"Urse"

She's toddling along now.  Bright shining eyes and big baby toothed grin, waddling toward me and pointing.  All while chanting "Urse? Uuurrse??"

Some people may say "when they are old enough to ask for it, they are too old".  But I simply disagree.  What a joy for a mother and baby to miss out on.  "Urse" is Fiona's way of asking to nurse.  She'll walk towards me with her chubby legged baby stomp of a walk, pointing and saying "Urse? Uuurse?"  And I melt.

How precious this time is.  How fleeting.  I won't be this needed again for a long time and as she grows, my methods of comforting her with a simple touch and without a word will be more difficult.  For right now, only I can fill that comforting need and I don't mind being on call to do so.

We'll leave out all of the overwhelming evidence supporting extended breastfeeding and just say this:  If it brings you both joy, comfort, and a stronger bond, then forget the rest and listen to your mothering heart.  You're far from alone.

I wish this kind of love for everyone.

I'm back!

I've been absent but can you blame me?  Who wants to miss a minute of their kids growing up?  So I type this as all of my babies (yes, even the hubs) sleep peacefully.

Our sweet doll baby Fiona

Fiona is almost 3 months old:

*swoon*

• I almost can't believe how quickly this is flying by.  She's well over 15 pounds and may be more now since it's been a while since we've weighed her.  
• She is still a champion nurser, feeding every two hours during the day and going longer stretches at night (almost 4 hours).  She has occasional cluster feedings but they are completely manageable   
• She has such an easy going disposition, the only time she gets irritated is when she isn't able to sleep peacefully. (Usually because her older sister is the most incredible human noise maker I've ever encountered).  
• Still exclusively breastfed and co-sleeping with us. I have tried swaddling her in the co-sleeper next to me but can't seem to settle into a peaceful sleep so we're sticking with what works. (And I don't mind a single bit!)  
• Her eyes are still very light, very blue with a lighter circle around her pupil. It's still too early to tell what color they may end up being though.

Isabelle turns 3 years old next month:

A big girl in her big girl bed!

• I was in disbelief ordering all of her birthday party supplies, how can she be 3 already?  But my oh my, the personality on her.  
• She keeps me giggling all day long.  Even when she does something that warrants my correction, I sometimes have to hide a smile because, well, she just can't help how darn cute she is!  
• Her crib has been converted to a "big girl bed" per her request.  She enjoys waking up and playing with her toys in her room, such independence!
• Potty training is hit and miss, pun intended.  She has days where she doesn't have a single accident and other days where she gets frustrated and needs a break.  I'm comfortable with the pace she sets for herself.  When she's ready she'll master it.  
• She can count wonderfully and we're working on addition by using groupings of toys or any other found objects.  
• She sings her ABC's in a looping fashion, instead of "next time won't you sing with me", she just starts the song over again.  
• We have been having regular Sunday school here at home and I'm pretty proud that my 2 year old can tell you the story of Jesus.  
• We've been dabbling in pairing words that rhyme and I plan on focusing on individual letters of the alphabet soon.  She enjoys structure and soaks up information as long as it's presented in a way that she responds to.  
• For an almost 3 year old, I think she's wicked smart.

Religious education. Aka: my poorly drawn bible stories

Easter Sunday

Trimming trees... yikes!

Corey and I are well, we have become quite the parenting duo.  We both got our first sunburns of the season last week while helping my parents tackle some VERY large trees.  We have managed to stay very busy with different events filling up our family calendar.  Corey is almost finished with his classes for this semester, he'll have a nice Summer break, and then back to it in the Fall.  I'll be happy when he's mine all mine for the whole week once he's home from work.

Daddy had a birthday.... I won't tell which one ;-)

That's the basics as far as catching up is concerned.  I'm hoping to allow a little more time for myself in the evenings to start to journal thoughts and happenings again!

The Dual Nursery Conundrum

As we inch closer to Fiona's arrival I've been looking back at the past 10 months and everything we've done in preparation.  It's easy to get wrapped up in the household changes, the unpacking of darling clothes saved from Isabelle, and even the assembly of new infant swings and cribs.  Yes, I said new crib, as in another crib purchased.

More important than all of that is the commitment we made once starting our little family - not to rush one child out of childhood simply because we are adding another .  During all of this hustle we have spent hours explaining and including Isabelle in the preparations for the new arrival.  Here is where I may contradict myself: I'm frugal.  I prefer to save where ever we can.  I don't find this to be a flaw but a life skill.  Something along the lines of "here today gone tomorrow".  Those who know this about me were wondering why we would order another crib, when Isabelle could move to a toddler bed and Fiona could use hers.  As a matter of fact, some people think it's silly for us to have prepared and furnished an entirely new nursery.

