Friday, March 30, 2012

Her Jukebox

Every now and then Natali will dance in the kitchen to music from her magnet toy. She will dance to each little tune....they are very short so she has to hit the button over and over again. It's cute.

 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsHSVVMUUqo

 

If on an Ipad....its not working via the above...here is a direct link

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsHSVVMUUqo

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

I miss my baby

Natali is no longer a baby....she's a full grown...toddler.

It kind of upset me the other day. I miss having a baby. Being able to hold her in my arms whenever I wanted. She resist being held like a baby now. She walks, talks and thinks for her own.

Every now and then though she plays the baby role.

Yesterday she woke up a bit early from her nap and was upset. I was a bit tired myself. I picked her up and she put her head on my shoulder. I then sat down in the recliner in her room, stretched out and we both relaxed. She half napped, I just closed my eyes. It was nice to hold her close in a quiet room.

She also plays the baby role when she sleeps. This morning I went to wake her up (it was an hour past her normal wakeup time) and she squirmed around and tried to ignore me as I rubbed her back. Seeing her curled up in a ball squirming around reminded me of how she looked just a year ago.

We are both a bit sick (Natali coughed a lot overnight, so I let her sleep a little extra as I don't think she slept well) so after the nap we went to have ice cream. I got her a small bowl for herself. She did a decent job eating without me helping. Toward the end of the bowl she got distracted by other people/kids in the shop and let the ice cream drip down on her shirt.

In a few months Natali will be two years old. That's normally when parents switch toddlers from a crib to a bed. Natali might not make it till two.

She has started to attempt to climb out. Every time we have intervened and stopped her. Don't know how many more times we will get lucky.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrqdaDeqTEI

Each time she is simply trying to get something she dropped...normally her pacifier (she only has it too sleep) but sometimes it's her socks.

Natali is definitely a smart kiddo. She's learning the alphabet fairly well. She has about 8 letters down solid.

For a few weeks Natali has been TRYING to play the "mommy/daddy" game. When I won't let her get her way she will call, "mommy! mommy! mommy!" even if Kelli isn't home. When Kelli is home and she won't give Natali her way Natali will call, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!". We don't give in though and the tantrums have gotten much shorter due to our standing firm.

Oh and don't take my missing Natali being a baby as a statement that I want another kid. I'm still standing by my "one and done" motto.

Finally....Kelli and I have now been married for 7 years. Seven years. If someone told me seven years ago that I'd be an airline pilot and the father of a toddler I would have laughed at them...and gone back to my cubicle.

Amazing how time flies....and situations change.

 

Monday, March 19, 2012

It gets better

We have our good days...and we have our bad days.

Natali has really started expressing herself lately. Not always in a bad way. She's just being more authoritative.

For example she got used to having a coat on when we left the house. So whenever we leave she will say "coat"....and insist we put on her coat....or we aren't leaving the house...no matter how warm it is outside.

After the coat on she says, "zipper". Yes we have to zip up the coat....no matter how warm it is.

I took her to the park on a 74 degree day last week....and she was wearing her coat.....only for a few minutes though.

This is just one example of her insisting things go her way. There are more....many...many...many more.

We aren't going to have that "bratty only child". Kelli and I both stand our ground every now and then....tantrum be damned. Natali is good at throwing a tantrum....Oscar worthy.

She will straighten her body out if we try to pick her up, fling her head back and scream. When we leave her on the ground she will roll around and cry...tears more often than not. We don't budge.

Kelli and I bought new Ipads. Kelli gave her old Ipad to Natali. I bought a pink and white Otterbox case for it. Otterbox cases are heavy duty cases that can withstand being dropped, kicked....toddler'd.

Natali was already really good at using the Ipad. Now she is really good. I put her favorite video on the Ipad titled, "Elmo's Word - Babies, Dogs and More". Kelli and I have watched this video at least 10 times. Natali has watched it more than that. She still likes it.

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Now that she has her own Ipad all she wants to do is watch that video. I tried hiding the Video app...she just swiped to the next screen, found the icon, opened it...and said "Elmo please".

We have limited her Ipad use to about an hour a day. She protest....we deal.

Feeding time has progressed as well. Natali wants to feed herself......we can't help.  The days of us holding the spoon are over. Thankfully we bought plastic shirt bib things that protect her clothes as she is still learning.

Anyways......

We've used the Pampers brand of diapers from day one. They are good....and expensive from the store. Thankfully they were REALLY cheap on Amazon.com....until recently.

Now they are only slightly cheaper than going to the store. Problem.

I tried Wal-Mart brand diapers. Eh. They are ok for day time....but not night time.

I then tried Target brand diapers. Eh. They are also ok for day time....but not night time.

Guess we will stay with Pampers. Maybe mix the two....cheap at day and Pampers at night?

Finally, brushing Natali's teeth has gotten much easier.

No longer do we have to hold her down and listen to her scream. All we have to say is, "Natali it's time to brush your teeth."

She then walks into the bathroom and stands on her toddler stand (which is also a toilet). We then sing the "ABC" song while brushing her teeth. No crying. No fussing. Just peaceful brushing. It's so much nicer.

