The one with the three month update!

Well, I'm terrible at updating.  Obviously I did not get the seven week update in time ... and now my baby boy is three months old!

What to say about three month old Myles?
He is a pretty big guy.  I had him to the doctor yesterday and he weighs 13bs7oz.  For someone who doesn't eat, that's pretty good!  ;)  He is happy and healthy and that's all that matters.

His eating and sleeping is still nutty.  He doesn't have a whole lot of interest in eating.  He is still only drinking maybe 4oz at a time, every 3-5 hours.  Once in a while, he'll surprise me and eat 5-6oz but that doesn't always happen.  Thankfully, though, he is still growing just fine and has not fallen off his growth curve so I guess he's just doing okay with a small amount of milk.
He goes to bed around 7pm and usually sleeps until around midnight ... and then it varies from there.  Sometimes he will be up again at 3, sometimes he will sleep until 5.  Sometimes he'll go right back to sleep after he wakes and eats, sometimes he just wants to party.  It is a struggle, for sure.  I like my sleep and he, apparently, does not.  I am hoping that as he gets older, he will start to sleep better.  Please, Myles?



He is a very happy and smiley little guy.  All you have to do is look at him and he grins.  He is so sweet!  He loves getting undressed and every time I start taking off his clothes, he starts giggling.  I love it.  He has the most adorable little baby voice and I love when we have conversations and he just coos.  So so cute.
He enjoys hanging out on his play mat, smacking the dangling toys around.  He is starting to reach for items more and will occasionally grasp toys.  This morning, he was playing with a toy and brought it to his mouth!  Exciting times!

He loathes being on his tummy and just sort of sky-dive poses and screams when I try to put him on his tummy.  I'm not too concerned, though.  He can hold his head steady when I'm holding him upright.  He will like being on his tummy more when he is able to roll there by himself.  He will sit in the Bumbo sometimes but prefers to sit on someone's lap and look around.

He still adores his big sister and will stare at her, smile and laugh, and talk to her.  They are adorable together  :)

That's all for now!  Let's be realistic and hope for the next update before he is six months old  :)

The one where Myles is six weeks old

WOW.  Six weeks.  Again, it's that magic number ... once you get over the six week hump, things tend to settle down.  I can't believe how quickly it has gone by this time around.  I guess because we are already in a routine and have an older child, time just tends to speed by.

Our sweet little Myles turned six weeks old on Wednesday (and yes, it is now Sunday ... remember what I said above about time speeding by?  Yeah.)  I really can't believe how big he is getting!  We have not had a doctor's appointment or anything for a while, and we don't own a scale in our house, so I really do not know how big he is right now.  There is a Public Health clinic in town next week (every second Thursday) so I think I will bring him in just to get weighed.  He is for sure over 10lbs, maybe even close to 11lbs now.  When I look at him, I feel like he's HUGE.  He is fitting into 3 month clothing and even a few 6 month pieces.  His hair is still light and has fallen out on the top so he has an awesome "old man" ring going on.  I also remember Charlotte having a similar hairline at this stage  ;)  His eyebrows are so blonde you can't even see them and his eyes are still a dark blue.  I'm wondering if they will stay that colour!  Will he be our little blonde haired blue eyed baby?  Who knows!

We are still trying to figure him out with regards to sleeping and eating.  This last week has been a gong show and I'm chalking it up to the six week growth spurt.  He has been going to bed around 7:30 at night - he gets his bath before Charlotte - and would sleep until around midnight(ish), then again until around 3(ish), and sometimes would wake up again an hour later ... it's been kind of nutty.  Last night, though, we were out a bit later so he went to bed around 8pm and slept until 4am!!  I could get used to that.  He had a hard time falling back to sleep, though, and then woke up again at 6, and then again at 7:15 for the day.  Now it's 9:15 and he's asleep in his swing.  Normally, he loathes our swing with a burning passion of a thousand suns, but this morning I decided to rock him in the rocking chair upstairs until he was asleep and then I transferred him to the swing.  Success!  For now...

