Category Archives: Toddler

Lark / Motherhood / Toddler

Motherhood Update: Lark at 2 years

February 19, 2019

Saying: Lark’s language skills continue to amaze us. She is so verbal and is now speaking in full sentences. She loves to tell (yell at?) me about her day when I get home from work, which is hilarious and adorable. (“I go to dance class! I go in, Mama!” Lark recently got to join Prim’s dance class since she finally reached the minimum age of 2 to join, so getting to go into the class rather than just staying the waiting room has been a big topic of conversation in our house.) And while Lark’s speech is very clear for being newly-two, I love how she still mispronounces certain words like octopus (“hock-a-post”) and sleep/sleeping (“afweep/afweeping”).

The other day Lark decided that she didn’t need to nap (despite clearly being tired) and spent over an hour standing in her crib screaming. When I finally gave up and got her and Prim up from their “quiet time” (quiet… haha YEAH RIGHT) Prim asked why Lark was so upset. I told her I didn’t know and asked Lark, “Why didn’t you nap today?”
Lark: “I talk to you.”
Me: “You wanted to talk to me?”
Lark: “Yeeeeaah!”

Lark’s Favorite Things: As I mentioned, Lark recently got to join Prim’s dance class, as they have a minimum age of 2 to start. It has been the sweetest to see these girls in their leotards and hear all about how much they enjoyed class and how they “jumped over Swan Lake.” Lark grooves to any music she hears, so I’m glad that she’s bringing her sweet moves into the class now too!

Reading: Room on the Broom, Moon, and I Want My Hat Back.

Latest trick: Lark is slower to warm up than Prim is (although, EVERYONE is slower to warm up than Prim. She’s everyone’s best friend the minute she meets them.) but once she’s comfortable she is so sassy and silly. We are constantly joking about what a teen Larky is because her attitude is so front and center these days. This girl has the best side-eye in the biz, and let’s get real, that serious resting face of hers she gets 100% from me.

Favorite toys: We bought Lark a scooter to match Prim’s for her birthday this year, and while Prim wasn’t really into riding her scooter until age 3, Lark is already a scooting pro (no doubt due to watching her older sister zip around on it). It’s so funny watching her sail by on her scooter with one leg in the air and a big smile on her face.

Sweetest things: Lark and Prim continue to be the best of friends and are so, so sweet together. When Lark joined Prim’s dance class, Prim spent the whole class encouraging her and holding her hand — clearly so pleased that she was finally able to join in the fun. That evening after their first class, we FaceTimed both grandmas and Prim excitedly told them, “Larky was in my dance class today!” which was quickly followed up with Lark yelling, “I go IN! To dance class!” (OMG these girls. I can’t.)

Favorite thing about this age: Lark loves to sing just as much as Prim does and she knows so many songs now. It’s fascinating to see how quickly she picks up new songs, and it’s so sweet to hear her singing to herself before she goes to sleep or from her carseat in the backseat of the car.

Lark / Motherhood / Toddler

Motherhood Update: Lark at 18 months

August 16, 2018

Saying: Oh my gosh… EVERYTHING! Lark is whipping out new words every day now and is proving to be quite the chatterbox. She probably has 100 words at this point, which is sort of insane.Eating: Lark is still a great eater (thank goodness, because age 3 is proving to be P-I-C-K-Y for someone in our house) and eats just about anything I put in front of her, whether it’s pizza or chicken and roasted veggies with tzatziki. The arrival of 6(!) more teeth has made mealtime a bit easier, I think, though the onslaught of them all coming in at once certainly cramped nap and bedtime for quite awhile.

Sleeping: As I mentioned above, Lark recently got 6 teeth over the course of just a couple weeks (all 4 molars included!) It was rough stuff for sure, and I felt so bad for her because she would be soooo tired but clearly unable to sleep through the pain. She ended up staying up late with us a couple of nights, which while not ideal, was pretty sweet nonetheless. I feel like we have had so much less one-on-one time with Lark over the past 18 months than we had with Prim, so it’s nice to steal those random moments with her where there’s no one else stealing the spotlight.

Doing: Lark has finally started walking full-time now. She took her first steps at 15 months while we were vacationing in Vienna, but continued crawling for weeks after that. For whatever reason she decided that she would walk when she was sure she had mastered it — none of this toddling around BS for Lark!

