I have been living the vida toddler for a while now. I have a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old and while the 4-year-old is technically not a toddler anymore, she still loves doing toddler crafts with her younger sister and she is a great help when my littlest needs assistance.
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You have to find the humor in parenting or you are doomed. You can read all the books you want, get all the advice in the world, but until parenthood happens to you, you have no idea what you are getting into. It is a big beautiful mess full of mishaps, poop, and chaos.
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Growing up I loved playing games with my mother, friends, and extended family. We'd play dominoes, cards, pretty much anything that was available to us and it was so much fun. As a child, I didn't realize that I was learning so much from the games. Skills like math, strategizing, and developing my very own poker face, but I did realize that I was spending time interacting with people I loved. Those moments around a table, laughing and playing together have left me with fond memories.
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My little guy will be turning one in a month and one thing I still regret is that I didn't take monthly photos to document his growth. I fully intended on it and even had a great idea--my husband is a firefighter and we were going to sit the baby in or next to his helmet. But life got busy and it slipped through the cracks.
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Thanks in part to first lady Michelle Obama's campaign to fight childhood obesity, the issue that seems to be plaguing children in the United States has moved to the forefront of the consciences of many Americans. Not only is it glaringly obvious that a huge population of our children are surviving on less than nutritious diets, but their sedentary ways are wreaking havoc on their chances of growing into healthy, fit adults.
For such tiny creatures, babies sure know how to make some huge messes. Although I love neatness and organization, I generally dislike the process of getting there. Shockingly enough, I don't mind cleaning up some of the major messes my ultra-energetic and curious 9-month-old makes. I mean, I usually have to clean up what seems like the same wreck 50 times a day, but his interests and discoveries are just so much fun that I can't form a true complaint. Here are the four baby messes I don't mind cleaning up:
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Growing up Latino is a point of pride for us--and we wouldn't change that experience for the world. I always knew there was something different about my parents (you either pick up on it early on or later, when you meet people who were not raised by Latino parents).
We may roll our eyes at some of the things our parents did (and do), but you have to admit, growing up Latino is an amazing experience. So check out our list of ways to tell if you were raised Latino.
If you recognize three or more of the following scenarios, you were undoubtedly raised by Latino parents:
Getting out of the house to run some errands or meet a friend for lunch with baby in tow can at times seem like a Herculean effort. Between trying to wrangle little arms and legs into presentable clothing to packing the diaper bag, it often feels like it takes twice as long to actually make it out the door as it did in my pre-baby days. But after nearly a year, I finally feel like I'm starting to get a little better at it. In fact, I've actually learned a thing or two from months and months of forgetting to bring along some of little guy's essentials. So, in the hopes of speeding along the learning process, here are five things never to leave at home when you're heading out with baby:
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You've just had a baby, and whether it's your first or third child, exercise is the last thing on your mind. Even a newborn or infant who sleeps in long chunks of time feeds every few hours, leaving you sleep-deprived and exhausted. However, there are a multitude of reasons you should exercise, ranging from fighting postpartum depression to losing weight to fit into those old jeans. Did you also think that soon your baby will be running around and that you and your partner will have to chase him--or, rather sprint!--to keep up with him?
I have to say that I'm actually still a bit stumped as to how exactly we'll be celebrating Valentine's Day this year, our first year as a family of three. Traditionally, it hasn't been a huge deal for us, but we have made small gestures for each other throughout our relationship. I worked in flower shops for six years, so the holiday and the days leading up to it usually meant late nights and exhaustion. And now, my husband is away from home for job training the majority of the week, including the Thursday of Valentine's Day. One thing is for certain though, as with most celebrations that have occurred during this first year of our son's life, I'm betting whatever we do will be low key. Here are our (very limited) options:
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