Tag Archives: toddler
As I enter my third trimester for the 4th and final time (yes, I mean it this time!), I feel an odd sense of peace. Not only because every week that goes by gets me closer to a healthy baby and the end of just another miserable pregnancy, but also because I know this will be my last. It reminds me of high school and the weeks leading up to the big end of the year test which required countless practice tests, memorizing totally useless facts, and so much stress from parents and teachers. The second I handed in the test was total peace for me. I instantly forgot the bullshit I will never need to know and all the stress was lifted. That feeling is what I desperately look forward to once my boy is born. Don’t get me wrong, there will be weeks of very little sleep to […]
Amelia, Lili, Gg, and I were outside enjoying the first Fall weather day of the year. Just relaxing on the patio, dressing and feeding baby dolls and chatting about travel plans. Lili went inside for a bit and came back out about 10 minutes later holding an ice cream cone in her hand. It was packed full of mango sorbet and a long spoon stuck in the top. “Gg, I got you ice cream!” After she brought out Gg’s, she went back inside and got the cone she made for Amelia. Now, you might think to yourself, “Why was a 3-year-old allowed to get food on her own?” But the better question is, where exactly were those items located and how did she get them? That was my question! The mango sorbet was in the middle shelf of the freezer, which Lil can reach on her own. The spoon, […]
The Austlen Entourage…where do I even begin? The Back Story: A little over three years ago, while pregnant with my first child, I was looking into the perfect stroller for a growing family. I had been working in the baby industry for several years prior and had ample exposure to all types of strollers and was purely unimpressed. Price point was never an issue, but I did not want to overpay for a name brand that lacked functionality and longevity. I’m the kind of person who wants one really nice purse to last me years, not a different one for each season…same with strollers and other baby products. The best stroller I could find at the time was the Britax b-ready with the second seat and car seat adapter coupled with the Britax b-safe car seat. This set-up came to about $800 all-in-all. My b-ready has been […]
Many months ago, I had the marvelous idea of driving across the country, 1600 miles, from Maryland to Colorado. There were a few reasons behind this idea, the main being that my parents needed their final car driven out at some point as they were unable to get it transported with the others in January when they moved. Also, I thought it would be a fun adventure (this was before I was pregnant, so I was probably drunk when this brilliant idea popped into my head). The moving company would reimburse us, so it would be an almost free trip which would be far cheaper than a senior, lap infant, child, and adult ticket plus parking and rental car. So, this myriad of factors led me to believe that this would be the right move. Fast forward to a week before the trip and major anxiety set in. What was […]
A “Profound” Approach to Parenting…In 8 Steps that actually works (for me) Prior social media posting: (Photo of my eldest, Lili, 2.5 years old) This sleeping beauty is astounding to me. I decided a few weeks ago to try a new approach in parenting her. She is so verbal and brilliant (every parent thinks so of their own 😎) that I thought the yelling and time outs, albeit seldom, weren’t the best approach. I pride myself on treating children like “real people” from birth, yet I was not acting that way when it came to discipline. So, I began a more educated approach; one in which I utilized her toddler desire for power and attention coupled with adult-level respect and understanding. It has been an outstanding experiment and I want to share my positive outcomes. She has not needed “timeout” in almost 2 weeks, I have raised my voice […]
Differences Wow. My two girls could not be more opposite. They are still both delightful little beings, but it amazes me how different they are. Today really solidified that for me, and I thought I would document it. Lili (as a baby): Awful labor Hated boob Loved bottle Loved being carried in the expensive carrier facing me Loved being on the ground and playing by herself Needed to be put down drowsy every time to sleep Hated the car Long Hair Pasty Skin Amelia (5.5 months old): Easy labor Loves boob Hates bottle Hates the expensive carrier and facing me Loves the cheap 20$ carrier facing outward Hates being on the ground, and will likely never crawl. She just wants to stand. Is happy being put down wide awake for sleep Loves the car Short Hair Olive Skin Similarities: Adorable […]
An 18 month old, a 6 week old, a husband, and two dogs under one roof… Sounds like the beginning of a joke! Well, it is my new reality, and one with which I am quite pleased. Sure there are some tantrums, many stinky diapers, vomiting fits, face reddening screams, and days that just don’t seem to go right no matter what I do. However, the majority of the time there are smiles, laughs, giggles, games, coos, new words, wonder, love, gratefulness, and so much more! SLEEPING: As of last week, we have a great routine down pat with Amelia (6 weeks) and Lili (18 months). Lili goes down like clockwork around 6pm (with the recent time change it bumped up from 5pm) and then Amelia cluster feeds, to go down in the pack n’ play in our room at 7pm. Lili sleeps until 730/800am and has been sleeping 12-14 […]
4 days in… It’s that moment when you realize your life is so amazing that you feel bad writing about it publicly because you feel like you are showing off. But you do it anyway 🙂 because you want to spread the joy to others! Perhaps it is my post-natal rush of hormones giving me such wonderful warm fuzzies, but they are undeniable regardless. I have my beautiful, vivacious 16-month-old Liliana who charms her way through anyone’s heart. My new addition, Amelia, is a sweet and squeezable cutie pie. My husband, Alec, is so supportive and helps with Lili every morning he is home. Our two dogs, Aedan and Maya have adjusted wonderfully to having another little one around. And, of course, my family and my husband’s family have been so supportive and wonderful, I really couldn’t have imagined a better situation. This time around is overall much better […]
Lili is about 16 months old now and is seldom quiet, engaging in her own mix of jibberish and random words. In the past few months, she has begun to learn and use words crucial to her communication in daily life. She understands many more words than she can speak, but that is to be expected. She can nod yes and no, and also can say no so she is capable of affirming her answers to our questions. Her current word/phrase list consists of (I only count those words that are properly used in context): Dog, Mymy (dog’s name), Nonna, Papa, Dada, Mama, More, What’s This?, What’s That? Who’s That?, Cracker, Cookie, Food, No, Nana, Lola, Blue, Texas, Poop, Hot, Wet, Wow, Wiggle, Up, Bye, Done, Go, Bubbles, Apple, Off, Bone, Yuck, Back, Blocks, Papi, Book She can understand but does not say in context: Upstairs, Downstairs, Fanny Slide, Come […]
Lili has changed so much in the past month, let alone the past 13, it is almost inconceivable. I really do not think little ones are given enough credit for all their amazing accomplishments so early in life. If adults were even one iota as determined and adept as infants/toddlers, this world would be a far different place… As mentioned in my previous post, my little bug just recently shifted from a two nap a day schedule to just one, so I figured it was appropriate to account for this change in her new daily routine. Of course, we do not do the same thing every day, but this is a rough outline of what our days look like at 13 months. Also, I am currently almost 7 months pregnant, so I am taking more of a hands-off approach mostly due to exhaustion. 7:30am: wake up very […]