Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Experiences

This post will be very picture heavy... but here are some of the activities Dax and I have done over the past couple weeks...

1: Lots and lots of pretend play. Over the past couple weeks he has turned a corner in really participating in some pretend play. He talks to babies, his cars talk to each other, and he is now doing cooperative play with Daniel and I. He is still working on this skill because he definitely gets frustrated at least once a day because we're not doing what his little mind is wanting us to do. He's thinking a lot faster than he can communicate with us.... so we're working on using our words. It's a whole new world for him.
  2. Lots of ramps and block play!  My very favorite thing to do with kids for sure. They just learn so many skills through ramps and blocks and I'm seeing it everyday at home. The problems solving he is having to do is unreal, and he's been testing different things to see how they "roll" down (the second image is him trying to roll a square block). We're big into rolling cars, marbles, and his little wooden balls.  His pretend play is also really coming out in his block building too. He's bringing his animals into play, his cars into play, and even acting out his favorite story (the three little pigs) with them.
3. Art is still one of our favorite things to do! I set up an experience for him using paint and his basket of natural materials I leave on his table for him. He started just painting with his brush but quickly picked a rock out of the basket, painted it, and then used it to make a mark on his page. He did this with a few different rocks and it was awesome to watch! Each rock made a different print... it was super cool to see him make a print, look at the rock, touch the rock, and try to figure out what exactly was going on. He's like the epitome of a sensory learner so painting his hands is still a favorite thing to do. I also threw in a little aluminum foil and canvas for him to paint on this week to mix things up :)
4. Cooking! Daxton loves helping and is always pretending to cook so I thought I would let him help me make pizza for dinner last night! He absolutely loved it. I wrote a recipe for us to follow.... so we read the directions, followed them step by step, and he helped with every detail of making the pizza.
 5. Letters! We are still running full speed with letters! He is learning them so fast! He can now spell his name when you ask him, knows quite a few letters, is pointing them out in books, and is now running his fingers along the words in books while he pretends to read (!!!).  I ordered these great Montessori books online and we've been using the letter one a lot! It's really cool because it introduces each letter by the sound that it makes and the letters inside are tactile so they can trace the letters with their fingers and learn the feel for it. We've been talking about the lines and curves of each letter and I think it's helping a lot . The second image is something I made him last week to learn his name. Within 2 days of playing with this he had his name down. He loves this!
And the next photos include a project we did yesterday. We collected rocks, took them in and washed them (Dax poured the soap and scrubbed each rock), and then I painted letters on them with acrylic paint (apparently you can also do this with sharpie but decided to go with paint). I did a set with all capital letters and a set with all lower case letters. Then I got a couple empty egg cartons (yes I keep "trash" like egg cartons laying around the house) and printed a letter on each slot.  He'll be able to use these as a matching activity s well as just a hands on movable alphabet that he can explore with. I love these!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

The 52 Project

 My biggest purpose in this blog is to document Daxton as he grows. I use it as a sort of "baby book" with intentions of one day printing pages and sticking them in a binder for him.

I also know that I do really well with set deadlines/plans/goals.

So with those two ideas in mind.... I decided to join the 52 project at a blog I read, Che' and Fidel.

With this project I'll capture a single photo of Daxton a week.... an expression, detail, moment, etc that I want to remember.

So by the end of the year... I'll have 52 wonderful pictures of moments I want to remember to make a scrapbook of.  I'm starting on the fourth week in so today I'll post my first 3 pictures from previous weeks... and then this weeks pictures.

1/52
Double chins and remote control cars for the first time
 
2/52



Curious chunky fingers

3/52
Choo choo trains and monkey jammies

4/52
 Tiny sunglasses, scarves, and froggy hats. 
He got told at Chic'fil'a, "that kids awesome!!" by a 7ish year old boy



Thursday, January 24, 2013

My TV Doctor

Today's Thursday!!! Which means I'm linking up with Medicine: A Love Story!!!  Today's question
is....
Medicine: A Love Story
"Which fictional doctor is your significant other most like?"

I was super excited when I saw this question because while my husband hates them, I'm a super big sucker for doctor TV shows. So I quickly ran through my entire list of doctors from my ridiculously long list of doctor TV shows to come up with the perfect fit for my hubby....
but it was tougher than I thought. 

Then I went on to read this question out loud to myself in deep thought and from the other room I hear this response..
"McSteeeeeamy!" 
He doesn't think highly of himself or anything ;)

I couldn't narrow it down to just one.... so I have aspects of three different doctors that if somehow they had a love child... it would come out to be my husband.

Doctor #1. Dr. David Sawyer (The New Normal): 
 Before I start with the similarities, I start with the one major difference... Dr. Sawyer is obviously gay.... where my husband is obviously not. But other than that one minor factor (my husband is loooving me for this one I'm sure) they have quite a bit in common. Both are overthinkers (for sure), both love their family (definitely), both love football (maybe a little too much), and both love a nice adult beverage every now and then.

