Naptime Blog

For those that are formula feeding… how did you decide what formula to use?

When my boys were infants, I started off with what the doctor suggested and gave me free samples of, but after much trial and error, I decided that the best formula for my children wasn’t always the name brand. My oldest son was on a special formula for much of his infancy, but my younger son was able to switch to Parent’s Choice store brand much sooner. He did so well with it and we saved a lot of money. Since all formulas are regulated, they must all have the same nutritional goodness in them. That is what my research told me.

 I loved that I could just pick up the generic brand at the store and be done for the month. But guess what? You can now buy Parent’s Choice online. Check out their line at: http://www.parentschoiceformula.com/.

My boys are now 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 years old and are constantly on the go. My two year old loves to run and play from sun up to sun down and beyond. He is a flurry of constant motion that never stops (or so it seems). He and his brother love to play outside (when it’s cool enough) and slide down their slides attached to their play climbers over and over.

I can’t believe that my two little babies born a year and a day apart are now such big boys. It’s crazy how fast they grow up, truly! They love going to the park and feeding turtles, swinging and dancing to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and the “hot dog” song. My 3 year old (who does not have a lot of words) even sings it so sweetly with his “uh dah uh dah”. He goes to PT, OT and now speech and attends an awesome preschool. My youngest goes to mother’s day out. Me? I just try to keep up with them and their constant motion. Little boys are just bundles of love and energy aren’t they?

Any other moms of boys out there reading? As they get older, do they slow down at all?

Okay, is it just my boys or are all boys bottomless pits? My 2 1/2 year old has learned the word “cheerials”, which is his word for cereal/Cheerios.

He will go get the box of Cheerios and bring it to me and say “go food cheerials” hundreds of times a day. If it isn’t the cereal, it’s crackers, cookies, fruit, tomatoes, you name it. I don’t think he gets full. I try not to let him snack all day because he doesn’t want to eat dinner. He prefers to think that life is a buffet and he can eat when he pleases.

I do think it is a bit cute since he is now using his words more and verbalizing his wants and needs so I sometimes have trouble saying no. He is just so sweet you know! Maybe I am just a softy and need to stand my ground and make him wait for meals. I am lucky that he likes a huge variety of foods though. Actually, he would eat a whole plate of green beans, black olives and tomatoes for lunch if I let him. He’s a big fan of vegetables. I wish he would teach that trait to his big brother!

My 3 1/2 year old has recently started to show more maturity. He will follow directions so well. As I’ve mentioned before, he has special needs and doesn’t have a lot of words, but he is SUPER smart and his comprehension is through the roof. He just has trouble getting the words out in a way that us adults can understand.

In the past, he has always pretty much ignored our dogs. We have a chiweenie, Chloe, and a lab mix, Mandy. They pretty much just co-existed. Well now he wakes up earlier than my other son because I have to get him ready for school and the bus’s arrival. I let him relax on my pillow in our bedroom, watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, while he drinks his morning milk and I get his clothes laid out and his snack and backpack all packed for the day. I have noticed that lately Chloe will slowly scoot over to him and he’ll lay his hand on her back and gently stroke her fur. She will nudge even closer and he’ll softly touch her ears and pat her on the head. It is so precious. I even caught him giving her a little kiss on the forehead one morning.

 I just love watching the different stages of a child’s life, from the newborn stage until the toddler years and beyond. I am relishing it all.

Growing up, I had sisters and wasn’t around little boys very much. With that being said, I find watching boys live their lives to be so different than girls, but super enjoyable.

Little girls, at least in my experience, love to play house, dress up dolls, write stories and pretend to be princesses. Little boys, at least mine, could play with cars and trains until the cows come home. A simple 99 cent toy from the dollar store (you know me, forever frugal) can entertain them for hours. In addition, they can make a toy out of the most odd and unexpected things. My sons will turn empty sippy cups into cars, a hairbrush into a train and a big, rubber ball into the most fun bouncing toy ever.

I love to watch their imaginations take off as they make up games that only they know the rules to. My two boys will laugh and giggle like little clowns at things that I don’t find all that humorous. Their laughs are more contagious than the common cold though. I can be in the grumpiest mood, but watching them play will elicit a gleeful chuckle from my lips, even on the most stressful days.

 Boys are such joys and gifts from God. But all children are, aren’t they?

 My two year old has been benefitting from speech therapy. He is speech delayed but is now mimicking a lot and saying some words. He can be such a stinker but is so cute you just can’t stay mad at him. Could YOU stay mad at this face?

Here are a couple of cute things he has done lately:

His speech therapist will throw a ball and say, “On your mark, get set, go go go!” and he loves the word “go” now. We were at a red light the other day for a bit longer than he preferred and he shouted from the back seat, “Set, go go go!”. I busted out laughing, but it was beyond cute and such a blessing to hear him speak.

Here is another… Yesterday, I was cut off in traffic and had to honk my horn to avoid being hit. He goes “beep beep beep”. That was so cute. I hadn’t heard him mimick a horn or sound like that.

Aren’t kids such cute blessings? What is something cute your little one has done lately?

By Shannon

Potamus Prefers

http://www.potamusprefers.com/

Yeah, you read the title right. I never thought I’d say that. My mom is really into Adam Lambert. It is her 62^nd birthday today and my sister bought her tickets. I am taking her.

