Tips on Tuesdays

This week's Tips on Tuesday is pretty simple. If you want something done a particular way, be specific in your instructions.



These wonderful people care for Jack & Bailey while Matt & and I work. Every year before I start school, I write out a veeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyy long list of instructions on how we want our children cared for during the day. It's specific. It's long. It's not because I don't trust Mark, Julia, or Lori Anne. I just want them to have as much information as possible.

The instructions are long--really long, so they won't appear in this post. You can read Jack's here and Bailey's here. Enjoy!

Taking Care of Bailey

Please, please remember that Bailey has been home with me for 5 months and that she is a big-time Mama's girl. She may have a rougher transition than Jack. Bailey is a sweet, sweet smiley baby who will win your hearts quick.

Eating

Bailey eats every 3 hours. Since I'll be arriving and feeding her at 6:45, you can expect her to eat at 9:45, 12:45 and 3:45--approximately. She eats 4 ounces of water with 2 tablespoons of formula at a feeding. Right now, she is eating oatmeal in the evenings, but will eventually be eating it in the mornings. More on that later.

Naps

Bailey hasn't had a good nap schedule because we've been so laid back this summer. I'm sure that as she gets on more of a regimented schedule she will develop a nap routine. I usually put her bunny in with her to nap. If she happens to be wearing a head band or bow, please take that off before putting her down for a nap--I assume the reason is obvious.

Sleepy cues: rubbing her eyes (sooo cute), and not being contented when she has a full tummy, a clean diaper, and is being held. I put her in her crib and if she cries for more than 5 minutes, she's not going to go down. Unfortunately, she usually has to fuss herself to sleep a little bit.

Matt says that the hardest part about having Bailey when I'm not around is when she wakes up from a nap and I'm not there. She may fuss or cry, but just hold her close and try to comfort her as best you can. She will get into the rhythm of things soon enough.

Play Time

Bailey likes to play on the floor with little toys. She also likes her jumperoo. She's rolling all over the place, and will probably start to crawl at any time. If you see her get ready to crawl, knock her down :) Matt and I would like to be there when she crawls for the first time. It's okay to lie to us, too, "No, she didn't start crawling today." :)

Diapers

Bailey, unlike Jack, does not like to be in a dirty diaper--and she'll let you know! Unless she's poopy or really fussy, I try to change her after each feeding. You can usually tell if she's ready by the "squish factor."

She usually has her one big, stinky, smelly, gross poopy diaper about 1/2 hour after her first feeding of the day. I know this goes without saying, but she's a girl, and please remember to wipe front to back. She sometimes gets a little red and irritated, so I'll include some cream in the diaper bag.

Above all else

Just please, please, please don't let my kids kill Eli. Just kidding. We love you guys and trust you infallibly.

Taking Care of Jack 2.0

Jack's a great, big two year old now, and there are a few changes from last year. We've been talking about going back to Mark & Ju-Ju's and that Mommy and Daddy have to work so they can make money for our family. We're trying not to say "We miss you," because we feel this puts too much pressure on him. Jack is really looking forward to coming back to your house this year.

Eating

Jack doesn't really like to eat when he first wakes up--in fact, he's been known to skip breakfast when he gets up later. Terrible, I know. I can usually get him to eat a few "krispies" (Rice Krispies), yogurt, or, in a pinch, gold fish crackers. I would like for him to eat breakfast every day, but knowing how he is......just do the best you can :)

For lunch, Jack likes hot dogs and nuggets. Or nuggets and hot dogs. Sometimes he'll eat a hot dog, sometimes he'll eat a nugget. And then there are the times when he eats hot dogs and nuggets. Seriously. For lunch, I try to get a little protein down him, usually in the form of hot dogs or nuggets, and some fruit. His favorite fruits are apples and bananas. He will occasionally eat blue berries and baby carrots, but only if they are really tiny.

Believe it or not, Jack doesn't really "snack" like he used to. If he is going to snack, I'd prefer for it to be a small snack in the afternoon after his nap--a few crackers or a cookie is fine. I try to be careful with the sodium that he eats, so please keep the crackers to a minimum--the kid could eat a whole sleeve of Ritz if he was given the opportunity.