Doctor #2. Dr. Cooper Freedman (Private Practice): 
 Side note I am super super sad that Tuesday was the last episode and I may start the show over from the beginning on netflix. Alright so Dr. Cooper Freedman and my hubby..... both are extremely passionate about their job, both have huge hearts, both love their family and taking care of their family, and while both are serious when they need to be, they are also pretty goofy and funny as well.

And Doctor #3. Dr. Jackson Avery (Greys Anatomy): 
 First things first... they're both surgeons. Next they both hard working, driven, and eager and don't let what other think or say stand in the way of what they want to do. Both are competitive, confident, stubborn, and like to give the people around them a hard time. But the biggest comparison is.... drum roll..... their dreamy blue eyes, amazing smile,  and the size of crush this woman has on them (did that make up for the Dr. Sawyer comparison babe?)

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Matthew 6:34

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

This is going to be the motto of my life for the next 4-5 months that's for sure.

Our calender is quickly filling up with award dinners, match day activities, commencements, graduations, etc...
And then there's Valentines Day, birthdays, and graduation gifts... 
And don't forget things like our lease ending at our current house in April, not getting to close on a house (in who knows where) until late May/June, packing our entire house, finding a storage unit, changing addresses and accounts to a completely new state....
oh, and there's this little person that depends on me 24/7 to take care of him and teach him... can't forget that...
also the fact that Daniel is getting ready to start a rural rotation where he'll be gone M-F.... leaving just me and said little person....
 
and last but not least... the stress that the "unknown" has on me... a person who likes to have a set plan all.the.time.


So if we're ever chitchatting between now and the end of May... or you just feel like sending me a sweet message, comment, or email.... please remind me to enjoy the process as well. To take each moment day by day. And to not worry about tomorrow. Thanks friends

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Take that Mom

Dax gave me a big fat slap in the face this past week. Not literally a "slap in the face" (which I may not put it past him) but instead a slap that put me back in my place and reminded me of the things I was taught in collage.

Our boy.... who can count to 20, tell you every shape possible, remember things you told him once 3 months ago (he seriously does this... must be his fathers son), explores nature, and can question and reason with the best of them still does not know his colors. Two. Two colors is all he knows. Orange & Purple. Really? What kid learns orange and purple before all other colors?  Daniel thinks he's color blind.... but that's another post. I think he's stubborn. We shall see.

But starting out this week I was ready! I was ready to tackle colors head on. We were going to learn those colors and have fun doing it!  We did puzzles with colors on them...
we painted and talked about the colors...

and I even swiped come color chips from walmart and played a "drive your car to this color" game...
which he enjoyed.... but could only get orange and purple. 

But then he slapped me in the face real hard. There's a show on Netflix that he likes called "Super Why" about letters and this week he got really into it and it hit me. 
Stop with the colors... he's not interested.... his window right now is letters!

I was quickly reminded that you have to let children lead their own learning. This is something my classrooms revolved around.... but getting wrapped up in the day to day business at home I forgot to do it with my little boy.  So now we're exploring letters full speed! I saturated the house with letters and am pointing out environmental print even more to him. I wrote letters on his dry erase board, put the letter magnets for his name on the door, and changed his table around in the living room to look like this...
He is pointing letters out everywhere now and is naming a few letters and making the sounds for some as well. All in just 5 days. Because he wanted to learn those skills right now. Right this very minute. Not because I wanted him to or because he "should know those by now".  We went to the store today and he got so excited when he saw "yetters" (mind you he still cant say his L sound) on the outside of the building. When he's playing independently he is pointing out letters to himself. He even created this game tonight on his own....
(pick a letter and let the train run over it while saying, "watch out letter N! The train is coming!")

And it's amazing. The amount he has grown in just 5 days with his early literacy skills is unreal. We'll keep going with letters as long as he wants and see where it takes us....

one day we'll learn colors.... just not right now.







Thursday, January 17, 2013

Linking Up

I'm a big reader of blogs that are written by medical wives since we're right smack dab in the middle of our journey. Well a blog that I recently started reading, Medicine: A Love Story has started a link up on Thursdays.... and I decided I wanted to try to take part in it! I"m hoping to start writing more about our medical journey as the next 5 years are about to get nuts-o so I figured this would be a good starting point.... so here goes nothing!
  
Medicine: A Love Story
This weeks question: What's the most interesting medical fact you've learned vicariously?

Being married to someone in medicine you learn a lot. I mean let's face it.... you're basically a doctor too (Daniel loves it when I say that). A few things super interesting, some things helpful, a lot of things you could care less about, and a ton of things that just make you say "ew". I'll start with a helpful fact I learned.... and then move on to something more exciting.... and "ew" fact.

