Hello, hello!

So it turns out I’m not cut out for both working (even part-time), taking care of a toddler, and blogging.

I never intended to stop blogging altogether when I went back to work, but that is what happened, and that’s okay.  This is a hobby for me, and like all hobbies, the amount of attention is receives will naturally ebb and flow in different phases of life.

This past year, I’ve been able to keep writing, which I love, at Motherly and The Tot and that has been enough for this time.

That being said, things are changing once again.  I am expecting a baby girl at the start of January, and could not be more excited!  I’ve decided to stay home with her for at least a year, like I did with James, and am very much looking forward to this special time.

I actually stopped working two weeks ago, which was bittersweet as I loved my job and very much love my colleagues.

When I thought of all of the changes to come though, I knew that I wanted some time to adjust to being at home, and to help James adjust to staying home rather than going to school, as he’ll be home this year too.

I knew this time would fly by with the holiday season in full swing and the last two weeks have certainly passed quickly!

Before this special / strange / surreal in-between time escapes me entirely, I wanted to note some intentions for how I hope to fill this time.

Be present and connect with James

This is the number one reason I wanted this extra time.

I know from watching children at school go through the new sibling transition that it can really shake their whole world.  I am lucky enough to have both a brother and a sister whom I’m very close to and truly belive that a sister will be a gift to James.  I also know it will be very hard at times, especially in the beginning when a lot of my attention will naturally need to be devoted to the baby.

I want to take this time to be truly present with him while he goes about his day, playing with Legos, reading books, exploring outside, and sometimes saying “no” to everything just on principle.

When I first thought about this time, I was tempted to fill it with all of the adventures.  The zoo, the museums, play groups, etc.

We will certainly do some of those things, but I also want to simply slow down and be with him, to make him feel as seen and loved as I possibly can so that he goes into this transition as full and secure as possible.

Slow down for the holidays

We traveled to Wisconsin to see my husband’s family for Thanksgiving.  Apart from the flights, which went as well as could be expected, it was a really relaxing trip.  We spent lots of time at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, just playing and being together.

I’m hoping to take this relaxed feeling into the Christmas season.

Since Christmas comes only two weeks before my due date, my family is traveling to our house for Christmas this year, which I am very excited about!

As soon as this was decided though, I found myself frantically searching Pinterest for recipes and thinking about everything I needed to do to host Christmas.

I have to remind my self (frequently) that my family is coming here to make it easier on us, not harder.  I know they’re not expecting anything other than to spend time with us, and I’m going to try (hard) to remember this and keep it low key.

Meditate and do prenatal yoga

Compared to my first pregnancy, this one has gone by in a blur.  Seriously, it has seemed SO fast.

This is really great in a lot of ways because I’ve had less anxiety about everything with a very active toddler to keep up with.

It also means I’ve made less mental and emotional preparations though.

I’m hoping that regularly meditating and doing prenatal yoga videos will help me slow down, connect with this new baby, and prepare myself for all of the changes to come.

I’ll be back soon with more thoughts on preparing for our new addition.  Thank you to anyone who is still reading after my long hiatus 🙂

Any advice on preparing for a second baby?

How do you approach the holiday season?  Do you try to do all the things, or take it slow?

Eating

James continues to eat all the things.  He REALLY likes food and some afternoons it seems like he’s asking for a snack every ten minutes.  I try to limit the snacks and to make sure they’re healthy, but he pretty much always still eats well at dinner so maybe he’s legitimately just really hungry?

Some of his favorite foods right now are strawberries, grapes, cheese, salmon, beans, avocado, steamed carrots, Cheerios, ketchup, and naan (mini naan from Costco, so good).

The biggest change with his eating has been his requests for specific foods.  I’m guessing this correlates with his increased language since he can now ask for whatever he wants.

This is now a daily conversation:

James: “Strawberries.”

Me: “We’re out of strawberries.”

James: “More strawberries.  Grocery store.”

He basically tells me to go to the grocery store at least once a day to get whatever food he happens to be craving.  Obviously  I don’t actually go, but I find his demands kind of funny.

He also now loves to dip!  It’s fun to give him a tiny bowl of hummus or ketchup or guacamole and watch him dip various things into it.