Latest milestone: Lark is walking and climbing and basically trying to do everything Prim does, including climbing up onto the arm of the couch and then jumping onto the seat cushions (cut to me yelling “how many times do I have to tell you not to climb on the couch!” I am SUCH a mom.) With all the walking and talking it has become clear that the baby stage is officially over, and let me tell you, my heart CANNOT TAKE IT.

Favorite toys: I recently unearthed numerous old phones and iPods when we moved into our new house. Having no use for an iPhone 4 or ancient Blackberry, I put the lot of them into the playroom for the kids to play with. Lark loves to make calls and often walks around with the phone up to her ear saying, “Hewo, Pim?” (Hello, Prim?) and let me assure you: it’s the most adorable thing EVER.

Sweetest things: Lark is a much more snuggly kiddo than Prim was, and now when I put her down for nap or bedtime she lays on my shoulder as I hold her and sing to her (she loves “I Will” by the Beatles.) Prim has caught on and now requests I hold her while I sing her song (“Blackbird‘), so really Larky’s snuggliness has turned into a win for all of us.

Favorite thing about this age: Hearing Lark’s vocabulary expand and watching her turn into more of a “kid” is so sweet. She clearly wants to do everything Prim does, and Prim is (usually) very good about including her in her play. One of Lark’s favorite words is “yeah” and it’s so cute asking her a question and hearing her yell out “Yeah!” like it’s the most exciting thing she’s been asked all day.

Birthdays / Primrose / Toddler

Motherhood Update: Prim at 3 years

May 9, 2018

 This sweet and goofy love turns 3 today and I can hardly believe it. She is silly, sweet, and ohhh so chatty. Here’s what life with Prim is like right now:

Saying: Prim is the chattiest child I have ever met. As soon as she wakes up in the morning she starts talking and she literally does not stop until she falls asleep. Some funny conversations we’ve had recently:

Me: “Prim, what’s your favorite animal?”
Prim: “Zebra.”
Me: “What’s your favorite color?”
Prim: “I like yellow.”
Me: “What’s your favorite food?”
Prim: “Breakfast.”

In Bordeaux, there was a small light-up rabbit in one of the kids rooms that Prim took a liking to. Before going to bed I usually tell her a short story about a subject of her choosing, and on this specific night she wanted a story about a bunny:

Me: “Once upon a time there was a little bunny named… What was the bunny’s name?”
Prim: “Um… Meatball.”  Prim’s Favorite Things: Prim is obsessed with cooking and received this cookbook for her birthday from her Auntie Alexis. The recipes are simple and perfect for preschool-aged kids (or a little younger, in Prim’s case) and we have had so much fun cooking together and making recipes from Prim’s “recipe book,” as she calls it. We have also had a spell of warm days here in Amsterdam, prompting us to break out our “kiddie pool” (which is really the world’s smallest sandbox, apparently, but whatever. Also, I have no clue why that thing is so expensive on US Amazon. I bought it for 5 euro here our first summer.) Prim is in love with the water and will stay in that thing all afternoon, literally until her lips are blue and her teeth are chattering. Clearly we’re going to have to get this girl into some swim lessons in California.

Reading: everything! Prim is on a big reading kick these days, so we’re regularly burning through 20+ books a day. The current favorites are: Mouse Soup, I’ll Love You Forever, Corduroy, A Pocket for Corduroy, and (as mentioned above) Pretend Soup.

Latest trick: Prim is becoming more emotionally savvy and has started asking KC and I “Are you happy?” when we’re clearly annoyed or upset about something. I think she’s trying to figure out feelings in general and so wants to know how we’re feeling and why, but in the moment it sometimes can come across as emotional terrorism when you’re fed up with something and this little voice is asking you, “You happy, Mama?” (Kids, man.)

Favorite toys: Prim is very into her “loopfiets” (balance bike, in English) which was her present from Santa this past Christmas. She’s gotten quite good at riding it around and will regularly take it on short errands and trips to our local ice cream shop.

Sweetest things: Prim is seriously the best big sister. She and Lark of course have their moments (the grabbing toys right now — oof.) but overall these two are the best of friends and just make my heart melt with how sweet they are together. Lark has started assisted walking and Prim is often right beside her, walking with her baby carriage and cheering Larky along. Prim will also read to Lark while they are in their room together before going to sleep and when they wake up in the morning. Hearing her recite Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? entirely from memory is especially impressive (and oh so sweet, as it’s Larky’s favorite book right now).