His eating has been all over the map.  Sometimes he will only take 2oz, sometimes he'll want 5-6oz, sometimes he'll gulp it down, other times it's a fight to get anything into him.  It's a bit stressful and I'm actually thinking he might have silent reflux.  He always makes noises that sounds like he is clearing his throat or like he is congested, he doesn't spit up often but when he does, it doesn't actually come OUT but just into his mouth, and I think that may have something to do with how fussy he can be.  I don't think it has anything to do with his formula because he was like this when he was breastfed too.  When he has his next doctor's appointment, I am going to bring it up.  I may even bring it up with my doctor when I go to see her next week for my six week postpartum check (it had to be rescheduled because of all the storms we've had here lately - my car was frozen in my driveway!)

He is still super smiley and is becoming more and more focused on the world.  He enjoys the play mat quite a bit now and will kick and move his arms around when Mr. Sun is singing.  He is starting to grab at items - he's grabbed hold of some of the toys dangling from the play mat and he gets a surprisingly good grip on my necklaces or the ties on my hoodies.  He likes he hold my fingers when he's eating  :)  He smiles a lot at Charlotte and he likes when we make silly voices or when we clap his hands together.  He really likes bath time and kicks and splashes around.  I got him a little bath seat like Charlotte had when she was a baby but I actually find it easier just to put him in the big tub with a small amount of water and wash him that way.

So funny - he always had his hand up by his face in utero too and when he's in the tub, it always goes right back up!  I wonder if the warm bath reminds him of the inside  ;)

That's all for now!  Let's see if I can do the seven week update on time!

The one with the five week update

Big five week old boy today!  What is new with five week old Myles?

He seems to be (finally) settling into some natural rhythms this week.  Over the last week, I've discovered that he enjoys being swaddled so I have been wrapping him up to sleep and it's made quite a difference.  He has been going to bed between 8:30-9:00 at night after getting a bath and a nice big bottle.  He will sleep until anywhere between 2am-4am to eat, will go back to sleep, and wake up around 7ish.  His naps are still iffy, but he does sleep relatively well during the day.  Today he slept for three hours in the pack n' play (we are at Grammie and Grampie's house) and he's conked out again in the swing.

He has been eating better as well.  I decided a few days ago that we were finished with breastfeeding and he is 100% on bottles now.  I was tired of fighting with him to stay latched, it was uncomfortable, and exhausting.  Had he been my only child, perhaps we would have continued longer but I have another child to take care of as well and I couldn't spend hours at a time nursing him, only to have him start rooting 20 minutes later.  It just wasn't working for our family anymore and I am okay with that!  He is doing great on formula and doesn't seem bothered in the slightest.  He is eating about 6-7 times in 24 hours.  Most times he will drink 4oz but sometimes he will want 5oz or even 6oz.  I always make a 6oz bottle for the last one before bed, but he usually only drinks about half of it.

He is starting to get a lot more interactive this week.  He has been super smiley all week, giving the little smirks and the big gummy smiles.  He focuses on us a lot more and will "talk" to us, moving his mouth to imitate us and makes a lot more noises besides his usual grunts and groans.

He isn't too bothered by tummy time, usually (although - I'll be honest - I don't do it much because it's not a very natural position for babies to be in ... I prefer carrying him upright or holding him to strengthen his neck muscles) but today he got so angry about being on his tummy, he actually ROLLED from belly to back!  I couldn't believe it.  He was determined, haha!  Normally, though, he just lays there and puts his head down, and watches the world.

He is definitely getting bigger and bigger every day.  I'm not sure exactly what he weighs now, but I weighed myself and then myself + him this morning and the difference was 10.6 on the scale. So 10lbs now?  He is wearing 3 month clothing (still a little big on him, but 0-3 is too tight).  His hair is still a dark blonde(ish) colour and his eyes are still blue!  I wonder if they will change...

The one with the four week update

I know, I know.  We missed the three week mark.  Oops!

