Reading his note from the Tooth Fairy! I'm so impressed with his reading skills already at the end of Kindergarten!
Pretty excited to get $10 for his first tooth!
Showing posts with label Firsts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Firsts. Show all posts
Monday, June 24, 2019
A new first in the Barrows house - Jordie lost his first tooth!
He was so excited and scared at the same time! It had been wiggly for a few weeks and was bugging him every time he ate and he was whining about it. We had tried to pull it for a few days when finally on the weekend I told him that if he went to the dentist on Tuesday and it was still hanging on that they would probably just pull it. He's not a huge fan of the dentist so I was pretty sure this would be the thing that would get him to the final place where he was really ready for it to come out. He has tiny little teeth too and I couldn't grab it so I used the old toilet paper trick and it popped out super easy. He was SO excited and couldn't wait for the tooth fairy to come. BUT, of course worst mother in the world here...I had no money in my wallet that night! Ooopss.....so the tooth fairy forgot one night and then made up for it the next night.
NOTE: This happened a few weeks ago but it's been absolutely ridiculous for us with work, school, baseball, etc so I'm just getting to finishing the blog post now! Didn't want to not record this momentous occasion with a post so I'm doing it late!
Sunday, September 18, 2016
And just like that...he's POTTY TRAINED!
And I wish we could take the credit for it...but truthfully I give almost all of the credit to our awesome daycare lady Debbie! Here's how potty training went down for our stubborn little man.
Sometime around last fall when he started at Debbie's daycare we moved him out of diapers and into pull-ups. We felt that the way that we did things with James worked really well and so we thought we'd give it a shot again and see how it turned out. We started with pull-ups really early but encouraged him to use the potty whenever he wanted to and would put him on the potty at least a few times a day but weren't too concerned those first few months if he was wet when he sat on there. He was fine going pee on the potty when we told him to but otherwise he just couldn't care whether he was in a wet pull-up or not. And pooping on the potty was even harder for him to grasp. We went along for months like this (probably until February or March of this year) just telling him where he was supposed to go but not being angry if he didn't go in the potty. We knew that over time he would get the concept and we'd be off to the races. Because he didn't really start talking and communicating fully until the spring we knew this might be an area that was a bit harder for him to grasp. Fast forward to just after his 3rd birthday and we were feeling like it was time. He was finally talking and fully able to communicate with us. We told him that after he turned 3 there were no more pull-ups so within a few days we switched him into underwear and hoped for the best. He had quite a few accidents but seemed to be catching on pretty good.
Sometime around 2 weeks after his birthday I dropped him off at Debbie's in underwear and told her that we were committed to making it work, but that he was still having some accidents and wasn't quite grasping the concept yet. We were totally fine with using rewards (and consequences) for his either going or not going and left it up to Debbie to do her thing (this woman has potty trained TONS of kids over the years so we knew he was in great hands!). We knew she was the kindest woman and she had been so patient with him up to this point, giving tons of rewards and positive reinforcement when he did use the potty properly.
That afternoon I went to pick up Jordie and she said that he had had an accident and peed all over her floor! She said she used her "stern voice" and she seemed almost sorry about it but she wanted him to know it was a serious thing he had done. From what I know of Debbie I'm pretty sure her stern voice was nothing compared to what he hears at our house or Nana's house. She told him that it was not okay to pee on her floor and that he had to use the potty and be a big boy. And THEN, here is the kicker....she put his undies up on the line right above the pool that Maddie was playing in and HE WASN'T ALLOWED TO PLAY IN THE POOL WITH HER! He had to play outside the pool all of that day and just watch her in the water...all the while seeing his undies hanging on the line. And it WORKED! From that day forward he was completely potty-trained, both pee and poop. It was a glorious day in our world and we couldn't thank Debbie for using the exact method of just the right consequence that our little guy needed to understand that he was a big boy and had to use the potty. It certainly made for a much easier summer for us without dealing with pull-ups!
NOTE: This is a bit overdue as he's now been trained for almost 3 months but I still wanted to be able to share my experiences with this little guy and this huge milestone!
