child Archives - Life's Tidbits

29Jul 2015

Favorites for Toddlers {months 13 – 18}

Jellybean is a toddler, but she will always be my baby!! So we have moved on from the baby must have to toddler favorites! I think JB is taking a more active role in selecting her essentials and her little personality is really starting to shine through.

She has an opinion on what she will wear each day. I’ve got it down to a science {on those days where she’s acting ‘typical’} … I pick out 2 outfits and say ‘this one or that one’. She usually points aggressively at one and boom that’s the OOTD. But seriously, that girl has style. If I select an outfit she doesn’t like I get a very stern looks followed by “No, No, No, Mommy!”. And yes, those no’s are capitalized on purpose. :)

Over the past few months here’s what Jellybean has been loving the most …

Contigo Water Bottle // This water bottle was recommended by a friend and is actually the same brand as our coffee mugs so I was excited for Jellybean to give them a try. It took her a little bit of time to get the whole straw thing down, but these quickly became a staple in our house.

Baby Buddy Natural Bath Sponge // Amazing product and I’m bummed we didn’t find it when Jellybean was just an infant. Bath time sponge equals a decrease in the amount of laundry {no more… or at least less wash clothes}.

Lovey // My mother always joked she was going to get Jellybean a whole bunch of tags for her 1st birthday, because JB was always eating the tags of her toys. Apparently this is a typical baby thing (wink, wink) and when my mom found the tag lovey she just had to buy it. Jellybean took a quick liking to the lovey and now sleeps with it every night!

Munchkin Bath Letters & Numbers // These are so much fun! They stick to the tub and walls very easily. While Jellybean isn’t totally ready for learning all the letters we do

10 Little Monkey (Poke-a-Dot!) Book // My mom found this book and oh my goodness does Jellybean like it. So much so, the book is starting to fall apart from all the use it gets. I like that it teaches number and is interactive in a way that helps kids with their motor skills.

Ikea Dinnerware Set // Don’t really think an explanation is needed here. Affordable and practical. Done & done.

Circo Folding Stroller and Jenna Doll // I think this is probably in the top 5 toys played with everyday in our house. Jellybean loves hugging her doll and then placing (read shoving) it into the stroller. They then zip up and down the hallways … there is no walking Jellybean insists on RUNNING everywhere. :)

Mega Blocks // Jellybean has found all sorts of uses for the blocks that go beyond stacking and building castles. She hurls shares them at the dog and tries to balance them on her head. Typically these little gems will keep her busy for a while.

My 1st Anywhere Chair // This is definitely one of my favorite things we have for Jellybean. My in-laws asked what we would like for her 1st birthday and this was my pick. She curls up and ‘reads’ a book, has a snack (much to my wishing she wouldn’t eat on her chair) or just hangs out on it with her toys. She uses it every.single.day. So even though the price point is kind of high, I think it’s totally worth it!

In case you missed it, check out the the baby essential series for newborns, 3-5 months, 6-8 months and 9-12 months.

Does your toddler love any of these items? Any recommendations for a 19-24 month old?

03Oct 2014

Mini Fashionista – Halloween Edition

by Nicole ⋅ 1 Comment

Candy corn season has arrived! Usually, I eat more candy corn after Halloween then before. I love to buy the candy once it’s gone on sale … they have to make room for all the Christmas decorations starting November 1st so it makes sense to capitalize on that, right?! While the husband and I are yet to make a decision on what Jellybean will dress up as for her first Halloween; I’ve been in full blown holiday purchasing mode for the past couple of weeks.

And honestly, this surprises me. As an adult, I have never been a huge lover of Halloween. I always dressed up for parties and what not, but never really put much effort behind it. My favorite costume was by far Rainbow Brite — hello, clearly a child born in the 80’s. :)

For whatever reason having a child of my own has renewed the love I had for Halloween as a little girl … though I think it is manifesting itself in a different way. I want to style both my home and my child for the upcoming ‘kick off’ to the holiday season! {Don’t you think Halloween is the start to Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and New Years???}

For the condo I am currently crushing on this Tick or Treat banner and these Bat Candles, though I will admit I’m thinking of buying them only if they go on sale. Jellybean’s wardrobe has certainly grown over the past few weeks with a couple of my favorite ‘Mini Fashionista’ Halloween finds … AND I was able to buy all but one item on sale … online shopping for the win!

