Happiness Happens When...

Happiness happens when...

I've finally reached a rhythm with my two girls, Penny (29 months) and Ruby (5 months old). Rhythm does not imply a schedule or that I've got everything down...because I most certainly do not. But the random crazy hectic life that appeared to be my destiny when we welcomed our second daughter in March seems to have evened itself out.

The rhythm I speak of is that we can simply be together; we co-exist in our daily lives and throughout the day we ebb and flow together. The days where I feel like one girl has to be put down or somehow occupied while I love on the other are slowly waning.

This week I've come to realize that Penny and I have really become a team. The Big Little Miss can very quickly anticipate what is going to happen next in the day and she seems to be getting prepared even before I ask her to. I had to sit back and smile for a moment when I took a look at her after telling her that we'd be leaving for my eye appointment soon. While I changed her little sister's diaper and got myself ready, she filled her princess backpack with her "necessities," put on her shoes, adorned herself in all the necklaces and bracelets she can find and topped it off with her summer hat. She stood at the top of the stairs, patiently, while I loaded Ruby into the Suburban and politely said that she can walk down the stairs herself, that she doesn't need me to hold her hand. When did my little Penny grow up?

Yea, we still have crazy days. We have crazy hours. There's moments where I'm not sure if I am cut out for this.

And then I see these two girls playing, and I am overwhelmed with the purity of their friendship. They look into each other's eyes without any judgement or pretense. If Penny had felt slighted in the last 15 minutes because Ruby may have accidentally laid an arm upon Penny's beloved "luly" (her lovey blanket), the sour feelings are gone within moments and the two are back to loving each other, over and over again.

True happiness creeps up on me these days. I'm overall a very blessed, satisfied, but very tired mama. But my love tank is filled to the brim and overflows in the most unexpected moments. Happiness happens when I stop for that small moment and take a mental picture of what I'm seeing, because before I know it, that backpack will be full of books and calculators (not My Little Pony and marbles), or that squishy snuggly baby is strolling down the street alongside me to get the mail. 

Disclosure: thanks, Happy Family, for sponsoring today's weepy mama moment. 

Penny was born in the water (My first birth story)

Today my oldest is 2 years old :) What a great journey it has been!

Prior to becoming pregnant I never really gave my birth options much thought. It was just something that I'd take care of when the time comes and one of my greatest influences in choosing a natural, waterbirth were from two co-workers who had both of their sons at home and my good friend Gretchen, as I followed along her natural parenting journey on her blog for about a year leading up to my pregnancy.

The experiences from these three women sparked my fire in researching why I'd want to have an unmedicated birth, at a free standing birth center, with a midwife and in the water. In addition to the great amount of research that I did (I highly suggest watching The Business of Being Born and reading any Ina May book if you are interested), one of the very best ways that I was able to prepare myself for birth was to read lots of birth stories. Each story is different and provided a new clue into what I could expect to happen or prepare for. Having never witnessed a birth personally, this was the closest I could do to beginning to understand what it might be like.

Our society permeates a lot of fear when it comes to birth. The media portrays birth as this dramatic scene where emergencies run rampant, women scream in agony and tell their "war stories" afterwards. As if for some reason scaring another woman about birth is what proves that you are strong. On the contrary, I believe that a birth free of fear is the most courageous act and is the best for mother and child. Which is why I want to share mine with you today. This story is very precious to my heart and I love to share it. 

The part that I'm the most impressed about with Penny's birth story is that it went exactly how I wanted it to be. This has made me wonder a lot during the preparations for Ruby's birth because who knows how the second time will go. I feel confident in my ability to handle labor pains but the whole unknown about it all is kind of driving me nuts!

-----

On Thursday March 1 I had my 38 week appointment with one of my two midwives. This birth center has two attending midwives and I met with each one equally so that depending whoever was on call, my husband and I had already gotten to know her and she understood our wishes. The midwife, Constance asked if I would like to be checked to see how far along I was, which I happily agreed to. A quick check showed that I was at 3cm. I was elated, but Constance cautioned that it still wasn’t likely to happen soon but that I probably wouldn’t carry to 41 weeks. That day I came home, finished packing the rest of my birth bag, prepared our cameras and tried to get a few projects done. I began to experience some lower back pain, lost some of the mucus plug, and rested that evening with Adam (who came home from work early). That evening I lost the rest of the plug in the middle of the night.

