A few of my favorite things – holiday edition

Good morning and happy new year!

I had no intention of disappearing for almost a month, but I knew December would be a whirlwind, so I’m not altogether surprised.  I am back though, and have several upcoming posts I’m excited about.

Today, I just wanted to share a few recent favorites, many of which are from the last month’s festivities.

My sister’s wedding

My sister got married on December 16 and it was the BEST day.  I love her and her new husband so much, and could not be happier for them.  The whole day was beautiful, from getting ready together to the ceremony to the reception.

Plus, how cute was this little ring bearer?

Disney World

My sister and her husband decided to go to Disney World for their honeymoon and they kindly invited us along!  I honestly debated whether or not to go because, while I wanted to spend time with my family and love Disney World, the idea of going with a one year old sounded exhausting.  Well, it was exhausting, but it was also lots of fun!  I would be happy to share a post on Disney with a one year old if anyone is interested.  I think we learned a lot through the experience.

Family Time

Between my sister’s wedding, Disney World, and Christmas, we spent a whole two weeks away from home with my family.  It was amazing to spend so much time together and to watch James get to know all my family even better.  I wish we all lived closer!

Home Sweet Home

I was never one of those people who was happy when a vacation was over.  I always felt like they flew by too quickly and I was never ready to go home.  Until now.

Traveling with a toddler is fun, but it’s exhausting and I was super ready to come home.  James is at a stage where he plays super independently and our house is set up for that.  He required much more supervision (and much more “no”) at my parents’ house and it was exhausting.  He has been so happy ever since we’ve been home and it has felt truly relaxing.  He got a couple of new sets of blocks for Christmas and is so happy just wandering around the house playing with them.

Instant Pot!

I got an Instant Pot for Christmas and I love it so much already!  So far I’ve only made basics (hard boiled eggs, apple sauce, steamed carrots, and quinoa), but I cannot get over how easy and fast it is.  I can’t wait to find more recipes and cook actual meals in it.  Does anyone have any favorites?

Thug Kitchen 101

I also got this cookbook for Christmas and love it already.  I’ve made two recipes so far (skillet beer chili mac and a cucumber salad with peanuts and cilantro) and have one more on the menu for this week.  I want to make almost everything in it and can’t wait to cook my way through the book this winter.  (If you’re not familiar with Thug Kitchen, they have great vegan recipes, but be warned, the books use a lot of profanity.)

 

Unruffled Podcast with Janet Lansbury

I’m not sure why it took me so long to realize Janet Lansbury has a podcast, but I just started listening and am already obsessed.  If you’re not familiar with her, she is a wonderful RIE trained expert in child development and behavior.  I plan to work my way through all of her past episodes over the next few months, but so far, this has been one of my favorite episodes.

And that about sums it up!  The next month is going to be pretty busy and full of lots of change, but I’m going to try to get back to posting at least once or twice a week.

What was the best part of your holiday season?

If you’ve been to Disney World, what is your favorite park / ride?

What are you excited about in 2018?

*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!

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Life Lately

Good morning and happy Friday!

This is our last weekend at home until New Years (yikes!), so we’re planning to soak  up lots of relaxing family time and do a few of our favorite holiday things around town.

It’s been a little bit of a rough week as I got my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday, which went fine, but is obviously not fun.  We also had a week of cold and rainy weather, but it was all worth it when we got SNOW last night!

You guys, it was 85 degrees here on Monday and snow is quite unusual here in Austin, especially in early December, so this was a pretty magical surprise.  I noticed it was snowing right as we were putting James to bed, so of course we brought him out in his jammies to see it.  He wasn’t too impressed.  We tried again this morning, but he really doesn’t have the proper shoes / mittens to enjoy it without getting too cold.  Still, I am loving sitting here drinking coffee and watching the snow fall off the trees this morning.

Here are a few other snapshots of our life lately!

Eating / Drinking

Unsweetened Cranberry Juice – my brother-in-law was drinking this when I was in Wisconsin and I gave it a try.  It is super tart (duh) and I love it.  I’m sure it’s not for everyone, but I really like tart things, and I think this is delicious over ice.  I haven’t tried this yet, but I think it would be great mixed with club soda too.

Lemon Poppyseed Scones – These tiny scones are so cute and they freeze so well!  I tried freezing them both before and after baking and both worked well, but I think they’re a little better frozen before baking.  It’s fun to have them in the freezer and be able to just pop a couple in the oven for a morning treat.

