I love the daycare Babykins is going to. The facility is new and clean, there are fun activities and crafts everyday, and most importantly, the women who run the Wobbler Room (where the 12-18 monthers stay) are fabulous.
Unfortunately, Babykins isn't quite as thrilled. We're on day 8 of her attending without me, and she still cries and reaches out her arms to me as I leave (go ahead, let that tear out - it's a very sad sight). The teachers tell me she's crying less each day, but for some reason, she has started on a hunger strike and refuses to eat during the 4 hours she's there.
To combat this hunger strike, the blessedly patient teachers have resorted to some fabulous tricks. It started with the Pacifier Bait and Switch. First they pop out Babykins' pacifier, and when my little one opens her mouth to get it back, they quickly insert a spoonful of yogurt. As soon as it's swallowed, they reinsert the pacifier before Babykins begins to cry. This method is long and messy (Babykins usually comes home with her hair plastered to her head with yogurt), but highly effective.
I was impressed with this tactic, but they weren't done, yet. For solid foods, these saintly women have developed the Drive-By Feeding. They wait until Babykins is sitting quietly in the high chair, focused on what's happening around her, then they casually walk by and drop food on her tray in the hopes that she'll eat it if she doesn't think it came from them. This doesn't have quite the same success rate as the bate and switch, but it does drastically reduce the amount of food that goes flying across the room.
Finally, in an effort to get Babykins to drink something, Teacherkins pulled out all of the stops yesterday with the Stealthy Straw maneuver. Over the weekend, Babykins learned how to drink from a straw. I was hoping that if I sent her drink in with a straw this week, she'd drink it down just for the pleasure of practicing her new skill. I was wrong. After Babykins refused her drink multiple times, Teacherkins tried putting the straw and the pacifier in Babykins' mouth at the same time, figuring that in the course of sucking on the pacifier, Babykins would end up swallowing some juice, too. Unfortunately, Babykins quickly figured out this trick and spit out the straw, but I was still very impressed with the concept.
If there's anything I've learned this week, it's that you should never go head-to-head with a daycare teacher in any game involving strategic maneuvering.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!
If you read books on genetics, the so-called "experts" will tell you that babies get one half of their genes from their mother and one half from their father. They have obviously never met Babykins, who I swear inherited approximately 90% of her genetic material from Hubbykins.
Let's start with the physical attributes. Aside from her very pale skin and blond hair (I'll admit Hubbykins had blond hair as a baby, too, but I need to claim credit for a few things!), Babykins is the spitting image of her daddy. She has beautifully curly hair, and everyone who sees the two of them together exclaims over how much she looks like Hubbykins.
The similarities don't stop there, though. The other day we were in our bedroom, and Babykins was playing on the bed. She crawled to the edge and, without looking, threw herself off the mattress, landed in a big pile of blankets, rolled down the pile, and ended on the floor on her back, arms splayed out, laughing and smiling. As I hyperventilated, Hubbykins just laughed, explaining that she'd discovered the conveniently positioned pile of blankets days before and had been pulling this daredevil maneuver ever since.
As she got up and ran off to pull all of the clothes out of her dresser, I swear I heard Babykins laugh in an Australian accent.
Oy, oy, oy!
Let's start with the physical attributes. Aside from her very pale skin and blond hair (I'll admit Hubbykins had blond hair as a baby, too, but I need to claim credit for a few things!), Babykins is the spitting image of her daddy. She has beautifully curly hair, and everyone who sees the two of them together exclaims over how much she looks like Hubbykins.
The similarities don't stop there, though. The other day we were in our bedroom, and Babykins was playing on the bed. She crawled to the edge and, without looking, threw herself off the mattress, landed in a big pile of blankets, rolled down the pile, and ended on the floor on her back, arms splayed out, laughing and smiling. As I hyperventilated, Hubbykins just laughed, explaining that she'd discovered the conveniently positioned pile of blankets days before and had been pulling this daredevil maneuver ever since.
As she got up and ran off to pull all of the clothes out of her dresser, I swear I heard Babykins laugh in an Australian accent.
Oy, oy, oy!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Happy Birthday, Babykins!
Babykins turned 1 year old on Thursday, a momentous occasion that we celebrated with presents, and cupcakes, and much video recording. It's hard to believe that it's already been a year since our baby entered the world. It feels like she's always been a part of our lives, and while I can remember lazy days of sleeping in, reading books, and driving with the top down, I can no longer imagine a life where our family only consists of two.
As always, Babykins had some surprises in store for us. After opening some presents, we took a break for dinner and cupcakes. We were completely shocked when, after sticking out her tongue and giving the vanilla icing a little lick, Babykins pushed away the cupcake. Considering the vast quantities of sugar I consume, I was expecting Babykins to gobble down her dessert. I'm not going to complain, though, about a baby without a sweet tooth.
