Yes, I let my toddler watch TV

Probably TOO much TV. But there you go. Sesame Street and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse allows me to have coffee and eat breakfast. Or at the very least try to eat breakfast since Little Man has decided he wants to have my cereal, from my bowl, in the morning. That habit actually stopped me from having Peanut Butter Captain Crunch today (yes, I eat like a kid) because Little Man hasn't had peanuts yet. But the TV often distracts him enough for me to eat, or empty and reload the dishwasher, or throw a load of laundry in the wash.

That being said, I don't want him to watch TOO much TV and am working to change this habit (if it isn't too late to do so) by spending a LOT of time with him, playing in his bedroom. And as the weather gets nicer, he will be OUTSIDE as much as possible during his waking hours--when I'm not at the office. Since he's still coming to work with me (hoping to do 2 days in daycare starting in June), I don't have as much opportunity to take him outside. But I did manage on St. Patrick's Day when the weather was hovering around 70 degrees.

Here's a photo of him from that day.


Cute, huh?

Seriously, he does watch too much TV but at least it's age appropriate. The aforementioned Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jake & the Neverland Pirates (because it's on), Dora, Diego, The Wonder Pets, The Fresh Beat Band and, on occasion, Yo Gabba Gabba, Special Agent Oso and (my favorite) Jack's Big Music Show.

Little Man will reply to questions that are asked by Dora or Diego--usually with a "NO!" Or he'll say "Bap Pap" and "Map" if Dora asks her audience who do you ask when ___? So I guess he is learning. He even says "tip toe" thanks to the Hic Boom Oh episode.

So I guess there are worse things he could be doing, right?

But I DO need to cut back. I don't want him to become a couch potato.

Mister Personality and Miscellany

I noticed that I tend to blog about the less appealing aspects of motherhood. The sleepless nights. Hefting a nearly 28 lb toddler around. The temper tantrums. The nap strikes. And I guess I write about that because I need a place to vent about this. But, overall, my son is an absolutely amazing little boy who has a fantastic, sunny personality. Dude and I called him Sunshine when he was an infant because his sunny smile lit up rooms. His nature is cheerful, overall. Even when he's cranky, he can be FUN!

This picture, I think, captures Little Man's personality.



He has such a joyous energy about him. Recently a post on The Bump discussed describing your little one in one word. I chose "Charmer." I think it suits him. The response he gets from people is amazing. Even from just photos online. I have many people I consider to be friends, of sorts, from meeting them on various message boards. I've reconnected on Facebook with some—along with friends from college and high school (or even elementary school). I find it nice, actually. Even though I thought I would NOT want to be in touch with anyone, considering how much I hated school overall (due to the bullying). Yet I'm glad to be in touch with everyone that I am and I actually wish I could spend time with my friends in person. But that's for another blog altogether, I think.

Right now, Little Man is actually napping. He went out with us on errands—buying a new sofa for our "family" room (small TV room next to our kitchen) and getting a birthday present for our oldest niece, Miss M. And, as an aside, it's not easy buying for a six-going-on-sixteen-year-old. So we ended up getting her a gift card per my sister-in-law's suggestion. I hope Miss M isn't insulted by the lack of actual present.

Again, Little Man is napping. He slept from around 8:15 pm to 6 am (he almost always wakes by 6:30). Then he napped early (9:15 to 10:30). I took him for a long ride around the block in his Little Tikes car. He was SO happy because he adores being outdoors. Then after lunch, we bought the sofa (because the dogs keep peeing on the current one) and did our Toys R Us run. Then Costco to get food for dinner. And basically the minute his head hit the crib (no pillow yet), he was fast asleep—that was at 3:40 pm. It's almost 4:30 as I type and hopefully he'll manage an hour and will be cheerful for the rest of the day. It seems that Little Man gets crankier when he hasn't napped well. Though I also think it's due to his inability to run around as much as he'd like.

Tomorrow we'll see Dude's side of the family. All seven cousins will be together. I'm curious to see how Little Man does, since he doesn't really interact with other children. And I'm actually taking him to The Little Gym for a free introductory class tomorrow. If he likes it, I'll sign him up for the rest of the session. I hope he does.

Until next time...
SweetNJMom signing off