Rosiebebe is One!

A. Her Schedule – She usually wakes up at about 6:30 a.m., eats breakfast, then takes a nap at 10 a.m. (early, I know). She also takes an afternoon nap, usually around 3 p.m. She eats dinner with us but usually starts getting cranky at 6:30 p.m. and is fast asleep by about 7:00 p.m.

B. Her Size & Health – At her one-year checkup she was 20 lb 2 oz (55th percentile). She was 30” long (80th percentile). Her head circumference was 17.75 (55th percentile). Her hemoglobin was 13.8 (good). Her lead was none. It seems like she’s hardly ever sick – I don’t know if that’s because she’s at a home-based daycare or if she’s just been lucky in that way. She did wear a helmet from about January 1 to about April 22.

C. Her Personality – She’s the sweetest, friendliest baby. She is very interested in engaging with people. She wants to make a personal connection. She’s not too worried about strangers.

D. His Favorite Things

• Colors: Can I say pink?
• Shows: Yo Gabba Gabba. She is fascinated by the TV and our cell phones, but we heavily limit her screentime.
• Toys, Play, and Art: She has some baby dolls and pretend makeup that she plays with.
• Time of Day: I would say after she wakes up from her first nap. She’s always so happy to see us when she wakes up.
• Bedding: She has some pink fuzzy blankets.
• Foods: She loves fruit, especially strawberries. She’s only had chocolate a couple of times but she loved it. She wants to eat whatever we’re eating.
• Activities: She likes being held. She likes being around people. She’s never one to voluntarily leave a party. I'm trying to take her to stores and restaurants with me so that she gets used to being at these types of places.
• Animals: She can now say “cat” and “dog,” so I think she likes our pets, but she’s far more interested in people than animals, it seems.
• Heroes: I can’t say. She does seem to really enjoy my company. I wonder if I’m her hero?

E. Things She Does Not Like – Pasta.

F. What She’s Thinking About – I’m not sure, but she seems like a mellow, good tempered person. She doesn’t seem anxious, although she is cautious. I’m sure that she has the ability to walk but chooses not to because she’s afraid of falling.

G. Surprises – I’ve probably said it before on this blog, but having this girl has been the best surprise – I went from wondering if I could handle being the parent of a girl to relishing basically every minute.

H. Best & Worst Things –

• The best things: I look forward to her growing up and developing lasting, positive relationships with her brothers and me too.
• The worst things: When she does scream or cry, her voice is a higher pitch than my sons, and it drives my husband up the walls. It sounds fine to me, but to him it’s apparently very painful.

I. Family and Friends – I worry if our family is getting too large for people to comfortably invite us over to their homes.

J. Parenting or What I’m Doing Differently – I am so excited to have the chance to explore parenting a daughter! I don’t want to go completely crazy with pink and rainbows and unicorns. But I do want the world to treat her as sweetly as befits her sweet personality. She’s such a gentle being.

Serious Kiddo: 5.5 Year Update

A. His Schedule – He wakes up earlier than anyone else and can invariably be found on the couch, frequently watching something on TV that he’s chosen himself (he can now operate the TV skillfully).

B. His Size – About average, I think.

C. His Personality – He’s a bit shy and seems to be prone to sit quietly, reading or watching a show. He told me he’s very much an “indoor person.” He’s willing to do art but he takes a long time doing things just right, so consequently, he very rarely finishes anything. He can get riled up if another child is encouraging him, but he does seem to tucker out before the other child does.

D. His Favorite Things

• Colors: Gold. Definitely gold. Though he still likes red.
• Shows: Japanese animation.
• Toys: He likes Pokemon toys and Transformers.
• Time of Day: Probably the early morning because he has the house basically to himself while we’re all still asleep.
• Bedding: He recently chose a blue blanket with stars on it for himself. He sleeps with that and a regular pillow. He’s finally too big to use a toddler blanket.
• Foods: Chocolate. Sweets. Desert foods. Cookies. Grilled cheese sandwiches.
• Activities: He likes swimming and is advancing nicely in his swimming class.
• Animals: Cats. Dogs. He can make a lot of dog-like noises now and will sometimes pretend to be a puppy. Sharks.
• Heroes: He likes superheroes, but I don’t think there’s one in particular that he likes. He recently chose a Thanos piggybank, the bad guy from Avengers Endgame. I’m not sure why he chose Thanos but it may have to do with the gold glove and gem-like infinity stones that Thanos has.