He got out a tiny bowl from his kitchen drawer the other day and requested a bowl of ketchup for his snack.  I had to decline that one.  My mom recently got him a shirt that says “I put ketchup on my ketchup” (similar one here) and it is too perfect for him.

Sleep

As of last weekend, James has fully transitioned to one daily nap.  He’s been taking one nap during the week since he started school in January, but we still usually did two naps on the weekend because he slept so much better with a morning and afternoon nap!  He finally seemed ready to fully transition though and I’m loving the flexibility that one nap gives us.

He goes to bed at 7, wakes up sometime between 6 and 7, and takes one nap at 12:30.  Fingers crossed, but sleep is going pretty well right now.

He also now sleeps with a stuffed penguin named Herbert, whom he loves!

Physical Development

James is constantly running, climbing, and trying to pick up heavy things like large rocks.  He has so much energy and is very driven to move.

We still take him for walks in the stroller sometimes, but now he really enjoys walking beside us too.  He’s getting pretty good at staying on the sidewalk / trail.  The only downside is when he decides he’s done walking halfway through and wants to be carried.  (“Mamo holdya“).  He is getting so heavy!

Language

James has had such an explosion of language the last few months!  It feels like I can have real conversations with him now, which is so much fun.

He said hardly anything until Christmas.  Pretty much his only word was “Dada”.  Then suddenly he started copying words we said and seemed to be learning new words every day.  He now combines two or three words together into little phrases.

He’s also given us nicknames.  He used to call us Mama and Dada, but one day decided to switch to Mamo and Dado instead and has stuck with it. I have no idea what inspired this, but it’s pretty cute!

He also says all the names of basic colors and many shapes.  He likes to find rocks shaped like triangles in particular.

He is very interested in letters and numbers, which really surprised me at this age.  I would never push that, but he has a Lego train set with numbers on it and he started asking about them and pretty quickly learned 0-9.  He loves spotting numbers out in the world, like on speed limit signs!  He also frequently asks me to count things like the number of berries on his plate or the number of stars on a page in a book (Mamo count).

He soon after started asking about letters in his books and knows many of the sounds now (I tell him the phonetic sound of the letter, rather than the letter name, which is what we do in Montessori).  It is honestly amazing to me and I hope his interest in letters and words continues!

He also knows the names of the authors / illustrators of a lot of his book and if I forget to say it, he always chimes in.

Some of my favorite things he says:

“Mamo holdja” (As in, “Do you want me to hold ya? Hold ya.”

“More strawberries.  Grocery store.”

“How are youuuuuu?” (Always high pitched and elongated.)

“More James!” (His request to watch a video of himself)

Personality

James is super social and friendly and is happy most of the time.

He loves meeting new people and offering them things, mostly rocks, to try to make friends.  He often pretends to offer his food to a friend when he’s eating at home.  If I ask who he’s giving it too, he always has someone specific in mind.  He talks often of his friends at school, sometimes saying he wants to hug them.

He is full of energy and loves to be outside. His happy place is anywhere that has rocks, a creek, and snacks.  We spend a lot of time at the Wildflower Center, the Austin Greenbelt, and various parks.

He also loves reading books, looking at photo books with family pictures, and singing songs.  He’s gotten very particular about which songs he wants though.  His current favorite is Old MacDonald (which he calls e-i-o).

I can’t express how much FUN this age is.  It is relatively easy to get out and do all sorts of things now.  It’s really fun to see his unique interests and personality develop more and more.  There are times when I feel like he’s such a big kid, so independent and capable, and other times when it’s clear that he was a baby a few months ago.  When I look at the youngest children in my class, it’s crazy for me to think that he’ll

Good morning!

It’s been a whole month since my last blog post.  Whoops.  That definitely wasn’t intentional.  Thank you so much to everyone who is still reading!

There are three main reasons I’ve disappeared:

1. As I wrote about, I went back to work part-time in January.  It has been so wonderful in a lot of ways, but I’m not very good with change, so it’s also been hard. 

I literally have no idea how so many full-time working parents blog so regularly, but I definitely have a newfound respect for them.  I have still been writing regularly for Motherly (and loving it!) but have simply not had much leftover energy for this space.

Now that it’s been a few months and I’m feeling like I have a good routine, I’m *hoping* to start writing here more regularly again.

