Category Archives: Primrose

Motherhood Update: Prim at 2 1/2 years

November 9, 2017

Saying: Prim’s language continues to surprise us. She was an early talker, and the things she comes up with is fascinating. She understands the concept of “after” now (“I want to listen to Prim’s music after Mama’s music.”) and is grasping daytime vs. nighttime (“It’s getting dark. I can’t wait to see the moon!”) Her speech is very clear for her age, but I love how she mispronounces words like oatmeal (OH-pa-meel) and sprinkler (sprink-lee-er). She also regularly asks, “What you doin’, Mama?” and yells “You ok, Mama?” across the room when she hears me drop something.

Prim’s Favorite Things: I picked up an 8oz BKR bottle when we were in Copenhagen, and it has proven to be a solid purchase. Prim loves that it’s more of a “grown-up” water bottle, and it fits well in the diaper bag and holds a full 8oz of water. It has a smaller footprint than the 9oz Lifefactory bottles (which we use with a sippy top everyday at home) so it’s perfect for using on the go. I love that the BKR is glass, since I try to avoid plastic with the kids, especially for eating/drinking apparatus. (There are some good metal water bottle options as well, but I personally think metal makes water taste weird, so I tend to avoid it just due to my own preference.)

Reading: Pumpkin Eye (a holdover from Halloween), The Friendly Beasts, The Night Before Christmas.

Latest trick: Prim loves helping me cook in the kitchen. As soon as she sees me heading to the kitchen, she will yell, “I want to help!” and race over to her step stool and pull it up to the counter. If I’m making dinner I will try to give her something to “cut” (she uses a kids butter knife), like a broccoli stem I’ll be discarding. Baking is much more of a “team activity,” and she will regularly help me scoop, dump, and stir. It does generally result in at least one ingredient getting messed up, but coming from a big Italian family with strong cooking roots, I’m thrilled that she’s taking an early interest in the culinary arts. (Our recent baking favorites include these pumpkin muffins and applesauce muffins.)

Favorite toys: Prim is very into “building towers” with her Legos and lining up her beloved Gruffalo blocks. She continues to be smitten with her “babies” and regularly puts them “down for a rest” or sets them up for tummy time.

Sweetest things: Prim is so sweet and considerate with Lark. She is very good at including Lark in her play, handing her toys (“Here you go, Lark!”) and looking out for her (“Larky needs some water!”) Two-and-a-half is certainly not without its challenges (Prim has discovered the concept of asking for “something else” and has made it her current mantra), but with her newfound language skills she is also readily asking us to be involved in whatever she’s doing (“You want to build a tower with me, Mama?” “You want some tea, Daddy?” “Here, you want to hold little baby, Larky?”) Hearing her sweet, inclusive requests is definitely one of the high points of this age.

Favorite thing about this age: Prim has started making up little songs and singing about what she’s doing. I know that she gets this from me (I am totally guilty of making up silly songs and singing about anything and everything). Hearing what her little mind comes up with is so hilarious and adorable.

Motherhood / Primrose / Toddler

Motherhood Update: Prim at 28 months

September 10, 2017

Prim on vacation: going and going and going until she literally just passes out on KC in 3 minutes flat.

Saying: Prim is figuring out space and time words now, so there’s a lot of descriptive sentences happening — like “Prim read the Gruffalo book over there next to the shelf!” and “Prim have raisin toast and Rice Krispies for breakfast yesterday.”

Prim’s Favorite Things: My parents got Prim a Finding Dory backpack as a gift during their last visit to Amsterdam, which she loves. She packs up all her special things when we travel and brings it onto the plane. (It’s usually full of Gruffalo blocks, a wooden bracelet and necklace, and her babies.)

Reading: The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear; Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue; A Sick Day for Amos McGee; Tree; and The Gruffalo.

Latest trick: Prim is fully potty trained now, including naps and nighttime. We do still put her in a diaper at night, but she really doesn’t need it (a little insurance never hurt anyone though!)

Favorite toys: Prim is very into riding her “tiger bike,” which is a wooden ride-on toy I scored on an Amsterdam resale site for a whopping 2 euros (it’s actually this one without the cushion). That thing even managed to survive a tumble down the stairs (don’t ask), so it’s pretty dang sturdy!

