Thanks to pinterest helping me with creativity to entertain my wee one we have been keeping busy and having fun.
We did all these on different days but I finally got around to having Evan pose for them this morning after we made the fish.
I'm going to take him on a bug hunt soon. Give that child bugs and rocks and he's set!
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| I love this little Caterpillar I painted his palms green and his fingers blue and made handprints long enough for a caterpillar. This one will be kept in the baby book for sure. |
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| paint and glitter. He loved every messy part of it. |
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| "oohh a fishy!" "Cuhdor da fishy!" "Evan's fishy!" "I cuhdor it!" |
I want to share my thoughts about some of the things I have been learning about 2 year olds.
When you look at your child do you not see the innocent, purity, and just plain perfection that they possess? I've always been really protective of him, but I feel like I am even more so now not only because of how fast he learns and picks up on behaviors good and bad, but also because he's two and he's non-stop and into everything and really just flat doesn't listen all the time.
He requires patience and understanding that he has only been outside the womb for 2 years. Sometimes, when I find myself feeling overwhelmed because he does the same things over and over again that we have asked him not to I have to step away and tell myself- he's 2. We can tell him a million times in one day not to do something and I bet you the next day he'll do it again (although, there are some things that he knows he's not supposed to do and won't. Those are mainly the safety things.) Every time he see's a cat litter he tries real hard to stick his hand in there because it looks like rocks and fun! He's a bug smasher through and through...we're trying to teach him the value of life- even the value of a bugs life :o) he loves to throw, but doesn't understand that the only things we throw are balls or when it's ok to throw those, so needless to say things get thrown at my head a million times a day, so we continue to give him reminders (sometimes time outs) after each throw. I usually give him a chance before we get to time out. I'll say, "Evan it's not ok to throw that, if you do you have to go to time out." Sometimes, he'll think about it and decide against it, but other times the throwing is worth the consequence I guess haha (Our apt in Utah was pretty plain because everything had to be out of his reach! Put things up you don't want them to touch, it saves a lot of energy and prevents telling them "no" all day)
Children, especially toddlers, require constant reminding and constant patience. There is a difference between yelling and and talking in a stern voice to let them know you are serious. I don't want to ever yell at my kids. It's not necessary and it doesn't tell them that you love them. I am so grateful that I can be home with him at this age because of the patience he requires because I would worry constantly if I had to leave him with someone and fear that they would spank him (which I am totally against. Inflicting intentional pain on your child doesn't solve anything. The only thing I feel it does is allow the parents to take out their frustrations on their childs bum and that's not cool) or yell at him or just be unkind because they aren't patient. He's learning, he's testing his boundaries, half the time he doesn't know he's doing something he shouldn't...he just thinks he's having fun. There is a reason why the LDS faith doesn't baptize children under the age of 8. They cannot be accountable for their actions when they don't have the understanding (or the capability to stop themselves because they are so compulsive at young ages) that those actions are wrong. Anyway, I had to learn patience and decide what I felt like were things that needed to be addressed and things that could be let go because he's 2 and things like picking his nose are pretty much pointless to try and correct at this point. I love being his mama and I hope he always knows just how much love I have for him.
PS I'm a couple days away from 35 weeks. 5 more and we get to meet our baby girl! Anndd We have finally decided on a name!
He requires patience and understanding that he has only been outside the womb for 2 years. Sometimes, when I find myself feeling overwhelmed because he does the same things over and over again that we have asked him not to I have to step away and tell myself- he's 2. We can tell him a million times in one day not to do something and I bet you the next day he'll do it again (although, there are some things that he knows he's not supposed to do and won't. Those are mainly the safety things.) Every time he see's a cat litter he tries real hard to stick his hand in there because it looks like rocks and fun! He's a bug smasher through and through...we're trying to teach him the value of life- even the value of a bugs life :o) he loves to throw, but doesn't understand that the only things we throw are balls or when it's ok to throw those, so needless to say things get thrown at my head a million times a day, so we continue to give him reminders (sometimes time outs) after each throw. I usually give him a chance before we get to time out. I'll say, "Evan it's not ok to throw that, if you do you have to go to time out." Sometimes, he'll think about it and decide against it, but other times the throwing is worth the consequence I guess haha (Our apt in Utah was pretty plain because everything had to be out of his reach! Put things up you don't want them to touch, it saves a lot of energy and prevents telling them "no" all day)
Children, especially toddlers, require constant reminding and constant patience. There is a difference between yelling and and talking in a stern voice to let them know you are serious. I don't want to ever yell at my kids. It's not necessary and it doesn't tell them that you love them. I am so grateful that I can be home with him at this age because of the patience he requires because I would worry constantly if I had to leave him with someone and fear that they would spank him (which I am totally against. Inflicting intentional pain on your child doesn't solve anything. The only thing I feel it does is allow the parents to take out their frustrations on their childs bum and that's not cool) or yell at him or just be unkind because they aren't patient. He's learning, he's testing his boundaries, half the time he doesn't know he's doing something he shouldn't...he just thinks he's having fun. There is a reason why the LDS faith doesn't baptize children under the age of 8. They cannot be accountable for their actions when they don't have the understanding (or the capability to stop themselves because they are so compulsive at young ages) that those actions are wrong. Anyway, I had to learn patience and decide what I felt like were things that needed to be addressed and things that could be let go because he's 2 and things like picking his nose are pretty much pointless to try and correct at this point. I love being his mama and I hope he always knows just how much love I have for him.
PS I'm a couple days away from 35 weeks. 5 more and we get to meet our baby girl! Anndd We have finally decided on a name!
