toddler life

Hello 2020!

Holy moly it has been a long time since I wrote a post on this site. Once Jadyn started preschool my work got busy and I was just trying to hustle so I could enjoy some family time up in Oregon for the holidays.

I last updated you on Jadyn’s first few weeks of preschool and it’s now safe to say that she absolutely LOVES it. So much so I added an additional day this second semester. She has made friends and says “I had fun at school!” when I pick her up. It just warms my heart. Oh ya…now she’s two! I can’t believe I have a two-year-old. It feels like just yesterday I was updating this site saying that she had finally arrived. Now, I’m just maneuvering this thing called toddlerhood.

We kicked off 2020 by celebrating her birthday on the 2nd and just this past weekend we threw her official birthday party with all her classmates. She had a blast, and the parents did, too. We had her party at this fabulous place called Fox & Kit near our home and they were super accommodating. I usually take Jadyn there on rainy days because it’s just perfect.

One of my goals for 2020 is to be more diligent about updating this site! I want to do a better job of documenting how I’m handling everything in this crazy time in parenthood (can you say “terrible 2’s?!”) and also share any cool recipes, tips and tricks and lifestyle hacks.

Now I feel like we’re past the milestone phase and into keeping things fun with littles. I hope to see you in the comments this year!

Mom Truth Monday: Preschool is Hard

I wanted to start a new series called Mom Truth Monday and talk about things that we deal with as moms (or dads!) that can be tricky, hard, humbling and more.

Remember when I was excited that Jadyn was starting preschool a few weeks ago? Well, three weeks into the school year and I have come to the realization that preschool is hard. Like really hard. More for me than for her, I think.

I’ll be the first to admit that right after her first official day, I walked down the steps to the café by her school, opened up my laptop to start my work day, all while silently crying to myself like that mom. I had to be strong in front of my kid. I didn’t want to cry in front of Jadyn because that would make her really upset and have her transition into preschool life be that much harder. She’d also likely cry with me.

Let me back up here for a brief moment.

Thinking about my daughter as a little person instead of the baby she was not too long ago, my husband and I came to the conclusion that we’d be doing her a huge disservice by not enrolling her in some sort of program before the age of two. She’s such a social butterfly outside of the house; she loves playing with kids, going on adventures, being outside and just loves living life. We decided to enroll her in the local JCC Preschool program, which caters to development versus a curriculum (although, they have a curriculum they do follow pretty loosely).

Jadyn is one of the youngest in her class–she’s only 20 months. This whole transition thing is really hard on her, especially since she’s in a “mommy, mommy, mommy!” stage and separation anxiety is real. Since I have been with her every second of every day (perks of working from home for Red Tricycle), I knew this would be hard, but I didn’t know how often my heartstrings would be pulled every drop off.

While I don’t really believe in astrology, I do think it provides a good sense of personality traits–at least from what I can observe about myself, my daughter and my husband. My daughter is pretty spot on with her Capricorn traits:

She’s persistent
Not comfortable with drastic change (read: sensitive)
Practical (I mean, she’s a toddler so how true is this right now, amiright?)
Disciplined

Preschool is a drastic change for her and others her age. Think about it: these little humans don’t have the robust vocabulary or the ability to form thoughtful sentences to articulate what they want. The “bye-bye mama” or “no, no” sentences we get is all 20-month-old toddlers can really form. Unless your little has been in daycare since early babyhood (more power to ya, if so!), then this is total chaos for their brains.

One thing that’s really helped us has been sticking to a morning routine during preschool drop offs. Here’s how our morning goes:

Wake up, have breakfast, get ready and we’re in the car by 8:50 a.m. since preschool starts at 9 a.m. Luckily, the preschool is a 5 minute drive from our home.
On the way to school, I always ask who Jadyn is going to see that day and mention some of her classmates. I always make sure to mention her teachers, as well.
Once we arrive, we walk into the lobby area and say good morning to the fish in the fish tank for about two minutes, then head to her classroom.
Upon entering Jadyn’s classroom we say good morning to her teachers and the kids who are already there, put her lunchbox in her cubby and I always ask her where she washes her hands. After we wash our hands, I let Jadyn either pick out two books for me to read to her or we do a puzzle. Once those books are read or puzzle is completed, I always say “okay, mommy has to go to work now, but she’ll be back right after lunch! I love you.”
This is when the separation anxiety kicks right back in for my little and where I struggle to actually leave. A few times over the last three weeks I’ve had to hand my crying child to her teacher and head out the door. Not my favorite thing.

