ikea hack plan

Joe and I have been talking about transitioning Emmy's nursery into a toddler room. As in, removing the side bars on her crib, taking out the changing table and making more play space. I've even had miniature fantasies of Christmas morning- imagining her room glowing with the little fairy lights hanging in her play house,  she'd hop down out of her bed and run in to our room to wake us up for Santa, too excited to sleep and begging us to take her downstairs so she can open her presents. 

Okay, I realize this isn't going to happen this year but I'm still so excited about Christmas. This is likely the last year we get to pick all of her gifts so I'm focusing on what she needs but will also love.

She doesn't really need "toys" anyway. She plays with toys all day at school and when she's home she really only has a few favorite stuffies and toys that she chooses to play with. One thing she definitely loves is coloring and toddler-sized furniture. Have I mentioned how much I love her Pottery Barn anywhere chair? It's still one of my favorite purchases of all time and will probably last much longer than I originally thought. 

 Emmy spends almost an hour every night playing in her room. Most of the time she plays by herself. I felt a little guilty about it at first but then I realized that it's great that she can entertain herself and I don't have to watch her every minute, she'll be okay (plus I keep the monitor on).

So, here's the plan...

The Ikea "latt" table and chairs are only $19.99 as a set (available online too!). I plan to paint the top of the table with black chalkboard paint. Then I will paint the table and chairs a combination of white and gray. I picked out these fabrics from www.hawthornefabrics.com - confetti dots in shell and charcoal at $20 for 2 yards. I'm hoping to cover the seats with the pink shell and then make a bag or satchel of some kind with the charcoal print to hold all the chalk. 

I'm just so excited to see her reaction when she comes downstairs on Christmas morning and sees her own art table with new little stuffies sitting in the chairs with books and lots of art supplies for her to try out.

I'll post the pictures of the complete project on Christmas Eve!

  

toddler travel

Except for a few beach trips, Joe and I haven't been on a vacation since our honeymoon. We decided to make our next vacation a trip to see his sister who moved to Los Angeles a few years ago. There aren't any direct flights from Birmingham so we had a short layover in Las Vegas with a plane change both ways. Total air travel time ranged from 6-7 hours.  Meaning, we had to pack light, plan for 2 takeoffs/landings each way, pack meals and figure out how to entertain a 19-month old toddler in the square footage of a shoebox. 

We packed two backpacks and two suitcases- one with clothes and one with all the other essentials. We ditched the stroller and the pack n' play and opted for co-sleeping and walking/carrying. The suitcases were checked and the backpacks had all the diapering/snack/entertainment necessities. I had been tempted to buy a better diaper bag but I'm glad I didn't. We pretty much accepted the tourist look throughout the trip. Backpacks are so much more comfortable than shoulder bags and I was thankful for it on the plane and in Disneyland. 

I bought an adorable little backpack from Pottery Barn and loaded it with toys, snacks and food packs for Emmy. It got a little heavy so we had to stuff the whole thing into Joe's backpack. In the end, we only needed two toys: a magnadoodle and a plane that lights up with a fan. Those entertained her the whole entire plane ride there and back (12 hours of entertainment)! Oh, and she shredded some magazines but we got permission first. 

We laughed every time we picked a seat because we didn't buy Emmy her own seat so both of our long flights were packed and some unfortunate soul would get stuck next to us. That's part of why we decided to board as soon as possible: so other people would know what they were signing up for. We flew Southwest and got "A" for all except one flight. Turns out, if you have young kids, you can go at the end of the "A" section even if you have a "C". So, I could have saved $25 on the early bird fees. 

We also took the window/middle seat despite advice to take the aisle. I didn't want to trap someone in if Emmy fell asleep and I knew the window could be entertaining. That really worked well for us, if our seat mate went to the bathroom, so did we. We would make small talk and introduce Emmy then do our best to keep her content. The take off was exciting to her, she would give us her "surprise face" and giggle. The landing didn't face her much at all. I packed her sippy cup with water to help her swallow to keep her ears from popping but her habit of sucking her fingers took care of that. 

The loud "wind" sound in an airplane is similar to her sound machine so I shouldn't have been surprised that it would sooth her. She slept on most of the flights, about an hour at a time. She even slept through a landing!

When we did land, everyone would perk up around us and brag about how good and sweet she was. We gave her plenty of attention and entertained her with everything we could find but we didn't allow her to scream and kick or do anything to make someone else's trip uncomfortable. 

I was so thankful that she is a good kid (most of the time) and I was glad not to lug around anything. Checking bags always makes me nervous but when we were running from one flight to another, I was happy to only need my backpack and kid to go. Oh, but if you can afford to buy your toddler a seat- DO IT. When she had her own seat, Joe and I could breathe so much easier and she was happy to have her own space too. And yeah... so this guy was actually really nice but totally photobombed my picture!

