Sunday, April 18, 2010

Temper Tantrums!!!!

Someone please tell me that taking temper tantrums every time my 11 month old son wants something or any time I take something away from him is a short lived phase!!!  I have been very lucky that up until this point Ewan has been a very happy and easy going baby - so this is a big change to having to deal with all of this frustration and intense screaming from him.

For the past week, these tantrums seem to be happening all day long. I can handle a two year old tantrum - talking it out or having the child take a break to recollect is often all that is needed. But there is no reasoning with an 11 month old! My only tool seems to be distraction. I am trying not to give in when he screams for something so that we do not give him the impression that screaming will result in him getting his way, although my husband is having more difficulty with this. Does anyone have any other tips?

In other news, Ewan prefers to only stand up now - so we are thinking that he may skip the whole crawling stage all together. Maybe when he becomes mobile it will ease some of his frustrations...or maybe it will increase his frustration as I will end up only taking more things away from him!

As you may have noticed, I have also updated the blog site and page! Please leave me your feedback and if you have Facebook join A Gym Tale's page to receive more updates on our programs and specials.

Have a wonderful week - and wish me luck with these tantrums!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Sooo sick....

Yesterday morning I woke up early at 6am determined to be organized for the week. Our childcare (my dad) called in sick so Alan was going to try and work from home with Ewan. I had both their breakfasts, snacks & lunch prepared as well as diapers and activities set out for Ewan and a makeshift office for Alan set up in Ewan's play room. I left for work by 8:15am feeling good that everything was organized and ready to go. After getting to the centre early and setting up for Nursery School - and prepping the transportation themed activities, I greeted the children and we began our school day. However, by 9:30am I started feeling a little queasy. I didn't think much of it, maybe I didn't eat enough breakfast. But by 11:15am  I knew I had to get out of the centre because I was going to be full on sick. I made it home just in time - to be sick from 11:30am right through to 7pm last night - non stop! I cannot remember the last time I have been this sick. I literally was not able to get out of bed, except to run to the bathroom, or do anything at all - not even hold my baby!

Thank goodness Alan was able to stay home and watch Ewan all day. And how lucky I am to have family around for extra support. My mother in-law was able to come this morning and watch Ewan for most of the day. It made me wonder what parents do when they get that sick and do not have any extra support available. I had to nurse Ewan in bed yesterday because my arms did not have the strength to even hold him - without help, I would not have been able to care for him.

I am so thankful that Ewan almost seemed to 'understand' that I was not well. Not once did he get upset when he couldn't stay with me. Usually if he knows that I am in the house he refuses to leave my side. A friend said she thinks children must have innate sense when the parent isn't well and to go easy on them.

Also, my apologies to those families that I had to cancel classes this morning with such short notice. My two supplies were sick and out of town, so I did not have another option. Hopefully you got to enjoy some free play on the indoor playground. See you all next week. Also, join A Gym Tale's Facebook page, I am going to start putting all updates on Facebook.

Well I am feeling a hundred times better now, so everything will be back to normal at A Gym Tale tomorrow!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

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Shopping!

So I set off this week to Bayshore with a pile of gift certificates that I have been collecting ready to shop for a whole new wardrobe - one that does not include pants with an elastic waist, maternity anything, or yoga wear (aka my work wardrobe). After roaming the mall for an hour and a half and trying on a huge amount of clothes, all I could come up with were two tops! Since when is shopping for yourself impossible? I don't know if I have lost my sense of style since being pregnant or if I am just shopping in the wrong places, but nothing fit well or looked quite right, it was very disappointing.

I then took a half hour to shop for Ewan and had an entire new wardrobe for him picked out and paid for! It is so much more enjoyable shopping for kids clothes - at least it is now when he doesn't have a say in what he is wearing. I will have to venture out again this week, maybe I was just not in the right frame of mind to shop for myself.

I also went on a book shopping spree. Books are one of my favourite things to shop for. As I previously wrote about - I really enjoyed the book 'The Happiness Project', so I decided to pick up a few more memoir's  - a new genre for me. Usually I like to read light, funny books such as 'chic lit', one of my favourite authors being Sophie Kinsella. I am now going to start 'Julie & Julia' followed by 'Eat, Pray, Love'.

For Ewan, I picked up two books by Jeremy Tankard - 'Grumpy Bird' and 'Feed Me' as well as the series of 'Little Pookie' books by Sandra Boynton. The Tankard books have hilarious dialogue and the pictures are made up of bright, vivid colours. The Boynton books have almost a musical rhythm to them and a very cute story line. Ewan loves books, they are his current favourite 'toy' and he could sit and turn the pages, look at the pictures, and listen to the stories for a whole afternoon.

Any other suggestions for a great read would be very much appreciated. I would also love to know what toddler books your children had you read over, and over and over again.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Easter Weekend

What a wonderful long weekend - great weather, spending time with friends and family, and building a garden rock wall! Ok, so building the wall was not so much fun, but it did turn out really well. What started as a small raised vegetable garden, quickly turned into three garden beds, for a total of 50 feet! A little bit of a larger project than we had initially bargained for. Myself and my husband can barely move this evening without moaning and groaning. But we now have our very first do-it-yourself home renovation project under our belt. Now what can we do next....maybe a fire pit?!

Ewan also had a very busy weekend showing off all of his new 'tricks' to family and friends that we haven't seen in awhile. Ewan can push himself backwards on a few different types of surfaces, he can rip door stoppers right out of the wall, he can now stand up without his legs instantly turning to jello, he can bounce while standing, consistently wave, clap and bump heads when asked and talks non-stop, all day long! It is so exciting seeing him turning into a real little boy!! And with his 1st birthday less than five weeks away, party plans are well under way. Does anyone have any birthday party venue suggestions?!