Wickedly Cute Shirt / Pink Skeleton PJ Set / Cat Onsie and Pant Set
Cat Hat / Black Skeleton PJ Set / Halloween Witch Tee / Halloween Stretch Leggings
Halloween Bat Tee / Socks / Mommy’s Little Monster / Fleece Skeleton Hoodie
After I finished the blog I found this adorable candy corn headband on Etsy. I might just have to buy it … it would look so cute on Jellybean! “Hi, my name is Nicole and I am a borderline shopaholic” LOL.

Now that Jellybean is appropriately Halloween theme styled for the daytime, I really do need to get on making a decision about her costume for the big day. The husband wants to dress her up as a vampire due to the two little fangs she is currently sporting — this mom isn’t 100% sold, yet. My sister and brother in-law will be in-town visiting so JB better get her game face on for multiple cameras going off all at the same time!!!! I CAN.NOT.WAIT! :)

Oh and ummmm who else is super excited for Hocus Pocus to be shown on TV?! Seriously, I still really like … okay love that movie!

What are your favorite fashion finds for Halloween? What did you dress your kiddo up as for their first Halloween?

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09Jun 2014

5 Months Old {Jellybean}

by Nicole ⋅ 13 Comments

Month 5 was one of HUGE changes. Jellybean’s personality is really quite adorable. She is a happy little soul who spends the majority of her day smiling and babbling. I would give just about anything to know what my little one is ‘saying’. She seems to giggle more each day, which means I spend a lot of time doing the most ridiculous things in hopes of hearing that adorable belly laugh she has.

JB loves to go outside. As we stroll down the street her eyes are wide as she takes in her surrounding. She listens intently to people as they speak. She makes this little furrow brow at people when she first meets them. Within a few minutes of them talking to her she turns on the charm and starts smiling. Although she likes the attention of new people she completely flips out if someone she isn’t use to tries to hold her. We really need to work on that, because it hurts people’s feelings when she bursts into tears!

Jellybean has become quite the busy body wanting to listen and observe new people around her. We took her to lunch a couple weeks ago and she couldn’t focus on eating because her head was caulked to the left trying to see and listen to some folks a couple tables down from us.

Everything and I really mean EVERYTHING she can get her hands on goes directly into her mouth. I wonder how long it will be until we see a tooth! This kid even tries to put my cheeks and nose into her mouth. I am just going to believe that she’s giving me kisses. =)

We have quite the mover and shaker on our hands. Baby girl tummy surfs, rolls back to front and front to back as well as caterpillars all over and OFF her play mat. We have to watch her much closer now and true baby proofing is in our immediate future. When she isn’t trying to make it from one place to another her little arms and legs are constantly moving. It’s no wonder she’s hungry all the time … I mean she is just constantly moving and burning up those calories!!

Sleeping

Jellybean is napping about 3 times per day. The two morning naps are about 30-45 minutes and occur around 9 and 11:30am. I would love to get this down to one consolidated nap lasting about an hour or so, however I’ve had no luck. All the books I’ve read explain how to get a baby down for a nap, not how to lengthen it (suggestions?!). The afternoon nap is anywhere from 1 to 2 hours. In order to keep to the bedtime routine the nanny and I implemented a ~2pm start time for afternoon nap. It has been working out really well and Jellybean seems to adapt well to the scheduled nap.

Nighttime sleeping is improving now that the dreaded 4 month sleep regression is over! Bedtime is anywhere from 6:30 to 7pm. We’ve stuck to the same bedtime routine since Jellybean was 12 weeks … if it aint broke don’t fit it. Jellybean still wakes once a night to eat. We’ve toyed with the idea of a scheduled waking to eat, however I prefer for her to tell us when she’s hungry. There are nights we are up at 1am, but others where she won’t wake until 5am to eat. This leads me to believe she is almost ready to drop the night feeding. I have a feeling at the 6 month doctor’s appointment the doctor will to tell us to stop the nighttime feedings, but we shall see.

