Well, I made it through 3 full days of babysitting DGS Brayden. Now, these were three great days -- I enjoy every second I spend with him and he is going through my favorite stage -- the "I need to learn EVERYTHING" stage. His vocabulary is increasing rapidly and it's just a joy to sit and listen to him talk. You can tell his brain is a little sponge right now -- just absorbing everything and anything you're willing to tell him or teach him. I love it.
Three days and only one time out, that's pretty good for a two year old! And this child does NOT fuss when you put him in time out -- he sits in the Time Out chair and just waits out his time quietly. The one Time Out was for biting Umpa (Jeff), (I think he's testing what he can and cannot do to other people) but he took his time out and came back and gave Jeff and hug and a kiss and it was over with. One other time he decided to toss all his crayons on the floor, and when I asked him to pick them up, he gave me a resounding "No!", but when I told him he could choose -- Time Out or pick up the crayons, he decided to pick up the crayons. I told him I was proud of him for making a good choice :)
Although we spent most of Wednesday outside, Thursday and Friday were cold rainy days and we both missed going outside. On Friday morning, Brayden wanted to play in the kitchen sink, but Jeff was getting ready to take a shower. I told Brayden that we couldn't run the water when Umpa was taking a shower, but we would when he was done. We moved on to other things. About 20 minutes later, after I'd forgotten all about the sink, Brayden said, "Umpa done, Umma water on?" A five word sentence!!! What a schmarty-pants. So I let him stand on a step stool to play in the sink, but he couldn't really reach things enough and was getting a lot of water on the counters and floor. So the next step was to remove his pants and socks, and let him sit on the edge of the sink to play. Well, once he cracked his head on the edge of
the cabinet, I decided that wasn't working too well (!), whipped off his diaper and sat him in the sink of water.... with his shirt on! He thought that was hilarious!
But Friday later afternoon, I was worn out, I have to admit. (I always say there's a reason God invented Menopause -- 50+ yr old women just don't have the energy to be with babies and toddlers full time!) Brayden is at an age where you really, really need to keep your eye on him every minute. For example, he has learned how to unlock and open our heavy patio sliding doors, and will pop outside on his own if you're not watching him. So at this point, I think it's more mental exhaustion than physical.
But today I need to play "catch up" on all the things I didn't get done last week because of the extra babysitting. So here is my list of what I need to get done over the weekend:
Weekend To Do List
-- Catch up on Yahoo group email and post sales
-- Go through new quilt magazines to sign up for newsletters (for my other blog)
-- Catch up on personal email
-- Copy music CD's
-- Bake banana bread and muffins
-- Think Spring*
-- Shopping at WallyWorld for paper goods and sale items
-- Shopping at Michael's for Spring wreath items
-- Quilting!
*Think Spring. It's time to move my family room and dining room from Winter to Spring. I need to remove dark slipcovers, wash windows inside and out, change art work, hang a Spring Quilt in the family room, and put a quilted Spring table top on the dining room table. I think I'm even going to buy some Spring flowers for the kitchen table! I saw an idea for making a Spring forsythia wreath for the front door, and I'd like to get that done this weekend too. Cheer the place up a bit and bring in some color.
With the exception of doing the shopping, I'll spend the weekend taking it easy on my back. Although I rarely pick Brayden up, I seem to forever be stooping over to pick up toys, and my back is feeling it today. So a day or two of "back rest" is in order before it gets worse.
Three days and only one time out, that's pretty good for a two year old! And this child does NOT fuss when you put him in time out -- he sits in the Time Out chair and just waits out his time quietly. The one Time Out was for biting Umpa (Jeff), (I think he's testing what he can and cannot do to other people) but he took his time out and came back and gave Jeff and hug and a kiss and it was over with. One other time he decided to toss all his crayons on the floor, and when I asked him to pick them up, he gave me a resounding "No!", but when I told him he could choose -- Time Out or pick up the crayons, he decided to pick up the crayons. I told him I was proud of him for making a good choice :)
Although we spent most of Wednesday outside, Thursday and Friday were cold rainy days and we both missed going outside. On Friday morning, Brayden wanted to play in the kitchen sink, but Jeff was getting ready to take a shower. I told Brayden that we couldn't run the water when Umpa was taking a shower, but we would when he was done. We moved on to other things. About 20 minutes later, after I'd forgotten all about the sink, Brayden said, "Umpa done, Umma water on?" A five word sentence!!! What a schmarty-pants. So I let him stand on a step stool to play in the sink, but he couldn't really reach things enough and was getting a lot of water on the counters and floor. So the next step was to remove his pants and socks, and let him sit on the edge of the sink to play. Well, once he cracked his head on the edge of
the cabinet, I decided that wasn't working too well (!), whipped off his diaper and sat him in the sink of water.... with his shirt on! He thought that was hilarious!But Friday later afternoon, I was worn out, I have to admit. (I always say there's a reason God invented Menopause -- 50+ yr old women just don't have the energy to be with babies and toddlers full time!) Brayden is at an age where you really, really need to keep your eye on him every minute. For example, he has learned how to unlock and open our heavy patio sliding doors, and will pop outside on his own if you're not watching him. So at this point, I think it's more mental exhaustion than physical.
But today I need to play "catch up" on all the things I didn't get done last week because of the extra babysitting. So here is my list of what I need to get done over the weekend:
Weekend To Do List
-- Catch up on Yahoo group email and post sales
-- Go through new quilt magazines to sign up for newsletters (for my other blog)
-- Catch up on personal email
-- Copy music CD's
-- Bake banana bread and muffins
-- Think Spring*
-- Shopping at WallyWorld for paper goods and sale items
-- Shopping at Michael's for Spring wreath items
-- Quilting!
*Think Spring. It's time to move my family room and dining room from Winter to Spring. I need to remove dark slipcovers, wash windows inside and out, change art work, hang a Spring Quilt in the family room, and put a quilted Spring table top on the dining room table. I think I'm even going to buy some Spring flowers for the kitchen table! I saw an idea for making a Spring forsythia wreath for the front door, and I'd like to get that done this weekend too. Cheer the place up a bit and bring in some color.
With the exception of doing the shopping, I'll spend the weekend taking it easy on my back. Although I rarely pick Brayden up, I seem to forever be stooping over to pick up toys, and my back is feeling it today. So a day or two of "back rest" is in order before it gets worse.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
It's a CAKE!!!!
4 comments:
For some reason, I skipped the paragraph about how Brayden got into the sink the first time I read this entry, and I was almost about to write..."wait, aren't you going to tell us how Brayden ended up in the sink with his clothes on..."! Sounds like you two had fun!
Brayden is so cute! I love the picture of him in the sink. You are right running around after one his age is very tiring.
That cake is amazing - where did you get the pic? DO you know who made the cake?
I think I got the cake picture from the "Splendid pictures around the net" web site -- who got it from somewhere else! If I remember correctly, it was made and decorated in Russia.
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