Skyler's Baby

Wow tomorrow is March 1st. Where did the time go? Things here are hovering somewhere between good, and stressful. Work is going well. I enjoy my time off in the afternoon with the baby, though I am really missing C, it is kind of nice to have some time to myself with the monster. As you saw from the last post we have been busy. Baking, and doing chores and everything else. I think it's immensely important for Skyler to be involved in all steps of everything (providing the activities are safe or can be made safe for him) otherwise he will never know how the food gets to his highchair. I want him to be involved in the whole process once he is old enough. Not just food either, pretty much anything he is capable of doing (with or without help) I want him to learn to do.

Yesterday was busy as we spent the whole day vacuuming, steam cleaning the carpet, and shampooing it. We moved all the furniture around and I did some decluttering. It's been a long couple of days this weekend, but I did manage to make some time for myself. I had a nice bath with candle light and slathered on some cocoa butter lotion, and worked on a puzzle. Me-time is always good.

In other news, today was a monumental first for us. We left Skyler in the toddler/infant childcare room in our church. He has never been left alone with anyone but our friend so far. This was a big step. There are two ECEs in our church childcare infant/toddler program. There were only about 4 or 5 kids in there, so the ratio was really good. The girls were super nice and they held him the whole time because he was tired and a little bit weirded out about being without mom or dad. C and I were volunteering in the RE program, I was in the preschool to grade 2 room, and C was in the 3&4 room. The room I was in was right next door to the infant room so I could hear them the whole time and they told me I could pop in and out whenever I wanted, so of course I snuck a peek at him a few times. He was pretty well behaved, I didn't hear him crying at all. He whined once or twice, but that was it. They sang lots of songs, and he seemed to enjoy that. He loves music.

I was amazed C and I actually managed to leave him alone for a couple of hours without freaking out. And I mean us freaking out not him. Overall it went really well, I'm glad we were able to do it. I can't wait to get him into some groups and socializing with other babies. On a related note, I bought Skyler a doll the other day. It is an adorable, soft, (all natural material) cotton doll. She is the cutest thing ever, her skin is not quite white, not quite brown, somewhere in between like mine. She has a little white diaper and a pink bow in her hair. Her name is Willow, and yes I bought my son a doll. We're trying to work on the whole "gentle" thing, as Skyler has a problem with "patting". It's our fault really as we teach him to pat the ground with his hands, and pat his knees, and he pats mommy and daddy, but sometimes if he's super excited or upset, the patting becomes hitting. He doesn't quite get that it can hurt someone if he isn't gentle. We do the "gentle Skyler, like this" and take his hand, and show him how to do gentle stroking like petting a cat.

He is catching the concept of gentle, slowly but surely. If I say gentle now he will usually start rubbing gently for a few seconds before he goes back to patting or smacking. We're working on it. He hasn't had much exposure to other babies or toddlers though, and we plan on trying for another one soon, so I'm hoping to teach him to be gentle with his "baby" so that when he's socializing with other (real) babies he remembers to be gentle. So far we've practiced petting the baby gently, giving her kisses, and soft hugs. He still likes to pat her head when we first pick her up, but I'm hoping over time he'll remember that "baby = gentle". I'm sure you understand why it's preferable to have him learn this on a doll rather than a real baby. Haha. Anyway, I'm proud to say my son has a doll along with all his "boy" toys. If boys can grow up and become daddies just the same as girls become mommies why shouldn't he be able to act it out as a toddler?

Just my two cents anyway. I hope you all are doing well!