Letters to Tory: 3 1/2 Years

Tory Girl,

You're 3 1/2 years old now (3 years and 7 months, to be exact), so I thought it was time to check in and record a bit about life with you lately.

Age Three has been a wild ride for us as parents: fun and challenging all at once. Dare I say as much as you can test our patience and be a royal pain in the you-know-what sometimes, this is also one of my favorite times in raising you? You're blossoming into a little girl now; the baby and toddler days long behind. Surprisingly, it doesn't make me sad those days of babyhood are over because you're so much fun to be around now. I love spending time with you! You're always making me laugh with amusing observations and anecdotes, and it's neat to watch you interact with the world around you.

The beginning of Age Three was a very emotional time for you. You seemed to cry at the drop of a hat, and were both learning how to feel and cope with complex emotions like frustration, anger, worry and sadness. There were lots of ups and downs as we treaded carefully around your delicate heart. Now at Age 3 1/2, you seem to be more confident in yourself. Most days you're happy, talkative, inquisitive, outgoing and compassionate.

You show great independence in some ways -- like dressing yourself and buttering your own toast in the morning, you have to do those things all by yourself -- but also require gentle guidance and reassurance from Dad and I in tougher situations like solving conflict with your little brother. You and I have great conversations together, and I'm amazed by how curious and observant you are about things in everyday life. Your imagination is in full bloom and you'll sit for hours and play dollhouse. Usually the dollhouse people are sick and you have to take care of them. You like to pretend you're the "mommy" to your baby dolls, and ask me all the time how much longer until you can be a mom like me.

You absolutely love preschool - love it. Your favorite parts of school are craft days (Tuesdays), playing kitchen and drafting letters and pictures at The Writing Center. We haven't had any issues lately in parent/child separation at school or with our weekly babysitter, Sue. You shout, "Bye, Mom!" and run off to play with your friends or with Aden. We just finished music class and started swimming lessons. You like the water, but are cautious about putting your face under. You keep trying though! You listen to the instructor well and practice each week.

A new behavior I have to note about age 3 1/2 years: you've started talking in silly voices and using made-up words. Other parents were talking about this behavior in their own kids at ECFE preschool a few months ago, and I thought to myself how interesting it was that you weren't doing it. Now, here we go! Apparently, it's very common for kids age 3-5 years to talk in baby talk or use make-believe words. Some mornings I'll ask you what you want for breakfast and you'll respond "Wah-wah, woo-woo!," then just laugh and laugh. You seem to think it's hilarious; I just want to know if you want a waffle or toast.

GROWTH
Not much is new in this category. You're still about 28 pounds and around 36" inches tall. You wear 3T clothes and size 7 shoes. You're all about dressing yourself in the mornings, and I've tried to step back and let you express your personality in this way. You'll only wear dresses (with leggings because it's cold outside) and always want to know if it's warm enough to wear your "Mexico dresses" which are the short-sleeve ones you wore on vacation last February.

SLEEP
Dare I say sleep is going well for you? A few months ago, Daddy promised you a pet fish if you could successfully sleep through the night for 20 nights in a row. You did it, and ever since then you've slept in your own bed at night without an issue. Sometimes you do have to get up to use the bathroom (which doesn't count against you, in my opinion) but will go right back to sleep afterwards.

You've recently dropped napping all together which means you go right to sleep around 7:30pm each night. You're exhausted by the end of the day, so bedtime is usually easy-peasy. Quite the achievement considering your past sleep habits!

MILESTONES
Well, sleeping through the night consistently is a big one! Pitiful that it's taken us 3 1/2 years to get to this point, but it has. Otherwise, I'd say your independence is a big achievement. You fully undress and dress yourself now. You can use the bathroom by yourself (though sometimes still ask for help). You pick up toys in your room and put your plate in the dishwasher after meals. You can identify all the capital (and some lowercase) letters in the alphabet. You can write your entire first name: T-O-R-Y. You're getting much better at cutting with a scissors.