E. Things He Does Not Like – When his brother bothers him. Not winning, like at a boardgame or for a race.

F. What He’s Thinking About – He’s looking forward to learning how to read. I think he’s looking forward to starting Kindergarten too.

G. Surprises – How some of his characteristics are so opposite to his brother’s characteristics. For example, his brother is thrill-seeking, whereas he seems to be hardwired to avoid thrills.

H. Best & Worst Things –

• The best things: When he is nice to his little sister. Watching them become friends is the sweetest.
• The worst things: When he’s feeling moody (sad).

I. Family and Friends – My coworker says that as adults, you wind up becoming friends with your kid’s friends’ parents, and that becomes your social circle. I do try to keep him connected to the kids he’s chosen to become friends with, but it is difficult in this area due to distance, traffic, and work, not to mention our various moves (we moved homes, and he also switched daycares twice). Sadly, due to the crazy district lines in our area, most of kids at his current daycare will be going to a different elementary school than he will.

J. Parenting or What I’m Doing Differently – I’m trying hard to keep our home in order, which means encouraging the kids to keep their toys in one central location (the playroom) and to pick up their items every night or risk having their items be put in “time out.”

The Bear at Almost 4 Years Old

A. His Schedule – He likes to stay up late and sleep late. He seems to be chronically tired but also habitually unwilling to nap or go to sleep when we put him in bed. If he does finally fall asleep for a nap, expect him to be out cold for at least a couple of hours.

B. His Size – He seems to be a little smaller than average.

C. His Personality – He is so outgoing. He is always trying to connect with people. He has a powerful drive to be loved. He wants to help people. He wants to make people laugh. He wants to do things with people (teamwork). He wants people to give him their undivided attention. He is, in that respect, like a sponge – the more attention you shower on him, the happier he is as he soaks it all in. The other kids at his daycare seem to like following him, as if his joy and fascination with whatever he’s doing at the moment is contagious.

D. His Favorite Things

• Colors: “Rainbow.” Also, "your favorite color."
• Shows: He likes scary shows, like Goosebumps and Scoobie Doo. He asks us to let him watch scary movies that are designed for adults but we keep saying “no.” His drive to be thrilled seems higher than average to me.
• Toys, Play, and Art: He likes his stuff dog, Zoie. He loves to collect and put on makeup, face paint, camouflage Army makeup, etc. I’m not sure if his fascination with makeup is because he enjoys the act of collecting things – pirating makeup from my dresser – or if he actually likes the makeup itself. I suspect it’s a bit of both. He likes painting (like with watercolors) and applying real paint with a brush and makeup with a brush seems quite similar to me. Speaking of art, he creates it very quickly and passionately. It’s not unusual for him to finish all three art projects in his Bible class and do an additional art project to boot before we pick him up – in the course of that same hour, it’s not unusual for our other son to have belabored over the very first assignment and not yet completed it. Bear also loves mixing things, i.e. making slime. He also loves Play Doh. In the future, I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes an artist or a chemist. Though I also wouldn't be surprised if he becomes an actor.
• Time of Day: I don’t know, but I’d probably say nighttime, especially if there’s cuddling on the couch.
• Bedding: He still loves his cloud blankies, and will frequently carry a couple of them around, and also his rainbow-colored pillow.
• Foods: Meat. Cheese. Pepperoni. Fries. Chips. Lemonade. Iced tea (very rarely has access to this). Popsicles.
• Activities: He enjoys swim class. He also enjoys gardening with his dad.
• Animals: Cats, especially ours. He also likes bugs, especially spiders. We had a worm farm that he was pretty interested in (sadly, the worm farm did not last). He seems to really enjoy all animals, especially friendly animals.
• Heroes: He loves superheroes. He seems to prefer powerful superheroes like Disney’s Maleficent, but he also loves Batman.

E. Things He Does Not Like – Following orders. Being criticized (no one does). Being told “no.” Being told to take a nap. When his brother pulls him back so that his brother wins a race.

F. What He’s Thinking About – He’s already looking forward to his birthday party.

G. Surprises – Sometimes he’ll say really funny or cute things. He has a wonderful sense of humor.

H. Best & Worst Things –

• The best things: When he’s cuddly. Or being funny. Or being nice to his sister. His little hoarse voice. When he mispronounces words. When he gets excited about doing something, which happens a lot.
• The worst things: His temper. When he does something mean to another child, like spit or tear up their artwork. I think he does these things when he feels rejected by others. For example, when one of his friends told him that she didn't want to be his friend, that's when he decided to tear up her artwork. It's not an excuse, but it does shed some light on what he's thinking. He's a sensitive guy.

