Cheese!

 

Time Change

I like my sleep.  Always have.  Where the average adult probably needs 7-8 hours of sleep at night, I think my body functions best on 10-11.  I always cherished my days off as days that I could sleep in and let my body get the rest it always seems to need.  I'm a great napper.  I can sleep anywhere.  Falling asleep--no problem.  I don't really think I have an internal clock.  If there was an Olympics for sleeping, I'd definitely be in the running for the gold.

Staley was a great night-time sleeper from the moment we brought her home.  I think that was God's divine wisdom, knowing that I'd be a much better mother with some hours of sleep under my belt.  For the past several months, her night-time sleep patterns are like clockwork.  Asleep by 7:30.  Awake between 7:00 and 7:15.  (On the rare occasion, 7:30 or 8:00.  Oh, those are glorious days!)

Last week, however, Staley started several of her days around 6:30 instead of 7:00.  I was hoping it was a fluke.  And then...the time change.  We pushed back Staley's bedtime and naptime to help her accommodate to the change.  Her bedtime and naptime schedule have still been going fine.  But now instead of our like-clockwork 7:00-7:15 awakening, she has been waking up between 6:00 and 6:30.  Everyday.  Days I work.  Days I don't work.  I'm not one of those moms who gets up early to shower, get ready, meditate, work out.  Nope.  On my days off, I wake up when Staley wakes up.  7:00-good.  6:00-not so good.

I'm telling myself it's the time change.  I'm convincing myself it's the time change.  I'm HOPING that it's the time change.  Because that means that Staley will adjust, and our schedule will return to the way it was.  The other option would mean entertaining the thought that Staley's sleep schedule has changed, and that 6:00 is the start of our everyday.  I'm not ready to entertain that thought.  So...it must be the time change.

C is for...

Staley had an early fascination with letters.  She has refrigerator letters and bathtub letters, and she has learned to recognize most of her upper case alphabet.  Lately, however, her interest has taken a new twist.  She has realized that letters represent things, and so she always wants to know what letters 'are for.'  She knows that 'S is for Staley.'  She has tried to build on that knowledge, with amusing results.  During bath time, she will pick up a letter and tell us 'T is for Daddy.'  Or 'X is for Mommy.'  Or 'O is for Grammie.'  Sometimes she will pause, as if asking us to fill in the blank.  The other day while playing with her refrigerator magnets, she held up the 'c' and asked, "C is for... (waiting for my reply.)"  I answered with "C is for Cade,"  to which she promptly corrected, "No.  C is for...Olivia."

She may not have the full concept yet, but you've got to admire the self-assurance.

Proud...Mostly

One of the things I really appreciate about Staley's new baby-sitter is that learning time is built into each day.  Staley participates in circle time, but as the second youngest at her in-home baby-sitters, she is learning right along with her 3 and 4 year old friends.  Recently they have been learning about the months of the year.  Staley will periodically tell us what month it is, and she's been very interested in learning about what month each person's birthday is.  'Liam's birthday in?'  'Mommy's birthday in?'  She will tell us, "Staley's birthday in January."

At lunch today, however, Staley surprised us.  We were eating, and out of the blue Staley said, "January."  Then she said, "February."  Then "March."  She proceeded to name all of the months of the year in order through September.  We had no idea she could do that.  I was surprised...and very proud.

Of course, it wasn't five minutes later that I had to tell Staley to stop gagging herself with her spoon.  I guess all of our moments can't be proud ones.

A Few Perks

Staley started talking early in life, and she just never stopped.  Staley is talking (or singing) from the minute she wakes up in the morning to the time she falls asleep at night.  She has so much to say, and I love to listen to the running narrative of what is going on in that little head of hers.  I love how well she communicates, but I've definitely identified a few of my favorite perks.

1.  I always know when Staley is awake and when she is asleep.  I know there are children who lie quietly in their cribs as they are falling asleep or after they wake up.  Not my girl.  I can pinpoint the exact moment she falls asleep and the exact moment she wakes up by whether or not she is talking.  We probably don't still need to use the baby monitor, but we do...mostly because I enjoy listening to her commentary as she is going to sleep and after she wakes up.

2.  I never have to wonder where Staley is.  She is not often quietly in another room doing something she shouldn't be doing.  I always know where she is because wherever it is, she's talking about it.

