Toddlers in the Throwing Things Stage

Our little E is now nearing two years old.  Just like his older two sisters, he has reached a stage where he likes to throw food on the floor.  It is a frustrating stage to go through since things can get messy.  However, it is a normal part of development and he will eventually grow out of it.

Why do they like to throw things so much?
Simple answer is because they can.  This is a rich stage of new discoveries and growth both with motor skills as well cognitive skills.  In a simple sense, they have discovered gravity.  Things always fall down and never up!  They also realize they have power to do certain things.  Perhaps it is interesting and fun to see all the reactions they get from doing certain actions.

How best to respond as caregivers?
Tough but it is always advised to stay calm.  In fact if your response is calm, collected and consistent every time they may get over the novelty of throwing food faster.  You can try to convey to them what is ok to throw and what is not ok to throw.  During play time, they can throw balls or soft objects as long as it is not towards anybody.  During mealtimes, praise them when they do not throw food on the floor and put it in their mouths instead.  Depending on the age and maturity of the child you can try giving consequences... like having them pick up the food or giving them a short time out.  Patience is required and at the end of the day, the phase has to run its course.  There is an end.

Three Year Olds and Fear During Bedtime

Our second child has recently started sleeping with the night light.  She never was afraid of the dark before but turning three somehow turned on the "fear" button in her.  She has always been such a  good sleeper but a few times now we hear her crying out after we put her down.  "I'm scared" she would sob.  Thankfully, she is easily consolable.  A hug, a kiss and word of comfort usually does the trick but recently I added changing the sound machine to little birds instead of the usual white noise and adding a little night light so she is not in complete darkness.  We have not resorted to bringing her in bed with us as I know some may be tempted to do.  No... once you cross that line, it will be hard to ever cross back!  Plus, it gives the wrong message that their room is not a safe place.

So what is it with three year olds being afraid of the dark?  During this developmental time their young minds do not quite know how to differentiate fantasy and reality.  Their little brains are absorbing so many things from day to day... both from real life but also from things they see on tv or even read in books.  So it is best to limit these exposures to "scary" movies and books.  It is actually hard to find anything that is "not scary" since most all the Disney movies have a frightening villain.  At night when there are few distractions, the child's imaginations run wild.

Of course personality plays a part as well... but in general, fear at night is a common thing.  So what to do?

• Stay calm when you talk to them about it
• Show understanding but don't support or build up these fears
• Don't dismiss their fear
• A stuffed animal or favorite blanket may help
• Keep bedtime routine consistent and soothing, not overstimulating

When our older child went through this, we started playing music from an ipod as part of her bedtime routine  We'd set the timer to 30min so it would play music for that long then stop.  This helped her get her mind off of "scary things".   She also started praying every night for "good dreams" as part of the routine.  One of her favorite songs to sing is "When I am afraid, I will trust in You...I will trust in You..."  by Steve Green.

Finally, need to watch out for stresses in life that may be causing the child more anxiety which can display itself as fear at night.  So things like...

• divorce
• death of a pet
• birth of a new baby

Whenever unsure about how to handle a situation, can always bring up with child's physician to explore whether more help is needed.

So below is the Steve Green CD where that "I am Afraid" song is from.  Every song on there has scripture set to wonderfully catchy easy to sing music.  My kids love it!

The Ultimate Childproofing Guide (Infographic)

The Ultimate Childproofing Guide (Infographic) from HomeInsurance.org

Making Sweet Rice Balls with my Preschooler

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone!  It is the year of the snake.  Click here to read my post from last year explaining this popular holiday celebrated in many parts of Asia.

So here was a fun activity I did with my five year old... we made "tang yuan" or glutinous rice balls... which is a chinese dessert that is yummy and so easy to make.

Ingredients:
-  sweet rice flour (or glutinous rice flour) which can be bought at an Asian grocery store
-  water
-  optional - food coloring (or we used pink sprinkles... the kind you can put on cupcakes)
-  brown sugar
-  you can also make these balls larger and put other things inside like red bean paste or even fruit etc.  but we didn't this time...

In a bowl, we spooned about 1 cup of the sweet rice flour.  Then I had my five year old spoon in water with a teaspoon until the consistency is just right... (comes out to be about 4 oz total).   Basically, you want the dough to be sticky so you can roll it into tiny balls.  We made some white balls and some pink balls by just adding pink sprinkles... she sprinkled and I mixed with my hand until we liked the color of the dough.   Just for fun since Valentines Day is around the corner we made some into a heart shape...  My daughter was specifying who she wanted each ball was going to be for.. so she made some real small (like the ones for her little brother or her baby cousin) and some she made real big... as you can see below...  she likes pink so we made more pink balls =)

To cook just drop them into a pot of boiling water.

