You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Toddler’ category.
California Adventure
Redwood Creek Challenge Trail
“I liked the tire swing that as the funnest part of this one.”
His mom was super nervous about the tire swing part… they have to do it solo without any safety belt
Grizzly River Run
“People should go on this one. The big hill was the best part.”
We did this ride at least 6 times.
Soarin’ Over California
“That was fun!”
He liked this, but we only did it once. So I think it was a little scary for him.
Toy Story Midway Mania
“I liked that I got a gun that I got to shoot.”
This is one the whole family can go on. We did this twice (once with the baby and once without). The baby HATED it.
Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
“I liked this one it was twisty. It was so fun.”
We did this 3 times. He was just fast enough, just crazy enough, to be super exciting for a 4 year old.
Radiator Springs Racers
“This was my favorite. The best part was when it went up and around the hills.”
We did this 6 times. In one day. Thank you fastpass. Thank you ride swap. This was an amazing ride. Fans of the movie will love this ride.
It’s Tough to be a Bug
“No. I did NOT like this. Where they sprayed was not good. I did not like this show. This was NOT my favorite thing.”
They do advertise that its “scary” but you just don’t think a Bugs Life ride will be scary. It was horrifying!!
Turtle Talk with Crush
“I liked talking to him. He talked to my Baba (grandma)”.
This was something the whole family could do. This was super cute and super cool. A nice break out of the heat.
Monsters Inc. Mike and Sully to the Rescue!
“This was cool there was a taxi.”
This was something the whole family could do (but the baby hated it).
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
“NO. I didn’t like when it went straight down. That’s the bad part.”
Our big boy asked to go on this. We tried to talk him out of it and he insisted that he could handle it. It ended poorly. This ride is so horrifying. I would never do it again!
The Little Mermaid Ariel’s Undersea Adventure
“This was fun.”
The whole family can go on this ride. It was the very first ride we rode at Disney. Everyone was kinda in awe and shock.
Sorcerer’s workshop
“I don’t remember that one”.
When we went it was empty, just he and I, and he was creeped out and asked to go.
King Triton’s Carousel
“Eh, it was ok.”
This was the baby’s hands down number one ride. He rode it 7 times in a rode, on same animal. He loved his animal- a whale. He pet the whale and talked to it. He waved to his adoring fans as he went by. The big boy rode it once and then asked to go ride something else.
Disneyland
Autopia
“That was a good one.”
This was the longest wait of anything we rode at Disney. And it was so not worth it. Most of the wait was in the sun. The ride itself was not enjoyable.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
My husband and I previewed this at night. And thought it would be too scary for big boy.
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster
“I like shooting.”
You try to keep the kid away from gun related toys and then Disney ruins it for you…
Disneyland Monorail
“It was a smooth ride.”
You have to collapse your stroller to go on it… such a pain it the butt.
Disneyland Railroad
“Were those dinosaurs real or robots?”
The entire family can go on this. But you have to collapse your stroller. A nice break for the kids.
Dumbo the flying elephant
“I like that this one flies and you could make it go up and down.”
The entire family can go on this one. But watch out the lines can get long fast.
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
My husband and I previewed this at night to see if it was scary… and I couldn’t bear to go on it again. I was so claustrophobic.
Mad Tea Party
“Yeah… (laughs) I liked that this one spinned.”
Once was enough for Mama.
Matterhorn Bobsleds
Big boy heard the sounds coming from this one and refused to go on it.
Pirates of the Caribbean
This was closed when we visited.
Splash Mountain
Big boy saw a youtube video of this one and said he wanted to go on it. And then I think he got it mixed up with the Grizzly River Run in California adventure and refused to go on it. Whatever- it had a long wait anyways!
It’s a small world
“ I liked that song.”
It’s true… he is singing it 6 weeks later.
At 1 day shy of 27 months, Scotty was potty trained! I consider him potty trained because he is using his potty all day and is waking up dry from naps and overnight sleep.
How did he do this you ask?
It was a lonnnng journey.
At around 18 months, he started showing interest in the action taking place in the bathroom. He also started waking up dry from naps occasionally. So we bought him a little potty chair and encouraged him to sit on it. Around the same time we switched to cloth diapers at home. He started knowing when he was wet and making the connection to how he felt before he was wet. 2 days after starting cloth diapers he peed in the potty for the first time. We made a big deal about it. But we didn’t push it.
