A *Tevia* Special

I thought I'd pleasure you all with some snippets about our life with Tevia.  She is an entertaining character - very silly - and intellectually, very alert.  It has been very difficult trying to find exactly what unique things I'd like to tell you about her.

We've got a junior bobsledding team! haha
Sadly, she's too big to be allowed inside the drawer anymore.

Tevia is now 20 months old (she had recently turned 1 year old when I started blogging).  So she's still only 1-year-old technically, but she acts a lot like a 3-year-old, and I treat her a lot like an older child.  I don't "baby talk" with her and I try to find situations where she can be the decision maker.

Her Vocabulary

I was afraid that perhaps Tevia was developing slower than other children because she didn't start making any babbling noises like other children her age.  I had nothing to worry about though because we have a non-stop talker and avid bookworm!  Tevia picks up vocabulary and names extremely easily.  She reached over 100 words by the time she was 14 months old.  The list now easily reaches about 500 words.  Our favorite words and phrases as of late are:

• "Mommy, where are you???" (in the grocery store)
• "Baby lion, where are you?" (on the way to Waterton, Alberta)
• "Bye, airplane! See you soon!" (every time)
• "Yakisoba" (she loves it and can say it perfectly)
• "1, 2, 6, 6, 6, 6, 7, 8, 9..." (she loves the number 6)
• "Two one! Two one!" (when she sees two of something)

She also will list off things or people needed for a certain activity like, "Amber, swimming, pool, bathing suit, bus, black stroller."  Obviously, Tevia wants to (or already did) go swimming at the pool with Amber, wearing her bathing suit, and she wants to take the bus in her black stroller.  If I don't quite understand a word she is trying to say, she'll list other words related to the thing, person, place, or event.  So no wonder it ends up being pretty easy (most times) to understand what Tevia is trying to say!

Her Interests

Tevia loves reading books, listening to music, singing rhymes and songs with actions, playing piano, being silly, swimming, and being outside all the time.  Since we don't have a backyard, sometimes we go on a walk or to the park twice a day when it's nice out.  We go to the library often and try to enjoy other free activities as much as possible.

She loves seeing our extended family and is very attached to her Grandpa Greep ("Papa Geep").  She knows almost all of her aunts, uncles, and (17) cousins by name.  She often talks about the people she interacts with and the things she does with them.  She seems to be a "people person" at heart.

Her Need For Independence and Routine

Here we are, nearly always hearing, "No! Teh-ya do it!" as Tevia points to her chest and refuses any help with more and more activities.  It's good to see her doing so much by herself... except for the tantrums.  I've tried to reduce her outbursts by letting her do things by herself first and then stepping in, but she still isn't pleased when I try brushing her teeth.

Thank goodness we generally have an obedient and helpful child.  She helps with chores such as putting clothes in or taking them out of the dryer, finding the matching sock, "sweeping," vacuuming, and drying dishes.  She cleans up her messes and puts things in their proper place (including stray rocks she finds on the sidewalk).

Tevia posing with her Ducky

Tevia has specialized her bedtime routine as well.  After dinner she (sometimes) has a bath, gets into her pajamas and then we start our Family Devotional.  She now likes to scribble on a piece of paper as well and put it in the Thank You Jar.  When we ask her what she's thankful for or what was a blessing for her, the responses usually include Amber, Mommy, or Daddy.

After prayer, she brushes her teeth with help, and then it's time for "mommy cuddles" with her favorite Ducky and blanket, sitting in the rocking chair.  She needs her "cow milk" and "wahgger" (water) and drinks like this: lots of milk, a few sips of water, a sip of milk, and then sometimes another sip of water, while Mommy has to hold Ducky and pass the cups back and forth.  We listen to her talking lamb recite some rhymes and do some of our own.

When she lays in bed she asks for "another one" (blanket) and makes sure that I say "good night" ("night") and "sweet dreams" ("dreams") before I leave the room.  She also likes to list with me the people that love her.  Whether or not she goes to sleep after this point is another story...

She's Mine

By the way, this awesome little girl is mine. All mine.

... And Lucas's.

I am very grateful that a rough start can end with a great finish (so far).  Even with as much emotional turmoil as I had through my pregnancy and the first year and half or so, I wouldn't give her up to anyone, never.

She's mine.


What funny things have your kids done?  How do/did you try to avoid tantrums?

An update (just so you are aware): I am now posting every other Monday instead of every week (but I'll still use "next week" when I list the next topic).

Next week's topic: [Sister Nelson's 3-Day Challenge]

Family Devotional & the Thank You Jar

President Ezra Taft Benson:
“Rearing happy, peaceful children is no easy challenge in today’s world, but it can be done, and it is being done. …

“Children must be taught to pray, to rely on the Lord for guidance, and to express appreciation for the blessings that are theirs. ...

“Families must spend more time together in work and recreation. Family home evenings should be scheduled once a week as a time for recreation, work projects, skits, songs around the piano, games, special refreshments, and family prayers. Like iron links in a chain, this practice will bind a family together, in love, pride, tradition, strength, and loyalty.

“Family study of the scriptures should be the practice in our homes each Sabbath day.

“Daily devotionals are also a commendable practice, where scripture reading, singing of hymns, and family prayer are a part of our daily routine.” [source]

I believe it was the quote above that gave me the idea to have an official “family devotional” rather than just family scripture study and prayer.

Our Family Devotional goes like this:

1. Scripture reading
2. Thank You Jar
3. Prayer

I hope, as Tevia grows up, to enrich our devotional to become something like this:

1. Song
2. Scripture reading & brief discussion
3. Thank You Jar
4. Review plans for the next day
5. Prayer

We have our Family Devotional early in the evening, shortly after the dinner dishes have been cleaned up and before putting Tevia to bed.  (Sometimes an evening walk or drive is included before or after our devotional to help Tevia relax.)

