There are good days and bad days when living with an infant and a toddler. But no matter the way the day is going, there are a few things I make sure we do every day (when possible).
1. Read.
Not only is reading super important when developing language skills, reading skills, comprehension and more, but its a great bonding time between parent and child. Booger loves her books and being read too. These days shes always on the go, so we don't always get a specific story time, but we will always read books before nap and bedtime. 100% of the time. We usually let her choose which books she wants to read. Most of them we've read dozens of times, and she knows all the words already. We'll pause every now and then and she'll fill in with the word, or sometimes the rest of the sentence. It only takes a few times for her to memorize a book, so we know she is really learning from reading!
Booger also loves reading to Chunk (or picking a book for me to read to both of them), so his story time is starting just as early as hers!
2. Exercise.
This can be as little as dancing around the house to Disney songs on Pandora, or as big as going for a long walk outside. I recently bought Booger a mini toddler trampoline to help get some of her energy out. I recently read somewhere that toddlers should be getting between 60-90 minutes of exercise PER DAY. Anyone who has a toddler knows that the number could be exhausting for you as the parent. Some options we give Booger are: playing downstairs on her slide, tunnel, trampoline (we even made it into an obstacle course-- down the slide, through the tunnel, jump over a book, bounce on the bouncy ball, turn in circles, bounce on trampoline); going outside for a walk; playing with Cozmo in the backyard; playing chase in the upstairs hallway. If she hasn't gotten enough exercise in the day, we usually sense it around dinner time. She starts to get very fussy, whiny, frustrated and temper tantrums begin. With the addition of the trampoline, we can ask her to go bounce (or have her Minnie Mouse bounce) and she is able to expel some left over energy.
For Chunk, exercise is nursing (lots of energy spent there, did you know?), tummy time, playing under his play gym (the lil legs really go!), or dancing around with mama.
3. Go Outside.
Fresh air does wonders for kiddos. The sun also wears them out pretty nicely. I'll admit, now that Chunk is here, its more exhausting for me to get everyone outside, but we try to do it at least once. Whether its going for a walk (either kid in the stroller, but longer walks have Booger in the stroller and Chunk in his carrier on me), playing in the backyard, or going to the park or pool, we try to get some fresh air in their little lungs.
4. Laugh.
At some point in Boogers young life, I called tickling "shaboogies". No idea how it started, but it stuck. Sometimes the Shaboogie Monster comes, sometimes she gives us shaboogies, sometimes we shaboogie Chunk-- all times end in hysterical laughter from all parties. How can you not laugh when hearing a baby or small child laugh? Its contagious.
My new favorite game is finding ways to make Chunk laugh. Yesterday, he laughed every time I cleared my throat, for about 5 minutes straight. It got to the point where Husband thought something was wrong with me because I was 'ahem-ing' so much! But Chunk loved it and hearing those small, throaty giggles get me every time.
5. Learn.
Children learn through play. They learn by mimicking. They learn by watching. They learn by listening. Every day they are picking up new words, thoughts, sights, sounds, tastes, etc. There are times when I am conscious about making Booger learn (What color is that? How many are there? What does that mean?), and times when its a complete unconscious thing. Children are always watching and learning, so it's up to me as a parent to watch what I do and say.
We try to make every day a good day, but as parents of small children know, that is not always possible. We cannot control everything, but there are some things that we can try to do our best on. These 5 items are the ones I try to consciously control every day, in order to have good days!
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