Friday, August 19, 2011

Tribute to Barney

... Or maybe I should say, "a tribute to TV" in general.
I am so sick of "society" telling us how to raise our kids; specifically that letting them watch TV is bad. Avery LOVES Barney. Not by my choice, of course, it took some serious brainwashing for me to grow to like it, lol. Ok, maybe she has more than just a love for Barney, it's a bit of an obsession. She asks for him all day long! For a while I really tried to fight it... until I sat back and watched her watch him.
Her vocabulary is growing so fast! She is starting to say things and I think "where did she hear that?"... Oh ya! She saw it on Barney. (all good things, of course ;)).
Her coordination is getting better and better. She is picking up on dance moves and copying the kids on the show and really does great for an 18 month old!
She is memorizing things. She started singing "Twinkle Twinkle little star" the other day! I couldn't believe it! Of course her words aren't fully developed yet, but I could make out what it was. She also knows when certain parts of one of the episode is coming up and will come tell me.
She knows so many animals, her colors, body parts, and she is picking up on numbers and letters.
Baby Einstein has helped but she doesn't like those as much as she used to. She still likes "World of Rhythm" and will say over and over "slow... FAST". It's pretty funny actually.
Ok, maybe she watches it a little too much Barney... that, or some other kid show is pretty much always on but every episode has a great message so how can it really hurt to have it on in the background while she plays?

My other beef with "society" is the urgent need to wean off of bottles. My doctor wanted her off her bottle several months ago. I started introducing sippy cups around her birthday and finally found one that she likes. However, she will only drink water out of it. If she wants milk (or juice) it has to be in a bottle or she refuses to drink it.
I stopped fighting for a while and decided I would try again when she got a little older.
Last week, we tried again. FAIL!! more like, EPIC FAIL!
Long story, short, I have pretty much decided that I am going to let Avery decide when she is ready to give up the bottle. Don't get me wrong, I am going to keep introducing milk in the sippy cup to see if she ever takes it, but I really have to pick my battles right now. It's more important that she gets her milk than the means that she does so.
I will say that I have to dilute her milk since she wants a bottle so often during the day; if she drinks too much than she doesnt eat very well. It's become quite a balancing act, lol.
She has so many changes happening right now.
1. Norah is here now. That in its self is hard enough on her, but when Avery sees that Norah gets to have a bottle she gets upset when she can't have it.
2. Her "terrible 2's" I've mentioned doesn't help.
3. We are moving in just 1 week. I know she doesn't know what that means but things are just naturally different around here.
Too much change at one time can be hard on kids. So, we are going to wait.
Yes, I am going to be one of "those" moms with an 18 month old (maybe much older) that still drinks from a bottle. So what! I just can't care what other moms are thinking anymore.
Society wants kids to grow up so fast and get rid of all means of comfort. Let them be a kid! They grow up so fast anyways, how can having a bottle really hurt? She has a blanket for comfort; should I take that away, too?! I know the theories of causing teeth problems... guess what, they are going to loose those baby teeth and probably way after she decides to get off the bottle.
My sister loved her bottle, too and used one for years. I even remember her making them for herself. She's 21 now and guess what, she doesn't drink from a bottle any more! Go figure...

ok.. I'll get off my soapbox now :)

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