Category Archives: Baby Milestones

Let’s Start Reading: Loving the Library with My Preschooler

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Last week, my four year old said, “You know where we haven’t been in a while, Mommy?” “Where?” I inquired. With a big smile, she responded, “The library!”It actually had been a couple of months since we’ve visited the library as a result of taking many summer day trips outside of her pre-school’s camp. Then with her hands clasped she pleaded, “Can we go there today? Please? Pretty please?” How on earth could I possibly deny that request? Of course, I said yes.

“I need to get books so that I can learn to read,” she informed me.” Wow, I thought to myself. I remember when Quinn was just learning to talk. She’s always loved books, and my husband and I have read to her since she was born. So it pleases me that she considered going to the library as a fun and special outing.

While all libraries are different, many offer so many wonderful resources to engage children of all ages in reading and learning in general. Our local library has many books from which to choose, Hoopla, the online resource for digital media, ABC Mouse (An online learning resource) for free and many free activities related to STEM and literacy.

I look forward to visiting the library with my daughter more and more frequently to take advantage of the resources while supporting her desire to learn to read. Though she definitely has some time to go before mastering reading and how to spell, it is my hope that she’ll enjoy reading to me just as much as I like reading to her and that her enthusiasm for learning will continue to increase.

All the best,

Tanya

A Swimmingly Fun Summer with My Little Girl

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With a big smile on her face, my four year old said, “Look at me, Mommy! I’m swimming!” Actually, she was doing something I recall doing as a child: wading in the water and moving my arms back and forth to give the illusion that I was swimming. When Quinn was not quite a year and half, my husband and I signed her up for swim lessons and figured she’d do fine since she loved playing in her bath tub water. However, once in a much larger body of water, an olympic sized swimming pool at a nearby college, my poor baby would cling onto me for dear life. We thought that perhaps she could sense my nervousness, so my husband decided to go in with her. While she did much better and even seemed to be having fun on an occasion or two, one of the instructor’s methods was immersing the child fully in the water, just for a second or two in a playful way, but my little girl was having none of that. She looked absolutely terrified. After that, it was extremely difficult to get her in the water without clinging on to my next or my husband’s neck.

We figured that it was normal and that she’d eventually become relaxed and more comfortable in the water, as some of the other children, ranging from under a year up to age three, but after a couple of months she still seemed anxious yet was not able to verbalize how she was feeling. At that point, we thought it was best to not continue lessons and to revisit them once Quinn showed an interest and could tell us what she wanted.

In the months and few years that followed that experience, she does enjoy water play and being in the ocean holding my hand, and being in a large swimming pool is a totally different experience for her: certainly more fun! Based on how she’s been enjoying the water in an actually swimming pool this summer, I think she just might be ready for swim lessons again.

We even talked about it on a few occasions, and unlike when she was a year and a half and unable to tell me what frightened her or made her uneasy about swimming, at four years old, she had no problem telling me, “Mommy, I just doesn’t like it when water gets in her eyes.”  This is understandable because I don’t like that either, so we went shopping to pick out some Paw Patrol goggles. Not too far from “The Little Gym,” where Quinn takes classes, a new swim school geared towards children opened up, so I plan on looking into it to see if it’s a good fit for her. I’m hoping that my little girl will “really” be able to swim or at least feel more comfortable in a large swimming pool in the years and summers to come.

All the best,

Tanya

 

Derailing the “Train” for a Fun Journey with My Daughter

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Yesterday, my daughter and I, along with my sister and her daughter, had a fun-filled outing in downtown Philadelphia. We went to the Candytopia exhibit, had lunch and just walked around and explored. We tend to go on many fun outings. Sometimes we walk, but most times we drive. What made yesterday even more exciting was that we derailed our usual routine of driving and took the train.

Believe it or not, it was my six year old’s very first time taking the SEPTA regional rail train, with the exception of the Strausburg Railroad for train rides with Thomas the Tank Engine and with Santa. As we waited on the platform in the 30 degrees Fahrenheit weather, Quinn exclaimed, “I’m excited but a little nervous.” Then, she noticed the words on the ground in front of the yellow safety zone. “Watch the Gap,” she read. Then she took a few steps back and said, “I’m nervous because I don’t want to fall down on the tracks.” I reassured her that I’d hold her hand and that she’d be fine. When the train approached, she was beaming with excitement and asked to sit by the window.

I enjoyed sharing stories with her about when I would take the train to college, and I was reminded of when I was younger always loving to look out the window on the train and just observe people coming and going. She was amazed at how fast we were going and even observed how it was “speedier than the train ride with Santa.”

