Mommy review 1.5 years in

So, I want to start with .. being a mother is easily the hardest thing I have ever done.

As Willow quickly approaches 18 months I just wanted to reflect on this wild adventure we have taken.

I love being a mother and it has given me a new sense of self worth and gratitude. Being a mother is unlike anything we know or want to know. You can read and prepare, but you don't truly know what it will be like until you are in the moment.

This also comes from being a postpartum nurse now, because I do see it EVERYDAY. 

Both P and I are pretty relaxed on our parenting methods.

This comes from several places, but we want to shower our baby with love.

We both work full time and want our daughter to know us so that also plays a role in this.

Mostly we try to take her lead and let her go with some corrections when needed. 

There are so many things, products, opinions, etc., out there  and we have found what works best for us, our family and, our needs.

Here are a few things we did..

We clothed diapered for over a year until she started to develop a chaffing rash because she is too tall/big so we had to switch to disposables. We use seventh generation free and clear.

We supplemented her from birth with Enfamil AR. This is just what worked for us.

We started solids  around 5 months, she was so interested in food earlier than that, but could not handle it. Now she eats everything and is food motivated. She had a real interest in eating with utensils so we let her and now she can feed herself.

We weaned her off the bottle just after 13 months.

She still mostly takes two 1-2 hour naps a day and sleeps 10-12 hours through the night in her crib. We give her milk in a sippy cup before bed (I know, big no no but that's what works).

She has slept in her own room from around 4 months and in a crib since about 6 months. We just all sleep better with this arrangement.

At the 18 month mark, she has about 20 ish words and some signs such as thank you, all done, more, etc. She runs, climbs, likes to feed her dolls and wipe their faces. She loves being outside and playing. For the most part she is a pretty happy and relaxed kid.

Having a toddler though, is like going on a blind date every day,

you do not know what your going to get.

~ Steph ~