Age 2 Part 2 | Lip Picking, Nose Digging, Sneaking Toddler & Poopy Diapers Flying

"I guess we're never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy ..." ~ Seal

2 1/2 is a busy age with awesome conversations, play and a few bad habits!

I have to admit that life has been CRAZY since he turned 2 1/2 years old. It has been months of him sneaking around to tear off poopy diapers, lip picking, nose picking and sometimes he even has a little taste of his finger (YUCK). I am starting to wonder WHAT'S UP with that because he is so persistent about the picking. When not the lip it his is nose. I am frustrated that I cannot make him stop and hopeful that it will resolve on it own ... sooner than later!

Here's what life is like every 10 minutes or so these days (he is just about 2 years 10 months old) and so busy! I am grateful that my husband and teen help a lot!

Me: Max, are you picking your lip.

Max: NOOOOOOO (in a very loud and matter of fact like tone), I'm picking my nose!

Me: Well, stop picking your nose. It's yucky!

(Hiding my laugh - I go to Facebook to share this funny moment with my family. I look up because it's so quiet to find that HE DISAPPEARED)

Me: Max, where are you?

(No answer. I look in his bedroom because that is the only place he could be ... all of the other doors are locked to him from getting into everything. He jumps a mile high when he sees me because ... he was picking his nose in private this time - LOL.)

Me: What are you doing Max?

Max: AH, NO, it's the nose monster!

(He sounded just like a cartoon character, LOL, now I'm a nose monster? OK?)

So, I instruct my nose picking toddler to follow me out of his bedroom (to the living room) and I sit at my desk to write a post. I look up to see if he's come out of his room ...

Low and behold he's there with his pants at his ankles and quietly taking of his diaper - YIKES!!!

Just so you know, he does not poop on the potty, so we're potty training his way (uh hum) where we have to telepathically sense when it's time to dash from the pulled diaper to the potty because he likes to work independently these days - You know?

Our toddler is almost 3. He picks his lip and nose. He pees on the potty. He rarely poops on the potty!

We've had some crazy crazy crazy potty training moments this month ...

He will pee on the potty pretty much every time and often lets us know that he has to go. On  the other hand, he will not tell us when he has to poop and he rarely poops on the potty at all.

This has been a stage of poopy diapers flying everywhere and his sneaking into Desitin, wet wipes, bathrooms, wiping poop on windows and dropping poop on the floor. It's not that we aren't watching him, but that our 2 year old is so fast. We can do nothing solo in the house any more. Going to the bathroom, doing dishes, washing clothes, typing on the computer, getting everything ready for a bath, etc., is all a two parent job with this particular son (my other children did not require this extra potty training care at all). One parent has to literally sit with our son while the other parent does what is needed.

Believe you me, there is no more poop schedule or estimating when it is time, it is like our son can make himself poop, too. For example, if he has a temper tantrum that requires our putting him in his room (he gets like this sometimes when he's exhausted), we have to listen well and peek in whether he is crying or not because sometimes we come in to a poopy mess. It is something he started when he turned 2 and is inconsistent about, therefore we cannot assume that is how his body reacts when angry.

LORD GIVE ME STRENGTH!!!

We've have to watch our little bird like a hawk these days! he's so fast, creative and independent at almost 3 years old.

In motherly love,
Lea

2 Year Olds Are Terribly Terrific | Time To Retire "The Terrible Twos" Cliche

Terrific 2 Year Olds | No Such Things As Terrible Twos

One would think that we would have ditched the term "terrible twos" by now. I absolutely hate it and feel like I was brainwashed to feel this way with child #1, though just did not see it that way by the time my 2nd child turned two and I certainly do not see it with child three. I think two years old is the most incredible stage in a child and parents life. It is a true transition from "baby" to "toddler" ... They are absolutely adorable in their Ds (demands, development and drama - LOL) - Two years olds are "terribly terrific" and we should start using that instead. Please make sure to LIKE and +1 if you agree!!!

I am using this post to link up to the past and future posts of what to expect when your baby turns 2 years old. From Potty training to potential potty mouth situations; temper tantrums and touching moments ... Terrific Twos!

2 Years Old Toddler Training

Potty Training (2 Years Old))
Potty Training our two year old has been quite an experience. It actually becomes more challenging as we move forward. Our 2 year old is awesome about not peeing in the pool (we know because he goes before we get in the pool and has to go immediately after his swim) and between diapers, but will not go without a diaper by his semi-tantrum choice and will not poop on the potty at all.

2 Years Old Independent Qualities

Toddler Reading, Playing, Helping (2 Years 2 months 23 Days)
This age reminds me of my 2nd son's favorite movies called Baby Geniuses. In the movie the babies had advanced universal knowledge and could speak a secret baby language, but 'cross over' at age two to become the toddlers we are all familiar with (learning to talk, reason and toddler development). I do believe our baby crossed over at 2 years one month old because he stopped talking as much as he had before (it was like he was speaking in sentences at age 1), though started doing all of these wonderfully amusing and developmentally appropriate things a few months later: reading to himself, stacking huge block towers, wanting to play trains, puzzles and drive his car without anyone pushing him. Best of all, our 2 year old became passionate about helping around the house.

2 Years Old Toddler Play

Order (2 Years 3 Months Old)
At first I thought our 2 year old was OCD or Autistic. Many moms have confirmed that his lining up cars, blocks and stuffed animals is just his toddler way of created order in his world. He continues to play like this as the months progress. By the time he was 2 years 4 months old, he would ask me to sit with him ("play with me mommy") to line up a lot of cars with the purpose of racing. He would not let me help at first, though this changed by the time he turned 2 years 6 months. He now likes us to sit and "play cars" which still consists of lining up his cars to "make em race" but every car goes in the line now.



In motherly love,
Lea @ Mother Baby Child

New F Word - Do You Know What It Is? | Proverbs 3:5-6

"Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man." ~ Proverbs 3:5-6

Father is the new F word ... Does this mean more prayers answered!

Father's Day is just around the corner, yet I still find it ironic that I should come upon a linky dedicated to Fathers because I typically miss the link up / blog hop reminders. Plus, my Grandmother and I were discussing Fathers just the day before, so I feel a little emotional and want to share with you.

Over the years the word Father became the most painful and then beautifully significant word to me ... It is not that I did not have a father ... I have always had my Father in heaven as well as my paternal father, grandfather and eventually a step father while growing up. My grandfather has always been the best to me; it was my relationship with my biological father that was damaged over the years and made me very bitter in my younger years. As a result, I did not find value in my older sons having a father in their lives. I figured if he did not want to step up and be the man / father that God said he should be, then there was no place in my sons lives for him, as I could be a mommy-daddy. I learned to prefer this independence and had very little respect for the role that a father places in a childs life.