It gets better.

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Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Dentists and Potty Training

I saw a news story on the Nightly News last night about more kids getting cavities these days in their baby teeth.  The story cited several reasons for this and said the key to prevention is good teeth brushing habits and visits to the dentist starting at a year old.  We are very good about brushing Natali's teeth.  She gets them brushed twice a day just like we brush ours.  For a long time it was a big struggle with lots of crying every time, but more recently Natali has come to accept teeth brushing as part of her routine.  I think it helps that she is big enough now to stand on a stool at the sink while we brush them and she likes to watch herself in the mirror.  She hasn't cried during brushing for a few weeks at least.  I hadn't even considered taking her to the dentist though.  My pediatrician hasn't mentioned it either.  After I saw that news story though, I posted a message about it on Facebook and got a lot of good responses from friends, mostly saying they started their kids going at 2 years old.  Then my sister posted saying she had just taken my niece for the first time at 4 years old and she has a cavity.  She wishes she had taken her earlier, so it might have been prevented.  That was enough for me to hear.  I have another good friend that recommended an excellent pediatric dentist so I think I'm going to call tomorrow and make Natali an appointment.  She is on my dental insurance this year so there really is no reason not to do it since it's free anyway.  I will post how that goes after our appointment.

In other news, Natali went to the bathroom on her potty today!  It was her first time and I was so excited about it!  Now Natali is only 19 months old and I am in no way trying to push potty training before she is ready.  However, we have seen for a while now that she recognizes when she needs to go.  It is very obvious before bath time.  She will often say poo poo and hold herself then pee right in the bathtub.  Thankfully its only been pee and I've never had to clean a brown tub.  We have a training toilet for Natali already only because my sister and niece were at our house once during her potty training time so we went out and bought one.  My sister had a terrible time potty training my niece, and she wasn't totally trained until after she was 3 years old.  I know every child is different, but I have always hoped Natali would be easier to train.  It turns out she may be very easy.  I wasn't even going to think about toilet training until Natali turned 2, but since she seems to recognize now when she has to go I thought I'd just sit her on the toilet and get her used to it and see what happens.  I tried it tonight before her bath.  She sat there for a minute but didn't go, so I praised her for sitting there then just put her in the tub.  Then, right before bed time we went in to brush her teeth and I just decided to try it again.  I put her on the little toilet and she sat there for a minute doing nothing so I asked her if she was done.  She just said "no", so I let her sit some more and about a minute later she started peeing.  I was so excited!  She got a lot of praise for that.

Of course, now I don't know what to do next.  Do I start seriously working on potty training at home?  Do I just put her on the toilet randomly and not really try too hard with it for now?  If Natali were always home I may actually try a bit harder with it, but she spends 3 days a week at daycare and she isn't in a class that does potty training yet.  She is absolutely not ready to move up to a bigger class, so if I work on potty training at home and then she doesn't get it at school will it somehow mess it all up?  I have no idea how to proceed on this one.  I guess I will have to do some reading up on the subject.  If anyone reading this has any great advice or resources on potty training I will gladly accept any and all suggestions.  This is completely new territory for us and we have no idea what we're doing. :)

Monday, March 5, 2012

Travelling on an airplane with a baby

Kelli and I have travelling with a baby down to a science. Almost.

When we first started we thought we were good. We were still better than average....but not as good as we are now.

We used to use our regular (read heavy) car seat on airplanes. Our regular seat is a Britax Boulevard CS. Very nice seat. Heavy duty...and very comfy for Natali. But it's very heavy.

There had to be a better way. Kelli did the research and found this Combi seat that is lightweight, comfortable and fits down the aisle of the plane while attached to wheels.

 

Wheels? Yes! Kelli found this wheel set up that attaches to most car seats. She found the GoGo Babyz Travelmate . This

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Did it to myself

I'm a geek....I love technology. It was only natural to use technology in raising Natali.

Natali has been around the Ipad since she was born. Kelli and I used an App called BabyGeek to track Natali's diapers and feeding for the first few months. Natali has been playing with the Ipad herself since she was 4-5 months old.

Over the last month Natali as REALLY gotten into the Ipad. How much so? "Ipad, Ipad, Ipad!" is spoken by her daily.

Kelli and I each have a folder labeled "Natali" on each one of our Ipads. Natali knows how to find her folder, open it and then open each app.

Natali knows how to turn the Ipad around if it opens in the wrong orientation. She knows how to exit an app and she is REALLY good at swiping. The Ipad is very toddler friendly.

I tried to get her to use the HP Touchpad I bought for her that I loaded Android onto. Nope. She has a few apps....not into it.

The Ipad 3 comes out this week...or soon anyway. I plan on buying one (I can expense it since I can use it in the cockpit at work!) and give Natali my old Ipad. Yeah....that's right I'm giving an Ipad to an 18 month old. Kelli agrees though as she's tired of sharing her own Ipad.

Since the last post we all traveled to California for a wedding. Natali's grandma bought her a new butterfly dress and shoes. Natali has several butterflies on her walls and it's one of the many words she has mastered. She looked very cute.

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