The next day, Friday, Adam went to work and I puttered around the house feeling great. My mom mentioned that the babybump looked lower but I didn’t feel any difference. I called Constance letting her know that I had lost the plug, and asked her opinion of whether I should go anywhere this weekend (side story: we are in the process of selling our home and at the time we were staying with my parents for the end of my pregnancy. This way the house was available for walk throughs at any time and I was getting support while my husband was at work). We planned to drive to our house to finish up some projects, which is a two hour drive from my parents’ house and the birth center that I was going to deliver at. All we needed to get done was clean the house and we were planning on listing it the following week. Constance was confident that we’d be ok, and even if I went into labor I was only a few hours away. So Adam and I drove down and made it there around 7:00p. Adam finished a few projects and I rested on the couch. We went to bed around 10:00p and I still felt completely normal.

At midnight I woke up and felt what I thought was a contraction. I waited a few more minutes, and another one came. Then they started being very consistently 3 minutes long, 7-10 minutes apart. Adam and I decided that if this continues to be consistent (no matter what the length) for an hour that it would be smart to pack up and drive to the birth center. I kept track of the contractions until 1:00a and we found that they were indeed consistent so it was time to go. Adam quickly packed up the dogs and our things into the Volvo and away we went. At that point, the contractions were uncomfortable but very tolerable. I also reminded myself that I had a 2 hour ride ahead of me so I needed to keep calm!

At 1:30a we were on the road and Adam turned on the hazards and very calmly drove 80mph until we saw we were coming up onto a sheriff. I told him to slow down, we don’t need the extra attention, but he decided to risk it and sped past. He started pulling over before the sheriff even turned on his lights. He approached the car, asked us why we were speeding, to which Adam and I both replied “I am (she is) in labor.” He asked if we were going to the local hospital, and Adam said no, we’re going to our birth center, about two hours away. The sheriff begins to launch into a lecture about how we can’t be speeding and that if we are going to be driving like that we either need to call an ambulance (and deliver locally) or he has to write us a ticket. I had grown very impatient at this point, as another contraction was coming, and told him to either write us a ticket or let us go, because I’m not having my baby in a hospital!! I’m pretty sure he’s not accustomed to being so directly spoken to, and he took Adam’s license to run it. A few minutes passed, and when he came back he started in on another lecture about driving safely but that he’s going to us go. We called Constance and my parents on the way to let them know we were coming home.

We arrived in Lacey around 3 am and my contractions were at the “5-1-1” rule (5 minutes apart, lasting one minute for one hour). We called Constance, and she said to wait until I was to the point where I was not able to speak anymore and that Adam would have to call for me. The contractions were still very tolerable during the drive, but as soon as we came to the house I was no longer as chipper. I took a shower and was only able to find comfort by bending over the edge of the bed and having Adam rub my back or provide counter pressure. Finally at 5a I decided it was time to go and we snapped one last picture (boy did I look enthused) and got to the birth center as fast as we could, my mom followed in her car. This time around, the contractions were not very tolerable in the car. The main way I found that I could cope with the pain was to keep writing my contractions down. When we got to the birth center, I think we actually beat Constance and Lisa (the apprentice) so we had to wait a few minutes for the door to open.

I was brought into the birthing room of my choice, which was “the yellow room.” It welcomed a lot of natural light, and I knew that I’d have her during the day at this point, and the bed in this room was higher so I was able to continue to labor in the same way as I had at home. This didn’t last very long, because Lisa’s job was to keep track of the baby’s heart beat and the simple act of gently pressing the monitor to my belly sent me into contractions, which for this first check she had to hold it there for 10 straight minutes. I became very intolerant after 2. Constance invited me to the tub and as soon as I climbed in, I felt a lot better. The water wasn’t as hot as I thought it would be, but it was a lot easier to move around. I had a hard time finding a position to actually have some control in, but soon just draped my arms over the side of the tub and rested on a hip. 

