Mommy Brain: Toddler in Charge

Now that we’re over a week in to our lives with a toddler, my husband and I are constantly amazed at how much she’s changing. Each day, she’s learning new “tricks” and perfecting her old skills. This week alone she has learned to give high fives, play peek a boo with her hands (but her hands are so tiny that it looks like she’s blowing you kisses—it’s adorable!), learned new dance moves, and even a new word: kisses (kid-ses)—which she says after giving her stuffed animals a nice, big, slobbery smooch. She has, once again, somehow managed to out cute herself.

The problem with all of these new skills is that her attention span lasts for all of five minutes. One minute we’re playing, giggling, and having a blast—then the next minute she’s bored out of her mind and sobbing. As a stay-at-home mom who shares a car with her husband (meaning, when he’s at work—we’re carless), I’m constantly trying to come up with new ways to keep her occupied—but some days, I feel like I’m coming up short on new ideas to keep her stimulated, challenged, and well… busy!

This week has been particularly different from the norm because we’re working on dropping down from two daily naps to just one. God, I will miss getting those two breaks a day but over the past couples weeks, getting Lacey down for her morning nap has been such a struggle. I was literally spending an hour rocking, nursing, and patting—trying to get her to settle in for a nap. After an hour of sobbing, she would finally fall asleep for about 45 minutes. This lasted for about a week before I decided it was time to sayonara to the AM nap. Making this change has been amazing for her sleep schedule—there’s no more fighting her to go down for a nap or bedtime (she nurses for about 2 minutes and is out), but it has made our mornings seem to last foreverrrrr. Where before we’d wake up around 8 and be back down for a nap by 10:30, we’re now up at 8 and trying to stay occupied until 1. Our afternoons are surprisingly easier—especially now that it stays light later. We usually wake up from nap around 3, eat and watch a show, play for an hour or so, and when it starts to cool down around 4:30, we head outside for a couple hours of fun. Lately, we just walk out of our apartment and I let Lacey walk next to me and lead me to where she wants to go. We find ourselves playing in the grass, pointing at puppies, and enjoying the breeze. After an hour or so of exploring, I grab the stroller and we head for a walk to our neighborhood playground—where we spend an hour sliding (she LOVES the slide), swinging, and exploring in the mulch. We head home around 6:30 for dinner, books, bath, and before I know it- it’s time for bed!

Still, even though our evenings fly by, we’re stuck with these mornings dragging on. I’d love to head outside but by the time we’re up, eat breakfast, and dressed- it’s already too hot and sunny (darn you, Florida). Some days, we run errands—but this week, with the loss of a nap, Lacey’s often too grumpy by the time we make it to our destination (or she falls asleep in the car on the way there—kind of ruining the point of the one nap per day ordeal). So over the last couple of months, I’ve taken to the Internet to come up with some creative ideas to keep the little one busy—and therefore, happy. I figured I’d share some ideas I found (and some I’ve used forever) to help out any other stay at home mommies stuck in the same dilemma as myself:

· Tupperware Time: As simple as it sounds—head to your pantries and look for plastic items that baby can play with, chew on, bang together, whatever it is that keeps them busy. Lots of moms designate a “baby cupboard” and just keep all the baby-safe items in here for baby to explore. I love this idea! But since we’re moving in a month and therefore decided not to baby proof the kitchen, I have no way of keeping Lacey out of the unsafe cupboards. Instead, I bring all of the Tupperware in to the living room and put it in her pack & play that I set up in front of the TV. Lacey loves standing in there, semi-watching TV, banging her “pots and pans” together and throwing them over the edge of her crib. This usually keeps her busy for long enough that I’m even able to switch out a load of laundry—and if I’m really lucky, maybe even fold them! (Oh, who am I kidding? All of our clothes basically live in laundry baskets. Folding is the worst!)

· Find the Clothespin: This is probably the simplest game you could play—but trust me, it works. All you do is grab a clothespin and place it somewhere on yourself, the baby, or something nearby. Your little one will love looking for the clothespin—and will love the celebrations that erupt when they find it. We’ve actually been doing a spinoff of this game for awhile now—using one of Lacey’s bows instead of a clothespin. Whenever we’re out and Lacey gets grumpy, either my husband or I will take her bow and place it our hair. She loves to take the bow out of our hair and cracks up every time (bonus: working on getting the bow out of our hair is great for finger dexterity!). Be sure to clap and cheer when baby finds the bow/clothespin… and be prepared to play over and over and over again!

· Dance with Baby: Staying home with kid(s) can be exhausting— and let’s face it, it becomes all too easy to skip your daily (or uh, bi-weekly) workout. Rather than trying to find an hour to hit the gym, allow your baby to do your workout with you! Turn on your favorite Pandora station, strap baby in to your Ergo carrier, and get to dancing. Lacey squeals with delight as we dance around the room—and her added 25 pound weight ensures that I’m getting a great workout in! We’re both sure to be panting within minutes.