Regarding milk: We give Jack milk when he first wakes up and at his nap time. He may ask for it at other times, but please encourage him to drink water. Because he drinks whole milk, it really fills him up and then he won't want to eat his food at lunch or dinner time. We'll send the milk in a small bottle for him to drink at nap time. And, just like last year, milk cups have sippy lids, and water goes in straw cups. He doesn't drink juice and should never have soda. If you take him to McDonald's, get him milk, never Sprite.

Naps

Jack takes one nap in the afternoon. Setting a routine with him will make nap time a breeze. I've had great success with putting him down as soon as lunch is over. He should sleep between 1 1/2 to 2 hours daily, but may sleep longer if he's played hard in the morning.

When I put him down for a nap, I give him a milk cup, blanklie, donkey, and his pillow. He might not fall asleep right away, but he still needs to take a nap. He'll sing and play for a while, but will eventually fall asleep.

Play time

I've been working with Jack on playing with toys. He often wants to play with things that are not toys--brooms, soup cans, toilet paper, screw drivers, wedding favors, shoes, dirty dishes from the dishwasher, etc. I say, "Go play with toys" when he's playing with something that he shouldn't be.

Jack loves to play outside, but I encourage you to be extremely careful when allowing him to play outside. He is fast, he is two, and he is tiny. If he is outside, we of course want Mark or Julia to be out there, too, and right with him. It's fine for the girls to play with him, but we're not okay with them being outside alone with him, even if you're just in the back yard and he's in the front yard. Jack responds best to the authority of an adult and could put himself in danger if left alone with a child.

Television

I try not to let Jack watch too much TV, but it is a great babysitter, and I read somewhere that if 30 minutes of Mickey Mouse or Sesame Street buy you a cleaned out dishwasher or a folded basket of laundry, it's worth it. I try to limit him to two shows a day. One in the morning and one after his nap (usually while he has a snack). His favorite shows are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Disney Channel) and Sesame Street (PBS). Both are available on OnDemand TV through Comcast Cable.

Diapers

Jack's still in diapers for the time being, but he's getting ready to be potty trained. He wasn't ready until recently, and I wanted to wait until he was fully transitioned into your care. He will now tell you when he needs to be changed and sometimes asks to sit on the potty. Putting him on backwards is a good trick for now, and we'll deal with getting a potty for your house later. We'll keep you updated as we potty train. This is one area of Jack's care that we do not want the girls involved with at all.

Time-outs

Time out is still your best method of discipline. He responds really well to this and usually corrects his behavior immediately after. This is how we do it:
Warning--Jack, you will get a time out if you touch the camera bag again.
(continues touching camera bag)
Time out--Jack, you're going to time out because you disobeyed Mommy by touching the camera bag when I told you not to
2 minutes time out
Apology--Jack, come say sorry to Mommy for disobeying. Hug & kiss.

Games & Learning

Jack likes to play simple games like Memory. We play it with 12 cards and match the ones that are the same. He can also count to 10, say the alphabet, and we are working on shapes and colors.

Jack & Bailey

Jack is a great big brother to Bailey. He plays with her, brings me things I need (burp clothes, etc.), and likes to hold her. He does an okay job of sharing with her and we are encouraging that. Sometimes he plays a little rough (falling on her, jumping around), but she seems to love it, so as long as she's not crying, we go with it.

Travel

I put Jack's seat in the middle so that I can turn around and unlatch him. He then climbs up into the front seat and waits for me to let him out. Meanwhile, I get out of the car, close my door, and get out Bailey (who sits directly behind the driver). Then I get Jack, who holds my hand into the store/doctor's office/church.
OR
I get Jack out and carry him around to Bailey's door. I put him in the corner of the triangle that the open car door makes with the side of the car. I tell him, "Do NOT move." I get out Bailey's seat, then take Jack's hand and we walk in.
ALSO
Sometimes Ieave Bailey in her seat, but I usually take her out and put her in the front pack or just hold her. She's just going to fuss in the seat, anyway--unless she's REALLY out.

Introducing Solid Foods

I talked about moving on to solid foods here, but wanted to offer some quick tips to make this transition (once your child is ready for it) as smooth as possible.

First of all, it's important to make sure that your child isn't hungry--especially at that first feeding. Remember that formula needs to remain your child's main source of nutrition for the first year--and, of course, never to feed your child cereal with a bottle.