Myles is four weeks old today!  He will officially be one month old on Saturday.  I must say, it has gone by pretty quickly.  He had a weight check up on Friday and he was 9lbs even.  He is doing well and does not have to go back to the doctor until his 2 month check up, unless we have concerns before then.  He is bright and chunky and seems to be growing well!  His eyes are still a dark blue but are lightening a little bit around the inside.  His hair is still fuzzy and a lighter colour - kind of blonde in spots, but a little darker toward the back.  I'm really curious to see what colour it will be as it gets thicker!  His eyelashes have gotten longer.  He still isn't producing tears yet (yay!) and has what appears to be a birth mark on his right eyelid.  We thought it was bruising from birth, but it hasn't gone away yet so we're thinking it's a birth mark.  He has some of the same red marks on the back of his head as well.

He still does not seem to have much of a pattern emerging yet for sleeping and eating.  He is kind of all over the place, which makes it a bit difficult for me because we all know that I like predictability and routine.  We were told to wake him up to eat every three hours at his two week check up so I think that has kind of messed with his natural rhythms and he hasn't had a chance to establish a pattern yet.  We've stopped waking him and will let him sleep and eat whenever he needs to, so I am hoping that we will see some patterns emerging in the next few weeks.  He is still doing well with breastfeeding and he switches between breast and bottle just fine at the moment.  I generally nurse him during the day and he gets bottles (either formula or pumped milk) at nighttime.  He usually nurses for about 30-45 minutes (both sides) and will drink about 3-4 ounces from a bottle at a time.

He has periods of quiet alert time where he likes to look around at all the high contrast stuff around him (like the pictures on the wall and the lamp shades in the evening when the light shines through).  He is starting to enjoy laying on the play mat, watching the singing sun, but he seems to prefer looking toward/out the window instead.  He is starting to get used to being put down in the bouncy seat or the swing.  Today was the first time he actually fell asleep in the swing while it was swinging.  Progress!!  He tends to get quite gassy and grunts/growls a lot but, thankfully, that is something that he will outgrow soon enough.  He is just still trying to get used to this whole "digestive system" thing ... but I do look forward to the day when the noises he makes are not just grunts, groans, and growls.  More coos and gurgles please!  :)

That is all for now!  I will update next week!

The one with the two week update

Well, two and a half weeks.  We run a little late here these days.

Myles turned two weeks old on Wednesday.  I remember the first two weeks dragging when Charlotte was a baby, but these last two weeks have gone by pretty quickly!

So far, Myles is doing really well.  He is back up to his birth weight of 8lbs 7oz and we go back to the doctor on Friday to weigh him again for his three week check up.  He is already starting to outgrow his newborn clothing and he's quite round with a double chin so I think he's doing pretty good  ;)  He is still nursing relatively well.   He has a bottle here and there, sometimes formula, sometimes pumped milk.  He takes about 45 minutes to an hour to eat sometimes and usually eats about every three hours during the day and goes longer stretches at nighttime.  He has never had his days and nights mixed up, which is very helpful.  Last night I tried putting him in his cradle at nighttime - he had been sleeping on my pillow all night - and he did pretty good.  He slept soundly from about 10pm until around 3am but then was up almost hourly until about 6am.  He didn't eat very much at 3am so I think that was the issue.  If he had had a nice big feed, he probably would have gone back to sleep right until morning.  Regardless, I'm happy that he seems to have taken well to the cradle!  Hopefully that continues because I slept a lot better as well.

He is starting to focus on people and things.  He really likes to stare up at the pictures hanging in the living room - I think he likes the contrast between between the dark frames and the light walls.  I like sitting with him on my knees to chat and he will look at me.  He will lay on his play mat and look around but doesn't like to be on the floor for too long.  Charlotte really likes when he is on the floor, though, so she can talk to him and tell him all about the world.

He is a pretty chill little guy, but will complain quite loudly when he needs something.  He absolutely does not like to be wet or dirty (whereas Charlotte never really seemed to care if she needed a new diaper), if he's tired he will yell about it, and when he's hungry he'll protest (and then take forever to latch, the goose) but as long as everything is okay in his world, he's happy  :)

That's it for now!

The one where time flies...

There has been so much happening these days and just no time to really get it all written down!