Eating

Jellybean is a good little eater. She rarely, if ever, turns down a bottle. As soon as the doctor gave the OK to start the introduction of solids I was all over it! We began with oatmeal and slowly graduated to apples, pears and sweet potatoes. I have been hesitant to introduce too many new foods too fast. I’m more nervous than I thought I would be about food allergies. Next up I want JB to try cauliflower, prunes, peas and avocado. It’s so much fun to watch her expression as she tries new foods. Seems like she is surprised by the taste of food at the beginning of each feeding even when she’s had the food before.

Wearing

JB wears size 2 Pampers Swaddles diapers. For clothing she’s wearing a wide range of sizes. The wardrobe consists of 3 month, 3-6 months and 6 month clothing. It’s kind of crazy how many different sizes she fits into. I guess similar to adult brands each one runs a little bit differently therefore size varies by brand.

Milestones

Smiles ALL the time
Shrieks/Talks – testing out the vocal box
Found her feet {and attempts to get them into her mouth!}
Giggles
Rolls front to back and back to front
Tummy surfs (not sure if that’s a real thing)
Caterpillars

Any favorite moments from your little one’s 5th month?

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11Mar 2014

2 Months Old {Jellybean}

by Nicole ⋅ 3 Comments

I had so much fun during Jellybean’s 2 month photo shoot! She made some adorable faces so it was hard for me to only include two photos in this post, but I restrained myself from inundating you with pictures. Over the past month I have made no progress on the schedule front and though I have “nothing” to show for my days, they fly by. I love being at home with my daughter {why does it still feel weird to say/write daughter?!} and DREAD the thought of going back to work full time!!! As the weather is slowly starting to warm up I’m ever so hopeful JB and I will be able to go on more walks in my last few weeks at home with her. Jellybean’s little smiles make everything right in my world. I spend the majority of the time she is awake trying to make her smile – thank goodness no one is recording me, I’m sure I look pretty silly most of the time. :)

A few tidbits about the second month …

Headband is from Etsy

Sleeping

Jellybean is sleeping anywhere from 3 to 7 hours during the night (which I define as 9pm to 8am). We are ever so thankful for the long periods of sleep. I find when she sleeps over 4 hours I wake up abruptly and immediately lean over the bed to ensure Jellybean is OK. It’s a weird feeling to be thankful for the sleep and freaked out all at the same time!

Eating

This month we officially introduced bottles and we are very lucky it went smoothly. My little one doesn’t care if the bottle is hot or cold (winning!) nor does she have a preference of who feeds her the bottle. Jellybean just wants to eat! I haven’t had any issues with nipple confusion either (maybe I shouldn’t say this out-loud or it will become an issue). Breastfeeding coupled with bottles has truly made life easier. The husband can feed baby while I cook dinner, blog or heck take a shower.

While the transition from nursing to both bottles and nursing went well finding the right bottle was another story. We started off with Advent bottles and their natural nipples. JB was “shot gunning the bottles” as my husband so eloquently {LOL} told the doctor. She was eating way too fast, which resulted in her crying because she didn’t realize she was full after finishing the bottle as well as spitting up a lot. The doctor recommended we switch to Dr. Brown bottle and use a preemie nipple. The preemie nipple has the slowest nipple flow available. We saw an immediate and positive difference in Jellybean’s bottle feedings once we made the switch. My biggest complaint with bottle feeding is cleaning/storing/organizing the bottles. It looks like bottle pieces exploded on our counter top! :) Any suggestions on how to manage all these bottles would be much appreciated!!

