Favorite Children's Books

When I was in elementary school, my love for books grew. I was the kid who got lost in the world of books. Since then, that hasn't changed. I still have at least one or two books that I'm in the process of reading and an endless wish list of books I want to read. When I had kids, I KNEW I wanted to pass along the love of books. We started reading to Sophia when she was just a blip on the ultrasound screen. 

Here are some of our favorite books, by age group!

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Infant

ANY of Sandra Boynton's books!

I Love You Through and Through

Toddler

My Big Animal Book

Karen Katz is a favorite author at our house! We have all of her books!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

We're Going on a Bear Hunt (We also have We're Going on a Lion Hunt)

Preschool/School Age

Pout Pout Fish

The Little Red Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the The Big Hungry Bear

We love Junie B at our house, too! There are a lot of "dumbs, stupids" and other language that we change but generally Junie B. is a spunky, smart little girl and we love to read about her adventures!

Junie B. Jones series

My kids LOVE this book... The Book With No Pictures

I looooved Shel Silverstein growing up. I still have my books and have begun to read them to Sophia before bedtime. 

Those are just SOME of our favorites! What books would you add? 

FIVE Might Just Be My Favorite Age Yet

Our family has made it through the baby stage, toddler stage, and even the terrible three's stage fairly unscathed. I was a little worried as Sophia entered grade school and felt a little like we were entering uncharted territory. Most of my education/experience is in early childhood and so I felt like I didn't have a lot of experience with those yucky school agers. I felt a little nervous entering this stage of our lives. Well, guys I am here to tell you- I'm not sure what all the nerves were all about because age 5 is one of my favorite ages we've hit so far!

You may need to remind me of these sentiments six months from now, but we're almost in month four of being 5 and it's a pretty darn exciting time. Here are just a few reasons why:

 Increased independence

Sophia has always been very independent but in the last six months, her independence has shot through the roof. Home girl gets out her own clothes, gets dressed in the morning and knows the routine like a well synchronized swimmer. No longer do I have to provide a play by play of the routine which helps me immensely with our morning/night routines. Oh and did I mention she gets in and out of the car by herself too?! Hallelujah!

No longer is silence questionable 

We all know that with a toddler, silence is no good. It means something suspicious is happening and you better find said toddler before you end up with a whole box of tissues pulled out of its box. Or worse. But with Sophia- I know that when she is quiet she is fully immersed in an activity. She goes up to her room and plays by herself or with Saidey. With her, I can say silence is golden. :)

Conversation

Sophia and I have had some of our best talks in the car after daycare/school. But I tell you, the conversations we have now are generally reciprocal, inquisitive and enjoyable. Every once in awhile they veer off into nonsensical directions, proving she is still, just a typical five year old but conversations are definitely getting better as she gets older. =)

Improved sense of humor

Sophia is a girl with quite the humor and has recently been into telling Knock Knock Jokes. Do they always make sense? No. Are they always funny? No. Do they sometimes involve bodily functions? Yup. But hey, we all gotta start somewhere.

Second pair of eyes 

Now, I know why I had a second child! So my first child can keep an eye on her and let me know when she is about to eat the dog food. Or crumble her cereal on the floor and then proceed to smash it into the carpet. Sophia is my second pair of eyes and let's me know in advance, when Saidey is about to get into some shenanigans. 

Cuteness overload

Ok fine, she is still oh so cute. If you know me, you know how much I love baby feet, toes, and fingers. And their smell?! Pure bliss. Well, when they don't have a dirty diaper, that is. Even though Sophia is losing her chubby, baby cheeks and kissable toes, she is still cute as a button.

See what I mean?! Ca-uuutte!

Sophia's school play went wonderful. I will post some pics/videos that you can check out on Monday. We broke her out of school early and of course what's a skip day without going to Target?!

After Target, we picked Saidey up and spent the afternoon playing Play-Doh. We met Will for dinner at Panera and headed home to carve/paint pumpkins.

We have a slow weekend and I can't wait for it. That's it for today- have a great Friday!

5 Ways to Encourage Behavior You WANT to See

There's days in our house where I feel like such a nagger and negative Nelly. But it always seems if our day starts on a sour note, it all just goes downhill from there and we're having a scene from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, Day. Sometimes, I feel like a broken record- "Sophia, pick up your toys, Saidey, don't pick up your nose, Will, pick up your dirty socks." And a lot of times I feel like a shadow, following everyone and trying to restore order. It is SO easy to get sucked into a negative attitude and before you know it, we're all flustered and frustrated with one another.

As someone who has worked in childcare and now back in the early childhood field once again, I've learned a few strategies that have helped me gain positive behavior in my kids (and husband) but shhh.. don't tell him that!

Praise

For those of you who grimace at the thought of every single kid on the T-ball team receiving an award for just being on the team- bare with me, here. This is one of the most effective strategies I have found. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't throw Sophia a party for going to the bathroom but when she is doing a great job- I let her know. Loudly. And I go overboard. I don't just flippantly say "good job" at every little thing. I get on her level and specifically point out the thing she did. I say, "I like how you picked up your shoes- that helps me out a lot," for example. Little signs of praise are great too- a thumbs up and high fives are quick but effective ways to reinforce the behavior you want to see. 

Focus on the Positive

Like I said before, it's really easy to get stuck on the negative. Sometimes, we focus so much on it, our kids start to pick up that it is the only time they get attention from us. Not to say that if she does something she isn't supposed to that I let it slide, quite the opposite. But, what I do, is, keep it short, keep it simple with as little reaction as possible and give it as little attention. I (try to) remain calm, firm and consistent. But agian, when she is doing a great job, I REALLY focus on that.

Establish house rules

We have unwritten house rules that really need to get posted somewhere visible in our house. One of these unwritten rules is "be respectful." When Sophia is doing something that doesn't align with this rule, I can remind her of the rule. I've also had to teach her what being respectful is and I do this by reinforcing respectful behavior. (PRAISE!) For example, "Sophia, I really like how you listened to me the first time, that's being respectful." Another big rule at our house is "be responsible." I can usually always connect a behavior with a rule and reinforce the behavior by praising.

Quality time together

Make it a priority to spend time with your kiddos. It's all about quality versus quantity. Get down on the floor and play. Spending quality time with them will fulfill their want for attention, decreasing the chances they will try to seek your attention in negative ways! 

Have fun!! 

This can be tied back to spending quality time together but especially when you find your house a mess, the kids are whiny and you're thinking that it must be 5:00 somewhere- the best thing you can do is just stop. Breathe. And get down on the floor and play. The best stress reliever sometimes, can just be letting loose and playing with your kids. This gets everyone recharged and then you can focus on getting all those other tasks done. Laugh with your kids and simply enjoy them. 

So, there are my five tips on encouraging positive behavior! And remember, kids have bad days too! 

 

See how well I'm doing with this one so far?! :)

Aaaand.. the aftermath! Good thing she's small- I can just pick her right up! :)