Messy Play Part II

As promised, here is another fun filled messy play idea for you toddler moms out there!
There are very few requirements for this activity.

1. An outdoor play area. (Notice there is still paint on our table from the other day :-| )

2. A bowl full of random toys.

3. Some cheap shave cream

4. A curious and playful kiddo

Gotta taste a little just to make sure its nasty like momma says :)

I love the big clump in his hair! 

5. A water hose to clean up :) 

If you have more fun messy play ideas, feel free to share!

Messy Play

It's true! I LOVE a good mess! Now to clarify, I don't particularly love a messy kitchen sink, or loads and loads of dirty laundry. However, I do LOVE to do fun messy things in my classroom and with Harrison! Today's example of a fun mess,

Finger painting outside!

 *Note to other toddler Moms, this was the best idea I've had yet! He got to be as messy as he wanted and all it took was 2 min with the water hose to clean up!
                                      

I just love this sweet little messy face.

(Another advantage to painting outside, he can run around the yard while I put everything away)

Messy boy checking on the garden. 

I've got a few more messy play ideas on the list for this summer, I'll be sure to share them as we go!

Potty Training Day 1

Let me start out by saying that I have very low expectations of this actually working. However, I wanted to blog about it for a few reasons, 1) I don't want to forget these crazy days. 2) I figured a few fellow moms out there could use a good laugh :)
So, with that being said here is a run down of our first attempt at potty training.


Once H turned 1 we started sitting him on the potty before bath time every night. Occasionally he would go, and we would make a huge deal out of it but it was never consistent. In the past few weeks he has started telling us when he has already gone and needs a new diaper. *Hint hint mom*, huh? :)
This morning when talking with my mom she informed me that the almanac says this week is a good time to attempt potty training so I thought what the heck, lets give it a shot! I have had a few moms tell me that they had great success with the bare bottoms potty training method so I thought I'd give it a try too. (You can buy the book on bare bottom potty training, or you can google it and save yourself money and a trip to the book store. I googled it. In a nutshell, your kiddo wears nothing from the waist down. Apparently this helps them realize when they need to go. You offer them lots to drink throughout the day, stopping drinks around 5 PM.)
 We were off to a great start, 2 for 2 first thing this morning. Not too bad I thought to myself. However, I was quickly humbled with 3 back to back accidents. By this time it was nap time, H was grouchy and very tired of me taking him to the potty every 15 minutes so I stuck a diaper back on him and down for a nap he went. When he woke 2 hours later he was barely wet, we went to the potty, success again! The rest of the afternoon consisted of several little puddles here and there and a few successful trips to the potty. This momma was frazzled! I called it quits at 6:00. Dinner, bath and a diaper for him it was and I went for a run!
I suppose it wasn't too bad for our first attempt. I think we had 5 or 6 successful trips to the potty. I lost count of our not so successful trips (aka accidents on the floor). If nothing else comes from todays training, we have super clean floors! Heres to another wild and crazy day tomorrow!

Outgrown

While I was rocking Harrison to sleep tonight I realized something very frightening. We have *almost* outgrown the glider. :( We were both turned sideways scrunched into the back corner so we would have as much room as possible. As he was drifting off to sleep, (legs dangling off the side) I started thinking back to all the things he has outgrown in the past {nearly} 15 months. The first thing that I can remember him outgrowing was the baby bath. I'm pretty sure we only used the net that attaches to the top of the bath about 5 times before it was "outgrown". Then it was the swing, the play mat, the bouncy seat, the bumbo seat, the bassinet, the car seat carrier, the second (larger) baby bath, bottles, and tons and tons of clothes along the way. Depressing? Slightly! Although it makes me pretty sad to pack all these things away, I know that it is a necessity in order to make room for all the new "toddler" accessories that are beginning to take over our home!
Crazy to think that in only a few short months we have gone from

this tiny cuddly newborn 

to this rambunctious ALWAYS on the go toddler! 

I can't imagine all that we will "outgrow" in the next year. 

Here's to growing up! 

The Kids' Table

Now that Harrison is transitioning from blended baby foods to table foods we are paying closer attention to what we are eating! I wouldn't say that we have ever been "unhealthy eaters" but now that he is eating a lot of the same foods we are eating, I am making sure to have more balanced meals each night. Luckily for us, he isn't a picky eater at all. He is always willing to try whatever we put in front of him- as long as he is the one getting to do the "feeding" part! I know that we will have our fair share of food struggles in the future, but for now things are going smoothly. With that being said, I thought I'd take a minute to share some of his favorites and a few tricks that I have learned through trial and error for all the other moms making this same transition.
Tips first!
1)One thing that I make sure to do whenever we are eating is to have 2 familiar foods and 1 new food on Harrisons tray. For example, last night we had a cookout and I made baked beans. He had never had baked beans before so I made sure that along with the "new" baked beans he was trying that he also had strawberries and wheat crackers(both things that he has already had and likes). Once he got a feel for the texture of the beans, they were a hit!  
2) These diced foods by Gerber are awesome! 
 