2. I have been thinking a whole lot about how I feel about posting details of my child’s life on the internet as he gets older, and the truth is I just don’t know.

I love reading about other people’s children, especially those who are around the same age as mine or a little bit older.  I also love writing about James.  But I hate to think about how he might feel about that one day.

I have no idea what the right answer is, but for me, it feels right to shift my focus away from writing about him specifically.  I plan to post an 18 month update about him and maybe a day in the life post, but then will likely shift focus.  I’m sure I’ll still include a few pictures and funny stories because I can’t help it 🙂

3. I don’t love social media.

I know, I know, this is a blog.  The thing is, I love writing, but I don’t so much love Pinterest and Instagram and Facebook, and all of the things you’re supposed to do to help people find your blog.

So I likely will just ignore those and keep writing because I enjoy it, rather than trying to “increase blog traffic,” which isn’t super important to me at this point.

So if I’m not writing about James, what is this blog going to be about?

I still plan to write about motherhood, but with more of a focus on my experience and challenges, rather than the details of what James is up to.  This may be a subtle change, but it’s one I feel good about.

I also plan to write a whole lot more about Montessori, including little glimpses into things we’re doing in the classroom, and ways we incorporate Montessori into our home.

I am sure I will also still write random posts about things that make me happy too, just because I find it fun and love reading those types of posts from other people.

I’m hoping to post once a week going forward, as it simply feels more enjoyable and less overwhelming than every day or three times a week at this stage in my life.

Thanks again for sticking around, it means so much to me 🙂

– Christina

Question: What topics are you interested in?  Is there anything you’d like to know about Montessori?

Good morning and happy almost Friday!

So many little things have been making me happy lately so I wanted to take a minute to share a few.  I’d love to hear about what you’re loving lately in the comments!

3M Half Marathon

I would have written a whole recap post about this, but I realized I took zero photos…whoops.

Last Sunday, I ran the 3M half marathon in Austin with my little brother.

I mentioned a while ago that I was training for it, but then didn’t mention it again.  This was not a coincidence.  My long runs went steadily down hill over the past few months.  Every time I ran, I started having terrible stomach pains after about five miles.

While I was super excited to see my little brother, I was pretty much dreading the race.  I honestly don’t think I would have done it if he wasn’t flying in from Chicago to run it with me.

Miraculously I felt so good and had SO  much fun running Sunday morning!  I had a big dorky smile on my face for much of the time and couldn’t believe how good I felt for most of the race.  I believe it was my second slowest half marathon (after the very first one I ran TEN years ago), but I don’t even care.

There may have been some degree of luck involved, but I’m pretty sure now that I was having such bad stomach pains because I wasn’t planning and preparing for my long runs like I used to.  In my pre-baby days, I would map out a whole training schedule and stick to it religiously.  I would make sure to hydrate and eat high carb foods the day before a long run and always did my long run early in the day, as that’s when I feel the best running.

Yeah, that’s not how this training cycle went down.  This time it was more like, “Oh!  James is napping.  I’m not doing anything else!  Time for a ten-miler!”  This may work for some people, but apparently, lots of coffee + little water + random food does not equal a good long run for me.  Weird.

Gin-Gins

This is the other thing that I think may have helped me avoid stomach pain during the half marathon.  I got these hard ginger candies for nausea when I was pregnant, but had a ton leftover so decided to try them while running.  I used to use CLIF shot blocks (little gummied made for distance running), but knew those would bother my stomach these days.

It is probably not considered safe to eat hard candy while running, but the very slow release of sugar these give works really well for me.

Trader Joe’s Tart Cherry Oatmeal

Will I ever have a favorites post that doesn’t include something from Trader Joe’s?  It seems doubtful….

I leave for work really early and our mornings are a little rushed.  Oatmeal is my favorite breakfast and I’ve been loving these super quick oatmeal cups from Trader Joe’s.

Unlike most oatmeal packets, these have rolled oats instead of instant and the only added sugar is the sweetened dried cherries.  I add a little honey (and nut butter!), but most oatmeal packets are way too sweet to me, so I love that I can control the amount.