I. Family and Friends – So far, when his brother gets invited to something, we’ve taken him. So, his friends are essentially the same as his brother’s friends. Oh the joys of having two kids relatively close in age.

J. Parenting or What I’m Doing Differently – I’m trying to use the love language of touch more with Bear, as I believe that may be his primary language. I’m also trying to say “yes” more, even when it’s a bit late, or when what he wants to do is messy.

My Husband's Clothes, part of my Massive Memorial Day Organizational Palooza (Part 5)

For the full weekend's schedule and links to the other parts, see Part 1.

His Dresser

Odd socks

One of the smallest drawers contains socks that have temporarily lost their mates. A cardboard box separates the kids' socks from the adults' socks.

Athletic socks and Acorns

If you've never heard of Acorns before, they're like bedroom slippers except that they have a leather bottom. They need to be kept out of the dog's reach because he will chew and destroy them. Sometimes my husband forgets to stow his Acorns away, so I added a label in the bottom of the drawer where they go using white masking tape.

Labeling is important

Loosely folded shirts

In order to try to reduce the amount of time I spend on laundry, I've stopped folding in the Marie Kondo way - shown above is what I think takes the least energy for my husbands shirts. Fold once in half, hamburger style, and done.

Pants and pajamas

In an effort to spend less time on laundry, what I've done above is to fold pants once in half and be done.

Shorts and swimwear

Zip-ups and sweatshirts

Sweatshirts are really bulky. There was no room in his wardrobe/closet for these.

His Closet

We have a medium-sized wardrobe that we originally purchased from IKEA that serves as his closet. It contains his work clothes (suits, dress shirts, and dress shoes).

Card-shaped things

I used a small wooden box to corral card-shaped things such as ID badges.

Sentimental items

My husband's collection of foreign currency is now stowed inside of a 4" x 6" clear photo container from The Container Store. A caddy now holds small miscellaneous items (think rings and spare change).

Dress socks and cufflinks

He already had the cufflinks box, but I added a sentimental bandanna to the bottom of this shelf.

Neckties

The favorites

The rest

Keeping all 41 neckties in his closet didn't work well because they took up too much space, making the whole thing crammed. I separated out the 11 neckties I thought he used most frequently and put those on his tie tree. The other 30 I neatly stowed in a small dresser drawer.

Entryway Closet, part of my Massive Memorial Day Organizational Palooza (Part 4)

For the full weekend's schedule and links to the other parts, see Part 1.

Zoomed out

This closet is 4 feet wide. Our jackets are hanging to the left and right of the handing closet organizer. Since the right side of the closet is easier to access (because of how our doors are situated), I put our most frequently used jackets on the right side.

On the top shelf are my hats and the baby's shoes. Since she can't put on her shoes by herself, I didn't think they needed to be kept within her reach.

On the floor of the closet on the right-hand side are the boys' shoes and my shoes. One the floor of the closet are my husband's shoes.

Hanging closet organizer

Within the hanging closet organizer, from top:

• My husband's hats, as well as flashlights (for walking the dog at night)
• The dog's items (see below)
• Winter children's items, like mittens
• Winter items for my husband and I (like gloves)
• Extra coat hangers

Dog items

I am using a small white box to keep the pets' medicine corralled. I am using an even smaller blue box to keep the dog's brushes and comb corralled.

The Kids' Shared Sleep Room, part of my Massive Memorial Day Organizational Palooza (Part 3)

For the full weekend's schedule and links to the other parts, see Part 1.

The Kids' Beds

For our home, it made sense to have the kids sleeping in one room, and playing in another. That way, they wouldn't be distracted by their toys during naps or at bedtime, nor would they feel lonely at bedtime. Also, it avoids the problem of having them wonder which room their toys are in - now, all of their toys are in one spot, their playroom.

Boys' beds

Baby's crib and changing table

I hung the curtain rod and those curtains during this Memorial Day Weekend Organizational Palooza.

Panoramic view

I really love the color of their rug in this room.

