Jo Turns Two!

My baby turned two! Because we've been so sick all week, her birthday photos and update are two days late. This is the story of Jo's life. Being the baby in the family, she has to go along with everything! She's very easy going and puts up being shuffled around when we head to all of Oliver's activities and classes. Joanna hasn't really taken classes herself yet. It seemed so important to get Oliver involved in classes as a little one, but that was because he got almost no socialization with other kids at home. Jo has Oliver. Sometimes, they are best friends. Other times, they aren't. Oliver likes to act as Jo's parent, and, sometimes, Jo just wants him to leave her alone.

Joanna is very talkative and verbal. There would be no possible way to try to keep track of how many words she speaks. Hundreds, if not thousands. She has been speaking in two-word phrases from about 18 months old, and she sings numerous songs like the ABCs and "Hickory Dickory Dock" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." It floors me how verbal she is.

She really, really loves music videos, just like Oliver did. She comes up to us all the time and asks for videos by name, "Monsters? Monster video?" or "Ernie? Elmo? Grover? Sesame Street?" We have to really work at limiting her screen time. Books work well to redirect her. Jo loves all of her Sesame Street books, but her favorite book is called, "Once Upon a Potty."

Speaking of potties, Jo is somewhat potty trained. During the day, at home, I keep her pants off, and she almost always does her business in the potty. She cheers for herself when she goes. She doesn't stay dry over nap time yet. I still have to put her in diapers when we go out. I think she associates having pants on with having a diaper because, if I put her pants on at home, she then has an accident. She toddles up to me and says, "Uh-oh, I had an accident." It's adorable.

Jo gets away with a lot because she's just so funny. She'll walk up to Oliver's bucket of pasta and throw it everywhere while yelling, "IT'S A MESS!" and all I can do is laugh. I feel like we're a lot easier on her than we were with Oliver, but she also lacks all the one-on-one time that Oliver got as a little one. I think that's a big part of the reason that she's not completely potty trained. We always have to go out and do something, and so we stick her in a diaper and head out.

Jo is still babied a lot and carried a lot. She loves to cuddle. One of her favorite ways of asking to cuddle is to walk up to one of us, lift her arms up, and coo, "Oooooh, baby girl!" I know I need to be better about encouraging her to head off on her own and play, but it's hard doing that, knowing she's my last little baby.

A funny trait about Jo is she's very organized. She enjoys putting stuff away, stacking things, and lining stuff up perfectly. She received blocks as a birthday gift from Grandma Judy and Grandpa Larry, and she spends probably an hour a day stacking them and lining them up.

I let my kids choose for themselves what kind of activities they like. For example, Oliver loves baking and all things electric (appliances, tools, etc). Joanna loves nature and spooky things. She loves dirt and rocks. Over Halloween, we got really into stuff like monsters, pumpkins, and spiders. She squeals with glee at a picture of a spider. In fact, when she plays with her foam letters, she gets them all right... but she calls the letter S a "spider." Currently, one of her favorite things to hold around the house is a package of Kraft Mac & Cheese with a picture of a monster on it (from the "Monsters University" movie). She was thrilled every time we went to the grocery store because they had banners of spiders hanging from the ceiling for Halloween.

Animal sounds are another favorite of Jo's. She enjoys picking up each of her stuffed animals and making their sound. The cutest is when she trumpets for the elephant. She's getting into some pretend play now, and she has her stuffed animals help eat her food, and sometimes they give her or each other kisses. As you can tell from the photos above, her fox is still her most beloved treasure. We found the fox after ordering a replacement a few months ago. She's very happy to have her friend with her, especially at nap time.

We still haven't even entertained the idea of switching her to a toddler bed. She's never tried to climb out of her crib, so we'll probably wait until we get relocated and acclimated to a permanent home.

At two years old, here are a list of Jo's likes and dislikes:

Likes
*Her stuffed animal, Box the Fox
*Her book, Once Upon a Potty, with Prudence
*Ernie (from Sesame Street)
*monsters
*pumpkins
*spiders
*rocks
*pine cones
*blocks
*Dad
*baths
*Mom
*Oliver
*helping Oliver push the button on the coffee grinder
*closing the garage door when Grandma Judy leaves in the morning
*getting a treat after she goes potty
*Thomas (the train)
*children's music videos
*seeing other babies around
*stickers
*stuffed animals
*dinosaurs
*candles (even the LED kind)

Dislikes
*Getting food on her hands
*Spilling water/milk on her clothes
*Being told, "No."
*When Oliver plays with her blocks
*Public toilets

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 77: Gas Station Stop

Kids are weird.  Oliver has recently become obsessed with stopping at gas stations.  I don't drive much, so I only need to fill up every month or so.  Oliver is thrilled every time.