Little did I know - just as I felt being a girl abandoned by my mother - my boys felt the same without a father in their life. Despite how hard I tried to comfort and replace this emptiness in their hearts, I could NEVER be a father to my sons because I was the mother. Consequently, no other man in our family could replace that longing in my sons lives because only a father could be that person to them. They used to tell me to marry Adam Sandler (their ideal of a great father from movies) and I would tell them that I did not want to get married ever again. That I did not need a husband and they should be happy for me to be an independent woman. Meanwhile, as much as I was oblivious to the fact that I could not carry the roles of both mother and father, I was clueless to the reality that my sons were really longing for a father more than a husband for me. They were acknowledging that they missed having a father in their lives to let them know they are wanted and maybe even loved regardless of the character of the father. I did try to connect each with their father, but the relationships were short lived over the years. I guess the original fact that I was not willing to mold from the beginning was disappointing to all. I say this because I have seen some women keep the father of their children in the home no matter how much they had to deal with because they felt it best for their children. I did not and  am still torn by those situations, though now understand the faithfulness and obedience it takes to hang on per the word of God, and our children.

My grandmother caught me out of the blue the other day ...

Grandma said, "Do you know about the new F word?".

I was really taken aback when she said that because I have actually never heard my grandmother say nor refer to the "F word", so I held my breath (keeping in mind that she just turned 85 and anything is bound to come out of her mouth). I held my breath and wondering what would come next --- LOL :)

Grandma said, "FATHER is the new F word, Lea."

My grandmother proceeded to explain how she heard this on a talk show and how much she loved hearing it. Not just because she has witnessed a shift from so many fatherless families in the community; tenants, neighbors, church members, etc. over the generations, but also how happy she was that my husband is being the father she prayed he would be to my children. I would like to say that "this is a given" for my youngest child as this is his biological father, but single parenthood has taught me that there is no "given" when it comes to fatherhood and family structure in my and younger generations. I have had a lot of friends and associates that still are / were single mothers, too. Being and having a father in the home is not a given these days; yet, God's word, grace and blessings are for his children.

So, the fact that my husband is a present and excellent father to his own 2 year old son, as well as my 14 year old son, is not a given. Yet, my husband is that present and excellent father to both boys. In fact, he was father to the older child first as he came into my life with a promise that no matter whether we came together in a Godly union or never made it past "just friends", he would be a mentor to this child. I did not ask that of him, he just understood what I was going through with my oldest son and that my middle child could very well follow suite. Although my husband did not have the perfect upbringing and teen years, his heart felt compelled to be this person for my son. It took me years to believe, not live with a skeptical spirit and "exhale", per say, about this situation. This is why I quote Proverbs 3:5-6 and encourage everyone who struggles to give God the control to read Proverbs 3 in general. I struggled for years with that, especially when it came to my single parent role and my children. Despite my not knowing what was best, God made sure this valuable person - FATHER - was there for my children. My husband gets all of the good and bad just the same the same as me. Now that our son is a teenager, I tease my husband by reminding him not to take offense "he hates us both the same right now and will be back in 5 minutes like nothing happened", and that is what happens.

The point being that my son - which my husband calls "our son" - loves him for being the father that his biological chose not to be. I know because I asked him when he was 10 and then a few times over the years. His replies went from a "he's an ok guy" to "I don't know" to a sheepish "I guess" to a sarcastic "well yeah!!!". My husband can no sooner get to the door without him being there saying, "can I go, too" and it has been like that for years. Although my teen has somewhat outgrown the desire to go fishing (not so much his cup of tea), he still eagerly jumps up to go when my husband decides to fish. I guess he just likes to hang out and do "his thing" while my husband fishes. He is also outgrowing the need for my husband to be there at his activities (cause there are girls there he likes to impress), yet he never tells him not to come with him and my husband normally just waits and proudly takes pictures of him when our teen is not looking. They sometimes have conflicts over our teen trying to stay up all night or doing his chores ... He is a real and loving father no matter what!

It is just as beautiful to see this son's love for his father as it is for me to see my husband feel comfortable taking that position because it took me quite some time to "let go" and let him be that father my son needed. It was at that time I realized that not just BOYS, but all children really do need two parents in the home. My husband is extremely patient and loves these sons of his. I am grateful that God did this for us because I know I am not worthy of all of these blessings especially this, but our children are to Him.

Most importantly, during this process, our teen accepted Christ again and was baptised last year; he possesses a genuine love for the Lord with all of his being and tries his hardest to live by the word (sometimes quoting to us how we should be as parents as we remind him of Exodus 20:12 and more --- I am sure parents of teens will understand what I mean). We all do our best to acknowledge God's Word as the family he has made us to be.

"FATHER is the new F word" said Grandma as she exclaimed how happy she is for my family.

Not only is this her testimony of prayers answered; it is mine for a plea that God take me back to the person that I used to be. I am still a work in progress, but the hurt and resentment towards my own father went away when my husband became the father that I could not be.

Please make sure to share this heartfelt blog post. Maybe this testimony will help a single mom that could benefit from my experiences.

In motherly love,
Lea

Best Bath Toy for Toddlers | Perfect Gift

Munchkin Foam Letters and Numbers - Toddler's Favorite Bath Toy

I would love to share the video of our baby in the tub, but my husband would kill me. So you'll just have to imagine our toddler's excitement at bath time based on what I explain here. He absolutely loves taking a bath and it is a fresh experience after going through the pre-teen years with a son that we had to bribe to take a shower - LOL. Our toddler loves swimming, bubbles, dumping his water cup and playing w/ his other toys, but the majority of his time and excitement from taking a bath is based on playing with his Munchkin Bath Letters and Numbers. It has been like this since he turned 2 years old and depending on whether your child is still "chewing", this could be the best bath toy for him / her, too. These Munchkin Foam Bath toys also make affordable toddler gifts for friends and family members. What I do with our toddler, is separate the letters and numbers for him so that he is not confused nor overwhelmed while playing. I also break up the letters into about 12 at a time when we are using those for bath time. He prefers the foam numbers right now, so that makes it a bit easier to keep him focused and consistently learning the numbers / number combinations.

