Studying: Maps. In preparation for our vacation last summer, I borrowed a book about Wisconsin from the library. We read that book at least once a day for 9 weeks straight and consequently, Nicole has been pointing out the state of Wisconsin on every map of the United States she has encountered since. That one book sparked a love for maps and learning about the states that I could have never anticipated. We are now reading our way through the Big Buddy Books series called Explore the United States. Each book has a full page map of the United States that highlights whichever state the book is about. We love them!
Enjoying: Our weekday toy bins. The new toy system that Shawn told you about a few weeks ago has brought so much joy, fun and ease to our days. Before we divided up our toys into weekday bins, Nicole would usually pull things off the toy shelf that Jonah would immediately want to play with too. This created a lot of conflict and frustration around toys that wasn't always easy to navigate. Because I am the one to get the toy bin out each morning and all 3 of us open it up together, there has been significantly less conflict around sharing. All of our toys are getting played with, it's easy to clean up at the end of the day and Nicole is learning the days of the week.
Introducing: table food to Jonah. Early on in Jonah's life we discovered that he has some food allergies that we weren't expecting. Since I nurse him, we were able to address the allergies by altering my diet, which has worked really well. When the time came to start feeding our hungry boy solid food, I was nervous about triggering another reaction so I followed our doctors recommendation to only introduce one new food every five days. After meticulously tracking each new food for the past few months he now has enough of a "safe" food list built up that I can finally move away from feeding him single foods and he can now eat some of the food that we eat too. It's been fun to watch him enjoy his meal right along with us. Most recently, he devoured his first bowl of chili with his feet kicking happily with every bite.
Adjusting: to life with two napping kids. Jonah is finally to an age where he only needs two longer naps a day as opposed to multiple shorter naps. Those larger blocks of sleep have done wonders to create little pockets of margin for me throughout an otherwise very hands-on hand day. If Nicole and I have had a rough start to our day, this is the time when I set aside my tasks, grab a fuzzy blanket and a stack of books and cozy up with my girl until her tank is full and things feel re-set. Otherwise, I usher Nicole into helping me with our chores, which she is always delighted to do with me. I am extremely grateful for Jonah's ability to nap for longer stretches as well as the time his sleep has afforded me to tackle my to-do list. The biggest change though, is that in order to steward the naps that each child uniquely needs, we are now home even more than we were before. Jonah naps mid-morning and mid-afternoon, while Nicole naps right in the middle of the day, which doesn't give us a very big window to galavant around town. We're having to say no to a lot more activities but I know I will look back at this season and appreciate it for the slowness is created, the intimacy it invited and the imaginative play it fostered.
What's currently going on with you?
Happy (early) Valentine's Day!
Love,
Erica
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