Adam and my mom alternated between holding my arms, hand, or wiping my face with a cold wash cloth. The wash cloth was a life saver, not necessarily for keeping my face cool but following the motion as it was wiped on my face was a distraction. Each time I thought I couldn’t go any further, Adam was right there telling me that I was doing great and that I could do it. He consistently reminded me of my beauty, strength and the amazing feat I was doing for us.

Shortly after getting into the water, Constance checked and announced that I was at 5cm. Lisa diligently would check the baby’s heart rate, but after 3 or 4 times I began to realize that the check was in fact sending me into contractions (in this case, a double load of contractions because she couldn’t check me during a contraction, so she would have to wait until one passed and try, which of course would start it up again) and I had my first outburst in labor - I distinctly remember telling this poor girl not to dare touch me and to keep ‘that thing’ away from me. She took it well, explained why it was needed, and I was able to regain composure but I was grumpy. From then on she was nice enough to give me a heads up a contraction ahead of time so I was able to better prepare myself. The only other outbursts I can recollect was when my water broke, I thought I had pee’d myself and lamented over the humility of it, and another time where I needed water, so my mom got up to get some, and I immediately screamed for her to come back and hold my hand.

At some point Constance gave me the encouragement to get on my knees to try to open up my hips more. I was afraid to move, but Adam was able to convince me to try. Constance checked me again and announced how low her head was, and that I should be able to feel it very shallowly. This gave me such a surge of enthusiasm; my labors were working and my girl was coming. This was no drill. No going back, not getting sent home. I was here to stay until she got here. I remember telling Adam not to not be afraid.

Soon I became impatient. I had felt her head, knew it was right there, and wanted her out. I knew that from here on out, it wasn’t going to be just my body doing the work for me, but that I needed the willpower to get her out. But I didn’t have the urge to push. I asked Constance if I should only push when I had the urge, and she said that I should, but the urge really didn’t come. I moved into a position where I was kneeling and would push down with my hands on my thighs and try to make the urge to push come. I started pushing without the urge. I begged my body for the urge to bear down. Finally the urge came, and hands down was the most terrifying feeling of my entire life. Even though I had hoped and wished so hard for this feeling to come, when it did I felt myself trying so hard to hold it back. I was terrified that literally all of my organs were going to come out. I was beginning to get very tired and would actually be able to fall asleep between contractions. For almost the entire labor I kept my eyes closed, but a few times that I did have them open I would focus on a droplet of water just hanging from my arm, playing a game with myself of whether the droplet would fall first or my contraction would end.

Adam and I recollect that I pushed about a dozen times. After the first half, I did begin to feel tears and knew the ring of fire was coming. I was still in the kneeling position, and Constance encouraged me to get on my knees and use Adam as support, so I put my arms on his shoulders and pushed my head into my mom’s hands. I think I pushed twice this way, and although I felt like I was getting somewhere, I was tearing and it was time to turn over. In this position I felt so out of control because of not having a place to brace my legs to help push.

I knew the end was near when I opened my eyes and saw a stranger in the room. To this point and the best of my knowledge, it had only been myself, Adam, my mom, Constance and Lisa in the birth center. Now there was another person there, not in scrubs, preparing something. I demanded who this person was, and at first no one knew what I was talking about (I began to think I was hallucinating). The woman came over and I saw that she was someone who I had met before at an appointment. She explained that she was the birth assistant and also a midwife.

She helped Constance put on some long gloves so that she can check me, help with the stretching and I think that the baby had to be shifted into a better position. I had asked if she was facing posterior or anterior, she was anterior (I’m sure we would have known earlier because I would have experienced back labor, but all of my labor was felt between my belly button and pubic bone). I asked Constance how many more pushes I had to give, I knew I was so close but with now in the sitting position, facing forward, being impatient and tired (and deep down knowing that I never felt like I had to push but pushed anyways), I just wanted a number. She couldn’t, she said soon, I joked that she always was so qualitative and I wanted quantitative. I asked was it six more times, and she said likely 2-3, maybe even 1-2. This gave me so much encouragement, but again I got scared. I pleaded for her help, and whatever she did, whether it was by physical manipulation or her encouraging eyes, I got the baby’s head out.