Sometime around last fall when he started at Debbie's daycare we moved him out of diapers and into pull-ups. We felt that the way that we did things with James worked really well and so we thought we'd give it a shot again and see how it turned out. We started with pull-ups really early but encouraged him to use the potty whenever he wanted to and would put him on the potty at least a few times a day but weren't too concerned those first few months if he was wet when he sat on there. He was fine going pee on the potty when we told him to but otherwise he just couldn't care whether he was in a wet pull-up or not. And pooping on the potty was even harder for him to grasp. We went along for months like this (probably until February or March of this year) just telling him where he was supposed to go but not being angry if he didn't go in the potty. We knew that over time he would get the concept and we'd be off to the races. Because he didn't really start talking and communicating fully until the spring we knew this might be an area that was a bit harder for him to grasp. Fast forward to just after his 3rd birthday and we were feeling like it was time. He was finally talking and fully able to communicate with us. We told him that after he turned 3 there were no more pull-ups so within a few days we switched him into underwear and hoped for the best. He had quite a few accidents but seemed to be catching on pretty good.
Sometime around 2 weeks after his birthday I dropped him off at Debbie's in underwear and told her that we were committed to making it work, but that he was still having some accidents and wasn't quite grasping the concept yet. We were totally fine with using rewards (and consequences) for his either going or not going and left it up to Debbie to do her thing (this woman has potty trained TONS of kids over the years so we knew he was in great hands!). We knew she was the kindest woman and she had been so patient with him up to this point, giving tons of rewards and positive reinforcement when he did use the potty properly.
That afternoon I went to pick up Jordie and she said that he had had an accident and peed all over her floor! She said she used her "stern voice" and she seemed almost sorry about it but she wanted him to know it was a serious thing he had done. From what I know of Debbie I'm pretty sure her stern voice was nothing compared to what he hears at our house or Nana's house. She told him that it was not okay to pee on her floor and that he had to use the potty and be a big boy. And THEN, here is the kicker....she put his undies up on the line right above the pool that Maddie was playing in and HE WASN'T ALLOWED TO PLAY IN THE POOL WITH HER! He had to play outside the pool all of that day and just watch her in the water...all the while seeing his undies hanging on the line. And it WORKED! From that day forward he was completely potty-trained, both pee and poop. It was a glorious day in our world and we couldn't thank Debbie for using the exact method of just the right consequence that our little guy needed to understand that he was a big boy and had to use the potty. It certainly made for a much easier summer for us without dealing with pull-ups!
NOTE: This is a bit overdue as he's now been trained for almost 3 months but I still wanted to be able to share my experiences with this little guy and this huge milestone!
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
A huge accomplishment in any kid's life...and they did it on the same day!
One of the items on our Summer Bucket List was for the boys to ride bikes without training wheels. We attempted it back in early July and it was a DISASTER for James. Jim got frustrated and mad because James wasn't trying, James cried and gave up really easily, and Jordie and me just giggled and gave it a quick shot before heading to the park to play instead. We were really there for James but thought we'd give it a shot with Jordie too just in case he went for it (which he didn't)! It wasn't until about 6 months ago when he saw his little brother get on his old bike that James even started to ride his bike at all. Because Jordie had been riding the glider bike and pedal bike interchangeably for the last 6 or so months we were pretty sure he was ready to give up the training wheels but didn't want to push it either until he expressed a desire to ride without them. But with James we knew that with a little bit of pushing and encouragement that he would probably be able to do it quite easily.
After that disaster day at the park with James our daycare lady Debbie suggested that we put him on a bigger glider bike (the one we had for Jordie was way too small) and see how he did with his balance as that seemed to be his hang up. He was so afraid to fall off the bike that he couldn't balance and just go with it. Debbie lent us the glider bike just before my holidays and he spent my 3 weeks off going between his two bikes while camping and at my parents house. By the end of my holidays he was clearly riding it with his legs up and balancing perfectly but when we would mention taking the training wheels off he would say he wasn't ready yet.
