Category Archives: toddler

Toddler Transitions

It’s been a busy week for the kiddos. Enzo transitioned to the preschool room from the toddler room on Monday, and you can tell it’s been both easy and hard for him. Overall he really enjoys the atmosphere of the new room, but at the same time he really misses his toddler room teachers. He has those moments where he says he doesn’t want to go to preschool and runs to the other door saying he wants to go to the “Little Room,” but once he’s where he needs to be he does just fine.

I’m reminded at the most random times just how big he’s getting. His vocabulary gets bigger all the time, as well as his imagination and his independence. Depending on his mood, he likes helping me bake things (which I don’t do often enough), but more importantly he enjoys the part where you get to taste everything. I love watching him sneak frozen blueberries if we’re making muffins or pancakes, and chocolate chips if we’re making cookies. Now, you’re more likely to find him counting said blueberries or chocolate chips, as well as pointing out letters on packaging.

We were at the zoo this past weekend and he walked up to the tiger sign and excitedly pointed out all of the letters (correctly) and it made me realize that he’ll probably be reading even sooner than I would have thought. Both of our kids have a great love of books, which makes me so happy, and it’s so much fun to listen to Enzo read from memory as it’s a glimpse into what will be the near future. The other day Josh peeked into his room where Enzo was sitting with a book and his Mickey Mouse doll and he looked up and said, “Go away, Daddy, I’m reading to Mickey.” He can be a little sassy at times, but it was adorable to sneakily watch him read his construction book to Mickey.

I’m really glad and grateful that we have a great day care/preschool that is teaching him so much. I love hearing about his day, even if it’s usually always the same thing…

Me: Did you have a good day?

Enzo: Yeah! I play with Nolan and Bentley in the sandbox!

He has a mild obsession with sand right now. He has some kinetic sand at home that he likes to play with his mini construction vehicles in, and I actually prefer that to Playdoh because it’s less messy (no residue left behind). It’s the little things.

Munchkin Meals : 2 Years Old & almost 11 Months

Linking up this week for Munchkin Meals again!

I can’t believe that Phoebe is almost a year old and that it’s almost time to start weaning her off of formula and bottles. Increasing solids shouldn’t be a problem since she is still loving food and we have no problem with her trying new things. There are, however, things like yogurt that she can’t quite feed herself with a spoon yet, so we’ve been getting a ton of use out of the reusable pouches lately.

After her really bad diaper rashes, we’ve stopped giving her strawberries and it seems like those might have been the culprits. Thankfully, she can still enjoy raspberries and blackberries, which are her new favorites. The only downside to blackberries is that it looks like she’s murdered someone after she’s done eating them.

Both kids get served the same things we eat for pretty much all of their meals. If there is something that might be too difficult for Phoebe to eat (or too much of a junk food for either kid, but mom and dad ran out of time) we thankfully have some Earth’s Best freezer options for them. Both kids really love the raviolis, so it’s a nice last minute dinner or lunch.

Both kids love their breads, though, which can be both good and bad. I do try to use Whole Wheat for most things and keep down our white flour intake, but they definitely take after their mom. I LOVE bread. It’s no surprise that they love weekends when I’m more likely to make muffins or homemade blueberry pancakes.

It’s funny to me how different the kiddos are when it comes to their eating styles. As a baby Enzo was often cautious about what was on his plate and he’d carefully inspect his food, especially if it was something new. Phoebe, however, barely gives me time to put down the tray some days and already has her hands wrapped around whatever looks good… steak, chicken, salmon (the girl is a carnivore), blackberries, roasted veggies… you name it. A girl after my own heart. 😉

Let’s eat out!

A couple of weeks ago on a random Friday night we had no idea what to make for dinner and no motivation to make anything, which is also when we realized that we haven’t been out to eat with kids since before Phoebe was born. We knew it could be risky making a last minute decision to go out for dinner after a long day at day care for the kiddos, but we figured if it we kept it close to home and stuck to “early-bird” hours we could keep it short and we wouldn’t have a long drive to or from home.

