Spontaneous Combustion

It's been awhile since my last post and there is a good reason for it. I've been extremely busy chasing around a toddler for the past couple months. A baby is usually not defined as a toddler until age one; however, our little girl is toddling all over the place...behind her walker that is. She is flying around the house in high gear most of the time. She became proficient at crawling over night and does laps around the house with grace and ease. I was nervous for her mobility to kick in but I now find it refreshing and sweet. Clara will follow me from room to room as she still will not let me out of her sight. I can tell how proud she is of her newly found freedom. I'm so happy for her and look forward to her learning more day by day!

No Naps For Big Girls!

I can just see her wheels turning, "I don't need a nap Mom, I'm a big girl"! Clara has been like this from day one. She's the queen of power naps. As a newborn, she would take one or two short power naps (15 to 20 minutes apiece) and be wide awake the rest of the day. The first few months were exhausting as I had this notion in my head that newborns slept quite a bit so you would have a little time during the day to pay a bill or do a load of laundry. I've learned how to accomplish tasks by including Clara but some days it is still exhausting. Now she will take an hour nap most afternoons, but only if I'm laying right next to her. If I even think of sneaking away, she'll sense it and wake up. I love snuggling with her and plan on taking advantage of the situation for as long as possible but I would like her to get accustom to taking a nap in her crib. She's sleeping really well at night so I couldn't be happier...what a difference from a month ago! We will keep working with her on the whole nap thing but I have a feeling that she's going to play by her own rules. Nap or no nap, she's the most amazing little girl!!!

Honey You Say

I've always tried to use natural products as much as possible and since Clara has come along I've been even more vigilant about reading ingredient lists. As a high needs baby, I try to keep her exposure to personal and environmental products as minimal as possible. So when I ran out of my current brand of face wash I was looking for something that didn't have a disenchanting list of indecipherable ingredients. This proved itself to be quite a challenge and I quickly found out that it was an unrealistic expectation. Out of the blue I came across an article about cleansing you face with honey. I had never heard of such a thing and thought it was a bizarre idea at first, but I did have some unrefined honey in the cupboard so I decided to give it a shot. It is honestly the best face wash I have ever used! I've been using it for just over a month now and I don't think I'll ever go back. Just be sure to rinse thoroughly if you live in a region with high populations of bears or ants! And for some awesome raw honey for all your honey needs, check out Tropical Traditions.

Here's some more information:


http://www.crunchybetty.com/honey-challenge

Clara Has A Tooth

When you combine a high needs baby with a teething baby, you could potential have an equation for trouble! Clara cut her first tooth on Saturday and did so with grace and composure. She's been working on that tooth for some time and I thought for sure that when that pearly white decided to make an appearance that we would have a rough go of it.

I had done a couple little things in an effort to help comfort her during the teething stage. I was very leery of using over-the-counter painkillers so I decided to go the natural route. It's hard to say if these products had a great impact but I guess time will tell. Anyhow, I thought I'd share our secrets!

The first product is gripe water. Gripe water is herbal remedy used around the world for centuries. It's commonly used for babies with colic but can also relieve gas, hiccups, and soreness associated with teething. From my experience, gripe water really does work. As a newborn, Clara would get the hiccups often. I would give her a little gripe water and it would almost always cure her hiccups. It's hard to say how well it works on teething but it can't hurt anything. By the way, Clara loves the taste and gladly takes it when I offer it to her.

http://www.vitacost.com/Wellements-Gripe-Water-for-Colic

I also got Clara an amber necklace. These have gotten a lot of buzz lately and it's unclear whether they have a noticeable effect but the amber is suppose to work as a natural analgesic helping to calm the baby during teething. If you do decide to have your little one wear an amber necklace, just be sure to supervise them closely. Clara wears her necklace during the day and we remove it at night when she's sleeping.

For more information on amber necklaces visit http://www.wildsheep.co.uk/storepage882288.aspx

http://www.wildsheep.co.uk/

Happy teething!