Flushable wipes -> clogged toilet

We had a minor emergency on Saturday morning.  Our toilet was plugged up and started overflowing.  Kinda gross especially since the boy just pooped in it.

DH spent an unsuccessful half an hour trying to unclog it with our pathetic little plunger.  We called our landlord and he came by with a heavy-duty plunger and was able to fix our problem in a jiffy.  I think we should upgrade to a better plunger.

Anyhow, the cause of our clog was the flushable wipes I've been using... now DH has banned me from flushing them down the toilet.  My take-home message is that flushable wipes don't really disintegrate very well... so if you do flush them down the toilet, use sparingly.  We use regular toilet paper on him now, but he seems to prefer the wipes.

Making Bread Monsters.

I found a recipe in the book "Baking with Tiny Tots" by Becky Johnson. We spent part of the afternoon making some bread rolls and shaping them into "monsters" that look like porcupines. Isaac helped with some stirring and kneading. He was upset when I took the dough away.

Instead of using raisins, I used chocolate chips. All the noses and some eyes fell off during the baking process! Maybe I should've sticked with some sort of dried fruit.

I put it in the oven for 15 minutes - and it came out too crispy. The bread rolls were very dense. I'm not sure if I measured out the yeast properly, or if the yeast was active or if I messed up the process where I'm supposed to allow the dough to rise.

Not so tasty but at least they looked cute. Maybe I'll try this recipe one more time or substitute it with a different bread roll recipe.

Toilet flusher

Isaac has a habit of digging through all the bags on the floor.  This includes my purse.  I've had the contents of my wallet emptied and thoroughly examined by the boy.  The exception today is that he decided to flush something down the toilet from my purse.

I rushed to the bathroom when I heard the sound of flushing to catch a glimpse of kleenex swirling away.  It was probably just a pack of tissue without the plastic wrapper.  I wonder what else he'll try flushing down the toilet?

Diapers and leaks

Isaac has a cold and has a miserable time trying to breath when he's sleeping.  I let him stay in bed with us part of the night.  I woke up feeling something wet. His diaper leaked all over our bed.  It's the second leak this week.  Looks like we may have to go back to changing his diaper once a night again.  The Huggies overnight diapers don't seem to make a big difference for us.

Fumbling around in the dark, we stripped him of his pajama pants, changed his diapers, and threw a couple of receiving blankets over the wet spots.  It's good that we have a waterproof mattress cover.  At some point, Isaac woke up again so I nursed him and put him back into his crib.

I woke up this morning and Isaac was standing in his crib crying to be nursed.  I went to pick him up and found him bare-bottomed.  His diaper was discarded onto the floor by his crib.  There was a big wet spot on his sheets...  Looks like we have a big load of laundry this morning.

Now that he's figured out how to remove his diapers... he'll probably try this again.  I hope that putting pants on him will deter him from taking off his diapers, but I think it'll just slow him down and not actually stop him.  I guess he likes being free of his diapers.  If we could potty train him earlier then I wouldn't mind him going diaper-free...  Our potty training progress is still a hit or miss each day with the poops.  I haven't attempted any pee-training yet.

Swimming Lessons

We started our Duck level swimming lessons this weekend.  I wanted to go a little early so that we wouldn't be rushed and it would give me time to "acclimatize" Isaac to the pool.  Well... we got there WAY too early about 30min before the start of our class.  Isaac started getting bored while waiting by the pool.  But the time our class was about to start he kept insisting that he was "Done".  It's one of the few words he'll say, but when he says it - it means just that; I'm done here, time to go OR ELSE I'll throw a tantrum.

I had to start walking around while he squirmed in my arms and started screaming.  I temporarily passed him off to Daddy.  I was very glad when our class started.

I stepped into the pool holding Isaac.  The water was a bit colder than normal and Isaac wasn't too thrilled to get submerged but was doing ok.  The songs were fun, we enjoy singing and moving around in the water.  Next up, blowing bubbles... he seems interested in me blowing bubbles but I don't think he's figured out how to do it.  He tries to drink the water instead.  After we practised some assisted-jumping into the water, then some kicking.  He refused to lie on the foam board to practise kicks so I let that go and we kind of did our own thing for that bit.  We were about to start another song activity but our class had to end early.