At this time, Scotty was in an infant room at the daycare that he goes to full time. This room is unable to accommodate children going to the potty with any regularity. So potty training, if it could not be done at school was not a high priority.
At 23 months he moved over to a toddler room, and they were able to take him to a toilet with regularity. At this point, he was waking up from naps dry almost always, and waking up from overnight sleep dry occasionally. My plan at this point was to wait to train him until the summer when I would have more time with him.
BUT… he started showing interest in wearing underwear at home. And using the potty almost all the time while at home. He was rewarded with Teddy Grams when he went to the potty at home. A huge motivating tool. We started reading a lot of books about using the potty, poop, and being a big boy.
So when his daycare approached me (at 26 months old) and suggested that he was ready to wear underwear at school too, I tentatively moved forward.
For the first week, Scotty did everything in his pants at school! He was going through 5 outfits a day. It was horrible. I am so lucky that the staff of his daycare center was willing to keep working through this difficult time. He also refused to put a diaper back on! He was a big boy now, even if he was not making it to the toilet. I discovered that he was horrified of the loud scary potty at school. So at every drop off and pick up I took him to the potty and showed him how cool it was.
The next week, he did all his peepees in the potty, but still did his poops in his pants.
The following week, he was done. No more diapers, no more accidents. Potty trained!
Even though I was close to giving up, I would say the best advice I got was to just keep going once the child has indicated that they are ready for the potty. Don’t start and stop. Try not to use intermediate steps like pull ups- an accident in underwear has meaning. Going to the bathroom in a pull up is just like using a diaper. Good luck!
Do you need a car seat?
If you are planning on going somewhere with your child and they will be in a car, you should use a car seat regardless of the local rules and regulations. A child is more likely to survive an accident when they are safely in a car seat. But you have a few options. You can take your child’s seat on the plane, you can gate check it, you can counter check it, or you could rent/borrow/buy a seat at your destination.
Gate check vs. Counter check
If you drop off your car seat with your checked bags, at a minimum you are going to need a large plastic bag to put over the seat to prevent it from getting absolutely filthy. Most airlines provide them for free. The advantage of counter checking is that you get to ditch the seat and not drag it through security. The disadvantage is that you have no control over the impacts that the car seat will have to endure to make it to the plane and back to you. Most car seat manufactures recommend that a car seat be replaced after an impact- and getting thrown around all over the airport surely counts as an impact. If you gate check your seat the likelihood of it getting banged around are greatly reduced, but not eliminated. To use this option you would have to take your car seat through security. Again, you will want to use a large plastic bag to protect the seat from getting dirty. When Scotty was young enough to be a lap child, we always gate checked his car seat. That way we didn’t have to buy a seat for him on the plane, but we had his seat when we arrived at our destination.
Taking your seat on the plane
If your child requires their own seat (over 2 years old) you should consider this option. Not only is it the best way of preventing damage to the seat, it is the best way to keep your child safe on the plane. In the event of turbulence or a minor accident, a child is much more likely to remain safe if they are strapped into a car seat. A car seat also offers a familiar place to sit, play, and rest. The disadvantage is that you have to lug your seat through the airport, through security, and take it on and off the plane. If you are planning on taking this route, I would suggest buying one of THESE. A cheap, sturdy traveler that turns your car seat into a stroller. I had great success with this on a recent trip to Japan with my 2 year old son. I would also suggest something like THIS because when you use the car seat you will be unable to fold the tray table down (it will hit the child’s legs). I personally have not tried one yet, but would like to invest in one before my next plane trip with Scotty.
Additional tips
Practice removing your seat from the car and putting it back in. Practice moving the car seat around with whatever method you are going to use. Are you going to carry it (I don’t recommend this), put it on your stroller (keep in mind that you can’t do this and have the kid sitting in it), or are you going to invest in some type of carrier like the one above? Bring the manual! The flight attendants might want to see it to make sure your seat is FAA approved. Also, read the section about putting your car seat in the plane if you go that route. It’s possible that the seat belt of the airplane will hit directly behind the child’s back. If this happens to you, I suggest using an airline blanket to pad it. This has worked well for Scotty.
So last night I stubbed my toe on Scotty’s new stepping stool (which as a side note is awesome! You can buy it here) and it got me thinking about how much our only bathroom has changed over the past 7 months.
