I put my daughter to sleep in her own bed BY HERSELF, as in I was not laying next to her and she was fine with it, for the first time in 2 years and 3 months. For the first months of her life I struggled beyond words to try and get her to sleep. I suspected this was completely normal since everyone was telling me so. But I also know I had no idea what I was doing.
Then I discovered co-sleeping from someone who wasn’t going to report me …

I wish I would have been wiser when my daughter was a newborn – but when you are looking back isn’t that the case with anything? We bought everything brand new and we got a lot of stuff we didn’t need – the swing, the bouncer, the play yard, the jumper…the list goes on. Baby companies have marketing to new parents down pact, don’t they? Making us think we need it all.
If you are a new parent reading this, do not fall into this trap. You will spend a lot …

Lily and I have a birthday party to go to this afternoon.  Elmo will be there. It is pretty exciting for me…err… I mean for her.  I love birthday parties for kids – or should I say, I love taking Lily to birthday parties. It is like a play date that is hyped up on skittles. I know that this evening she will be so dead tired that she will go to bed early and I will have some extra me time or hubby time even!!
Bring it on Elmo, you …

I haven’t blogged in a while. Lily, my sweet tiny newborn baby, is almost two years old. It seems like yesterday she was sleeping in her bouncer while I uploaded all the beautiful pictures of her to this blog for family and friends to coo over. It is so funny how time flies and everything that can happen in two years. We are living near Los Angeles now – moved here from San Diego. Stan has two semesters left at law school and I am working from home and taking …

My dad died a long time ago,  long before I had children. Yet, among other things, we are still bound by a book. It’s a hardcover edition of Mark Twain’s short stories. My dad bought it when I was a toddler and gave it to me the night before I got married, telling me that Twain’s humor and wisdom would come in handy in the years ahead. It did, and it still does.
When you share a book with someone it’s as if you’re saying “I value what’s in …

If you start baby travel slowly and plan wisely, both you and baby will enjoy first-class comfort. Begin with baby steps and you’ll find that soon you and your little one will be able to walk, ride, or fly in the fast lane.
Day Trips
Introduce baby to travel starting with a few day-trips to a local relative or friend. Basic equipment will be a packed diaper bag, a stroller or pram (if you’ll spend some time outdoors), and a car seat. Most modern car seats easily detach and convert into a …

The first week of your baby’s life brings big adjustments for both of you. You are adjusting to being a mother and caring for your baby and your baby is adjusting to life outside the womb. It is a time of great joy – and possibly immense fear! Although you’ve been preparing for the birth of your baby for months, now he is here and depending on you for everything which can seem overwhelming. Don’t expect too much of yourself during these first days! If anyone offers you help – …

Growth charts are tools your pediatrician can use to keep track of your child’s physical growth. During each checkup, the doctor will measure your baby’s length, weight, and head circumference. The doctor can then compare the measurements for your baby to a chart of national averages for infants of the same age and sex.
The result is that the doctor will be able to tell you what percentile your baby is in when compared to average baby growth around the nation. For example, if your doctor tells you your 4-month-old is …

The Baby Einstein Takealong Tunes toy is a great purchase and for only $10 you can’t beat it! The weight and size is just right for a baby or infant. The sound quality is good and it doesn’t have that electronic sound that some music toys have. It has two volume settings, neither of which are too loud. It has multiple songs and doesn’t get annoying. It also lights up to the beat of the music. The battery life is great. The thick handle makes it easy for small hands.
We …

A few months ago, Stan’s Mom got the Fisher-Price Healthy Care Deluxe Booster Seat for Lily. This was a genius idea because it straps right onto a chair and is a fraction of the cost of a real high chair.
Pros

This booster seat uses a 3 piece try system. The first piece is the actual tray that snaps onto the seat. The second piece is a plate that snaps onto the tray and the final piece is a cover that snaps onto the plate. This is a benefit because it makes …

I got this baby tooth chart (PDF) from a friend today. It is a super easy way to track the date each baby tooth comes in. Enjoy!
Click this link to download the printable baby tooth chart as a PDF.
When is baby suppose to get teeth and what is each tooth called? Check out the image below.

Lily is 18 pounds. I remember growing up we had one wall in our house reserved for measuring our height as we grew. My sisters and I would stand in front of it and mark the wall above our head. I remember making my body as straight and as tall as possible, just so I could get that line a little higher and a little closer to sister’s. I want to do that with Lily. I have a poster which serves the same purpose, that way we can take it …

Here is a short article from Playing with Your Baby Magazine (from Fisher Price). It has a few tips on how to play with your newborn baby, ages 0-3 months.
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Let’s Play!

Here are some of the best ways to entertain your baby in the first 3 months, according to Deborah Weber, Ph.D., manager of the Fisher-Price Child Research Department.

Keep it Simple. Offer baby toys with high contrast primary colors and patterns; you can later introduce play things in bright colors. Toys should be easy for baby to graps …

Fever, chills, headache, sore throat – I’ve got it all. Mix that in with a midterm paper, working full time, a dash of a 4 month old and a sprinkle of a husband in law school and you have a recipe for disaster. Stan asked the other day, “Are we the only species that intentionally deprive ourselves of sleep?” It’s true actually. I Googled it. Google knows everything and everything on the internet is true, so I believe it. I mean, think about it – compare the average human life …

At three months old, baby Lily is getting very good at things. When I hold her she uses her arms to hold on. She has started reaching for things in front of her that she wants to touch. She is practicing sitting up and she LOVES to smile. I think most of all she loves to smile. She even smiles at the dog – Shammy Sharoo. My favorite of all things she does – at night she scootches closer to me as the night goes on until she is snuggled …