Fast forward to this weekend's camping trip and on Thursday and Friday he was riding along with his training wheels and I casually said to him that if he would take them off he would get to go as fast as Jaxon could and I could see it definitely piqued his interest, but not enough yet. The next day his training wheels had to be taken off to fix his chain and he just looked at us and said "I want to do this, I want to ride without them". One trip to the field at Haywire and he was off and going, with almost no help from anyone. Clearly his month on the glider bike had given him the confidence that he needed to know he could balance and wouldn't fall off. An hour later he was absolutely FLYING down the hills near our campsite and we all remarked how when he did fall it was going to hurt, but that he would learn! Not even an hour after our comment we hear this coming from Jaxon riding into our campsite "uh Jim, we have a problem....James fell." Jim and I went running just a few campsites away and he was laying on the side of the road twisted in his bike with two awesome older boys that had seen him fall and stopped to make sure he was okay. He was shaking and bleeding a little bit on his elbow and his knee but was otherwise okay. Sidenotes: I loved these big kids and thanked them for being good kids....and I hope I am raising my boys to be those kind of kids that will stop too!
Off to the trailer we went to clean him up, bandage him up (which anyone who knows James knows he HATES bandaids) and get him changed into some pants and a shirt. My heart broke when he said to me after he was dressed that he was scared to get back on his bike because he said it was going to hurt. I convinced him to go again, even just for a shorter (and much slower) ride with Papa and Diesel just to get his confidence back. Later that night he was back at it wholeheartedly...but certainly not as fast as he had been a few hours earlier. He is cautious but in a good way. :)
I thought my heart was literally going to burst out of my chest watching him. Here he is showing me the first time that he could do it:
Less than hour after James accomplished the no training wheels Jordie came up to me and said "I no want my training wheels on my bike" so his came off too! Here he is practicing with Daddy and Ash in our campsite:
About 15 minutes later Ash said he was ready for the road so off they went and he was gone too! That first night he felt a bit unsafe and when he would stop and think he was going to fall he would ask for help to hold his seat but then as soon as he got going you could clearly see that he didn't need any help at all. By the next morning they were happily off riding bikes in the rain while we cleaned up the campsite and both boys were sad when they were told their bikes had to be put away cause we were heading home!
That night was truly one of the proudest nights of my whole life as a parent. Jim and I kept praising them and telling them how proud we were of them both and how excited we were for them to now be able to just ride. James said that Dad and I need to get bikes now and we couldn't agree more! I can't wait for evening family walks and bike rides in the future. :)
After that disaster day at the park with James our daycare lady Debbie suggested that we put him on a bigger glider bike (the one we had for Jordie was way too small) and see how he did with his balance as that seemed to be his hang up. He was so afraid to fall off the bike that he couldn't balance and just go with it. Debbie lent us the glider bike just before my holidays and he spent my 3 weeks off going between his two bikes while camping and at my parents house. By the end of my holidays he was clearly riding it with his legs up and balancing perfectly but when we would mention taking the training wheels off he would say he wasn't ready yet.
Fast forward to this weekend's camping trip and on Thursday and Friday he was riding along with his training wheels and I casually said to him that if he would take them off he would get to go as fast as Jaxon could and I could see it definitely piqued his interest, but not enough yet. The next day his training wheels had to be taken off to fix his chain and he just looked at us and said "I want to do this, I want to ride without them". One trip to the field at Haywire and he was off and going, with almost no help from anyone. Clearly his month on the glider bike had given him the confidence that he needed to know he could balance and wouldn't fall off. An hour later he was absolutely FLYING down the hills near our campsite and we all remarked how when he did fall it was going to hurt, but that he would learn! Not even an hour after our comment we hear this coming from Jaxon riding into our campsite "uh Jim, we have a problem....James fell." Jim and I went running just a few campsites away and he was laying on the side of the road twisted in his bike with two awesome older boys that had seen him fall and stopped to make sure he was okay. He was shaking and bleeding a little bit on his elbow and his knee but was otherwise okay. Sidenotes: I loved these big kids and thanked them for being good kids....and I hope I am raising my boys to be those kind of kids that will stop too!
