Mobile Mama

Ocean Isle Beach, NC - June 2012

Last set of vacation pics: Part 3

Vacation pics: Part 2

Vacation pics: Part 1

We’ve almost made it. We’re not quite there yet. And we still have one more to go.

Charlotte will be 3 in May.

We’ve now experienced the second year of life as parents twice.

All experienced parents know what I’m talking about. That second year is hard. But it’s also one of the most fun. I’ve never wanted to scream louder or laugh harder than during this precious year of growing pains.

Charlotte, like most two-year-olds, has gone from saying a few words and phrases to telling elaborate stories. Her imagination fascinates us, and her ability to manipulate her brothers (and her father) is brilliant! Girls are born with a completely different brain than boys. She’s got us all wrapped around her little finger with her beauty, intelligence, and just-plain-cuteness. But growing doesn’t come without a few pains.

During this year (or 18 months), kids have new impulses but don’t know how to control them yet. Thus, tantrums are normal in addition to saying “no” and “mine” often and refusing to cooperate. Patience is so important (and I run out quickly too fast).

As I watch my kids during these limit-pushing times, I have to remind myself God only lets us borrow them. They are his. This independence and desire to make their own decisions is how he made them. I’m just so overwhelmed that I get to help shape and nurture them - it’s intimidating.

A wise co-worker once told me the goal in handling these situations in parenting is to break the will, not the spirit. Help them learn and grow - even if it’s a battle at times.

A couple of emergency tips that help me through each day:

Allow Cy and Charlotte to make their own decisions based on choices whenever possible. This saves many tantrums and arguments. When they don’t have anything to say “no” to, it eliminates a fight and enables independence at the same time. 

Earlier this week, I knew Charlotte would demand to wear her nice, pink sandles, but she was going to be playing outside and getting dirty, and I knew that would be a bad idea. Before she could even think to ask, I offered her a choice between two other pairs of shoes. On this morning, that worked.

Distractions! When Cy was two, and he’d throw the kind of tantrum that would last forever (and by forever, I mean like 30-45 minutes), I could tell he wanted a reason to stop crying. He would keep crying until I gave him a reason not to.

For instance, if he was pitching a fit because I took something away from him, his violent fit could go on for a long time. Then there would come a point (that I learned to recognize) that I knew he wasn’t crying over the object anymore. Our inclination is to offer another toy or object that is safe to play with, but that doesn’t work most of the time; it needs to be a completely different experience. Try snack time or a tv show or going to play outside. This works much better.

This season is short. Pediatricians say it ends by about the third birthday, but in my experience three-years-old is just  a bit better - still quite a bit of testing the boundaries. But when Cy hit four, it was like magic! Something clicked.

Enjoy the good but be prepared for the bad!

We have had such a wonderful Christmas season so far. Preschool parties, handmade gifts, Christmas cards, tree decorating… ‘Tis the season! 

Some highlights:

Christmas Countdown
I tried a new advent countdown with the kids this year. It’s a work in progress. For each day, there was a fabric pouch with candy for the kids and a gift tag telling us what to do that day - everything from reading Christmas scriptures and snowball fights before bed to trips to see Christmas lights and reading our favorite Christmas books. 

Here is the basket I used this year: 

Bucket of snowballs (Thanks, Mama Pam!):

The idea I like for next year: 

A visit with Santa
We love going to Bass Pro Shops for our annual visit with ol’ St. Nick. You get a free photo and there are tons of free activities for the kids too. The boys both enjoyed Santa, but Charlotte wanted nothing to do with him.

Angel Tree
Cleve and I talked several times about age-appropriate compassion projects we could do with the kids this year. One way we decided to encourage others and give back to our community was through a local Angel Tree. Cy and Charlotte loved picking angels off the tree. We went and bought the items/toys written on the angels. It took a lot of restraint for a 4 year old and 2 year old to go toy shopping during Christmas and ask them to only buy for other boys and girls. They got a fun treat from Starbucks when we finished. 

Warner even got to enjoy a treat. 

Gingerbread House
We had fun putting together our Christmas table centerpiece this year. Cy is going to be a pro in a couple of years. Charlotte enjoyed eating the candy before we could get it on the house.  We did a small house and two Christmas trees.

Shopping with Mommy and Daddy
As part of our Christmas countdown, Cy and Charlotte got to go separately shopping for each other and for Cleve and me. Then, on Sunday night, we had a little party and exchanged those gifts. (We do things a bit non-traditionally because we’re not home around Christmas. This was our chance to have a little family celebration before hitting the road.) 

Cleve surprised us all with tickets to see the Fresh Beat Band in the spring. Charlotte is the most excited.

Huge success of our party: Chicken Parmesan Nuggets (Thank you, Laura, for celebrating with us and helping cook all the yummy goodies!)

Since we’ll be long gone by Christmas Eve, Santa Claus will visit our house early as he has the past couple of years. Santa will visit on Wednesday night, Dec. 21. I’m looking forward to baking cookies for Santa with the kids tomorrow. (I realize we’ll have to come up with a new solution in the next year or two as the kids get older. Santa will have to start coming on time.)

Looking forward to hitting the road for our annual tour of the southeast. First up: my family in Georgia, then North Carolina, ending with friends in the mountains for New Years.

Merry Christmas!

“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” -Isaiah 9:6 (NLT)

Mobile Beach Pictures
Here are some of my favorite mobile pics (taken with my old Blackberry) from our beach vacation the week after Father’s Day.  It’s taken me this long to reflect on our first big adventure since Warner was born. I’ll share another post soon with some pics from our real camera.

These are my favorite pics of Cy from our family photo shoot at the farm. He’s turning into such a handsome little guy.  My siblings and I always joked about having red-headed children - never thinking we actually would (my mother is a redhead).  Apparently Cleve and I found the right gene combination because Cy is the first real redhead out of 12 grandkids.

Cy is really special. He’s a quick thinker, compassionate, and charming.  My sister, Laura, calls him the “crowd pleaser”.  He has his Daddy’s social and personable personality.  He has amazing coordination and a great sense of rhythm and sound.  Cy is going to be a really well-rounded guy. I can’t wait to see what he does with his life.  I pray he uses his “jack-of-all-trades” quality and likability to honor God and show Christ’s love to others.

We took family photos this weekend at the Grassmere Farm that’s part of the Nashville Zoo.  I can’t wait to get them from our wonderful photographer friend, Angela, and share them with everyone.  This is one of the few smiles we got from Charlotte captured with Cleve’s phone.