I didn't think to share this info until last week when our son started counting on his own. He is not always sequential, but what he was doing is pairing up the foam numbers and saying "2 reds, 2 orange, 2 purple, 2 blues, 1 green, 1 yellow", so counting in pairs basically. We normally line them up on the side of the tub or wall to count the numbers in order or play games with them. He loves playing with the foam bath toys!!! We love the time spent with him, too. Plus, it was SO REWARDING to watch him do his "own thing" and it end up being something that I did not think to point out to him, yet. It is just too cool how our children love to show us what they learn on their own.

Additionally, the Munchkin Bath Numbers and Letters and Numbers are non-toxic and the recommended age is 3+ but we started using them at 2 years old to break up flash card time. 

I chose to use them for our toddler and buy them for his cousin's 2nd birthday because they were both so crazy about flash cards and learning their colors that I knew it would not be long before they put the foam letters and numbers to good use. My husband and I just avoided any biting by using them bath time only. As I mentioned above, you will have to gauge when your child is ready, but just know that you can have hours of educational fun each week by using these in the tub :)

NOTE: The Little Tykes foam bath toys have a history of being toxic, so please be careful.

I think we got ours at Walmart, but you can save time and check out Munchkin's other foam bath toys by using one of the Amazon links in this post.

I hope that your toddler enjoys as much as ours does. If you have already used foam numbers and letters in the bathtub, please do not hesitate to share your experience with them, too. Do / did they make learning colors, letters and numbers easier for your child?


In motherly love,
Lea @ Mother Baby Child

Mother's Day Art - Really Cute!

Mother's Day Art & Craft Idea That Will Touch Her Heart

I found this beautiful art piece cycling around Facebook and then ended up connect with the super creative and artist mom that designed it. Her name is Amy Stone and her website is http://www.MittsPiggysPaws.com. You can see all of the beautiful custom art, as well as
heirloom-quality ceramic pieces (like the one above) created by this Memphis artist. Amy Stone creates one of a kind Baby Hand & Feet Impressions. This particular piece is glazed and fired twice in a large kiln at well over 1000 degrees from low-fire ceramic clay.

You can try to recreate this adorable craft (using the recipe below) to do with your child as a gift for yourself or other special someone. It will not turn out the same as the picture above because that is a professional ceramic art work.

If you prefer to have one just like the picture above or to have a custom art piece created by this artist, Amy Stone, please LIKE her Facebook page - www.facebook.com/MittsPiggysPaws - and contact her by clicking the Message button from that page.

Salt Dough Recipe

1/2 c salt
1/2 c flour
1/4 c water ( give or take )
mix together, roll, press adults hand in first, then child's hand
bake @ 100 degrees for 3 hours

Paint desired colors.

Wouldn't this make a beautiful memoir?




Have a relaxing weekend :)
Lea @ Mother Baby Child

Toddler OCD | Wordy Wordless Wednesday

Cars Turned In The Same Direction ... Always!

I know this is Wordless Wednesday, but I am wondering if your 2 year old does this, too? This picture was taken a few weeks ago when I noticed that he was walking the cars over and facing them in the same direction. He has since graduated to lining the cars up against the wall with the fronts facing outwards or directly beside each other on the floor.

Today our toddler lined up 6 signs from his train set. He really took his time to line them up meticulously and facing him), slid the little train past it once. As soon as the train went past, he picked up 3 at one time and looked. He then picked up the other 3 signs (all 6 in hand) and put them away.

I love watching all of the quirky "things" as much as the athletic and creative gifts he has, but he has been doing things that make me wonder whether it might be OCD or not because I do not remember my other children doing the same things so young. Does this look familiar to anyone?

Anyways, Happy Wordless Wednesday to you :) Thanks for stopping by!


In Motherly Love,
Lea @ Mother Baby Child

2 years, 2 months, 23 days | Our Toddler Is Loving, Playful, Smart | Not Sleeping All Night

Our baby is now 2 years, 4 months and 23 days old.

This is an incredible time in our lives. Our toddler is a busy little 2 year old boy that consistently demands that we understand he's a person capable of thinking on his own. The best part of it all is that he starting to share new talents with us. This makes 2 years old such beautiful stage and makes me appreciate life so much more. He loves to play outside, color and tumble. All of the sudden, he has begun counting everything and the alphabet has became extremely important to him. Our 2 year old does creative things to let us know what he understands now. For example, he uses exaggerated body language for words he does not know or if we do not understand what he says. This increased communication makes attending to his needs easier and he knows it. I really like that our little guy is so energetic that he can hang with me on walks; he loves to run and explore nature. The only major problem we have is sleeping. Our toddler crawls out of the crib and fusses for at least an hour at bedtime. Our 2 year old is still not sleeping through the night and we are getting tired of being tired. Aside of the sleep problems, all is well in our 2 year old toddler world. We are all enjoying him :)

The following are some of our 2 year old milestones ...



Our toddler becomes more loving each day and always wants to "ELP"!

He showers us with kisses and hugs all day long. It is so cute because he will sometimes kiss the full length of my arms (on both sides) and feel very proud about it. On the other hand, our 2 year old has also become very clingy and demanding of moms attention. He has gone back to digging in my shirt and snuggling in like he did a year ago after weaning. Regardless, he is one sweet loving boy when he is not having a "NO" tantrum :) There is also not a day that goes by where he does not offer to help. Our little guy has an innate desire to "help". He is sweetly insistent and always shows up at just the right time to do his part. This is something that I will continue to foster in him for sure. He now knows how to make smoothies, sort laundry by color and make sure that mommy does not forget the bubbles per load, and he will help load or unload the dishwasher with the quickness (I always feel like we are playing that timed pop up game, Perfection - LOL)



Our little boy loves playing cars and trains and trains and trains ... 

We noticed that it was time to retire some of his infant toys when he started pushing cars all over the house while making the "vroom vroom" sound. This was around his second birthday, so we struggled on what we could get him to help manage his time. We ended up buying a train set a few weeks after his 2nd birthday. Our toddler has been entertaining himself with this type of creative play ever since. Sometimes the train set stays together. Most times he reconstructions what his brother created as the perfect rail road world. It is not unusual to have days where every inch of the living room, kitchen walk way and office becomes his train table. I love looking to the right while working and knowing that he is over there using his imagination. I hear him saying all kinds of things :)

He is just starting to speak clearly, though can sing the words of his favorite songs. BOY does he have a lot to share loudly. He loves music and dancing so much!

