Category Archives: Toddler

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 BearPierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a PrologueA Sick Day for Amos McGeeTree; 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.