Sweetest things: Prim continues to be infatuated with Lark and is still so excited to be sharing a room with her. Pretty much every night when we head upstairs to begin the bedtime routine, she will excitedly tell us “Larky sleep in your room!” (your room = Prim’s room). We have also streamlined the bedtime routine so that Prim and Lark take a bath together before bed. This not only helps us time-wise, it has also taken away some of the bedtime resistance we’ve been getting from Prim. She will hop into the bathroom, yelling “Prim take a bath with Larky!” And while getting Prim to settle in bed after stories and songs used to take ages, I have learned that she will quiet down much more willingly if I tell her she needs to be quiet in bed while Lark nurses. I honestly don’t know what I did to get this amazingly sweet relationship between these girls, but man, it is one of my most favorite things about being a mama.

Favorite thing about this age: Prim’s speech is very advanced for her age, but even so, she’s clearly still struggling to keep her mouth up with the pace of her brain. She’s started babbling again, interspersing many of the words she knows with gibberish. She often launches into these diatribes when KC gets home from work or while we’re all sitting down at dinner, as though she wants to be included in all the grown up conversation and fill everybody in on how her day went.

Motherhood / Primrose / Toddler

Motherhood Update: Prim at 26 months

July 9, 2017

Prim’s selfie game is strong, and she has far too much personality for just one person.

Saying: Prim charmed everyone in Barcelona during our recent trip to Spain. Everywhere we went she would yell out “HOLAAAA!” to pretty much everyone we saw. We also ate a lot of Spanish olives on our trip (which of course Prim loved), and she adorably calls them “holas.”

Prim’s Favorite Things: Prim is still quite attached to her baby doll and stuffed lion (both came with us to Barcelona). She is also a big fan of a coffee/tea set KC picked up on a recent IKEA trip (have you checked out IKEA’s toy selection? It’s kind of amazing!)

Reading: Song and Dance Man, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, In the Night Kitchen, King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub, and Corduroy.

Latest trick: Prim is now, for all intents and purposes, potty-trained. When I had strep and she had pink eye last month, I decided to take advantage of our self-imposed quarantine to explore potty training. Prim took to it amazingly well and, aside from her nap and bedtime, is now diaper-free. I have been so amazed by her ability to recognize and respond to cues at such a young age, and it’s pretty nice having only one baby in diapers these days!

Favorite toys: We found a kids table with two chairs at an outdoor market recently, which was such a steal at €49 for the set. The table and chairs are classic Dutch school designs from the 1960s and Prim has been loving having a special little space for tea parties and art projects.

Sweetest things: We recently moved Lark into Prim’s room, after they shared a room while we were on vacation in Spain. We also transitioned Prim into a toddler bed (because she was climbing out. Oof.) and it has been so sweet to see her take these “big kid” steps in stride. When Lark occasionally fusses while going down at night, there’s nothing sweeter than hearing Prim talking and singing to her in the monitor. Even if the whole day has been challenging and full of mom-fails, those little moments make me feel like I’m doing something right with these girls.

Favorite thing about this age: Prim sings CONSTANTLY and knows full songs now. She is obsessed with the music from Beauty and the Beast, and hearing her break out into the opening song randomly throughout the day is just the most adorable thing.

Motherhood / Primrose

Motherhood Update: Prim at 2 years (!)

May 9, 2017

Prim’s birthday dinner was the most toddler-ish meal, maybe ever. We let her eat her cake first, which was followed by her eating ketchup… by itself. (We never have ketchup at home, but I had made homemade chicken nuggets and decided to let Prim “live it up” with dip, which apparently means just letting her eat straight ketchup. Mom of the year!) Luckily she ended the meal by devouring a mountain of the green beans I had made, so it didn’t feel like a total mom-fail. And she left her chicken nuggets and roasted potatoes completely untouched, because of course.

Saying: Prim continues to expand her vocabulary and is now speaking in full sentences. She’s still big on commands (“Mama sit right here!”) and I’m so enjoying this phase between language fluency and baby-talk. I always want to remember the way she uses the word “in” — “Prim in the outside,” “Prim in the couch,” and the way she pronounces words like flamingo (“slimma”) and music “zisic.” She also has this uncanny ability to turn single-syllable words into what seems like two syllables (most notably, the sing-songy way she says, “Hiiiii Laaaaaaark!”)

Prim’s Favorite Things: Prim has recently become somewhat attached to a small Jellycat lion. The lion recently came on a walk down the block to the mailbox with us and she held his paw just like I hold her hand. The most hilarious of lion’s adventures, though, has to be the day I walked in on her with lion in the bathroom — he was sitting on top of the closed toilet seat and Prim proudly announced, “Lion poops!”

