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Maya‘s absolute favorite place in the world to go is the zoo. She adores animals and would all day, every day there if she could. Luckily we have a fabulous zoo just down the street from us. We take her as often as we can because it’s fun and I love how happy it makes her.
The other day we were in the midst of a somewhat mild weather bout. The temperatures were in the 40s instead of in the 10s and 20s as it had been for weeks. So, when we got up that Thursday and the weather was reasonable (not raining) and the temperature was predicted to be about 45 that day I asked Maya if she wanted to go to the zoo. I got a resounding “oh ya” from her and off we went.
Since it was a school/work day for most people and the weather wasn’t exactly balmy the zoo was practically empty. I think we saw maybe a handful of other people the whole morning. Unfortunately, since the weather was still a bit cool for many of the animals we didn’t get to see a whole lot. But, that didn’t matter because hippos were out and I think Maya would have been happy to hang out with the hippos all day. I’m pretty sure they were happy to have her there as well 
We have several friends who are expecting their first babies in the coming months and they have been asking us (the “experienced” parents of one!) what our “can’t live without” baby products were. I give them all the same answer. I don’t even need to think about my answer . There is one product that was far and beyond the absolute best baby product I ever purchased, my Boppy Pillow. It was definitely my “can’t live without” item and is always my answer when anyone asks me to recommend a baby product to them. From the day Maya was born until I stopped breastfeeding it was never far from my side. I used it for everything.
From the day Maya was born I began my love affair with the most wonderful baby product ever created. As a breastfeeding mom I used my Boppy for it’s originally intended purpose, as a pillow to support the baby during breastfeeding. Breastfeeding was so much easier having that pillow on my lap to support the weight of my baby, especially in those early days when I was still sore from her delivery and later as she began to weigh more it was again a godsend for my tired arms.
But, I quickly discovered that the Boppy is far from being only a breastfeeding support pillow. The uses for the Boppy are many. It was great as a little place for Maya to nap in those first days when she was so tiny. She would nap almost as peacefully (and as long) in her Boppy as she would on my chest.
It was also very useful as a place for Maya to sit, before she could sit up on her own, in order to give her a different vantage point.
As Maya got older and was learning new skills, like learning how to sit up on her own, we found yet another use for it. It was perfect as the support and protection she needed in order to begin sitting up on her own.
Even our cats enjoyed the Boppy
So, to all our friends expecting babies in the coming months, as I’ve said in person, I say here again, by far my favorite baby product is my Boppy Pillow. Go buy one (if you don’t get one as a gift), you won’t regret it.
*FCC Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored by Boppy. I am not being compensated in anyway for this post and was not asked by Boppy to write this post.
Do you stick with a schedule when it comes to parenting or do you just sort of go with the flow? Do your children vary in their needs with one needing a schedule and the other being a free spirit?
I am a schedule parent. Maya needs a schedule, especially for sleeping. From day one it was very obvious that she was not a sleep anywhere kind of baby. She slept best when she went down at the same time and in the same place. To this day she still requires a schedule in order to sleep well. If we let her I think she would stay awake forever.
When Maya was really little we were able to get her to sleep, occasionally, in her stroller or in her carseat. Nowadays she will only sleep in her bed. She rarely falls asleep in the car and never falls asleep in her stroller. Even on our big, long 12 hour drive up north for Christmas Maya only slept for about an hour because she just doesn’t sleep well in the car.
Since Maya has always been a schedule baby I’ve always been a schedule parent. Very early on we set into a routine that worked well for her and made sure she got the sleep she needed, when she needed it. As she has grown up we have adjusted the schedule to meet her changing needs. Today we’ve got a pretty good toddler schedule going that works well for her. I sometimes wish she was more go with the flow and would sleep on the go better, but I’m fine with being home when it is bed or nap time and sticking with a schedule that works for her.