Simple bedding

To keeps things simple, the kids' beds have a fitted sheet and one blanket that's easily washable. I stopped doing top sheets after a trip to the Netherlands - my hotel didn't have top sheets and it made so much sense to me (they just had a fitted sheet and a duvet). Top sheets just get rumpled and/or un-tucked.

The Boys' Clothes

Zoomed out

Zoomed in

In the upper baskets shown above are my oldest son's shirts and pants.

Middle drawer

In the middle drawer of the three-drawer caddy are my son's underwear, swim suits, and socks. They are divided using clear containers from The Container Store.

Crib sheets

Why so many crib sheets? Because the boys need to take them to their preschool for naps (their preschool has cots).

Baskets on floor on left

The top basket has my younger son's shirts. Note that they are not folded. I am hoping that this choice to not fold his shirts reduces the time I need to spend on laundry.

The middle basket has his pants.

The bottom basket has fitted twin sheets. Why not store sheets in the linen closet? Because our linen closet is exceptionally small, and because it made sense to me to store theses sheets near where they'll ultimately be used.

Shorts, baby blankets, and changing pad covers

A small hanging closet organizer

I just got this hanging closet organizer from IKEA and I'm now using it store blankets and bulky items (i.e. sweatshirts).

Hanging items

For each boy, I picked two "fancy" short sleeved shirts, two "fancy" long-sleeved shirts, one bathrobe, one long-sleeved fleece, and one vest, in addition to two sweatshirts (the sweatshirts are folded in the small hanging closet organizer mentioned above). By "fancy," I mean something that they can wear to a semi-formal event such as: picture day, weddings, church, or parties.

The Baby's Clothes

Changing table

 The changing table houses most of the baby's clothes.

Top drawer

The top drawer houses the baby's shirts, shorts, pants, and casual dresses (her one "fancy" dress is hung in the closet). This drawer holds a lot more stuff when that stuff is folded in the Marie Kondo style than if the stuff were just laid down like I have done with the boys' clothes.

Bottom drawer

The bottom drawer houses the baby's sweatshirts, her footie pajamas, her bibs, her burp clothes, and her socks. Her shoes are stored in the entryway closet, just like the boys' shoes.

Under-bed bin

Her swim clothes are stored in a clear plastic bin from The Container Store that goes under her crib. Although I have room to store more such bins under the boys' bed, I think that space looks cleaner being empty.

Top shelf of closet

On the very top shelf of the closet, I have put the baby's extra wipes and Diaper Genie refills. Since our pantry is very small, this makes more sense for us.

The Kids' Shared Playroom, part of my Massive Memorial Day Organizational Palooza (Part 2)

For the full weekend's schedule and links to the other parts, see Part 1.

Overview, the After Photos

Area by Area

Closet

for art supplies, boardgames and puzzles

Containers, various sizes

I had all of my containers handy, Marie-Kondo style, in order to be able to pick the correct size for each thing. I would "try on" a couple of different sizes for each thing.

Kids' art supplies, pre-organization

My goal was to keep all of their art supplies in one room. Previously, there were some in the entryway closet, some downstairs in the gaming area, and some on top of my dresser.

Top shelf

Items that required adult supervision - like puzzles and boardgames with easy-to-loose pieces - were placed on the top of the closet. The yellow folder containers Lego instruction manuals. The blue container holds a children's sewing kit. The clear large container holds colored construction paper and keeps it safe from moisture or getting bent.

Excess items were also placed on the top shelf: crayons, and Play Doh.

My goal was to put the items that need adult supervision up higher - the higher up they are stowed, the more adult supervision is needed (read as: the kids can create a big mess without an adult). The lower down in the closet organizers you go, the more the kids can just go wild with the items.

Hanging closet organizers

I need to find a better labeling solution, but you get the idea:

• Left organizer, from top: glue, sidewalk chalk, watercolors, crayons and coloring books.
• Right organizer, from top: acrylic paint and workbooks (needs adult supervision), markers, aprons, Play Doh implements, and Play Doh.

An odd-shaped closer for sure

This closet is an odd shape because it has stairs below it. So, you can kind of tell in this photo, but there isn't much floor space on the bottom - only five or so inches (just enough for their beach toys basket).

Midway Play Doh organization

The Play Doh tools in the plastic bag are going to be sequestered in the attic. If the kids ask for them, then the items can be traded back: they give me an item to go into the attic in exchange for an item to come back out of the attic.