Our sweet Charlotte turned 4 on Tuesday.  Can you believe that?  Our little lemon, our sweet little Ladybird is now four years old.  I can't believe it.

We spent the day together on Tuesday and had a great time.  I made her a special birthday breakfast, we went to The Play Box (an indoor playground), and out for lunch at Boston Pizza.  She had a great birthday party the Saturday before - a dinosaur party!  Roar!!

Four year old Charlotte amazes me every day.  She is incredibly sweet, kind, and caring.  I can't even explain her compassion and kindness.  She makes my heart swell.  She is so bright and will be starting school next fall.  We are hoping to put her into French because she is pretty well ready for school now and we don't want her to be bored.  She can perform basic math concepts in her head (i.e. "Mommy, when Baby BoJu is 1, I'll be 5.  And when he's 2, I'll be 6."), we think she might be able to read but has a bit of a stubborn streak, and she's printing, loves to spell, and play rhyming games.

She is fully into 4T clothing now and wears a size 8 shoe.  She is still in the 30lb range, sometimes hitting 31 or 32 depending on what she's wearing and what she's eaten  ;)  She's getting more independent every day.  She still has some trouble getting certain articles of clothing off and starting her zippers, but she's just turned 4 so that's understandable!

She started ballet in September and she is doing great!  We got to watch her class last week and she made me so proud.  She was focused and paid attention when she was supposed to and had lots of fun running around and dancing during the free time.  She can do first, second, third, fourth, and fifth position with her feet and knows how to pirouette.  She's awesome.

Here are a few of 4 year old Charlotte's favourites!

Book:  For her birthday, she got The Snail and The Whale and we have read it every single night at bedtime since her birthday party.  She loves it!

Activity:  She still loves playing with her cars and her wooden blocks.  That hasn't changed at all!  She also enjoys playing with her baby dolls, Charlotte Bunny (of course), and creating imaginary friends that visit us for a short period of time - so far, there have been three children whose names I can't remember, Charlotte Turkey, Isabella the tiger, and Charlotte the Dinosaur.  She cracks me up.

Food:  Broccoli chicken and "crunchy" (raw) carrots.

Toy:  Charlotte Bunny will always be number one.  But she's also really loving her doll that she got for her birthday (she named her Lilah) and her Ana and Elsa dolls.

Colour:  Purple, pink, and red.


So, that's the Charlotte news.  And how about Baby BoJu?

I will be 31 weeks on Tuesday (what?!).  Things are going very well.  Everything is perfect at my check-ups, according to my doctor.  I had my glucose test at the end of September.  I do not remember the drink being so disgusting - I remember drinking it when I was pregnant with Charlotte and thinking it just tasted like orange pop.  This time, it was GROSS.  I had a hard time choking it down.  Thankfully, my sugars are great and I don't have the baby diabetes.  I'm measuring perfectly, my blood pressure is great, my blood work came back perfect (even my iron levels!!  So weird.), and at my 26 week appointment, I had only gained 14lbs.  I didn't ask this time around.  I have my next appointment on Wednesday.

25 weeks, 2 days.  Getting belly pictures this time around is hard!  

The pregnancy is going well in that regard, but I'm another story.  I am pretty much in constant pain.  Everything hurts all the time.  I can't sleep.  I get really sore and stiff if I stay in one position for too long, but moving around hurts too so it's kind of a catch 22.  Do I get up and walk around, hobbling in pain, or do I stay put for a while?  I get really weak - not tired, just weak - so I was convinced that my iron or my blood pressure must have been low, but nope.  My doctor just told me that's the way it goes in the third trimester with a four year old.  Work has also been really busy so there's just no rest, it seems.  I'm really looking forward to being on maternity leave for a couple of weeks before BoJu arrives.

He is moving around but not as much as Charlotte did.  He tends to really like quiet times - he is especially wiggly when I am tucking Charlotte into bed each night.  Tonight, he was moving around like crazy so Charlotte spent a good 10 minutes or more just giggling and talking to him.  She is very excited to be a big sister and I can already see how much she loves him.  She came home from daycare the other day with two pictures of snowmen that she drew for him.  Tonight, she told him that he has a "really nice family out here, your grandparents, me your big sister, Mommy, and Daddy that are all excited for you to come out".  Bless her heart.