FAVORITES
Mostly the same favorites -- Lambie your stuffed lamb sleeps with you at night, along with a pink and purple blanket. Your favorite cartoon is Team Umizoomi and you love all things princess, especially Cinderella.  

THINGS TO DO
You play dollhouse daily. You like to play Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders, put puzzles together, dress up as a princess, paint with water colors and make crafts. You love going to the lake cabin on the weekends and truly enjoyed our vacation to Sayulita, Mexico in February. You talk about our trip to Mexico a lot, and ask often when we'll be going there again. You like to stay busy and every morning ask me, "Where are we going today? Who's coming over?"

FOOD
You're a creature of habit and survive mostly on butter sandwiches (yes, just butter and bread) or sometimes butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and dinner. You also like frozen waffles with butter or cream cheese and yogurt which is what you eat for breakfast most days. Sometimes, I can get you to eat chicken for a meal instead. Surprisingly, you'll eat beef burritos or enchiladas. You like raspberries, bananas and grapes. You won't touch any sort of vegetable. You still don't like milk. For the most part, I don't force a bunch of food rules and restrictions on you. You're a really good eater so as long as you get some food in your belly, I'm happy.

PLAYMATES, FRIENDS and FAMILY
Your best friend continues to be Ashley, despite the distance as she now lives in Kentucky. Ashley's family came to Minnesota for a visit last month and the two of you picked right up where you left off last. I think it's adorable how much you adore her. Your other little friend is Hannah whom we see at the cabin on the weekends.

You're quite obsessed with your uncle Adam (my brother), which is strange since we very rarely see him. You're always asking me when we'll get to see him next. Though, funny enough, when we're at a family get-together with Adam you really have nothing to do with him. I think it's his height that amazes you so much. You always say things like, "My uncle Adam can do that because he's SO HUGE!"

Grandma Janie is one of your favorite people and you simply cannot get enough of her when you're together. You had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house a few weeks ago and they said you did great without us!

Of course, I'd say Aden is your best friend. The two of you have such a special sibling relationship. He idolizes you, and you're so sweet and gentle with him. I'm in awe of how accepting you are of him when you're playing dollhouse or princesses. You never seem to care if he grabs one of your toys or plays in your bedroom. In fact, you're great at including him and often say, "Here you go, Buddy!" handing him something to hold.

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Tory, you're an absolute joy and I feel so fortunate to have you as my daughter. Every day with you is a gift. Looking forward to many more wonderful times together ahead.

XOXO,
Mom

Day In The Life: Spring 2015

The day I selected to document is Monday, April 6, 2015

Tory is 3 years, 7 months
Aden is 16 months
Andi and I are both 34 years

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12:31am: I hear Aden cry out from his crib and glance at the clock to see what time it is. 12:31am? 2:31am? I can't tell. It makes no difference, I suppose, as I get out of bed and walk across the hallway to Aden's room. I feel around in his crib for his pacifier, lay him back down and plug the pacifier in his mouth. Aden starts rocking his head back and forth against the crib mattress which is his tell-tale sign he's putting himself back to sleep. Good.

2:15am: Tory runs into our bedroom and tells me she sees a polar bear in her room. I reassure her there's no bears in there, and take her to the bathroom. She goes potty, and I return her back to her bed. Nine times out of 10, when Tory wakes up in the middle of the night in hysterics it's because she has to use the bathroom ... she just isn't coherent enough to express the feeling in words.

7:25am: I awake to hear Aden talking in his crib, and I'm shocked to learn it's 7:30am in the morning. Tory's still asleep and Aden seems happy, so I leave him to play in his crib for a bit while I check my e-mail, Facebook, Instagram, etc. on my iPhone. I also notice Andi is no longer laying in bed. He must've left for work at some point, but I'm not sure exactly when.

While laying in bed, I also do a mental check to see how I'm feeling today. I've had a killer cold/sinus infection for the last three weeks and I *think* I'm finally turning a corner to feeling better. I do wake up with a dull headache, but that's nothing a few Ibuprofen can't fix.  