They come in a self feeding tray (which Harrison always dumps out and throws in the floor) and are just the right size for his little fingers to grab a hold of!

3) Put more on the tray that you expect them to eat- a large quantity of it will end up in the seat, on their clothes, in their hair and on the floor!
4) Give them options on their tray. I guess this goes hand in hand with number one, but again- choice and familiarity have proven to keep this transition smooth for us.
5) If they act interested in what you are eating, let them try it. You never know what they may like. For example- olives. YUCK! I hate olives but Mahlon loves them. He was eating some a few days ago and Harrison was having a fit for some. I kept telling him no because they are nasty but he was not taking no for an answer so we gave him one- he loved it! What a strange kid :)
6) Be ready for a mess! Remeber, they are learning a new skill and probably exploring a number of new textures as well.

As for his favorites,he will ALWAYS eat animal crackers, any pasta, cheerios, puffs and fruits. 
Here are a few shots of him exploring some new foods :)

                                          

I'll continue to share any tricks, tips, and favorites we discover along this journey under "The Kids Table" label. Happy transitioning!

One Spoiled Momma

I am admitting it. I am one spoiled momma! This summer has been the most laid back, relaxing, schedule free summer I have ever had. Here is a glance at our care free daily life.
Harrison will usually wake up between 6 and 7,we have fruit and oatmeal for breakfast and start our day. If we are going to go outside and play, now is the time we do it! If not it gets way too hot! We play, read books, watch a little Disney Jr, I drink my coffee and enjoy the morning. Harrison will go down for his morning nap around 9:30. This is when I will do a little cleaning, dishes, laundry, but noting too strenuous ;). After nap we have lunch and play more, color, finger paint, occasionally splash in the water and then its time for afternoon nap (around 12:30). During afternoon nap time, I'm not going to lie, I do not do much :). I might start dinner if it is something that needs to be thawed or placed in the crock pot, fold a little laundry, sweep or put away dishes but I always manage to find time to watch a little HGTV, glance through Pinterest and occasionally, take a nap. Yes I said nap. The rest of the day is much the same. More playing, reading, park visiting, going for walks and family dinners. I'm not sure what I am going to do when August rolls around and I get a big dose of reality thrown at me. For now, I'm just enjoying spoiling my baby and being one spoiled momma! Oh how I LOVE summer!

Listen to Your Baby

Parenting is hard work. There is no magic book you can read or special seminar you can attend that will let you in on all the secrets to this wonderfully rewarding job that the Lord has entrusted you with. I am not suggesting that there aren't plenty of helpful tips and pointers out there, because I know there are, but look closely at what I am saying. No one will ever be able to tell you how exactly your child needs to be parented. LISTEN TO YOUR BABY. I am sure this kind of a "duh" statement for some of you reading but it is something I had to come to realize through the first few months of Harrison's life. When you bring your sweet little newborn home everyone always has tons of advice to offer you ranging anywhere from how and where they should sleep to how often they should eat to what they should and should not wear, and the list goes on and on! The best piece of advice I can offer, LISTEN TO YOUR BABY. I promise you they will let you know what they need. When I first brought Harrison home I was instructed to only nurse him every 3 hours during the day and 4-5 hours during the night. Wrong. This baby was hungry. I tried to follow their instructions for about 2-3 days and that was about it. I could tell that he was hungry about every 2- 2 1/2 hours during the day and I didn't see the need to "push his feedings out" any longer than that. Many will argue that babies will learn to eat on a schedule and will eat more when they do eat because they realize they won't be eating for another however many hours. I just never saw the point in listening to him cry for 30 minutes because he was hungry simply because it was not "time" to eat yet. Now, as it is becoming time for Harrison to begin eating more table foods and less baby foods, I am still listening to what my baby wants. Am I following any chart or table that tells me what he "wants" at this age? No. I give him some of what we are eating along with his regular baby food and that's that. If we are having spaghetti, he has spaghetti. I we are having lasagna, roast, pancakes, eggs, muffins, rice, cooked vegetables and so on guess what- he has it too. If he does not "want" it, I promise you he makes it very clear :)
Another concept I have never been able to agree with is crying it out. I have rocked Harrison to sleep every nap and every night for the past 9 months up until the past few weeks. Why? Because I never felt that I was so busy or that my life was so important that I could not take that 30 minutes of time to sooth and comfort my baby at these times. I listened to what my baby needed and I am still listening to what he needs now. Recently he has not wanted to be rocked anymore while going to sleep. When I try to rock him, he squirms, twists, turns and wiggles all over the place. I can tell that he simply wants to lay down, so I lay him down. He will jabber and flip around for about 5 minutes and then he is asleep. It was that simple. I never fought him at bed time. There were never any all night cryings or weeks spent sleep training in our house. If he woke/wakes up during the night I go in, if I think he is hungry I fed/feed him, if I think he's cold I cover him back up and rock him. Do I loose 30 minutes of sleep, yes. Is it better than listening to him cry it out while he sits in his room alone in the dark getting more and more upset until he finally realizes that no one is coming and stops crying- yes.
I heard someone once say that babies in orphanages do not cry. Why? They have learned that no one is going to come when they do. How pitifully sad. My child, and all future children, will know that someone will always be there to comfort them. They will not feel alone and abandoned. Will I regret this decision? Will my children not develope good sleep habits? Will they need to be rocked at the age of 4? Who knows, who cares. Listen to your baby. In all aspects, not just these three. They are very aware of their needs, all we need to do is take a little time to figure out what it is they are needing.
That's my advice :)

