Looking fancy in his Sperry’s 😉
The last couple of weeks have brought some more firsts—some fun: fake sneeze imitations, following two-step directions, walking by himself; and some not so fun—time out, the need for a toilet lock🤦🏻♀️. Quinn is still practicing his walking so sometimes he wants a helping hand so he can practically run around the house. He’s doing well though and I have no doubt within a week he’s gonna be pro. We had our first run with time out a few weekends ago. He was super cranky for two full days and decided to try his luck with screaming when he didn’t get his way. That landed him in his crib with a promise that he could get out when he calmed down. He screamed for about 40 seconds and then stopped, at which point one of us got him out. It took about ten tries but he finally figured out who is boss around here (for now). He’s only been back in time out one or two times since. It was a rough weekend but laying the foundation for positive behaviors is very important.
HIs other not fun new-ish habit involves throwing or dropping things. He had already discovered the oh so fun ‘fetch’ game, thanks to Chris 🤪, and enjoyed dropping his bink out of his crib, expecting you to retrieve it. He had also experimented with tossing his sippy cup from his high chair before as well. Do you know what’s more fun than dropping things from your high chair though? Throwing them off of the deck into the yard. Yep. That resulted in a few toys being eaten by the girls, who typically do a great job at respecting his stuff. They somehow seem to know which toys are theirs and which are his. However, when they’re in their territory, they’re free game, apparently. He even throws stuff in his sleep. He often rips his bink out of his mouth when I’m rocking him to sleep and drops it on the floor 🤬. If you’ve never tried, you may not know that finding a bink, in the dark, while trying not to disturb the beast, is not an easy task. You would maybe assume that since he took it out he doesn’t want it but you would be wrong. At any given second after removing the bink he could renege on his decision and expect a prompt delivery. I wouldn’t usually let a one year old boss me around but bedtime is a dangerous time to be having a power struggle. I want him to sleep way more than I want to be in charge 🤣.
Who sleeps like this? 🤷🏻♀️😂😂
To my horror, Quinn plopped his bink into the toilet while I was in the shower, attempted to stir it with a hair brush, and then licked the brush just as I was getting out and got to witness it. The toilet is now locked, along with the trash can, another favorite place of his. I tell ya, babies are gross. They’ll touch and taste anything 🤮😆. There is definitely a learning curve to this first time mom gig.
Unsurprisingly, I’ve been very anxious lately. HIs crankiness means less gets done around the house, which makes me anxious. To calm my anxiety, I like to clean. The more I try to get done, the more he wants held. It’s a big vicious circle some days.
We’re still socially distancing for the most part and I miss many things. One thing that occurred to me that I’m going to miss is the Chili Fest in October. While I don’t know if it has officially been canceled, I can’t foresee it happening and that made me sad. I was mentioning that to Philip earlier and he had a great idea: we decided to ask some friends to do a covid version of a chili cook-off, where we make and exchange bowls of chili and then everyone rank them to get a winner. I’m excited so someone better participate with us! 🤣
Anyway, aside from being driven crazy by a mischievous toddler, I’ve been working on organizing and home improvement, the same as many people during this covid summer. I want to share some tips on ways to organize a kid’s room for this edition of Clearing the Clutter.
Tip #1: Command hooks
I LOVE Command hooks. I use them everywhere. One of the keys to keeping your house tidy is having a home for all of your things. When you’re able to use space that would otherwise be wasted, it feels like you have more room. One reason I love them is because I can change things up as often as I want to. If I decide I don’t like a placement, I can just take down and start again, no holes to patch, no fuss. I also anticipate Quinn’s interests and therefore, his toys, changing as he gets older so I don’t want permanent solutions to current needs. Although, Command hooks can be permanent, too, if I decide to leave them alone 😉. Win win.
Chris bought Quinn some dress up clothes for his birthday and while he may not be quite ready to wear them just yet, I created a space for them using Command hooks. I’m not naive enough to believe that he will actually hang them back up there when he’s finished playing with them but they’ll have a home anyway.
Tip #2 Pencil boxes
This is a great time of year to buy a super cheap organizing tool—pencil boxes. Back to school time means there are tons available in lots of colors. They’re great for holding puzzle pieces, art supplies, or just about any crap that your kid can accumulate. My kid hasn’t started accumulating crap because he’s isn’t quite old enough to beg for things yet, but even if he was, he’s rarely been the store in the last 5 months thanks to covid. Anyway, they’re 99 cents so figure out how many you’ll need and stock up!
Tip #3 Open shelving
This probably breaks some decorating rule but we had different toy solutions and I hated them. We had these deep bucket hole cubbies that made it impossible to see what was in there without digging. I felt like Quinn only played with a few things because that’s what he could see and reach. I bought a bookshelf instead and while it does make it easier for him to tear everything out, he can see all of his toys. I can also know what he actually plays with and what he doesn’t based on what I pick up 75 times a day. If he can see it and doesn’t play with it, there’s probably not a reason to keep it.
Tip #4 Repurpose
Ok, you guys know how much I love to upcycle things! I saved a big peanut butter jar and it works perfectly for storing his small wooden blocks. He can see what’s in the container and it’s ‘free’ (not really, I mean, I paid for the jar with the peanut butter but it was going in the trash). Choose containers that are clear so there’s no guessing about what’s inside.
I also repurposed a shelf used to sort paper that was broken and we were going to throw away at work. I fixed and painted it and then it into a puzzle holder. (Pictured on top of bookcase, above).
I could’ve just shown you the jar but my elephant is so cute, he had to be included in the pic 😉.
Bonus** Under-the-bed totes don’t always have to go under the bed. They stack very nicely. I’ve saved and labeled some of Quinn’s clothes, in case we need them in the future 🤪. Or if we have a yard sale 🤷🏻♀️.
Alright, that’s all the tips I have for now. I’m working on a pretty big home improvement project that I’m keeping my fingers crossed, will be done by the time I write my next post. Wish me luck!
Here’s some sweetness to end my post:
