Toddler 2.0

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Coraline is now a month into the big 2.0 year. She’s lately become very attached to me in the morning, and doesn’t want anyone else to talk to her (including her teachers). She’s a bit slow waking up, not like Jameson who always perked right up in the morning at that age (not anymore).

It was funny to see her hiding away from daddy in the morning, but now it’s made drop off progressively worse. Otherwise, she’s a ball of adorable energy. When she’s not pretending to be shy, she’s saying hi to strangers and playing peekaboo like at the park this past weekend.

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Since Jameson’s been in swimming lessons, I started putting Coraline to bed without anyone else home. She was concerned at first that she couldn’t say night night to Daddy and Jameson. Through the past couple months, it has now become a thing to sing our “night night” song to each family member, plus other people, places or objects.

“Night night Coraline
Night night Coraline
Night night Coraline
We’ll see you in the morning”

Has now been replaced with mommy, daddy, Jameson individually, plus our neighbors family, individually. We’ve sang night night to mac ‘n cheese, the wall, butterflies, bugs, Coraline’s potty and more. I’ve had to start limiting it to two extra verses, but she is not a fan. She’s also been calling herself “Coralee” on occasion, and insisted on that one night (though, right before I left the room, she requested her original night night Coraline song).

Potty training? Not really happening. She sits on it for a moment (half a second).

A week or so after she turned two, she did take a big girl step and got a her new big girl bed. She adored it right away, and loved watching daddy put it together. She tried to climb into the window, which has happened a couple times since then as well. It won’t be long before she won’t fit though! She’s getting so big. She’s 24 pounds and in a size 6 shoe! (We were stuffing her into 4-1/2 size, oops!)

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Sleeping and napping has been pretty good; she’s been adjusting to the freedom of getting out of bed, and we had a week or so where she didn’t want to go to bed in it after the initial excitement wore off. One day she even took off her pants and diaper and I never heard a sound at naptime! She’s doing really well now, and loves to talk about her big girl bed. Jameson was a little jealous, since it has a roof on it, and he’s also loved playing in it.

Not super pleased about the lack of breakfast before our ear tube surgery this morning.

Coraline also got tubes put in her ears for the second time. So far, everything is great! We haven’t had any tubes fall out like we had within a month last time. It was harder this time around because she really wanted to eat in the morning. She always requested a snack immediately upon waking, and when I told her no, for the first time she said the full, big word “breakfast” with a sad little face. We left for the surgery early so we could get her out of the house and away from the food. After walking around a little stumbly, by evening and after naptime, she was completely back to normal.

Coraline loves getting boo boo kisses for all her “injuries”, singing songs like Hushabye baby, Rockabye baby, Bumble bee and more. The other night, Jameson translated for us a new rhyme she was saying about monkeys in the tree. She’s hilarious, smiley, and almost always in a good mood.

Except when she’s not, and she screams herself red in the face and lays flat on the ground, which is pretty funny as long as I’m still in a good mood. She doesn’t always like getting her hair done, but likes it when I’m finished. Coraline also wants to pick out her own clothes sometimes now, which can be entertaining. The first three or four times she had on short sleeves the past month, she kept trying to tug them down because she was confused about the length. It’s finally feeling like Spring!

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Bring on warm weather and our climbing toddler! We’re ready!

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Soccer Try Two

Our last attempt at playing soccer didn’t really end well. Jameson was okay in the beginning, but by the end was refusing to participate entirely. We weren’t really sure what went wrong, so this time we changed up a couple things.

We made sure to have Jameson sign up with a friend. Our neighbors were able to participate as well this time. And we also tried a different program, in the hopes that different teaching methods would encourage him to participate again. I think it helped that it was months later that we tried again.

For all this, he really didn’t seem to remember that he didn’t actually like the other program, and was asking to play soccer again, so maybe he would’ve been fine without those changes. But regardless, this time we had success! And he did seem to absorb some things from the first program we did, like not to touch the ball, so I wouldn’t call it a completely wasted experience.