They are done when they float to the top!  (about 5-10 min)

So add brown sugar to the water and then you have a sweet dessert soup...

You can also add these glutinous rice balls to other famous chinese desserts like red bean soup...

 

or green mung bean soup...

Anyways, this was fun, easy to make, and yummy... and an activity I could do with probably all my kids... even the one year old if I can stand the mess!  I didn't this time... maybe next time...

Food Poisoning vs Stomach Bug

So many families around us are coming down with the "stomach bug" that I figured it is only a matter of time before it hits us... especially since I'm exposed to so much of it from treating patients.

Well, Miss A threw up at least five times tonight.  Poor little thing, it is so heart wrenching to watch her small body writhe and retch and I'm amazed at how so much can come out of a such a tiny tummy!  I am not feeling so well myself even as I write this so I fear I'm going to be #2 on the hit list.  Unfortunately, if this is truly the bug and not some bad food she ate earlier today or yesterday... then it will likely go through most if not all of our family since the stomach bug is so contagious.

So how does one differentiate between a stomach bug and food poisoning?  It is not always easy to tell which is which since a lot of the symptoms overlap.  Here are some main differences:

Cause

• food poisoning is due to bad food (usually something like potato salad)
• stomach bug is usually due to a virus (rotavirus, adenovirus, norwalk virus etc)

Onset

• food poisoning usually starts within 2-24 hrs of exposure
• stomach bug can take from 1 to even 10 days of exposure before symptoms start

Duration

• food poisoning usually lasts 24 hrs
• stomach bug can last 3-5 days

Symptoms

• pretty similar between the two with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and sometimes diarrhea
• if notice blood, should get evaluated by a physician

Treatment

• again pretty similar between the two with rest and hydration being main focus
• better to push small amounts of fluids more frequently than large amounts

Click here for a site that actually has a pretty good flow chart and you can click here to take a quiz to see which you likely have.

Prayer Sticks

I like crafts but I seriously do not have the time to gather the materials and do them.  That is why I love it that we can do crafts from time to time at my MOPS group.  A while ago we made these prayer sticks that I love.  It has been a hit with the kids.  They love to shake it up and pick a stick before every meal.  Then they get really excited when they get to pray for someone they know whether it is another member of our family or a friend.  Every now and then they'll pick a stick that I'll have to explain to them a little and help them pray... like the president =)

I have a long list of missionaries and friends that I want to pray for but don't always find the time to do it.  This way, they are all written on sticks and every day before every meal I'm praying for one of those folks on my list.  Actually, since each member of the family get to pick a stick, we are praying for 4 or 5 folks on the list every meal.

Any other fun family traditions out there?  This toddler/preschooler age is such a fun time!  Exasperating at times... yes... but overall lots of fun.  I want to just freeze my kids and stop their aging!

Which reminds me of this crazy story about a twenty year old who stopped growing and has a two year old body!  You can read more about it here.  Kinda crazy..

Happy Monday, everybody!

Extended Families and Such

I’m back on the plane now flying back home. The big difference between travelling with kids versus travelling alone is I have the option to sit here and blog or sleep the entire way if I choose! I do miss my kids, though. When I found out that my flight was delayed and I’d be getting in past my little one’s bedtime, I was sad. I miss holding and hugging my children and I especially feel bad that I’m not there to help them feel better since two out of three got sick. The other was recovering and better by the time I left. Kudos to daddy who held down the fort while I was gone! 

Well, it has been a productive couple of days. Not only did I get a chance to help my grandmother get set up for a bunch of benefits that they had no idea she qualified for… but I also helped my youngest aunt move. I really thought I’d be getting a lot of rest and time to myself but instead I felt pulled in many directions trying to meet different needs and navigate through family dynamics. There is usually quite a lot of drama when it comes to interacting with this side of the family! 

Overall, I’m glad I was able to come out and spend time with my uncle, three aunts, and my grandmother who turned 96 today! Extra bonus… I also got to spend time with a cousin from the other side of the family (in case you cannot tell I have a huge extended family). 

Growing up with lots of uncles, aunts, and cousins, I’ve always thought how great and fun it is to have a large family. Having only one sister, I was determined to have more than two kids… so here I am with three. Now, we’re getting ready to have a pretty huge cousins reunion with all our kids this coming summer. That should be a lot of fun... and I think a lot less drama.