Max went through a phase where he stopped speaking clearly. It was like one day I could understand him saying that he wanted to go outside or "I like dat", and then it just stopped. I was like freaking out by his second birthday because his cousin was speaking so clearly over the holidays and he was not. Now, I cannot believe the things he is saying. For example, today he was excitedly screaming, "Mum an octopus an optopus. It is so cute". This little boy is counting everything (mostly 1 to 10 though missing number 5 each time; sometimes he will count up into the 20s). He also says his ABCs with pride. He starts off in order and then shouts out pieces of the alphabet in different orders except when singing. I signed him up for AbcMouse.com and he loves it. He has absolutely no desire to use the mouse to do anything on that site (he will only touch it when I don't want him to), but he will sit through 1/2 of their alphabet books in one sitting. This is not because of me. He loves them that much. He will loves the number activities and does them both at the same time. Max also loves to sing. He knows the words to a lot of his favorite songs. His favorite TV shows are very theatrical like Sesame Street, Umizoomy, Super Why, Barney, etc. I find comfort in the fact that he can express himself these ways.

He started getting good at larger puzzles around his 2nd birthday.

There is an alphabet one that he is particularly fond of and will sit in his high chair playing with it for over an hour. By now he knows pretty much all of the alphabet and characters on the puzzle pieces (i = ice cream, x = xylophone, etc). He can do this a few times without getting bored with it because he loves the pictures so much. It is so cool to see how he started recognizing the alphabet all of the sudden and I have to attribute that to Your Baby Can Read, Super Why and our working with him a little bit over the years.



He loves playing blocks and letting us know that he can associate the letters and picture.

We bought him wood blocks a little over 2 months ago because I felt that he was ready to build more than what he was doing with the mega blocks. That is when I noticed that he found great satisfaction in stacking and there was no changing it. He immediately started building little 5 block towers. He built his first 21 block tower just 8 weeks after and counted them out loud with me. He is extremely meticulous about how his blocks stack. He prefers that they are not twisted at all and all having the same type of pictures showing on one side (the side of the block tower that faces him as he builds). Anyways, I was totally amazed when he grabbed a bunch of cars and trains to drive them carefully around his tower of blocks. He did it just once to see if he could and then was satisfied. I have to believe it was to see if he could do this without knocking down his tower of blocks because I went to disassemble it just after and he went crazy when I removed a block. He spends quite a bit of time showing us that he knows which letters and pictures are on his blocks. This week he has been lining them up and counting blocks on his own.



Our 2 year old LOVES to read ... In fact, he LOVES books.

A great portion of our day is focused around which book Max wants to read or not. He also relocates them from the bookshelf to the floor and furniture every single day. He will sit and read on his own. He has recently started stacking books at the corner of my desk. They are usually around the same size books and he is perfectly content to leave them with me after he has about 10 or so stacked up. Sometimes he just counts as he stacks them. Sometimes he will excitedly chant what he likes about them as he is stacking them. He will scream if I remove or adjust any of the books while he is stacking them. It is a trip. Our toddler is also extremely passionate about reading the store flyer. It is really cute when he is sitting with us, though can become rather frustrating when he insists on going through the grocery store ads while I am working or need to do something else. It is not like the books where he will sit to read on his own, Max will insist that you read store flyer to him before he claims ownership. After we go over it with him and spreads it all over the place to read for quite a while. TRUST ME, it is not cute when you are trying to go to the bathroom and the flyer starts coming under the door while your toddler is screaming his head off to read. Regardless, I am grateful that he wants to learn everything - that I do not want him to eat - like Tombstone pizza, Weight Watchers ice cream and all over the produce specials about 10 times in a row :)

Our toddler started climbing out of his crib last week.

Meanwhile, he had just jumped on our bed for 15 minutes beforehand. I never let my two older ones do this, but our toddler is so energetic that it helps wear him out. Plus, Max loves to jump and count. The fact of the matter is that our son climbed out of his crib 4 times that first night. I tried doing everything from putting him back without a lot of attention to being firm, there is really not much I can do when his mind is set to climb out of the crib. I just push the crib against the wall because it blocks his favorite climbing side. We do feel fortunate that he has stretched crib sleeping out this far, though are a bit overwhelmed as to what to do with him at bed time and in the morning. He gets up at the crack of dawn and cries until I put him in the bed with us. He beats me up for a while until I let him crawl down as start to our day. What is even worse is that our toddler still does not sleep through the night. I am like 2 years without more than a few good nights of sleep and it is really taking a toll on me; especially since I am still trying to lose the rest of my "baby weight" and know I need my 7 to 8 hours sleep to lose weight (check out my weight loss journal). The kicker is that our 2 year old cries SO VERY LOUDLY that if feels like a fire alarm goes off each night and morning. UGG! It is rather frustrating. Yet, my middle child has always had sleep problem (not as loud). It might be that our toddler has ADHD.

Lastly, is the expected "NO" and 2 year old tantrums.

Yes, he is pretty good at both of these, though is not as persistent as my older two were. I guess it is because his NOs mean "No" most of the time, so we do not deal with a lot of tantrums because he is frustrated that we should have understood "yes" ... this can get challenging at times. I have learned to stop asking him if he wants to do this, or if he wants this or that. I now say, "OK, it's bath time. You love taking a bath" or I brink both types of cereals because he usually just waves me off with the one he does not like and it's a really nice non-verbal / non-tantrum way of communicating :) C'est la via!


Well, that's about it for 2 years, 2 months and 23 days :) I hope these 2 year old milestones were helpful and / or entertaining to you. I know they are for us each day, so I couldn't wait to share!

Don't forget to check out 2 years old (part 2) - Poopy Diapers, Lip Picking, Nose Picking


Happy Wordless Wednesday :)
Lea @ Mother Baby Child

Florida Beach Boys | Wordless Wednesday

Happy Wordless Wednesday :)
Lea @ Mother Baby Child

Potty Training 2 Year Old Toddler Boy - Dad & Mom Are Doing The Potty Dance For Sure

It's a joyful week in the Hunt home :) Our toddler has started potty training; WOO HOO!!! Our younger teen has gone to bed at a decent time for the past few nights. My oldest son (who is sadly not talking to me) just had a baby girl named Harmony. Our dog made his first "autotune video", web work has been steady for me and I started a work at home business that is starting to grow. In fact, quite a few new people joined our 90 Day Weight Loss Challenge this week and I am excited for them. All in all, not everything is perfect around here and I will get into that another time, tough I have remained faithful that the Lord will resolve all issues and grateful for the blessings despite storms.

Potty Training A Boy Is Not Hard - Just Wait Until They Are Ready!