The next day I took Babykins in for her 1 year check-up. She weighed in at 19 pounds and measured a towering 28 inches. Watching her everyday, we knew she was growing, but it's still mind blowing to think that in one year Babykins has grown 8.5 inches and gained 12 pounds!
Every day Babykins continues to grow and amaze us, whether it's discovering this morning that her magnetic balls will stick to the metal legs of our dining room chairs, or expressing her independence by pulling away when we try to hold her hand as she walks (ok, that one makes me a little sad). It's been a wonderful first year, and I thank you all for following Babykins' life story.
Happy Birthday, Babykins! Daddy and I love you :)
As always, Babykins had some surprises in store for us. After opening some presents, we took a break for dinner and cupcakes. We were completely shocked when, after sticking out her tongue and giving the vanilla icing a little lick, Babykins pushed away the cupcake. Considering the vast quantities of sugar I consume, I was expecting Babykins to gobble down her dessert. I'm not going to complain, though, about a baby without a sweet tooth.
The next day I took Babykins in for her 1 year check-up. She weighed in at 19 pounds and measured a towering 28 inches. Watching her everyday, we knew she was growing, but it's still mind blowing to think that in one year Babykins has grown 8.5 inches and gained 12 pounds!
Every day Babykins continues to grow and amaze us, whether it's discovering this morning that her magnetic balls will stick to the metal legs of our dining room chairs, or expressing her independence by pulling away when we try to hold her hand as she walks (ok, that one makes me a little sad). It's been a wonderful first year, and I thank you all for following Babykins' life story.
Happy Birthday, Babykins! Daddy and I love you :)
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Top 5 Reasons Babykins is AWESOME
It seems like every time I turn around these days, Babykins is adding a new skill to her list of incredible talents. Here, a list of the top 5 accomplishments Babykins has achieved in the last month:
5. Brushing Her Teeth: With her one year birthday looming, Babykins still only has 2 teeth. The fact that they're both on the bottom makes chewing difficult, but gives her an adorable smile. To get Babykins off to a good start with dental hygiene, we recently gave Babykins her own toothbrush. Whenever Hubbykins or I brush our teeth, Babykins follows us into the bathroom, takes her toothbrush, and moves it around her mouth in a super cute imitation of brushing her teeth. No teeth are actually getting clean, but at least she now thinks using a toothbrush is a good time.
4. Stacking Rings: Last week, after months of basically ignoring her Ring Stacking set, Babykins sat down, picked up a green plastic ring, and placed it on the stick like she'd been doing it her whole life. Sometimes I think she just likes to see how easy it is to make me squeal in excitement.
3. Stacking Blocks: While stacking the rings is impressive, they at least have a stick they go on that keeps them in a pile. Stacking blocks is a whole different story. Knocking down block towers that Hubbykins and I build has long been one of Babykins' favorite activities. In fact, the desire to knock down block towers is actually what first motivated Babykins to crawl. Last week, though, Babykins turned the corner, for the first time building her own block tower. It was only two blocks high, but it was still very impressive. She's up to three blocks, now, and I'm sure it won't be long before our little architect is constructing replicas of the Taj Mahal.
2. Saying "Puppy": During our trip to Canada, we stayed with friends who have two dogs. Once Babykins got over her initial fright, she fell in love. Since then, every time we see a dog, she flaps her arms and squeals until they're out of sight. Since we can't have a dog, Babykins has a little, brown stuffed puppy. If you ask her where puppy is, she'll actually look around until she finds him, then make a bee line straight for his fuzzy body and give him a big hug. Imagine our surprise when we saw puppies on TV this weekend and, after Hubbykins and I both exclaimed, "Babykins, look at the puppies!", Babykins turned to the TV and said, "Pu...pu...pu...puppy." I actually cried a little at that one.
1. Walking: I know I've already blogged about Babykins walking, but over the last week she has gone from a few hesitant steps to a professional walker (granted, one that still falls a lot, but she's at the beginning of her professional walking career). She's even figured out how to stand up without holding on to anything, making it much easier for her to get going again after a fall. The cutest part, though, is that along with doing the adorable "baby walk" - arms in the air for balance, tottering steps, and tummy sticking out - Babykins tends to twirl her hands while she walks, supposedly to help propel herself forward.
Ah, Babykins, some days (ok, everyday) you amaze me.
5. Brushing Her Teeth: With her one year birthday looming, Babykins still only has 2 teeth. The fact that they're both on the bottom makes chewing difficult, but gives her an adorable smile. To get Babykins off to a good start with dental hygiene, we recently gave Babykins her own toothbrush. Whenever Hubbykins or I brush our teeth, Babykins follows us into the bathroom, takes her toothbrush, and moves it around her mouth in a super cute imitation of brushing her teeth. No teeth are actually getting clean, but at least she now thinks using a toothbrush is a good time.