I guess some kid(s) must've peed in the pool since the lifeguard mentioned that there was a higher than accepted level of urine in the pool and asked the instructor to either continue the class in the adult pool or give out pool passes.  We opted to get a pass.

We got through our first lesson.  Hopefully Isaac will have more fun next class.

Poop Potty Training

We've had a Baby Bjorn potty chair for awhile and have gotten Isaac to sit on it but hasn't been too successful for us.  Over the last weekend, we picked up a Prince Lionheart Weepod.  The seat was easy to install and doesn't wiggle around when Isaac sits on it.

At the beginning of the week, I waited for grunting cues then rushed him onto the seat.  The first time we used it on Sunday, I missed the start part of it but we got most of it in the toilet... So I'll count that as success!  Monday was a disaster for training since I was in bed all day recovering from a painful clogged duct.  

The next few times seemed to be hit and misses.  Either he already pooped into his diaper (then I'd just empty the contents into the potty to show him where the poop goes) or he decided he didn't want to go.

He didn't want to stay on the seat at first or if he would try to pull off all the toilet paper, mess with stuff on the counter, and try to flush the toilet.  I resorted to bribing him to sit there with treats... but it seemed unhygienic.  I found one of my old necklaces with beads for him to play with and it seems to be working so far.

It's weird to be excited about poop but the last three days have been fantastic!  This morning I was able to put Isaac onto his potty seat at his typical pooping time without waiting for grunt cues and he pooped after a short time.  He loves flushing the toilet afterwards.

We'll have to see how the it goes.  I think he's starting to get the idea.

Clogged Ducts... Ugggh

I don't like clogged ducts.  A few friends asked if I will stop breastfeeding.  My current plan is to try to continue until 2 years.  I've already experienced clogged ducts several times.  The chills/fever seem to hit pretty quickly but doesn't usually last too long.  It's the soreness, pain, and tender hard lumpy areas that are most unpleasant.

If it's bad, I rest in bed for a day.  I take Tylenol initially to help control the chills, then Advil for the first day or two to help me cope with the pain.  I also try to massage the lumps, and put an ice gel pack on.  The main thing that helps me clear it up fastest is to try to get my son to nurse on the affected side as often as possible.  I usually try to position him so that his lower lip is on the same side as the lump(s).  It occasionally leads to some acrobatic maneuvers to accomplish this.

I'm lucky my husband is able to help watch Isaac when I'm not feeling well!  So glad to be back to normal though. :)

Moving forwards

Yesterday Isaac was able to move forwards on a tricycle ride-on.  Normally he goes backwards but I think he's figured out his balance to propel forwards.

After our visit with the grandparents, it seems Isaac's communication skills have improved.  He can do the all done and more signs correctly.  He has also started trying to verbalize more.  The down side is that he also screams/squeals a lot more too.  I'm hoping the pitched squealing is just a phase that will pass.

Crayons

While scribbling with Isaac's crayons, I decided to draw a crow for him since he's fascinated with these creatures.  He's not too impressed with my drawing.  Sometimes I miss doing my colour studies with pencil crayons.  I guess I'll just have to work with crayons for now and see what I can do with them.

Currently Isaac will try to poke at the paper using a crayon and occasionally draw "chicken scratches".  We'll have another scribbling session soon.

[Edited: Here is a scribble by Isaac.]

The View From 5'5": Mamma's Bag Of Tricks :: Quiet Time Bins

Quiet Time Bins. This is a really neat idea! I saw a link to this blog from a forum I read. I think it might work with Isaac since he can play well independently and would give him something slightly different to focus on each day.

The View From 5'5": Mamma's Bag Of Tricks :: Quiet Time Bins

Gymnastics Class

We're half way through our week of gymnastics.  We get free time at the start of class to go around and play with all the equipment.  Then we have circle time where we do stretches and exercises.  After we do three circuits through the equipment and practice some of the things we learn from the circle time.  At the end of class we sing the "Head and Shoulders" song, get a sticker and give the instructor a high five.

Isaac likes wandering randomly through the room so the free time is nice.  He likes bouncing on a trampoline and crawling under bridges.  When he approaches a bar, he lifts his arms up.  He doesn't always hold on, but was able to hang off the bar once by himself this morning.  He has a hard time with climbing a ladder horizontally and pulling himself along a bench like a snake.  We get to do lots of somersaults (off benches, along a beam, down a ramp).  We just started learning some basics for cartwheels.