After enjoying our time downtown, we hurried back to our regional rail stop from Reading Terminal Market, and Quinn was eagerly looking forward to her train ride back home. Even though we were greeted by a sign that said our train was delayed by 18 minutes, she was a good sport and actually like the environment of just sitting on the bench and seeing people go by.

I remember always being on the bus and train when I was younger, especially since my mother did not drive, so it was not as big a deal for me. When I saw Quinn’s excitement, I realized that I need to occasionally derail my routine a bit. While it’s great to have the luxury of getting in a car and driving to our destination, I want Quinn to have the fun experiences she may not normally do. It helps to make her well-rounded and to even appreciate what she has. We both agreed that it would be nice to take the train downtown and to other places more often, and my plan is to make sure that happens.

All the best,

Tanya

Throwback Thursday: Swinging Right Along with My Little Girl

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May 2014
May 2014
July 2017
July 2017

Even before my daughter was a year old, she loved to get in the swing, and she was so excited when my husband installed one for her on our tree in the front yard, but as the weather started getting warmer a few months ago, my little girl, who is now four years old, struggled to get in and out of the swing. She informed her father and me, “I need a big girl swing! This one is too small for me now!”

Wow, it seems like yesterday when Quinn would giggle as I pushed her in the swing and was still learning to talk. Now, she does well with articulating herself and even remembers what I taught her about swinging by herself. “You can push me for a little bit, and then I can use my legs to keep going higher and higher,” she told her dad after getting on her newly installed swing a few days ago.

Quinn and I both enjoy looking at pictures, and she especially loves looking at pictures from when she was much younger. When she came across some of her in the swing, she commented, “That’s when I was a baby in the baby swing. Wasn’t I cute? Now, I’m a big girl in a big girl swing!” I just thought to myself, “Where did the time go? I guess we’re swinging right along.”

All the best,
Tanya

What Would We Do Without It Wednesday: Thankful My Little Girl is Grateful

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With a smile on her face, climbing up her “new” jungle gym, my daughter said, “Wasn’t it nice of the neighbors to give this to me!” “It sure was,” I told her. She then proceeded to ask, “Why did they give it to me?” To which I responded, their children outgrew it, so they thought you would like it. “Wow, that was very thoughtful!” Quinn informed me. “Yes, it sure was.” I said.

More and more frequently, I hear people talk about how it’s a cruel world and that everyone is out for themselves or how so many people, especially the younger generations, have an attitude of entitlement. While it may be somewhat true, I sincerely do not believe all people are this way. I have been trying my best to instill positive values such as gratitude and hopefulness rather than entitlement and hopelessness in my four year old daughter, so it warms my heart each time she not only utters the phrase thank you but expresses her gratitude by acknowledging how thoughtful the other person is. I always tell her that when people do something nice or out of the kindness of their hearts, it must be acknowledged because they did not have to do anything.

Just yesterday, my uncle asked her is she wanted to help frost a pink lemonade cake for the July 4th cookout, and she was so excited and said, “Uncle David picked me to help with the cake! That was very nice of him.” After helping, she told him, without me coaching her, “Thank you for allowing me to help decorate the cake, Uncle David.”

I truly believe gratitude goes further than we think and that one is never too young or too old to display it. The world is not so cruel as long as we contribute some positivity towards it. I hope I am modeling a behavior where my daughter will continue to feel the same way I do well into adulthood.

All the best,

Tanya

Mommy’s Monday Moments: Who Said Washing the Car Wasn’t Fun? Not My Little Girl!

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With a soapy sponge about three times the size of her little hand she sung, “This is the was we scrub-a-dub-dub…scrub-a-dub-dub…scrub-a-dub-dub. This is the way we wash the car all day long!” It was a hot day, and when I was younger I loved when my mom would wet me with the hose, so I figured my four year old would like it too and that she could have a little water play as I washed my car. As I prepared the suds water and got my sponge ready, Quinn asked with a sad look on her face and disappointment in her voice , “Where’s my sponge, Mommy? I thought I was was helping to wash your car.”

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised that she wanted to take on this chore with me.  So I got a second sponge for her that she was able to out on her hand to make it easier that holding it, and she went to work. I was impressed with how she paid close attention to detail making sure that she scrubbed every part of the car that she could reach even commenting on how dirty my tires were and how she had to scrub those a lot to get them clean.

Sometimes we, as adults, may underestimate the abilities of our children or may even assume that they do not want to do chores, thereby leaving us in awe when our children rise to the challenge and surpass it.  While Quinn just turned four last month, she constantly amazes me with her eagerness to help me do chores around the house from sweeping, vacuuming, doing dishes or simply clearing the table after a meal.

I love how she can make a chore fun and bring out the kid in me. After the car was all suds up, then came the extra fun part. She giggled and asked for more as I sprayed in her direction with the hose cooling her off after all of her hard work. Once the car was all clean, she helped dry it off and then turned to her dad who joined us outside asking, “Daddy, can we clean your car next?”

