Friday Favourites: Flowers for Mum

1. Tulips // 2. Ranunculus (my personal favourite, hint hint Olivia) // 3. Peonies // 4. Hyacinths // 5. Roses

Adventures in Motherhood: Mother's Day

Mother's Day is something that still feels a little foreign to me. I still feel as though it is I time to celebrate all the other mother's in my life, forgetting that I am actually a mother now too. In fact, this will be my second Mother's Day.

Motherhood has brought more rewards than I ever could have imagined;
       more sleeplessness,
       more laughter,
       more patience (or less depending on the day),
       more joy,
       more stress,
and more love than I ever knew I could feel.

I love you Olivia, thank you for making me a mother!

I love you too Mum, Happy Mother's Day xoxo

Adventures in Motherhood: The Magic of 1, 2, 3

We have a child who is fiercely independent, strong-willed and stubborn. When Olivia doesn't want to do something she is very quick to let us know it. At our last paediatrician visit, I was introduced to an idea that is magic in our house. Enter the simple concept of 1, 2, 3. Our paediatrician told us that whenever Olivia is being disobedient, we ask her to stop. If she doesn't stop, then I say to her, "I'm going to count to three and I need you to stop", and here is the key, if she still hasn't stopped we follow through by making her. For example, if Olivia doesn't want to leave the playground, I say "it's time to go home now, let's get in the stroller." If she refuses, then I tell her that I am going to count to three and then we are leaving. Once I get to three, if Olivia is still refusing, then I simply put her in the stroller (even if it's a battle).

Rocket science I know! But it works, and after two weeks of using this approach, I rarely get to three. I think it comes down to the fact that by allowing Olivia the time it takes to count to three, she is getting to make her own decision to stop doing something. Rather than us jumping straight in and taking that decision away from her. This has been a game changer for us in how we approach discipline with a toddler who has plenty of spunk. Boy do we adore her!

Do you have any other genius ideas for dealing with toddlers?

PS. Who else can't believe that it is May already!

Adventures in Motherhood: Highs & Lows

If there is one thing I have learnt about motherhood, it is that there are good days and bad days. Sure you love your child overwhelmingly, but boy are there some days where I wish I could take a day off (or just runaway and not come back!). I think it must be an age thing, but Olivia is going through such a grumpy little phase at the moment. I keep reminding myself of my favourite parenting mantra, "This too shall pass", but things are rough and the days are feeling endless around here.

The poor little muffin has a lot going on to be fair. There a molars coming ever so slowly, growth spurts happening and naps to be dropped. It's a lot, I get it. So while we are in a low point it is always nice to remind myself of all the joy that Olivia brings into our lives....

...She is talking more and more each day, and my heart melts every time I hear her call me "Mama"....

...or when says "waa-tah" (water) / "boo-bree" (blueberry) / "wower" (shower)....

...or when I ask for a kiss and she leans into me and then says "awwww"....

...or when she is holding a captive audience with the big kids at the playground, because she loves them so much, and they are so nice to her...

Olivia really is such a sweet, smart and funny little girl. I just hope this particular funk we are in right now passes sooner rather than later! It will right?!

EDIT: Just after I finished this post it is like we turned the corner (finally) and I have my happy girl back. It's funny really, just when you think you can't take much more, it's all over and you forget why you were so frustrated in the first place!

Adventures in Motherhood: Tantrums!

Olivia is such a great little girl. She is so full of life, entertaining, funny, smart and sweet, but she is also incredibly strong willed, independent and stubborn too. She is the boss! This has already had its challenges, even at the ripe old age of fourteen months. When it comes to tantrums, we have had a few. I try my best to ignore them on our paediatricians advice. Although this can be easier said than done at times. It also seems like I am missing out on a teaching opportunity if I simply try and ignore her.