Wearing

Quickly after posting Jellybean’s first month round up she moved into size 1 diapers. She is also no longer fitting into her newborn clothes and is wearing all 0-3 month sizes. Some 0-3 month clothes are still too big on her … seems to be different brands run differently … not really a shocker hahaha. I’m really enjoying having a new set of clothes to dress the little one up in. Her wardrobe is quite large – she’s a little fashionista!

Milestones

Smiles and “giggles”/coos.

Rocking tummy time and gaining more control over her head each day.

Sucks on her hand, which according to the doctor is the first step towards self soothing.

Rolls onto her side consistently.

Random Tidbits

I started singing the Head, Shoulder, Knees and Toes song to the munchkin during week 7 and she just loves it (at least someone enjoys my singing…I must admit I have a horrible voice). Sometimes I make the movements with my hands and other times I use hers, but either way she smiles and coos while I sing.

She has also started to enjoy the play mat. She will play by herself for about 5 to 15 minutes without crying or needing me to sit by her. I try to use this “free” time wisely by going through the mail, switching the laundry or snapping a few photos of her playing. It’s really fun to watch her eyes wide open as she {somewhat accidentally} knocks the toys around and the lights change color.

What is your favorite tidbit from your baby’s second month?

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21Oct 2013

Rocking n’ Gliding

by Nicole ⋅ 8 Comments

Today, let’s chat rocking chairs slash gliders for the nursery. For someone who get motion sick ALL the time (cars, planes, boats), it’s a little weird, but I love chairs that rock/move. The husband and I discussed purchasing a chair for the nursery pretty early on. I spent a lot of time looking at chairs online and trying to determine which would be best. While online shopping is great and I’m a huge fan of not having to leave the house to make a purchase, there are somethings – like chairs – where it is just SO much easier to shop for in person.

My in-laws were in town visiting a couple weekends ago and offered to go crib shopping with us. For someone who prides themselves on being a planner and getting things done ahead of time I’ve been a complete slacker/procrastinator on the nursery purchasing front! I hang my head in shame as I admit … there is a VERY good chance the crib won’t be here by Jellybean’s due date. At least I know she will be in the bassinet for a few weeks, which makes me feel a little less guilty. Anyways, while we were out looking at cribs the husband and I took the opportunity to check out chairs for the nursery as well.

It was great to sit in the chairs and figure out what we were really looking for. There are just SO many options: glider, recliner/glider, rocker, etc. it was honestly a bit overwhelming. The husband and I knew we wanted a chair for the nursery that would look good if moved to another room, like the living room or tv room, in a few years.

Here is my nursery chair inspiration board:

Glider Story Time / Rocker & Glider Story Time / Swivle Glider Land of Nod

Recliner Story Time / Rocking Chair Amazon.com / Wingback Glider Pottery Barn Kids

Regardless of which chair we purchased an ottoman was a must have. I love elevating my feet, plus I’ve heard when you are feeding late at night being able to put your feet up is ideal. I was kind of partial to the glider/recliner/ottoman combo options, however in the end the hubby and I decided upon a simple glider with matching ottoman. While at the store I went through the fabric book a couple of times making note of potential options. My MIL and husband gave their input and we slowly started narrowing it down. The store owner was hilarious when it came to choosing a fabric. He told me “Don’t be shy. Order as many swatches as you want … I do a lot of business with this company.” With that we ordered a couple gray, white and cream sample fabrics. Last week the fabrics arrived and we finally made a decision to go with one of the medium-dark gray fabrics!!

The chair is our second big purchase for the nursery! It feels like we are finally making progress on the baby’s room and we are just 9 weeks away from her bid debut (hopefully). Just like with the dresser, I think I will wait until the “big” Jellybean nursery reveal post to show you exactly which chair/color we chose. =)

Did you purchase a chair for your nursery? If so was it nice to have and what type of chair did you get?

If you enjoyed this post, please add your tidbit by commenting below. Don’t forget you can follow us on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

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Tag Archives: Child

Favorites for Toddlers {months 13 – 18}

Mini Fashionista – Halloween Edition

5 Months Old {Jellybean}

2 Months Old {Jellybean}

Rocking n’ Gliding

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