With that quick update, let's see what BoJu is up to in there!

BoJu is about the size of a pineapple now and is definitely running out of room!  Kicks and bumps have become rolls and pointy elbow jabs.  All five of his senses are working now and he's going through some major brain development.  He is starting to plump up and get that adorable chubby baby look.

The one with the THREE AND A HALF year update...

I know, right?  Three-and-a-freakin-half.  Where does the time go?

She may be getting older but she is still the kind, sweet, hilarious little person she has always been.  She finally hit 30lbs recently (even up to 31lbs sometimes!) and wears 3T bottoms and has moved into 4T tops.  She wears a size 7 shoe (just like Mommy!).  She can put on her own coat and can zip it up as long as someone helps her get started.  She is really getting more and more independent every day.

She loves to paint and draw lately.  She can write her first name and can write out other words if we help her spell them.  She loves drawing rainbows and people and, occasionally, submarines.  She still loves to play pretend but her play situations have gone beyond simply imitating daily life and she creates more complex scenarios and characters.  Her favourite, thus far, is playing "neighbour" wherein I am the neighbour, she is my neighbour, we live in different houses (sometimes it's the snow bank in the back yard, sometimes it's the dining room, sometimes it's her bedroom, etc.) and the entire thing revolves around us saying things like "Oh hi neighbour, my name is Mommy, would you like to come visit my house and stay for supper?" ad nauseum.  She's really good at staying in character, to the point where I ask her to please call me Mommy in the grocery store so people don't think I am some weirdo with the neighbour's kid.

Playing in her "snow bedroom"

She created all these buildings for her characters (left to right) Mommy, Daddy, Charlotte, and Cole's (?) house, the fancy neighbours house, the hospital, the police station, and Grandma and Grandpa's house in the middle.

She still attends the same daycare and has recently moved from the toddler room to the preschool room.  She LOVES it.  She is always so excited to tell me about the things she has done that day and who she played with.  Her teachers are great and there are always really neat things going on.  She has a few friends that she plays with consistently and has been to a few birthday parties already.

She's had a few more illnesses and incidents this year than ever before in her life.  She was very sick with a virus in October and was sick almost the whole month.  She fell in June and needed to get stitches just above her lip.  And in March, she experienced her first febrile seizure and I experienced my first 911 call and ambulance ride.  She is one brave and resilient little girl, though, and she is no worse for the wear at all.  

She still speaks like she is about three years older than she is.  Her vocabulary and pronunciation are outstanding.  She has recently started loving puzzles and can easily put together a 12-15 piece puzzle by herself.  When she has the patience, she will also put together some 20 piece puzzles by herself.  She still loves reading and we think she is starting to read words herself, but it's hard to tell because she has a stubborn side and will not cooperate if she doesn't want to.  ;)  She has moved on from simpler stories and really enjoys longer picture books like The Berenstain Bears, Franklin, Robert Munsch books, Clifford, etc.  We have relented a bit and let her watch some television.  She really likes Thomas, Sid The Science Kid, and The Wiggles.  We have watched a few movies together (The Little Mermaid, yay!!), and we are hoping to bring her to see the new Disney "Bears" movie for her very first movie theatre experience.

Here are a few of 3.5 year old Charlotte favourites!

Book:  She has a few go-tos that she likes: Mud Puddle, Going On A Bear Hunt, The Highway Rat, and Mouse Soup are a few current ones that we read a lot.

Activity:  Playing with her cars.  She brings out her car mat, sets it up, sets out all her cars in their specific "houses" on the mat, and then they interact with each other like people.  It's really interesting and it's usually the very first thing she does after breakfast.

Food:  If you ask her, she will tell you that broccoli chicken is her absolute favourite.

Toy:  Charlotte Bunny is still her baby.  She also loves her cars, specifically her "black Pontiac".

