I am done with bottles.
But I need a plan. Miss Kya is 15 months old now and I really need to wean her from the bottle. Especially now that we have her sleeping through the night! It only took, oh...almost 15 months!
*Trick that helped us: Getting rid of the morning nap. I was sad to let it go. Kya takes such great naps! But, she was just getting too much daytime sleep. Some might say, "Just let her stay up later at night." You don't know me very well, do you? I love my kids. But I like a few hours to myself at night. I hardly budge on the bedtime routine. Plus, my kids do NOT sleep in. If they are up late, they will surely be grumps the next day! The grumpies hit at dinner time...believe me folks...it's not fun.
Our pediatrician always tells me after check-ups that the things we do NOW, when our kids are little, determines what kind of teenagers we will have. He really stresses the importance of routines and consistency. It's good for kids and their developing brains. As for sleep routines, I am a firm believer of every family implementing their own. You don't have to do what Jane does, but make it a goal to be home every night and be consistent with bedtimes. Children need sleep. They do better in school, and learn more from their environment. As an adult, think about those days when you were sleep-deprived, and how your body and brain functioned. Don't do that to your kids. They don't even have the maturity, self control, and life experiences to handle the ill effects as well as adults.
After Kya was born, we got all out of whack when it came to routines. Everyone struggled because of it. It took some time, but now we have it down pretty good, besides a night here or there, where we get behind...life always gets in the way of something! After dinner, the kids get their pajamas on, brush their teeth, clean up toys, and then we read library books, the scriptures, family prayer, then one chapter out of a chapter book. Right now we are reading the Junie B. Jones books, they are hilarious, and perfect for my kids! They always beg for me to read just one more chapter!
This is the one we just finished last week. It made me dream of Hawaii!
Just a reminder: just because we have a bedtime routine, it doesn't mean we don't face bedtime battles. Kids will be kids. Our family doesn't function perfectly. I don't expect our family to function perfectly and I certainly don't expect other families to be perfect! So don't get discouraged if you come up with the perfect plan for bedtime, and it turns out to be a disaster! Those things seem to work themselves out with time.
Weren't we talking about bottles? Haha....
Anyhoo...still trying to come up with a plan. Any advice is welcome, since this is my first child on a bottle, and I personally think it is much easier to wean a nursing baby...since they can't carry a boob all around the house, car, church, store or public places!
BOOKS.
We finally got ourselves back into a routine of going to the library! I love libraries! I love books!
My kids love books. If it wasn't important to us, it wouldn't be important to them. The key is to start when they are babies. I have 2 girls and 1 boy. They are all similar and different from one another. Some are more active than others. But active kids can learn to sit still as much as a more layed-back child. It just takes consistency and practice. So....don't give up if you have a child that can only seem to pay attention for a few seconds at a time! The more you set aside time to read to them, the longer their attention span will grow. Finding books that interest them helps.
Plus:
Reading opens up a world of learning.
Once your child learns to read, it is even more fun! Be patient with them as they are learning. Some begin reading at an early age. My kids (Anna and Carter) didn't show much interest in learning until the year they began Kindergarten...Carter begins this fall! Just because someone else's child is reading at age 3 or 4 years old, and yours is not, it doesn't mean one child is any smarter than the other. Go at the pace of your child, encourage them, find fun ways to help them, but if they resist, don't push them. It usually just means that the parent needs to take a different approach. Carter loves the website, starfall.com. It was amazing to see how fast Carter learned from that website compared to how little he learned from me!
Anna really learned to read in Kindergarten. She worked hard. And because she loves to be read to, she didn't give up on reading herself. She is now in first grade and reading 106 words per minute. The goal for all first graders by the end of the year is 62 wpm. I am not sure she can get much faster! I really feel like part of her success is from early exposure to reading.
BATTLES.
I am not talking about battles between countries, but battles between parents and their kids. We all have em. No parent is exempt...nope....not even you. Dang, huh? I am constantly thinking about the current battles I am facing with my kids, and trying to come up with better resolutions on how to handle them. I love to read articles on parenting and articles about kids and the ages and stages they go through. My little sister is taking a class at BYU, and she has sent me some really interesting articles and such about parenting. I will post the links below for anyone interested. If you know of any good articles that you refer back to, please share! Like I said, I love a good parenting article! Nerdy, I know....but it's who I am.
Parenting Styles
"Instead of Yelling"
Positive Discipline (recording)
Deseret News Article
"Drawing out the Withdrawn Child"
This particular article didn't impress me much. I have strong opinions about video games, especially violent ones. I posted this one just to get some feedback from others. What did you think about it? Honestly, I think my son can learn plenty about good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, role playing and such from many Disney movies, good books, conversations with parents and other things.
Article about video games
This did come to mind as I was reading the article. This comes from the new "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
"If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."
Articles of Faith 1:13
Agency and Accountability
Dating
Dress and Appearance
Education
Entertainment and Media
Family
Friends
Gratitude
Honesty and Integrity
Language
Music and Dancing
Physical and Emotional Health
Repentance
Sabbath Day Observance
Service
Sexual Purity
Tithes and Offerings
Work and Self-Reliance
Go Forward with Faith
"You live in a day of marvelous technologies that give you easy access to a wide variety of media, including the Internet, mobile devices, video games, television, movies, music, books, and magazines. The information and entertainment provided through these media can increase your ability to learn, communicate, and become a force for good in the world. However, some information and entertainment can lead you away from righteous living. Choose wisely when using media because whatever you read, listen to, or look at has an effect on you. Select only media that uplifts you.
Satan uses media to deceive you by making what is wrong and evil look normal, humorous, or exciting. He tries to mislead you into thinking that breaking God’s commandments is acceptable and has no negative consequences for you or others. Do not attend, view, or participate in anything that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in anything that presents immorality or violence as acceptable. Have the courage to walk out of a movie, change your music, or turn off a computer, television, or mobile device if what you see or hear drives away the Spirit."
If you want to read the new pamphlet click HERE.
This one doesn't have anything to do with parenting, but my sister sent it to me and I liked it.
"How Can I Become the Woman of Whom I Dream?"
This one too. Share it, if you feel so impressed.
Beauty Redefined
And here we are at 13 weeks. I will be 14 weeks on Wednesday. Here's beauty redefined...you can be 3 months pregnant and be this big already and still look cute, right??? Please say yes!
PS: I wasn't mad, but I kinda look it. We took multiple shots...they were all bad...that is why I took up motherhood over modeling. Kids are much more accepting.
Amazing fact: I am still wearing normal jeans in that picture!! Woo! Weight gain has been great, just the right amount. Blood pressure good. No serious infections, not HIV positive and I don't have Hepatitis....whew!! That's a relief! At my 13 wk check up, my uterus was measuring at 15 weeks, baby's heartbeat was 122, which I thought was kinda low but I googled it and anywhere between 120-160 is normal. (that's going off my memory, so don't quote me on being exact on those numbers) The P.A. also found a fibrous lump of tissue in my breast, so the doctor will check that out in March. Not to worry, fibrous breast tissue does not automatically mean cancer. They can become cancer, but most likely pregnancy hormones have just caused my tissue to become more fibrous. We shall see what we find out in March!
Anyhow, Happy early Valentines Day to everyone and have a great week!