7:40am: Tory wakes up and walks into my bedroom. "Is it a regular day or Easter Day?" she asks me first-thing. I tell her Easter is over now (it was Sunday), then we have an extensive conversation about when Easter will happen again, what holiday to expect next, and what day it is today. Ah, life with a three-year-old.

7:50am: Tory and I walk into the kitchen to start making breakfast and I'm greeted by a mess of dishes on the countertop from Easter yesterday. I start cracking on unloading and loading the dishwasher while simultaneously making Tory breakfast. I have a hard time doing anything else in the morning until my kitchen is cleaned up.

I haven't heard from Aden in a while, so I check the baby monitor and am surprised to see he fell back to sleep.

8:15am: Tory eats a frozen waffle and a banana for breakfast. She wants to butter the waffle by herself, but it takes twice as long to let her do so. I bite my tongue and wait patiently for her to finish. Andi cuts "banana handles" on Tory's bananas, and now she requires me to do the same. It's more difficult than it should be to cut the peel around a banana just so without slicing the banana right off. (Also? It looks ridiculous.)

8:30am: My kitchen is clean - ahhh. I'm feeling more zen now. I scarf down a banana (peeled the normal way) so I can take my antibiotic and an Advil Cold and Sinus pill.

8:45am: I hear Aden making noise in his crib, so I go to retrieve him. I'm really surprised he slept this late in the morning which is definitely not the norm for him. He's in a good mood as always and says, "See!" as he points to things around his room. I pick him up and he points to the light switch. "On!" he says, as he flicks the switch on and off a few times. I change Aden's diaper and carry him to the kitchen to get him started on breakfast.

Meanwhile, Tory is in her room dressing herself for the day. This is a new form of independence she's showing, and I'm trying reallllly hard to be supportive of her clothing choices. It is helpful and one less thing I have to do for her in the mornings, so I try to focus on that. Today she's chosen a long-sleeve blue dress, pink leggings and orange socks which is actually quite acceptable. There's also two hair clips fastened to the top of her head.

8:50am: I make Aden a bowl of Cheerios, some warm oatmeal with applesauce mixed into it, and cut up some strawberries onto his high chair tray. He scarfs it all down in no time flat.

9:00am: Tory wants to help me make a cup of coffee, so she pushes a red kid's chair to the kitchen counter and climbs up to the Keurig machine. I set the coffee cup under the machine and tell her to push the button.

9:30am: I clean up Aden's hands and face after breakfast, and wash up his high chair tray. I also wash his baby bottle from last night in the sink. (Yes, Aden still takes a few bottles of soy formula a day. I'm not ready to part with them just yet.)

9:45am: After breakfast, I make my bed and get dressed for the day. No shower for me this morning, so I spray some Fresh Hair dry shampoo in my hair and call it good. Seriously, this stuff is a tired mama's best friend! Can't live without it.

Meanwhile, I hear Tory squabbling with Aden over something in the hallway. "Aden bumped into me!" she comes tattle-tailing into my room. "Tell him that is not nice and to give me a hug!" I tell her to go tell him herself, and she runs off to chase Aden down for a forced hug.

10:00am: The kids play independently with toys while I pack up Tory's things for swimming class. Tory loves this Aquadoodle drawing mat she got from Andi's parents for Easter. I text Andi's mom a picture of her playing with it.

Of course, no morning is complete without me having to intercept Aden from playing in the toilet. Like a moth to a flame for this kid! I bring Aden into his bedroom to get him dressed for the day.

10:30am: I load the kids into their car seats and we leave for swimming class. I bring along Aden's blue push-car which we'd be lost without during Tory's 30-minute swimming session. I look ridiculous pushing this big plastic thing through the pool area, but it keeps Aden occupied and that's all that matters.

*Mental note to take those cases of wine out of my car. Over the weekend I told Andi it makes me feel like I have a drinking problem. He said we're just fiscally responsible because they were on sale.