Corvelia Cabernet Sauvignon (Trader Joe’s)

I am by NO means a wine expert, but I really like this cab-sauv that’s only $10.  I generally buy wine in the $10-15 range and this one seems much better to me than others I’ve tried at the same price point.  I also like that it has a distinctive bottle because I am the worst about remembering which wines I’ve tried and liked when I’m in the store.

Turmeric Ginger Tonic

I’ve tried hot turmeric / lemon tonics before, but just tried this cold one yesterday and it is SO good and refreshing!  I really like that I can make a big batch and keep it in the fridge to drink throughout the week too.  I used ground turmeric instead of fresh, and also added a little cayenne.

Zella Live In Midi Leggings

I love wearing leggings, but I’m only 5′ 4″ and I find that a lot of them are too long for me and bunch at the ankles which I HATE.  I feel like leggings have to fit well not to look frumpy.

I have finally found a pair that is not see-through and is the perfect length.  If you’re on the shorter side, I definitely recommend these!

Outdoor Pineapple Blanket

I got this outdoor blanket for Christmas and have been loving it!  I like to take it outside when James plays in the backyard to give us a home base.  He seems to really like sitting on it (for about 5 seconds at a time) and the leaves and dirt don’t stick to it like my regular blankets.  I wish I had had this when he was younger!

It’s larger than I thought it would be, which I love, and it easily folds up super small and I definitely plan on taking it to the park when the weather gets a little warmer.

Big Five Personality Test

I have a strong love of personality frameworks.  My little brother told me about this one and we had way too much fun discussing / teasing each other about all of our results.  If you share this nerdy love with me, take the test!

New Words

This guys only said “Dada” for months, but now it seems like he learns a new word almost every day!  He’s currently saying Mama, Dada, baby, okay (“tay”), bye-bye, hi, play, car, uh-oh, and I’m sure a lot more that I’m not thinking of.  It is SO much fun to hear all of the new things he’s saying 🙂

Share something that’s been making you smile lately!

*Please note this post contains affiliate links – I get a small percentage if items are purchased, at no cost to you.  I only include items I love.  Thanks for your support!

Good morning and happy Friday!

Two posts in one week…who am I?

I am super excited for this weekend because my little brother is flying in from Chicago tomorrow to visit!  I saw him briefly at Christmas, but don’t see him nearly enough, so I’m super pumped 🙂  My mom and sister are also coming and I can’t wait to spend some extra time with them as well.

As I mentioned on Tuesday, I was initially having a really hard time with going back to work, mostly because I was feeling guilty and like it might be the wrong decision for James.  In addition to things just generally getting easier as we both adapted, there have been three things that really helped shift my perspective to seeing this as a positive change.

1. Trust your child

I know I’ve mentioned Janet Lansbury about a million times lately, but it’s because I really have become a little obsessed with her podcast.  As someone who has a young toddler and works with 3-6 year-olds, I learn something from every episode I listen to.  We have about a thirty minute commute, so I love listening on the way to school in the morning to help get me in the right mindset for the day.  I’m about to listen to her book, No Bad Kids: Toddler Discipline Without Shame on Audible as well and can’t wait!

One thing she talks about is trusting your child and your child’s process.

To me, part of this is trusting that James is capable of handling this change.  I know he’s social and generally enjoys being around other children.  If I show him that I believe he can handle it, he will have more confidence in the new situation.  If I act like I’m unsure of things, especially during school drop-off, it gives the message that situation is unsafe or that he shouldn’t be there.

This also means trusting that his process may involve some tears.  I have to be okay with his big emotions, whether that’s tears at drop off (which thankfully seem to have subsided for the time) or more tantrums at home.  I know that is part of how he’s processing this big change and I want to show him that his feelings are okay.

2. Just because it’s hard, doesn’t mean it’s bad

Montessori classrooms often have 1-2 trained teachers and then an assistant.  We have the BEST assistant right now and she is totally someone I’d like to be friends with outside of work too, which is always awesome.

She has a son about a year older than mine and she has been so supportive of me as I’ve adjusted to saying goodbye to James for part of the day.

He had a couple of really hard drop-offs and she reminded me that this separation is really a good experience and a great lesson in independence.  I’m by no means saying putting a child in school / child care is always the right decision.  I think it’s so different for each family and situation, but this did remind me that just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s bad.

