Meeting Santa

The concept of a large, strange man hidden behind a mask of facial hair who spys on you throughout the year and then sneaks into your house once a year is creepy. 

Staley agrees.

Now the sleigh and presents...that's okay.

I'll be honest--since I can be on my own blog.  I think the Santa thing is overdone.  I'm not sure I like the idea of tricking my child into believing something that's not true.  I prefer the idea of teaching Staley about the true meaning of Christmas.  I wasn't sure about doing Santa pictures this year, but State Farm decorates the atrium with different Christmas backgrounds, lets you take pictures with Santa, and gives a gift to the children of employees, so we took advantage of the opportunity.  Staley liked seeing the other kids.  She liked her gift.  The jingle bell that the elf was ringing was pretty fun.  So the overall experience was positive.  But Santa...well, we both still think he's a little bit scary.

 

Setting Boundaries

Now that Staley is mobile and exploration is the key to her happiness, our role as parents has amped up a degree.  We have entered the parenting world of boundary setting.  We want Staley to explore her world, examine her surroundings, and discover how things work.  We are okay with messes.  We are okay with extra clean up.  We are okay with the occasional bump or bruise.  We are trying to keep our off-limit activities to those that are unsafe, unsanitary, or that will pose problems in the future.  Emptying clothes drawers?  No problem.  Emptying BBQ utensil drawer?  Unsafe.  Pulling to stand and playing at the refrigerator?  Sure thing.  Pulling to stand and playing at the toilet?  Unsanitary.  Removing DVDs from the rack?  Fine for now, but poses a problem in the future when Staley learns to open DVD cases or gets tall enough to pull the top row of movies down on herself.  Unstable tables, glass knick knacks, lamps, cords, cat food bowls, stairs,...why are all the most fun things off-limits?? 

Unfortunately, with our boundaries, we've had to add a new word to our parenting vocabulary.  "No!"  And Staley has already discovered that she does not like this word.  When she is crawling towards or playing with an off-limits item and we say 'No!', she will generally stop, look back at us, and continue on her way.  However, when we remove her from the area or take away her off-limits item, the drama sets in.  I hope this isn't a preview of future melt-downs and tantrums, because her lower lip, big tears, and tortured cry would make one think that the only thing in the whole wide world that Staley ever wanted to do was stand at an unstable table and play with a lamp.  And being the boundary setting parents we now are, we must stifle that dream and just say 'No!'

Hide and Seek

Staley has a new favorite game.  And really, who doesn't love a good game of hide and seek?  If you want to play Staley's version of hide and seek, however, you'll have to consult the Staley rulebook.  Rules are as follows:

1.  Staley is all-time seeker.  No questions asked.
2.  Staley does not have to close her eyes, turn away, or count as you hide.  Watching you hide is part of the fun.
3.  Hiding places must be within crawling distance, away from potentially dangerous distractions, and easy to get to.  Behind partially closed doors that she can open is preferable, but not necessary.
4.  Using the same 3 hiding places throughout a 20 minute game of hide and seek does not ruin the fun.
5.  If Staley is having difficulty locating you (like forgetting to look in the third of the 3 hiding spots), auditory hints are encouraged .
6. After finding you, if Staley emphatically says 'hide' or signs 'more', that means the game is not over.
7.  Squealing and laughing required!

If you think you can master these rules, come on over.  Hours of fun await!!

Thanksgiving

Each and every day, I thank God for the blessings in my life.  For Staley.  For Zach.  For our families.  For our friends.  For our stable jobs.  For our home.  For our health.  And for a God who surrounds us with love. 

Thanksgiving gave us a long week-end to enjoy many of life's blessings.  The whole week-end centered around family.  We soaked up quality time with my extended family in Indianapolis on Thanksgiving day. Staley and Liam enjoyed playing together and swimming together at our hotel on Thursday night.  (Staley, Zach, and I 'bonded' from 2 am-6 am during Staley's fitful sleep at the hotel as well.)  Throughout the remainder of the week-end, we spent time with my parents, Zach's parents, and enjoyed celebrating Elliott's third birthday.  We have much to be thankful for!

My family

Sharing story time with cousin Liam

The big pool was fun, fun, fun!

Conductor Elliott...

...and his train party.

Whoooo is the Cutest Baby Ever?

Let the Exploration Begin

Staley is becoming increasingly mobile.  She is now primarily crawl-crawling (good-bye inchworm), and is getting faster and more proficient.  Fast, proficient crawling means that her world is expanding.  She can also pull herself up to stand at almost anything stable (and, on some occasions, not so stable), which increases her exploration zone all the more.  And Staley has a profound love for opening things, closing things, taking things out, and putting things in.  If you put those skills together, you get...

Staley's new favorite game.

To Nap or Not to Nap

For Staley, that seems to be the current question.  Staley has always been a good night-time sleeper.  Her daytime napping habits are bit more questionable.  For the past several months, Staley has been taking two naps during the day.  Her morning nap averages about 1 1/2 hours and her afternoon nap averages about 45 minutes to an hour.  Over the last few weeks, however, Staley will not take an afternoon nap for me.  She will usually take an afternoon nap for her baby-sitters and will often fall asleep in the car if we are driving home from afternoon errands, but it's not pretty if I try to put her down for an afternoon nap at home.  Crying, screaming, standing up in her crib, red eyes, snotty nose.  So there have been a number of days lately where Staley only gets one nap--and that's usually her hour or two in the morning.

What to do?  I could run errands in Peoria or Bloomington every afternoon to provide 30-40 minutes of napping on the ride home.  I could hire a baby-sitter to come put her down for her afternoon nap every day.  Or we could move her nap later in the day and make the transition to one nap.  Option 3 seemed the most logical, so I decided to put the plan into action starting today (which would give me 4 days to trial a new schedule before my next day of work.)  Staley woke up at 6:30, so my goal was to have her nap around 11:30.  She made it to 10:15.  Guess maybe we'll have to run some errands in Peoria this afternoon.