On the drive to swimming, Tory rambles on from the backseat and asks me to guess what she's thinking about: "There's a royal party and Cinderella is wearing a beautiful dress... can you guess what it is?" she asks. "A royal ball," I reply. "Yep! You got it!" (It wasn't hard considering she mentioned "Cinderella" and "royal" as clues...). Aden babbles away from his car seat saying "wah, wah, wah" to the Music Together CD playing in the background.

10:45am: We arrive to swimming class. It's a rainy, cold day so we rush to get inside the building. Inside the locker room, I help Tory change into her swimming suit. I tell the kids they can play in the waiting area for 5 minutes before Tory's class begins.

11:00am: Tory starts swimming class while Aden and I sit near the pool. She has the friendliest instructor who does silly things like pretending to use a swimming flipper as a telephone. Tory thinks her instructor is hilarious which wins all her trust and attention during class. Today they work on kicking their legs and putting their faces in the water. Tory can swim underwater for 4 seconds which is an improvement over last week.

11:30am: Tory showers after class, and I help her get dried off and dressed again. We leave the pool and I resist the urge to swing through the Panera Bread drive-thru that just opened up in the same parking lot. We have food at home, I don't need it ... I tell myself over and over.

Noon: Back at home, I make lunch for the kids and I. Tory requests a butter sandwich which is easy enough. I make Aden a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a turkey and cheese sandwich on croissant for me. While Aden's eating, I take videos of his latest tricks and finally capture him saying "pat-a-cake" and counting "1, 2, 3."

(video)

12:30pm: I clean up the kitchen after lunch while also swapping text messages back and forth with my friend Lindsey.

1:00pm: I make Aden a bottle of formula and read him a few books in the rocking chair before nap time. Tory crawls onto my lap, too, and we all read stories together. I lay Aden down in his crib and get Tory situated for rest time in my bed with an episode of Team Umizoomi.

1:30pm: My sister calls, so I talk to her on the phone for a bit. I throw in a load of laundry downstairs, put away the kids' Easter basket goodies and re-dose myself with more cold medicine. I'm so tired of being sick!

Tory is still laying down in my bed, but is quickly losing focus. I bring my laptop into the bedroom and type up a few blog posts while she lays next to me.      

2:30pm: I pull out the craft supplies for Tory and I, and we set down at the kitchen table to make something. I cut a few cards from construction paper and make thank-you's to send to family for their Easter presents. Tory cuts and colors a picture of a chick, and also glues cotton balls to a picture of a bunny rabbit.

3:30pm: I do another load of laundry and my side-kick Tory helps me. "I'm the mommy so I get to take the clothes out of the dryer," she tells me. I guess I didn't realize doing laundry was such a privilege!

4:00pm: Aden wakes up from his afternoon nap and Tory plays with him while I pick up all the craft stuff on the dining room table. I post a photo of Tory making a craft on Instagram, and change another load of laundry downstairs.

4:30pm: Tory's becoming increasingly whiny and dramatic, and tells me she "needs some privacy." Days can get a little long now that she no longer naps in the afternoon, so I've found the best thing to do is let her have a few minutes of quiet time when she needs it. Usually that works to snap her out of a tantrumy-mood. I set Tory up with another cartoon in my bedroom and leave her alone for a bit.

5:00pm: It's 5 o'clock wine time! I pour myself a glass and turn on the news. I fold a load of laundry while Aden plays nearby in the living room. Suddenly he's choking on something so I rush to his aid and find a Gatorade bottle cap in his mouth. I have no idea where he found it. Ugh.

5:20pm: Aden knee-walks over to his high chair and starts to fuss indicating he's ready for dinner. I warm up some chicken, green beans, potatoes and grapes for the kids to eat.

When I walk into my bedroom to tell Tory it's time for dinner, I find her curled up fast asleep in my bed. That never happens! I wake her up and carry her into the kitchen to eat dinner. Hopefully she didn't sleep too long to ruin bedtime.

Meanwhile, Andi sends me an iMessage that says he'll be home from work after 7:00pm, and to eat without him. I warm up some frozen chicken and wild rice soup in the microwave and sit down to eat.    