Well, here's the deal:

Corey and I made the decision to expand this family.  Our choice to do so does not make Isabelle age faster or become less of a baby in our eyes.  We decided that an addition of a new baby does not automatically thrust the older sibling into independence.

We discussed the changes and asked Isabelle what she felt she was ready for.

"Isabelle, you sleep in your crib, right now that's Isabelle's bed.  Would you like a big girl bed?"

"No, I like Isabelle's crib bed."

Done.

"Baby, when Fiona comes she'll be a small baby and will wear diapers.  Mama will have to change her diapers a lot."

"I'll help you!"

"Thank you sweet pea.  Well, Mama got you these big girl undies, would you like to try using the potty like a big girl?"

"Ok!"

 And after a few days of practicing our potty skills...

"Mama, it's too hard."

"Don't worry baby, we'll practice later.  I'm proud of you for trying, such a big girl!"

Done.

I don't subscribe to the baby milestone race.  I'm not impressed by a child that can walk at 9 months or a use the potty before the age of two. Every child is different.  And I will not push or demand more from a child of mine than they are readily willing to try.  I will not rush our first baby, who will always be our baby, out of her comfort zone because we decided to make her an older sister.

So the cribs are assembled and the new nursery painted and ready to go (after Fiona let's us know she's done with her co-sleeper ;-) ).  Isabelle's room has had some renovations as well and she made some executive decisions on the new "look" of her space.  I'm enjoying this magic time of preparing our home and our hearts.  I have one sweet girl caressing my belly, petting my hair, and promising to help take care of Mama; while growing another sweet babe soon to join us.  The way Corey and I have chosen to do things certainly isn't revolutionary.  The idea of letting a baby be a baby or a toddler be a toddler isn't new.  Whenever these little people that we've been blessed with caring for let us know they're ready for bigger and better things we will cheer them on in this bittersweet job of being parents.

The Reward Board!

File this under gentle parenting: I recently made Isabelle a Reward Board.  This is a positive reinforcement tool my Mom implemented for my younger sister growing up, another very goal oriented young lady - currently working her tail off in law school.  I never really jumped on board with the reward system, as I was very much a child with my head in the clouds, never focusing on one thing for very long. (Truthfully, not much has changed).

With the goal in mind to keep it simple enough for a 2 year old to understand, I began my search for construction materials at our local craft store.  I didn't have my mind set on what I wanted the board to look like until I started stumbling onto things I knew would catch her eye.  From there I started to form a more solid concept.

Basically it's a large metallic cookie sheet I had Corey drill two holes in and hang a chain on.  I found everything else in the scrap booking section of Micheal's.  Anything glitter, Mickey Mouse, and Disney princesses (mainly Cinderella and Belle) are her preferred subjects.  All of the paper is very thick scrap booking card stock.  The metallic style letters are stickers and were just in a sleeve containing the whole alphabet.  I found the thicker cardboard Disney characters and decided they would make great cheerleaders for her "reward area".  Everything except for the stars I glued directly in place.  The gold "reward stars" are cut from the same type of scrap booking card stock and I put them on magnetic paper that has an adhesive side.

How it works:

For any thoughtful, cooperative, kind, polite, or helpful behavior, she gets to move 1 star over to the reward area. Today we focused on her sitting down and eating the food that was prepared for her.  Normally, a very finicky eater, meal time can be a battle, but not today!  Today, she was told that if she ate at the table at her mealtimes and ate what Mama had prepared, we would move a gold star.  She gobbled up every single crumb and raced to the reward board afterward.

A star cannot be revoked.  This is my peaceful parenting stance on the reward board.  She earned her stars and to threaten to take away her rewards after she put forth effort to earn them is counter productive to what my overall goal is.  The overall goal being, if you are cooperative and kind it is reinforced with positive affirmation and praise....and stickers.

For each star at the end of the day she gets a sticker after dinner.  *Side note: remind me to buy stock in stickers.*

This picture was taken tonight right after moving her third star for behaving so wonderfully and eating her dinner.  She was so proud of her accomplishment and eager to earn another star.  As you can see she's pretty darn proud of her stickers too!

So far I am thrilled with the enthusiasm she is showing about the Reward Board.  I am so proud of how quickly she grasped the concept as well.  If this is a tool that holds her interest for a while we can expand it to other things.  But for now it's working wonderfully and I couldn't be happier with how much she's enjoying it!