Hypothesis: Staley no longer needs an afternoon nap.
Experiment: Staley will skip her afternoon nap, and we will observe the results.
Most recent date of experiment: Yesterday
Set-up:
1. Put Staley down for her afternoon nap.
2. Staley will happily talk and sing in her crib for over half an hour.
3. Attempt quiet music, dancing, and lying in her room.
4. After over an hour with no nap in sight, give up and get Staley up.
Observations:
Staley proceeds through the 4 stages of No-Nap Syndrome.
Stage I: Utter Happiness
Upon discovery that she has won and nap-time is over, talking, smiling, laughter, and energetic happiness ensue.
Stage II: Mellowing Out
Staley will proceed to melt into the couch while eating her snack and watching her snack-time television program. Eyes become glassy, movement is limited.
Stage III: The Second Wind
In order to combat the mellow tiredness, Staley will become overly active. Attention to toys and activities is limited, and Staley will instead run aimlessly, do laps around the dining room table, and stay in constant motion in order to not fall asleep.
Stage IV: The Melt-down
When active pursuits are halted (aka: sitting down for dinner), bring on the melt-downs. Make room for sensitivity, tears for no reason, and the inability to deal with even the smallest of disappointments.
The result: Bedtime occurs at 6:15 instead of 7:30.
Conclusion: Staley still needs her afternoon nap.
Future Experiments: Staley decides that this experiment is worth repeating every month or so. The results are always very similar, but Staley is determined to prove her hypothesis. Here's hoping that after this current trial, her scientific curiousity is satisfied for a nice, long time.
Adelie and Staley's World
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Math Lesson
Staley and Zach were playing together in the play room and had this little math lesson.
Zach: (Holding up 2 cards) "How many cards do I have?"
Staley: "Two."
Zach: (Adding another card in his hand) "I had 2 cards and I added 1 more. Now how many do I have?
Staley: "Three."
Zach: (Adding yet another card) "I had 3 cards and I added 1 more. Now how many do I have?
Staley: (Thinking for a second) "Plenty."
Zach: (Holding up 2 cards) "How many cards do I have?"
Staley: "Two."
Zach: (Adding another card in his hand) "I had 2 cards and I added 1 more. Now how many do I have?
Staley: "Three."
Zach: (Adding yet another card) "I had 3 cards and I added 1 more. Now how many do I have?
Staley: (Thinking for a second) "Plenty."
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Fallen Angel
Staley Milestone #582: Staley was put in time-out at her baby-sitters for the first time yesterday.
I think it's starting. The limit testing. The boundary pushing. The I'll-keep-doing-it-if-I-want-to-do-it-even-when-you-tell-me-no. The bossiness. The demands. We are entering THAT phase of toddlerhood.
So far, Staley has been such an easy toddler. I'm not one of those parents who is afraid to correct or punish my child. I have high standards for her actions and obedience. I don't think her easy toddlerhood has anything to do with a fear of telling her 'no' or a reluctance to discipline. She's just been easy. If we tell her to do or not to do something, she generally listens. If we give her a consequence, we follow through. Usually a related consequence works to curb her behavior. Standing up in the bath? Bath time is over. Playing with her fruit? No more fruit. Being rough with her toys? Toys are taken away. It's been pretty simple...so far.
Recently, Staley has had a fascination with time-out. This is the discipline method employed by her baby-sitter, so she has become familiar with time-out by watching her friends do their time. Lately, if Staley gets reprimanded at the dinner table for playing with her food, she will say, "I get in trouble. I sit in time out." We'll ask, "Do you want to sit in time-out?" Her reply is always "yes." The other night at dinner, continued food playing and yelling at the dinner table resulted in an actual time-out. She didn't like not interacting with us (and she didn't get to zoodle after dinner), but otherwise she seemed unphased. And yesterday, when I picked her up from the baby-sitter, her baby-sitter mentioned that Staley had been disruptive during circle time after repeated warnings and had to sit in time-out. She also mentioned that Staley seemed pretty pleased with being put in time-out.
And so here we are. We have the beginning of some limit testing and boundary pushing...and a little girl who apparently likes time-out.
I think it's starting. The limit testing. The boundary pushing. The I'll-keep-doing-it-if-I-want-to-do-it-even-when-you-tell-me-no. The bossiness. The demands. We are entering THAT phase of toddlerhood.
So far, Staley has been such an easy toddler. I'm not one of those parents who is afraid to correct or punish my child. I have high standards for her actions and obedience. I don't think her easy toddlerhood has anything to do with a fear of telling her 'no' or a reluctance to discipline. She's just been easy. If we tell her to do or not to do something, she generally listens. If we give her a consequence, we follow through. Usually a related consequence works to curb her behavior. Standing up in the bath? Bath time is over. Playing with her fruit? No more fruit. Being rough with her toys? Toys are taken away. It's been pretty simple...so far.