I took a small break, asked if it was ok to push the rest of her out, and closed my eyes and out Penelope came.

Immediately she was put on my chest; I saw a baby but didn’t realize who it was. I felt the vernix on my hands, saw and felt a little wiggly body, but still didn’t get it. I looked back at Adam and asked him if this was our daughter, and he joyfully said yes. A small wet towel was placed on her to keep her warm, and Constance asked when I wanted the cord cut. I said that I wanted her to get whatever else she needed to get from it, and we waited a few minutes. The instruments were brought over, and it was determined that someone was to cut it. Adam and I had spoken about this a couple times during the pregnancy, if he was going to cut the cord or catch her, but never came to a decision. Constance ended up catching her, but I asked Adam to cut her cord. It was a very short cord, I could feel that it had to be pulled a little bit to bring the baby to my chest and then some more to get the two clamps on it. I watched Adam very gingerly bring the scissors over, and pause. I asked Constance if the cord has nerves in it, because I knew he was afraid of hurting me or Penelope. It took three snips, and Penelope was now separate from me for the first time in her life. 

Our Nightweaning Journey

Just after Penny's 16th month milestone, I decided it was time to nightwean, which is also a stepping stone to the end of our bed sharing journey. This decision came from many places, the least of all being the quality of my personal sleep. I completely believe that night nursing and bed sharing has given Penny and I more sleep than if I had tried to make her last through the night earlier or if we had moved her out of our bed.

The problem was that she's a little wiggleworm. And she was starting to all out yell at night when she wanted to nurse. It went from gentle stirring and maybe a squeak to wake me up to an instant demand for attention. It was wearing on both Adam and I, him more so as he needs to get up to go to work in the morning. So the decision was made that with our impending move (in hopefully a month), she would be transitioning into her own room at the new house.

Penny normally nursed 3-5 times during the night, most often between the hours of 1 and 5a. When others ask me about Penny's sleep habits and if she "sleeps through the night," I have such a hard time responding. Yes, she does sleep well. I don't have to fully wake up to lull her back to sleep and I feel like she is a "happy sleeper" most of the time. She doesn't get up to party and never has confused night time versus day time. It's overall been a great experience, except with the recent wiggling / night yelling that she has started doing over the last almost 2 months.

I decided that the natural first step to transitioning her into her own space at night was to night wean. My hope is to slowly build her night time independence by giving her less of a reason to wake up. I plan to continue to nurse her throughout the day, as she requests, and will nurse at bed time. Some nights she passes out while nursing, other nights she's still a little awake and I've had success in laying her down in the pack n play that is in our bedroom. She normally naps in it and for the last 3 months or so she begins the night there too. Usually around 1 or so she would wake up and cry to be brought into the bed, and we'd oblige.

When I started night weaning, as expected the first couple nights were rough. She would awaken during her normal times when she would want to nurse, and I would gently have to tell her that "milk has gone ni-night" and that "Penny needs to go ni-night too." This was met with extreme frustration on her part. I'd rub her back and sing to her and eventually she would settle down and lay her head on my pillow or her own and we'd fall asleep again. It would be a very light sleep for her, and if I moved then she'd awaken and we'd have to start all over. I promised her that as soon as the sun came up, milk would wake up and she can have some.

Nights 3 and 4 got progressively better, with her accepting sooner that milk had gone to sleep and that she should too. I started keeping a sippy with water and a banana on my nightstand so that I can offer either to her if she was really struggling to go to sleep. My biggest fear was that she was truly hungry and I was denying her for too long. Some nights she will take a sip of water, other nights she declines (with a very groggy "thank you" sign, totally melts my heart).

Night 5 though, I feel like we had a true breakthrough. She slept in her pack n play from about 7:30 to close to 5a. She stirred a couple times and I got up and rubbed her back for a second, but she didn't need it. I was so proud of my little one! My fears of her being hungry throughout the night are quelled and I think we all will flourish from this transition.