Friday's Top 5

Here are the top 5 Mommy must haves at my house this month!
5) Amber necklace to help sooth Harrison's teething pain.

4) Wooden toys.

We LOVE the Imaginarium wooden toys. Right now, Harrison's favorite is the 5 sided activity center. It has gears to turn, beads to slide, insects to slide along the tracks and little circles to spin.
3) Blocks.

We have so many different sets of blocks in this house! There are wooden blocks, plastic Mega Blocks, fabric blocks, foam blocks, and Fisher Price Little People Blocks. Harrison loves to spread them out all over the house! I've been trying to get him to stack the blocks, but it's not happening! I'll stack a few and try to get him to add to the stack but he just takes the blocks off of the stack instead. Oh well, we will keep working on this skill ;)
2) Water toys.

We spend lots of time outside playing in Harrison's little pool and on his Splash Mat. What an awesome way to spend hot summer afternoons!
1) Baby Einsteins First Words Book

This book is full of fun colorful pictures to help your little one learn to identify objects. We work on the same two pictures on each page every day. Once I think he has these words down (which will be a while) I'll pick two new words to work on. Harrison loves this book! He crawls around in the floor dragging it with him and will sit and open and shut the book and just laugh! It's too sweet!

Teething Trials

Our little Harrison has been teething lately. As I mentioned in the 9 month update, it hasn't been easy.  In our house it has equated to a grumpy, leg clinging, occasional all out wailing, restless sleeping, needing to be held baby.
Overall, I just feel really bad for my little monkey. I have had toothaches before and I remember how painful they can be. I have been trying to find ways to help relieve his pain without giving too much medicine. I will give him some Tylenol about once a day maybe twice( if he is having a wailing moment around 3 am) but other than that, we have steered away from most medications. I asked our pediatrician about the Highlands teething tablets and Baby Orajel at our 6 month check up and again yesterday at our 9 month check up. He stressed the fact that Orajel is a local anesthetic and needed to be used sparingly and only on the specific spot where the tooth was coming in. He also informed me that the teething tablets are not approved by the FDA, although he had never had any patients have any side effects from using them.
I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to Harrison, and not feeling comfortable using these products, we have avoided them all together.
That being said we have been on the search for alternative options to help relieve his teething pain.
Our biggest struggle has been that no matter what we give him to chew on; cold veggies, frozen berries, frozen waffles (his favorite right now), popsicles,teething rings, etc he looses interest fairly quickly. He will chew on whatever it is for maybe 5 minutes and then he is done.
The search for something to give him longer lasting relief led me to these

amber teething necklaces.

I had seen a few babies wearing these necklaces before so I took some time to read about them on the internet, ask fellow mommas their opinions and in the end decided that it would be worth a shot.

Harrison has been wearing his for a week today.

 I can't decide if it is helping yet or not. I think his overall mood has improved, but he still has some all-out-wailing moments and frequently has his little fingers in his mouth chomping away.
At least it's cute

(I thought this picture was way too funny not to include in this post!)

If any of you other mommas out there have found anything that works miracles for long lasting relief- feel free to let me in on the secret! We are willing to give just about anything a shot ;)

Brush, Brush, Brush!

Now that Harrison has 2 teeth we have started brushing every night!

The trick to actually getting his two little teeth brushed.....letting him play with the toothbrush first!

Then, Mommy embarks on the task of getting the toothbrush in his mouth and actually on his teeth!

 Which is always challenging, but funny since he tries to eat the toothbrush :)

We are pretty lucky, he seems to like the tooth brushing part of our night time routine! 

Here's to healthy dental habits!