Up and at em!

You know those days that you know are gonna be difficult from the night before? Yeah, that's today! Last night my daughter was tired WAY earlier than her bedtime, but once in bed didn't want to sleep. Then I stayed up an hour past my bedtime. And this morning my little human alarm clock went off at 5:30! A half an hour earlier than normal! Yes, she is an early riser, 6am most days. I consider 6:20 "sleeping in"! 

So to make today "easier" I will do the following:

1. Be as PATIENT as POSSIBLE

2. Pick my battles

3. Make sure I get my quiet "mommy time" this morning during Penny's nap

4. Drink PLENTY of tea and probably a Lift Off too!

Do something SPECIAL today! Happy Friday!

Savor

Yesterday morning my mom called, and as we were wrapping up our conversation she said "Oh, I just have to tell you!  My heart just MELTED yesterday!  When I was holding Penny and she saw you come out with your shoes on and thought you were leaving, when she just lunged at you and grabbed onto you, it just melted my heart! I know sometimes it's hard for you that she always wants you, but as a mom, you WANT your kids to WANT you!"  That was SUCH a good reminder for me to savor every hug, kiss, cuddle and moment with my daughter.  Whether she just threw her milk cup on the floor for the tenth time, or gave me a big wet kiss for the tenth time. Savor.

I have learned not to make a big deal out of little things.  Let her be a kid.  And be there to help her along the way.

SAVOR your special moments today!

Mighty Mouse

This morning we ate our breakfast as normal, I drank my yummy Herbalife shake (Tagalong shake today, delicious!) and Penny drank her (1/2 serving) Herbalife shake and at cut up banana pieces.  After we ate, I was rinsing some dishes in the kitchen sink when I hear a chair moving.  I turned around to see my daughter pushing (with ALL her might) my dining chair from the table, into the kitchen....pause for a breath.... PUSH the chair some more.  She ended up pushing the chair a good 6 feet!  

All this to say, I am in TROUBLE!  She is a strong little child, but I should not be surprised, her daddy used to be a body builder! 

She is definitely keeping me on my toes making sure I feed her right! Now, our diets are not perfect by any means, but I do TRY to get plenty of balance!  She gets all the nutrition of an Herbalife shake for breakfast (1/2 serving), with a banana, nutrigrain bar, or something else.  I am lucky that she will eat pretty much anything I give her.  I realize that is not the way a lot of kids are, so yes, I count my blessings. :)  

We started giving her "solid" foods as early as 4 months old, and she started getting 1/4 servings of Herbalife shake at 4 1/2 months old.  The nutrition has helped her grow strong, and have a great immune system.  She has only been sick a couple times and she kicked it really quickly each time!  I like to think the powerful nutrition in Herbalife fills in the holes in the rest of our family diet.

Some of Penny's other favorite foods include:
bananas
strawberries
blueberries
triscuit crackers
toast
cooked, crumbled ground beef
dried cranberries
peas
cheese
yogurt

Give yourself a moment of relaxation today!

A River of Babbles

My daughter is a year old, well 13.5 months to be technical about it. :) i honestly have no idea what is "normal" for speech development at her age, but her pediatrician seemed happy with her all-around at her 1 year visit, so I guess she's doing fine! 

Penny knows several words by now, not necessarily to SAY them, but she understands the meanings. I so enjoy watching her develop this skill. Most of her communication is "point and grunt" (or scream), but she can sign "please", thanks to her Grandma and Tete (Auntie) for teaching her! Tete was one of her first 3 spoken words and it is what she calls her Auntie. 

She understands much more than she can speak though. Most helpfully she understands "come with mommy" and "no" or "that's not for Penny". And MOST of the time she obeys! (For now, right?)

The biggest things I have found helpful in teaching my daughter languages are:

1. Pronounce every word clearly, annunciate 

2. Keep it simple. When "reading" a book, point to things and say their names.

3. Repeat, repeat, and repeat again.

Believe something WONDERFUL will happen to you today!

In the Communication Gap

My daughter and I have entered the wonderful "communication gap" phase, as I have titled it.  She is a year old, and definitely knows what she wants!  The problem comes when she tries to communicate that to me.  There is a gap.  And that gap exists when I try to communicate to her as well.  Don't get me wrong, MOST of the time, we understand eachother, a benefit of being an at-home mommy (thanks to my personal business). There are times, though, when we cannot seem to get our message across to the other, and one or both of us ends up frustrated and (once in a while) in tears.
It is in these times that I remind myself of a few things:
1) My SMART daughter DOES understand more than I realize
2) When my daughter does not understand my message, it is not her fault. She is still learning
3) This too shall pass

The rough patches do not last forever, this is a phase.  The more I work on teaching her sign language and hand signals for words, the sooner we will understand eachother that much better.  Don't get frustrated, take a deep breath, hug my daughter, and keep going.

Make today FABULOUS!

Above water yet?

My beautiful daugher was born April 12, 2012, so yes, over a year ago.  And I am JUST starting to feel like I am getting my head above water! Can any of you other first time (or any # time) mommies relate?  I honestly do not know how some of you do this with multiples, it is all I can do to handle 1 child right now! :) I love her to death, I would do anything for her!
The biggest and best advice I was given prior to becoming a mommy was "give yourself grace."  Don't be too hard on yourself, for ANYthing!  And I have had to remind myself of this MANY times in the last 13 months.  SO many things that have not been perfectly how I wanted them, and I have had to give myself grace, not be so hard on myself, and make my expectations realistic for me and my situation.  It was NOT easy to do, but with practice I have gotten better at setting realistic expectations for myself.
As I type this, my kitchen is a mess, my dining room table is piled high with things that need to be put away, and there are toys strewn all over the living room floor.  But my daughter is asleep so the few things that I can do while she is sleeping must be done first, including doing anything on the computer, so here I write!
Now, she will not be asleep for long, so I must move on with my day.  Here's to many more Dazed Mommy posts!
Have a BEAUTIFUL day!