Daily Routines
Waking Up Sometimes he cried for mom or dad, if he was wet or could not find his car. He always went to bed with a toy car or train, never a stuffed animal or blanket. Most days he came to our bedroom, came to dad’s side and climbed up or I pulled him up. He would give us morning kisses and lay between us for 15-30 minutes then he would say I want to watch Treehouse. Felicia would lie next to him when she woke up and he would give her many kisses and we had to tell him only 2 kisses. Sometimes if we gave her lots of kisses he would say to us “only two kisses” He would say it is a new day, time to get up and I would say how do you know? He would reply by saying the sun is up it is not dark anymore. Sometimes he would ask daddy to make a mountain with his knees so that he could drive his car up and down it, or climb up and down it as well. He liked to hide under the sheets and say “Where’s Kolton” I would often say he was a silly man. Sometimes he would shower with dad or wait till later after breakfast to have a shower with mom or bath with Felicia. He would have breakfast with dad, cheerios and apple juice just like daddy and often wanted the same size glass. He would always remind me that my vitamins were there and he could have some when he was older like Jared. Every morning he put a tea bag in my mug for work and he insisted in carrying it and my lunch bag from the kitchen to the front door to hand to me. He would then give me a kiss and sometimes said “have a good day” or “daddy go to the office?” or even “daddy I love you”. He would then go to the front window with mom and Felicia to waive goodbye. Daytime –week days After breakfast it was time for a shower, he knew to take off his pajamas and his diaper. Sometimes he would fuss when I’d ask him to go pee-pee before showering but I’d explain that he was a big boy and had to pee-pee in the toilet all the time just like pooh-pooh. Once in the shower he liked to play with his set of plastic cups that fit into one another and his red plastic fire truck. He would sit down and fill his cups with the running water as I showered; he also liked to use the back scrub brush. He would try to brush the walls of the shower and I would tell him that the brush was to clean our bodies not the shower and he would say “ok momma, I clean your feet” or would sometimes brush my legs or even his own legs with the brush. I would ask him to stand up so that I could wash his body with his soap and wash his hair as well. He knew now that when it was time to rinse the soap out of his hair that he needed to close his eyes so that he wouldn’t get soap in them. I would shut off the water and say, all done. Sometimes he would say, “I want more water or more shower” and I would tell him that we’d have another shower tomorrow. I would dry him off first in the shower and say, what do we say when were done our shower? And he would begin to say his ABCs. He was learning to count as well, could count up to 10, then he would say 11 but jump to 14 or 15, once back on track could count to 20 and then from 21 to 30. Getting out he would sometimes say “I coodie” (cold) and I would say, quick, run to your room so that you can get dressed. He’d jump on his bed, and I would have to wrestle him to get him to stay put in order to get his diaper and clothes on. Usually he wouldn’t argue when I picked out his clothes, but sometimes he would say “no I don’t want it” and pick out something else. We would always brush his hair before leaving his room, he would always want to do it himself and say “I brush my hair” we would tell him he looked nice or that we wanted him to brush his hair to look nice. Sometimes if we started to leave his room he would remind us that we hadn’t brushed his hair yet and say “momma we almost forgot” Sometimes he would help me gather laundry in his room and our room and then I would bring it down to the laundry room. In the laundry room, he would play with his cars or trains or with the alphabet magnets on the freezer door. Then when he got bored, would go back and watch Treehouse or play with his toys in the living room. Getting ready to leave the house always took some time, I would say, now mommy had to get milk ready for Felicia, then check the diaper bag, and he would play until it was time to go. Sometimes I would say, now go get your jacket and shoes on, but most times he never did, I would get to the front hallway and he would still be playing with his car/truck and when I would ask him why he wasn’t ready, he would say “Whaat?” Sometimes I would let him wait on the front porch as I buckled in Felicia into the car seat; he liked to watch the cars go by. Getting in the car, he would walk to his side and try to open the door, it was still too hard for him but he was starting to get into the car seat himself and saying “ I buckle up” as he could buckle the chest strap but could not get the bottom buckles yet. During the days, we would go grocery shopping, visit with Nonna and Nonno, go to Wal-Mart or YMCA early years. He especially liked the YMCA early years centre as there was always so much to do. He liked the train table and once even brought his own Thomas the train to play with. He was never sure of the other children, especially when they would just rush in and start playing with “his toy” He did like to paint and we have some paintings that he did and liked crafts that involved using glue. One time while we were there they had “circle time” this included a story and a few songs. His eyes lit up as they began to sing the sunshine song as it was familiar to him and he knew the words to it but was shy to sing out loud with the other children. Walks around the neighborhood were also fun for Kolton, he watched as other boys and girls played or rode by on their bicycles, he knew to stop at the end of the sidewalk or end of the street to look for cars in all directions. We would ask if there were any cars coming and he would say “no cars coming”. Then after lunch it would be nap time before Kyle would come home from work. Most times he just went down without much fuss. I would tell him, when he got up from his nap we could play on the swing / play in his sandbox / watch Treehouse depending on what we had done during the day. Most times after his nap, you could hear his footsteps as he came down the stairs quietly, sometimes he would say “I’m up”, I would go over and pick him up or give him a hug and ask if he had a nice nap and he would usually respond