Potty Training has been a walk in the park compared to buying the best potty chair for our son. Although, Max had only "let go completely" and had a full pee one time on our potty, has gone a few drops twice in his potty chair on many occasions and had one full pee today, too. He has always liked to sit on the potty and loves the extra attention that he gets when he does his "duty". Yet, it has taken Max a week to fully comprehend that he can pee it all out at one sitting. He is doing really well so far!

Knowing When Toddler Boy Is Ready To Potty Train

We introduce potty training a few times over the past year. We started around 1 years old, and have kept a potty chair in the bathroom ever since. He loved the entertainment of the potty chairs, as well as using them as a seat and stool while in the bathroom. Yet, our son was totally uninterested in potty training prior to his second birthday. I know that our 2 year old is ready to potty train because 1) he keeps taking his diaper off when very wet, 2) he pulls at the elastic on the thigh areas of his diaper (stretching it to get in the diaper), and 3) our toddler gets extremely cranky if he wakes with a saturated diaper. Another contributory factor, as to why he can start potty training now, is that he is really good at not urinating when not wearing a diaper. On the other hand, his "gift" at holding his pee prohibited our toddler from fully releasing while sitting on the potty chair. It took his over an hour of holding his pee before he released all of the way. I am thinking that he will get over this as soon as a potty routine has been established for him.

Choosing The Best Potty Chair / Worst Potty Chair In My Opinion

Regardless, today, we received our BABYBJÖRN Potty Chair and BABYBJÖRN Toilet Trainer in the mail. One would have thought that my husband struck gold when our box arrived; I have never seen him so excited. We ordered the both the BABYBJÖRN Potty Chair and BABYBJÖRN Toilet Trainer from a woman on Ebay. Aside of a few Thomas the Tank Engine stickers on the potty, both were in perfect condition and cost just a little over $20 for both potty seats; saving us over $40 including shipping. We wiped them down with bleach, set the potty in the living room and the seat on the toilet, took our baby our of his diaper and proceeded to familiarize him with both of them. We were all so excited to see that our baby fit comfortably on the BABYBJÖRN Potty products because this is our 4th potty chair. I really do not feel like buying another one. NOTE: Aside of our son having to learn how to sit on the BABYBJÖRN Potty Chair without bumping his private area (took a few independent attempts to sit alone) on the high pee guard, he was more comfortable with using it. We chose the BABYBJÖRN Potty Chair because of that high pee guard; most of the animated potty chairs were lacking in guard areas and seat room. We chose the BABYBJÖRN Toilet Trainer because of the decent sized pee guard and seat with a whole that looked large enough for a toddler. It snaps to the toilet seat securely, our son fits in the contoured design well and sat in it comfortably today. I think it will work well for him, but I will have to report on that later. NOTE: I did notice a red impression line on his bottom and this bothers me. I do wish that the BABYBJÖRN Toilet Trainer was made with a softer seat.


BABYBJÖRN Potty Chair and BABYBJÖRN Toilet Trainer

Our first potty chair was the older version of the Fisher Price Cheer For Me Potty. I bought it about a year ago from a local garage sale, and it was our best potty chair. It was in excellent condition, with an awesome pee guard and was very sturdy. Our baby loved sitting on this potty chair for extended lengths of time. He listed to the music and played with the flusher a lot. Unfortunately, his older brother broke the sound button on the back of the potty chair. Our baby lost interest in this potty chair when it could no  longer entertain him.


Original Style & Newer design of the Fisher Price Cheer For Me Potty

Our 2nd potty chair was a newer model of the Fisher Price Cheer For Me Potty. It was not of the same quality as the older model. The plastic was not as solid, the seat / guard area seemed smaller and the sensor did not work as well as the other potty. Most importantly is that Fisher Price had replaced the pretend toilet paper holder, that he LOVED because it played music, with one that really held toilet paper. We could not possibly use that toilet paper holder as intended with our adventurous little boy; he wanted to play with the toilet paper too much.



Our 3rd potty chair was The First Years Disney Pixar Cars Potty. Aside of the colorful design, stool capability and very soft seat, The First Years Disney Pixar Cars Potty was pitiful to say the least. Although this potty chair has a very soft seat, it is way too small for toddlers and has an extremely small pee guard that makes it almost impossible for a 2 year old boy to use. The seat cushion is removable thus prompting our son to remove and try to play with it all of the time. The one interactive feature on this potty chair is a little clutch that makes a "rev" car sound. This feature kept coming loose when he used it thus encouraging him to get up and lift the seat (very annoying when trying to get toddler to focus on potty training). The whole plastic area under the seat cushion would pull apart at that time. This potty might work for boys potty training 1 years old or younger, though has not been a comfortable and reliable option for our son. We wasted our money on The First Years Disney Pixar Cars Potty.

Well, this is all that I have to share about our potty training experience so far. I hope that this information was helpful to anyone trying to decide which potty chair is best and some details on potty training a 2 year old boy. I would love to hear about your potty training experience through the comment section of this blog or our new Google+ Moms Community. See you there!



In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Toddler Baby Had 104.7 Temperature - 1st Flu

Our 21 month old has been sick for 7 days total :(

The nurses said it was the flu, but it seemed like something else because he only vomited when he had a bottle of milk and it was just little bits. I was scared that it was West Nile Virus (we're in Florida) or Meningitis. Aside of running to the store and getting what he needed, we all stayed in bed with him for 72 hours.

His temperature was up and down the first 48 hours; his fevers ranged from 102 to 104.7 degrees in between doses of medicine.

As per the nurses advice, were switching between Advil and Tylenol every couple of hours; putting his overheated and weak body in a tepid bathtub each time his temperature increased and while waiting for the fever medicine to kick in. We did this for 48 hours until his temperature went down to "normal" fever levels and then for 2 more days.

I had to force our poor baby to drink. He would not drink out of a cup, but would take a bottle, so I would squirt a little in his mouth when he cried and that would prompt him to drink a bit each time.

Our baby had diarrhea for days. He did not have a solid bowel movement or meal until today; 7 days later. This may seems normal to you, but our baby went through 2 packs of diapers on the 3rd day. His bottom is still red and sore :(

We had just moved him to size 6 diapers and had to go back to size 5 because of the weight that he lost. His belly was completely flat; his little body swam in the size 6 diapers by the 3rd day.

Although he is my third child and I should understand that children get sick, this was his first real sickness in 21 months and nothing like my other 2 children experienced.

This was his first flu ... In fact, this was his first real sickness in general.

It was a frightening experience and we are so grateful that he is ok.


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Hurricane / Tropical Storm Isaac | Pray for Haiti, Dominican Republic and New Orleans

(Our toddler baby in his life jacket. He can finally fit it now).