While I know the tears are only short-term (at least I hope they are), I know this is a drastic change for Jadyn. I have no doubt that within a couple more weeks, she’ll be fine and really excited to go to school and see her friends. Still though, this whole process doesn’t make it easier.

How’d you cope with sending your mini off to preschool? Leave a comment below.

Go-To Picky Eater Muffin Recipe

I should preface this post by saying that this been my go-to healthy muffin recipe since before I even got married and started thinking about kids. What makes this a “toddler” recipe is the fact that I can make around 24 toddler-sized muffins from one batch using a mini-muffin tin. I love this silicone one from Target.

This recipe makes the perfect breakfast or snack muffins and is relatively healthy. I first discovered this recipe on Pinterest, which led me to it’s originator: Fit and Healthy with Debbie. She originally posted this in 2012, and seven years later, it’s still a staple in my household.

Not only is this adult approved, but it’s picky toddler approved! Aside from the base ingredients, you can add things like walnuts, almonds, dark chocolate chips (my favorite) and fresh strawberries. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

2.5 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup plain low fat greek yogurt
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 TBSP ground flax seed
1 tsp vanilla
2 ripe bananas (when there are dark brown spots on your banana, it’s the perfect time to make these muffins)
Optional add-ins: dark chocolate chips, walnuts, almonds, fresh fruit

Steps:

Note: You can either use a food processor or a mixer to make this recipe.

In a food processor or blender pulse the 2.5 cups old fashioned oats until they are almost a meal consistency.
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Combine remaining ingredients into your food processor or mixer (I use the KitchenAid Classic Mixer). Optional: add in your favorite nut, fruit or sweet to part of the batter to give it a little something extra!
Depending on what size muffins you’re making, either spray some baking spray in your muffin tray, or line them, or bust out your handy-dandy silicone mini-muffin tray. Add your mixture!
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until nothing comes out on a toothpick.
Refrigerate as they’re perishable. Lifespan of these are about a week.
Enjoy! I love them with a cup of coffee. 🙂

Keep It Cool: Summer Fun for Toddlers

It’s hot. Real hot here in Northern California. Now’s about the time where the temperatures rise and pretty much stay that way through end of September, beginning of October (we call it Indian Summer out here). While working full-time and Jadyn not in preschool yet (she starts in August [I’m not crying, you’re crying]) and being watched by my mom all week, we’ve had to come up with some fun ideas to keep her occupied during the day. Here are my picks for indoor/outdoor summer fun, because let’s face it, that A/C will be on starting at 10:30 a.m:

Little Tikes Garden Chairs

photo: Amazon.com

This light and easily movable chair can go anywhere you go, whether inside the house or out in the yard. Perfect spot to have a popsicle on a hot day or place next to the couch for movie night.

Little Tikes First Slide

I absolutely love this slide. When it first got delivered to the house it was so hot outside that we set it up in our living room and Jadyn was able to enjoy it indoors. Mom hack: it’s super light and easy to move around.

Step2 Cascading Cove Sand and Water Table (Deluxe with accessories and umbrella)

This is technically a sand and water table but Jadyn is a little too young to have a bunch of sand at her fingertips (except for when we go to the playground), so we fill both sides up with water. Head to Target’s Dollar Spot to find some great water toys and you’re in business for hours of endless fun!

Step2 Fun with Friends Kitchen

The beauty of Step2 products is that they’re light and easily transportable. We currently have this kitchen in our living room but can easily pick it up and bring it outside if we’re having a barbecue. With an inexpensive food add-on from Amazon, this kitchen, too, provides endless hours of fun for Jadyn.

SplashEZ 3-in-1 Sprinkler for Kids, Splash Pad, and Wading Pool for Learning

Mom tip: set this up before it gets too hot outside so the sun can warm up the water. While Jadyn is a little skeptical of sitting in the actual pool part of this splash pad, she loves having the rotating sprinklers spray water on her. Too cute and so much fun.

Bubbles

photo: Sebastian Pichler on Unsplash

Need I say more?

Traveling Abroad With A Toddler

It has taken me a bit to write this post because I wanted to make sure I had all my mom hacks ready to share with you when it comes to traveling with a toddler. First off, it’s definitely not an easy task, even when traveling with another family member. My mom, Jadyn and I went on this trip. While Jadyn is such an easy going little human, traveling for 14+ hours was hard on her little body.