Oliver has a little push car that he got from my friend for his first birthday.  I told him he could fill it with gas and handed him a Wii controller attachment to act as a gas pump.  It was a hit!

A couple weeks ago, I was filling up the car and had an idea.  I should create a credit card machine for Oliver!  For about a year now, he's loved to watch me scan my Safeway card and credit card at the grocery store.  Before Jo, I used to let him scan the cards himself.

I dug through the cupboard for inspiration.  I finally chose to make a credit card slider out of a sponge.  I took a knife and carved out a strip in the middle and ended up with this:

I taped the sponge-turned-credit-card-machine to the front of the dish machine.  Then, I gave Oliver an old Starbucks card that was given to me from Aunt Bette.  I slid the card through once, and then Oliver insisted on doing it himself:

He scanned his card over and over and over again.

I reminded him to put "gas" in his car.  He did, but, apparently, that wasn't as much fun as the credit card machine.

He went back to sliding his "credit card" through the machine, just like Mom and Dad do.

If your toddler is always grabbing at your card when you shop, try setting up a machine for him/her to play with at home.  Making a credit card machine from a sponge worked very well for us, but get innovative, be thrifty, and use whatever you have on hand.  I've found that my son loves to do anything that imitates me.  It didn't matter that it was a sponge; he got to slide the card through, and that's what matters!

So, although our pretend gas station activity really just turned into a pretend credit card activity, it was still a huge success.  I give it an A!

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 70: Oliver's Grocery Store

Today's activity was inspired by my cousin-in-law's post on her blog. You set up play food, real food (if you're brave), or empty containers for your child to put in his pretend grocery cart. Then, you have your child take the items to check out.

Oliver got a grocery cart for Christmas, and I don't think he's fully understood what it's supposed to be. Today, I set out all of the empty containers I've saved, and I told him we were going to do pretend shopping at Oliver's pretend grocery store. I have to be careful and explain that it's pretend, or else he'll get upset that we're not going to the real store.

I had to explain to him that the plastic cart was a grocery cart. For some reason, he didn't see it. Once I told him to put the groceries in the cart (that's what I tell him at the real grocery store), he got into it.Oliver had to stop and fix the lid before continuing to load his grocery items in his cart. His grocery items consist of an empty Eggo waffles box that I taped shut, an empty box of macaroni and cheese that is taped shut, an empty container of Ovaltine, an empty milk carton that was rinsed very well, and an empty container of Greek yogurt. I really liked my cousin's idea of organizing the food by food groups, but I don't have enough to do that yet. Be sure to drink your Ovaline, Oliver! Man, that's my second reference to A Christmas Story in as many days.Then, it came time for check out. I pretended to scan his groceries, and I put them in a sack. I don't have a play cash register, and I'm embarrassed to say that I don't even own a calculator. I dug around in my wallet and found an old "Perks Card" from when I worked at Starbucks. I gave it to Oliver and had him slide it along the couch to check out. He loved it!

This was such a good game for Oliver. I have a feeling a lot of toddlers in his age range will enjoy this activity. You can teach food groups by sorting the food items by food group.  If your child is a little older than mine, you can teach math or money by incorporating a toy cash register. This is a great activity for a wide range of ages. I give "Oliver's Grocery Store" an A!

Oliver Brews Pretend Coffee

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 55: Doctor Oliver

Oliver's not feeling well today. We've been cuddling a lot this afternoon and watching a lot of Sesame Street music videos.

I decided to let Oliver play the part if the doctor. I gave him his ear thermometer and demonstrated for him how to work it. He insisted on doing each step every time: making sure the plastic cap was on the ear piece, turning it on, putting it in (or next to) his ear or mine, and pressing "start." He did a pretty good job and got a couple accurate readings!

Not everyone has an ear thermometer, but I imagine children would also like to play with the mouth thermometers. I thought it would also be fun to give Oliver a band-aid to put on, but he wasn't interested.

"Doctor" was a fairly enjoyable game for both of us. Oliver enjoyed learning something new, and there really wasn't any clean up or set up. He was occupied for about 10 minutes from this activity. It made him a lot more open to getting his temperature taken, so it was useful, too. I give "Doctor" a B.