Trader Joe’s Freeze Dried Fruit – You guys, this is my new obsession.  First because it is delicious, but also because it makes the best toddler snack!  I don’t mind buying puffs for trips and things like that, but they’re not my first choice for an every day snack.  These are crunchy and delicious and the only ingredient is fruit.  I’ve only tried the raspberries, but am going to get a bunch more kinds when I go back to Trader Joe’s.

Reading

A ‘3 Gift Christmas’ can be Magical – We are not doing this this year, and I’m not sure we ever would, but I do sort of love the idea of a more minimalist Christmas.

Car Seat Guide – We had to switch James to a convertible car seat pretty early because he is super tall, but I wish I had had these guides when we were choosing!  A reader sent them to me recently and I think they would be super helpful for anyone looking for a new car seat – I find this type of safety-related decision so overwhelming.

If you’re looking for more weekend reading, check out my latest two articles on Motherly 🙂

Thinking

About reframing.  I’ve mentioned my favorite podcast many times, but one thing Gretchen and Elizabeth talk about a lot is “reframing” – changing the way you think about something, even when you can’t change the situation.  I’ve been trying to do this with my wisdom teeth this week.  While getting them removed was painful and no fun, I feel so grateful that we have good dental insurance and I could do it without it being a big deal.

I’ve also been reframing how I feel about this very busy month.  While yes, it’s been a little bit stressful at times, it’s all because of a family wedding I’m super excited about, a family vacation, and Christmas, my absolute favorite holiday.

I find this reframing strategy so helpful!

Loving

This baby / toddler stage.  James is so, so much fun lately.  He has been super happy and independent and my new favorite thing he does is dance.  It is the absolute cutest thing 🙂

Looking forward to

My sister’s wedding! And Disney World! And Christmas!  Basically, all the things 🙂

What have you been up to lately?  Please share!

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Traveling with Littles – Balancing Routine with Excitement

Good morning!

How is your December so far?  Mine is busy, but happy!

I am by no means an expert on traveling with a baby, but we’ve had a few very successful trips recently.  With holiday travel coming up for many, I wanted to share a few tips that have made our trips fun and relaxing for both our little one and us.

I would love to hear any tips you have for traveling with young children in the comments!

1. Create a “home base”

This is the number one thing that has helped us in traveling with a baby / young toddler.  If you can baby proof a whole room wherever you are staying, that is excellent, but even a little corner of a room can really help.  It’s important for a baby to have a space that’s his own, where he can move and explore without constantly hearing “no”.  It is also super helpful for allowing the parents to relax!

In Maine, there was a sun-room we could easily baby-proof.  When we visited my husband’s family in Wisconsin last week, my mother in law set up a little corner of the living room for James.  She set out a blanket to define the space, and cleared off the lowest shelf of a book shelf and set a few toys there.  This was so effective, that we did the same thing in our own living room as soon as we got home!

He is in a stage where he loves to run around and explore, so he did not stay in that corner the whole time, but he seemed to really love having a “home base” to return to after exploring other parts of the house.

2. Bring or Buy familiar foods

My son is not picky (yet…), and it’s really fun to introduce him to new foods when we travel, but I still like to make sure we have a few of his staple favorites on hand.

I like to pack a few of these favorites, so we don’t have to rush to a grocery store as soon as we arrive somewhere.  I generally pack a small container of frozen peas, string cheese, and frozen pancakes (I make a big batch and freeze some, so generally have these on hand).  Of course, I also bring lots of puffs and pouches, just in case 🙂

3. Build in free time

What kind of vacationer are you?  I definitely used to be a “do all the things” traveler, but no more!  At least not quite as much….

Exploring new places as a family is awesome, but I find that letting the little guy have a big chunk of time every day to just be goes a long way toward making everyone happy.  If you’re staying somewhere without much space, find a local park or play place!

4. Protect bedtime

Naps and bedtime may get a little wonky on travel days, but in my experience, more than one day in a row of missed naps or late bedtimes is pretty much a disaster.  We make sure James gets to bed on time, with rare exceptions.  Granted, we’ve never stayed in a hotel room with him, just Air BnB’s or family homes where we could continue hanging out after he went to bed, so I’m sure that would be trickier in a small hotel room.

5. Surprise him with favorite books

I think I may have mentioned this before, but I like to put away a few of James’s all-time favorite books a few weeks before we travel, and surprise him with them on the trip.  He is always so excited to see the books he loves and is happy to read them about a hundred times in a row, which is particularly helpful on airplanes.