Reading: The Gruffalo, Flora and the Flamingo, The Gingerbread Man, The Wonderful Things You Will Be, and Whose Nest.

Latest trick: Prim has the funniest little personality, which is all her own, but it’s interesting to see the things she clearly picks up from KC and me. She is regularly throwing out phrases now that I know she’s gotten right out of my mouth. Her go-to words when she drops something (“Shoot!” or “Jeez!”), her exasperated “Come on!” when she’s struggling with something (which usually comes out when I’m having trouble with the zipper on her jacket or sleep sack), and the way she will randomly toss out, “Goodness!” while she’s climbing down the stairs. (I worked hard to clean up my language once Prim started talking, which is good since my new “exclamations” seem to have really made an impression!)

Favorite toys: In addition to the Gruffalo book, Prim received a set of Gruffalo wooden alphabet blocks and a scooter for her birthday from us, and so far both are quite a hit!

Sweetest things: Prim seems to think that the phrase “I miss you” means the same thing as “I love you.” Given that we’re thousands of miles away from our families and tell them we miss them regularly over FaceTime, I can see how she’s made this assumption. At least once a day Prim will come up to me and say, “Miss you, Mama!” to which I will respond, “I love you!” which is followed by Prim saying, “Welcome!” meaning: “You’re welcome.” It’s so silly and sweet, just like Prim.

Favorite thing about this age: We listen to music most of the day, and have done this since Prim was teeny-tiny. Prim has recently started singing along to some of the songs and singing to herself in her crib. Hearing how much of the lyrics she has managed to pick up from the songs we sing is fascinating, and listening to her sing to herself is pretty much the best thing ever.

Baby / Motherhood / Primrose

Motherhood Update: Prim at 23 months

April 10, 2017

Saying: Everything. Ev-er-y-thing. Prim spends the whooole day talking, and has gotten very good at explaining exactly what she wants at any given moment (“Prim do it!” “Mama help!”) She narrates everything (“Larky sleeping!” “Lark awake!”) and speaks to Lark in her little gibberish language, as though they’re sharing secrets or she’s explaining just how all of this “life outside the womb” business works. It’s heart-achingly adorable and I hope these two are always as thick as thieves.

Doing: Prim is absolutely loving our new bakfiets, which she calls “Daddy bike” since KC rides it. I ride behind the bakfiets on my own bike and watch as she hangs one arm over the side, narrating the ride in her own nonsense language and occasionally pointing out “dog!” or “people!”

Reading: Barnyard Dance, Tree, The Night Gardener, King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub, The Napping House, Jamberry, and Peace is an Offering.

Latest trick: With Prim’s expanded mastery of the English language has come the first bedtime and naptime manipulations. Prim is always asking for “more song” before I leave her room at bedtime or naptime. Singing to Prim before putting her down for the night is one of the sweetest parts of the day, so it’s always a struggle balancing the consistency of the bedtime routine with my own wishes to extend the time where she snuggles up to me, laying her head on my chest as I sing her “Edelweiss” or what she calls “movie song,” which is one of the songs from Frozen, Tangled or Moana — the soundtracks we listen to on Spotify on repeat on a daily basis.

Favorite toys: I’ve equipped Prim’s little kitchen with some empty spice jars, as I had emptied them into my own decorative spice jars which sit on the kitchen counter. Prim loves “cooking with spices” and “making coffee” in her kitchen, which involves an unused metal IKEA coffee press and her stacking cups (one of the very best toy purchases from when Prim was a baby!)

Sweetest things: Prim is so, so sweet with Lark. Everyday is full of her giving Lark kisses and hugs and sweetly announcing “Larky sad!” whenever Lark starts crying. She’ll often sidle up to Lark when she’s in the crib or the bouncy seat while I’m busy cooking or doing dishes, and I’ll hear Prim’s high-pitched “Hiiiiii Lark!” followed by a string of gibberish words, complete with accompanying hand gestures.

Favorite thing about this age: Because Prim recently went through the language explosion developmental milestone, she loves pointing out and naming just about everything. If she doesn’t know the word for something she will make it clear that she’s searching for the word until I name it for her, when she will triumphantly repeat it back to me. She loves snuggling up to me while I hold Lark and pointing to and naming body parts (“Larky ear!” “Mama eyebrow!” “Prim neck!”) The most hilarious example of which came while I was getting dressed one day and she walked up behind me and announced, “Mama buns!” and lovingly tapped my behind, just like I will occasionally do to her. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing and scoop her up for a hug.