So far it's been a good experience and we'll try to sign up for more classes in the fall.

Afternoon emergency?

My goal this afternoon was to pick up some cream of tartar, jello, paintbrushes and a toy pots and pans set for Isaac.  I left the house at 3pm and walked to the mall.  I let Isaac run around the play houses outside Toys R Us for a bit, then headed into the store to pick up the toy pot & pan set I saw there last time.  Went to Zellers to look for some paintbrushes but didn't find what I was looking for.

On our way to a grocery store, Isaac tossed his hat off somewhere.  I back-track all the way back to the mall, but didn't see his cap.  I was feeling a bit disappointed in losing his cap but still hopeful of finding it.  I bumped into one of daddies of Isaac's friends at the corner of a street.  As I was explaining my search for Isaac's hat, a stranger overhead me, and told me she found it and put it on a box.  I thanked her and went to retrieve the hat.  Had a short chat with the daddy friend and headed to the grocery store.

I just realized that I forgot to change Isaac's diaper at the mall, so I was hoping that the grocery store trip would be a short one.  Isaac was also getting a bit fussy.  At the store, we were waiting for Daddy to come and pick us up.  I had a hard time finding the cream of tartar.  Isaac started screaming and complaining.  I let him play with my phone.  The phone rang.  I picked it up.  Daddy had arrived and I let him know where to find me.  Isaac was acting up again and wanted my phone back so I let him have it.

After Daddy met up with us, I got a call from an officer... apparently Isaac called 911.  Ack!  I got a little warning and was told that a constable would be following up with me shortly.  While Daddy lined up to pay for our groceries, I took Isaac to the car and got a call from the constable.  He met up with us about 5-10 minutes later.  While it shouldn't really be a big deal, I was feeling upset and embarrassed.  I'm not giving Isaac my phone until he's old enough to use it properly.  At least I learnt that you can still dial 911 even if your phone is locked and it's easy enough for a 15 month old to call.

Snacks: Strawberry Leather

Strawberries are in season!  I love strawberry fruit rollups but haven't been able to find any in local grocery stores for the last few years.  I never really considered trying to make some for myself until I saw a recipe on a blog.  Then I looked up several recipes and decided to try the Strawberry Leather Recipe on Epicurious a try.

I looked online and found a local farm that produces five varieties of strawberries.  I looked up the varieties and found that the Albion is supposed to be sweeter than average.  I had my hopes set on trying this variety out, but left the fruit stand disappointed.  We picked up 2 packs of strawberries anyways.  I used up one pack to test out the recipe.

4 1/2 cups of halved strawberries

3/4 cup sugar

I blended the strawberries and sugar, then sieved out the seeds.  I brought the strawberry puree to a boil and lowered the heat (medium low) - simmering for about an hour.  The strawberry puree almost boiled over and Daddy helped me transfer it to a bigger pot.  I watched over it and stirred it frequently.  After, I lined two trays with parchment paper, added the strawberry puree as thinly and evenly as I could.  Would be better if I had a silicone baking sheet - since the parchment paper warped/wrinkled.  I preheated the oven to 200F and baked one tray for 2 hours and the other for 3 hours.  I left both trays to continue to dry and cool on a cooling rack overnight.  I cut them into strips and rolled them up.

Result: the 2 hour tray had some mushy spots that didn't dry enough - but the pieces were softer.  The 3 hour tray had dried completely, but was a bit tougher (especially around the edges).  I might have to try 2.5 hours next time.

I tried to offer some to Isaac but he didn't want to try it at all.  He did taste it after when I had him distracted (watching a dog), but he's not very interested in the strawberry leather.  Oh well, more for me.

Skills

Just a short list of things I've noticed Isaac doing lately.

• Runs
• Plays tag with Mommy
• Kicks a ball
• Spins around when asked or when there's music
• Bounces (bends knees)
• Goes down slides facing forward by himself
• Throws toys
• Claps
• Does the "more" sign, though not used meaningfully

Sometimes diaper changing time is a little easier.  In the mornings when I say that we need to change his diaper, he will go to his change mat and sit there.  He lies down when asked.  Also, he likes to help throw his dirty diaper into the garbage.  He's been able to help remove his clothes when we're changing him.