· Build Forts: Turn ordinary story time in to an adventure! Grab the blankets, pick a comfy and quiet spot in your house, and get to reading. Lacey’s eyes light up with joy whenever she sees the blankets surrounding her. It adds a real sense of mystery to our normal reading routine. I plan on saving some of the boxes when we move as well so that we can really step up our fort-building game. (P.S. Want a great way to expand your home library? Ask for family and friends to give books instead of cards for birthdays and holidays. Let’s be honest here—the price of greeting cards has become borderline offensive. $5.99 for a sparkly card that will be quickly skimmed, checked to see if it contains cash, and then tossed in to the trash pile? No, thanks. Put that cash to use and head to Target’s book aisle—there are tons of books available for the same price as a standard greeting card. To let friends and family know about our no-card preference, we simply added a quick message on Lacey’s first birthday invites asking guests to bring signed copies of their favorite children’s book in lieu of a greeting card. We ended up with over 20 new books—and they’re all signed with adorable messages that Lacey (and I!) will treasure forever.)

· Paint: If there’s one thing kid’s love, it’s getting messy. With a barely-one-year old, I don’t quite feel comfortable with letting Lacey loose with the paint yet (let’s be serious, all the paint would end up in her mouth… not on the paper)—but that doesn’t mean she can’t get her creative juices flowing. Rather than normal paint, use “food paint” to allow your child to make their masterpieces. Using vanilla pudding and food coloring, you can allow your toddler to go at it on a piece of paper—and bonus! They can eat their work without mommy making an emergency call to Poison Control (hey, we’ve all been there- right?! But that’s another story, for another time). When they’re finished painting, help them pour some sprinkles on top and let it dry! Voila: baby’s first artwork! Side note: I tried this craft for the first time last night (what kind of blogger would I be if I was to lead you astray!?) and we had so much fun! As you’d expect, be prepared to get messy. I set out an old blanket (that I didn’t mind ruining) on our kitchen floor (next time we’ll probably take craft time to the outdoors but it was too windy yesterday—the paper would have been flying everywhere!) and put the paper and “paint” on top. Be sure to take off baby’s clothes—and switch it to something old yourself! I made the mistake of wearing a not-so-old pair of jeans and they may or may not have a big purple handprint of the thigh! Luckily, they’re getting a bit big for me anyways—so I guess I just found my “getting dirty” jeans to wear from now on. Lacey has so much fun though! We both jumped In the bath right after—and were food-coloring free within minutes! The best part? Lacey was able to enjoy eating her “artwork”—she continuously would stick her hands in her mouth and squeal with delight over the yummy taste (…and of course I was able to sneak in a couple of licks too!).

· Purse Play: I don’t know about your kids, but Lacey loves nothing more than rummaging through my very cluttered (and very not-child-friendly) purse. There’s something about the mystery of mommy’s purse (and her shoes!) that causes such delight in little girls. Well, rather than worry about your child choking on your lipstick cap when she rummages through your purse- why not let her have her own? Grab one of your old purses and fill it with things like play keys, an old wallet filled with even older cards (old student IDs and old AAA cards make great options!), a water bottle, an old pill bottle (to be extra safe, I keep her old Hyland’s Teething Tablets bottles and throw them in there-- make sure you take the lid off!),a fake phone (I threw in a play phone and my old cell phone case that she loves to chew on), a baby spoon or two, and a favorite toy. Set it in front of your child and watch her eyes light up with delight when you actually let her pull everything out and chew on it all! This works great for long car rides or trips to friends’ houses, as a way to always make sure you have something for your little one to do. (Bonus: You can do a spinoff of this game while you’re out and about. I always keep extra old cards in my wallet to give to Lacey when we’re grocery shopping. It keeps her occupied for a good 15 minutes—plenty of time to make a good dent in your grocery list!)

· Jewelry Party: My little one-year-old isn’t quite ready for full on dress up yet—actually, she still cries in pure agony every time I attempt to change her outfit. Like changing your shirt is the worst imaginable thing in this world? As if. (Yes, I just referenced Cher in Clueless—don’t lie, you loved it.) Still, this doesn’t stop her from loving shiny, sparkly things—hey, she is a girl after all! So keep you little one busy by collecting lots of shiny jewelry—it doesn’t matter if it’s your favorite 14 karat white gold tennis bracelet or your 99-cent plastic costume jewelry that you purchased from Claire’s in 1997. Either way, your baby will love it! I can tell that Lacey instantly feels prettier as soon as I slip her favorite blue beaded bracelet on her wrist. This is a great trick for those tricky toddler diaper changes too—a bracelet on the arm (or foot!) will keep your squirmy kiddo preoccupied just long enough for you to take care of her business and come out unscathed!

Have you tried any of these fun ways to keep baby busy? Do you find yourself struggling with ways to keep your toddler stimulated? Please, PLEASE! share your ideas with me by leaving a comment below.

See you real soon,

Lacey’s Mama

Your Daily Dose of Lace: