Category: Gage

2012 with Gage

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We spent a week away from home for Christmas and we had lots of fun, but we are glad to be home!  We spent most of our time in the Columbus area with my family and then headed up to Michigan (Flushing & Livonia) to visit Jason’s parents.  Jason’s dad was hoping to take him sledding, but with only a dusting of snow this is as close as they got 🙂

Here are Gage’s top 11 Accomplishments of 2011…1. Smiling  2. Laughing  3. Crawling  4. Walking  5. Clapping  6. Dancing  7. Pointing at everything!  8. Waving Hi  9. A mouthful of teeth (he’s got 16 out of 20 and I am positive at least one more will showing up in the next few days)  10. Saying a few words.  He says Up, Hello when he picks up a fake phone (although it’s very British sounding) and Meow (often missing the M).

and most importantly 11. Survived 5 visits to the ER.  The first 3 last February culminating in his scary hospital stay.  Another in July when he got sick after eating cheese cracker.  And the week before Christmas he fell into the metal part of a day bed…

You can see the bump on his forehead.  Doctor told me he was all boy and likely to have more accidents such as this one. Oh, the joy.

On to the 12 things we  are looking forward to in 2012…1. Swim lessons  2. Napping in his own bed  3. Day care a few hours a week  4. Brushing his own teeth.  5. Playing ball with daddy  6. Jumping  7. Washing Hands  8. Using a spoon  9. Getting all his teeth so we can be done with this teething thing.  10. Making new friends  11. Hopefully drinking milk and eating cheese (we’ll be trying again at 18 months)  and…12. Reading and reviewing more books 🙂

We hope everyone has a fantastically happy 2012!

Sundays with Gage – How Mom keeps her sanity.

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Being a stay at home mom is a blessing and I know it.  Some women don’t have the option and I’m thankful every day that I do.  But, there are many days, cooped up in the house for too long with a toddler who is starting to walk, but can provide no meaningful conversation, that I just want to pull my hair out (well, okay, really I want to either take a nap or go out for a relaxing glass of wine).  At some point in the near future Gage will be going to day care for a few hours a week and I think it will be good for both of us, but in the past few months I have found other ways to stave off boredom for both of us.

1. Library Storytime is the best thing available for moms. We live within 20 minutes of four libraries and we go to storytime 3 times a week at 3 different libraries.  You can find us at the library on Wednesday, Thursday, and 2 Fridays a month.  They are free and take babies from about 6 months up.  A great place to meet other moms.  This is Gage at a storytime at the library where I used to work.  This is Shelby and she and I used to work at the reference desk together, now she works with the kids.  Note that Gage is paying attention.  This happens about 5 minutes out of 30.

2. My Gym (or any other gym for kids) is awesome.  We started taking Gage twice a week (once with mom, once with dad) when he was 5 months and he hated it because he hated being on his tummy.  Once we got his acid reflux under control he started really enjoying it.  They have circle time, a new skill each week, free time in the gym, swings, and separation time where all of the parents gather together in the front of the gym and chat while the kids play together in the middle of the gym supervised by staff.  One mother called separation time the best 10 minutes of her day and I can’t disagree.  We may start going 3 times a week. The 45 minute classes are worth every penny.

3. Pretty Girls. On our street we have a few teen girls who babysit Gage.  This is Brooke and once a week she or her sister Maddie come over for 2 hours after school and play with Gage.  I usually leave the house (coffee with friends, shopping, hair cut), but sometimes don’t because I tackle things like cleaning the office or organizing things for donations.  And once a week Marcy comes over for an hour after school to play with Gage.  She’s 13 an it’s her first babysitting experience so I stay home, but the hour to get stuff done (think laundry or actually cooking dinner) is awesome.

4. Classes.  We sign up for free ones at our city library, they have great ones liked Kindermusik and classes that cost a little at our local nanny school, like the sign language class.

5. Blogging.  It takes time, but I can do it after Gage and Jason have gone to bed.  I consider it my grown-up time and consider it an important social outlet for me.  Thank you all for keeping me sane.

So, there you have my helpful scheduling tips for stay at home moms.  I’m always looking for new things to try until I can start taking Gage museum hopping, so let me know if you have a good one.

Walking with Gage

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We have take-off.  Gage has been getting more brave with cruising from couch to couch over the past month or so, but it’s just in the past few weeks that I’d say he’s officially walking.  Sometimes, more like a drunken sailor than an athlete, but I think it’s cuter that way.

He still likes to hold my finger when we’re out so he’s not feeling completely independent.  My back is already looking forward to not having to carry him every single minute.

Cute, right?

 

 

Sundays with Gage – Book recommendations

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Gage loves books.  He especially loves to turn the pages, but sometimes he likes to listen too.  We took this picture last night as we walked by our neighbor’s Christmas lights and Gage decided now would be a good time to tell you about some of his favorites so you might get a few ideas for those kids on your shopping list.

The first year and even now into his 13th month board books are still best, but we have started to branch out a little.

Simple First Words Let's TalkSimple First Words Let’s Talk  This is a big book with fun, colorful pictures and sound and Gage loved it pretty early on.  It’s one we look through together because the only drawback is that the buttons are hard to push and not really all that baby friendly. But it’s a great book to help them learn some basic words.

Product DetailsCheerios Play Book is a huge hit at meal time.  We finish every meal with Gage looking through it and picking out his favorite pages (the cars, the bears, and the mice) and then having mom or dad put Cheerios in the right slots so he can eat them with relish!  This book has simple instructions on each page for the child to put the Cheerios in the spots and while Gage hasn’t really gotten that concept yet he still loves this book.  Why wouldn’t he since his favorite food magically appears on the pages.  There is also a holiday Cheerios play book that I’ve ordered for Gage’s stocking.

My First SignsSigning Smart My First Signs is one that we just started using.  I found this and a few others in the series at the library and they are awesome.  It’s a picture book with an adult and a toddler both making the sign for each simple word (mom, dad, bed, cup…)with a caption that helps you make the sign.  And there are things to touch and feel for the child so the book is more stimulating.  If you know someone who is trying to teach their baby sign language I highly recommend this one. (Gage and I are taking a sign language class but that’s for another post)

TailsTails was handed to me at Barnes & Noble by a mother who has a son a few months older than Gage.  I love recommendations and brought it home for Gage.  This is the only one on this list that is not a board book and it needs to be read with supervision, but it’s great and he and I love it.  There are things to feel on every page and tabs to pull, tails that swish and swat.  And the last few pages help the children learn the animals and numbers (we never get this far since he it too busy flipping back to his favorite tails.

These are all Gage tested and approved and would be a welcome addition to any child’s library.  I could list 20 books, but these are both Gage and Mom favorites because they are fun and teachable.

Sundays with Gage- Thanksgiving

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Gage is thankful for…

Naps (especially since he’s still napping with mom, dad, or grandma)

Doting Grandparents

Turkey

Cabinet doors, these cannot be opened and closed enough.

Urgent Care.  A quick trip on Saturday proved that his rash and fever were a non-serious virus.

College football.  The Spartans are in the Big Ten Championship next week.  Go Green! He is less thankful for Ohio State’s loss in the Big Game yesterday.  He may have heard a few words he shouldn’t have.

Pictures of himself.  They make him smile every time.

Family.  He missed his great grandma at Thanksgiving dinner, but liked visiting her in the rehabilitation center.

Toys.

Bath time.  Never saw a kid who liked to splash so much.

Doting Grandparents.  Yes, he’s thankful twice.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.  We spent Wednesday-Saturday back home and had a great time.

 

Sundays with Gage- Age

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I grew up thinking I’d have lots of kids.  As an only child I thought the grass was greener in the big, noisy home, I guess.  Then I went off to college and after moved on to Washington DC with a serious relationship or two under my belt, but nothing that stuck and babies seemed as far away as Brad Pitt. So, when I married Jason at the perfect age of 27, I kinda figured kids would happen a few years later.  Every time we had the discussion kids were always a few years away until 36 hit and I suddenly felt my eggs drying up at an alarming rate.  Yes, I could feel them 😉

Anyhoo, we had a miscarriage a month after we started trying to have a baby and it took us over a year to try again.  We considered our life together and whether children had to be a part of it.  Honestly, I was scared to try again.  We both decided our lives would be great either way.  And over a year later Gage was cooking.

All of this is just to show that I didn’t set out to become an older mom.  Sometimes the years get away from you and it happens.  But, there are a few distinct differences between older and younger moms.  For me (certainly not all), I was in so much better shape when I was younger and now that Gage is starting to walk I realize that even when I lose some weight there will be aches and pains that wouldn’t have been there 15 years ago.

Also, I know so much more than I did in my 20’s.  This is both a good and bad thing.  From watching news (something I didn’t do much of back then) I am more aware of the dangers of pregnancy, childbirth, what to feed them, organic vs. not, etc. but there is something to be said for going into motherhood blind and full of naive excitement.  Let’s be honest, we’re all a little naive until we are trying to comfort a screaming baby at 4 am when there’s been no sleep for days.

I do know myself and am happy and content with life, which is a good thing for Gage to see.  At 27, I was still trying to figure out how to make that happen.  I spent my late 20’s and early 30’s moving a few times, traveling quite a bit, trying a few different jobs and having lots of very cool experiences.  But I know lots of friends that were happy and content to be having kids at that age and their kids will also benefit from personally fulfilled mothers.  A few of my friends are grandmothers already, something I will have to wait a while to experience, if ever.

So, for every child rearing experience there are two sides and one is not necessarily better, they are just different.  I do feel my age with Gage, but when I take him to storytime or to the gym, the younger  moms are surprised that I’m 40, so I must be wearing it well 🙂  (Of course, they only say they are surprised if my gray hairs  have recently been returned to their rightful dark brown)

What was the best thing about the age that you (or your mother) became a parent.  For me, being an older mom, the best thing is being exactly where I want to be in life and having some great experiences and wisdom to pass on to Gage.

Vaccines with Gage & my favorite photo ever

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What’s a mother to do in this age of so many vaccines?  Are they harmful?  Are the possible side effects worth it?  What exactly am I putting into my child’s body?  Do they cause autism? As a mother I am overwhelmed at times.

According to the suggested vaccine schedule, Gage should have 28 vaccines before he’s 2 years old, and 9 more before he’s 12.  That’s a lot.

I’ve been reading The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears and have found it very helpful and scary.  He does a very good job of telling you about each separate vaccine, the history, what’s in it, the benefits.  Dr. Sears also provides an alternate shot schedule which we’ve been loosely following.  It’s essentially spreading out or delaying vaccines, so Gage is never really more than a few months behind.

On Friday he got the big one, the MMRC.  It has a long list of serious side effects and is the one linked to the autism scare.  I’ll admit I’m nervous about it.

So, how do you feel about vaccinations?  Do they make you nervous or do you think it’s much ado about nothing?

Sometimes he gets cranky after his shots and I was hoping he’d be happy since the grandparents are visiting.  Well, here he is on Friday night, my favorite picture ever…

Sundays with Gage

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Gage has a book for you this week.  We received Sweet Land of Liberty for review a few months ago and totally forgot about it!  I was surprised when it came to see that the author was Callista Gingrich, Newt’s wife.  How my eyes could have passed over the oh-so-popular name Gingrich I don’t know.  I try to stay out of politics here because I can get a little passionate about it and wouldn’t have accepted it had I been paying attention, BUT I am happy to say that except for the main character being Ellis the elephant, this kid’s book was politics-free!

Ellis (Ellis Island ring a bell?) was sooo cute.  He traveled through America’s history by reading books, how awesome is that?  He is appropriately dressed for each occasion.  Here he is at the first Thanksgiving…

Ellis also went to the Boston Tea Party, signing of the Declaration, visiting George Washington and Abe Lincoln, on the wagon trains as they headed west, flying with the Wright brothers, war memorial, the moon, and Washington DC.

I thought this book was top notch.  It is a high quality hard cover with great illustrations.  I fell in love with Ellis and know that Gage will too when we get to spend more time with this book.  I think this would be a great gift.  Because it includes Thanksgiving it would be a great one to take for the little ones to Thanksgiving dinner (although this page had my only quibble with history. Credit was given to God that they survived. That’s great, but there was no mention of the Indians, even though there were a few in the picture.) Now that I’ve typed that maybe it isn’t such a great Thanksgiving book, but I still think it’s a good gift.

This is a fun book that breezes through history with great illustrations and a very cute elephant.  In the back it also includes a few pages of resources for each of the places Ellis visited which I found very useful.

Our recommendation of this book is in no way an endorsement of any political candidate 🙂

Sweet Land of LibertyAuthor-Callista Gingrich

Illustrator-Susan Arciero

28 page hardcover

published September 2011

Ages 4-8

Halloween with Gage

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I’ve never really gotten into Halloween much.  Except for the candy.  In high school my friends and I dressed up as a 3 Musketeers candy bar one year.  See, candy.  Gage is too young to appreciate the candy so we were going to skip it this year, but as Halloween approached I started feeling like a holiday grinch.

On Thursday night we went down to my parents house for their trick or treating and Superman went to three whole houses before heading back to my parents house to help pass out candy. (It was cold!) He had so much fun watching all of the characters come up and talk to him. They must have had 100 kids come by.  Here he is with his zombie cousin, Lucy.

Yesterday Gage donned his superhero cape once again for My Gym’s Halloween party where he flew around spreading cuteness.

Tomorrow night Superman will trick or treat in our neighborhood before retiring.  Hopefully it will be warm enough for more than three houses and hopefully he’ll get lots of good candy.