Colour:  Still purple, but with pink and red thrown in occasionally.

Word/Phrase:  "Are you serious?  Are you kidding me?"  haha

I love this sweet girl more and more every day.  Every age gets better and better!

The one with the random mid-June update ;)

Cool dudette!

Update time!  Yippee!

My sweet little Charlotte is now closer to three years old than two years old.  Eek!  Where does the time go?  She is already talking about her birthday party and has asked me probably 5 times today if it was fall yet... (granted, it was freezing out so that may have had something to do with it  ;))

Every day, she continues to amaze me.  She is about 27 lbs now and I think around 34 inches tall.  Still teeny and I think she always will be.  She wears mostly 2T stuff and mostly size 6 shoes.  She has all her teeth and had her third hair cut about a month ago.  She is fully toilet trained (except wears training pants at nighttime) and can do the whole routine all by herself.  She can put on her own jacket.  She can go up and down stairs with ease.  She can climb up into her booster seat at the dinner table.  She uses her forks and spoons very well.  She can do a somersault.  She just keeps getting bigger and more independent!  *sniffles!*

At the mall after her third hair cut

The hairdresser gave her a little braid.  She was so proud of her "purple braid"!

Charlotte started daycare at the beginning of April due to some confusing no job/new job circumstances that ended up with our regular sitter finding new employment.  We were very VERY sad about the change, but Kelsey is still in our lives, and Charlotte is really enjoying her time with other children.  I am so happy she was able to spend the first two and a half years of her life at home and now she is at the age where she craves social interaction.  She is loving daycare and tells me all about her days, who her friends are, who she played with, which children spit, which children talk at naptime, and so on and so forth haha.  I love hearing her sing new songs and talk about her friends.  My heart melts when I pick her up and she hugs her friends goodbye.  Love love love.  Unfortunately, starting daycare also meant her first ear infection.  Boo!!  But we made it two and a half years with no antibiotics ever, so that's pretty good!

Last month, Charlotte went on a trip to Calgary with her Gram for 5 whole days!  She went to visit Auntie Rochelle, Uncle Paul, and her cousins Isla and Lucas.  She had a wonderful time and still asks if we are "going to go to Calgary today".  She really enjoyed the plane rides and even got to visit the flight deck on her way home.  Apparently, she walked into the flight deck, looked around, and said "I think this is an airbus" (it was).  Cracked the pilots right up!  :)

She is still as funny as ever and as sweet as ever.  She certainly has the two year old attitude down pat, but her sweet, kind, loving nature still shines through.  She loves to spend her time rocking her dolls and her bunnies.  She has one bunny that she got for Easter who she named Charlotte Bunny and Charlotte Bunny is HER baby.  She rocks Charlotte Bunny and pats her back.  She feeds her and hugs her.  It is all very sweet. This morning, when I told her we were staying home from work/daycare because I didn't feel good, she told me "It's okay, Mommy.  I will hug you all better."  One day, she told me "Maggie (our cat) can't play with the toys because she has no hands.  I'm going to go to the store and buy her some hands so she can have a turn."  She is a darling.  I truly hope she never loses that kindness and compassion.

Mommy and Charlotte ice cream date

Here are a few of 2.5 year old Charlotte's favourites:

Book: Alligator Baby by Robert Munsch is a big favourite right now.  We have read it every day for the last 3 weeks since we bought it.

Activity:  Pretend play - she loves acting out life's little moments with her dolls and stuffed animals.  She is always feeding them or putting them to bed and copying pretty much everything I say to her during those routines.  Makes me feel pretty good when I see her hugging her bunny saying "goodnight, sweetie, sweet dreams, I love you".  She also loves playing with her Crazy Coupe outside - filling it with dandelion gas and going to Superstore for groceries  ;)  Her imagination is amazing and she comes up with some really fun ideas every day.

Food:  I don't know if she really has a favourite.  She eats peaches n' cream oatmeal every day for breakfast at her request.  She really likes apple slices and peanut butter as a dip for snack.  She is still a great eater and enjoys a wide variety of foods.

