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Snowy Construction Site

2/24/2021

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Sometimes when it's too cold to go outside, you have to bring the elements in! My two year old is obsessed with trucks and has been for a long time. We used a square sensory bin to make a snow site and added in various sized construction vehicles. 

To engage my younger toddler, 1 year old, I added in stacking cups in various sizes to fill and dump to create snow castles and boxes. 

One thing that's great to focus on for this activity is filling and dumping. And if you have a toddler, you know that they love dumping. The cups provide a productive way to fill that's fun for all ages.
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Potty Training | Week Two

1/28/2021

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It's official! We have a potty trained two year old boy and I don't know how to be more EXCITED for him! After a rough week one, we figured out a solution and he's been rocking it. Not a single accident (except a little dribble when I was cooking in the kitchen) and not a single tear all week long. The happy guy is back and so PROUD of himself.

​Here's how the past two weeks went down...
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Potty Training | FIrst 3 days

1/21/2021

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​Can I just preface this with the fact that potty training is freaking scary. I had dabbled in the act of potty training my son about a handful of times before finally committing (and even then it was sort of not fully committing until I knew that he was into it and could handle it). Had day one been a nightmare, I might have backed off and pushed it off another month or so. I don’t really know. 

Potty training, especially a boy, and you’ll understand why in a few paragraphs (think sprinkler) is a lot of work. Not only do you have to be on your child 24/7 for a few solid days at home, but you have to be on your game. And I have to admit, with the smaller girl always attached to my hip, it’s hard to fully devote my attention to Lincoln. 
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​And then there’s just a million and one excuses. He’s not developmentally ready (says who, and what’s the actual requirement for potty training? It all seems sort of arbitrary), he’s not showing an interest (well, he likes the word poop and to flush it, is that interest?!), he’s not asking to go potty. I think more than any of those questions and standards, it’s on the parent to be ready to do it.
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After deciding that I could handle a weekend of potty training, I got two different potty training books, one of which had been sitting on my shelf since March 2020. I took them out and placed them on my nightstand and…never read them. I have every single intention of reading them, but I was just too tired at night and had other things prioritized so I decided to go into the potty training blind—using only my gut as my navigation system. 

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Gingerbread House with 2 Year Old

12/11/2020

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All I have to say is thank goodness we got the pre-put together house because there is no way this guy would've sat longer than he already was. He was SO excited and I'm sure that made him a little more jittery than he normally may be!

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2 year old schedule

10/10/2020

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6:30 AM: Wake up
7 AM: Breakfast (yogurt with granola + half a banana or sometimes smoothie + fruit)
9:30 AM: Snack (raisins or fruit bar or chips and dip or rice cake)
12 PM: Lunch (really anything with a veggie + fruit + treat)
12:30-2:30 PM: Nap
3 PM: Snack (cheese stick or cottage cheese or pretzels or nut bar)
5 PM: Dinner (changes but I give him items I know he eats so he goes to bed full)
6 PM: Bath, jammies, books
6:30-7 PM: Quiet playing
7 PM: Bed

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Pre-Tantrum Tips

10/3/2020

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How to stop a toddler tantrum before it ever begins...

Here's the actual truth, you can't. HOWEVER, I do believe that you can equip your child with coping and self-regulation skills to where a tantrum is a quick and relatively painless process. Tantrums are developmentally appropriate for toddlers as this is a time in their life when they discover their autonomy and that they're an individual in a big, big world. 

But that doesn't mean your child should be miserable and fighting with you all the time in this crazy power-struggle. It starts from day one and it starts with you setting them up for success. The tips I mention below are all practiced in my house (as much as possible) and I think they've helped Lincoln, my two year old, be able to work his way through tantrums better. 
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How We Dropped The Paci

8/26/2020

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My son loved his pacis. Since birth he has used the MAM brand. The idea of ditching the paci has been plaguing me for MONTHS, and I am not even exaggerating. Since Lincoln was about 18 months old I was debating on when and how to get rid of them. And I was dreading the day because my son is such an amazing sleeper and I was scared this would be the downfall. 
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Lincoln's TOp 5 Books of the Month

8/4/2020

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Binoculars

7/23/2020

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  • Two toilet paper rolls
  • Tape
  • Scissors
  • Ribbon/String
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Put the two toilet paper rolls side by side and tape together. I've seen them stapled before as well. Wrap a few times to make sure they can't separate. Poke one hole on each side and thread string through. 
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I prefer using paint to decorate the binoculars but Lincoln was very eager to outside so we used crayons to avoid drying time. He told me that he drew birds and squirrels and the sun. We put our binoculars on and went outside to search for random things. We went on a color hunt, a bear hunt, and eventually picked some raspberries from the bushes in our backyard.

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Conversation About Death with A Toddler

7/21/2020

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As many of you know, our family dog passed away. Two days after his passing, my son Lincoln who is 22 months old, asked about Beau. I figured I would share our first conversation about death. Below you will read a quick transcript of the conversation and then explanation why I said what I did. 

As a background statement, I don't deal with death well. I don't really show emotions in general but when it comes to those I love passing, I get weird about it. I really make an effort to not pass my own issues onto my children and my background in psychology is able to help a lot. My goal from this is to remove the taboo/ don't talk about it stigma that death sometimes carries no matter how uncomfortable or sad it makes us feel.
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