Do you and Libbi get out of the house a lot during the week, or are you more of a homebody?
We are definitely homebodies! But, we usually get out a couple of times a week. Most of the time it's just to go to Target or to the grocery store. There is a "Toddler Time" playgroup that meets down the street from our house on Tuesday and Thursday mornings that we try to go to every now and then. Before she started school, we went to storytime at the library on Mondays, but now it conflicts with her school schedule. She goes to school on Monday and Friday mornings from 9 - 12 and we go to Bible Study on Wednesday mornings from 10-11:30. Other than those regularly scheduled events, anything goes. We usually stay home one day a week. Libbi loves to go, go go! Now that the weather is turning warmer, we are definitely headed for the park more often! :)
What's Libbi's favorite food?
Chick-fil-a and cookies - ha! Seriously, she would eat chick-fil-a chicken nuggets every day and cookies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (I have NO idea where she gets that from!) ;0)
Unfortunately, she is a picky eater and she is VERY specific with her likes and dislikes. She is also very finicky (which I guess is normal for this age) and some days she will LOVE a food and the next she'll act like it's poison. We never really know.
She eats a waffle and yogurt (or a banana) for breakfast every morning. She drinks a cup of apples juice with her breakfast and that is her juice allotment for the day. (Even though she BEGS for it all day).
She eats a snack around 10 each day - anything from teddy grahams, to fruit, to goldfish and a cup of water. (with ice - she's very particular about this - ha! I'm surprised she doesn't also request a lemon!)
She is typically not a big eater at lunch time....she'll usually eat some type of cheese, fruit, (raw) veggie, or cracker. She mostly just "samples" a little of everything. She drinks whole milk with her lunch.
She eats a snack when she wakes up from her nap - anywhere from 3 - 4pm. same as the morning - it can be anything from teddy grahams, applesauce, goldfish, etc, and a cup of water.
Suppertime she eats what we eat (sometimes)....if it's something that I know she won't eat (like roast and potatoes) I'll make her some macaroni and cheese. She drinks whole milk with her supper, too.
She typically will always eat spaghetti, chicken and dressing, chicken nuggets, lasagna, and macaroni and cheese. Everything else has a 50/50 chance. Oh, and chips and queso - that girl loves her some "dip"...sometimes I can get her to eat new things just by giving her something to dip it in (she'll eat ketchup, bar-b-que sauce, polynesian sauce (from cfa), salsa, dressing, etc.) She also loves goldfish, all fruits, yogurt, and any kind of "snack."
Did you have to do any "sleep training" with Libbi, or did she sleep good on her own?
Honestly, she was a good sleeper on her own. I read Babywise while I was pregnant (because everyone said that was THE book to read) and while I did come away with the eat, play(wake), sleep sequence, there wasn't much else that appealed to me personally. We were really blessed (and at the time didn't even realize it!) because Libbi was such an easy baby. I've always heard that chunky babies are better sleepers and that held pretty true for Libbi. :) She was always an EXCELLENT nurser and would sleep through the night early on. She wasn't a great napper for the first year of her life, but she consistently slept through the night, so I wasn't too worried about it. Most of the time, she still sleeps great unless she's teething or sick. She is VERY dependent on her schedule though and if it is altered, it tends to interrupt her sleeping. So, as crazy as I may seem, I try really hard to stick to her schedule, because it really just makes life easier for all of us. "Sleeping" is one of the things that makes me nervous about Baby #2....Libbi was such an EASY baby, that I'm worried this next one will give us a run for our money! I honestly will be at a loss if this baby #2 doesn't want to sleep at night..... I might be begging for advice in a few short months :)
Where do you like to shop for Libbi's clothes?
everywhere! :) I do a lot of online shopping (etsy, ebay, and zulily) but I also love to shop at a few boutiques around our house. Jeffrey thinks I am crazy, but I am very particular about what I do/don't like for Libbi to wear. He thinks it's absurd, but I know there will come a day (all too soon!) when she has an opinion on what she wears, so until then, I enjoy dressing her in what I like for her to wear. Some of my favorite sites/brands are Kelly's Kids, Vive La Fete, Remember Nguyen, castles and crowns, orient express, and I could go on and on and on. We love matilda jane and even more so since it tends to grow with her and last at least a few seasons. I also love a good Target deal, too! They have some cu-ute clothes!! :)
What are Libbi's favorite toys right now?
Right now, she loves anything that she can stack or nest. I bought her these cheap little nesting blocks at Walmart and she will play with them forever! Of course, she does get quite upset with them when they don't cooperate and she will chunk them across the room from time to time. :)
She loves her kitchen and all the pretend food and dishes. She has just started to really pretend to eat things and serve us - it's really cute (but a little dangerous sometimes as she will stab you in the face with one of her forks if you're not careful!)
puzzles and books
stickers
anything that resembles items that we have/use (i.e - hairbrushes, brooms, makeup, dishes, pots, pans, vacuums, etc.)