Helpful fact: As I'm sure most moms were (unless they happen to be in the medical field too), my mom gave Tylenol the second my temperature got to 99.9.  "Got to keep that fever down!"  "Don't want to have a seizure!" Ideas that that were common in my house/family in general (and I still hear them anytime I tell them my little boy has a fever). But since I've been on this medical school journey I now know that fevers are great! Yeah, they mean you're sick, but you want a fever. I means your body is doing what it's suppose to and fighting the infection. So as long as you don't have a history of seizures, you're not in pain, and you're not rockin a temp of over 104..... it's probably safe just to wait out on the Tylenol.  Cue, "You're a crazy lady, I'm given my kid Tylenol right now" faces.  For me that's great knowledge since I don't like using medicine for myself (or little one) unless I absolutely have to :)

Now onto the part you've been waiting for.... my "ew" medical fact.  This will be short and sweet. Because I don't like to think about it....
While eating dinner I was putting butter on some corn on the cob (sometimes it's just necessary to make your healthy food a little less healthy) and Daniel, out of no where says.... "you know what cauterized fat looks like?"  and before I could even say "No...  I rather not know"..... he  splurts out "butter".
Nice babe, nice.


Thursday, January 10, 2013

"Maybe" was the Winner

So update on the last post.....  In the Potty Training vs Maybe battle.....  Maybe won..... this time.

So come day 4 of doing great potty training.... someone had absolutely no interest any more. He was very emotional and whiny. He has 5 teeth coming in (two of which are 2 year old molars) and is also having ear issues so I'm guessing that was part of it. So I didn't push it and we'll wait until March to try again unless he shows interest on his own again (I'm saying March because teething should be over then, he will hopefully have his ear issues resolved by then, and daddy will be back from a month long rotation out of town.).

I was a little bummed because he was doing so good.... but I rather him be completely ready on his own than me push him. 

I'll let you know when we decide to try again :)

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Potty Training.... maybe?

So the title of this blog sums up the last 2 1/2 days for us. We could possibly be in the official business of potty training.... maybe.... we'll see how it goes.
Friday morning I took Daxton's diaper off and let him run around the house naked. I didn't have any intentions on making it a potty training experience... just simply letting him get some fresh air. But when he started peeing while we were playing I hurried and carried him to the potty and he finished up there. From there I decided to try out some naked potty training. I thought "why not".... we have nothing better to do today so we'll see how it goes.
I was completely surprised (that's probably an understatement) at how awesome he did)! By the end of the day on Friday he had peed in the potty over 50% of the time and even got to the point where he would be playing, stop what he was doing, and run to the potty completely on his own.
Saturday morning we were at Target so I bought some underwear just to try out. We put them on him when we got home and quickly found out that naked was the way to go with Dax for now. If he had underwear on he would just pee in them and not think anything about it..... but if he was naked he would stop as soon as the tiniest amount of pee came out and run to the bathroom to finish. Needless to say, Daxton was naked from the waste down again all day Saturday. I was really shocked after nap when he was having snack at the table (still in his diaper from sleeping) and said "mommy i need to go pee) and ran to the bathroom! By the end of the day we had peed mostly in the potty and even went #2 in the potty completely on his own!! (As in came out of the bathroom saying "Mommy I poop").
We're now at Sunday morning and still doing great! As we speak this is going on....
 Someone wanted to watch Barney and I knew he wouldn't dare leave the TV long enough to go potty so I made a little set up for him in the living room.

I think one of the biggest reasons this has been successful is because he has had a potty sitting around the house for almost a year now that he has been able to get comfortable with and sit on whenever he wants. We also have a pretty open door policy when mommy and daddy are going potty too so Dax has been able to learn from that and realize that it's a natural thing. We also have never pushed going potty. This has to be something they're completely ready for themselves and the more you push the longer it takes.

So if you're thinking about trying out a little bit of naked potty training on your own then here are my biggest tips..
#1:  Try and do it over a few days span where both parents are home (or a parent and another adult). It's completely exhausting! You have to watch your little one 110% of the time so you can see cues that they're getting ready to potty. And there's lots of cleaning carpet, emptying potty seats, wiping up floors and legs. It's tiring.... very tiring. So try to have some support there for yourself!
#2: Have lots of these around...
 Stickers, paper towels, and carpet/surface cleaning product. You'll do lots of cleaning carpet and bathroom floors (especially with little boys).  And every little kid loves a good sticker after they potty. But for Dax the most effective rewards has been ridiculous singing and dancing on mommy and daddy's part while singing a pee pee in the potty song!
 New books and toys! Dax loves sitting on the potty and reading his new books and playing with toys! It makes the potty a fun, relaxing place to be!
 We we made this mistake of getting super excited and giving Dax candy after the first few times he pottied... well he quickly learned that making himself pee... even the tiniest drop... would get him something yummy. We ended up opting for a bowl of m&m's or sixlets and only giving him one or two little pieces each time. This was enough to satisfy him.

Potty training is a process and it's going to take longer than a few days to get it down. Dax is making baby steps. He has gone from just peeing all over the floor, to starting to pee and then stopping himself and finishing in the potty, to going in the bathroom all on his own and doing the entire act. And I'm sure he'll have good days and bad days.... but we're just taking it day by day. If this ends up being the starts of him potty training then great.... but if he decided tomorrow he doesn't want to go anymore we won't make him. We'll take a break and wait until he's ready. I'll keep y'all posted!