One on One Time

I love when all three of us play together. Stella and I are either playing something like store with her cash register, hopscotch with her Minnie mat, or Play Doh and Ricky is sitting with us on his play mat or in his Einstein gnawing away on a teether. Stella and I are always talking or singing to him while we play to include him and to make him smile.  Right now Rudolph seems to be his favorite song. Stella is always by his side, showing him his toys and trying to place them in his hands. As much as I love this time, I also love when I get one on one time with both kiddies. I think that quality, undivided attention is so important for both them and I. There are certain times of the day that I try my best to have that with each little. To be completely honest, it doesn't happen every single day.

Ricky usually wakes up before Stella, so him and I have a little bit of extra snuggle time in bed where he nurses, I sing him songs, and we just lay together sharing smiles. This is really a good way to start each day- those cheeky smiles get me going every single time. When I hear his 'i'm awake over here' squeaks and roll over to an ear to ear smile it melts my heart over and over again. When he moves to his own crib I am really going to miss this bad. I either prop him up on my legs and we look face to face or he lays in his boppy pillow and I lay right next to him. Most days I am able to get them to nap in sync but there are days that he is up when she naps. This is also another time during the day where him and I get play time in the living room. I sit him in his bumbo chair or Einstein and we play. I put toys in his hands and we sing songs. On nice days we may sit outside on the front porch and rock together in the rocking chair. These are the times that I get to hold him most and cuddle him. He is growing so fast I want to soak up all of these moments as much as I can.

Ricky naps throughout the day where Stella and I get play time just her and I. If Ricky is sleeping in his swing which more times than not he is at the moment, we play quietly like play-doh, have tea parties, read books, color or have a picnic. I love this time with Stella because of the age she is at. We interact, have conversation and actually play...these really are the days. It's amazing how much she can learn from our playtime together. Ricky also goes to bed for the night around 7:00 p.m. After my kitchen is cleaned up from dinner, I am free game ;) Rick, Stella and I play until she goes to bed for the night. She really loves this time. Rick and I also try to do certain things with just her like he takes her out in the evening to feed the deer-she loves this! And if one of us runs to the store we may take her for the ride and stop for a quick donut.

As much as I don't want to rush time or speed things along- I am really excited to watch them interact and play together when Ricky gets a little bigger. I can see it now "Mommy! Ricky keeps touching my things!" "Mom, Stella won't share her girlfriends!" Haha