The Thank You Jar

The idea of a “Thank You Jar” started a few years ago in my own family.  The idea is similar to keeping a gratitude journal, but for the entire family to share.  I’m not even sure who came up with the idea or why we started it in the first place.

What you need:

• 1 jar
• 1 writing utensil for each family member
• 1 small piece of paper for each family member

Our fancy jar

Each person completes these sentences on their slip of paper:

1. I am thankful for…
2. A blessing I saw today was…

Then he or she flips the paper over, writes his or her name and the date on the back, and folds the paper in half.  The jar is then passed around and each person drops in their folded piece of paper.

Once the jar is full, the papers are read aloud to the entire family and you find out what your family really is grateful for!

It's nearly full!

Since we want Tevia to understand what we are doing when we write on our pieces of paper, we each read what we wrote down before we put them in the jar.  Maybe we will always do it this way – who knows!

How We Include Tevia

Tevia already knows and understands the order of how we do things.  When we say, “Time for Family Devotional!” she goes to the living room and will either point at the scriptures or jar or clasps her hands together (her sign for “praying”) and sits on the floor.  (I really wanted to include a picture of this pose but there was no way she would sit still once I took out the camera!)

So you can admire these scriptures instead... right?

Lucas and I take turns reading a few verses of a chapter in the Book of Mormon and, before we are even close to being done, Tevia points and yells at the Thank You Jar.  While we write down our thoughts, Tevia gets to play with the screw lid and then helps put it back on the jar after we put our pieces of paper inside.

Then, if she hasn’t done it already, Tevia clasps her hands and sits on the floor where we kneel with her.  She usually doesn’t stay in that position for the whole prayer, but she is generally quiet and moves very little.  I’m so proud of her whenever she is still!  Soon I know she will be able to repeat words of the prayer.

Of course, next is bedtime (the saddest part of the day for her).  But at least she is excited for Family Devotional!

If you don't already have something like this in place, I challenge you to make your own kind of Family Devotional!  What does (or will) your family do?

Next week’s topic: [Redesigned House Plans: Introduction]

My Morning & Evening Routines

I think you could say schedules and routines excite me even more than goal setting…

My earliest experience with making lists and schedules started with playing with dolls with my little sister.  We (or perhaps it was just me…) liked to name each one and, at minimum, give them an age, grade level, and bedtime, which was meticulously written down by me in a detailed table.  We referenced this list as we played.

I also wrote schedules for myself – to the very minute! – for the entire day every once in a while.  I was very much a perfectionist and was hard on myself whenever circumstances challenged my plans.  Depending on my mood, I would either scrap my schedule for the rest of the day or skip over a few activities until I got to the current time slot.

I color coded my school timetables in junior high and high school and would study them in fascination, analyzing the patterns of class type, location, time, and day, until memorized – and even still afterwards.  So I don’t think you’ll be surprised to find out that I was absolutely stoked when I got to create my own timetables in university.  (I confess that I even get overly excited when Lucas gets to choose his own classes and he sometimes lets me try to condense his schedule to make it more efficient.)

Schedule or Routine?

First, a note: the difference between a schedule and a routine is that a schedule is a sequence of activities that follows time constraints and a routine is a set of activities not necessarily sequential or strictly timed.

Schedules are great if you have many time constraints throughout your day.  They are very efficient if activities can be timed closely or overlap typically unproductive “dead time” (like travel time).

Routines are great if you require a lot of flexibility throughout your day.  They are very efficient if you are motivated to move quickly or are well focused on the task at hand.

I think being able to use a combination of schedules and routines in your day is the most efficient and time-wise thing you can do for yourself.  If you can, have a morning and an evening routine you follow each day with scheduled productive time in the day (such as work or school).

Determining My Own Routines

A goal I set this year was to come up with morning and evening routines that would help me accomplish the necessary things each day plus have time to do the things I really want to do.  Some other goals I want to accomplish have been included in these routines to help guarantee that I would actually set aside time each day to work on them.  I also am sure to consider mine and my family’s needs when deciding what to include.

My routines have now been revised three times since July this year.  What you see below was just redone this past week and I think will work the best for me.  I started out with just a rough sketch of what I thought I wanted to accomplish in the morning and then in the evening, but it was really just too much stuff.  My second revision cut out a few things and rearranged others.  This time I decided to use nap times to my advantage based on how things were typically going in the last two months.

Side 1 of printout

For the first part of the morning and evening, I actually try to follow a schedule as best I can.   Sometimes I switch the order of how I do things in the morning, but I still try to get as much done as possible before Tevia wakes up.  In the evening I have Lucas to help and so things tend to go smoothly.  We switch between washing dishes and bathing Tevia each night.

For the naps and my own bedtime routine, I just included approximate lengths of time it would take to accomplish those tasks, especially since I can’t always determine when those will happen.  Being a mom, I most definitely need flexibility!

Side 2 of printout

I decided to assign a different activity to each day of the week to work on during “Nap 2.”  I also included an area where I can list which exercises I have been assigned to do by my chiropractor.

I am definitely still struggling to follow my routines.  Some days are better than others.  Sometimes I only get to follow my morning routine or just the evening routine or something in between.  Sometimes I just have a rough, chaotic day and wonder if I should just give up even trying to get anything done.

But I’m still trying.  I think I can make things easier for myself if I have things in their proper place each morning and night, ready for the next iteration of my routine.  For example, having the clean dishes put away and picking out my outfit for the next morning before going to bed.

Do you follow a daily routine?  What do you include in it?

Next week’s topic: [Family Devotional & the Thank You Jar]