Do you have any tips for traveling with little ones?  Please share!

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December Goals and NaNoWriMo Recap

Good morning and happy Friday!  I didn’t mean to disappear lately, but things have been very busy!  We just got back from Wisconsin on Wednesday and now it seems like all the things need to happen to prepare for Christmas and some upcoming trips.

I will likely be blogging less this month, but will pop in when I can 🙂

Here is a recap of last month’s goals, and my goals for December.  I would love to read yours in the comments!

November Goals

I had only one goal in November, which was to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).  This was a little bit of a last minute decision, and I am so happy I did it!

NaNoWriMo is basically a free program designed to help people write 50,000 words of a novel in the month of November.  Most adult fiction is longer than that, so it’s not really a whole book, but it’s a sizable chunnk.

I sort of wish this challenge were in October instead, as I, like many people, traveled for Thanksgiving, which makes it harder.  Knowing I had upcoming travel planned, I focused on this goal big time in the beginning of November and completed the goal on November 18!  This way I could just relax and spend time with family and friends for the week we were away for Thanksgiving.

Two things were key for me in succeeding – Completing an outline of what I wanted to write before November 1 and writing at the same time every day.

I know some people don’t like to write from an outline, but for me, it was extremely helpful in making it easier to keep writing when I was perhaps too tired or not feeling creative enough to make big decisions about the story.

Writing every morning, usually at 5 AM, also worked really well for me.  I was generally done with the daily word goal (1667 words) by the time James was up for the day.  I often wrote more later in the day, but having the minimum done took the pressure off.

I definitely recommend NaNoWriMo for anyone trying to start a writing habit!  There is also no reason you could not complete a challenge like this on your own, or with a friend, in a different month of course.

December Goals

Does survival count as a goal?  Just kidding, but this month is going to be a whirlwind, even more than most years – for good reasons though!  My sister is getting married and we are going on a family vacation before Christmas this year.  Then we’re traveling for Christmas as well.  It’s going to be nuts, but hopefully very fun too.

I’m mostly done with Christmas shopping at least, so that’s something!

I’m only setting two goals for the month, and they are really more intentions than goals.

1. Read the Bible daily

I already know I will likely miss some days, but I’m going to stick to this as much as possible because it’s so easy to lose sight of the meaning behind Christmas.  I personally like this site for daily readings.  I’m also going to try to read to James daily from his children’s Bible I got him for his Baptism, at least while we are in town.

2. Set Reasonable Expectations

I wrote a little about this here, but I am working on having reasonable expectations for holidays, and experiences in general.  I am really excited about both our vacation and Christmas, but I know they will be 1000 times more enjoyable if I don’t try to fit in every tradition and every fun activity.  I just want to spend time with family and see James’s little smile.  That will be more than enough.

Do you have Demember goals?

Is this a crazy month for you?

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7 Easy DIY Montessori Baby Toys (10-15 Months)

Good morning!

I wanted to share a few really easy DIY baby toys today.  Readiness of course depends on the individual child, but I would say these would generally be good for a 10-15 month old.

I am not crafty (at all), but I love creating toys for James for a few reasons.  For starters, it is a very budget-friendly way to give your little one something new to play with.  I also love that it allows me to give him something perfectly suited for his current interests and abilities.

For the last couple of months, one of James’s all time favorite things to do is what I would call insert work – basically putting things in containers.  You;ll see that a lot of the toys I made him revolve around that skill, at different levels of difficulty.

Also, I should add that I did not come up with most of these ideas.  I browsed various Montessori sites to get ideas before going to Hobby Lobby.  In general, I love both How We Montessori and The Kavanaugh Report for ideas on Montessori baby / toddler work at home.

1. Basic Insert Work

This is as simple as it gets, just a pleasing object and a container to put it in / take it out of.  I don’t even know what this wooden thing is, but the shape was nice and I knew it would fit nicely in a jar I already had.  I made two other very simple insert works like this for James, one with a little yellow wooden ring in a small circular box and one with a large cardboard egg in a large cylindrical box.  These would not all be on the shelf at one time, but having three options allows me to switch them out when he masters one or gets bored.

2. Mailbox Insert Work

This is the same concept, but considerably more difficult.  All you need is a container with a hinged lid that you can make a slit in, and some discs that will fit through the slit.  I used a cardboard mailbox from Hobby Lobby and made the slit with an xacto knife.  I used wooden discs to insert.  This would be nicer and more durable with a wooden box, but I wasn’t sure we had a tool to make a slit in wood.

