-
“Do it, do it, DO IT!”
Posted on April 19th, 2009 No comments
Samantha attempting to put her socks on all by herself.
“Do it, do it, DO IT!” This has been a very common phrase coming out of Samantha’s mouth for the past couple of weeks. Translated, it means,”I’d like to give it a try, please. I don’t want you to help me.” It is usually followed by either frustrated squeals, or the phrase, “Yay, did it!” Usually we hear it when she wants to put on her pants, shirt, or shoes. Lately it has expanded to wanting to buckle herself into her car seat, wanting to be the one to open the door when Matt returns home from work, and just today it was turning on the light in the living room.
I’m a big supporter of letting my toddler do things for herself…how else will she learn? I’m thrilled that, as she gets older, she is able to do more things on her own. However, when we’re getting in the van, already late for wherever we’re going, I don’t always have enough patience for her to climb into her seat, put her arms into the straps, find the buckle, find the little thingies that go into the buckle, attemp to put them into the buckle (which she isn’t strong enough to do, so I’m met with resistance when I help), and then buckle the chest buckle (which she has been doing successfully for a couple of months). It takes me about 15 seconds to do all of these steps, whereas it takes Samantha at least a full minute. In the long run, one minute probably isn’t that big of a deal, but when we’re in a hurry to get somewhere it feels like an eternity.
I know that as Samantha continues to grow and become more independent, there will be many more times when we will just have to stop and let her try things on her own. We do, however, look forward to her learning a more polite way of telling us to back off.
Related items
-
Big girl!!
Posted on February 23rd, 2009 1 commentMany parents worry about when and how their toddlers will transition from a crib to a bed. I was one of those parents until just a few days ago.
We spent two weeks transforming our third bedroom from a spare room to a “big girl” room for our daughter, Samantha. She will be 21 months old soon, and we are expecting our second child in August. After we decided that Sam would be switching bedrooms, I wanted that to happen asap. There will be many changes in her life before and especially after the new baby is born, and I want those changes to be as spread out as possible so she doesn’t freak out or feel like this new person is taking her place.
In her new room, we painted the walls green, repainted the doors and a family toddler bed purple, painted the floor brown, purchased some cute bedding and accessories, and finally moved her in over the weekend.
We got all of her toys and furniture set up, and also moved her crib. We felt that two big changes at once (new room and new bed) might be too much at once for Sam. I wanted her to be able to get used to her new room while still sleeping in her familiar crib. However, she had a different idea. We moved her into the room in the morning, and she decided to take her nap in her toddler bed! She has slept there just fine with no problems…until this evening.
Me reading Samantha a bedtime story on her first night in her big girl room!
About 30 minutes after I put Samantha to bed, I heard her talking to herself for a few seconds. Then about 15 minutes after that, I heard the pitter-patter of tiny footsteps. I went up to her room to see what was going on. She had been up out of bed, peeling the butterfly and flower wall stickers off the wall and putting them up on the wall by her bed. While it was incredibly cute and funny, I had to tell her to lay down and go to sleep. As soon as I closed the door, she got right out of bed and continued rearranging the stickers. I went right back in, and this time removed the stickers that were near her bed and put them up out of her reach. I said, “Ok, time to stay in bed and go to sleep now.” She said, “K, na-night.” After about 10 minutes, I heard her moving around yet again. This time, as soon as I opened the door, she looked at me from her bed and said, “Na-night!” I noticed she had gotten up and put her giant Elmo doll in bed with her. After that she stayed in bed and went to sleep.I guess I should have expected something like this. Thing is, Samantha has always been a champion sleeper. She has been sleeping through the night since she was three months old and we have almost never had a problem putting her down for a nap or to bed. We do our routine, and she just lays down and goes to sleep. Needless to say I was surprised to hear her out of bed, let along causing mischief! I’m hoping this is just a one-time or a once-in-a-while thing!
Related items
-
Top 10 #10: Portable Seat
Posted on August 13th, 2008 No commentsThis is the tenth thing in my Top 10 Things I Could Not Have Lived Without During My Baby’s First Year post.
It is very helpful to have a portable seat for your child. I found this most useful when I needed to use the bathroom, hang out outside, etc.
We have a Fisher Price Infant-To-Toddler Rocker and love it! It’s a 3-stage item (again, to get the most bang for your buck). When Samantha was a newborn, we would put the stabilizer bar up so she could look at the colorful toys danging above her head.
When she was older, she could sit in a more upright position and bat her hands at the toys.
Now that Samantha is a toddler, she can sit in it and use it like a rocking chair (the toy bar is detachable).
Related items