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This program is run by volunteer students, and was much less structured. Even though I think that some parents struggled with that in the beginning, the kids loved it. There was lots and lots of running.

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How great is this tongue out!?

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Coraline is pointing at the soccer ball next to her. She was a snack MONSTER at these practices.

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Our last session was this week (indoors, since it was near dark after the time change!), and in general I think I’d choose outdoor over indoor. The kids are much more behaved (as is Coraline) when it’s outside. But the kids all got their own soccer ball at the end, which was a surprise to me. It was such a great value and experience. I can’t wait for him to play again in spring!

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Clowning Around Party

That past couple years, our neighbors have had one big birthday party for both their kids who were born in August. Last year, they hired a balloon man. This year, they one upped him by hiring a clown who was also a magician and balloon man!

Last year, Jameson hung back quietly. This year it did not take him long to get into the fun. He even volunteered himself! His squeals of delight were so fun to hear. Even Coraline sat still on my lap for nearly a half an hour watching him.
 

 
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Jameson got to keep a hippo after the trick he volunteered for. He was so excited! All the kids got little stuffed animals then, which was super cute. After the magic show, he did balloons and Brian occupied some kiddos while they waited their turns with a handle held air pump.

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Jameson requested an alien, and we were pretty fascinated with the balloon within a balloon.

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So for their birthday, we decided to get a gift that was outdoors, since Kelly mentioned they have a lot of toys and clothes already. (Also, a bonus in that my kiddos would be able to play with it too). We got them a combined gift of the Classic Alligator Teeter Totter, and it came in this enormous box that I loved watching the kids speculate what it was. Big boxes are always exciting!

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Oh, and we also had the water bouncer out! It was a kid’s dream party, I believe. Then time for cake! Coraline enjoyed eating her cake so much that she licked the plate, cracking us all up.
 

 
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I think the birthday kiddos had a lot of fun; I know mine did too!

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Swimming

Saturday, we started Jameson’s first swimming lessons that he likely remembers, since his last ones were over a year ago. We stopped about a month before Coraline was born. He’s got a pretty great memory now, but I recall that being a time when he was just starting to really hold onto his memories.

So that morning we took him to a local high school which has a pool. We didn’t do a mommy-and-me style class. For his age group, they recommended he go by himself; Jameson did need some encouragement though. Maybe more than a little, since I had to end up lifting him into the water when he didn’t want to go all the way down the steps.

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The pool was nice in that it was sized great for preschoolers who could actually stand in the water by themselves. It was generously warm as well, which I was thankful for. I remember very cold water on cooler outdoor mornings for my own swimming lessons. Jameson is a lucky kid!

He also showed quite a bit of hesitation before putting the floater under his arms, but again after a little encouragement from me on the other side, he did it!

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They even had time for some play, which I think was missing from our soccer experience (which by the end he did not want to participate in at all!). So I have high hopes that he will enjoy his swimming lessons and get more and more confident in the water. By the end of our first lesson, simply playing with a ball he dared himself to get back into the deeper water!

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To reinforce the lesson that we need to learn to swim (and just to have fun!), we went to a waterpark later that afternoon with some friends.

Coraline loved it. She walked, holding onto my hands, to her chest height. No fear! When I had a hand under her belly, I even saw a couple kicks. I think she wanted to slide down the waterslide as well. She wasn’t quite tall enough for that! Jameson loved it though and did the slide over and over again.

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It was mildly chilly in and out of the water, but the water itself wasn’t too cold and the concrete really held the heat which meant we were comfortable and but not sweltering. The weather meant the crowd was very light, which we all loved. When Jameson got too cold, he laid down on the beach chairs covered in a towel eating snacks, haha!

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Coraline was not a big fan of the lazy river, mostly because of the life jacket squishing her little chin and cheeks up. She loved splashing and crawling on me. After several hours there, I still hadn’t really hear her fussing. She loved the poolside snacking (as did Jameson). I’m pretty sure the one time she cried at the end was because she was getting her swimsuit off, and she wanted to play more!

