Links to Amazon are affiliate links.
Today is Babywise Friendly Blog Network Day! We are a team of Babywise Bloggers whose goal is to support each other and Babywise Friendly Blogs. Today I'm guest blogging over on Wiley Adventures and today Stephanie from Giving It Grace is guest posting here. Stephanie is discussing toddler table time which is GREAT timing for me as I'm now in the land of all things toddler! Part of my weekly routine with my 2-year-old is a set time a few days a week that we sit down at his kids' table and do table time. This idea of parent-led activity time is a suggestion from On Becoming Toddlerwise ; the main idea being that mom picks the activity and the duration. During the week I aim to do this two mornings for 30 minutes each morning (I used to aim for 3 mornings a week but now we have a newborn so I had to be more realistic about my bandwidth during this season). On the mornings we do table time it happens directly after his independent playtime in his c...
I wrote this as a guest post a few weeks ago! All about keeping it "in the funnel" when it comes to parenting :) My biggest struggle so far as a parent is resisting the tendency to parent outside the funnel with my children. Toddlerwise reiterates the importance of avoiding this on page 36: "By "outside the funnel" we are referring to those times when parents allow behaviors that are neither age-appropriate nor in harmony with a child's moral and intellectual capabilities. To allow a 15-month-old child freedoms appropriate for a 2-year-old, or a 2-year-old child freedoms suitable for his 5-year-old sister, is to parent outside the funnel. Such freedoms do not facilitate healthy learning patterns - they only contribute to confusion." When Kye, my now four year old son, was my only child I didn't struggle as much with this issue. The only time I really found myself parenting outside of the funnel was when he first developed the ability t...
I wrote this as a guest post awhile back and thought it'd be an appropriate time to share it since it's something I've been working hard on with Britt here lately! ***** As a child becomes more mobile, boundaries become so important. Toddlerwise (pg 30) states "Boundaries are important for a toddler's development, and in the period between 14 and 20 months, boundaries take on two forms. Physical boundaries, of course are obvious necessities. How far can little feet travel, and how much can little hands touch? Physical boundaries play a role in matters of health and safety. What you allow your child to touch, and where you allow him freedoms to play, are often based on safety concerns first, and learning second." In my personal view, setting physical boundaries begins prior to age 14 months. As soon as my babies are mobile (even crawling) I begin to train them in what they are allowed to touch and where they are allowed to go. Setting physical b...
Britt has held onto having two naps a day for quite some time. Toddlerwise recommends dropping the morning nap between 16 and 18 months old (although most people I know drop it even earlier). I tried to slowly wean her down from the morning nap but it only made her cranky and miserable. Child just LOVES to sleep and that's a good thing! She was still sleeping solid for the morning nap as well as solid for the afternoon one (although she would often take a bit to fall asleep for the afternoon nap and would often stay awake for a good 30 min or so when we put her to bed at night). Since Zach and I knew we were going to Cozumel I decided to wait until after we got home to drop the morning nap. Mrs. Charlotte was SO sweet to keep her on track with our potty training efforts when I had my foot surgery and I didn't want to put the transition to one nap on her too! Kye dropped his morning nap three months sooner than Britt did. We did a slow transition with him and he, t...
I promise I'm still alive :) I've just been very busy....well, busy laying out and enjoying this beautiful weather! It's been too great outside to be sitting at the computer! Anyway Kye turned 23 months old at the beginning of this month and we're now in his last month of having to count the dang months. I am SO ready to just say "he's 2" instead of "he's such and such month." So ready, in fact, that I've been saying "he's two" since like December. :) Here's what Kye's been up to this past month: words: At this point, there is NO WAY to keep track of all the words Kye can say. He's a talking machine and says pretty much anything he hears us say. The most exciting word has been "yes" as up until now he would only nod his head to say "yes" and couldn't actually say the word. Also now that he can say "help" it's soooo much better than hearing him whine all the time (here...