Favorite thing about this age: Prim is seems like such a kid now and it’s so fun having conversations with her. Hearing the things her little brain picks up on is fascinating and such an interesting glimpse into the toddler world. I recently started asking her what she wanted for her birthday, and these were some of her responses:

  1. “A black cake.”
  2. “A brown cake.”
  3. “A yellow cake.”
  4. “TWO cakes.”
  5. “We can have a party and I can sing Happy Birthday.”
  6. “Blue and yellow tulips.”

Baby / Toddler / Travel

Traveling with Kids: Tackling Jet Lag

March 27, 2018

If you’ve ever changed time zones with kiddos, you know that jet lag can really make you re-think travel with little ones. I have now tackled the 9 hour time difference between California and Amsterdam nine times with kids (NINE TIMES. Can you ever say that without thinking of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Definitely not.)

Getting kids over jet lag is not an exact science by any means, but my kids tend to sleep through the night by night four when we’ve changed time zones, thanks in part to a few tried-and-true tricks. After beating the jet lag beast these nine times, here’s what works for us:

  1. One direction tends to be more difficult than the other. For us, the jet lag is always worse coming back to Amsterdam from California. In California the girls have trouble sleeping past 6am, which while annoying, is something we can deal with when they go to bed at 7:30pm without issue and sleep all night. Coming back to Amsterdam, they tend to be awake for hours in the middle of the night — TORTURE.
  2. Try to stick to their schedule as much as possible. The girls are on a strict schedule at home — nap at noon, bedtime at 7:30pm — so whenever we land, we treat the rest of the day like it’s a normal day for them. If it’s 9:30am when the plane touches down, we do everything we can to keep them up until naptime at noon and then bedtime at 7:30pm.
  3. Don’t extend naptime for the first week (or at least until they’re sleeping their normal amount at night without waking up). Jet lag inevitably makes you want to sleep and sleep hard in the middle of the day. If your kids normally nap during the day, keep them on their regular nap schedule, but expect that you’ll have to wake them up at their “normal” wake up time. For my kids, this means that they don’t get to nap for longer than 2 hours until they’re sleeping through the night consistently. That said, expect to do a little tinkering with their schedule at first. On the first night we were back in Amsterdam, the girls were up from 11pm to 3am, which was just pure insanity. I knew they wouldn’t be up at their normal time the next morning and I was so exhausted that I opted to let them sleep in (I finally woke them up at 11am!) Because they slept so late, I decided to skip naps to try and tire them out for bedtime, which actually did work, as they were only up for an hour and a half the next night and not nearly as crazy. Which leads to the next point…
  4. Expect to be up in the night and/or up early for the day. In California the girls would wake up around 4 or 5am and I would work to get them back to bed until their normal wake up time around 7am. A few mornings though, I just gave up and we have started the day at 5am. If they wake in the night and are clearly not going to be going back to sleep soon, I will stay in their room with the lights really low and will read them stories before nursing Lark and trying to get them back down (I basically do most of our bedtime routine until they seem like they might be getting tired again). Prim is old enough to understand that “it’s nighttime, you need to be sleeping,” so I try to repeat this to her at various points. When I put her to bed I’ll tell her “If you wake up and it’s dark outside, you need to be quiet and go back to sleep. Sometimes it’s completely wishful thinking that she’ll follow this, but I’m still hopeful that the message might get through.
