter bonding.  We’d play games, sing, paint with soap paints, spell stuff with foam letters, blow bubbles, and practice floating.  Could it be that she’s outgrown all of this?  Is she just excited to try something new?  Or, is this a sign of independence because she feels she’s doing it by herself?

I’m not ready to give up this time just yet.  Bath time has been such an important part of our nighttime routine.  I strongly recommend the Four B’s of bedtime:  bath, bottle, book, bed (in that order).  Our routine usually takes an hour, but my daughter has slept through the night since she was three weeks old.  Once she was too old for the bottle, we continued with bath, book, and bed.  We have been very consistent with the routine starting at 7:00 p.m. and she’s asleep by 8:00-8:30 p.m.  She knows what to expect and has grown to enjoy it… and we have grown to enjoy the piece and quiet!

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

It’s amazing when your child begins to hold you accountable for all the things you tell them not to do.  This morning, we were eating breakfast at the table and my daughter says, “Don’t talk to me with your mouth full!”  I said, “What?” and looked at her kind of puzzled.  She repeated, “Don’t talk with cereal in your mouth.”  And so it begins… 

We are always quick to teach our kids the right way, but often don’t realize that we do the things we tell them not to do.  I’ve always been very careful about not saying curse words or doing things that I wouldn’t want her to mimic.   Yet, it’s the little things we do everyday without realizing it that they notice.  They are little sponges soaking up the world around them.

This is a new beginning, a time to be very careful about the things I do and say.  It’s time to walk the talk and, if I don’t, I’m sure little mom will be right there to remind me.

Sniff...Sniff... I Smell Something!

I had planned on making cookies with Alyssa tonight, but time got away from us.  She had her bath and wanted to play with daddy on the computer.  While they were occupied, I decided to make chocolate chip cookies.  I whipped up a batch and put them in the oven.  When Alyssa was done with Daddy, she was walked into the living room and said, “Mommy, what you makin’ for dinner?”  I said it was nothing and tried to turn her around towards her room to get ready for bed.  She stopped and started sniffing.  She then said, “I smell something!” and started walking towards the kitchen.  I tried to divert her, but she kept sniffing and was looking around the oven.  When she saw the tray of cookies she said, “Those are cookies!”  I started cracking up laughing.  I joked that she was like the pokey little puppy who could smell when mommy was making something good for dessert.  I told her they were a surprise and that she could have one tomorrow after school.  She bought it and went in her room to get ready for bed. 

We finished our bedtime routine and she asked to snuggle with Daddy.  Daddy went in and said good night and Alyssa said, “I’m mad!”  He asked her what she was mad about and she said, “I’m just mad!”  He asked again why she was so mad and she said, “I am mad that Mommy made cookies and I can still smell them.”

Life's a Bowl of Sketti

Dora the Explorer is great for teaching counting, colors, shapes, and even learning Spanish.  However, it’s the silly things that kids remember and mimic.  The first thing Alyssa learned was how to swipe things like Swiper the Fox and take off running.  She now says, “You’re not going to get your now.  Hee, hee, hee.” 

Recently, she started singing nursery rhymes with the wrong lyrics.  The singing bridge in the Dora Pirate Adventure is broken, so the kids have to help pick which songs are correct.  The wrong versions are so silly that these are the versions she now remembers and prefers to sing.

Twinkle, twinkle little star

How I wonder what you

Want for breakfast…

Old McDonald had a farm

E-I-E-I-O

And, on the farm he had some pants

Oye, Oye, Oye

Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

Life’s a bowl of sketti (spaghetti)

Kid for Sale!

What do you do when your kid climbs in a display window at the mall?  You take a picture! Luckily, the sales clerks were nowhere to be seen.  After I took the picture, I told her not to do that again.  Yeah, like that was real convincing after telling her to smile for a picture.

We've been having some stroller issues.  She'll ride in the stroller, but she doesn't want to be buckled in.  When she sees something she wants to check out, she then bails out of the stroller to go take a look.  Shopping is no longer fun when I'm constantly battling with her to stay in her stroller.  Is this a glimpse of what is to come?  Are the stroller days really over?  I'm sure going to miss them.