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 52: Doll Bed

As is typical, I chose today's activity from The Toddler's Busy Book. "Doll Bed," as the activity is called, is just as it sounds. You make a bed for your child's dolls or stuffed animals. The book suggests using a box and a miniature pillow. I had neither of those things, so I used our laundry basket. I tucked a full-sized pillow inside, propping up one end to resemble pillows on a bed. I tucked one of Oliver's old receiving blankets on top of the pillow to act as a sheet, and then I put a small blanket on top of that to look like a comforter, like this:


I excitedly showed Oliver the bed. He was upset! I tried to tell him that it was a bed for the new stuffed baboon he got for his birthday. I demonstrated tucking the baboon in for him. Oliver took the baboon out and chucked it across the room! Then, he started dragging the bed across the floor. It wasn't until he got to the top of the stairs that I realized he was trying to take the laundry basket downstairs to do the laundry. I explained to Oliver that we weren't doing laundry right then. I told him we were going to play and put the baboon to bed. This was Oliver's reaction:


I tried one last attempt to get Oliver to play "Doll Bed." I grabbed Monkey, thinking Oliver would like to play with his favorite stuffed animal. I was wrong. Here is Oliver grabbing monkey out of the bed:


And here is Oliver throwing Monkey across the room, right by his new baboon:

So, doll bed was not a success. I don't think the activity will fail for all toddlers, but it failed miserably for this one. Thankfully, it didn't take any real effort to set up or clean up. It didn't cost me any money, either. However, because all it did was make Oliver angry, it gets a D.

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 48: Wash the Dishes

There are blogs and articles and books that all recommend today's activity for toddlers: Wash the Dishes. It makes sense. Kids love water, and kids love mimicking their parents. I expected today's activity to easily earn an A grade.

I put a few drops of soap into a large bowl (just enough to create some bubbles) and added water. Then, I placed that bowl onto a couple towels to (hopefully) catch most of the splashes. I pulled out a new sponge and gathered up a few pieces of tupperware. I tossed in Oliver's Lego dog, too.

Oliver watched me as I demonstrated how to use the bowl of water to wash the dishes. I used the sponge, and then I grabbed an extra towel to dry the dishes. Oliver was definitely interested, and he quickly began washing the dishes, just as I'd done:

Oliver seemed to enjoy it...
...for about three minutes. He left to go play with the pasta. I was able to convince him to come back, but he only dunked his toy dog a couple more times before running off again.


I asked Oliver if he was all done. He answered yes, so I got everything cleaned up. It wasn't too much work, but for less than five minutes of fun, I felt like it wasn't worth it. Fast forward a few more minutes, and Oliver is whining and pulling the bowl and tupperware back out of the cabinets. So, I set everything up again. Oliver played for maybe another minute before running off again. I'm currently updating this blog, and the bowl of water is just sitting there, unused.

It might be worth it for other parents to try out this activity because it sounds like something a lot of kids would love. However, based on my experience, I'm giving "Wash the Dishes" a C- because my toddler didn't enjoy it very much, and it required time to set up and clean up afterwards.

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 43: Pasta Play

Yesterday, I spent most of the day at my parents' house because we had relatives visiting. After Oliver's nap, my mom decided to give him a bunch of stuff from the kitchen so he could pretend to cook. She gave him a large bowl, a small bowl, a small appliance of some sort (I think a water boiler), some measuring cups, some spoons and dried pasta.

I have never seen my son so happy and occupied for so long. Oliver played chef for about an hour and a half. He scooped the pasta from bowl to bowl, had fun putting lids on and off, stirred it around, and just enjoyed himself immensely.

Today, I decided to reenact the scene from yesterday. When Oliver and I were at the store this morning, I purchased a box of rigatoni pasta. The noodles are wide enough to fit on fingers.

Once we were home, I poured out about 1/3 of the box of rigatoni into a bowl. I cleaned out the mostly-empty flour canister and put that on the floor. After surveying my appliances, I selected the food processor. I obviously didn't give Oliver the blades. I put that on the floor with the flour canister and added a pot with a lid and a cupcake holder. I grabbed a few spoons and whisks, and, then, I presented Oliver with the pasta.

Oliver was elated and got to work right away. He transferred pasta into the food processor. Sometimes, he'd take the lid off of the processor, and other times he'd put it down the food chute.

After twenty minutes (literally), I went and heated myself up a mug of tea. I kicked my feet up, relaxed, and watched Oliver play.

And Oliver kept playing. And playing, and playing.