It's been about 2 weeks of this process and she doesn't ask for milk very often at night anymore. She still comes into our bed between 1-3 and has only slept that one night entirely in the pack n play.

Did you night wean a co-sleeping toddler? How did you do it?

I found this article by Dr. Jay Gordon to be really helpful. 

Monthly Its: Seven 2013

Have you checked out lovely LeLa Studios? Lisu literally has over 50 prints for lunch bags and school accessories! Send your child back to school in September with a one of a kind binder pouch and messenger bag or snag one for yourself so you can be an eco friendly fashionista :) She loves custom orders so if you have something in mind, send her a message.

Have I told you enough times that Buttons Diapers are my favorite diaper covers ever? Penny has been sporting hers all summer - be it as a real diaper or as a swim cover. Either way, it keeps everything in. And her bum looks so cute too :) Amy's sweet Baby I is due this month - so why don't you give her a welcome-baby gift by clicking over onto her site and checking out her affordable diaper system that can get you from birth to potty trained for about $240?

I'm also happy to introduce Misty from Malistah. She makes ah-maze-ing custom journals, cards, invitations and more. When I say ah-maze-ing, please don't take me lightly. Check her out.  For the dog lovers, she makes cards with pugs, poodles, yellow labs - to name a few. I'll be posting a review & giveaway soon, and I am seriously so excited to share how special her journals are. 

So here's what's been coming across my screen lately. Check 'em out, we've got some good reads, tips and recipes.

• We road trip a lot. A lot. Can I say it one more time? A lot. Short trips, long trips, red trips and blue trips. Road trip snack suggestions are always welcome!
• This month Penny has truly transitioned from two naps per day to usually one. Refresh yourself with infant and toddler sleep patterns.
• Summer time is here and Miss Penny runs around bottomless many an afternoon. She's also developed an interest in her potty, and will use it usually each evening as we wind down before bed. Did your child transition out of diapers during the summer? Here's some tips on why it's easier.
• Warm weather doesn't always inspire me to reach for a cup of tea, but this post has me planning to use up my current stash and switch to loose leaf in the fall.
• Speaking of Penny pee, Mama pee is important too. Thoughts on why peeing in the shower is a good thing.
• One time use is sort of the American way, isn't it? One trip to Target proves it all.
• Strawberry season is over in most parts of the country, but here are 40 yummy recipes, and how I freeze ours for smoothies.

Are you a business owner who wants extra exposure of your brand, 

including ad space, social media exposure and more? 

{The Pierogie Mama} is offering a discount on ad space through September,
so act fast and reserve your spot today. I'd love to work with you!

15 months

Dear little Penny-pot,

These monthly updates are starting to slow down as our life gets busier during the summer, so I'll be trying to keep up whenever I can.

In the last month or so you've started to give hugs and kisses.. which melt my and your daddy's heart every time. You squeeze our necks (or legs) so tight and give the sweetest of kisses. I especially love when I get a big hug and kiss after nursing...this really tells me just how much you love it! I love our special bonding time too.

In the last couple weeks you've come up with some spectacular shenanagins that have us rearranging the house. You've mastered climbing up onto chairs, the couches and as of yesterday you think climbing up onto the toilet is hilarious! Mama does not entirely approve. You've also started using forks and spoons and this has sparked your interest in sitting at the table. You will sit happily in your highchair for breakfast and lunch, but for dinner you will take two bites and then want to sit with your beloved dada. That's ok, he likes to share his dinner with you.

You've also gotten really good at hide and seek. In the begining you'd give yourself away very quickly with your excited squeals when you'd know I was close to finding you, but now you are able to keep quiet for upwards of 5 minutes! But your hiding skills need a little work..

You also had me rolling with laughter when I was hanging the diapers out to dry this week when you crawled under your empty kiddie pool and 'turtle crawled' across the deck. Where do these ideas come from?!

As a very independent girl, you've also made it very clear that you want to walk everywhere we go and you want to do it by yourself.  I'm so proud of your tenacity and complete willingness to try all things new.

