Toddler Training: Chair Time

Every morning, after breakfast, Caleb has "chair time." On some days, I let Caleb pick out a few books or a small toy, on other days, I choose for him. I arrange the books on his special chair and he climbs up for some quiet play time. The idea is for him to be able to sit quietly for an extended period of time. We started with 5-minute sessions, are currently at 10 minutes, and have a goal of 30 minutes by the end of March.

"Chair Time" has been a great addition to our day! Caleb is learning to focus and play quietly, and I am able to use the 10 minutes to do the breakfast dishes, start a load of laundry or get myself ready for the day.


In the afternoon, we alternate between "Blanket Time" and "Tent Time". . . same idea only Caleb either "reads" quietly on a small blanket I put out on the living room floor, or plays quietly in his pop-up tent.

I can't take credit for coming up with this wonderful idea (I've read about it in a few books and seen variations of it on blogs like this one) but it has been working so well for us that I wanted to pass along the idea to you.

Best Way to Start the Day

Baking is Better than Disneyland

Today, I introduced Caleb into the world of baking. . . well, sort of. Since we didn't actually do any baking because we made these, what I introduced to him was the world of dumping pre-measured ingredients into a pot and stirring.

Step 1: Dump everything Mom gives you into the pot.

Step 2: Take a sip of milk from the measuring cup.


Step 3: Smile real big.


Step 4: Clean-up. Be sure to lick every last bit of chocolately peanut butter goodness off!



To a curious, mess-loving 16-month old, I am pretty darn sure that dumping, stirring and "cleaning" are more exciting than a trip to Disneyland. And since Disneyland is a lot more expensive and time-consuming (especially considering the trans-Pacific flight such a trip to would entail right now), a 30-minute "baking" project ranks higher in this Mom's book, too!

Caleb's Quilt

Sharon has been asking me for a picture of the quilt Yvette made Caleb for Christmas. The quilt is a train theme (hard to see from the picture) and very cute.

123

My friend, Christianne, tagged me about a week ago. We've had house guests for the last 10 days and I haven't had a quiet minute to sit and blog. This morning, my sister-in-law offered to give the kids a bath so, VOILA!, here I am =)

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For the 1-2-3 meme, the directions are:

1) Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2) Open the book to page 123.
3) Find the fifth sentence.
4) Post the next three sentences.
5) Tag five people.

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1. Grace Based Parenting by Dr. Tim Kimmel (recommended to me a few months ago by Heather over at LazyDRanch. . . thanks, Heather.)
2. page 39. . . . 103. . . .127. . . 123. . . okay, I'm there.
3. 1 period, 2 periods, 3 periods, 4 periods, 5 periods. Got it.
4. "Cheaters sometimes win. One dimensional people often end up with more money. Selfishness, cunning and backstabbing are often the faster tracks to fame." (Can I break the rules and post the next sentence as well?) "Grace dictates that we keep achievement goals in context with the children's bigger role as members of God's chosen people."
5. Uh-oh! I don't know if I know 5 people to tag since most of my regular readers have already been tagged. If you've already been tagged, just ignore this =)
Mom, Yvette, Sharon, cousin Jessica and Jessica in Colorado. . . tag, you're it!

Sometimes words don't come.

Eric went home to be with his beloved Christ this morning. This happy greeting meant a very sad parting here, however. I have no words to express the sorrow I feel. I love this family very much and I cannot bear to think of the pain this loss brings them. Please be in earnest prayer for his wife, Heather, and their six children.

Oh Lord, we don't understand why, but we trust You.

Yum

Thanks to Christianne (and her mom's secret recipe), I enjoyed this delicious breakfast this morning.

Love someone so much it made you cry?

I recently received one of those "friend survey" emails. You know, the kind where you answer a bunch of random questions about yourself and send it to all your friends, including the person that sent it to you. (Just for the record, I don't usually do those, so if you forward one to me, don't take offense if I don't complete it. ) Since this was sent to me by a new friend I just met at Bible Study and since everyone else on the list were other ladies from the small group, I thought it might be a good way to get to know random tidbits about each other, like favorite ice-cream, number of pets, regular bedtime, etc.

There were a few "deeper" questions on the survey.
Q3: What are you most afraid of?
Q10: Love someone so much it made you cry?
Q33: What do you want to do before you die?

My answer to Q10 was yes, but since I sent the survey off two days ago, I have been thinking more about the depth of that question. My quick response was in regards to being a wife and mother. I have cried many times because of the overwhelming love I have for my husband, Joshua, and son, Caleb. The amazing joy these two have brought to my life is inexpressible. Sometimes, tears are the only words that come close to capturing it.

But, as I started pondering the question, I began thinking of other loves that have brought me to tears.

The deepest and most intense love, the one that most often brings me to tears, especially in prayer or in worship, is my love for Christ. Or rather, I should say, His love for me! (We love Him because He first loved us. I John 4:19) Not that tears of love are a prerequisite for true faith, but I do imagine that every true Christian has had a heart so full of love for Christ that tears were the only possible release!

Just this weekend, I learned of a difficult situation some very dear friends are facing. I have mentioned the Davis family before, when Eric was in the hospital just before Christmas. Unexpectedly, he collapsed again just a few days ago, suffered multiple cardiac arrests and is now in critical condition. When I heard the news, tears of love poured forth. I love this family, even though I do not get to see them often. My love for them caused me to feel their burden as if it were my own. Sometimes the tears of love are painful.

Coming Soon. . .

Another baby will be joining the Redin family the end of this summer. The ETA for Baby R2, according to the sonogram, is August 28th. (For those of you who think in weeks, that puts me at around 7.5 weeks). We were able to hear the heartbeat and see our baby, little arm and leg nubs and all, in live action just yesterday.

Feel free to guess the gender. . . we don't plan on finding out until the big day arrives, but I'd love to hear your guesses.

Please keep this little one in your prayers. He/She still has a lot of growing to do!

Going Out With a Bang

Actually, it was more like a splash than a bang. . .

At our going away party, Josh, Dustin, Eric, Jordan, Jeremy and John decided that some male-bonding was in order. The solution: jump in the 42-degree pool. Needless to say they all rendezvoused in the spa afterward and stayed there much longer than they did in the pool.

All I can say is, boys are weird!