Splash Pad Throw Down!

OK, well, my first born made it to 17 months until her mommy got into a verbal fight with another mom. Should I be proud of that? I've thought through this confrontation over and over, and I'm confident that in hindsight I still handled it the way I believe I should have.

So here we are, kicking off a fantastic family vacation in Florida with a stop at Busch Gardens in Tampa. We pretty much stuck to the kiddo area with our toddler, which meant splash pad fun! Woohoo! Bugga loves these things, having just discovered them at home - she doesn't have to stress over blowing bubbles or not touching the bottom when she wants to.

Bugga and I were walking around the large splash pad area looking at all the fun water obstacles, as I noticed the posted rules included "Yield to small children." Perfect - that is us indeed!

There is an area that essentially has water "guns" that can be aimed at each other in 90 degree circles and directed to a variety of heights. As we walked past this with another mom and her stroller, a 5-year-old boy turned and aimed right at me and my 1 year old. He drenched me (and I was wearing street clothes) and hosed my daughter down in the face. His expression stated that he clearly knew what he was doing. The mom with the stroller was apparently his mother, said something to him along the lines of, "Play niiiiiiiiice" and then kept on walking, turning her back on her misbehaving son. He then turned right around, aimed at my daughter's face again, and sprayed her with the water while squealing, "Got you!!!!"

Oh it was on.

I gave the mother a stern, "Ma'am!" call, and she froze, as she clearly knew this had to do with her child. She turned around with attitude on her face and a "Yeah?" where I promptly told her that her son was out of hand and needed a parent to help him out. She immediately got all defensive and said, "Well you ARE at a water park, you should expect to get wet!"

Me: "What I don't expect is for my daughter to be attacked by such a mean kid that is 5 times her size."
Her: "Well you don't know what it's like to have a 5 year old boy and another child. We are working with him."
Me: "What I do know is that it is my job to protect my own child, and that I am responsible for what happens to her. As you should be for your children."
Her: "You don't know what it's like! He is a five year old boy!"
Me: "Then you need to not turn your back on him. Otherwise you need some help!"
I walked away with my daughter, as clearly this mom was missing the point.

Look, I get that kids have to learn things. And I also don't believe anyone at 5 years old can be that evil. But seriously, turning your back on your child's bad behavior? All I heard from this mom's reasoning was, "I can't handle being a parent." Honestly - if you can't be somewhere and be responsible for BOTH of your children, you either should not have left the house, or you need to bring another adult with you to help. There is no excuse for not being aware of (or worse, IGNORING) what your children are doing, especially when out in public.

About 5 minutes later the little boy came up to us and apologized for spraying us in the face with the water. I guess Mom thought I was right after all. I thanked him, left my daughter with my husband, and went to smooth things over.

I walked back up to the mom, told her I appreciated her sending her son over, and I was sorry I raised my voice. She then got back on her defensive soapbox and starting moaning about how "I don't know what it's like" and then I knew I shouldn't have bothered. Poor little boy - it's going to be a rough ride with that woman.

So - would you have handled it any differently? I would love to hear it!

Activity: Coloring Eggs

"Hey Mom, I think this might
actually be fun."

My husband is currently out of the country on business, so I've been busy planning activities and trips around town to keep Bugga and I busy while he's gone. He left early Easter weekend, so we were unable to officially celebrate. Sad face. Perhaps she wasn't old enough for that egg hunt anyway...

However, I still thought we should color some eggs, because I was curious to see what my toddler would think about it all. Well, it was pretty hilarious for starters.

She had a lot of fun piling as many eggs as possible into one bowl at a time, and then only using the next bowl when she ran out of space. And then she'd start again, piling the eggs into the next container, including the ones that were already bathing in a different color. Amazingly, the eggs still came out beautiful (and delicious, as I am in the process of consuming them).


She had a lot of fun with the spoons, but used them more as musical instruments against each other, versus to scoop out any of the eggs. Why would you use a spoon for scooping when you can just reach right in there? And hey look! Your hand is purple! And your legs are multicolored! How cool! Ha.

I think she made an attempt at tasting some of the colored water (apparently the yellow looked tasty?) but didn't do that twice. (Thank you, vinegar taste.)

All in all, this was a ton of fun, and I can't wait to do this each year and see how her creativity evolves.

Want to try it with your toddler? Here are my recommendations:

1. Prepare everything ahead of time before your toddler comes on the scene. I set everything up on the back patio and she watched me from just inside the windows.
2. Oh yeah - you're going to need to do this outside. I supposed you could do it inside, but at this age (~16 months) - don't say I didn't warn you!