We had quite a scare this weekend. They said to prepare for a hurricane! It ended up being Tropical Storm Issac ...

At first, Bay News 9 said that we were to expect a hurricane over the next few days. They said that "Hurricane Issac" would go through Florida and might end up as strong as Hurricane Katrina; they just weren't sure how bad it would be.

My heart dropped to my feet in fear while my husband went into MEGA survival mode. He filled like 30 gallons of water from our water filter; he had my 13 year old son get into geer and they ran to the store to buy candles, diapers, batteries, canned food and junk foods that did not need cooked. He was worried that our water might become contaminated again (happened earlier this summer) and that we might end up without electricity (as always happened when we have bad storms).

I worked hard to hide my fears. We watched the Lorax while my husband stayed on the radar website.

Our greatest fears came from memories of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Those thoughts alone had my husband glued to Klystron 9 reports while chatting live with them online. I tried to make sure everything was organized enough to handle a toddler that does not swim and a teen that is not as strong of a swimmer as I would like him to be. I was REALLY worried that a hurricane would be the first and last time our baby would wear his life jacket. I felt sad that this might be his first experience. I started to think that if the hurricane was not too bad, we could all camp out in the bathroom until "things" settled down. Yet, what would we all do in there with an energetic toddler? Read by candle light while the baby bathed for hours? How would be keep a toddler entertained during a hurricane? The kids and I ended up watching Dr Seuss's The Lorax to take our minds off of things. Cute movie!

Hurricane Issac became Tropical Storm Issac ...

Fortunately, the radar predictions shifted from Hurricane Issac to Tropical Storm Issac, and they were still not sure what we should expect. I felt a little relief as we had a tropical storm this summer and we managed just fine. Regardless, some of our local counties shut down schools for Monday and some post offices were closed (depending on which county). All of this going on while the Republican National Convention was taking place in Tampa, FL. I prayed to God, though was still scared. There is always the ULTIMATE wonder about "THAT" time being here. I went to bed resolved that "thy will be done" ... it felt Titanic like until I fell asleep.

I was relieved to wake up and find just a few cracked tomato branches in the yard. It was breezy and cooler outside, though nothing even close to what the last tropical storm was like for us. I watched the Klystron 9 weather radar soon after waking and saw that Tropical Storm Issac would go up the gulf coast to the west of Florida, though my heart felt burdened by the fact that the storm will end in New Orleans. I am equally sad for the people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. There were more deaths as a result of this Tropical Storm Issac.

I am asking all of my friends to pray for the families in Haiti and Dominican Republic, and that God will protect those in New Orleans. Pray that Tropical Storm Issac will not be a category 2 hurricane once it hits New Orleans.



In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Babys 1st Time Playing In Sprinkler w/ Brother (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) "Love Is" ... Wordless Wednesday

This was our baby's 1st run in the sprinkler and he loved it!



Water in his face, grass on his shoes and legs, toddler baby having a wonderful time playing in the water ...



Big brother making the water sprinkler experience even more special for our baby. I watch and appreciate the beautiful relationship between brothers that are so far apart in age! Their love and my love for them ... it overwhelms my heart and reminds me that this is the love our Father in heaven has for us.

Happy Wordless Wednesday

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Baby Won't Sleep - Toddler Will Not Nap

Our 18 Month Old Toddler Baby Won't Sleep

I am blown away with frustration and fatigued these days. I just do not know what to do! Our toddler baby won't sleep alone anymore and he certainly does not like to nap at all. Well, let me rephrase that last statement. He does go to bed alone at 9:30 pm - 10:00 pm at night (after a little rocking by dad and a little crying once placed in bed), but he gets back up in the middle of the night and refuses to go back to sleep unless in the bed with us. If we put him in our bed until he goes back to sleep and then put him in his crib, our baby will get back up again and again and again until we finally give up and put him in bed with us. None of us get sleep if we do not put him in bed with us. Although I love having our little "bundle of joy" close to my heart, I do not like how he tears me up in my sleep (he moves all over the place in his sleep; he pulls my hair and "plays" with my face in the mornings) and uses his feet to push his father on the edge of the bed in the mornings. He needs to start sleeping in his own bed.

I blame this all on my husband ... Just kidding :)

It has taken my husband MONTHS to understand and admit that I was right. I tried to explain to him that it was OK to lay the baby in his crib before he fell asleep, but he insisted on rocking him to sleep each time. I also let him know that it was OK to let our baby cry (with some comforting in between), so that he would get used to going to bed alone, my hubby did not listen. I shared all of the advice and experts articles on getting baby to sleep ... I pleaded with my husband for months (since our baby was almost a year old) and he gave me such a hard time about just laying our baby down to bed; stating that our son was "just a little baby" and "he will grow out of this". I told my husband that he won't be saying that when he has a spoiled child to deal with and he just ignored me.

I am not sure what to do at this point ...

In our baby's first year of life, nursing was my bonding time with our son, therefore rocking became my husband's time with the baby. This was "all good" for the first 6 to 8 months; the whole family rocked and comforted our baby. I began asking my husband to stop rocking him all of the time as we approached our baby's 1st birthday. Our baby had weaned himself from breastfeeding, so it was a great time to teach him to sleep through the night because he no longer nursed. My husband refused to adjust. He was not ready to stop rocking the baby to sleep, and I understood completely because it was an odd adjustment to go from breastfeeding to not nursing at all, so I did not complain about his rocking the baby to sleep all of the time. Now, our baby wants my husband to rock him to sleep and then wants to snuggle with me when he sleeps. I do not know what to do at this point; we have comforted and loved our baby to our own detriment. Yet, he is a very happy boy :)

He became our toddler baby with lots of changes ... Napping is the 1st.

By 14 months, he had stopped taking 2 naps a day. It was an adjustment for us, though kind of exciting because we presumed that he would start sleeping though the night. Our toddler baby used to get up by 8:00 a.m. - napped by 1:00 p.m. - went to bed by 10:00 p.m. - and slept though the night sometimes.  Once we thought that one nap schedule was established, it started taking longer and more rocking to get our baby to sleep for his nap and bedtime. He also started waking up at night and refusing to go to sleep unless in the bed with us. My husband starting to become frustrated because he had to rock our son for over an hour each time; sometimes our baby would not sleep at all and then become unbearably cranky and fall asleep at 3:30 or 4:00pm. Everything just became a mess. My husband started getting impatient and telling me to rock him; which I would not because he carried it on so long instead of just reading the articles I sent him and following the instructions. I finally started laying the baby down, letting him cry for a few minutes and then settling him. My husband got tired of the crying, so he changed the process to rocking our toddler baby and then laying him down. Now that our baby is 18 months old, he still gets up before or around 8:00 a.m. and goes to bed at the same time, but his nap is either later than 1:00 p.m. or he will not nap at all. It is rough either way because our baby starts getting cranky around around 12-12:30 p.m. as if he was ready to nap. The difference is that he does not settle to nap and remains cranky for quite some time.

