Paige sings....

I tried to get her to "sing" a few songs for the camera. The ABC song is the best as you can see/hear.

A new way of eating...

I have seen online, in magazines, and on other blogs about bento box, muffin tin, or ice cube tray lunches and snacks for kids. We have this old ikea ice cube tray that I decided to put Paige's lunch in yesterday. She thought it was great, and deterred her slightly from chucking her food (although--when she decides to chuck the entire thing, then we'll have an even bigger mess). This morning when we went downstairs for breakfast she squealed with delight when she saw the tray in the drying rack. I had to make her bowl of oatmeal as well as the little assortment above. It definitely made her eat more food.

Photo shoot....

New toy....

This morning we took a drive to Toys r Us to get some sidewalk chalk and art supplies and browse around. We found Mr. Potato Head on sale and I thought it was the perfect toy for Paige. I wanted to get her something inexpensive, but challenging, so he seemed perfect! When we got home she played with him for about 20 minutes, swapping out the body parts. At first it was a bit tricky for her to fit the pieces in properly, but she got the hang of most of the pieces. Some of them, like the hat and mustache are too hard for now.

While we were out we also stopped at Children's place to get more socks. Without even realizing it, Paige has outgrown her camo print socks! I attributed it to her being sick, but she was constantly complaining about her socks. We would have to pull them right up and if they slipped at all she would get so upset. I finally realized that they were too small, when she didn't complain with her larger socks! So we did a big sock run, and hope that it helps. I'm sad to put away the camo socks, just as I was sad to put away the mary jane socks (both from the Barr family!). I guess it means she is getting bigger. Probably almost time for new shoes! No matter what (even if it means she can't walk anywhere, jk), I'm going to wait till it is a bit warmer to buy her new shoes so I can get a more summery pair. I actually got her feet measured 3 weeks ago and her shoes were fine, so I have some time.

Bathtime fun

P.S. potty training in the evening is on the backburner since she barely ate/drank for a few days which obviously rendered potty training impossible.

All better....

Almost back to normal now...yaaaaaaa!!

Sick

Paige has the flu. She threw up all of Sunday night and has had a fever for the past 2 days. She is so miserable, and has only just started to eat even 1 bite of food. Poor little thing had only recovered for a few days from the last illness.

Summer toys?

I felt very against getting a huge plastic toy (mainly for environmental reasons) for the backyard until I saw this sandbox/pool and table combo on the toys r us website. My original plan was to check kijiji for something used. I haven't seen anything yet that was what I was looking for, and what I did see was really visibly worn. Soooo....maybe we'll get something new knowing we will give it away in the future!! Anyway, this one from Toys r us seems perfect since our backyard is pure sun all day long (and we have lots of space with nothing but grass in our backyard). I would love to be able to have snacks outside with Paige, and let her play in the pool under the umbrella. I thought at first that maybe the sandbox was a good idea, but hot sand in 35 degree weather doesn't sound as appealing as refreshing pool!!

A conversation at the pool....

me (at the front desk): Is diaperfit running today? (I asked because it is March Break and I wasn't sure. I chanced going to the pool since I thought we could just go to the indoor playground there if the class wasn't on)

guy at desk: um....yep!

me: is it busy?

guy: I'd say moderately busy

(go in changeroom get dressed, shower, go on deck. See no signs of diaperfit...strange...)

me (to lifeguard): am i the only one here so far for diaperfit?

guard: ya, looks like it.

(put paige down the slide a few times, guard comes back)

guard: um, there isn't actually a diaperfit today, sorry!


What on Earth??? Lack of communication or what!?? We played around the pool for 30 minutes since it was public swim.

Food chucking....

We created a problem that I don't know how to fix. The other day, while in her highchair, Paige made a mess so great that we couldn't help but say "No!" "no throwing food", etc. etc. Ever since then she has been chucking food to see the reaction. Yesterday she made another big mess in the blink of an eye by dumping a soup bowl. We made her stand in the corner--Big mistake # 2. She now is throwing food and immediately asking to stand in the corner. She says "corner?" as in, "if they put me in the corner I will be out of my chair! ha ha ha suckers!" Today we had applesauce all over the wall. One second she was eating the applesauce, and the next second it was on the wall. Granted, she has an extremely small appetite the past few days which accounts for why she would just be bored in her chair with her food but still! Can't we just go back to "all done? ALL DONE! down DOWN DOWN MOMMY DOOOOWWWNNN" I prefer that to the food chucking.

In regards to the time out, it generally doesn't work for Paige, I guess we just tried it with the food incident to see what would happen. It reaffirmed that it does nothing. I guess the thing is she wasn't wanting to stay in her chair, so why would she care if she was taken out of the chair for a time out? She responds best to discipline that is directly related to the behaviour. Ie. If she starts colouring on the table I tell her only colour on the paper. If she does it again I take the crayons away which makes her upset. I tell her why they have been taken away, and she is usually fine to continue with only colouring on the paper. If she were to then colour on the table again I take this as she does not want to play with these again (obviously only using them to get a reaction rather than have fun playing with them), and redirect her to another activity. So that pretty much works with no freak outs.

So anyway, applying the same principles to the food throwing is what I have to work with. Take away the food and even take her out of her chair or give her something else to do. I'm just wondering if this is rewarding negative behaviour, or just redirecting?

Oh well, we'll see what tomorrow brings. She's obviously been sick, and today she had so much fun at the pool and the indoor and outdoor playgrounds that she was really tired out by lunch and dinner time. So maybe tomorrow will be better.