6:00pm: I clean up the dinner dishes, and do another load of laundry downstairs. Seriously, it never ends! Cleaning and laundry. Cleaning and laundry. Aden finds his way to the corner of the living room and looks at some books on the floor. He's lifting the flaps and saying, "Peek! Boo." I sit down on the floor and read a few books to him.

6:30pm: Bath time. I gather up Aden's pajamas and a nighttime diaper, and run some water in the bathtub for him. Tory showered after swimming class, but insists on getting into the tub with Aden too. The kids play in the tub, then I towel them off and get them into pajamas.

7:00pm: I make Aden a bottle of formula, and read to him in the rocking chair while he eats. He lays down for bed so easily, and I'm thankful for that. Such a far cry from his sister's bedtime antics!

7:15pm: I put on my own pajamas and crawl into bed with Tory to read a few stories. She selects two Fancy Nancy books and a good night animal book. Andi comes home from work while we're laying in bed reading.

7:30pm: I take Tory to the bathroom, then tuck her into bed. She says, "My grandma always stays with me, but you guys don't." Yep, sorry kid. Good-night.

I start drafting this blog post, but I'm too tired to sit at the computer. I know nighttime is my "alone time" to get things done, but my brain is crap in the evenings. I don't have much energy to do anything productive.

Tory yells out from her bedroom that she's scared and can't see in the dark ... even though there's tons of light from her fish tank and her handheld flashlight. I check on her and tell her to go to sleep.

7:45pm: Andi lays on our bed next to me and recaps his day at work while he eats some leftover chicken and wild rice soup. We talk about some work stuff for a while. He also books the kids and I flights to Nebraska to visit my family in June.

8:30pm: I turn on a DVR'd episode of Revenge and say good-night to Andi as he heads downstairs to sleep for the night. He's coming down with the same cold I've been battling, plus he has to leave early tomorrow morning for the airport. Just easier that way sometimes.

9:00pm: I watch an old episode of Revenge, then turn off the TV. I read The Hypnotist's Love Story on my iPhone for a few minutes before drifting off to sleep. Good-night!

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Easter 2015

Andi and I decided to stay in Minnesota for Easter this year for the first time ever. I've never not celebrated Easter at my parents house so it felt a little strange to be doing our own thing, but still fun nonetheless. Andi was suppose to be traveling right up until Easter weekend (his event ended up being cancelled last-minute) and when we traveled to Nebraska last year, it seemed like such a whirlwind series of events. We decided staying close to home would allow us to better enjoy the holiday.

I'm actually glad we weren't traveling this year because I've been down and out with a nasty sinus cold for weeks. Low energy, cough, congestion and horrible sinus pressure. I've been sick for three weeks, and I'm so tired of it! I finally went to Urgent Care on Saturday, got an antibiotic, and I'm starting to feel better this week. Andi started to come down with a cold over the weekend too, so we were both feeling less than stellar for Easter this year. Such a bummer feeling that way over a holiday.

Anyway, we hosted Easter at our house this year. Andi's mom, Janie, went to church with us Easter morning then Andi's dad Jim, sister Lindsay, and Lindsay's husband Kyle joined us at our house for lunch afterwards.

The Easter Bunny stopped by our house while we were at church. He brought Tory and Aden lots of goodies in their baskets, and Grandma Janie and Grandpa Jim spoiled the kids with Easter baskets too. My parents, Nana and Papa, sent Tory and Aden cute Disney character reusable shopping bags filled with clothes, bubbles, kites and treats too.

For lunch, Andi made Creamy Chicken and Herbed Skillet with green beans and red roasted potatoes. Lindsay and Kyle made asparagus with prosciutto as well. It was really nice to have a quiet, sit-down lunch together for Easter. 

   

Andi, Kyle and Lindsay hid plastic Easter eggs in the backyard after lunch for the kids to find. Aden was a little too young this year to understand the meaning of egg hunts (and it doesn't help that he isn't walking on his own yet), but Tory had a blast running all around collecting eggs in her basket. 