   

   My original setup.
   Not recommended! (See #3)

3. Set up the activity with the bowls very close together. Nope, that's not what I did to begin with (see photo). I saw very quickly that once we started with one bowl, Bugga wasn't getting up but instead was just going to stretch as far as she could - which ended up with some cracked eggs and spilled colored water.
4. Use old dishes. This is perfect for the takeout containers that I currently have stashed in a bottom cabinet for Bugga to play with in the kitchen.
5. Don't overwhelm with too many colors. I stuck to 4 basics, and honestly she just took the eggs in and out of each dish, so after awhile, all 4 colors were strikingly similar. Go figure.
6. Premix the colors. I used a tablespoon of vinegar in each dish, along with a LOT of coloring to make the colors sharp. I used the old-school drops as well as some gels, and both worked fine.

   

   "AND I get to use a spoon? YES!"

   
7. Dress your child in clothing you aren't worried about. I stuck Bugga in a dark-colored $10 Carter's outfit, and it didn't stain at all! (Those white dots are painted on so the color didn't adhere whatsoever!)
8. Decide how you feel about spoons. I know this sounds funny. But to me, spoons + toddler = catapult. Bugga was very intrigued that I let her use spoons for this activity, and they really stole the show for awhile there until I pointed other things out. I think if we did this again (at least at this age) I would leave the spoons in the drawer. She has plenty of plastic ones to play with during meals and with her tea set.
   
9. Have fun! AKA, don't expect to have any control over how the eggs get colored, as your toddler is not interested in the LEAST about your creative opinion. Point out the colors, what happens when you mix them, etc. - they won't understand a lot of it, but they will see that it is fun.
10. Don't worry, the rainbow child isn't permanent. We went straight into the bathtub when we were finished, and it probably took two baths until the dye under her fingernails disappeared. But it was worth it!

The finished product! AMAZING!

Food Scrutiny

Like (hopefully) every parent, I am concerned about what sort of food my daughter is eating. I am starting to get pretty frightened over what we don't know about where our food comes from. Every day lately you hear stories in the news about the lack of labeling, GMOs that we don't know about, mistreatment of animals, pesticides, artificial coloring - all of this a part of what we put into our bodies.

Around the time my daughter started eating table food, I have started to turn my household into an all-organic one. As she watches what we eat, and then compares it to what she eats, she points out to me (sometimes literally) that she needs to be able to eat exactly what we eat. Which means what exactly? That my husband and I need to eat more healthy as well.

And prior to being a parent, I have always been highly concerned about what I eat - but it was more about fat and calories than anything else. As I learn more about what all these confusing ingredients mean, it is hard for me to not buy the fat-free version of something in exchange for the full-fat version. I had been programmed so long to think fat is bad.

But honestly, it just goes back to what we've always been told: everything in moderation. A moderate amount of fat in your diet not only requires you to avoid chemically-modified fat-free versions, but fat helps your body absorb the vitamins it needs to be healthy (for example, the type of salad dressing you use determines whether or not your body will actually recognize those vegetables as nutritious).

I'm probably having the toughest time with milk. I was raised to drink milk, and I have always been a big fan. I used to be proud that I could drink a gallon on my own in less than a workweek. But after learning so much about milk and its variations while learning about the ins and outs of breastfeeding, I'm not sure anymore. It definitely seems to have a lot of sugar in it for a beverage. But isn't it good for our bones? Ugh.

Here are some articles I've been reading lately that cause me to be concerned about our food supply:

Why Fat-free Salad Dressings Are Ridiculous

11 Horrifying Facts About Your Groceries

Monsanto Protect Act: 5 Terrifying Things to Know About the HR933 Provision

Mom Competition

We've all apparently felt it. And heard the comments. And probably made the comments. Moms bash other moms ALL. THE. TIME. Why? I'm guessing it's because it makes us feel like we are doing that much less of a crappy job as a parent if you can point out at least ONE person who is doing worse than you. The problem is, this behavior/thought process/arrogance does no one any good, especially your children.

We are surrounded by judgmental looks on the playground, reality TV shows like "Dance Moms" where the parents spend their lives cutting each other down, and our own insecurities - it's amazing our kids can get themselves to school in the morning.

If you've ever read a thread on a parenting message board where a proud parent is asking if their 1 year old is "advanced" because of A, B, C, that parent will be shot down so fast it is like they were lurking in the background and waiting for this type of post. I have rarely ever seen supportive comments come out of that discussion, and I feel like it is all driven by competitiveness and jealousy.

It has to stop! Why not just say, "Hey, that's great that your kid can do that! You must be spending a lot of time working on X skill with your child." What is the harm in that? As parents, we rarely get reassurance we are doing things right, and a comment like that might just keep that household going one more day that week! Think of it like the basic compliment - you tell someone you like their outfit or their hair why? Because you have to? No, because you want them to feel good about it! What's wrong with someone feeling good about their parenting? It in no way takes away from how you parent, just like a hair compliment doesn't make you look any less attractive.

What I fear are those parents you see on reality TV (so they must be real, right?) who will take discussions with other parents as far as yelling and screaming, with the obligatory foul language - and right in front of their kids! That is child abuse if I've ever seen it. I still can't believe the networks don't get involved, but apparently you sell your soul for ratings.

Be a better parent. Make someone else feel like a better parent. Your kids will thank you.

Listmania: Baby Registry Must Haves

Nowadays most full-time parents will register at a chain brand for baby items that will come in handy during baby's first year. I did a lot of research around the time I was 4-6 months pregnant and was focusing on the safest, most highly-recommended items by parents who had "been there, done that". Now that we have made it through our first year, here is a list of items (and recommended brands where applicable) that I could not have lived without.

$15K crib for rich kids. Not normal.

1. Pack-N-Play This item was used as Bugga's bed for the first couple months. It is portable so it can be moved from room to room easily if necessary. We selected one with a "newborn napper" feature that was a cozy bassinet-like piece that attached to the top of the item. Note - once our daughter moved to her crib for all her sleeping, we honestly didn't use this anymore, unless we were roadtripping and had space to take it with us for use in a hotel or another home.
2. Crib Once Bugga was ready for her own room, she needed somewhere to sleep, and all babies need a crib at some point. Do NOT get a dropside crib, if that even needs to be mentioned.
3. Crib Mattress Obviously required or your infant is sleeping on the wood board at the bottom of the crib, and who wants that? There are tons on the market - look for waterproof styles, and there are even eco-versions that work great.
4. Crib Slat Bumpers The standard bumpers should not ever be placed in the crib, unless you are photographing the nursery before your baby is born. It just isn't worth the suffocation risk. Or the risk your baby will get caught in it - also not good. I still don't understand why so many parents keep buying these things. Or that they're even still sold in the first place. What you might not expect as well is several months into this parenting thing your baby starts to become mobile and keeps whacking his or her head on the wood of the crib at night (ours certainly did). And then tries pulling up in the crib at 2am and REALLY whacks her head when she falls backward. That sound broke my heart and it will break yours. Slat bumpers are the best thing since sliced bread, and I wish I knew about them when I was putting my registry together so we could avoid all the head-smacking. These are safe, they look nice, and they are even cozy for your baby. Your bigger kid can't use them to climb on (like regular bumpers) and air still passes freely between them. OK off my soapbox. Get these.
5. Warming Plate Once your kiddo starts eating solids, you might be defrosting food cubes on a daily basis. If you are like me, you will often forget to take things out of the freezer the night before for thawing, and the microwave leaves hotspots that can burn your child's mouth. A warming plate like this one heats things quickly and safely.
6. Video Monitor When Bugga was born we lived in a small two-bedroom house where even when she was in her crib, she was barely 20 feet from us. We assumed a simple audio monitor would be fine. Until we tried sleep training. With an audio monitor we could not tell why she was crying - sometimes we thought she might just be upset because we had stepped out of the room for 5 minutes too long, but then we'd return to find her leg had gotten stuck between the crib slats and we didn't know until we went back into the room. Once we ordered our audio monitor, we never looked back. I still love to peek at her sleeping on the camera, and I can do this without having to go into her room to disturb her.
7. Diaper Pail There are a lot of these on the market, and they are relatively inexpensive. We have the Arm & Hammer version, but I've heard good and bad experience with every single one, so just pick one. But you DEFINITELY need something to corral the evil odor that comes with diapers.
8. Strollers You can probably survive with only one. You can even get the all-in-one travel system style that can get you easily through the first year. But those are heavy and often excessive for everyday needs. What worked for us: a Snap-and-Go style stroller that is pretty much nothing but a stroller frame that your infant carseat snaps right into. It is light, and should be able to be closed with one hand (and maybe a foot). You also need an umbrella stroller which is easy for popping out of the back of the car, or taking on airplane trips (get one with a carrying case to protect it from dirt and damage when gate checked like the Chicco Capri that we use still). We also have a jogging stroller. I wish I used that thing more. I am not a jogger, though I seriously tried when I was on maternity leave. It's just not my thing. And the stroller is pretty bulky for heaving in and out of the trunk compared to our umbrella stroller which is just as good. If you do a lot of outdoorsy stuff, then a jogger is more on the must list. But bottom line - you NEED a stroller(s).
9. Infant Car Seat Try to find one that contains your child as long as possible based on height and weight maximum capacities. Many go up to 35 pounds, but typically kiddos quickly outgrow their car seats based on their height versus their weight. By the way, don't mess around on this one. Find the safest rated car seat on the market based on Consumer Reports. There is ZERO reason not to. At the time we had our baby, the Graco SnugRide was one of the highest rated, and at 15 months Bugga has still not yet grown out of it (though we are on the verge).
10. Baby Bouncer / Swing OK the hard truth about these items is that every child is different. Some like one and not the other, and vice versa. We registered for both a bouncer and a space-age-style swing. The bouncer was a LIFESAVER while Bugga hated the swing. Well, she didn't hate it, but she certainly didn't want to be in it for more than 10 minutes, which for me is a huge fail. So that thing is taking up some serious closet space should potential baby #2 have a different opinion.
11. A great double breast pump and all the related parts If you are breastfeeding, you need a pump, and a double electric pump is the only way to go. This makes pumping quick, because you certainly don't want to spend extra time doing this if you don't have to. You can also get the battery pack and/or the car lighter adapter so you can do this anywhere that works for you. I used this one and it was fantastic for every situation I needed it in. Oh, and although I linked to the product on Amazon, I actually bought it from Baby Depot for less than $200 (vs. $270 on Amazon and Babies R Us) so definitely price shop if that is a concern for you.



Doesn't your kid need a stroller made by Aston-Martin?
No, no he does not.

12. Baby Toiletries It should be obvious, but you need all of the following in baby size: brush, comb, nail clippers, nose sucker, and thermometer. I also recommend a Nose Frida - it is disgusting, but holy crap this thing works. Don't forget shampoo, baby wash, and lotion for bath time. You might also want to have on hand Baby Tylenol, Baby Vick's Vapor Rub (for the bottoms of their feet when they are stuffed up), diaper rash cream, Little Noses saline solution (for stuffy noses), and Little Tummys gas relief drops (for gas obviously). You hopefully won't need these at all right away, but you never know, and it sucks to have to run out to the drugstore in the middle of the night.

If you are looking for some toys to add to your registry, or to have ready for their homecoming, here is a list of toys that we enjoyed in our house from birth to 8 months old.

Listmania: What to Put in Those Picky Toddler Bento Boxes

I have a picky eater, at least at meal time. This usually leads me to spooning banana into her mouth as she plays around the house, or allowing her to carry around a snack cup full of cheddar bunnies. So I searched for the solution and all over Pinterest I kept seeing this great idea for Baby Bento boxes (at least this is what I call them).

Essentially you take an ice cube tray and fill each spot with colorful, healthy foods, then place this artistic buffet in front of your toddler and watch the magic happen. She no longer has to fight me on food because she can pick whatever she wants! It's genius! I want her to enjoy her lifelong experience with food, and I want her to make her own healthy decisions (something I still need to be better at for myself).

What seemed to be a little lacking in all these posts is ideas on WHAT to put in each of these snack compartments, so THAT is what you will find listed below. Pick and choose obviously as YOU please - we all have different opinions on what should go into our children.

It goes without saying that all these foods should be bite-size, right? Please cut them up appropriately. My daughter can handle all these food options, and she (still) only has two teeth.

Do you have additional ideas? I would love to try new things I'm not sure she'll like...from the pic above, she already learned that she actually LIKES cucumber and corn - SCORE! I'll add more as we explore more options!

Baby Bento Box Ideas

Fruit

1. Blueberries
2. Grapes
3. Strawberries
4. Mango
5. Mandarin oranges
6. Raspberries
7. Blackberries
8. Raisins
9. Craisins

Vegetables

1. Green peas
2. Corn
3. Cherry tomatoes
4. Cucumber
5. Broccoli
6. Steamed sweet potatoes

Grains

1. Cheddar Bunnies (Whole Foods organic knockoff of the infamous Goldfish)
2. Wheat Bunnies
3. Cooked conchiglietti (baby shell pasta - we go through BOXES of this in our house since this is the easiest thing to get Bugga to eat)
4. Oatmeal
5. Cheerios
6. Baby puffs
7. Kix cereal

Dairy

1. Yogurt
2. Cheese chunks

Protein

1. Cooked turkey hotdog
2. Mini peanut butter on tortilla sandwich bites
3. Chopped egg white
4. Scrambled egg

Activity: Mirror, Mirror

We have interacted with mirrors for months and months, starting with the bathroom mirror during bath time when Bugga was still using the baby bathtub. She had a great time making faces in the mirror.

Since we are in a new house, we have been decorating some of the rooms we didn't have before, and I keep finding new ways to entertain my toddler with things related to the new decor. Yesterday's was no different. We have two giant (and heavy, so they aren't going anywhere) mirrored stands in our front hall.

Bugga and I spent some time hanging out in front of them on accident during playtime, and she quickly discovered how much fun that kiddo is in the mirror. I'm not sure she truly realized that there are not two of us, since she kept looking around the corner for Mommy #2.

She had a blast sitting next to "Bugga #2" and talking to her, sharing her toys - and failing at trying to steal her playmate's toys (maybe this might teach a lesson??), and other fun. The two even had a dance party with some fast stepping moves.

I shared the fun with my husband and he was quick to suggest that Bugga give her new friend a high five, which she did - and this person NEVER misses on high five! Perfect!