3. Life is short

Have you guys read this letter yet?  I saw the link on this blog (which I love!) and it is so moving.  It’s a letter from a young woman who knew she was dying.  It’s a great reminder to let go of the little things and make the most of life.

I really like routine and schedule and feeling like things are under control.  Because of that, I really hate when things like naps are unpredictable or not going well.  This beautiful letter reminded me that in the grand scheme of things it really doesn’t matter if my child doesn’t nap super well for a while.  We can still have great days together and enjoy this special time that goes by so quickly.

Has anyone inspired you lately / changed your perspective?

*Please note this post contains affiliate links – I get a small percentage if items are purchased, at no cost to you.  I only include items I love.  Thanks for your support!

Earlier this month, I went back to work at the Montessori school where I taught before James was born.

I actually wrote out a whole post on my thoughts on going back to work a couple of days before I started, and then didn’t post it because the experience was so different from what I had expected.

I am so, so fortunate in that I was able to make the choice to stay home with James for over a year, which was 100% what I wanted to do.  I was actually planning to go back to work last September at the one year mark, but when I met with the head of my school, she could tell that I wasn’t ready.

I will be forever grateful that I got to spend those extra months at home.  I think the combination of James turning one and going back to work at the same time was making me too emotional.  It felt like too much of an ending.  I am super lucky to have a boss who is also a friend and who has been incredibly patient and understanding in working with me to find the right time to return to teaching, and the right schedule for me.

I knew I would be somewhat emotional about saying goodbye to James for the morning, but I was not that worried about him as he’s generally social and I know and trust his teachers.

You guys, it was so much harder than I thought it would be.  To be honest, I probably would have quit after the first two days if i didnt’ know and feel committed to the people I work with.

There were two things that made our first couple of weeks really hard:

1. Nap Transition

James is used to taking two naps.  He is not one of those super adaptable babies who sleeps anywhere anytime.  He is a good sleeper, but he thrives on a schedule.  His class at school takes one nap, so that has been a big adjustment.

It’s not that they wouldn’t let him take his morning nap at school, more just that there is no way he would settle down to sleep while everyone else is playing.  We’re still working on the nap transition.

This weekend, he took great naps, but both Saturday and Sunday, that included a long nap at 9 AM.  So far, when we try for one mid-day nap, it is super short and then he won’t nap the rest of the day, so that is an ongoing challenge.  This largely explains my lack of blog posts….

2. Ear Infection

James had a minor cold when he started school, but we had just been to the doctor for his checkup and she said it was no big deal, so I wasn’t worried about it.  Well, that turned into an ear infection and he was pretty miserable.

He had never had an ear infection before (and really only ever had one minor cold), and I didn’t realize it right away.  He was acting different / crying more than usual, but I thought it was just because he was over-tired and having a lot of big feelings about the transition.

I still feel super bad about not noticing the ear infection right away, but it also felt like a huge weight was lifted when I realized he was sick.  I had really thought he was acting so miserable because of starting school, and I had never felt so much mom-guilt before.  Ever since he started antibiotics, he is back to his super happy self!

He now gets really excited when I tell him we’re going to school and mention his teachers’ names.  It makes me so happy and relieved that this was the right decision for our family.  Now if we can just get his new nap schedule figured out….any tips on the 2 to 1 nap transition are much appreciated 🙂

On the positive side, I have loved being back in the classroom!  Even more than I thought I would.

I am getting to teach with a great friend whom I really like and respect and am learning so much from her.  We also have a wonderful assistant, who I didn’t know before, but I am loving working with her as well.  It has been really fun to see how much the children have grown and matured in a year and to meet the new little ones.  I am also really looking forward to posting more Montessori-inspired things based on what we’re doing in the classroom.

I’ll be back later this week to share three things that helped change my perspective on this big transition!

How has your January been?

Are you good at handling change?  I am definitely not, I get a lot of anxiety about change and pretty much dread it.

I am so excited for today’s post because I got the chance to interview the founder of one of my very favorite companies, Happy Baby!

My love for Happy Baby (or Happy Family Brands, the broader company) started long before I had a child of my own.  I actually interned for Happy Baby when I was a senior in college and had such a great experience with the company.  As soon as my little guy was ready for snacks and pouches, I started buying their products and couldn’t be happier with them.