  5. Sometimes kids need to cry. I know this is controversial, but I believe that it’s ok for kids to cry a bit. This means that if they’re up in the middle of the night and I have been in with them for an hour and a half and done everything I can to get them back to sleep, they may just need to tire themselves out on their own. Some crying I think is actually healthy for kids. Children aren’t equipped to manage their emotions the way adults are, and crying is actually a good outlet for any stress or frustration they might be feeling. During our trip to California I knew that both Prim and Lark were simultaneously having a great time seeing family but also feeling stressed out and a little overwhelmed by the trip. Lark didn’t understand why we weren’t at home and why KC wasn’t there (he was working in Dublin for the first 2.5 weeks we were in California) and Prim understood we were there visiting family, but was clearly missing home and didn’t understand a lot of the American norms. (She kept telling me, “I miss my Amsterdam” and asking “Why we have to take the car? Where’s our bikes?”) Tantrums happened, as did some crying at night, but it was something we worked through. It’s important to explain feelings to your kids when they are having a hard time (I made sure to verbalize all of those big feelings to Prim and Lark at different points during the day), but I felt like it was also important to let them have their feelings and work out their frustration. It’s ok for them to feel frustrated and have some “negative” feelings — they’re human. Let them cry a little, it will all be ok.
  6. Don’t feed the animals. One of the things I’ll hear about parents doing with their jet lagged kids is feeding them when they’re up in the middle of the night. If you have a baby who’s nursing, I think that’s fine, but if it’s a toddler, I’m a firm believer in making them wait until morning for their meal. Maybe you think I’m being mean on this one, but I honestly think that one of the reasons my kids tend to get through their jet lag relatively quickly is because they stick to a strict meal schedule when we’re in a new time zone. Food and mealtimes are tied to circadian rhythms, so it’s important to try and get kids onto the new schedule as soon as possible to help them get good sleep at night.
  7. Get some sun! In addition to food, sun helps your body register that it’s daytime and reset your internal clock; so get your kids out in the sun as much as possible during that first week.
  8. Recreate your bedtime routine from home, as much as you can. At home in Amsterdam, Prim and Lark share a room, so whenever we travel we make sure that they share a room as well. While this sometimes makes jet lag feel infinitely harder since they often wake each other up, ultimately it ends up working out (if they were in different rooms, I don’t know how I would have tackled putting them both back to bed in the middle of the night while KC was traveling). We also stick to our regular routine, no matter where we are — the girls take a bath, put on jammies, we read two stories and then I nurse Lark while I sing a song to Prim. We also travel with their sound machine and any special lovey that they sleep with to try and make the new situation feel like home as much as we can.
  9. If you’re traveling with a newborn, rejoice! The easiest experience I ever had with jet lag was when I traveled to California with just Lark when she was 3 months old. She was still up intermittently during the night and I was still in the mode of sleeping for short stretches whenever I could grab an hour or two. I let her take the lead on setting her own bedtime (she wanted to go to bed every night at 6pm) and rolled with whenever she wanted to nap. My sleep schedule was already so out of whack from having just had a baby that I had zero jet lag on either end, which is way out of character for me (we have been back in Amsterdam for over a week now and I’m still struggling to fully get onto European time). So really, if you have a newborn — count yourself lucky! (Because even though they’re a lot of work otherwise, they sure are portable and easy to fly with at that age!)
  10. This too shall pass. Jet lag can feel impossible at times with kids, but like everything else, you will get through it. I dealt with the jet lag solo on both ends this time because KC was working when we flew out to California and then he headed to Austria on a ski trip after just one night at home. By the third night I felt like tearing my hair out because I was so tired and the kids were being monsters at 1am, but like a miracle, they slept through the night on night four — so yes, it does end.