The only issue we had after all 4 flights happened when we got home. Somebody took our big suitcase home with them and we had to wait 2 days for them to return it. I was so thankful that it wasn't our bag full of "essentials" and the one they took only had dirty clothes. Southwest had nothing to do with that mistake but they gave us $50 off our next flight. So, where to go next!?

malibu beach

Part 1:
 The travel should be part 1. Chronologically, that would make sense. But I didn't use my fancy camera while traveling. And that post is going to be useful and well thought out. This post is just about Malibu Beach. It's also mostly just pictures. 

Malibu was my favorite part of our trip (yes, even better than Disneyland!). Ashlyn told us the temperature drops when you get over the mountain and close to the beach. I believed her but it wasn't until I felt it that I truly understood the difference. It's like going from summer to fall instantly. As soon as we could see the Pacific, I mentally made a check on my bucket list.  Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, North Sea and now the Pacific Ocean and it did not disappoint.

After we climbed down the particularly steep and slightly dangerous terrain, we were greeted with heavy waves crashing on rocks. The beach reminded me of the beach in Scotland. This sand is not soft and fine like on the gulf coast. The water is cold and the sound of waves crashing sounded like thunder. I loved it. I love to be around the beach but I hate the Florida heat and humidity. I could live in Malibu forever. Except, of course, it's apparently very expensive. 

toddler tantrums are normal, right?

I had to run a few errands today after work. I thought it would be fun to take Emmy with me. (Why do I continue to think that!?)

She had a long day at daycare and because her lame mother forgot to pack another spare outfit, her teachers had to dig up her old spare which happened to be a 9-month size. She's in 18 months now. It was a bit tight. She was hot and tired but I dragged her to the car wash and then Staples for a few supplies. 

Ever since Emmy learned to walk, holding her has been pretty impossible. I let her walk the aisle while I shopped pens (I have a pen problem) and tracked her down just before she attempted to walk up one of those tall, "employee only" stock ladders of death. One point for mom. 

Every time I picked her up, she fought and wiggled until I let her down and she would jet off towards the back of the store. All the pens, the perfectly smooth paper, bright post-its and clitchy office decor kept distracting me so I would let her just barely out of sight. The store was mostly empty but I would jog after her, pick her up and well... repeat. 

After maybe 10 minutes, I decided to check out. As I was waiting in line, she managed to pull down crackers, pens and gum so I was back to holding my wiggly child, purse, and loot. As we checked out she started making weird growling noises and tried to press all the buttons on the card payment thing. If I told her "No" she'd withdraw her hands and growl again. I looked up to the cashier to apologize and she was making a disapproving face to the cashier behind me. Like, "this kid is bad and this mother is negligent". I smiled and said, "she's had a long day and she's wearing 2 sizes too small to boot! ha ha" and... nothing.

As we walked out, Emmy waived goodbye to the cashier who didn't waive back. This was the first time someone wasn't adoring her, telling me how sweet and pretty she is, and interacting with her directly. I don't blame the cashier, she clearly doesn't have kids and she doesn't understand how their moods change without having learned social discipline to hide it. 

What this made me think about was how many times I saw kids behaving badly and quickly decided that the parents were too lenient. Sometimes, I'm sure they were but parenting is harder than I thought it would be. 

I haven't spanked Emmy yet. Honestly, I'm afraid to. 

I can't bare the look of hurt in her eyes. I don't want her to fear me yet. Maybe that's selfish. I know how important it is to teach her how to behave. My parents spanked me and I know there were many times the fear of their discipline reinforced my choice to do right over wrong. Does Emmy know right and wrong yet? I think she knows more than we give her credit for. 

When she acts out, hits us, screams, or throws something we tell her NO. Sometimes she cries, sometimes she laughs and occasionally she just walks away. We tried "time out" after she attempted to bite Joe and she laughed and played in her chair. We felt dooped. It was also a little scary seeing our perfect, sweet little girl doing something mean. 

I know that this is normal, I know that we can teach her to behave when she is frustrated or bored. It's just.. I guess we are really parents now. My babysitting days are over. 

16 months & georgia aquarium

Life as a young parent isn't easy. Going out to dinner is pretty much out of the question for now. She only lasts 10 minutes in strollers and carts before she starts kicking and wants to walk. She is adamant about doing everything herself and "Emmy, no ma'am!" doesn't mean as much to her as it used to. 

Just this afternoon I spent 20 minutes fixing a special dinner just for Emmy only to watch her toss the whole bowl to the floor without a single bite. I wanted to yell but I knew that she didn't mean it as a personal blow. It turned out that her tummy hurt, she refused all dinner and went to bed early. We think it might be the 5 teeth she is working out all at once. Drool galore. 

Most of the time, though, she's really awesome. She is paying attention to us and understands our simple commands and questions. She has such a great sense of humor and sometimes laughs at the jokes in her own mind or just because everybody else is laughing.  