One of the Happy Family founders, Jessica Rolph, just launched a new play gym company called LOVEVERY (also available here on Amazon <- affiliate link).  It is a beautiful play gym designed based on neuroscience and babies’ developmental needs.  I love the streamlined design, as some play gyms can be really overstimulating for little ones.

This is not a sponsored post, I just love the concept behind the play gym, and wanted to share.

I hope you enjoy the interview with Jessica Rolph!

Q: Tell us a little about yourself, your family, and your business

At my best, I’m a successful serial entrepreneur, passionate about early life nutrition and learning, and a loving mother of three little people. At my worst, I am overwhelmed, have a chronically messy house, and drive my husband nuts with my constant juggle.

I launched Happy Family 10 years ago with my partner, and together we grew the company into the top organic baby and toddler food brand. Now I’m the cofounder and CEO of Lovevery, a company offering play products designed by child development experts to help parents feel confident they are giving their children exactly what they need at each stage of development.

Q: How have your own children influenced your business ventures?

My partner at Happy Family and I actually didn’t have children when we first started the company. We are both passionate about healthy foods, and my partner saw an opportunity to create a new baby food company that made the possibility of organic mainstream and affordable.

A few years into Happy Family, I started having my own babies. I found myself curious about what my babies’ brains were craving. My birthing instructor gave me a copy of a doctoral thesis on infant brain development called “Neural Foundations – What Stimulation Your Baby Needs to Become Smart”. It had all these detailed, nerdy, cool things that I could do with my child that felt really natural and simple. I couldn’t help but pouring myself into It and it totally transformed my experience as a parent. I discovered the world through my child’s eyes and felt connected to my baby because I was giving him what he was hungry to learn. I was dissatisfied with the toys we had, and started making my own learning tools. I wanted to share what has inspired me with other families, which is why we created Lovevery.

Q: I’ve been a stay at home mom for the past year and am about to go back to work.  Do you have any tips on finding balance for working moms?

Balance is so hard, but the thing that has helped me to feel as good as I can about the juggle is when I am able to be really present when I am with the kids and enjoy them. It is so hard to do, especially during the work week when I have trouble shutting off the problems my brain has been chewing on all day. The weekends are a little easier because we have more time to get into flow with the kids.

I also have accepted that there will always be a mess somewhere, and stuff to do around the house, and I try to ignore it. One suggestion a friend had is to make a list of all the things that you are not going to do when you go back to work and try to get to peace with this list. We have hired a lot of moms who are ready to come back to work, and one thing that seems to cause the most stress, is that they can’t do what they did so well as a mom before they had a job outside the home. They don’t have time to keep making their baby’s meals homemade, or they can’t pull together a pinterest perfect crafty birthday party – all things that brought them joy when they were at home but we just don’t have time for when back to work. If you can afford it, getting help with house cleaning, laundry, and buying pre-prepped food can really help. Something’s gotta give!

Q: What was your inspiration for creating the Lovevery baby gym and how is it different from other baby gyms on the market?

The play gym has so much potential to be a platform for learning for the first 12 months, but I wasn’t satisfied with what was on the market. I had a Montessori bell on a ribbon from etsy, wooden grasping rings, had printed out some black and white designs, and a Montessori graspable ball – but they weren’t convenient, safe (close supervision required with laminated black and white cards, bell on a ribbon, and the wooden rings cracked.)

We designed the play gym with Montessori principles in mind, so babies can practice important skills like grasping, batting, mouthing, looking at dynamic visual stimulation and engaging their developing senses. We also included a book on baby development and activities of how to play with the gym that helps parents know how they can help at each stage.

Q: Do you have plans to expand Lovevery beyond the beautiful baby gym?  What products might we see next?

Yes! More coming soon 🙂 Stay tuned this summer!

Q: Did your work as a founding partner for Happy Family prepare you for launching this latest venture?  What do the two companies have in common?

There are so many new things to learn with each new business, and I’m trying not to learn every new lesson the hard way! I know that starting a business is all-consuming, and that I need to practice “passionate detachment.” This means remaining passionate and caring deeply, but also not letting every little issue consume me!

Thank you Jessica for sharing your story!