4. Stacking Rings: Last week, after months of basically ignoring her Ring Stacking set, Babykins sat down, picked up a green plastic ring, and placed it on the stick like she'd been doing it her whole life. Sometimes I think she just likes to see how easy it is to make me squeal in excitement.
3. Stacking Blocks: While stacking the rings is impressive, they at least have a stick they go on that keeps them in a pile. Stacking blocks is a whole different story. Knocking down block towers that Hubbykins and I build has long been one of Babykins' favorite activities. In fact, the desire to knock down block towers is actually what first motivated Babykins to crawl. Last week, though, Babykins turned the corner, for the first time building her own block tower. It was only two blocks high, but it was still very impressive. She's up to three blocks, now, and I'm sure it won't be long before our little architect is constructing replicas of the Taj Mahal.
2. Saying "Puppy": During our trip to Canada, we stayed with friends who have two dogs. Once Babykins got over her initial fright, she fell in love. Since then, every time we see a dog, she flaps her arms and squeals until they're out of sight. Since we can't have a dog, Babykins has a little, brown stuffed puppy. If you ask her where puppy is, she'll actually look around until she finds him, then make a bee line straight for his fuzzy body and give him a big hug. Imagine our surprise when we saw puppies on TV this weekend and, after Hubbykins and I both exclaimed, "Babykins, look at the puppies!", Babykins turned to the TV and said, "Pu...pu...pu...puppy." I actually cried a little at that one.
1. Walking: I know I've already blogged about Babykins walking, but over the last week she has gone from a few hesitant steps to a professional walker (granted, one that still falls a lot, but she's at the beginning of her professional walking career). She's even figured out how to stand up without holding on to anything, making it much easier for her to get going again after a fall. The cutest part, though, is that along with doing the adorable "baby walk" - arms in the air for balance, tottering steps, and tummy sticking out - Babykins tends to twirl her hands while she walks, supposedly to help propel herself forward.
Ah, Babykins, some days (ok, everyday) you amaze me.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
One Fish, Two Fish, I love you, Fish!
A couple months ago, I took Babykins to the Waikiki Aquarium. She couldn't walk, yet, and while she enjoyed looking at each fish tank for a minute, she quickly got bored and was ready to leave. So when we decided to go to the aquarium in Canada, I wasn't sure what to expect.
It turns out a couple months makes a big difference in the world of fish appreciation. Babykins held our hands as she walked through the aquarium, pulling us from tank to tank. When she found one that was especially exciting, she would push her hands against the glass and squeal. At one point we even had to stop her from licking the aquarium glass.
This was fun to watch, but it got even better when Babykins discovered the "Please Touch Pool." To her delight, Babykins was able to climb on the ledge of the pool and reach in to pat the starfish and sea anemone. After a few minutes of exploring the sea creatures, we took Babykins back in to have another look at the fish.
I put her down so she could stand next to one of the tanks, and she immediately dropped down into crawling position. I stood back to see where she would go, and when she took off, I figured she was just crossing to another tank. Instead she headed down the ramp leading back to the Touch Pool. To my amazement, when the ramp bent to the right, she knew to follow it, and when it bent again, she turned, as well. Seconds later, Babykins was crossing the floor of a new room and pulling herself up on the side of the Pool. Who can deny a baby who put that much thought and effort into getting back to her favorite exhibit?
We spent a few more minutes petting the urchins, when Babykins discovered the most exciting part of the aquarium...the sink. Usually Babykins fights getting her hands wiped after eating, but getting to wash her hands in a sink like a big girl is a different story. By the time we were able to drag Babykins away from the sink, her fingers were wrinkly and she had the cleanest hands in the aquarium.
I'm pretty sure Babykins spent that night dreaming about beautiful fish and hands-free sinks. She may not remember the aquarium when she gets older, but if she becomes a marine biologist or a compulsive hand washer, we'll know where she got her start.
It turns out a couple months makes a big difference in the world of fish appreciation. Babykins held our hands as she walked through the aquarium, pulling us from tank to tank. When she found one that was especially exciting, she would push her hands against the glass and squeal. At one point we even had to stop her from licking the aquarium glass.
This was fun to watch, but it got even better when Babykins discovered the "Please Touch Pool." To her delight, Babykins was able to climb on the ledge of the pool and reach in to pat the starfish and sea anemone. After a few minutes of exploring the sea creatures, we took Babykins back in to have another look at the fish.
I put her down so she could stand next to one of the tanks, and she immediately dropped down into crawling position. I stood back to see where she would go, and when she took off, I figured she was just crossing to another tank. Instead she headed down the ramp leading back to the Touch Pool. To my amazement, when the ramp bent to the right, she knew to follow it, and when it bent again, she turned, as well. Seconds later, Babykins was crossing the floor of a new room and pulling herself up on the side of the Pool. Who can deny a baby who put that much thought and effort into getting back to her favorite exhibit?