Isaac is a little slower in the talking department.  He babbles a bit but only says "mama" when he's upset or "nigh" for milk and water.  He makes "woo" sounds when playing with a vacuum hose and "rrr" sounds when playing with toy cars.  When he hears "Hello hello", he'll put whatever object he has in his hand up to his ears.

I will have to try talking to him more and naming more objects for him.  I'm not sure if I should try to teach him more signs.  When I was pregnant with him, I planned to teach my baby how to sign.  Now it seems to be one of those "would be nice" things for him to learn.

Walks

I find it difficult to go out for walks with a stroller in tow.  It's okay if Isaac is in the stroller but when he's walking it's tricky to push the stroller and chase after Isaac.  I leave the stroller at home unless I expect Isaac to nap while we're out or it's raining and I don't want to deal with Isaac getting soaked playing in puddles.  I wish we had a full rain suit or some rain pants.

One cold and rainy day, we were on our way to visit the library.  I wanted to give Isaac a chance to walk in the rain but didn't pack any spare clothes.  Besides the stumbles causing his pants to get a little wet, he decided that it would be lovely to SIT in a puddle.  I was not too thrilled.  When we got to the library, I took off his pants and had him running around in his onesie.  It was quite cold, but he would probably be colder wearing soaked pants.  We ended up leaving the library program shortly after it began.  I tried my best to dry his pants (using paper towels at the washroom) but they were still very damp.  I even took us to another washroom to use the hand dryer.  That helped a bit more, but it didn't completely dry.  Now, I am more cautious about letting Isaac romp freely when it's wet outside.  It's ok if we're already on our way home, but not encouraged if we're on our way somewhere else.

When I first started taking Isaac out on daily walks, he would go off and do his own thing.  He ignored my calls and was too busy exploring.  He'd go pretty far away from me and would look up once in awhile to check that I was still around.  I thought about getting a child harness, but in the end decided that I would try to get him used having me hold his hand.

At first, he would push my hand away.  When that didn't work, he just fell or sat down.  He seems to be more comfortable with me holding his hands especially when we're on the sidewalk.  Recently, he has started holding one of my fingers when we're walking together.  I think it's cute.  I'm enjoying this while he's still little.

Socialization

As a stay at home mom, I don't really have the financial means to put Isaac into daycare unless I get a paying job.  So part of my job includes trying to find ways to help Isaac learn how to interact with other kids.

I try to enrol in one or two parent and tot courses.  So far, I've found it harder to connect with the other moms there.  Most of the time, people get to the class on-time and leave immediately after.  For Isaac, he doesn't seem to really show any recognition of the toddlers in his classes.  Over the past two months, he's started to be more curious about other kids - he will go up to other kids and grab them.  I've been trying to teach him to be more gentle and to recognize signs when he starts to get worked up or frustrated so we've started to see some improvement on his grabbing behaviour.

Is it too early for toddlers to develop friendships?  We are part of a little play group that meets weekly.  I'm not sure if Isaac feels more comfortable with the toddlers in our group or not, but I hope that he's learning to share and have fun.

I've noticed that Isaac can get along better with some kids.  I'm still trying to figure out if it's based on personalities, ages, or genders.  He's interested in hanging out with slightly older kids (preschoolers) but not all welcome the attention of a toddler.

I'm always looking for more things we can do or places we can visit to expand our social circle.

Outing: Kerrisdale Play Palace

Isaac and I met up with a friend and her toddler and bused up from Richmond to Kerrisdale.  This is Isaac's second visit to the Kerrisdale Play Palace.

We took off our shoes and Isaac immediately went for the foosball table.  We spent most of our time in the toddler area.  Like last time, we played with toy trucks, "bricks" (decorated paper boxes), play houses and slides.  This visit, he also explored one of the bouncy castles, banged on a drum, and enjoyed putting a ball into a basketball hoop (when I lifted him up to it).

We were there for about 1.5 hours.  The toddlers and mommies were tired out by the time we caught the bus back home.