When we moved into our house in July, we knew the bathroom definitely had issues. For starters there is only one! The tile in the shower and the floor is an awful shade of Pepto-Bismol pink that doesn’t really match anything. The sink, mirror, and towel rack (1 rack for 3 people) are all original. That is to say, 50’s style and ugly as heck. But we were able to pretty it up with an additional towel rack, bright new towels, some new rugs, and a lovely shower curtain.
7 months later the bathroom has other issues. It has been taken over by my 22-month-old son.
When we moved in, potty training was not even something we were thinking about. We now have a little training potty taking up valuable real estate in the bathroom. Once your kid starts going in the potty you also want to teach hand washing. But the catch is that a 33” tall kid can’t reach the sink on his own. So we now have the above-mentioned stool, too. More floor space gone.
If you pull back that lovely shower curtain you see kiddy shampoo next to the head and shoulders. And the toys. Even though they are well contained in bins and hanging toy hammocks, their presence is definitely felt.
In addition to this, the new rug on the floor is never dry. Except after I wash and dry it every weekend. Not with 3 people using it (keep in mind that one of those people really likes to splash). Scotty’s penguin towel doesn’t really go with the décor in the room, and after his recent bout with fever and now some rather extreme teething pain (molars are a b****) the medicine cabinet has a Scotty section too.
So what was the point of all this? I really don’t have one. Even though the bathroom is overrun with kiddy stuff I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Exactly a month ago I posted about weaning Scotty. That very night was Scotty’s last time nursing! The next night he wasn’t interested so I didn’t push it. And the night after that he was easily redirected at night night time… and then that was it! He hasn’t asked to nurse since.
Before weaning Scotty I could not imagine how we were ever going to get him to sleep without nursing. But, with a little TLC he goes down to bed just fine. Imagine that.
I also had no idea how I was going to clip his nails without breastfeeding him. He would kick and fight when I tried to cut his nails unless he was nursing. About a week after weaning I tried to cut his nails and who would have guessed? No issues. He actually kind of enjoyed watching me do it.
I am both relieved and sad.
It’s interesting to me that while my breastfeeding journey with Scotty is ending; the breastfeeding journeys of a few friends of mine are just beginning.
My unsolicited advice to nursing mothers is to enjoy it while you can. While it can be tiring, taxing, stressful, limiting, and draining to be your child’s source of food, it is also amazing and the sense of connection that you have with your baby while breast feeding is unique and wonderful. That connection doesn’t go away when you are done breast feeding, but it is different.
On another note, I am still producing milk- odd as that sounds. I don’t have any pain, leaking, or engorgement, but if I apply pressure milk will still come out. Hope that stops soon.
Also, I am completely broken out on my face. Seriously, I look like I am 13 again. And have a little cyst on my face that I think I have to go to a demonologist to take care of. I feel like I have the baby blues. The tinniest little thing about motherhood, childbirth, or kids growing up and I am balling my eyes out. And have found myself thinking of baby number 2 (which is not in the works at this point!) more than I probably should.
Just some more lovely side effects from mommy hormones.
Scotty and I are at the end of our breastfeeding journey. In the next few weeks (or maybe even the next few nights) Scotty will be done breastfeeding and that part of his life will be over.
Although there is a huge part of me that is looking forward to not being a breast feeding mom, there is also a part of me that is not ready to let that connection go.
Scotty was exclusively breastfed until he was about 5 months old. I added solids at that point since he just was not getting enough to eat. At about a year he really started eating more solid foods than milk and I added cow’s milk into his diet. And now, he is eating like a little person- not a baby.
It’s crazy to think that about 18 months ago he was eating as needed, sometimes more than 12 times in a day! And then by the time he started day care he was nursing about 8 times a day. By the time he was a year old he was down to 4 times a day. And now he is just nursing just before bed and not for any amount of time.
My current plan is to let Scotty direct when we are done. So far he is still indicating that he wants to nurse before bed. But I am sure that pretty soon nursing will just transition to snuggling. And you know? I am okay with that (he does have 16 teeth after all…).
I am happy that he and I were able to go this long! He is a happy, healthy, little guy I think at least part of his good health and happiness is because he got good milk from me for so long. Don’t get me wrong, I know people who chose not to breastfeed or were not able to and their kids are amazing too. But Scotty has had less than a half dozen colds or fevers and he is a year and a half old. And he has been in daycare for over a year! The power of breast milk.
