Toddler Playdates

I downloaded the pics off my cell phone today, so I can finally post, yay! (Side note: as it turns out, my cell phone takes nicer pictures than my old point 'n shoot. Senpai has a DSLR, which I'm sure would take infinitely better photos than both aforementioned devices, but I always have my cell phone in my pocket, DSLR.. not so much. Sprint Galaxy S for the win!)


I finally get to touch on a topic I had wanted to mention before: friends. R has friends. It's actually stressful for little toddler friends to play together at this age; they don't know how to do it yet. One kid takes the toy the other kid was playing with, then that kid retaliates by hitting and screaming. That same scenario plays out over and over again with the roles constantly shifting and changing, so no one kid can by any means be called innocent. But these are lessons that have to be learned. One day, both kids will know how to take turns, ask if they may play with a certain toy, and cooperatively play together. That's when the Mommies will be able to sit back with our coffees, chat, and relax. For now, we wear referee hats, call time outs, and negotiate terms for peaceful play. I so look forward to the future in this department. ^_^


R has had several playdates recently. The first-- I had mentioned before-- was when R wouldn't nap one day, and my wonderful friend Natalie brought her son over to play. (Though I usually don't mention names here, I will use Natalie's because I want to direct your attention to her lovely blog, NatoBottoArt: Creations from the Heart. She does a lot of stream of consciousness writing as she works through her creative process. Definitely check it out!) She mentions her son's name on her blog (and I've mentioned R's name here, too, but I still don't think I'm entirely ready to just dish it out every post), but here, I will call him I* (The asterisk is so you know I'm not referring to myself). Now that we've gotten that straightened out, back to the playdate...


R, Natalie, and I*. R had not been interested in her Wheelie Tiger for a long time until I* came along and started to ride it. All of a sudden, she likes her Wheelie Tiger again.

I love this picture! I* is a multifaceted boy, dishing out free hugs one second, and then finding new uses for xylophone mallets the next. ^_^ Here is one such hug. R has this look like, "What is he doing?" Haha, I could get really creative with the captions for this! How about, "Not cool, man. Not cool." Anyone else have a caption for this picture they want to share?


Next, she went to a Potty Party. One lady from the Mom's Group I'm a member of posted a Potty Party on the calendar. I just had to check it out! It was a small group of three mother/daughter pairs including the hosts. I'm pulling a lot of what I said in the opening paragraph from this get together, because we three moms kept trying to share potty and parenting tips amongst ourselves, but not one of us could finish a thought without breaking up a toddler fight. Though the potty aspect of the party was downplayed, it was still a fun playdate for everyone involved.

This is the only pic I took, and it was at the end of the party. All three girls were given favor bags and tiaras for being potty princesses. R had decided she didn't want to sit with the other girls right as I was snapping the shot. Oh well. At least she wore her crown. :-)


The last playdate was with R's friend, A. I've been taking R to Barnes & Noble Storytime ever since she turned one year old. I can't remember if A had been there right from the start, but pretty early on in our Storytime career, A's mom started talking to me and the little girls hit it off. I'll go more in depth into their relationship in another post (with adorable pics of them holding hands, aww!), but for now I'll focus on the playdate. Unfortunately, I only took one pic of this event, too, and it was when both girls' faces were hidden, sigh.



A's mom and I had been planning this playdate for awhile. We finally got our acts together last week. This playdate was the most low-key of them all because R was too busy climbing on me to mind what toys A was finding to play with. Except for when we went upstairs to show R's room to A and her mom. A wanted to push the buttons on R's musical nightlight, but R would not allow it. As the nightlight is actually a base to a baby mobile, I need to somehow wean R off of it before her baby sister comes! This playdate ended with lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant. Heehee, I could use more playdates like this one. ;-)

Fitting In

I've started taking R to Storytime at Barnes & Noble. It's nice for her to see the other kids and start getting involved in structured group activities. At 12 months old, though, she is at least eight months behind the other kids. I would like to would like to talk more with the other moms, but it's hard to strike up a conversation when you're herding toddlers just before lunch. Why does Storytime have to be at 11?



I took R over to the train table on the other side of the room when the kids began coloring. Another mom and her little boy soon came over and we started talking about allergies. Soon enough the other mothers and kids came over, and then I found it hard to get a word in edgewise. The mother of a twenty month old was saying, "She was on the potty at 16 months. We still have her in pull-ups at night..." R uses the potty... The mother of a three year old was saying, "So I ask her, 'Why don't you want to use the potty and wear your underwear like a big girl?' She answers, 'Because there are still diapers left, Mommy!'" [Cue group laughter] We use cloth diapers...

I don't know. R is so much younger than the other kids, and her milestones don't exactly line up with theirs, even if it's the same milestone, like potty training. I could add my two cents to the conversation, but I'd have to preface whatever I say with "I read somewhere, and I thought it was worth a try, to..." because I don't want to seem like I'm trying to be better than them. We do things differently, not to try to be better than the general population, but because it made sense to us. We use cloth diapers because we wanted to pay for our diapers all at once and reuse them. We started potty training early because we wanted to get her used to the idea of using the toilet before toddler rebelliousness kicked in. You (other mothers) chose disposable diapers for your own reasons. You potty train at the time you do and the way you do for your own reasons.

What does it really matter that we use cloth diapers or started potty training early? It's just different. But when I run the situations in my head-- of my possibly mentioning cloth diapers or early potty training-- it really does seem like I'm trying to be better than them. I don't want to be better than them. I want to be friends with them. I want R to have friends. Being more than half a year younger than those other little girls won't matter in a couple of years, but right now it does. We're different, trying to fit in at Storytime. I hope we manage it eventually.

Final Exam Time

Okay, so I didn't get into this on Sunday like I had hoped I would. Looks like I'll just have to ignore my splitting headache (dehydration, anyone?) for the moment and crank these out like a final exam.


December 5 Let Go.
What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?

I had to let go of a lot of things to make room for my baby: sleep, frivolity, time with friends, time for myself, focusing on myself. Those are the ones that immediately come to mind. I don't regret it, though. Life is so much more exciting having her here.


December 6 Make.
What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it?

What was the last thing? Maybe R's pacifier keeper that I made from a ribbon.


Oh, nevermind! In looking for that picture (not like I had to, we have that pacifier clipped to her every single day, hence it's in A LOT of pictures) I reminded myself that I made R and my Halloween costumes. I'm very proud of those mermaid costumes, but I am NOT looking forward to doing that again anytime soon. Good thing Halloween is only once a year.

Things I want to make are many, but things I know I'll make... I hope the list doesn't get chopped down too much. I am in the middle of crocheting R a stuffed animal, I still want to crochet her a hat, and I want to make a "Happy Birthday" banner before well, her first birthday.


December 7 Community.
Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011?

I have not joined any sort of community this year, in fact, I became even more isolated than I had been before. Well, maybe that's not true. I have discovered mommy blogs. I have more info on how to handle certain child-raising challenges and obstacles because I can peek into the minds of other moms who have been there or are there. I get to see what joys I can look forward to, as well.

In 2011, I'd like to start getting R and I to participate in real, live mommy groups. Mommy and me classes, playgroups, bring it on. She's getting to be old enough to play with other kiddos. R needs friends and so do I. ^_^