Well, that backfired ...

Now our baby flips out if my husband rocks him and then lays him down. It is to the point that our baby won't sleep in the afternoon (he will not nap until almost evening even though he is getting up at the same time as usual).  We have to go in and settle him for longer periods of time ... if we do not, he will not stop crying. He gets so upset that he cannot nap. Tonight, I finally took over and put our baby to bed directly after bath (we played for quite a while after the tub in hopes that it would tire him out). He fussed for like a minute, talked to himself for about 10 minutes and then fell asleep. Regardless, of how he fell asleep tonight, I know that he won't sleep though the night. The plus is that we no longer have to rock him to sleep at bedtime. I guess that's a step in the right direction ...

I am interested to know if you have suggestions as to how we can get him to take a nap at his old time (1:00 p.m.) and sleep though the night. Our toddler baby will not stop crying (really, he just gets angrier no matter how tired) long enough to go to sleep.


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Toddler Baby Bites, Pinches & Laughs

Our 17 month old toddler has 2 bad habits ...

I cannot believe that I am saying this about our beautiful baby boy, though "it is what it is". Our 17 month old toddler baby bites, pinches and laughs like the Joker from Batman while he is doing it. These bad habits began a few months ago and are starting to slow down, though still exist. It hurts so badly that I cannot help saying "Ouch", "Ow" and "Stop" as he is digging his nails or teeth into my skin. Unfortunately, those responses make him laugh hysterically and get excited enough that our baby bites, pinches and twists my skin more.

He thinks that I am playing with him even though I am not smiling!

The bottom of my arms get so bruised and cut up that it looks like I take martial arts (no joke!!!). His little nails are like knife points that always seems to stab the same exact spots. Meanwhile, I cut those little nails down to the pinks and I can still feel them. I no longer brag about his full set of chompers because he sometimes bites when excited or angry. What really gets me is when he comes over and twists my forearm like he is ringing out a towel. He kind of hangs on them like a kitten, too, as if to avoid my breaking free of his hold, and bites me a few times. The kicker is that most time he says "OW" and laughs while he is doing it (as if he thinks that he is tickling or playing with me).

Here is what I understand about this situation ...

Our baby bites and pinches in play 95% of the time. He thinks that he is tickling and / or wants immediate attention when he starts the bad habits, therefore I stop what I am doing to try to control the painful situation. The other 5% of the time that our baby bites and pinches is because he is either irritated that I am stopping his "tickle" play or he is angry with me. I try not to say "Ouch" or "Ow" when our baby pinches and bites because it encourages him. I have been putting him in the pack n play for a time out when it gets out of hand. I hope this teaches our baby to stop biting and pinching, as well as the fact that the Pack N Play is for "time out" and "quiet time". I also say "No" and "No Ow" to try to teach him that I do not like that type of play, though he is not consistently responsive to my "No". Once I break free of his hold, I change the type of play to something more tactile like blocks or reading books. This works well as long as I am not grabbing something near to me. It takes the little walk across the room to choose a book / get the blocks to calm him down; else he will continue to bite and pinch.

What I don't understand is how to get him to stop biting and pinching for good!

On a positive note ... this "play" that is reserved for us :)

Our baby's cousin came to visit a few weeks ago. They have just a few weeks age difference and we love seeing them interact with one another ... it's so cute! Anyways, my husband and I were trying to keep them apart because I was afraid that he would hurt her. The mother said that "she can hold her own", so we got them together for the day and it ended up being a beautiful experience. He did not bite or pinch her at all. In fact, he shared his books with her and she shared her bubbles with Max.

Have you had the same experience with your baby biting and / or pinching? How did you get it to stop?


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

13 Month Baby / Toddler - Extreme Child Proofing To Keep The Baby Safe For Home

Child Proofing AGAIN | Child Safety for 13 Month Old Toddler

It feels like there is nothing that we can do to keep our 13 month old baby out of mischief! He is just one curious little boy that is usually on the go from 6:30 to 7:30 A.M. until he crashes around 4:00 P.M. He will nap for about an hour and then do it again until around 9:30 to 10:00 P.M. I feel like we are living in total hyper drive right now and there is really not much that we can do about it because our toddler only understands but so much at this age.

Don't get me wrong! It is truly beautiful to watch him exploring new things in his world. I am amazed by how we can literally see the "light bulb going off" when he discovers his own capabilities; his adorably innocent and transparent expressions are how I can see what he is thinking and understanding before he takes off like the Roadrunner to do the next thing. Our 13 month old is not only cute and curious, he is frighteningly smart and stubborn about what he does understand. This makes him an unstoppable opponent these days, therefore we had to childproof our home AGAIN.

It was just one room that needed the "toddler make over" because the rest of the house is off limits and we did childproof months ago when he was learning to crawl. We have given him the entire living room which is really like having two room because it openly connects to my 10 x 10 office (we just do not use the sliding doors). In addition to that opening, he can pretty much see what is going on outside of the living room because it has no doorway (just one wall where the entertainment stand sits) and opens into the kitchen and hallway.

Initial Child Proofing Done Before He Turned One Years Old

We removed just about everything from the living room (no coffee table, end tables and accessories). All that is left in the room is low sitting leather couch on one wall, glider rocking chair, one lamp, entertainment stand w/ older TV, Today's Kids Play Yard, pack n play that holds his bin of toys and a basket of toys w/ my Legmaster to the side of the entertainment stand.

• We had to put the childproof caps into all of the electrical sockets when he was around 5-6 months because he started going for them as soon as he began crawling.
  
  
• We painted because he started licking the walls while using them to stand up. We had only cleaned the walls when we moved in to this home, but felt more comfortable giving the walls a fresh coat of paint "just in case". He eventually stopped licking the walls.
  
  
• We had to teach him not to eat the door stopper, though did end up switching to the flexible coil door stopper which he has stretched and smashed like crazy. He has finally stopped trying to use it as a teething ring. This coil type of door stopper is flexible, so it never went to the back of his throat like the straight, solid, metal ones.
  
