Road to the Fittest Mom

I remember reading an article once about kids in America vs. UK. It talked about how parents in UK are so much more laid back when it comes to parenting and especially childproofing, vs. Americans. While we have every gadget known to mankind and how to prevent baby from getting into said object, other countries are more relaxed in this approach. Since we've been this way with Avery from birth, this is the approach we are taking. If you don't want your kid in your toilet, don't let them play in/near the bathroom. I don't need a lock to do that simple job of telling my kid "no". However, with things like outlet covers, we figure we don't want Avery to die electrocuting herself, so we did buy those. She just a few days ago has also figured out how to crawl up the stairs. So baby gates were also a must. She likes to stand at the top of the stairs though, and throw any/all toys down the stairs. Awesome. Cleaning up is now exercise. We also need to get a cover f...

Finally, a tooth has started to emerge! Chris notice Sunday (7 th ) that there were bumps on Avery's bottom gum and alas, she has the beginnings of a tooth. It hasn't yet broken through yet to see white, but I'm still excited she's actually getting teeth! She's been handling it okay I guess...she will be fussy occasionally throughout the day and has been waking up before 6am, which isn't fun for me. She'll also wake up a few times throughout the night but she'll go back to sleep on her own. I'm also not giving her the pacifier this week. Trying to ween her from that, since my biggest pet peeve is children over 1 yr who still have a paci. I decided that they are basically more convenient for parents, rather than kids. I know she'll sleep without it, but it's a matter of her falling asleep in 4 seconds with or having her fuss for 5-10 min. without it before falling asleep. Sure, I hate standing, rubbing her back or laying her back down but I gu...

Avery has really taken to pulling up on pretty much everything she can get her hands on. I don't want to be over-protective either...constantly hovering to make sure she's okay. So I usually let her explore on her own. It seems it doesn't matter if I'm right next to her or in the other room; it only takes a split second for her to fall and bust her head on something. She pulled up on the dining room chair a few days ago and fell and hit her head on the table. She had a HUGE bump on her head and I felt terrible! Today, she was holding on to my legs standing by the computer and she fell and hit her nose. She has a scratch on it and it was very red. AH! I feel so bad that she keeps getting bumps and bruises! But I have to let her learn how to do it. She stands holding something and then can't figure out what to do! She usually can't figure out that she simply needs to sit back down. That's why she falls because she doesn't know what to do. I'm sure she...