We started our activity at 3pm. Oliver continued to play until dinner time at 6:30pm. I got to play with him a bit, relax, fold laundry, do dishes, make dinner and clean up after dinner. Oliver didn't want to leave his pasta. In fact, he had two accidents while playing! I can't remember the last time he had an accident while he was awake, but he had two while playing with the pasta. Oops! He didn't want to come to dinner, either, even though I'd made some pasta for him to eat. Throughout the entire meal, he kept begging to go back to the pasta. After dinner, I let him play until bedtime. Even then, he was unhappy to be leaving his pasta behind.

I can't believe how entertaining pasta is to my son. Typically, I consider an activity to be a good one if it keeps him happily occupied for twenty minutes. The fact that he played with pasta for hours is unbelievable. I give Pasta Play an A+, and I'd give it bonus points if I could!

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 31: Pretend Chores

I'm no child expert. In fact, before I had Oliver, I'd spent almost no time around children at all. The only exception to that was when I babysat my younger cousins when I was fourteen.

I admit that I'm not a child expert, but, in my opinion, Oliver seems happiest when he knows he's helping out around the house. It seems to me that letting little kids have some responsibilities is good for them. The older they get, the more and more they can learn and try to do themselves. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see how that can be a bad thing. By learning how to handle stuff around the house, kids won't leave home being clueless how to, say, do the laundry or clean the tub/shower or sweep their floors. They'll know what needs to get done and how to do it.

I've always let Oliver help me. He likes to put away the clean utensils, and he likes to hand me the clean plates and bowls to put away. When we're about to run the dish machine, he likes to help me pour in the soap, and then he starts the machine himself. He loads laundry and likes to start the washing machine. When I fold the clean clothes, he always takes an article and shakes it out, mimicking me. I'm not allowed to sweep anymore until Oliver sweeps first. I pull out the broom, and once I start sweeping, Oliver *begs* me for it. I actually have two brooms, but that doesn't do the trick. As soon as I sweep a pile, Oliver sweeps it all over the floor. So, I let him sweep first, and then I get to it.

Once Oliver masters a chore, he's intent on mastering another. I have a difficult time making sure the tasks I give him are age appropriate. He has a difficult time understanding why I won't let him help with some things, like opening the oven. Don't get me wrong; he stays back when I tell him to. Still, when the timer goes off, he races to the oven and tries to open it. I also don't let him clean the toilets, even though he'd like to. Now that I'm pregnant, I don't use any chemicals and just use the brush to keep the toilets from getting icky. I know Oliver could do it and would have fun, but I worry that it's just a little too gross of a chore to expose a kid to. I also worry he'd want to use the toilet brush every day, and I'd have toilet water all over the house or something. Anyway.

Today, I decided that it's OK to teach Oliver some pretend chores. I had to purchase a new thing of laundry soap today. I looked at the empty one and decided that I could wash it out and let Oliver use it for pretend play. He's always wanted to help me with the soap, but I've never let him (although I let him open the soap drawer in the washing machine). He can't measure out laundry soap himself, and it'd be too messy for him to pour it himself. But who says he can't do pretend soap?

I rinsed out the empty laundry soap jug. That sounds easy, but it took forever. That stuff is really concentrated! Once I felt that it was adequately clean, I gave it to Oliver. It was a moment he'd been waiting for. He was so, so excited.

Here's him enjoying his empty jug of laundry soap:

After mastering the art of getting the lid on and off, Oliver decided it was time to practice pouring into the machine:

He *loved* it. I could tell how happy he was to finally be big enough to have his own soap jug. It really makes me want to keep brainstorming to figure out new ways Oliver can help. As I write this, I'm wondering if I couldn't let Oliver use the toilet brush to pretend to clean out his toddler potties. I bet he'd love it! Oliver has always enjoyed chores, and I've always enjoyed giving him chores and letting him help. I think pretend chores are just as good because he gets to learn and mimic Mom without potentially hurting himself or making the house worse for wear. Pretend chores get an A+!

Update: The following day, I decided to let Oliver have the toilet brush. I showed him how I can clean his potty with it I gave him the brush. He looked so excited and immediately started drooling. Oliver drools when he's focused and learning something new.

Oliver examined the brush and...
...ran off to the bathroom! He was not interested in pretend cleaning his little potty. Oliver wanted to clean the real toilet. So, he did:

After I let him get it out of his system, I went back to his little potty and again demonstrated cleaning it with the toilet brush. He took the brush back and ran back to the toilet. So, toilet cleaning turned into a real chore and not a pretend chore. Oliver still enjoyed it thoroughly.