back, “I have a nice nap mommy” He had a playdough set that was a Christmas present from Rick and Rosi, it had a container of red, blue and yellow playdough, I would tell him not to mix the colours but sometimes he did, the set included animal cutouts and different shapes and gadgets for him to play with, sometimes he would just play with the cutouts and name the animals or fruits He was learning to use a scizzor, he would say “mamma, I cut” and do the cutting motions with his hand, I was using old avon books for him to cut up and we would also use the books to do crafts, cut outs of Dora and Lightning McQueen to make a collage to show Daddy when he got home Daytime- weekends Most weekend mornings would start with a special breakfast, we would ask Kolton what he would like, Pancakes, French toast, eggs… and he would usually give us an answer on his own. We’d get up, eat and get ready for the day, we usually did work around the house or run errands around town. Sometimes stopping somewhere for lunch. One time we stopped at RJ Meats on Carlton St. as they were having an outside BBQ and they had pork cutlets on the BBQ, Kyle and I each had one and gave some to Kolton to try, to our surprise, he ate almost half a bun. There were trips to Harvey’s for lunch; he liked their hamburgers and fries, even the onion rings. He always got a colouring toy that we would bring home to do later with his own crayons and markers. Evenings Kolton always came to the door when I came home to hug and kiss me, then he would start telling me about his day 1-2 events. Often after a weekend, he would say on Monday I missed you daddy. After his show before dinner, we would tell him, it is our time to watch TV, and he would say, “whhaat, your turn?” We would say it is our turn for Y&R. Some times when his show was done, he would turn to us and say Y&R time or no Y&R today. We watched Y&R during dinner often Edmonton channel later in the day. We always started dinner with grace, he put his own bib on and climbed in the chair himself. Was now using big dishes and fork, not a baby dish. We would have to negotiate almost every meal to have him eat his meat, he never liked chicken, we would call it meat on a stick. He liked almost all fruits and vegetables, especially corn on the cob, grapes, watermelon, pineapple, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. He did like steak, we had it twice with him and ate it without much fuss. 9pm. Snack time. He always reminded us, by saying Mommy make snack. He would have a plate of fruit, nuts, crackers, cheese, and on special movie or weekend nights we would make popcorn or dad would share Pringles with him. Bedtime routine It would always take some time to get Kolton to bed, he would try to procrastinate as much as possible. We would often tell him that after one of his shows on Treehouse, (Spider patch or Babar) he would have to go to bed. He would always want to take a car or a train with him to bed, always kissed us good night and say I love you. Some nights he would want to be carried up the stairs to bed, “ momma you carry me” and always wanted to turn on the light himself to walk up the stairs. Some nights he would ride his dinky cars up the ledge of the stairs as he walked up himself. In the bathroom, we would start by telling him to take off his clothes and diaper, he was learning to get his step stool in place in front of the toilet and put his toilet seat on himself. He still needed help to actually get on the toilet. Once there I would ask him, “ is there any pee-pee” sometimes he would say “no” right away and I would ask, come on mr. pee-pee, show me the pee-pee and he would laugh and sometimes repeat it back to me. He was learning to point down so that it wouldn’t spray all over, it did happen once. Next we would brush his teeth, he had some yellowing and cavities starting between his front and left tooth from going down for a nap with his milk bottle in his mouth. We had gone to the dentist, Dr. Korody and Dr. Salamme would look at his teeth, he was always so co-operative, would wear the protective glasses and open his mouth when they asked him too and was good when they would polish his teeth as well. He had his own toothbrush and toddler toothpaste. The toothpaste had little bear on it, just like “Little bear” show on Treehouse so he knew who he was. I would usually brush it first then he would say. “ I do it” he was learning and always looked in the mirror as he did it. When I would brush, I would say Dr. Frank (Korody) is going to be so happy that you’re brushing your teeth” he often repeated me, “He gonna be sooo happy” Then it was time to floss his teeth, we had a special toddler flosser that was easier to use and often he said “ I do flossing” I would say, just a little bit more and I’m almost done, or just two more teeth, and I’ll be done. Then he would get his car/train from the bathroom and go to his room, often times I would ask him to pick up his clothes and put them in his hamper and he would do that too, or say “mamma, you pick up my diaper and I get my shirt/pants” Once in his room, sometimes he would choose a book or I would. Most recently we read Curious George’s Birthday Surprise, Krista had given him this book for his 2nd birthday. Inside she wrote, To Kolton, Happy 2nd Birthday, xoxo Krista, she had also placed Winnie the Pooh stickers with Piglet, Tigger and Eyore. Everytime we would open the book he would say “Krista give it to me” and he would name all the characters on the stickers. Some books he already knew the words to it, for example, in this book he knew that in the living room, george found… “party blowers, and hats, and games, streamers, balloons and coloured tissue” after the story was over, we almost always sang happy birthday. Next it was time to shut off the lights and say prayers, with me, we would recite all the prayers found in the My first book of Catholic prayers that Uncle Frank and Aunt Irene gave him for his 1st birthday. He knew the Our Father and could say some of the Hail Mary and Guardian Angel Prayer. After prayers we would say our blessings in this order, God Bless Kolton and Felicia, Mommy and Daddy, Nana and Papa, Nonna Pat and Nonno Domenico, Uncle Lou and Aunt Kae Anne, Jared, Matteus, Kezia, Holden and Elianna, Auntie Marla, Ashleigh and Ryan, Baba, Nonna Carmela and Nonno Paolo and all our family and friends. He knew this as well, often he would repeat people’s names and I would have to tell him, somebody else now. |