1 Year Blogaversary!

It seems like yesterday I started this little blog to document my son's growth and milestones, share ideas and special moments, and lend my voice to the "Mommy Conversation".

A year has passed in the blink of an eye.

Calvin has grown from this:

 

To this:

Look at that cheesy smirk!

I've learned so much about not only blogging, but parenthood, and myself.

I want to thank all of you from the very bottom of my heart for taking the time out of your day to visit my blog and read it.

I LOVE every comment, every email and every word of encouragement and advice you've all sent my way.

I appreciate it more than I could ever hope to express.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Also, Don't forget to enter to win the Prince Lionheart playMAT!
Winner will be announced Saturday.
Enter HERE

Prince Lionheart playMAT GIVEAWAY!!!!

About 2 weeks ago Calvin and I won a photo contest on the Prince Lionheart facebook page.

If you haven't "liked" their page, you should, they do fun giveaways and contests all the time, plus their products are ADORABLE.

We received our playMAT last week and Calvin is obsessed with it!

The playMAT is 5.8ft x 6.5ft...

It's HUGE! 

It takes up almost our entire living room.

It's a nice thick foam with bound edges, but it's super light and comes with a reusable zippered bag with handles for easy storage and travel.

It's also double sided!

Every playMAT has the city/street scene on one side and there are 5 different designs to choose from for the other side:

ABC, Farm, Princess, Ocean, and Dino

We chose the ABC mat because Calvin LOVES being quizzed and finding objects and animals.

Now for the fun part!
Win the playMAT of your choice!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This Post and Giveaway is in partnership with Prince Lionheart. I was not paid for my endorsement and all opinions are my own. Open to US residents only. Must be 18+. Winner will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond before a new winner will be drawn. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Prince Lionheart will be responsible for prize fulfillment.

Teething Update

Calvin has been pushing through A LOT of teeth lately.

At last count we're up to 15.

It's been hard to tell lately if he's still teething or if he's just being a cranky toddler, then we'll get moments of our normal, sweet, happy boy followed by random crying while holding his hands over his mouth and we have our answer.

He's been chewing on his hands and fingers non-stop, and, a couple weeks ago he randomly walked up to Tristan sitting on the couch, and tried to bite his foot. Completely out of the blue!

So weird.

His gums have literally been blue and bruised at times.

I didn't know gums could bruise like that.

I did a post about what we use to help with the teething here, but we've adapted now that he's older and thought I'd update the list.

*I am not being compensated for ANY of my recommendations. I am also not a doctor, these are merely what we use in our home.*

Hyland's teething tablets are the BEST THING ON EARTH!

I don't know how kids got through the teething process without them.

If you register with the Hyland's website they'll send you coupons every now and then.

I've also been using their Arnica Montana to help deal with pain from fracturing my ribs and it's surprisingly effective at getting rid of headaches. It's definitely found a permanent place in my medicine cabinet.

We are also on our 2nd and 3rd Baltic Amber Ankle Bracelet .

I personally like the anklet/bracelets because we can tuck it in his sock now and when he's older he can wear it around his wrist. Calvin is a total wiggle worm and I do not trust him with a necklace right now. We keep 2 around just in case we can't find one.

I can't speak to whether or not they really help with pain, however, I can tell you that they help SIGNIFICANTLY with the drooling.

We accidentally lost the first one and after a day of not wearing it, Calvin started drooling so much he was soaking through several shirts a day.

After few days of going through shirt after shirt, and bib after bib, and as skeptical as he was when I bought it, Tristan looked at me and said "we need to order another bracelet for him".

The only time we take it off Calvin is when we bathe him. Baltic Amber jewelry really shouldn't be worn in the water. It can make the string brittle.

I even ordered a bracelet for myself. Not that I drool or anything, but wearing amber is supposed to have a lot of benefits. 

Can't hurt right?

In my original post I recomended baby tylenol, for when they're really in a lot of pain, which is all well and good if your kid will take it. 

Mine will not.

He spits it out as soon as it hits his tongue. What good is it if the kid wont take it right?

We have had MUCH more success with Children's Advil Infant Drops .

The Advil brand specifically.

I've even tried it, and it really is the best tasting of the baby pain relievers, Calvin sucks it right up.

Plus, I've found that Ibuprofen kicks-in faster.

Lastly, I'd like to mention Calvin's favorite treat.
Trader Joe's has boxes of chocolate covered banana slices in the freezer section.
They are the perfect dessert for a teething toddler.

He gets pretty messy, but he LOVES them. Soothing on the gums, tasty and as far as treats go, pretty healthy.
I know I could probably just make these, but for $2.99 a box, I don't have to.

17 Months

Wow February flew by fast!

The kiddo has been having a blast in the snow this month.

We'll get 2 or 3 inches, then a week later it's all melted, so we have to take advantage of the chilly white fluff while we have it.

I know I say this practically every month, but he's learned SO MUCH the past few weeks!

Remember the puzzle we got him for Valentine's Day?

He was able to put it together completely by himself after 2 days!
And he knows Oval (Oba) and Star (Dar).

We also have these great books by Eric Carle, his favorite is My Very First Book of Words,

The pages are split in half and you match the pictures at the bottom to the words at the top.

There's about a dozen pictures and he knows what every single one is!

We'll ask him "Where's the boy?" and he'll flip through all the pictures until he finds it.

He also likes to identify items in his My First Colors book and knows several objects by sight.

It blows my mind how much he knows.

I keep saying he'll be smarter than me by the time he starts school.

We've also "welcomed" the addition of several teeth.

At last count he's up to 13, but he doesn't let me look very often.

He can also:

Eat with a fork

Say "pretty" which sounds like "Pri-py"

He'll look outside and say "Brrrr" and start shaking his head.
He thinks trains are fascinating and says "toot-toot!" when he sees one.
Tristan taught him to howl like a wolf and it's ridiculously cute.
He still loves Elmo and now calls him "eh-oh"

He says "Love you" as "Lub-u" but only if you're really lucky.

He remembers where he leaves his water cup and usually can find it before I can.
And we now have to keep everything 2 inches from the edge of the counter because he can reach EVERYTHING! I'm quickly running out of hiding spots.

He's also started telling us when he's peeing and pooping so I guess it's time to go get him a potty of his own.

We've had fun with the snow, but we're definitely looking forward to spring, and I for one, am probably WAY to excited for Daylight Savings time. I think we should lobby for it to be a national holiday.

We're not looking forward to getting Calvin allergy tested in a couple weeks.
Unfortunately, severe nut allergies run in Tristan's side of the family, so while neither of us have them, there's a bigger chance Calvin could. So off to the allergist we go. I think it might be a rough one for both of us.
Cross your fingers!