Let me take a step back. The last time I took this trip to visit my family overseas, I was pregnant with her and that was a feat in and of itself. Battling the tail end of my first trimester nausea when ascending and descending was not fun. Can’t forget to mention the whole ears popping things – ouch! And jet lag. So watching my mini me go through this new experience and not understanding what’s happening broke my heart. In hindsight, she did really well.

On the non-stop flight to our destination, Jadyn did not want to stay on the plane once we got on. The loud noises and hundreds of people freaked her out (rightfully so) and she just lost it. I made the mistake of not giving her Tylenol before we took off for her little ears. Getting a toddler to suck on a pacifier when you want them to is really hard. No matter how much I lightly squeezed her cheeks, she was not having it. After about 45 minutes of excessive crying and hysterics, she finally fell asleep. I almost lost it because people all over the plane were looking at me like “is this going to be the child that cries the entire 14 hours?”

She slept for 10 hours on the flight there.

Once we got to our destination it was nighttime (about 11 p.m.), but really felt like morning for us since our flight was a red-eye. I bet you can imagine Jadyn wide awake. We were all tired from the flight, but our eyes were so open. After we got to my uncle’s house, showers were had and then we all tried to sleep. It took Jadyn till 3 or 4 a.m. to finally fall asleep and we then had to be up at 8 a.m. to go visit with my grandparents. It took Jadyn about a week to really get over her jet lag (our trip was 2.5 weeks long).

I’m so grateful that Jadyn got to meet her great-grandparents and spend time with her cousins. I’m also grateful that I got to spend time with my family because I don’t think I’ll be making this trip again until Jadyn’s a little bit older.

The flight back was a whole lot easier. I think this is because Jadyn already knew what to expect (she’s a really smart toddler) and I gave her some Tylenol before we boarded. So when we were flying home, she was already asleep once we started taking off. Also, the flight home wasn’t full, so we essentially had an entire row to ourselves, meaning Jadyn could stretch out between my mom and I. That was just pure luck.

Jadyn slept for 7 hours then woke up for a bit and fell back asleep for another 3, so during this 13 hour flight, she slept for 10.

Here are some of my mom hacks and tips on how to survive and international flight with a toddler:

Don’t over pack the diaper bag. I made this mistake on our flight there. I packed 1 diaper for every hour of the flight (which took up a lot of room in the diaper backpack!) along with three onesies, pajamas and a change of clothes. Too much stuff!

Bring new toys. This hack I found while watching Emily Norris on YouTube. This was a definite game changer because when Jadyn was awake, she was interested in the new toy for an hour or so which gave me (and others around me) a sigh of relief.

Pack snacks. I cannot stand airplane food and kids usually can’t either. Before this long haul red-eye flight, we usually catch a bite at an airport restaurant (I know, queue the uproar because it’s soooo expensive) which tends to hold us over for a majority of the flight. Packing easy-to-access snacks is a must on a 14+ hour flight. We packed pouches (albeit not enough for the return flight home), puffs and some crackers. We always made sure to eat before the flight.

Technology is your friend. Each parenting style is different and mine includes a little bit of monitored video watching. I can’t raise my daughter in such a tech-y world and not give her the option to watch movies on a device–sometimes and in moderation. I purchased the Amazon Fire Kids Edition tablet and downloaded the Movies Anywhere app. We had access to Moana, Coco and some other Disney classics. This was a lifesaver not only on flights, but during the week-long jet lag recovery.

Bring remedies. Thanks to altitude climbing, our ears pop when we’re on a plane. Us adults can result to chewing gum to ease the popping, but it’s very hard to force a baby or toddler to suck on their pacifier or take a bottle to help with that. I always was sure to have Tylenol and/or Benadryl packed in my diaper bag just in case I needed it. I should have given Jadyn a half dose of Tylenol on the flight there to help ease the ear popping (and probably would have helped with the 45 minutes of screaming, too), but I was so anxious and panicky about her first flight that I forgot. I was able to give her a partial dose on the way back which really helped.

Buy an extra seat. If you can afford it, do it. Holding 30+ pounds for 14 hours is killer on your arms. Luckily on the flight back we had almost a whole row to ourselves.

Stay calm. As hard as it is to not freak out and feel judged by all those stares coming your way from others on the plane, stay calm. I almost had a panic attack those first 45 minutes because I was feeling so judged by those around me. Even the woman sitting next to me asked if there was something wrong because Jadyn was screaming so loudly and so much that she was afraid it’d be for the whole flight.

I’d love to know how you handle long flights and some of your hacks! Leave a comment below.