This sat on James’s shelf for a couple of weeks before he showed much interest.  Then he wanted me to put the discs in, but would not try it himself or would try it briefly and get frustrated.  Just last week though, he became super interested in it and put the discs in and took them out over and over again.

3. Straw Insert Work

This one is also super easy to make.  I simply poked holes in the lid of a cardboard box and cut up little straws for James to put in (pipecleaners should work too).

4. Peg Insert Work

(If I had known how much he would like this, I would have found my xacto knife to cute the hole….)

This is the latest, and probably has been James’s favorite of all of the things I’ve made for him recently.  I simply made a hole in a (clean!) soup container from a restaurant and used pegs that are part of a hammering set he was given.

To say he loves this would be an understatement.  From the moment I gave it to him, he was enthralled and does it again and again and again.  The only downside is that he cannot take the lid off of the container if it is on tightly, so it’s not always completely independent.  It try to put the lid on loosely so he can do it himself, but a container with a hinged lid would be better.

After practicing this for a week or so, James also became entranced with putting the pegs in his pop up peg toy, which is more challenging because the holes are smaller.  (Previously, he would take the pegs out, but not try to put them in again.)  Giving him an easier version helped him improve the skill he was working on so he could be successful with the more challenging one.  I geek out over watching things like that – development in action 🙂

5. Velcro Heart Box

I really like this one, but James hasn’t showed much interest in it yet.  I’ll probably put it away and try again in a month or so.

This is a simple wooden box I found at Target with wooden hearts attached with velcro stickers.  Baby can take them off and stick them on again.

6. Wallet with Cards

Is anyone else’s baby obsessed with credit cards?  James is not a big fan of running errands, but LOVES taking the card out of the machine when I pay.  One day he got my wallet from my purse and spent almost an hour taking the cards out and trying to put them back in.  I knew I had to make a version of this activity to put on his shelf.

I took an old wallet and filled it with old gift cards and rewards cards (cards from back when I went shopping, for myself….).  This was so simple and so fun for him.

7. Makeup Brush Treasure Basket

A “treasure basket” is any collection of objects your baby might be interested in, put together where he can access them.  For example, I used to have a bowl of interesting kitchen objects James would play with while I prepped food.  These are really great for babies who aren’t yet mobile, but I still put them together for James from time to time when I stumble upon something he might be interested in.

He generally likes brushes of all kinds, so when I was cleaning out my makeup and jewelry and found this set of makeup brushes, I put them together in a wooden box for him to enjoy.  doesn’t get much simpler than that!

Are you crafty? I am so not, but wish I were!

Do you make homeade toys or homemade gifts?

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Thanksgiving Week Snapshots

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of family time and delicious food!

I’ve been enjoying lots of time away from the computer, but wanted to pop in to share some photos from our week, which has been truly wonderful.

We traveled to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving.  Sadly there are no direct flights from Austin to Milwaukee, so it’s a bit of a trek, but we survived!  James ate snacks for pretty much the entire first flight, and took a nap on the second flight, so it wasn’t too bad.

He made himself right at home at my in-laws’ house and has been having a great time eating lots of food and playing Duplos.

He also been sporting his first winter coat, which is just the cutest.  The weather has actually been surprisingly nice though!

We took him to story time at the local library and he had a great time with this dino digging activity.

We drive to Madison, Wisconsin for actual Thanksgiving and had a wonderful time introducing James to his aunts and uncles.

James played in the backyard and collected pinecones until it was time to eat.

He thoroughly enjoyed the Thanksgiving spread (as did we all).  His favorite food seemed to be the cranberries, which he devoured and then ate seconds of.

There was a dog at the house and it was the CUTEST to watch James with him.  He followed him around and kept burying his head in the dog’s fur and giving him kisses.  Luckily, it was an older dog and he was very docile and friendly.  James even took a good nap while we were there, which made things more fun for everyone.

Today we took him to the Milwaukee zoo and it was so fun to watch him react to the animals.  It is a beautiful day here, sunny and almost 60 degrees, which is quite warm for Wisconsin!

It’s been wonderful to spend so much time with family, and also to see my best friend who also lives in Milwaukee.  While he clearly still doesn’t really “get” the holidays, it’s been fun to celebrate with a little toddler who can participate and enjoy everything with us.