The sleep-related items we use for travel:

Travel crib
Travel bed rail
Sound machine
Travel night light
Lark’s all season sleep sack (she still fits the 0-6 month size)
Lark’s lovey
Prim’s lovey

Baby / Toddler / Travel

Traveling with Kids: Packing for the Plane

March 26, 2018

Now that we’ve taken a lot of flights with the kids (Prim has been on a total of 24 flights, Lark has been on 20) and traveled internationally with them to 9 and 8 different countries, respectively, I have figured out a few things about packing for long flights.

Every child is different, so your child’s needs are going to differ a little (or maybe a lot) from my kiddos, but when I was trying to research how to travel internationally with a one-year-old before we moved to Amsterdam, I found it really helpful to read about how other parents approached long-haul flights with their little ones.

So here’s what I do:

First, traveling with kids inevitably means that you have to pack a certain amount of stuff. We ALWAYS end up checking at least one bag, so we have embraced the idea of checking as many essential items as we can right up front. This often means that we’re checking the stroller up front, rather than at the gate, along with a big suitcase (I always pack just one big bag with everything for me and the girls together) and our travel crib, if we need it for our trip.

For our most recent trip to California, I checked one big suitcase, our travel stroller, and an infant carseat I was planning to leave in California. Like I mentioned in this post, some parents opt to bring a carseat onto the plane for their child, and if you’re child is very comfortable in a carseat, this is a great option. However, if you’re child isn’t wild about the carseat, or you’re not sure they’re going to love sitting in it for many hours on end, my advice is to check it or leave it at home. Having a carseat onboard that you’re child doesn’t want to sit in is SUPER ANNOYING because it takes up an entire seat and makes it basically unusable. (We made this mistake when we initially flew to Amsterdam with Prim. Never again.)

Anyway, let’s get to the real point of this post: carry-ons! Packing a carry-on when you’re traveling with little kids is tricky because you want to be prepared, but you don’t want to be dealing with five tons of luggage in addition to dealing with one or more kids. The rule of thumb I follow is: if I can check it ahead of time, I do. I don’t want to carry on anything I don’t need during the flight because it just makes life harder. For short flights I carry on one backpack with everything I need for myself and the girls, for longer flights (like the 10+ hour one to California) I carry on two backpacks (I use the Fjallraven Kanken and the Ayacucho Fast 45). I pack two small backpacks — one for each of the girls — inside of my larger backpack (the Ayacucho), so I’m still only carrying on two bags, both of which can fit under the seat. Also, since I don’t have to worry about securing overhead luggage space, this frees us up to board the plane at the very end, giving the kids extra time to move around and get their wiggles out in the airport before being cooped up in a tiny airplane seat. (Most flights let families board first, which is awesome if you’re traveling with an immobile baby, but if you’re traveling with toddlers, boarding right at the start just means your kiddos will be contained to a small seat for even longer.)

Carrying on two small bags makes maneuvering through the airport much easier (corralling multiple kids + luggage can be a nightmare). If I’m traveling solo, I’ll usually opt to hold onto the stroller until the gate, so I can keep both kids and my backpack(s) contained more easily. If I’m traveling with another adult though, I check the stroller ahead of time and Prim will walk while I carry Lark. (I always have my carrier for Lark while navigating the airport, as it’s much easier to have my hands free).

Ok, onto the packing list. I’ll list out what I packed for our last long flight (Amsterdam to California and back), as I honestly don’t bring too much for shorter flights. Diapers, wipes, iPad + headphones, some snacks, and Prim’s backpack with some goodies inside it usually does the trick for flights under 5 hours.

Carry-on packing list for 10+ hour flight with a 1 year old and almost 3 year old

Backpack #1 (this one)

Wet bag with full pack of wipes, 6 diapers, and small changing pad
iPad(s)
Snacks (I fill these containers with different small crackers, etc. and bring easy to transport items like bagels with cream cheese, sliced apples, and M&Ms for bribery)
Medicine corralled in a quart Ziploc bag (Children’s ibuprofen, Children’s Benadryl, Children’s acetaminophen, Children’s Dramamine)
Sleepsack for Lark if it’s a partial night flight
Headphones for me
Extra battery pack + charging cord(s)
My phone, wallet, keys, all passports, boarding passes
A couple extra Ziploc bags (for soiled clothing or the unfortunate upset stomach. They also work great as mid-flight garbage bags)

*Keeping the tablet(s)/iPads in the same backpack as the medicine, passports and boarding passes makes breezing through security much easier. I can take out the electronics and liquids in one go for the security check, instead of rifling through multiple bags. I do not carry on any other liquids besides the medicine, and generally carry on the small-sized bottles (4oz or less) to try and avoid additional security checks.

Backpack #2 (this one)

Extra outfits for kids (2 each)
Inflatable footrest (x2) with pump
Water bottles for kids (empty — fill after security to avoid headaches)
Backpacks for both kids (see below)

Kids Backpacks (I would get them these if money were no object)
each kid has their own backpack and contains the following:

Headphones
Travel MagnaDoodle
Window Clings
Stickers
Small pad of paper + mini colored pencils
Other small toys (random cheap things we never have at home like little plastic figurines and cars, small containers, etc.)
Small loveys (Lark has this one and Prim has this one)
Prim’s little baby
Small Jellycats (we have the lion, lamb and bunny)

If you’re traveling with a child soon, I hope that this is at least a little helpful. And honestly, one of the most important things to remember when you’re traveling with little ones is that no matter how well you packed and prepared, they’re probably going to make some noise and you both might have some tough moments during the flight, but just remember the mantra I repeat to myself during every mid-flight meltdown: YOU’RE NEVER GOING TO SEE ANY OF THESE PEOPLE EVER AGAIN.

Happy travels!