We spent a few more minutes petting the urchins, when Babykins discovered the most exciting part of the aquarium...the sink. Usually Babykins fights getting her hands wiped after eating, but getting to wash her hands in a sink like a big girl is a different story. By the time we were able to drag Babykins away from the sink, her fingers were wrinkly and she had the cleanest hands in the aquarium.
 |
| Babykins washes her hands at the aquarium...again :) |
Monday, April 4, 2011
Foiled Again
My mom seems to enjoy most the stories where Babykins outsmarts me, so here is installment #452 in the "Babykins is much craftier than Mommykins" series...
When Babykins started facing forward in her stroller, one of the benefits was that I could now have the occasional (or frequent) snack on our walks without feeling guilty as she stared at me, wondering why I wouldn't share.
Last week, as we wandered through the mall, I stopped at a store for a cherry Slurpee (yes, they'll sell those things to grown-ups). While we waited in line, Babykins pulled one of her Houdini maneuvers, somehow managing to wiggle out of the stroller's 5-point harness, turn around, and stand up, all before I even realized she was up to no good. I sat her back down and strapped her in more snugly this time, but not before she'd caught sight of my Slurpee.
Babykins started making "I want" hand signs, which I ignored while I paid for the drink and left the store. My hope was that when we got into the hub-bub of the mall, she'd be distracted by all of the activity and forget about the Slurpee. It was a silly dream. Every few seconds Babykins would turn in her seat and look up at me expectantly.
I tried everything. First, I tried holding the Slurpee out of her sight and only taking sips when she wasn't looking. Apparently Babykins has eyes in the back of her head, too, and magically knew to turn just as I was putting the straw in my mouth. Next, I tried just avoiding her eyes and gulping it down as quickly as possible. Not only did this not deter Babykins, I ended up with a brain freeze. Finally, I tried reasoning with her, explaining to Babykins that Slurpees are big-people drinks and little babies wouldn't like them. But it turns out she's 11 months old, and reasoning is futile.
After a few minutes, I did the only thing I could. I pulled the straw out of the Slurpee and let Babykins take a sip, desperately hoping that she wouldn't like it. Babykins licked the straw, thought a second, then opened her mouth wide for another sip. I was stuck. Now, not only would I have to share my Slurpee, but I'd feel like a bad mommy as everyone in the mall watched me feed my baby a sugary snack.
We continued toward the next store, with me drinking as quickly as possible and stopping every few steps to give Babykins a sip. After 5 sips, it was more than enough sugar for Babykins, and I decided it was time to man up. I threw away the last 1/4 of my Slurpee. Sigh.
When Babykins started facing forward in her stroller, one of the benefits was that I could now have the occasional (or frequent) snack on our walks without feeling guilty as she stared at me, wondering why I wouldn't share.
Last week, as we wandered through the mall, I stopped at a store for a cherry Slurpee (yes, they'll sell those things to grown-ups). While we waited in line, Babykins pulled one of her Houdini maneuvers, somehow managing to wiggle out of the stroller's 5-point harness, turn around, and stand up, all before I even realized she was up to no good. I sat her back down and strapped her in more snugly this time, but not before she'd caught sight of my Slurpee.
Babykins started making "I want" hand signs, which I ignored while I paid for the drink and left the store. My hope was that when we got into the hub-bub of the mall, she'd be distracted by all of the activity and forget about the Slurpee. It was a silly dream. Every few seconds Babykins would turn in her seat and look up at me expectantly.
I tried everything. First, I tried holding the Slurpee out of her sight and only taking sips when she wasn't looking. Apparently Babykins has eyes in the back of her head, too, and magically knew to turn just as I was putting the straw in my mouth. Next, I tried just avoiding her eyes and gulping it down as quickly as possible. Not only did this not deter Babykins, I ended up with a brain freeze. Finally, I tried reasoning with her, explaining to Babykins that Slurpees are big-people drinks and little babies wouldn't like them. But it turns out she's 11 months old, and reasoning is futile.
After a few minutes, I did the only thing I could. I pulled the straw out of the Slurpee and let Babykins take a sip, desperately hoping that she wouldn't like it. Babykins licked the straw, thought a second, then opened her mouth wide for another sip. I was stuck. Now, not only would I have to share my Slurpee, but I'd feel like a bad mommy as everyone in the mall watched me feed my baby a sugary snack.
We continued toward the next store, with me drinking as quickly as possible and stopping every few steps to give Babykins a sip. After 5 sips, it was more than enough sugar for Babykins, and I decided it was time to man up. I threw away the last 1/4 of my Slurpee. Sigh.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)