It has been great Scotty! I can’t wait to embarrass you by telling your future girl friends about how you would ask for “Maalk!” with your voice and with your baby signs.
It’s hard to imagine a future when I won’t have to lug a whole lot of baby gear along with me- even though I know that day is getting closer and closer. When Scotty was just a little guy, I did a post about what to pack in an infant diaper bag which you can read HERE. Now that Scotty is a toddler, here is an updated version of what to pack in a toddler diaper big.
In my toddler diaper bag:
2-4 Diapers , 2-4 cloth wipes, a plastic bag for used diapers and wipes, a changing pad, travel size hand sanitizer (which I always forget to replace when it runs out), an entire change of clothes (socks, pants, shirt, jacket, bib, and hat), a jar or two for a meal, a Plum pouch for a snack, a spoon, Cheerios or other dry snacks (I never have enough!), a grabby cup for the Cheerios, sunscreen, a water bottle for Scotty, and a water bottle for me.
When you have a toddler you also almost always take your stroller and baby carrier too- since it’s hard to predict what you need or what Scotty will be willing to use. I also have to remember to bring shoes for Scotty if he doesn’t have them on already. It would also be a good idea to bring toys but after all of this I hardly ever remember to bring toys and end up giving Scotty my sunglasses, phone, or keys- which he thinks is just great.
I also carry my purse now- it was far too overwhelming to have a purse when he was little. Normally I leave the diaper bag in the car or strap it to the stroller and only carry the purse.
Scott and I took a class with another mommy and baby this summer.
After 10 days in a row of swimming and an entire tube of sunscreen here is what I learned. In addition to your normal diaper bag the baby will need
1. A pair of swimming diapers (a pair just in case one of them gets soiled)
2. A rash/UV guard top (try to get one that is UV rated)
3. A hat
4. Sunscreen
5. A towel
You will need
1. Your bathing suit
2. A hat
3. Sunscreen
4. A change of clothes (with bra and panties)
5. A water bottle
6. If you are like me, you will also need your swimming shorts and a swimming top. I don’t know when I got so modest in the pool, but there you have it.
7. A towel
Through trial and error my friend and I discovered the following procedure that worked pretty well.
1. Arrive at least 15 minutes early with a feed, napped, and clothed baby. You should arrive in your bathing suit so that you are ready to go.
2. On the pool deck get the baby into their UV shirt and hat. The clothes you remove from baby are the clothes you are hoping to put him in after class.
3. Apply sunscreen to you and baby. After just 10 days, 30 minutes a day, Scotty and his friend have tans- it’s scary to think how burned they would be if we had skipped the sunscreen.
4. When it’s time for the class to begin, put on the swimming diaper. Try to wait- you don’t want to see what happens if they use that thing while out of the water.
5. After swimming class Scotty needed to be rinsed off in the showers (his skin has a weird reaction to the chlorine) and then we got changed into our clothes in the locker room. Ready for the rest of the day!
6. It was really fun to take a class with another mommy friend. We had a good time getting lunch together after class.
- Try to baby proof before moving in. This is super critical. Your toddler is going to want to explore anyways. Make sure they can do it safely. Scotty cut his toe in his new room WHILE I was baby proofing…
- If you have friends and family to help you move (or watch your kid while you move) USE them. And if you don’t, hire movers or a baby sitter. It is so worth it. It’s simply not safe for you (and your significant other if they are around) to be moving big heavy stuff around without someone watching the kid.
- Pack a suitcase of everything you and your kid need for the first 24 hours so that you don’t have to go hunting for it later. I was pretty good about this for toiletries, but forgot to keep a mattress pad, a sheet, and pajamas handy. It was really fun looking for them in boxes in rooms that didn’t have lights. Fail.
- Don’t take your kid back to see the old house empty- adjusting to the new house is enough stress for the little tike. This might just be my kid but seeing the old place empty totally freaked him out and he burst into tears.
- Be prepared for a couple of rough nap times and rough nights after you move in. Scotty was up every 2 hours the first night- just like a newborn. My husband and I took turns helping Scotty get back to sleep and that worked pretty well. It has been less than a week and already nap times and night times are better.
Scotty's Mom 