Your favorite foods are currently:
Cream of Wheat with fresh strawberries, bananas or cheerios mixed in
Freckled Avocado Smoothies
goldfish crackers & Earth's Best organic ABC (Cookie Monster?) cookies
vanilla yogurt
quinoa with feta

Your vocabulary is progressing, sometimes you will say words that we haven't really taught you ("girl"), but for the most part these are the standards:
"meow" for kitty with the variation of "meo" for Romeo
"ffff" for woof
"shoo" for shoe
"CK" for cousin Jack
"pr-ty" for pretty / flower
"di-puuurr" for diaper
unfortunately "no" has snuck it's way in there, but we're working on turning it into "no thank you" with signing "thank you."

We love you so much, darling girl, and can't wait to see what surprises you have in store for us next :)

Love,
Mama & Dada

Memorial Day Recap Part I

This weekend we took off for a 4 day weekend down Highway 20 in Northern Washington and ended up at the Colonial Creek campground in the Northern Cascades.  We were a little worried about holiday traffic and crowed campgrounds, but incidentally the bridge collapse in Burlington and the wet weather report must have scared most of the travelers away.

We drove up the scenic highway, found our camp ground and quickly set up camp.

So.. we jokingly call our tent "The Condo." Because it is really big. It's 15 x 17 ft. Adam has had it for about 8 years and we've definitely gotten our use out of it. It's large enough to fit a queen sized air mattress, ample space for our 2 dogs to sleep and all of our gear (and this time we even brought the pack n play in case). Plus.. it has a freaking foyer. Not kidding. This tent is probably bigger than my college dorm room was!

The funny part is that in the roughly two dozen times we've set it up together, this weekend was the first time that we got to set up camp in daylight AND no rain! There have been several camping trips where we show up after dark, because we left after work, or it's dumping rain. So we were really pleased that getting everything in camp set up took under an hour - even with a little kid running around!

Speaking of my little kid, gotta say.. Super proud of her. Even though she's been walking for well over 6 months, this was one of the very few times she's walked on rough terrain without having our assistance each step of the way. I got her these cute Oshkosh shoes and she was so capable of maneuvering through roots, through rocky patches, over logs and up and down steep slopes. Even when she did fall down, she quickly picked herself up and went on to whatever she was up to. Then there's times at home where she trips over a rug or gets knocked over by a dog and she waaaaaails like there's no tomorrow. LOL! I suppose the saying "everything is different at camp" applies to toddler falls too.

We explored around our camp grounds and found that the Thunder Knob hiking trail starts by the walk in sites. We were still waiting on our friends to show up so we decided to just take a quick look over the creek beds and then went back to camp to have dinner. This night's dinner was not up to the level of quality that I had intended on - we just had some turkey chili and chicken apple sausages.

The following morning, our friends met up with us and we took a hike up Thunder Knob. It was a 3.8 mile round trip, easy ~630 ft elevation gain hike. Even with our 2nd trimester pregnant friend we made it up quickly and enjoyed the beautiful view laid out before us. The first part of the hike has you cross a couple babbling creeks and takes you through lichen-y forest which gets a little sparser as you get to the top.

Our brother and sister in law with their son Jack showed up one evening for a few hours, and we also took a day trip to Winthrop to escape the rain. We only went through the main street area, but took advantage of some yummy ice cream, mini golf and a picnic lunch down by the water.

We ended the weekend with a visit to the Diablo Dam for some birthday cake in my honor :)

PS: Don't judge Penny because she's wearing such a frumpy little outfit. It's comfy for driving long distances in! ;)

So.. stay tuned for 2 more posts regarding this weekend!  One about our new family rig and another with a taste bud achingly delicious recipe.

Walks to the mailbox

Although Penny has been walking since she was about 10 1/2 months old, only recently have I been giving her the freedom to walk outside. Now that most days really feel like Spring, we make it a daily ritual to walk to the mailbox together.

It's so funny how living life through your child's eyes puts things into perspective. The simple act of just walking outside. Penny's gone through life always in someone's arms (outside), and suddenly one day - mama sets her down and encourages her to follow. The look of shock on her face was priceless. And the more I thought about it.. it was a big milestone for me too. After all, this entire lifetime that Penny and I will share together will be of me letting her go further and further away from me. It brings joy, pride and a twinge sadness to a mama's heart. Just a while ago she rested underneath my heart and now we're walking to the mailbox together.