Brian and I had the opportunity to ride a few adult rides with our friend’s older girls, which was a blast. And we all visited the wave pool which water was very beach-like and warm.

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After the waterpark, some exhausted children continued to play and have fun late into the night. Particularly Jameson, who was up until 9:30! Coraline has reached the phase where you may not be able to tell she’s exhausted by looking at her. She’ll continue to play as long as you let her.

We enjoyed pizza on the grill with our friends before another homemade popsicle finale for the evening. A fun filled day!

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Gift of Singing

Jameson sang in his very concert, a preschool concert put on by his daycare, on my birthday!

We had some drama getting his “buttons” on (shirt with buttons are just called buttons, and a terrible trial to get him in) and his jeans. He only ever wants to wear swishy pants and his motorcycle shirt or his caped Batman and Superman shirts.

Thankfully, with a little bribery, we were able to get him in his dress clothes and to the school on time. He was excited that his concert was at a big kid school, and thankfully his best bud Nathan was already there, so getting him to sit with his friends and leave wasn’t a big deal.

I didn’t take any photos, just video, but here’s a photo from Nathan’s dad. Jameson is circled, he’s next to the kid with the adorable tie.

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And the adorable video! We got some great close ups with him around 9:45 minutes. Jameson was so serious about singing, but I know he had fun. I’m so glad he participated; I was a little worried we’d only get to see his shy face.

After the show, the school at cookies and lemonade and punch for the kids. Jameson and Nathan hung out. Coraline was so great during the show, she was happy munching on her snack and playing with Nathan’s mom’s hair and sweater in front of her. Even though it was an hour and a half past her bedtime before we were home and sleeping, you would have never known it.

Best parts of the concert for Jameson: seeing the big kid school, hanging with his best bud, and eating cookies

Before bed, Brian played a recording of his performance on his phone, and Jameson wanted to sing along. So I got a solo birthday performance from Jameson at home too! A wonderful birthday gift for me.

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Bob the Bobcat

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Jameson has started a winter soccer league, his very first team sport for us to try. So far, he is a big fan of his shin guards, which have skeletons on them.

The league is nice in that it is also a class. At the beginning everyone sat down and were divided amongst three coaches.

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We’ve had two classes now, and Jameson is particularly shy, which surprised us since he attends daycare. We thought he would feel natural amongst other kids, but as it turns out he is very familiar with daycare and this was out of his comfort zone.

I tried to capture this adorable posture he does when he is feeling shy. He ducks his head a bit to the side against his shoulder and stands straight and narrow, hands to his sides.

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Brian and I alternated with him, to help him feel comfortable, and then he was happy to participate. Given his shyness, I am happy we decided to do this, not only for the activity over the winter, but also to introduce him to these kinds of situations. He also learned how to “tick tock” the ball to move it more slowly instead of just kicking.

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They teach the children that the ball is named Bob the Bobcat and they bite fingers, but not feet because they’re stinky. We were happy with how they spoke to the kids at their level, and Jameson is just starting to get the hang of not touching this ball. At first he wanted to dribble it like a basketball!

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Then it was my turn, and we had a little sit down with the head coach before having some free play. I think when they get a little more familiar there will be more structure for “games” but even then, for kids this young, they throw out multiple balls and everyone can kick toward any goal.

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This one with his tongue out is my favorite!

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Jameson started getting tired about halfway through free play (as did Coraline) and he wanted a drink of water. He was ready to get home!

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At the end, we got to sit down and get stamps. They told the kids the stamps make them run faster, so after his second session, Jameson ran around afterwards just testing it out.

All the kids came together at the end for a hurrah which was cute! They are all on “team purple”. The older kids have real teams, but the young ones are all on the same team. It is pretty fun to watch, and if he likes it we’ll do it again for another season.

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