All the best,

Tanya

Mommy’s Monday Moments: Just Ask “Mommypedia”

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“When birds chirp together, is that how they speak to one another?” “Who decided that green means go and not the color blue?” “How did the doctor get me out of your stomach?” Are just some of the questions my four year old has asked me in the past couple of days. Quinn has always been an inquisitive child; however, the quantity and quality of questions has increased exponentially over the past few months. There are times when I feel like “Mommypedia” (The parental version of Wikipedia) or my daughter’s personal search engine who must yield results and provide an answer immediately because “I don’t know” is usually not acceptable and simply leads to more in-depth follow-up questions.

Of course, the barrage of questions can be overwhelming, and after a long day I may long for a mommy version of Siri or Alexa to answer everything for me. Nevertheless, I am flattered and honored that she looks to me for guidance and clarity and holds my response in a high regard. Also, her questions challenge my critical thinking and make me ponder over why something is the way that it is when I’m too sure, which is a fantastic way to keep me on my toes.

I treasure our conversations  and love how she listens so intently to my responses because I know that similar to some people who come to the realization that just because it’s on the internet it is not necessarily true that she will one day feel that her mommy doesn’t have all the answers. Here’s to all of the “mommypedias” and “daddypedias” trying their best to keep up with the search for answers from their children.
All the best,

Tanya

Can’t Stop the Feeling! Mommy’s Little Girl Loves to Dance

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“I got this feeling inside my bones. It goes electric, wavey when I turn it on…” was not only the lyrics of the song playing for my four year old’s dance recital but how I felt as she did her tap moves with the other children in her class. “I Can’t Stop the Feeling” of excitement, nervousness and being a doting mommy as Quinn tried her best to keep in rhythm and do the steps she memorized for the past few months. Since she was about six months old, I’ve been enrolling her in classes at The Little Gym, and while some parents may choose to enroll their children in a facility that focuses exclusively in dance, I love it here because it is all about the children having fun, and there is not as much pressure to become “professional” dancers. Like her mother, my daughter has an inherent quality which may be a gift and a curse. She tends to be a perfectionist and will keep trying until she gets it just right or even becomes frustrated if she is unable to get it right. With this in mind, the environment at The Little Gym is ideal to help her relax more.

Nevertheless, I would not be totally truthful if I didn’t admit that I was proud that my daughter followed the instructions of her teacher, did not run off during the performance or suffer from stage fright and cry. Also, something that really put a smile on my face is how she handled a mishap with her tiara for the ballet routine. When she did a spin with her partner, it was knocked off of her head. In that moment, I was more anxious than she was as I wondered what she would do next. She simply reached down and put the tiara back on her head to the best of her ability and continued to dance. Now that really put a smile on my face. Even after the performance she said with a big smile on her face, “My tiara came off when I was dancing, so I had to put it back on, Mommy. But I kept dancing!”

After the dance portion, she and the other children displayed some of their skills on the gym equipment. Even though Quinn also inherited her lack of flexibility from her mother (me), she still keeps trying and had a fun time. This summer, Quinn’s going to try out karate at The Little Gym for a new and different experience, and then we’ll return to dance for the school year. This was a wonderful experience for the both of us.

When we prepared to leave, I just couldn’t get those lyrics out of my head, “…Nothing I can see but you when you dance, dance, dance. A feeling good, good, creeping up on you, so just dance, dance, dance…” It’s moments like these that make my heart dance and will stay with me always.

All the best,

Tanya

Mommy’s Monday Moments: Growth Off the Charts for My Little Girl

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“How tall am I now, Mommy?” my daughter inquired. Even though we measure Quinn occasionally throughout the year, as part of her birthday, we write it down on her chart so that she can see how much she’s grown, so a couple of weeks ago when she turned four, she was excited to get measured. “So I was 30 inches when I was one, and now I’m 43 inches tall at four?” she asked. “That’s correct, Quinn,” I informed her.

She was so impressed with how much she’s grown and even asked, “How come I didn’t grow as much from when I was three like I did when I was two or one?” Interestingly, in the past year I’ve observed her grow in her ability to articulate how she’s feeling and what she wants, to ask questions and get the answers she’s looking for and just an overall increase in her cognitive development. Actually, her doctor said she’s the height of the average five and a half year old.

As Quinn, her dad and I  saw how much she’s grown just by looking at the lines on the height chart, I think were all amazed at how far she is come and are excited to see how much she will continue to grow. My baby is growing up so much in such a short period of time. It’s moments like these when I utter that cliché phrase, “Where did the time go?”

All the best,

Tanya