And then there's the little things that she reminds me to do..

Hyundai's Epic Playdate: Encouraging Sprouting Foodies Through Play

One of my dream playdates? I'd love to encourage Penelope to have an interest in cooking. So introducing her at a young age and making it fun is a great way to start! Our dream playdate would be creating a dish that makes it easy and fun at whatever level Penny and her friends are at. It could be simple sensory play by filling a tub full of Jello and letting the kids go at it, a one or two step dish or going a little more complex and making a whole meal out of it!

Having your toddler be a part of the meal making process helps her begin to develop an understanding and respect for where food comes from (you mean it doesn't just magically appear??) and sets the stage for a healthy lifestyle and autonomy.

Some fun ideas for various abilities:

• Greek Yogurt parfaits
• mini pancake cinnamon rolls 
• Snickerdoodle cookies - let the kids make the balls in their hands and roll the ball around in a bowl of cinnamon/sugar.
• Chocolate dipped pretzels or mashmallows (on a stick). Be sure to dip the pretzels or marshmllows in the chocolate yourself, as it could be hot! But kids will love sprinkling different toppings.
• Fruit and Cheese kabobs - cut up your toddler's favorite fruits and cheeses and help them spear the pieces with a long kabob stick (you can cut off the pointy ends ahead of time).

Of course, it goes without saying, always supervise your child and make sure they can safely play to their abilities! Some of my suggestions are not a good idea for all development levels.

Do you have any meals that your toddler can help you make?

Hyundai’s Epic Playdate Weekend is on April 27 from 9am-5pm in Santa Barbara, CA. Warm up  (#Washingtongirlforlife) Chill out with familiar bloggers (like Dooce, Mighty Girl, Oh Happy Day, Oh Joy, Say Yes To Hoboken, Girls Gone Child, BoingBoing, and How To Be A Dad) on the beach and check out their awesome workshops for kids, like an ice cream sundae bar, paint fight, kids’ photography class, and hula-hooping workshop!

The awesome part? Enter to win a trip for four to the event! The grand prize includes..

Round-trip transportation to Los Angeles for the winners and their families

A two-night stay at a Los Angeles hotel

One night of camping in Shelter Co Luxury tents (that include a camp butler) at Rancho Dos Pueblo in Santa Barbara

Access to family fun activities including making s’mores and building compressed air rockets

$270 in spending money

Some of the rules:

• Readers must have a Pinterest account to enter (see here for complete details)
• Because this is an invite only event, you will need to select The Clever Girl Collective under "How did you hear about us?"

So what are you waiting for?
Enter to win, or comment below and tell me what your epic playdate would be!

 

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective,

and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

11.5 months

What is up with me forgetting to commemorate Penny's monthly milestones?? You can bet that I won't forget the big one in less than two weeks..

So here's a quick catch up of what's been going on in the last 6 weeks:

Food:

• Faves: scrambled eggs with Feta, pears, Happy Family pouches

• Not so faves: oatmeal, acorn squash, green beans

 New skills:

• Uhm, WALKING! Although she took her first steps right after Christmas, we now have a 100% walking toddler. 
• Loves to carry things around, like her (my) stuffed kitty or packages of Ramen (?)
• Tries to play ball with Squirt! It is the sweetest thing! Or she'll just try to stick it straight in his mouth.
• Standing on top of things, crawling up and down the stairs
• Loves, loves, loves books. She'll turn the pages and "read out loud" to us too. 
• Kisses her baby doll and other toys.

Teeth:

• At the end of January her top two teeth popped through
• On Monday her right lateral incisor made its debut
• Currently working on getting the left one out, which seems to be a lot harder than the other one. Lots of snot and very little sleep for mama and baby :(

My sweets: 10 months

Dear Penny,

While I was pregnant, I had a serious problem with the sweets. No joke. I used to say that you were taking all the sweetness out of me, so I needed to make up for it. You are definitely my little sugar bug, and although I don't regret sharing my sweets with you, I have to pay a high price for it at the dentist.. 

