Wednesday, March 26, 2014

weekending

The end of last week and our weekend was so full of fun things that I'm just now getting around to post about them. I love it when life is so full and busy but I really miss my blog when a week goes by without being able to drop in and say hello. It feels so good to sit down and settle back into this space for a few quiet minutes during naptime.

Riggs has really gotten into coloring lately and it's so fun to watch him sit and try hard at actually coloring whatever shapes or characters are on the page. I think he's enjoying it more now that he knows his basic colors. Red, blue, green, white, and black are totally nailed down, and he knows pink and orange as well (pink is actually his favorite color right now). Yellow gets lumped in with orange and purple gets lumped in with pink, which we're slowly working on. It's just crazy to me that my baby is old enough to know his colors! 

Lyla (and Sarah) also came over last week and it was fun for Riggs to have a little playmate for the afternoon. They are seriously so sweet together, and watching them interact makes me even more excited to see him with his little sister. Lyla just loves Riggs and loves to sit close to him and smile up at him. He's very sweet and patient with her, and loved giving her hugs and did pretty good sharing his toys with her. Good practice for being a big brother!

Riggs has gotten more into watching movies lately, which has been fun/a blessing for mommy. Currently his favorite movies are Winnie-the-Pooh and Frozen and he will actually sit and watch the entire movie, or at least the first 30 minutes solidly. If it's during his more awake/alert periods of the day he usually gets up to play while watching for the last half. He doesn't really show interest in many other movies yet and I'd rather him have less choices for now anyway, we'll probably introduce another disney movie after he seems to get bored with his Pooh or 'nowman (what he calls Frozen ha). 

I'm trying not to abuse his newfound movie-watching interest by putting them on too often and making sure it's not an everyday thing that he just automatically watches Pooh first thing in the morning (this was starting to be a habit and we had to curb it quick!). I definitely feel that screen time should still be very limited for his age and want to make sure other more important things are coming first like time spent outside, reading time and play time.  

But I think there's great value to be found in sitting down and snuggling with him for an hour watching a movie together. I just love that when I need to sit and have some quiet time, he can cuddle right up next to me and quietly watch a movie. He's also already learned quite a bit, especially from Winnie-the-Pooh including words and concepts. He says "hooray" all the time and loves to eat honey and loves anything with bees on it. It's pretty dang cute. And sometimes, when I need to cook dinner so it's ready when Steve gets home, it's nice to be able to put on a movie for him to watch while sitting at the kitchen island keeping me company. There's definitely a positive side to 'screen time' in my opinion, as long as it's in moderation. 

My sister and her youngest, Noah, were also able to come out and visit Friday, and Riggs had so much fun playing with his cousin. We went swimming together at the Wasilla Alaska Club and they built this 'slide' together and wanted me to take a picture of it with them in it. So cute!

We headed to Girdwood for the weekend to stay at the Hotel Alyeska, a ski resort about 45 minutes outside of Anchorage.  The company Steve works for right now has multiple branches of employees in various aspects of the electrical construction field (engineers, technicians, wireman, lineman) and they hosted a big party for all of the employees, including a one night stay at the hotel. It was really fun to be pampered at the hotel and we had a great time at the dinner with Steve's coworkers and wives. We brought Riggs along with us and Steve's cousin was able to watch him for us (along with a few other kids) in one of the hotel rooms. It worked out perfectly!

The dinner was semi-formal and I planned on wearing a dress but didn't find anything I like on such short notice (in my closet or in stores). So I wore skinny jeans with a dressy black top and wedge heels. I felt a teeny bit underdressed but ultimately was happy with what I wore. Plus I was really comfortable (full panel maternity jeans are great for sitting for long periods). Hard to see details in the only photo I got, the hotel bathrooms were so dark and I forgot to have a friend take a picture of Steve and I before the dinner was over. Oops.

Riggs had so much fun staying at the hotel and despite staying up way past his bedtime, he went to sleep easily and slept great, which was a big relief since he was in the same room as us about 3 feet away from our bed and I wasn't sure how he'd do hearing us talk and use the bathroom, etc. He loved exploring the hotel and running up and down the halls. Going up and down the stairs without help was a big hit too. 

I wish I would have gotten more pictures when we were at the hotel but oh well, next time I guess! It was a fantastic weekend and it went by way too fast (like always). We had a beautiful drive home and then about five minutes after we put Riggs to bed he started screaming/crying and we ran in to find out he had puked all over his bed and behind his crib. Poor baby. Luckily it was only the once and after getting everything cleaned up and getting him his second bath of the day he settled back into bed and slept the whole night. He was pretty drained and tired the next day and even took two naps, but never spiked a fever or threw up again, praise the Lord. I was really praying it wasn't some stomach bug and luckily I think it was just a fluke.

Whew so anyway, that's what happens when I stay away from my blog too long, I write the worlds longest post, haha. Happy Wednesday and happy Spring (a few days late). Still waiting for the last (hopefully) of the snow to melt here and then spring can really start working it's magic. I can't wait!

4 comments:

  1. Sounds like you had a great weekend! Adorable pictures too!
    My son's favorite color was pink for a really time! Its just switched to red recently. I also agree, screen time can be a good in moderation. Sometimes we just need a few minutes of them being completely entertained while we do something else.

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  2. I'm right there with you on the screen time. I don't want Ev to live in front of the TV, but teaching our kids that it's ok to sit down for a few minutes of quiet time isn't such a bad thing. I know if I need mindless quiet time during the day, she does too. And she's learned a lot from TV shows too - Daniel Tiger taught her a song about going potty right away and that has been a godsend when trying to get her to remember to go on the potty while she's in the middle of playing.

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  3. We did have so much fun! So much in life is all about balance, and I think screen time (for adults too) is just another area where balance is key!

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  4. They really do learn so much from it! And good point, teaching them that it's okay to sit down and have quiet/relaxation time is important too!

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