Swimming

We met up with a friend and went to a public swimming session together this afternoon.  The water seemed a little cooler than normal in the kiddy pool.  Isaac's teeth were chattering a few times.  I tried to keep him moving in the water.  He dislikes getting his head wet.  He used to love being held in a back float position during our swimming lessons.  Maybe he's just having an off day?  He did have some fun splashing and playing with a flutter board.  I think we will have to go again, especially since I didn't register for lessons over the summer.

Highlight during swimming: Isaac struggled to get out of the back float position and knocked off my glasses into the pool.  Luckily I was able to find and retrieve my glasses safely.  Glad my friend was there with me.  I'm blind without my glasses!

New Skill: Spinning around in a circle

Isaac must be absorbing something from his creative movements class because today he started spinning around in a circle.  I cheered and clapped my hands telling him "Good spinning!" and he giggled then spun around again.

After dinner, I asked him to spin around and made a circling motion with my hand.  He showed Daddy his spinning and started clapping when we clapped.  It was so cute!

Playing in the kitchen

Isaac likes to hang out where-ever the action is.  Normally when I'm in the kitchen trying to cook, he likes to be in there too.  Isaac keeps busy by pulling out stuff from our cupboards and drawers or dumping everything out of our recycling bin.  If I'm not watching, he'll try to go through the garbage under the sink if he gets a chance.

Today I put a towel on the floor.  Added some water and some toy eggs to a large heavy pot.  Put the pot on the towel.  Gave him a wooden spoon and a plastic ladle, then let him have a go at the pot.  He had a great time!  He crouched over his pot banging the spoon around, splashing out water, transferring the eggs between the pot and ladle.  After 30 minutes, he was still there playing away - the floor was wet, his clothes were drenched, his face was dripping with water, and he had a big grin on his face.  I stripped him of his wet clothing and he continued playing for awhile.  I was able to get most of the dinner preparation done while he played.

Definitely a great activity.  It was easy to clean since it's only water and I had a towel handy to wipe up the floor and surrounding area.  We will have to do this again another time.

Arts & Craft: Sock puppet

I've been wanting to buy a puppet from Toys R Us for awhile now but decided to try to make one for Isaac instead.  This morning during our daily walk in the neighbourhood, we stopped off at Value Village on our way home.  I picked up a pair of socks ($0.99), and couple of packs of random buttons ($1.99 each).  When we got home, I put Isaac down for his nap then dug out my trusty little sewing kit from my undergraduate years to sew the buttons onto the socks.

To make this puppet, I used:
1 pair of fuzzy blue socks,
3 buttons (2 for the eyes and 1 for the nose),
and 2 plastic hoops (for the ears/horns).

I rolled up one sock into a ball (for the head), then sewed the buttons for the nose and eyes on.  I added a couple of stitches around the mouth area (just below the nose).  Next, I placed the hoops between the head and the body (the other sock), and sewed the pieces together.  Finally, I put my hand into the sock and added some stitches between my thumb, and between my pinkie finger to form the puppet's hands.

So far Isaac has been trying to pull off all the buttons, but it's holding up to the attack.  We will have to see how the puppet fares after a couple of days.

Registering for gymnastics.

The summer program registration started on May 26th at midnight.  I was tired that evening and fell asleep.  DH went to bed at 1am and I woke up and worried that I might be too late.  I went to the computer and tried to sign into the registration site.  It was incredibly slow and timed out a couple of times.  I saw that there were still 3 spots left in the gymnastics course I wanted to sign me and Isaac up for.  When I was finally able to log in, add the course to my basket and pay for the course - I felt thrilled.  Kind of like winning a lottery.  It seems silly but this course was full in the spring so I wanted to get into it this time around.  DH said there must be lots of "crazy moms" out there.

I don't know how people would be able to get into any programs if they waited until the call centre opened.  I'll probably go through this again at the end of summer (for the fall programs).  I hope that we enjoy the class together and meet some fun people.

Goal: Pointing

My goal is to teach Isaac to point at objects instead of doing the zombie thing where he sticks both hands out at the general direction of something he wants and hyperventilates.

Over the last few days we've been trying to demonstrate this to no avail.  I don't think he even realizes that he can stick his index finger out and close his other fingers.  I guess we just have to keep pointing at everything and maybe he'll get it eventually.

Today I'm showing him youtube videos of other babies pointing.