It’s actually kind of cute. My mom is in the other room blow drying her hair and getting all dressed up. She keeps coming to ask me if she should wear this watch or that one, these shoes or those and what glasses look best. It reminds me of when we were in high school and she would give us advice on hairstyles and clothes. We never took it, but that’s not the point. J We are going out to eat before the concert and our seats aren’t even together (this guy is pretty popular it seems).

My mom thinks he’s the next Elvis and she has photos of him all over the place. It reminds me of my obsession with hair bands in the 80s. Anyone else ever take their mom to a rock/pop concert?

Raise your hand.

Or comment.

You choose.

By Shannon

Potamus Prefers

http://www.potamusprefers.com/

How do you keep up with advice and regulations as they are ever changing? My boys were infants just a couple of years ago and it seems like recommendations for car seats (forward vs. rear-facing), ingredients in formula and chemicals in baby bottles has changed since then.

I do a lot of my research online and love reading other blogs written by moms in the know. I wish there was some sort of text message reminder that went off that said, “Hey mom, that diaper you are using isn’t the best one anymore!” Ahh, if it were that easy right?

Good thing I am a part of a great moms’ group. I can get advice from other moms and we will mention things we heard in the news or read in books. We also share great sales we see at stores or give our opinion on the latest store brand or “it” item.

Where do you get your advice and how do you keep up with the newest recommendations and trends?

By Shannon

Potamus Prefers

http://www.potamusprefers.com/

 Don’t mess with my Mommy or you’ll have me to deal with, mister! 

It was the day after Labor Day and I had a tough day!

Here is a letter I wrote…
Dear Tuesday,

I know we didn’t have an official Monday due to the holiday. We had that nice long weekend. I sure enjoyed it. But now dear friend, Tuesday, you have decided to replace Monday and act like him. Not cool.

So far I woke up tireder than if I had never slept. My boys were exhausted at school and one had to come home early from Mother’s Day Out due to his sadness and distress. I think he misses his “Dada” who was on vacation last week and is now back at work. They were like peas and carrots all week. Luckily, I got them home and calmed down, fed them their lunch and made them happy by letting them have a rainy day (thanks Hermine) Winnie the Pooh movie day. All is right in their world again.

Mine, well not so much yet. My two dear fur babies decided that rain is a terrible nuisance and they have decided that barking at it constantly will make it go way. It hasn’t worked yet, but they are persistent. Just when I thought I may sit down and have a glass of tea and a sandwich for lunch, the doorbell rings with a mysterious package. Inside is a nice little package of Febreze Set & Refresh. I come to my computer and try to figure out where it came from. I don’t have a review set up for this product and want to make sure I know what to do. About that time I smell a terrible aroma. I follow the putrid scent to my youngest son’s freshly vacuumed and cleaned room to find that my aforementioned wonderful fur babies have chewed up a poopy diaper. Nice. But, alas, I have a mystery box of Febreze to save the day! Coincidence that these two events collided? Not likely!

Ok, I figured out who sent the Febreze… It must have been God straight from heaven. He was throwing me a rope (or a lifeline). Thank you, God, thank you. The house smells much fresher.

You know, He always knows just when to help me out or make me laugh. Another example… this morning a lovely person cut me off in traffic and I had to honk my horn to alert them to my presence so that they wouldn’t hit me. My little Kierbear sweetly mimicked the sound of the horn by saying, “Beep! Beep” from the back seat. He is speech delayed, so something like this is huge. I went from upset to filled with pure joy and pride in a split second. It’s the little things that can make or break a day.

Tell you what, Mr. Tuesday. I will make you a deal. If I can have a nap today I’ll forgive you. Deal?

By Shannon

Potamus Prefers

http://www.potamusprefers.com/

It was recently back to preschool for my Finleypotamus. He just loves riding the big yellow school bus. He started the day after his third birthday in April and attended a little over five weeks last school year. This will be his first full year.

During the summer, we enrolled him in a great local program called P.A.L.S. It was two days a week and taught by a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) and a teacher from the school district. The P.A.L.S. program features a theme-based curriculum designed to teach academic, language, and social skills to preschool children, ages 2 and a half through five. If you are in the Houston area, I highly recommend it as a way to help kiddos retain skills from the school year or just interact and have fun with others. He LOVED it and really gained a love of music and started interacting a lot more.

I snapped the photo at the top of this post right after he got on the bus his first day back this year. He doesn’t look super smiley, because he was ready to go to school and was over posing for my photos. I think he enjoys it a lot. I say I think he does, because he doesn’t talk a lot, but he shows his excitement, joy and happiness through his smile and body movements. He gave his father and I many hugs and kisses before school and said “Ah zoozoo” (I love you) over and over. He is sweet, precious, innocent and kind beyond words. He sure is growing up fast (but not fast enough to fill out his new back to school jeans… oops!).

I just love how kind and gentle the bus drivers and attendants are with him and the other little ones in their care. Here is the attendant helping my little dude off of the bus today:

His little brother enjoyed time with Mommy and Daddy that day. My husband had the day off. I think Kierbear will enjoy the alone time in the mornings. He started a two day a week program at our local church recently as well. He is excited to carry a backpack and lunch and have the opportunity to play and learn with other children his age. I will enjoy having a few hours of alone time with him three mornings a week to laugh and giggle at his comedic antics. He is my entertainer and keeps us in stitches daily.

Tell me all about your kiddos’ first day. I would love to see photos and hear stories from proud parents. Aren’t these children such blessings? Praying that all kids have a wonderful and educational 2010-2011 school year!