Off to the trailer we went to clean him up, bandage him up (which anyone who knows James knows he HATES bandaids) and get him changed into some pants and a shirt. My heart broke when he said to me after he was dressed that he was scared to get back on his bike because he said it was going to hurt. I convinced him to go again, even just for a shorter (and much slower) ride with Papa and Diesel just to get his confidence back. Later that night he was back at it wholeheartedly...but certainly not as fast as he had been a few hours earlier. He is cautious but in a good way. :)
I thought my heart was literally going to burst out of my chest watching him. Here he is showing me the first time that he could do it:
Less than hour after James accomplished the no training wheels Jordie came up to me and said "I no want my training wheels on my bike" so his came off too! Here he is practicing with Daddy and Ash in our campsite:
Isn't his little giggle just the cutest thing ever?!
About 15 minutes later Ash said he was ready for the road so off they went and he was gone too! That first night he felt a bit unsafe and when he would stop and think he was going to fall he would ask for help to hold his seat but then as soon as he got going you could clearly see that he didn't need any help at all. By the next morning they were happily off riding bikes in the rain while we cleaned up the campsite and both boys were sad when they were told their bikes had to be put away cause we were heading home!
More cautious after his fall but still having so much fun!
One last ride before bed on Saturday night
Sunday morning bike riding
That night was truly one of the proudest nights of my whole life as a parent. Jim and I kept praising them and telling them how proud we were of them both and how excited we were for them to now be able to just ride. James said that Dad and I need to get bikes now and we couldn't agree more! I can't wait for evening family walks and bike rides in the future. :)
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Jordan's first big kid swimming lessons
Pretty happy little Jordie Boy ready for his very first set of big kid swimming lessons! This kid is just like his big brother and they both love the water and are definitely not afraid of it. I was surprised when he held the instructor's hands to jump into the water, because for the past 2 years he's been jumping in from the side all by himself.
Jim and I both watched his first class and felt emotional that he's just getting so grown up in the past 6 months.
Introducing himself to his teacher
Looking back at us to make sure we were watching him
Very curious with everything that she showed them
Time to float on his tummy
Cute short little jumping video
Day 2: Let me out of here Mom, I'm ready!
Back floats
Face in the water and blowing bubbles
Big kicks...just like in the pool at Nana and Papa's house!
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Jim and I couldn't be more proud of his newest sport!
James had his first class of karate today and seriously he did so good. Jim and I were so darn proud standing there watching him kick, punch, run, follow directions and yell happily throughout the whole thing!
In the weeks leading up today we had talked with James a lot about listening, respect and paying attention to the Sensei and he knew that if he couldn't follow directions that he wouldn't be allowed to continue in the class. We've been trying hard to reinforce to him to not speak unless spoken to (which I know is hard for him...I wonder where he gets that from!!) and thankfully today he did really good. And the absolute best part of it all...he absolutely LOVED it! I can see many many hours (and dollars) being spent at that dojo and I hope he continues to fall in love with it and it becomes a sport that he excels at. I think it will be great for his self esteem and will teach him the discipline that I think helps kids so much these days.
Here's to many more photos and videos in the future!
In the weeks leading up today we had talked with James a lot about listening, respect and paying attention to the Sensei and he knew that if he couldn't follow directions that he wouldn't be allowed to continue in the class. We've been trying hard to reinforce to him to not speak unless spoken to (which I know is hard for him...I wonder where he gets that from!!) and thankfully today he did really good. And the absolute best part of it all...he absolutely LOVED it! I can see many many hours (and dollars) being spent at that dojo and I hope he continues to fall in love with it and it becomes a sport that he excels at. I think it will be great for his self esteem and will teach him the discipline that I think helps kids so much these days.
Here's to many more photos and videos in the future!
All dressed and ready to go!
Today's turn to be awesome! He did so good and Sensei was impressed with how fast he was!
