Category Archives: Toddlers

Parker’s First Birthday

Parker, Toddlers August 2, 2010 Leave a comment

My baby boy turned one on July 13th. He’s a sweetie! Always ready with a smile and a cuddle, I am so blessed to have a healthy, thriving toddler to chase after.  I love the fact that he sleeps through the night and is a relatively low-maintenance little guy.  Well, as low-maintenance as a one year old can be, he’s not walking yet but is pulling up and will stand alone for a few seconds without holding onto anything so he’ll probably take off soon. He loves his big brothers and sister and they are always trying to make him laugh or help him when he’s crying.

Isn’t he a handsome little guy? And, of course, we had a party and some cake. We are low-key about birthdays around here. We like to celebrate but it doesn’t have to be the kind of party that breaks the bank. The most important thing is FAMILY.

Cake and presents are nice too!

Walking and the budget haircut

homeschooling, Theodore, Toddlers January 15, 2009 1 Comment

Look at that smile! Grammy and I held him down for a short haircut but he forgave us and was off playing happily a little while later. He looks all grown up with all that shaggy blond hair gone. Especially now that he finally started walking! 16 1/2 months is a long time to wait when you have such a chunky guy to lug around. He is doing so well, he’ll be running with the big kids by summer. I can’t wait to watch him and all the summer adventures this year. There is something so wonderful about this stage, between starting to walk and before being able to talk, it can be a frustrating time but it’s amazing to watch how much he can get accomplished with no “words” just grunts, gestures, and whines. Katie and Foster are really enjoying him walking but it’s funny because even though he’s been doing it for a couple of weeks now, they wake up each day and the first time they see him walk that day they’ll exclaim excitedly “Theodore’s walking!” or “Look, Mommy, Theodore just walked all the way across the room!” As siblings they really have genuine joy for each other’s accomplishments, even if they squabble through the day, if someone accomplishes something new they each will cheer and encourage each other. Katie loves to encourage and build up her brothers. I hear her in the background “Good job Foster!” even if it’s nothing new or exciting for him, she acknowledges that he is doing something worthwhile. The kids and I have been down at mom’s this week helping her recover from surgery and I have been reading the best book I checked out from mom’s library. The name of it is 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy. It has been extremely helpful to me as I am trying to sort out what I will teach Foster for his Kindergarten year. Now I just have to come up with a budget and hopefully have the curriculum bought and organized by June or July. Since baby #4 is due July 25 I would really like to have all that planned out so that in August we can just start along with our lesson plans. This, of course, is just the plan because I am a planner and organizer and I enjoy that. However, I can hear all the chuckles out there from those of you who have had new babies and siblings close in age and tried to just survive and keep your house running and keep everyone alive from day to day, believe me I know we will have many days when that will be the case, but having a plan and a schedule make me feel as if I am still in some sort of control over the chaos! If you want to check out Cathy Duffy’s website it is www.CathyDuffyReviews.com It seems to be an abundant source of homeschool information.

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Another cute picture

Theodore, Toddlers December 22, 2008 Leave a comment

I couldn’t resist posting this picture of Theodore. It really shows his personality, he was crawling upstairs at Aunt Diane’s house and he knew he wasn’t supposed to be since we had taken him down about 10 times already. But wherever there is climbing and an adventure – Theodore will be there! Chris and I always talk about what a sweet, fun baby he is and we can’t imagine our family without him. I can’t wait to see his reaction on Christmas morning!
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Theodore’s first professional haircut

motherhood, Theodore, Toddlers December 3, 2008 1 Comment

This was Theodore’s first “professional” haircut. The girl that cut his hair was very patient and sweet. I had to hold him on my lap so I couldn’t get a picture of her actually cutting his hair but his face sort of tells that he was ready for the whole experience to be over with. I was amazed he didn’t cry though. All of my children have been so hairy at birth and as babies that I usually have to do the first few haircuts on my own. I remember one of Foster’s first I put him outside in his highchair and gave him a chocolate popsicle to entertain him while I did my best not to cut his ears off. It worked so I did it this past summer with Theodore only I put him in the exer-saucer instead and he had a red popsicle. The only bad thing is the aftermath of a sticky, hairy baby and seat to clean. But, as with all things in motherhood, whatever works right? Let the baby nurse all night for a good night’s sleep, let the toddler have his paci until he’s 2 for a good night’s sleep, etc etc. I believe most mommas would be much happier if they would realize that your children will live through not going by the book, just like you did. I needed to hear the following when I had my first baby, “This too shall pass, Be present each moment, the housework can wait…” Our mother’s intuition tells us all this but society tries to rob us of our children’s precious years by making us feel that staying home, or working part-time is somehow “less than”. When what is really “less than” is wasting time on making money and gaining stuff that will break or get lost or be given away by the time your kids move out. Sooo…to whoever is out there and has the patience to read my posts, I guess you understand where I am coming from and that is that mom’s should make whatever sacrifices to stay home they can, it really is worth it!! Try it and you’ll see….

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trouble maker

Theodore, Toddlers November 21, 2008 Leave a comment

Theodore’s accomplishments today included figuring out how to put the ball down the chute on the learning home toy and I am sorry to say that his second was learning to climb up on the dining room chairs. Which means now that Katie and Foster’s safe place to build or draw is now fair game for Theodore. And it also means a new challenge in training, because it will only be a matter of time before he will be on top of the dining room table and that is just way too dangerous. Sigh….so I see lots of paddle use in poor Theodore’s future….again. You would think he would use some of that ingenuity to learn to walk since he will be 15 monthes old tomorrow, but noooooo….he would rather climb, climb, climb. He’s so precious though, with that sweet personality it’s hard to really get upset with him.

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