Recently, Staley has had a fascination with time-out. This is the discipline method employed by her baby-sitter, so she has become familiar with time-out by watching her friends do their time. Lately, if Staley gets reprimanded at the dinner table for playing with her food, she will say, "I get in trouble. I sit in time out." We'll ask, "Do you want to sit in time-out?" Her reply is always "yes." The other night at dinner, continued food playing and yelling at the dinner table resulted in an actual time-out. She didn't like not interacting with us (and she didn't get to zoodle after dinner), but otherwise she seemed unphased. And yesterday, when I picked her up from the baby-sitter, her baby-sitter mentioned that Staley had been disruptive during circle time after repeated warnings and had to sit in time-out. She also mentioned that Staley seemed pretty pleased with being put in time-out.
And so here we are. We have the beginning of some limit testing and boundary pushing...and a little girl who apparently likes time-out.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Rebel...with a guilty conscience
I am a rule-follower when it comes to parenting decisions about Staley. Part of it is because she's our first child and I'm still trying to figure it all out. Part of it is because I work in a children's hospital and see what can go wrong when some of the 'rules' aren't followed. Part of it may be my controlling tendencies. Whatever the reason, I follow the rules. We followed the new-food-every-3-days rule when starting solid foods. Staley was on her back to sleep until she figured out how to roll herself over. Hand washing. Water temperature regulation. Breathable bumpers. Absolutely no co-sleeping. If there was a checklist for following baby rules, I'm sure I'd get a gold star.
Until today. Today I broke a baby rule. And not just any baby rule. I broke a carseat rule. I am a carseat safety technician. I have spent the last 10 years keeping up this certification by checking other people's carseats and making sure they are installed and used correctly. I have always been a stickler about Staley's carseat and carseat use. The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a new recommendation a few years ago that children should ride rear-facing in their carseats until they are 2 years old. (The previous guideline was 1 year old and 20 pounds.) Staley is currently only 23 months old...and I turned her carseat around. (I will now pause while you gasp in shock and disapproval.) And it wasn't even for a legitimate reason, like her surpassing the rear-facing weight limit for her carseat or anything like that. We took Staley to the Festival of Lights tonight, and I wanted her to be able to see the lights better. That was my reasoning. I blew off the AAP recommendation because I wanted my child to have a better Christmas-light viewing experience.
Staley loved facing forward. Her legs weren't shoved up against the back of the seat. She could see so much more of what was going on around her. It was much easier to hear what she was saying. And so...I think we're going to leave her seat facing forward. And I'll be honest. I'm feeling a little guilty. I may only be breaking the rule by 1 month. In one month, the AAP will say, "Sure. Turn her around. Perfect timing." But for this next month, I'll be driving my daughter around with a little more caution...and a guilty conscience.
Until today. Today I broke a baby rule. And not just any baby rule. I broke a carseat rule. I am a carseat safety technician. I have spent the last 10 years keeping up this certification by checking other people's carseats and making sure they are installed and used correctly. I have always been a stickler about Staley's carseat and carseat use. The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a new recommendation a few years ago that children should ride rear-facing in their carseats until they are 2 years old. (The previous guideline was 1 year old and 20 pounds.) Staley is currently only 23 months old...and I turned her carseat around. (I will now pause while you gasp in shock and disapproval.) And it wasn't even for a legitimate reason, like her surpassing the rear-facing weight limit for her carseat or anything like that. We took Staley to the Festival of Lights tonight, and I wanted her to be able to see the lights better. That was my reasoning. I blew off the AAP recommendation because I wanted my child to have a better Christmas-light viewing experience.
Staley loved facing forward. Her legs weren't shoved up against the back of the seat. She could see so much more of what was going on around her. It was much easier to hear what she was saying. And so...I think we're going to leave her seat facing forward. And I'll be honest. I'm feeling a little guilty. I may only be breaking the rule by 1 month. In one month, the AAP will say, "Sure. Turn her around. Perfect timing." But for this next month, I'll be driving my daughter around with a little more caution...and a guilty conscience.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
My Christmas List
Most years, I can come up with at least a few items I want for Christmas. Clothes or books or something for the house. My Christmas list over the past several years hasn't been lengthy, but it hasn't been blank either. This year, I struggled with a Christmas list. Sure, there are things I want. But the things I want can't really be wrapped up nicely under a tree.
My Christmas List
1. I want our house projects to be completed before Peanut arrives. We are in the process of finishing our basement, which will then house our office so our current office can be a nursery. Having that all completed prior to bringing home a baby in April would be so nice.
