Thank
you for helping us with our Mari-Girl!
Here are a few notes that will hopefully help you!
Mari’s
“Schedule”:
Usually wakes up sometime between 6:30 and
7:30. After she wakes up, we change her
diaper right away. Sometimes she will
want to play on the tablet before heading down stairs (it’s in our bedroom)-
sometimes we let her do this on the weekend, other times we tell her “not right
now” and head downstairs for breakfast.
We usually change her clothes after breakfast.
·
Breakfast: Mari likes bagels, fruits
(especially berries of any kind), and yogurt (she will do it herself but I will
warn you- it’s a mess! ) She can also have other things. If you give her bagels or toast, you can cut
it in strips and she can gnaw on it. Raspberries
and blueberries do not need to be cut up.
Strawberries, and things like that, do.
Bananas can be given to her in chunks because it’s soft enough for her
to bite into. We clean Mari up with
smaller dish towels usually, and then change her clothes. She will have milk with her meals. If she wants drink (she will say “dee dee” which means “milky”) between meals,
we give her water. There are juice boxes
in the fridge too, but we give these to her for only special occasions (like
when I take her grocery shopping and need her to be distracted!! ) Please don’t give her juice all day
long. One per day max (we usually don’t
even give her one a day.)
·
Snacks: Mari will eat snacks all day long
if you will let her. We try to give her
one snack between breakfast and lunch, and one snack between lunch and dinner.
She has a little section in the pantry with her snacks. She likes to have her snack put into a bowl,
and then eats it from the table in the living room.
·
Lunch: Usually sometime between 11:00-12:00. She can have cheese, deli meat, anything you
have really. We just cut it up small
enough for her. Frozen veggies are easy
to microwave. She loves fruits. There are also some canned fruits in the
pantry. She likes frozen mini corn dogs,
and turkey hot dogs… if you give her these
things, just make sure to cut them so they are not in “round”. She is still learning the art of chewing and
tends to choke easily.
·
Nap Time:
Mari goes down for her nap sometime between 12:00 and 1:00. It usually lasts anywhere from 45 minutes to
2.5 hours. It really varies. When she naps, close the curtains, turn on
her music (on the ipod- “Mari’s sleeping music”, make sure she has her two
dolls (the tiger and the baby), and her blankie (the small square pink blankie
that we try to keep in the crib.) That’s
it! She has been resisting sleep lately
and may fuss for a little bit, but it usually doesn’t take long.
·
After nap, Mari usually has her afternoon
snack.
·
Dinner: Around 5:00-6:00. She can have anything you are having
really. She doesn’t have any allergies
that we know of yet. Just make sure it’s
cut up small enough for her. She is
practicing with fork and spoon.
·
Around 6:30 we start the bedtime routine
(we try to have her in bed between 7:00 and 8:00). First, we give her a bath. Everything you need is in her bathroom. Towels are under the sink or hanging in the
tub. After tub, we lotion her up, put on
diaper cream (a must at night time) and clean diaper, and put her jammies
on. Most nights we let her play on the
tablet in our bedroom to settle down.
Then we brush her teeth in her bathroom (the side drawer of the
bathroom). She likes to stand either on
the stool or in the bathroom floor. You
may have to close the bathroom doors or she will run all over the house with
her toothbrush. We let her give herself
a drink of water with the white cup on her sink. After brushing teeth, we read books. She doesn’t like to be read to right
now. She wants to just flip through
books and point to things and tell you what they are, or read them to you. In the last week or so, she has become
resistant to brushing her teeth and reading books. We are pretty sure this is because she knows
what it leads to: going to bed. We
continue to go through the motions though! After books, we say a prayer together, and
put her in her crib with her blankie, and two dolls. Turn the music on, tell her we love her, and
close the door. She may fuss for a
little bit, but we let her. She settles
down quickly. She may take a little bit
of time to fall asleep if she is playing in her crib, and that’s fine. The only time we really go in there is if she
is standing and really crying. Usually
it’s more of a “whine” and stops quickly.
Some
of Mari’s Favorite Activities:
·
Mari loves to color. She usually will say “color”. She likes to draw on the marker board. If you do this, please do it on the kitchen floor. It wipes up easily off the kitchen floor and
NOT easily on much else! You also have
to watch her because the marker will end up on her socks or face. She also likes to color on the coloring book
with her crayons. She can do this on the
living room table, her little table, or kitchen floor.
·
Mari loves going outside to play. She just likes to go in the front yard or
backyard and walk around. If you go in
the backyard, watch for Huntley bombs.
·
Mari loves playing on the computer tablet. Many times she will go to our room all on her
own and grab it. She is a whiz. She really knows how to do her own little
apps all on her own… you just have to hand her
the thing. She will do this all day long
if we let her, so we try and limit it.
However, it is a big help when I need to get dressed or something and
need her to stay in one spot while I get ready!! When you want her to stop, just tell her “all
done” and she is usually very good about giving it up.
·
Choices: Mari loves to make a choice
now. For example, when dressing her in the
morning, I’ll pick two shirts out, and hold them in front of her to pick. She’ll point to her choice. I also do this with what kinds of berries she
wants for breakfast, or what treat she wants to give Huntley. She loves it!
· One of Mari's favorite
activities is feeding Huntley. Or teasing him with food. She will do
it at meals or snacks. We really try to have her NOT do this, but that
girl is resilient. So, bottom line, if it happens, it's okay. :)
Mari’s
Diaper Bag:
·
Before you go anywhere, just make sure Mari
has diapers, wipes, and snacks. There is
a plastic bag of snacks that I keep in her bag.
I also try and keep some fruit in there (the single portion serving ones
in the canned foods section of my pantry), and a couple pouches of fruit/veggie
puree. Those usually help with meals
out.
Mari
language:
·
Our girl is a chatter box. Most of the time, it’s just constant
jabbering. However, she does know a lot
of words! “Dee Dee” is milky. She will also do the sign for “eat” and say “eat.” We are really working on “please” which
sounds like “peese.” She will tell you “berries”
or “apple” or “bagel.” I am just
realizing all the words I’ve mentioned so far are food…
yeah, that’s pretty much our girl. :) She really can tell you many things!! My favorite is “I love you” which sounds like
“ah-wa-oooo”. :)
Huntley:
·
Please let Huntley out in the morning and
right before you leave to go anywhere.
The backyard is fenced in, so all you have to do is let him out and then
wait for him to come back to the door.
·
Whenever Huntley’s food and water is low,
just fill it. Mari LOVES to help scoop
out the dog food and put it in his bowl (I usually hold the bowl close to the
dog food so that she can easily put it in the bowl.) She also loves to give Huntley his
treats. There are two different kinds on
top of the fridge. I hold them both in
front of her and she will pick. She
loves to pick. I give it to her and she
gives it to Huntley.
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