The problem with the solution above is:

• That's too much Play Doh for the kids to drag to the dining table at once - it's heavy even for me to lift. They are only allowed to play with Play Doh on the dining table because it has a tendency to get stuck to everything, like carpets and furniture.

What was my solution?

• Use a small bin for Play Doh in active rotation, and when it becomes dried and needs to be tossed, then I can grab some for this excess, to be stored on the top shelf until needed.

Post-organization Play Doh

Crayons and drawing implements

So, for some reason, the kids had what seemed like 1,000 crayons. I think it's because they're easy to get (go to any restaurant and they'll give your kids some). I put a normal amount of crayons in a quart-sized Ziploc bag along with some other drawing tools (pencils, erasers, etc.) where the kids can easily reach them, and put the excess on the top shelf.

Bookcase

for books by category, and some toys

Orange and pink labels

Green labels

I used colored labels to divide the books by categories:

• Non-fiction (fat green labels)
• Nature, animals, science
• Stories (fat orange labels)
• Perfect for bedtime - think "The Cat in the Hat"
• Christmas Stories (red dots)
• Most of these are fictional, and while I could keep them in the attic, my oldest child likes to read them at any time of the year
• Bible Stories (green dots)
• Perfect-to-share-with-a-baby (fat pink labels)
• I hesitate to call these "baby books" or "girl books" because my three-year-old son likes some of these books too

Picture labels

Tilted so I can fit in more

Make it seem intentional

 As you may have noticed, this is actually two vertical bookcases turned sideways and stacked. The foot parts of the bookcases looked awkward, but they're the perfect shape for my son's bow and arrow set.

Toys and books

Zoomed out

Baskets

for balls and stuffed animals

Stuffed toys

Balls and soccer cones

Bulky Items

from Zords to a Doctor Kit

Zords

Cleared-off top

Previously, I'd kept their Zords on top of this piece of furniture, but I now think it looks cleaner to store them inside (except for the largest one which doesn't fit).

Transformers

I actually tested three different containers to find one that was the best size.

I put a few of their Transformers into the attic. Just like with their Play Doh tools, if they ask for something back, I will get it from the attic in exchange for putting something else into the attic to take its place. Some people call this a "toy rotation." Once my kids outgrow their toys, I'm planning to donate most of them, but save a few either for sentimental reasons or in case I host visitors with children.

Piggy banks

I used to store books on these ledges, but the children couldn't reach them easily, and I'd always forget that they were there when I'd go into the room to get a book for storytime. I ordered a few prints from Etsy that I plan to frame and put here later.

Zoomed out

Handyman Area

workbenches, anyone?

Two workbenches

This Easter, the boys' grandfather generously gave them each a workbench. The problem is that my oldest son is already a bit old for these toys (he's too tall), and isn't very interested in tools. Plus, these workbenches take up a lot of physical space. Since we used to have a similar item and donated it, I'm not sure how long we will continue to own and display these. A wise friend of mine limits her children's toys to those that represent a current interest - in her case, her daughter loves baby dolls and has quite a few, even though the total number of toys she has is very manageable. In my friend's case, toys that don't represent one of the child's current interests are frequently offloaded. I didn't realize that Easter had become a gift-giving holiday - for prior years, the boys would only receive candy from their grandfather. I will try to remember to touch base with him before next Easter so that if an item arrives, it makes sense for our specific kids and home.

Speaking of these workbenches, although I used to store the tools on the built-in hooks, I think it looks neater with all of the tools put away each day, plus part of the fun for the kids is to arrange their workbenches and hang up their tools each time.

Baby-friendly Area

look, Baby, it's all your stuff

Right inside the door

Some items in the toy room are not baby-friendly. So, I put my baby's toys in the very beginning of the room, to hopefully attract her attention and steer her away from the toys that are not meant for her. Of course this is not meant to be a replacement for adult supervision.

The Baby’s Toys Dresser

a good fit for a great dresser

We have a dresser in our living room that serves to hold some of the baby's toys and also to direct foot traffic around our wall-mounted TV.

The bottom drawer serves as a doll bed

Although I would love to have a proper baby doll bed for these dolls (which were also Easter gifts from the kids' grandfather), I would rather save money and space by doing this.

A drawer of the baby's toys, unsorted

Overly sorted toys

Normally, I think the more organizers, the better, but in this case, adding a small square-shaped organizer actually made the space look more cluttered and disorganized to my eye.

The winning solution