Try as I might to teach Olivia with words, to calm down and 'talk' me through what she needs, the tantrums only escalated. Our worst incident involved her pulling my hair and scratching me and I was shocked. How has my child learnt to do this? It is instinct I guess. She is unhappy, so she is showing me, because she doesn't have the words, just how unhappy she is. I managed to ignore her behaviour on this particular incident, and I got up and walked away from her. She cried hard for a minute or two and then I went back over and distracted her with something else. She has never behaved like that since. Now that could be a fluke, but my gut tells me that ignoring her bad behaviour and showing her how upset I was, definitely is the right way to handle my child, though I know every child is different.

Parenting has it ups and downs, and sometimes it is just plain exhausting. But these moments are really just a drop in the bucket when compared with all the happier ones. Although they may not feel like it at the time!

Adventures in Motherhood: On Being a Mother

This parenting thing has surprised me. Being a mother has come a lot more naturally to me that I ever could of imagined (and more than my own mother could of imagined, so she told me). I always wanted kids, but I was never overly 'clucky'. Newborns scared me because they seemed so fragile and vulnerable, and older babies just scream and demand things, don't they? Needless to say I had no idea what I was in for.

The love that I felt for Olivia was instant and all-consuming, and it still is. I have never once questioned my ability to care for her. That's not to say I haven't ask for advice or help, I definitely have, no new mum has all the answers. On a whole though, I have found that trusting my instincts and being on the same parenting page as my husband has helped to shape us into the parents that Olivia deserves. It's a moving target for sure, but I think we are doing a pretty great job.

Here are ten things that have surprised me about being a mother, in no particular order:

1. I am more strict that I thought I would be. My life is ruled by Olivia's routine, and that's okay because it works for us.
2. Poop hasn't offended me quite as much as I thought it would (though there have been a few exceptions).
3. Leaving Olivia with our babysitter still feels weird. We love our sitter, but leaving the house without Olivia always feels like I left something behind (I guess because I did).
4. Baby's don't just go to sleep when they are tired. What! I know, how silly I thought this to be the case. Olivia used to be a terrible sleeper. I used to have to rock her for 40 minutes just to get a 30 minute nap, and she would go down at night only to wake up half an hour later, every. single. night. We have gone through a few different stages of sleep training though, and now she is a champion sleeper - most of the time.
5. I enjoy living in New York more now that I have Olivia as my sidekick.
6. Just leaving the house takes a lot of preparation... do I have food - check, nappies/diapers - check, toys - check.
7. Breastfeeding is hard! I had nipple trauma, a turbo milk let-down, and oversupply issues, and that was just the start of it. The first couple of months were very painful, but we got through it. I ended up breastfeeding Olivia for twelve months, and the end came at the right time for us both.
8. Babies are really noisy. That cute tiny little ball of a baby can scream the house down, and even when they aren't crying they are always making noise; coos, gurgles and purrs.
9. Babies grow fast - really fast. Just when you have bought clothes of one size they are into the next.
10. My day is filled with so much fun, joy and laughter. Being home with Olivia has been such a great thing for me, and our family. Not everyday is easy, and not all day is easy, but I love being home with her so much, and feel very blessed that I am able to do so.

It sure has been a fun year!

Why hello there, remember me?

Hello and the warmest welcome back! It has been well over a year since my last blog post so you are forgiven if you forgot about me. So much has happened since we last spoke - let's call that time off my extended maternity leave.

We welcomed our sweet little Olivia into the world fourteen months ago now, and it was love at first sight. Wow what a year, it has truly been one of the greatest. We have been blessed with an adorable, sweet, funny, intelligent, stubborn and brave little girl.

Now that Olivia is one I am about to embark on a journey to find my blogging feet again. I am sure our not-so-new-any-more addition will feature prominently, so I hope you don't mind. The direction of the blog now that she is here will reveal itself as we go along. I myself am not sure where we will be going, and how much of my personal life I will want to share. So please be patient with me, and I hope you will continue to follow me on our journey, living life in New York, only now with a toddler in tow.