Toy:  Charlotte Bunny (although I don't know if I count her as a toy but rather an entity in her own right) or her doll that has snap on clothes that she has named Susan.

Colour:  Purple (mine too, and I'm pretty sure that's why it's her favourite  ;))

Word:  Why?  Why?  Why why why?  WHY?  ;)

My little ladybird

Even though she is really starting to exert her independence and test boundaries, she just makes every single day a little brighter.  Her smile lights up the room.  Her laugh is infectious.  She is soft and snuggly.  She is brave and strong.  She makes funny jokes.  She is smart.  She is social.  She shows empathy.  She is kind.  I just love seeing what new things each day brings!

The one with the importance of play

Charlotte loves to help me cook.  Every time she sees me get ready to cook, she starts to drag a chair over to the counter, saying "see!  see!"  Tonight we were going to make shepard's pie, so she dragged her chair over, and began to watch me peel potatoes.

Well, peeling potatoes is only interesting for a short while so after about two potatoes, she lost focus and started playing with the small bit of water in the dirty dishes in the sink.  I gently removed the dishes and started filling up the sink with warm water, a squirt of dish soap, and tossed in a couple of measuring cups.  The scene was set.

First, she spent some time scooping the bubbles and only the bubbles.  She would scoop them gently with one measuring cup and dump them into another.  She did this over and over until she made a hole in the bubbles and saw the water below the sudsy layer.

She stood at that sink for a half an hour while I continued to cook supper.  She scooped water.  She poured water from one cup to another, from a cup to the sink.  She slid her arms in all the way up to her elbow and said "cold, cold, BRR!"  She waved her hands around and watched the water swish.  She stuck her hands into the flowing tap.  She smooshed the suds in her hands and said "washing!"

















As I watched her, the early childhood educator in me came out full force.  I watched my toddler completely engrossed in what some people would discourage - playing in the sink, making a mess, getting water everywhere.  Instead of scolding her, I encouraged her.  This was a prime learning opportunity and I was not about to squash it.  Learning?  What learning?

Well, let's see.  During the half hour of water play, Charlotte (19 months) said the following words (many times):
bubbles
water
cold, cold, brr
happy
warm
cup
on
off
in
sink
Gram
soap
washing
oh no!
dripping
cloth
big
fun
WOW
tall
heavy
towel

This play experience encouraged an explosion of language!  She had so much to say about what she was doing and had the opportunity to let the words flow freely.

Not only did the experience encourage her language development and help increase her vocabulary but she also learned about a whole slew of concepts:

force -- she felt the difference in the water flow when I turned the faucet on full blast vs having the faucet gently drip water into the sink
temperature -- she noticed the temperature of the water ("warm!") and played around with the concept when she said the water was cold ("cold, cold, brr")
wet/dry -- the kid was soaked by the end of it  ;)
space -- she filled her measuring cups and dumped them; she moved the bubbles and noticed the water underneath; she swished water around and watched it ebb and flow
size -- she noticed the size of the tea towel that she put into the sink near the end of the experience and shouted "big!"; she looked at a mountain of bubbles and said "tall"
density -- as she squished the bubbles in her hands, she experimented with the density of the suds; she also explored this concept as she deliberately scooped ONLY the bubbles when she first began to play
weight -- she filled her measuring cup and said "heavy"
relationships -- as she played in the sink, she made many mentions to "Gram" - she often sits and bathes in the sink at her Gram and Grampie's house
emotions -- throughout the play experience, she exclaimed "happy!  happy!  fun!"
self-control -- she wanted the faucet on all the time but I could not leave it on the entire time or the sink would overflow - she played on despite this - she also kept the water in the sink quite well

All this from playing in the sink?  You bet!
Sometimes those things that you think are messy, annoying, frustrating, inappropriate, a pain-in-the-neck, or purposefully meant to drive you nuts are the things your babies really need the most.  Let them play.  Let them learn!  Trust their abilities to learn and let them explore their world.  Messes only last moments; lessons last a lifetime.

"Be careful what you teach; it might interfere with what they are learning"
~Magda Gerber