Joe and I decided to take a mini vacation and spend the day in Atlanta. We left the house at 8am and arrived at 11:30. The aquarium was already pretty packed but there were so many kids and Emmy loves to watch other kids so she was excited from the start.

 Hmm.. come to think of it, it may have been easier and cheaper to take her to the park. 

You might notice a little bear in many of these pictures.

I picked out several great "lovies" for her. Most were bunnies, all pretty much the jellycat brand with soft fur and adorable dangly arms and legs. She picked up this bear at Barnes and Noble a few months ago. We almost let Rufus have it because he kept stealing it and tossing it around but suddenly about a week ago she just... got attached. It's fine, it's cute, it's also discontinued and irreplaceable. Awesome. 

It was great having it at the aquarium though. 

"Mr. Beary" quickly comforted her and it made her a little more relaxed when in the stroller. 

The aquarium was fun. It was. But, it was also a lot of work for a kid who was probably still a little too young to appreciate it. In the picture above, she was being entertained by a sweet asian lady dancing in front of the glass. Her favorites were the large aquariums with lots of bright fish swimming around but mostly because there were other kids squealing and running around. 
So she was squealing too. 

The aquarium was really, really crowded. I think we picked a bad day - a Friday in the beginning of the summer. There were probably hundreds of kids in camp t-shirts and when I see crowds like that I go into survival mode. I caught myself running and squeezing between kids, skipping tanks to find one that had an empty space in front of it. I used Emmy to get close to the glass and stay there without feeling guilty. 

Joe had to remind me that we weren't in a hurry or on a schedule. He helped and I tried to but I still can't help it, it's hard to relax when you feel like you are going to get run over if you stand still. Oh, and I think the big stroller was a bad idea. I ran over an old lady... twice... and she glared at me something serious (she really should have moved to the side though at her pace) Ha! Obviously, we aren't ready for Disney yet. 

The dolphin show was amazing. We weren't allowed to take any pictures at all during the show but I managed to snap a few of the dolphins after the show on the backside of the stage. 

The show had maybe 5 performing dolphins doing jumps, backwards tail swimming (think Michael Jackson moonwalk, hugging and dancing with their handlers, etc. They had great music and lighting and sound effects to make the whole thing very dramatic. 

There was a story line with a fairly cheesy guy singing but it didn't matter, Emmy loved it and her clapping and laughing made me cry. Seriously. I choked up over the beauty of the dolphins and the joy I saw in my kid's eyes. 

I'm telling you, you only understand if you have kids.

By the time the dolphin show ended, Emmy was pretty much done. 

All she wanted to do was ride in our arms with her bear clutched in her hands. 

The photos came out pretty grainy. I'm not sure what was up with my trusty iphone but I'm guessing it's the low light. Next time, I'm bringing a real camera.

emmy's faves (12-14 months)

Even though we just got back from the beach, I feel like I need a vacation! Traveling with a baby is both tremendous fun and exhausting. I'll be working on a post about our trip with lots of pictures... get excited!!

This trip also reminded me of how a "new" toddler is in a unique stage between infant and toddler. She doesn't sleep as much as she used to so the car ride is full of goldfish and silly faces and singing to keep her entertained. She doesn't care much about a movie and her toys only entertain her for a few minutes. 

I've also noticed that Emmy doesn't need a lot of toys. She has  a few favorites and the rest stay in a basket unnoticed. I'm sure she will eventually love them but for now, her all-time favorite toy is a plastic spoon and bowl. She pretends to feed herself for HOURS. She also loves her xylophone and beats it with anything she can find. My mom knew what she was doing when she bought one for Emmy. It's loud and annoying and send shivers up my spine but she is happy so I let her keep it. 

The Fisher Price laugh and learn dog is adorable. She kisses his nose and he sings or says something sweet to her. She uses it as a walker and loads up the middle part with anything that will fit. She has a little pink car that has groceries in it that she can steer better but this pup wins all her kisses. 

I am obsessed with TOMS shoes for babies. The cordones above are the easiest shoes to put on and they look adorable with everything. She has a blue and white pair and I'm going to be buying more in every size as she grows. Maybe one day I'll even splurge and by myself a pair!

Finally, those little food packs. We buy only organic and I try to get a good variety with yogurt, spinach or kale, quinoa, etc. I know these packs are probably not helping her aversion to fruit textures (she still refuses most fresh fruit) but at least until she gets a little older, I know she is getting the nutrients even if it isn't the preferred form. These are really convenient too. She can feed herself and most of the time she doesn't make any kind of mess! 

If all we had during most days were those items above, Emmy would be completely content. I am so absolutely in love with this little girl and the happiness she spreads. I can't wait to post about the beach trip (except I can because I know it's going to be a long one!)