I hope you had a truly wonderful Thanksgiving!

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The Best Christmas Gift I ever Received (and surviving the holidays as a new mom)

Good morning!

Do you have any fun plans for Thanksgiving this week?  We are spending the holiday with my husband’s family and I could not be more excited.  I’m looking forward to cold weather, spending time with family and my best friend, and watching James explore new places!

As Thanksgiving approaches, I’ve been reflecting a lot on last year’s holiday season.  It was my first year as a mom and James was just a newborn (two months old at Thanksgiving) and honestly, parts of it were really tough.

I love the holidays and LOVE traditions.  There is a running joke in my family that they have to be careful because if they do anything twice, I will insist it is a tradition and must be done forever.  This is not far from the truth.

When I was hoping to get pregnant, and the whole year I was expecting James, I would often drift off to sleep at night imagining Christmas with a baby.  I’ve always wanted to be a mom and it always seemed like the holidays would be extra magical with little ones.  And they are.  But they’re also a lot harder.

We had Thanksgiving at our house last year, though we did not really host, as my family brought almost all of the food.  It was pretty much the easiest set up we could have, but it was still hard.  It was hard to fit in cooking the few things I’d said I would make.  It was hard when at the end of the day, James was inconsolable during dinner and wanted only me.

(I later read it is not considered safe to let babies sleep in boppy loungers, but I did not know that at the time)

For Christmas, we drove to my parents’ house, which is only about a three hour drive from us.  At that point, James was three months old and I think he was taking four naps per day.  He also took a LONG time to nurse as an infant, often at least an hour.  I used to use an App to track when he ate and I remember it often being 11-12 hours total nursing time at the end of the day.

Needless to say, that made it hard to fit in all of the Christmas traditions I love.

On Christmas Day, my husband offered to help James fall asleep for all of his naptimes, and that was seriously the best Christmas present I ever received.  Now he (usually) falls asleep peacefully with no fuss, but that was certainly not the case back then!

Especially in a new place and especially when it was not me putting him down for his nap, there was a lot of crying and a lot of time spent consoling.  I was so grateful to my husband for offering to cover nap time, since I was still spending hours upstairs feeding the little guy (yes, I could have just fed him with my family there, but I’m a really private person and wasn’t comfortable with that).

Even with all of the help from my family and husband, it was sort of a hard day (though also a great one in many ways).  I know I could have done a few things differently though, to make it even better.

1. Ask for help!

Not asking for help when I need it is definitely one of my biggest weaknesses (anyone else?  Yeah, I thought so).  It is a good thing my husband is literally the most helpful person on the planet, otherwise I’d be screwed.  Still, asking for help would make both of our lives easier, and is something I’m constantly working on.

2. Have realistic expectations

Even though I was SO excited and thankful to have a new baby, I had trouble letting go of how I pictured the holidays.  I think I’ve gotten a lot better over the past year about going into to things with fewer expectations and being a little more flexible (not natural to me).

3. Set the plan

I was afraid for a while to speak up and tell people what plan / timing would work best for us with a baby.  The thing is, I sort of hate being in charge, but I was the one who knew his nap schedule the best and should have spoken up more when it came to planning things.

All of that said, I have some of the very best memories from last year’s holidays.  I remember infant James staring up at the Christmas tree, completely mesmerized by the lights.  I remember him enjoying the little toys in his stocking, smiling and kicking his chubby legs.  I remember him in his little sweater vest at church, enamored with the lights and startled by the loud music.  I remember how very happy I was to have him, after spending the previous holiday season wishing for a baby so much.

I’m super excited to enjoy the holidays with a little toddler this year and to see what shenanigans he’ll get into.

Have a very happy Thanksgiving!

What’s the best gift you’ve every received?

What’s your favorite Thanksgiving tradition?

 

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Stocking Stuffers – 10 Kitchen Tools for 3-5 year olds

Are you buying gifts for any littles this year?  My little guy isn’t quite old enough to help much in the kitchen, but cooking projects and food preparation work were some of my favorite things to watch the children work on when I was teaching in a Montessori school.

Helping in the kitchen is great for concentration and fine motor skills, and can also help kids get excited about eating different kinds of foods.

If you have a little one on your Christmas list, here are some fun kitchen tool ideas, perfect for tiny hands.  These are generally appropriate for 3-5 year olds, but of course watch your own child for readiness.

Wavy Chopper This lets children as young as three help chop things like carrots or cucumbers.