She also likes things that she can push and/or throw (her play and learn little school bus or any kind of bouncy ball).
What keeps Libbi entertained? (also, see above)
any of the toys I listed above tend to keep her entertained for a small amount of time. She could also stay outside and run around aimlessly for hours. She likes to watch Elmo and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but we try to limit her amount of TV. When we're in the car, I have a CD that she loves to listen to. It is an old CD that I used to play in my kindergarten classroom. It has lots of popular children's songs (wheels on the bus, old macdonald, if you're happy and you know it, etc) and she requests to listen to it every time we are in the car. It tends to keep her relatively happy.
Are there any activities that the two of you do together that keeps her attention?
She really likes to read books, but she has to be in the mood for it. When she is, she will sit in my lap and we will read book after book. (that's one of my favorite times!) She likes to put stickers all over me - ha! She likes to play "kitchen" and let me pretend to fix her food in her kitchen. Sometimes she'll fix it for me, but mostly I'm the one doing the "cooking." She thinks it's hilarious to pretend to "spill" what I've made for her and then we pretend to clean it up. This goes on for quite awhile. :)
She's really gotten into helping me lately. I'll let her help me put laundry in the basket. When I'm folding clothes, I'll tell her to get all the socks and she'll collect each sock one by one (which gives me time to fold the other clothes!) When we go to the grocery store, I will hand her the items and let her drop them in the cart - she thinks this is a great game! I've really found lately that involving her in things instead of trying to distract her into doing something else is really much less stressful for me and much more fun for her! There is a lot that she can do that I didn't give her enough credit for!
She's really gotten into helping me lately. I'll let her help me put laundry in the basket. When I'm folding clothes, I'll tell her to get all the socks and she'll collect each sock one by one (which gives me time to fold the other clothes!) When we go to the grocery store, I will hand her the items and let her drop them in the cart - she thinks this is a great game! I've really found lately that involving her in things instead of trying to distract her into doing something else is really much less stressful for me and much more fun for her! There is a lot that she can do that I didn't give her enough credit for!
What does your usual day look like?
On the days that we do not have school or Bible Study (T/TH) here is our typical day:
8am - Libbi wakes up - she watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while I fix her breakfast
8:30 - breakfast
9:00 - get Libbi dressed and I will shower and get dressed, too. I used to put her in the pack-n-play in our bedroom and put Elmo on while I jumped in the shower, BUT....now she refuses the pack-n-play. :( So, I just block her in our bathroom and make sure there is nothing she can get in to (i.e - the toilet - yuck!) while I take as fast a shower as I can. She likes to help me put on my makeup (and she pretends to put some on, too). There is a basket of toys/books in our bathroom, so if she's being cooperative and playing, then I'll dry my hair, but otherwise it's just a ponytail and we're ready to go!
9:45 - 11:30 - If we have errands to run or something to do, this is when we get out of the house. If not, we usually just play inside or if the weather is nice, we'll go out in the neighborhood and do bubbles or sidewalk chalk.
11:45ish - she likes to watch Elmo's World on Sesame Street while I start to fix her lunch.
12:00 - Lunch
12:30 - we play and read books
1:00 - naptime
While she naps, I usually do my bible study, blog/read blogs, and try to clean-up.
3:00 - 4:00 (any time in between) Snack
4:00 - 5:30 - this is our "witching hour"...the time when she's cranky, I'm trying to get dinner ready and we have too much time to play, but not enough time to leave the house before Jeffrey gets home. I try to keep her occupied, because it is really getting to be a hassle to have her in the kitchen with me when I'm trying to cook (plus it's dangerous, because she can reach all the buttons/knobs on the stove and/or the pots and pans) but she can't be trusted to play elsewhere without getting into trouble. This is my most stressful time of day.
5:45 - Supper
6:30 - Bath (she LOVES baths with "bu-bu's" and would stay in there all night!)
7:00 - Play, Read, Wheel of Fortune :) Libbi does pretty well with playing independently at this time of day. Fortunately, Jeffrey is home and ready and willing if she's looking for a playmate :)
8:00 - bedtime - books, prayers, and nite-nite!
8:00 - 10:00 - Jeffrey and I spend time together, watch our shows, decompress, etc. And some days, I go to bed at 8pm as soon as I put Libbi down - ha! :)
How did you decide on Libbi's name?
Believe it or not, Jeffrey came up with the name Libbi. I had wanted to name her Olivia and call her "Livi" but he wasn't a fan. One day he suggested Libbi and, after recovering from the shock that he actually came up with a decent name, I knew it was "the one." I debated on "Elizabeth" (my middle name) and calling her "Libbi", but we ultimately decided to go with just Libbi. Her middle name is Jane after my Nana.
Hopefully I didn't leave anything out....
I'll post part two tomorrow with answers to the questions about me :)