Some parents are schedule parents and some are go with the flow parents. Neither way is better than the other. It all boils down to what works best for you child and your family. You are best able to read your baby’s needs. You’ll know pretty early on if you have the type of child that will sleep anywhere, anytime or if you have a child that needs to be in her crib at the same time every day in order to the sleep she needs. Setting a schedule that works well for your baby will come easily.
So, again I ask, are you a schedule parent or a go with the flow parent?
When our children are babies we worry a lot about poop. Are they going often enough? Is it the right color and consistency? Do they have diarrhea? Your child’s pediatrician will ask a lot of questions about poop that first year or so. A lot about a child’s health and eating habits can be gleaned from observing what is coming out in their diapers. Once your baby becomes a toddler there is much less focus on poopy diapers. Most toddlers settle into a nice easy, once a day cycle that we don’t give much thought to. We change the diapers, give them some prunes or prune juice if things seem to be getting a bit backed up and that is about it.
However, toddlers can have their own challenges in the poop department. One of those being toddler diarrhea. Toddler diarrhea is pretty much an otherwise unexplainable bout of diarrhea. There is no real cause or underlying medical condition for toddler diarrhea, but many things can trigger it. In most cases parents and doctors won’t know exactly what caused the diarrhea and things will eventually return to normal on their own.
There are a few things that are thought to set off toddler diarrhea including a change in diet or eating happens, an unrelated illness like a cold (especially if it caused changes in appetite and eating habits), or too much fruit or fruit juice. Most toddlers will seem unfazed by the diarrhea and will continue to eat normally and gain weight normally. For the most part there is no real treatment for toddler diarrhea other than a few diet changes. Most doctors recommend keep their diet fairly bland, eliminating dairy (except for yogurt, which can help with digestive issues) and using a probiotic to help get things back on track.
My daughter is just getting over a case of toddler diarrhea. She had a cold last week and by the end of the week had pretty bad diarrhea. We took her to the doctor because she wanted to make sure she didn’t have an ear infection or anything. Other than a little bit of nasal irritation from her cold the doctor found nothing. She was diagnosed with unexplained diarrhea (or toddler diarrhea) and off we went with a recommendation to stick with a bland diet for a while and a week’s worth of probiotic samples. 4 days later and (knock on wood) she seems to be over her diarrhea.
If your toddler has diarrhea and no other symptoms to indicate they are ill you may find that they just have a bout of toddler diarrhea. Call your child’s doctor to determine if he or she wants to see your child and to find out what they recommend for treating toddler diarrhea. If the diarrhea continues or your child appears to be dehydrated call your doctor right away. Dehydration is common with diarrhea and can be dangerous if it goes untreated.
The last few days we’ve been watching a bunch of home movies we made of Maya. Maya has a bit of an obsession with watching videos of herself. It could quite possibly one of her favorite things to do Watching the older movies, when she was so little, so different made me just marvel at how much she has changed. I love looking back on old pictures and videos of her and seeing how much she has grown, how different she is in what feels like a very short amount of time.
It is truly amazing how different she is today than she was 2 year ago, or even a year ago. She has gone from this tiny little baby who was completely dependent on us for everything to little Miss Independent who wants to do everything for herself. Her favorite phrase as of late is “No, by self.”
2 years ago Maya was a mere 2 and a half months old. She was still getting up at night to breastfeed, she was still napping several times a day. She was starting to smile at us regularly and let out her first little giggles.
2 years ago today
A year ago Maya was just over a year old and walking all over the place. She was starting to talk and using her sign language a lot to communicate with us. She was beginning that little helper stage. For Christmas her Aunt Cassie and Uncle Stu bought her one of those little popper toys. It was her favorite thing and she always busted it out when I was vacuuming (she still does!!).
1 year ago today
Today, Maya is, as I said, our little Miss Independent. She wants to try to do everything for herself. So many things bring her joy like coloring a picture, watching Elmo, reading books, playing pretend with her doctor set or her little doll house. It is amazing how in just 2 short years she has changed so much.
Today
I wonder what she’ll be like this time next year?