CarrieDaway

I love this picture because it pretty much sums up my parenting experience – who’s in charge?

Nearly 18 months in the parenting game and I’m winging it. As soon as you get a handle on one stage, it’s on to the next one and with Lucas we’ve seemed to gone from not-so-tiny baby to little man.

Here are some random surprises and success in the parenting realm.

Pouches // I didn’t want to use them. I was firmly convinced that they create picky eaters who don’t understand real food. Now I know they are a vital source of nutrition for picky eaters who refused to eat real foods.

Sleep // We’ve become co-sleepers by default. There was a short period when Lucas slept in his room but but teething, ear infections and a virus put everything on its head and now he needs to be in our room to fall asleep because he is terrified to be alone in his room. It’s not a convenient arrangement but I can’t say no to scared baby.

Fashion // Before Lucas was born I had some strong ideas about the clothes he’d wear – no cartoons, no bright colors, no rompers. It all seems so silly now. There have definitely been occasions when he leaves the house in pajamas and if I see something with his beloved Elmo, I can’t resist.

Screen-time // I didn’t have a plan for screen-time and perhaps that was naive. It first came to my attention at daycare when they wrote in the daily notes that Lucas played with the iPad (he was 9 months!). I was taken aback and a little jarred by it to be honest but then I realized it’s the 2000s and technology rules. He can’t be successful in school without knowing about computers. On the flip side, Danny and I did become a little dependent on Elmo on YouTube when we were out and about and wanted Lucas to be quiet. We’ve decided to only use YouTube on rare occasion and instead limit Elmo watching to the television in family room.

Reading // Lucas loves to read and we have piles of book in every room for convenient access. From the first days home from the hospital I read to Lucas. We read the same books over and over and Lucas has memorized so many that he recites parts in general conversation. Reading the same things can seem monotonous, so to keep it interesting for us and to add a level of engagement for him, we ask him to point out objects while we read or count a series of objects, tell us a color or make an animal noise. The result is that Lucas knows his ABCs, numbers, colors, animal noises and he’s an apt conversationalist.