2. I want Peanut to continue to grow and develop into a healthy and happy infant.
3. I want to feel confident that I have the ability to parent both a newborn and toddler...at the same time.
4. I want more time. Time to complete projects and organize rooms and clean out closets and spend time with friends without taking away from my time with my daughter, my husband, or my sleep.
5. I want new toys. For Staley, yes. But also for me. I'm so excited about what Staley will be getting for Christmas, partly because I know she'll love everything she's getting and partly because I'm getting tired of playing with her current toys. One of the downsides of a January birthday is there is a long hiatus before a surge of new toys occurs again. Staley and I are both ready.
This is my Christmas list for this year. So if Santa can figure out how to make all that happen, I might reconsider my stance of believing in him.
And really, when I already have this...
My Christmas List
1. I want our house projects to be completed before Peanut arrives. We are in the process of finishing our basement, which will then house our office so our current office can be a nursery. Having that all completed prior to bringing home a baby in April would be so nice.
2. I want Peanut to continue to grow and develop into a healthy and happy infant.
3. I want to feel confident that I have the ability to parent both a newborn and toddler...at the same time.
4. I want more time. Time to complete projects and organize rooms and clean out closets and spend time with friends without taking away from my time with my daughter, my husband, or my sleep.
5. I want new toys. For Staley, yes. But also for me. I'm so excited about what Staley will be getting for Christmas, partly because I know she'll love everything she's getting and partly because I'm getting tired of playing with her current toys. One of the downsides of a January birthday is there is a long hiatus before a surge of new toys occurs again. Staley and I are both ready.
This is my Christmas list for this year. So if Santa can figure out how to make all that happen, I might reconsider my stance of believing in him.
And really, when I already have this...
how could I possibly need anything more???
Friday, December 7, 2012
Silly Me!
Staley and I were playing with a book that has a magnetic puzzle piece to correspond to each letter of the alphabet. We had taken out all the pieces, and were in the process of putting them back into the book. As we were nearing the end, we couldn't find one piece. Looking around, I asked, "Staley, where's the octopus?" Staley's reply? "In the ocean." Silly me!
Monday, December 3, 2012
Experiencing the Magic
Christmas time is here!!!! I love Christmas! It's one of my favorite times of year. I still experience the wonder of Christmas, and I'm so excited to see it through the eyes of my child. The lights, the music, the decorations, the cookies, the joy, the giving. I believe in the magic of Christmas, in celebrating the birth of our Savior with joy and love. I can't wait to share this magical time of year with Staley.
We kicked off our holiday season in style this year. On Friday evening, we drove to Monticello to take a ride on the Polar Express. A train ride, hot chocolate, cookies, music, dancing, a conductor who punched your golden ticket, a visit from Santa, your very own bell...what's not to love?!
The Polar Express was the kick-off, but our holiday festivities were just beginning. On Saturday, Staley got to enjoy a Santa visit and photo ops at State Farm.
State Farm Santa also gave Staley a $10 gift card to Toys R Us, so we followed up our visit with a trip to the toy store. We gave Staley some pretty cool $10 options to choose from, but she found a tiny stuffed kitten for less than $1 that she decided was what she wanted. Her deciding factor? "It's just my size."
And to top off our Christmas extravaganza week-end, we also went to pick out our Christmas tree. Staley was quite taken with the flocked Christmas trees, but unfortunately for her, she was out-voted.
Celebrating Christmas has always filled me with joy. But watching Staley experience the wonder of Christmas...well, nothing can compete with that!
We kicked off our holiday season in style this year. On Friday evening, we drove to Monticello to take a ride on the Polar Express. A train ride, hot chocolate, cookies, music, dancing, a conductor who punched your golden ticket, a visit from Santa, your very own bell...what's not to love?!
According to Staley, Santa getting too close is what's not to love.
But other than a little short-lived Santa sadness, Staley was all smiles and laughter.
Pretty pleased with her golden ticket
A little family trip to the North Pole.
Holding tight to her new bell.
And I must still believe, because I heard her bell ringing throughout our car ride home until one tired little girl fell asleep. And because one tired little girl insisted on sleeping with her bell that night, it was the sound I awakened to in the morning as well.
This Santa was tolerable...
...but the rocking horse was way better.
State Farm Santa also gave Staley a $10 gift card to Toys R Us, so we followed up our visit with a trip to the toy store. We gave Staley some pretty cool $10 options to choose from, but she found a tiny stuffed kitten for less than $1 that she decided was what she wanted. Her deciding factor? "It's just my size."
And to top off our Christmas extravaganza week-end, we also went to pick out our Christmas tree. Staley was quite taken with the flocked Christmas trees, but unfortunately for her, she was out-voted.
Notice the 'just her size' kitty in her right hand.
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