The next thing to remember is, of course, routine. If you've been here very long, you had to know that was coming :) Try to feed your baby the same amount of cereal at the same time each day. I like to mix mine with a little formula (about 1/2 a scoop) so that the flavor is familiar. I don't know if this helps or not, but Boo seems to like it.

These last two I stole from my friend Christy:
1) A few weeks before you introduce solids, give your baby some supervised play-time with a spoon. I found out recently, that this is actually a good indicator that your baby is ready to start solid foods: if she can reach out, grab an object and stick it in her mouth, she's probably ready to eat!

2) Starting cereal is a milestone for your baby and a messy adventure for the mommy. The baby will instinctively stick out their tongue with every bite, pushing the cereal back out onto their chin and so the mess begins. To help my kiddos learn to swallow the cereal and get the motion down quickly I've come up with a little trick. I give a bite and then very quickly stick in a pacifier for them to suck on. The cereal goes down much easier with less mess. My son started cereal 5 days ago and we've used this trick with him. He is doing great and we'll likely stop using the pacie in a few days as he's already trained himself to keep his tongue in and swallow the food down. I will likely have to pull this out of the trick bag again when introducing fruits and veggies as the texture is different. But that's okay! I'm all about less mess...

You ask...what if my child doesn't take a pacie? No worries! Neither did my second daughter. In fact, she's a thumb sucker (even still at 3 1/2 years old) and had the instinct to put her thumb in her mouth while eating...even messier than usual! The pacifier trick still worked. Babies are used to sucking on something when eating. The pacifier is acting as a bottle or breast would.

There you have it...try it out and see if your meal times are cleaner than before!

Tips on Tuesdays

This tip might not work for everyone and it might not work forever, but, for us, it works really well right now.

A few months back, I had to move Jack's seat to the middle seat in my car. After a couple of days, I noticed that both my kids were happier. As you can read here, my kids are not great car riders.

Here are the reasons I like having them next to each other:
1) They can look at each other and for some crazy reason, my kids like each other.
2) Jack can tell me if the baby is sleeping.
3) If Bailey drops her toy, Jack can hand it to her.
4) "Taking care" of the baby gives Jack something to do in the car and makes him feel like big stuff :)
5) I can easily reach back from my seat and unbuckle Jack. Then, I get out of the car and close my door. Jack will then climb into my seat to get out when I'm ready for him (a lot of times I put Bailey in the front pack when I have them on my own), which saves me having to go around the car and get him--it's just a better, safer plan all around.

FYI--that picture is not posed--on a 4th of July road trip I looked back there and they were holding hands all on their own. Matt was driving, of course, so I took this precious picture to show him.

Bottles and the Older Baby

As I type this, Miss Boo is laying on the ground near the computer trying to pull down the curtains! I can hardly believe that my baby girl is already big enough to 1) grab the curtains 2) move from where I laid her to the curtains 3) crack herself up about the whole situation. Who knew curtains were funny??

As anyone with children knows, babies grow up waaaaaaaay to fast! At 4 1/2 months old, she smiles when she sees me, leaps out of my arms for her daddy and is "playing" with Bubby on the floor. She's practically in college! Boo is already rolling all over the place and eating cereal--and it won't be long before she's moving on to fruits & veggies (more on that later).

It's important to remember as our babies pass these milestones that they are still babies and formula (or breastmilk) needs to be their main source of nutrition for the first year. Try to think of those solid foods as a snack or a side dish to the "real" food--the ba-ba.

This oatmeal is a yummy snack, but my ba-ba is still where it's at!

Welcome, Noah

Noah Matthew Dougherty was born at 11:14 pm on Tuesday, July 28th, 2009. He is the first blessing of Justin & Susan Dougherty (unless you count Fuzz!) and from the pictures I've seen, he is absolutely precious.

I'd like to take this time to welcome Sue into the world of Mommyhood. Enjoy those blearly-eyed newborn days--they go by so fast! I offer you only one piece of advice, Suse: This is YOUR baby with whom you can do whatever you want--hold him, kiss him, and love on him until you are both blue in the face! Don't share him unless you want to and please, don't hesitate to ask for help! Remember this:

Cleaning and scrubing can wait for tomorrow,
For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow.
So quite down cobwebs and dust go to sleep,
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep!