Week 4/52

Elsie's new favorite game is to play ball, which she calls "doh". She'll chase a ball around the house.  This is her at a friend's house. She's the silliest.

Homemade Toddler Crayons

I recently decided to make some big "toddler" crayons for Elsie and her friends at her birthday party. It seemed easy enough and it was! Here's how you can also make them!

1. Find some old broken crayons that no one wants to use anymore. I hit up our local garage sale page and found some for free from other moms! Of course you can always buy new. 

2. Take the paper off of the crayons. This is where it's nice if you have some old ones that are already paperless. The best tip is to use an exacto knife to make a slit down the side of the crayon and then it just peels right off.

3. Group the crayons by color, You could also just leave them mixed up for rainbow crayons! And cut/break them in to small pieces. The smaller the pieces the faster they melt really.

4. Sort them in to an oven safe silicone mold. These come in all sorts of shapes but I used a cake pop mold to get half egg shapes. 

5. Heat oven to 200 Fahrenheit and bake for about 20 minutes. Check to see if they look completely melted, it might take a few extra minutes. (this part kind of smells bad I thought, unless you enjoy the smell of crayons}

6. Take out of oven and wait for them to cool and solidify. Be careful taking them out so you don't spill hot wax everywhere. You can also pop them in the fridge or freezer to speed things up.

7. Pop them out of the molds. They should pop out fairly easily. 

Ta-da! You have toddler friendly crayons, perfect for their little hands to hold without breaking them! 

Week 3/52

This little girl loves to drag her Elmo around the living room. 

And just like her shirt says, she is super sweet!

Weeks 1 and 2 of 52 Weeks!

I'm going to try a 52 week challenge where once a week I post a picture with a caption. I'm starting a little late but I have seen other bloggers do this and thought it would be fun. They will probably be mostly about Elsie. We shall see how it goes!

1. This girl is so silly all the time! She has the biggest personality and I just love watching her grow into such a sweet little girl. 

2. We ate at our favorite Chinese Buffet over the weekend and now that Elsie likes real food she loved it! She loves rice so... ya.

Check back each week for more! 

Mommy Guilt

It's a real thing.  And it's terrible. 

The first time I felt mommy guilt was when Elsie was only a couple of weeks old.  It hit me hard because I felt super guilty for giving up breastfeeding so early on when I started going to baby play dates and saw all the other mommy's breastfeeding. I felt like I gave up to early when I should have tried harder, that I was letting Elsie down, and letting myself down as a mother.  I struggled with this feeling for months as I felt like I constantly saw women breastfeeding their babies. I worried about if my bond with Elsie was as strong as it should be,  that she was getting enough nourishment and antibodies.  Eventually I realized that Elsie was doing great as a formula fed baby! We had just taken a different path, and that was okay. She has always thrived on formula and though it was rough for me, it wasn't necessarily a bad choice choice for her. 

While that was the biggest bout of mommy guilt I've felt, there have certainly been other times.  Anytime Elsie has bumped her head or fallen while trying to stand, I'll think "crap I should have been there to catch her instead of whatever else I was doing!". When I gave up cloth diapering, baby led weaning, etc. "Am I making the right choice?" Anytime she's gotten sick, "was it because I didn't sanitize the high chair, or didn't put her coat on, or didn't wash my hands enough", etc. etc. etc. 

The reality is that it can be really tough being a new mom and having so much responsibility over another human being. Not having done anything like this before and having to navigate the roads of new motherhood or even repeat motherhood (for lack of a better word).  It is a challenge!  But we have to give ourselves a little break once in awhile and take a deep breath.  Our babies are alive and thriving! All babies eat and grow no matter if they are breastfed, formula fed, fed with purees or using baby led weaning. They all occasionally bump their heads, get bruises, and get sick. As long as we are doing our best, feeding and clothing our children, we are doing enough.  

So you, new mom, seasoned mom, give yourself a break and a pat on the back (or a glass of wine) and know that you and baby are doing great, even (and especially) on the rough days! 

10 Month Update!

With the ringing in of the first day of the new year, my baby girl turned 10 months old! 

 (sleepy before her first nap)

This month Elsie:

-got her two front teeth! She also just cut a third bottom tooth. That's 5 teeth total!

-decided she was done with baby food! It was like one day she wanted it and the next she hated it. I can still sometimes get her to eat some from a pouch if she doesn't think there's something better available. And I mix some in with her breakfast oatmeal. She has been eating what we eat for meals other than breakfast. She even had curry chicken and veggies the other day! 

-eats 3 meals a day and sometimes a snack. She drink 4 6oz bottles of formula a day and water with her meals. I don't really give her much juice unless she seems constipated. 

-is not walking on her own yet but walks when holding on to anything. She also has been experimenting with standing up and letting go. She can stand for about 30 seconds by herself. 

-is wearing 12 month clothes and she has even worn a few 18 month pieces. I put away all of the 9 month clothes. 

-loves to play! She can play by herself for hours! She also still loves to watch Sesame Street but we try to limit it to just a few episodes a day. 

-says "mama" or "mum" but mostly only when she's upset or wants something and "dada" but makes a ton of other sounds.

-is still sleeping like a champ! She sleeps from about 7-7:30pm until about 7-7:30am. She will stay up later if we are out doing something but still only sleeps until about 7. She also takes 2 naps a day sometimes 3 if it's a weird day. 

-loves bath time! She likes to flop from one side of the tub to the other and splash! 

She's turning in to a very independent little girl and it is so much fun to watch her grow! She is absolutely the light of our lives! We are such proud parents!