Today is my wedding anniversary. I can hardly believe it, but Andrew and I have been married for 4 years now. In that time we have bought a house, a dog, and had a baby. It is amazing how times flies.
We got married on June 30, 2012 at the Minnesota Zoo. It was honestly the coolest place ever to get married. And I know everyone considers their wedding the best, but mine was super cool. One of the coolest things is that every year we go back and visit the zoo around the time of our anniversary. This year, we were able to bring Mac and she had a great time!
That canopy behind Mac’s head is where we actually held our ceremony.
(Prepare yourself, this is a picture heavy post, but I promise they are worth it! Robin One Photography took awesome pictures.)
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So, if you have been reading for a little while, you know that we embarked on an exciting adventure in straw bale gardening. (If you want to catch up, read part one and part two.) Going into this, we figured that if we grew anything, it would be exciting. Neither of us has ever gardened and honestly, I can’t even keep flowers alive. So imagine my surprise when we visited the bales last weekend and things were actually growing!
I was at the park the other day and while Mac was exploring, she fell a couple of times. No major spills, but enough to make the other moms gasp. They were amazed that she got up, brushed herself off, and continued on her way. She came to me a few times to show me she fell and ask for a kiss or a hug, but mostly she was fine. The other moms remarked out loud how resilient she was compared to other children. How did I get such a resilient child? Well, there are three things I do when my toddler falls down.
On Monday, I posted about our trip to the zoo without a stroller. We had a blast, even when we had to carry Mac for a little while. In the car on the way home, Andrew and I were discussing what made our trip so much fun. We came up with 3 tips to have happier toddler outings for everyone, toddler and adults.
I know people already think we are weird because we went out and about with no infant bucket seat. What would you say when I tell you we go out with no stroller either? And Mac is only 16 months old. So how in the world did we survive a morning at the zoo with no stroller? And why? It actually wasn’t too hard and we had a blast.
You know what is one of the worst things in the world? Trying to put a diaper on a squirming toddler who absolutely does not want to be on their back. They kick you and it hurts and at the end of all of it, no one is speaking to each other and everyone needs alone time to breath. It is all around an awful experience.
So imagine my surprise when I started in a Montessori toddler room and was told they did their diapering standing up. Umm, what? That seems like an absolute disaster, but I can tell you now that it is so easy. That is because I know the #1 trick to stand up diapering that no one seems to know. And yes, it does work with cloth diapers also.I If you are interested in cloth diapers, check out cloth diapering 101. (And PS make sure you read about what cloth diapering accessories I think are critical to success!)
If there is one thing all moms hate, it is that darn baby weight. I had come to accept that those 5 extra pounds were here to stay until suddenly I had a toddler and those 5 pounds (plus a few more!) were gone. I didn’t consciously change anything I was doing, but I realize I adopted different habits once Mac was older. Here are the three things that helped.
There is a lot of debate about whether babies and toddlers should have a schedule. Some think a strict toddler schedule with no wiggle room will help. Others think going with the flow is better because it gives the child what they need at any particular time. So what do I think? Well, I practice both of these: a schedule and no schedule. How in the world does that work? Let me give you the run-down.
I will be the first one to admit that I am an introvert and a homebody. Maternity leave sounded like an absolute dream to me, especially because I got to be off for seven months! (Yay for summers off as a teacher.) But I think anyone would go stir-crazy being stuck at home alone with a newborn for 8 hours a day. So I made a simple rule for myself that I followed through most of my maternity leave and it helped me stay sane.
From the time Mac was born, I tried really hard to not keep her strapped into one kind of chair or another. She occasionally sat in her swing. And obviously she would be in her (not bucket) car seat in the car. But otherwise she was either sitting with me or down on the floor, free to explore her own space. I believe whole heartedly in giving a toddler and even a baby freedom of movement. But it can be a little scary. Here’s how I gave Mac freedom of movement without also giving myself a heart attack.