Easter always has a way of renewing my faith in God. I'm thankful for a Savior who was crucified and resurrected for me, and also for my family and this life of mine. Happy Easter!

13/52 (A Weekly Photo Series)

I invited Andi's parents over to color Easter eggs with us last Thursday afternoon. I supplied the hard-boiled eggs and Easter egg coloring supplies, and Janie brought over dinner for all of us to eat afterwards. Bless her! It's become a tradition to color eggs with Andi's parents a few days before Easter, and I'm happy we were able to do it again this year.

We used a few different methods to color our Easter eggs this year. First, I set up a station for volcano eggs which are truly my favorite way to dye Easter eggs. Tory didn't remember doing volcano eggs last year, so she was equally amazed and surprised as she watched them erupt. In fact, the bubbling startled her enough the first time that she actually scampered half-way across the kitchen table to get away from it. Once she figured out the "explosion" wouldn't boil over more than the glass, she was really into it.

To make volcano eggs, I mixed about 1 tbsp. of baking soda with a few drop of water and 1-2 drops of food coloring, then let Tory "paint" the hard-boiled eggs with the baking soda mixture. Painting them simply acts as a fun way to get the baking soda mixture onto the eggs. It kept Tory entertained for about 20 minutes' time, and is a lot more interactive and instantaneous than the traditional method of dying Easter eggs. Once all the eggs were painted, we placed one egg at a time in an empty cup, poured white distilled vinegar on top of it and watched it bubble over. So neat!

After "erupting" with vinegar, the volcano eggs took on various shades of tie-dye - blues, reds and greens. 

I also picked up a couple packets of Kool-Aid to try coloring Easter eggs with this method. I mixed one packet of Kool-Aid with 2/3 cup of water and let Tory dunk one egg into each color cup. I have to say, I wasn't as big of a fan of this method because I was deathly afraid of the Kool-Aid spilling and staining everything. The egg colors were really bright though, and smelled great.    

We also colored eggs with regular egg dye -- those little tablets you dissolve in water. After the colored eggs were dry, Tory decorated them with stickers. 

Aden watched Tory color the eggs nearby with Grandpa. Next year you can help too, Aden Bear! This year, I wouldn't have trusted him for a second with a hard-boiled egg. He throws everything, especially items that resemble balls.

Andi came home from work a bit later and helped Tory finish coloring the eggs. She asked to do more volcano eggs so that's what they did. 

It was a fun pre-Easter celebration!

(And now I have three dozen hard-boiled eggs to eat up this week - gulp!)

The Best Corny Macaroni Casserole

There's one particular food item that makes family get-togethers special in my book and that's Corny Macaroni. Healthy it is not, but who's counting calories when it comes to big holiday meals anyway?

This recipe hails from my Aunt Cheri. My siblings, cousins and I beg her to make for every family function, and she kindly begs for us to let her bring something else. I guess it would get old making the same ol' dish every time the family convenes, but we can't help it. No one makes Corny Macaroni like my aunt (not that it's difficult by any means).

A few weekends ago, Andi and I hosted the cabin neighbors at our place for a rotisserie chicken dinner. Andi suggested I whip up a pan of Corny Macaroni as an accompaniment to our meal, and I couldn't think of a reason not to. As always, it was delish and a big hit at the party.

Corny Macaroni
Recipe courtesy of: my Aunt Cheri

Ingredients:

4 cans corn (drained) 

2 cans cream corn (undrained)

1 stick margarine

3 cups elbow macaroni (uncooked)

Velvetta cheese, cut in small chunks (1/3-1/2 of the large-sized box)

Drain 4 cans of regular corn, then pour contents into a mixing bowl. Stir in 2 cans of undrained cream corn.

Cut one stick of butter into chunks and add into the corn.

Cut up half of a block of Velveeta cheese into chunks, and add to the corn/butter mixture.

Stir 3 cups of uncooked elbow macaroni noodles into the corn/butter mixture.
  

Dump mixture into a greased 9x13 pan.
 

Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for about an hour, stirring mixture about half-way through cooking time. 

Enjoy!