Your mama tries to be brave, but the dentist is definitely her least favorite place to be. And she's going to have to visit him A LOT in the next few months.

But back to you -

This month you've...

• started standing on your own! I thought you might be walking too, but these were just you attempting to gain balance.
• learned how to clap. At first you just fist bumped yourself, and then moved to having one hand open and the other in a fist, now it's full on baby claps :) You mostly clap when you want something.
• New foods: roasted butternut squash, pasta with a little bit of sauce, scrambled eggs (a hit!), roasted cauliflower, ham and cuties. Pears and chicken remain as top favorite. We've also pulled out our juicer and have experimented with different flavors, such apple/carrot, and apple/pear.
• We thought you might have a dairy allergy, after giving you some dehydrated yogurt drops you broke out in hives. It wasn't the first time you had yogurt before, so it was a little strange. After a few days we tried plain yogurt without any problems, so it must have been a fluke!
• expanded your babbling vocabulary. No new words, but we are still working on "up," identifying 'dada,' where our nose is, and 'woof' when we see the doggies. 
• kept mama and daddy guessing as to when more teeth will come.. but right now we're still at DEUX DENTS.
• weighed in at 18 lbs 6 oz, 28.5 inches.
• developed this amazingly high pitched little girl scream. It can be deafening!

In less than 2 months, you will be a YEAR old! We've got to get that birthday party planned!

Love always,
Mama and Daddy

8 (eight, osiem, ocho, huit) months

Penny-pot:

Sweet girl, you've got mama and daddy running around in circles after you this month. You've pulled so many new tricks out of your hat. You continue to be such a joy to us, you always make your needs known and there is so little guesswork when it comes to you.

Penny's new skills this month:

• Food: because two of the weeks this month we were battling some sickies, there hasn't been a whole lot of new foods introduced. She loves steamed pumpkin and asparagus. She's tried a bit of home made jam, cucumbers, bananas (still not a huge fan), she's played with a spaghetti noodle but didn't quite connect that it could be eaten as well.
• She started with scooting, then graduated to a few crawl-steps at a time, and now we're in full on crawl-sprint. She's even faster when uninhibited by clothes.
• She pulls herself up onto everything - she insists on being Queen of the Mountain. No matter how tall or short, she's got to be on top of it. I tested just putting a piece of paper on the floor and no surprise, Penny bee-lined to it and had to land that cute belly on top of it.
• In the last few days she's even shocked us when she simply chooses to let go.. luckily, that big fluffy butt of hers pads her fall ;)
•  She now loves to crawl around in the bath tub and splash with her hands. 
• In the middle of the month, her bottom two teeth broke though. I was so shocked because she didn't give us any indication that they were coming. She wasn't fussy or overly drooly. One afternoon, I let her taste some of our home made spiced pear jam from my finger and I felt something sharp.. I checked again and there were definitely some little white caps in there! It took about another two weeks for them to be visible above the gum line.
• Her sleep has varied a lot this month. In retrospect, I should have guessed that her teeth were bothering her. Normally she likes to sleep between mama and daddy, but doesn't really need either of our warmth. The couple weeks leading up to her teeth breaking through, she needed to be snuggled up to me or sleeping on top of me (which hasn't been a requirement from her for a very long time - I usually pull her onto me in the early morning for my sake). Now that her teeth have broken through and we seem to be in a lull between the next set, she's back to needing a bit of her own space. 
• You  might not see it in pictures, but her hair is starting to come in a lot more.. Maybe by her birthday I'll get to put it up with cute little hair clips?? Here's hoping...

We took her to a local park and found a swing set.. just couldn't resist! She had so much fun.

You might be noticing the super cute hat upon her noggin. Her crafty babcia whipped it up for her, it's a little giraffe hat. Just need to find the perfect buttons for its eyes.

I'm so especially excited for the coming months because the holidays are coming, which means getting to see the look of wonder in her eyes when she sees the Christmas tree lit for the first time, getting to try Thanksgiving turkey and getting to play with all of her cousins.