3.  I never have to wonder what Staley is up to because she is telling me.  She hasn't yet learned that if she's doing something she's not supposed to, she should probably keep quiet about it.  Nope.  She's giving me a running commentary of her misdeeds.  'I playing on stairs.'  'I send message on Mommy's phone.'  'I standing on chair.'  'I dumping my water.'  Yesterday morning, I was in the shower and I heard Staley say, "I standing on my potty."  And sure enough, I looked out the curtain to see her proudly standing atop her potty chair in the bathroom.  I don't have to be watching her constantly, because she's letting me know when she's doing something she shouldn't.

4.  I generally don't have to guess or wonder what her tears are about.  She can let me know if she hurt something or wants something or even if she's crying for no reason.  This morning, Staley was crying when Zach got home from his run.  Concerned, he asked her what was wrong.  She responded with, "I play on stairs.  Mommy say no."  Yup.  No need to be too concerned about that one.  Or the other evening, Staley was crying because she wanted to read more books before brushing her teeth.  I asked her, "Are the tears really necessary?"  Staley answered with, "No.  Just drama."

5.  Staley can help us know what she is up to when we are not there.  She generally can share what she played with or talked about in circle time or the art project she did at the baby-sitters.  She loves to give us up-dates about her time with her cousins or her grandparents.  These cousin or baby-sitter up-dates also often include if someone cried, got in trouble, or got messy.  Although I know that her day-by-day summary isn't always 100% accurate, it's nice to know that she can share what's going on in her world when we're not there.

I love my talkative little girl.  She continues to amuse me with the things she says and astound me with her ever-growing vocabulary.  There are so many things I love about my baby girl...and her talking is just one of the perks.

Potty Up-date

About two months ago, I mentioned Staley's emerging interest in using the potty in this post.  After her first true success, Staley made some great progress.  For about 2-3 weeks, she would regularly pee in the potty once or twice a day and would poop in the potty about every 2-3 days.  Sometimes I would ask if she needed to go and sometimes she would initiate on her own.  We'd also do some sitting without any success, but I was sure she'd be potty trained within the month. 

Shows what I know.  After those beautiful 2-3 weeks, Staley began to lose interest.  She rarely asked to sit on the potty, and generally didn't want to try when I asked.  I didn't want to push her and make things worse, so instead I upped the ante.  I added M&Ms to the mix.  I told her that she'd get an M&M for sitting on the potty, and more M&Ms for going pee-pee or poo-poo on the potty.  With the added incentive, I was sure we'd pick up where we left off.

Shows what I know.  Multiple M&Ms are great, but Staley is happy with her one M&M.  Sure, we've had a few successes, but generally Staley will ask to sit on the potty a.) when she's trying to get out of something (naptime, bedtime),  b.) when I am trying to get her downstairs for breakfast/lunch/leaving the house and she wants to keep reading books, c.) when I am taking a shower and Staley would prefer that I be keeping her company, or d.) when she wants an M&M.  (You'll notice that when she actually needs to go didn't even make the top 4 list.)

So that's where we are.  Staley still almost always lets us know when her diaper is dirty, and occasionally lets us know when her diaper is wet.  She still sits on the potty, but not with the regular success that I would hope for.  I know she's still very young.  I'm not worried.  I'm not pushing it.  We have plenty of time.  But I had assumed that potty training with Staley would be quick and easy and hopefully done by now.

Shows what I know.

Halloween

Staley enjoyed a full (several) days of Halloween celebration this year.  She was so excited about wearing her crown and her tutu.  She practiced saying 'trick or treat' and 'happy Halloween, everybody' around the house, in her crib at naptime, and sitting in her high chair at meals.  She knew that people were going to give her treats, and that was definitely something to look forward to.

Last week-end, Staley enjoyed the Pumpkin Patch Party at our church with her Walles cousins.  Her favorite part was the cake walk.  It took us about 15 rounds of 'walking on the numbers' before Staley won some cupcakes, but I don't even think the cupcakes were the highlight.  Apparently walking in a circle is great fun!!

With her cousins before the Pumpkin Patch Party

Staley got to enjoy a little extra costume time on Halloween.  She wore her costume to music class, the nursing home to visit her great-grandmas, the shop (where she enjoyed showing off for Brandon, Greg, and the rest of the guys), and the grocery store.

Staley with her friends and teacher from music class

And, of course, trick or treating was a highlight.  Because Staley has a 7:30 bedtime, our trick or treating window was relatively small.  To help out, we split trick or treating between two nights.  The Eureka relatives kindly allowed some early trick or treating on Tuesday so that we could visit a few neighbors on Wednesday. 

Ready to go (with her bucket in one hand and yellow bear in the other)

Trick or treat!

Getting treats is so exciting!

With this Halloween fun, Staley also got her first taste of a candy bar and her first experience with Skittles.  What a wonder(woman)ful Halloween we had!!!