Purposeful Parenting

Since Olivia's diagnosis I have become absolutely consumed with being the best advocate for her. I want to make sure that she gets the best medical care possible. I know that Olivia is a smart but I also know that it takes her longer to learn new skills. I've realized that learning a new skill is indeed that, for her it's a learning process. Other kids might seem to seamlessly pick things up but for Olivia it's a process. We have to break it down into smaller parts or steps, we have to rehearse and repeat. It's work but we get there. I know that I'm a good mom but I am also a parent on a mission. I have all these other items on my parenting agenda. Somewhere along the lines everything became a learning opportunity, a way to help Olivia. Today we got some toy catalogs in the mail and I started flipping through them for Christmas ideas. I started making my Christmas list based on the goals that we have for Olivia right now....lacing toys to help with her fine motor skills, a bike to help her regain some of her strength and work on spacial awareness. Everything had an alternative purpose, it would be a toy for her to play with but also something to help her learn. I'm sure that most parents choose educational toys for their children but I realized that I was going overboard. I cannot remember the last time that I chose a toy for Olivia just because I thought she would enjoy playing with it. Literally, I cannot remember the last time I saw something and thought that I had to get it because she would love playing with it.

Olivia's school teacher came by today for their regular Tuesday session. Following today's session the teacher remarked that Olivia was doing really well. She's talking more and she's being more independent. Sometimes it's difficult to get her to follow along with the way that the teacher wants to play with the toy but she's being a typical 3 year old. These are toys so she wants to be able to touch and explore them, not jump right into the activity. Her teacher's comment made me realize that I need to back off. Sometimes I need to just let Olivia be a kid, let her choose the "fun" toy instead of choosing the "educational" toy for her. This Christmas Olivia will be getting some fun toys along with the educational ones.

In other parent news we are working on potty training again. I think it's going pretty well. Since Saturday Olivia has been wearing big girl panties when she's awake. So far she's averaging about 2 accidents a day BUT they are pee pee accidents she hasn't pooped in her diaper at all. I think this is a huge accomplishment since she has pretty loose stools and is pooping about 3 times a day. She's doing a great job.

Peter is quickly approaching his 1st birthday and we're starting to make the transitions associated with infant to toddlerhood. Peter stopped using a pacifier around 2 months so I'm really glad we don't have to worry about that. He's eating less and less baby food, basically he's eating whatever we're having, I'm just cutting it into tiny pieces. I have yet to find a food that he doesn't seem to like (I think my mom should get all the credit for his well developed palate, dryer lint and onion skin excluded). I also started giving him whole milk this week. He's having 2 bottles a day, in the morning and at bedtime, but he seems to enjoy the whole milk in his sippy cup. I really am very blessed because he seems to be pretty easy going.