  
• We bought a pack of floor pads (found in the exercise department of Walmart for $20) to avoid any more head and tooth injuries. He was extremely accident prone when learning to sit up, crawl and walk. He chipped his front tooth just after it first came in. It is a slant that still looks OK, but he sometimes pokes his tongue with it :( These gym mats helped a bunch and we ended up getting a 2nd pack when he was learning to walk. They are not as colorful as the baby / child mats, though they are durable and have enough cushion for small knees and to break impact during falls. They are larger than the baby mats, so less cleaning time. * We did have to take the trim from around the edges because he was pealing the strips up to chew them and he has bit off a few of the block edges, but stopped that obsession around 12 months. These mats are a "must have" if you have tile or wood floors.

(Best baby floor - Get them @ Walmart for $20 in the exercise department)

Toddler Childproofing Needs (13 Months)

#1 - Turned the couch around and use it to block the open wall ...

As I mentioned above, we turned his favorite couch around (the love seat) so that he'll stop climbing it. He almost flipped over the back of it one day, so this was necessary. It also worked out that the couch was wide enough to block the opening between the living room and office entry way. We also had to sew the hole he picked in the back of the couch after we turned it around.

#2 - One room opposed to using the play yard or pack n play to contain him.

As I mentioned above, he now has the whole living room opposed to just the space of a play yard or pack n play. We have the love seat blocking him in to the living room, though I can see what he is doing at the times that we are not in the actual living room with him. I just have to slide it over to open the area up and combine the two rooms (which I need to do sometimes, so that he can walk back and forth to give his hugs and check out what we are doing :)

#3 - Turned the Today's Kids Play Yard into a gate

Last week, my husband drilled the Today's Kid Play Yard to the walls because he kept breaking loose when we had it wedged between the couch (on one side) and the entertainment center (on the other side). It is no longer a hexigon, but one long panel that makes a semi circle, straight or edged panel depending upon how the baby pushes on it. Now that the play yard is drilled to the wall, he cannot leave the room on his own and we use one panel as a door or just step over it. I would like to mention that this Today's Kids Play Yard is one of the best yard sale purchases we made. It has heavy plastic panels that permit you to combine more than one set to make a larger play area. This is what we were going to do if drilling to the wall did not work, but it did :)

#4 - We needed to baby proof the entertainment center again.

We had already cleaned out the drawers of the entertainment center, but our baby started opening them and excessively shaking the doors (that close in the TV). It has finally gotten to the point that we needed to take the knobs and both doors off the entertainment center. We also had to put our baby's books in the cabinet area because he is still trying to chew on them and rip pages. This works out well because he will stand over there to let us know that he wants to read his books. We also have an older tube TV in the entertainment stand because I am less worried about HD quality than I am his safety. This TV is heavy enough that he cannot shake it down (as he does try to lift and shake the entertainment center) and he does hit on the TV when he gets hyped up, so I am glad we left it in the living room.

#5 - Blocking the electric sockets AGAIN ...

We have had white safety plugs in all of the wall sockets since he started crawling, but they are almost useless at 13 months old. He can pull the safety plugs out of the socket, so we had t position all furniture to block those safety plugs. It gives piece of mind, but we still have to watch because he tries pushing the couch out of his way to get to the plugs on the one wall :(


In Motherly Love,

Mother Baby Child

Wang Yue / YueYue Has Died | China Beyond

"Beyond" for Five Minute Friday Blog Post

Beyond the refuge of my little life, is a family that is mourning the loss of their child because of negligence, lack of empathy and honor. 2 year old Wang Yue / YueYue died today. Her poor little body to weak to fight; her brain dead from the traumatic incident of being run over by 2 vehicles and left for dead by 18 people that were afraid to help the child.

Afraid to help a child .. WHY ???

Her body laid there until one compassionate old woman stepped up and did what was right for that child. My heart is so burdened and my thoughts are far beyond my daily activities as all I can think about how devastated her mother and father must feel exactly at those times that I am thinking of this situation.

I watched the video and my heart broke. I hugged my little baby and wondered why the Chinese people live in such fear that they will not help an innocent child ... a toddler ... someone's baby girl abused and left out in the street?

I cried. I prayed. I blogged.

Others cried. Others prayed. Others blogged.

God's wisdom puts me at a loss for words when I understand that this is just one example of how people - all over the world - neglect their social responsibilities - spiritual responsibilities - humanitarian responsibilities - all of the time.

The "lack of morals in modern society" that the Chinese people feel they've lost, because of fear, is not far from where the United States and other countries have been for years as well. The difference is that they were noted for their Chinese honor code where our morale fiber has never meant much to the rest of the world.

Will we all ever get beyond this shame?

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." Luke 6:37 (NIV)



In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child


This blog post was inspired by
Five Minute Friday: Beyond

Wang Yue "Yue Yue" | Wordless Wednesday

YUE YUE ... WHY THIS PICTURE?


Are you here for Wordless Wednesday? Great! Please comment here and not on the Prayer & Thoughts page. Thank you so much!

"Why this picture?" Join the discussion started on the Prayers & Thoughts blog post.


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child

Should I Give My Baby A Pacifier?

Picture of Newborn Baby Max - 2 Days Old - December 2011

Although the nurse advised against my using a pacifer in the hospital, I am SO GLAD that I made her bring us one. I also suggest that all breastfeeding mothers have one ready once their baby is comfortable feeding and doing well with it. In our case, my baby was able to distinguish between whether he wanted to nurse or suckle by the time he was 2 1/2 weeks. He would instinctively reach one hand to his mouth and do a quick poke to signify that he was checking for his pacifier. On the other hand, he would rub both hands and make a quick panting sound when he wanted to nurse. This was extremely helpful to my adjusting breasts because he was only using them to eat (i.e. babies can become adamant about wanting suckle on the breast and this can become painful situation).

In case you're wondering ... NO, he does not consistently want nor rely on the pacifier 24 hours a day. Our baby learned how to pop his pacifier out by week 2. At first, it was an accident, but by week 3, he could, clumsily, push it out with his index finger. He was letting is drop out of his mouth when ready to nurse or coo - "popping it out" - soon after.

Coming into the world is not an easy adjustment for babies. It is our job to make it as comforting and safe as possible. Do not hesitate to use a pacifier if you think that your baby needs it. There are all different types - even a style suggested to prevent S.I.D.S. - try a few and see which your baby prefers. Our baby will block the pacifier with his tongue when he wants the other style (NUK) or does not want a pacifier at all.

Did your nurse advise against giving your baby a pacifier? Did you give your baby a pacifer? Let us know your experience in the comment section below!


In Motherly Love,
Mother Baby Child