Mini Pizza Pans How fun would these be for family pizza nights?

Egg Slicer I have only seen these used for eggs, but have read they’re great for mushrooms as well!

Banana Slicer This is definitely not a kitchen essential, but can be fun if you have a child who regularly eats bananas.  After they slice them, they can spread them with nut butter using their own little spreader – there are tons of fun ones out for the holidays.

Mini Potato Masher This is perfect for helping with the mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes for holiday dinners, but it would also work well for making guacamole.

Cherry Pitter This was one of the most beloved food prep works in the class where I taught.

Apple Slicer Some little ones do not yet have the muscle strength to use this on their own yet, but older four year olds or five year olds are often successful with it.

Egg Beater This would be fun for letting your child help with holiday baking.  Handheld mixers like this can also be used for bubble making – all you need is a mixing bowl, water, and a few drops of dish soap.

Spice Grinder or Nut Chopper The options for these are endless, but grinding nutmeg would be fun to fill the house with a nice holiday smell.

Mini Grater These little graters are great for letting your little one help with taco night.

I always love the For Small Hands site for kids’ kitchen tools (and so many other things…) as well.

Do you do stockings in your family?

They’re one of my favorite parts of Christmas!

*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!

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Montessori Weaning Table Update

I wrote a little bit about our Montessori weaning table here, but realized I hadn’t given an update in quite some time.

We have both a high chair and a little child sized table and chair for James, and we use both almost every day.

At first, we used his little table for all of his meals, but as we started eating meals as a family, James joined us at the big table for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  There is no way the three of us could comfortably sit at his little table together.

I use his little table pretty much every day though for his afternoon snack.  I love several things about this.

  1. He can participate in setting the table.  Right now, he just watches me get things from his kitchen drawer, but I’m sure he will be helping with this before long.  I love that he can see the whole process, from set up through clean up.
  2. He can get up when he’s done eating.  The rule is that the food stays at the table, but when he’s done, he can get up.  I think it’s a good experience for him to practice staying at the table until he’s done eating, by choice rather than because he’s strapped in.
  3. He can help clean up!  This may be my favorite thing about his weaning table.  If he spills something in the high chair, there’s no way he can help clean up the mess on the floor.  He may not even see the mess on the floor.  If he spills something in his little chair though, he can see the clean up process, and will sometimes help.  Last week, he spilled his bowl of Cheerios and helped me put them back in the bowl.  I’m not sure how much of this is his desire to help versus his love of putting things in containers, but I’ll take it 🙂

If I can ever make it to IKEA, I want to get another little table for his playroom.  Hopefully that will happen soon!

How do you do meal times and snack times for your kids?

What’s your favorite snack?

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Signs my baby is turning into a toddler

In addition to the obvious fact that he now toddles everywhere, I have seen so many sign that James is no longer a baby and has officially reached toddlerhood.  I used to think this would make me sad, but I can’t be sad about it when he’s so much fun these days!

Here are ten signs I’ve noticed that let me know his baby days are gone.

  1. He has a special radar for finding anything in the room that might be off limits.  This mostly includes cords, electronics, and climbing on tables.
  2. He throws little mini tantrums when something doesn’t go his way, making his body limp, and throwing his little head back with such drama.  He did this ALL week last week as he was teething and by the end of the week, he’d learned to throw himself on the floor, but carefully lower his head down so as not to bump.
  3. He looks at me with the biggest, most mischievous smile before doing something he’s not supposed to
  4. He’s fascinated by putting food in his little water glass – so gross
  5. He has started helping!  He loves choosing a diaper from his basket when he needs one, handing me my shoes if I ask, and will sometimes help pick up legos or spilled Cheerios, it’s the best 🙂
  6. He is always on the go, but gives the best hugs when if he ever slows down.  I call him my reluctant cuddle buddy.
  7. He is getting so many little bumps and bruises, mainly from going too fast or not looking where he’s going.
  8. He loves playgrounds!  This is something I really looked forward to and I’m so happy that the age of playground dates has arrives 🙂  He loves going down the slide and generally exploring and collecting rocks and sticks.
  9. He thinks any and all bodily functions are hilarious.  Unless he’s tired and they they’re terrible and make him cry….
  10. He is fascinated by small objects.  One of his favorite pastimes is collecting little rocks and sticks and trying to pick up bugs.  It is so sweet, but tricky to keep them out of his mouth!

Any advice from toddler mamas?

Any good book recommendations on toddler development?

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