This was from his karate evaluation back in early December. He talked about this to everyone that would listen. He loved that he was able to kick the paper out of Sensei's hand!
Friday, November 6, 2015
There were quite a few things I was looking forward to when James started Kindergarten...
...things like class field trips, being part of the PAC, making new Mom friends and of course the long standing ritual of school pictures!
On the day of his pictures we went and got his glasses adjusted and my only request was that before they snapped the picture could he please push his glasses up on his nose so I could see his beautiful blue eyes. I stayed with the class that morning and he was so excited and ran to be at the front of the line so I knew he was completely wired and I wondered how he would do...and I have to say I am very pleasantly surprised at how cute these photos turned out. They are so James.
Seriously! SO ADORABLE I just want to kiss his cheeks! :)
Side note: I didn't know until my much more experienced mom friend Theresa told me that the photographers tell the kids to stick their thumbs in their pockets. I was surprised at the pose and that he came up with it so glad to hear he follows directions well! :)
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Best $30 I've ever spent - Bubble Guppies Live show!
I'm going to start off this post with the best part of the whole weekend, and the reason we went to Vancouver...the Bubble Guppies Live show. Originally James was going to come with my sister and I but decided that with it being his first day of hockey that he would stay home with Daddy instead. Plus, he told me that the Bubble Guppies were really not a big kids show, it was really only a show for 2 year olds, like Jordie!
Here he is playing with his new light up wand that Auntie Ra bought him!
Attempting to get a good photo of each of us with him...he was clearly very distracted with the music playing and kids all around him!
The show started and he was so fascinated by it all
This smile says it all
And here he is laughing and clapping along to the music
Intermission time and I managed to get the picture I wanted!
Showing us his light wand
He kept folding himself into his chair because he thought it was funny!
This one is cute!
Little guy was so thirsty from all of the yelling "Yay"
And here are the videos I took of him! He was just so excited that it was so awesome to see the look on his face. Both my sister and I probably spent more time watching Jordan than we did the actual show. We said that these videos alone were worth far more than the $30 we paid for the tickets!
Vanessa came with us and had some fun with Jordie on the ferry on the way to Vancouver
Looking out the window
I love this picture of him!
Eating peanut butter by the finger full
Mommy and Jordie's favorite food snack stop....Kernels Popcorn!
As far as I know he's never been on an escalator...he was so excited and kept pointing at them in the mall as we walked around.
After the show we headed to Ryan and Sam's for dinner and overnight stay. We ordered pizza and had a great visit.
Some snuggles with my Jordie boy
He kept showing me his belly and wanted me to rub it
All stretched out and ready for a big sleep in a king sized bed
I love this picture of him!
2 hours later I went up to go to bed and this is how I found him. I'm not sure where he was expecting me to sleep! :)
The next morning Jordan and Gus were checking each other out
Off to check out Ikea and this handsome little guy was all smiles and cuteness
And kisses for Auntie Ra
Mommy too!
And one last one for Auntie Sam
I really wanted one of the 4 of us, but Sam was not interested in it!
This one is cute!
The best we got!
Less than 10 minutes from Ikea to Costco and the poor guy was out cold
But he woke up and got very happy very quickly when he saw this Marshall costume
At the ferry and he was pounding back the Kernels popcorn as fast as his little hand could shovel it into his mouth!
Snuggles and tickles with Vanessa on the ferry on the way home
A few minutes after we got off the ferry he was sound asleep so we tried to prop him up with Nessa's blanket. He certainly looks comfy!
At the Earl's Cove ferry waiting for our last ferry to get home to Daddy and B
Practicing his pitching
Most adorable video of his pitching!
A few more cute ones
Even more popcorn!
He definitely looks like his Daddy in this photo
We had such a great trip and big thanks to the wonderful Auntie Ra for coming with us. 3 years ago it was Toopy & Binoo with James so she of course was the first person I asked when I saw that the BG's were coming to Vancouver. It was definitely worth the trip and the money to see the absolutely joy on Jordan's face!
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