Maybe a little surprisingly, it actually went really well. Phoebe happily sat in her high chair and munched on a few snacks I brought for her since I wasn’t sure what the menu would be like (at her age it’s just easiest to have a pouch and some fruit and puffs in the bag). Enzo was a little squirmy, but was excited at first to be eating out. Thankfully the restaurant wasn’t busy because it was only around 5:30 or 6:00, so we did get food fairly quickly. We had a hard time getting Enzo to eat anything but fries, though. Can you blame him, though? We may have let Phoebe munch on one as well. It’s true what they say about 2^nd kids… I never would have given Enzo a fry at less than a year old, but now I’m like… whatever. One won’t kill her. 😉

Thankfully both kids made it through the meal before they started getting squirmy and rambunctious. Enzo got to a point where he did not want to sit still and started getting loud and tossing the cap to Phoebe’s pouch on the floor over and over as an excuse to get out of his booster. I guess we can’t really blame him considering at home he sits at his own little table usually and (to our chagrin) is up and down and all over. Next time we’ll be sure to bring him distractions… not that we go out all that often. When you live as far away from everything as we do, it’s just so much easier to stay close to home. Definitely homebodies.

*** Also, I seriously need to work on my posture… completely unrelated, but I notice it more now that I’m trying to pay attention to my alignment.

Oh no, I can’t…

It’s become very apparent over the past couple of months that it’s becoming harder and harder to take a picture of Enzo. The boy is always moving around or he sees the camera come out and wants to see the back of the camera. He usually asks to see Enzo and I have to try and explain that in order to see himself he has to first stand in front of the camera.

So, I have to catch him on the sly or see if he’s distracted enough by his sister who I am still able to take plenty of photos of. She is, however, at that age where she too starts to crawl towards the camera. We may reach a point where the only photos I have are blurs simply because no one will cooperate. Speaking of which, Enzo has a new favorite word. Can’t. As in..

I can’t get my diaper changed.

I can’t eat my veggies.

I can’t take a bath.

I can’t go to day care.

Perhaps the next time he asks for a cookie I’ll just tell him that I can’t. 😉 We try not to laugh when he says oh so very seriously that he can’t do something, but sometimes it’s hard not to. At least he hasn’t noticed us laughing so he hasn’t played it up too much.

We may in trouble when this lady turns 2, though. I have a feeling she’s going to learn a lot from her big brother and they’ll both use those adorable smiles against us. I don’t always give in, but sometimes it’s absolutely impossible not to, and Enzo knows it. Ack, I’m doomed!

Not all that interesting, really.

Most of the time we’re really very boring people. I can’t completely blame that on the kids, simply because there were plenty of times before the kids came along where we would stay at home all weekend and nothing but play games and read. Relaxing and nice, but definitely not exciting. Before kids we were much more spontaneous, though.

I’m sure if we really wanted to, we could get out more with our munchkins, but so often it can be such a hassle to get us all out the door. Bottles have to be prepped, snacks must be made, diaper bag must be readied, and you know at least one of them is going to poop right as you’re getting ready to go out the door while the other one gets into some kind of trouble. Then there are strollers and baby carriers and deciding which would be better for this certain trip, and did we grab sippy cups and who knows what else the kids require that day.

Do we overcomplicate things? Maybe. I also hate being unprepared, though. As you can guess, I’m an over packer as well. I think that’s one thing I need to be better about, but I don’t even know where to start. Actually, in a couple of months it’s going to get much easier simply because Phoebe will be drinking milk and won’t need all the bottles and stuff. Plus, she eats solids, so that helps too. Now if we could only get Enzo potty trained. We’re trying not to push the issue, but he’ll be exactly a year and a half next month so it would be really nice. He’s also moving into a new room at day care and all of the other kids his age are potty trained. We’re kind of hoping that being in a room where almost no one is getting a diaper changed will do the trick.

Super exciting stuff going on, let me tell ya. We have plans to get out more before the winter hits, but then again, there’s a lot to be done at home – just none of it really all that interesting. It’s amazing how a quickly a Saturday can go by and it seems like all you’ve done is 4 loads of laundry (no joke), swept, and the kids are still in pajamas and you haven’t bathed, but it’s time to get dinner ready. I feel like I’ve entered an entirely different dimension of time as a parent.

At least I get to share it with some pretty cute kids.

Dino and Bunnies

Every day adventures