mommy daughter time

i love my girl.

and something i love doing with her is dancing.

i don't know when it happened but a nightly dance party is now apart of our routine.

in the hour before alex gets home from work, i put some fun music on --

recently it has been christmas!

as soon as it is on scar knows what's comin and she reaches excitedly up for me to pick her up.
we dance, i run her around and slide across the wood floors.
that's her favorite.

it is also a great work out for me ;)

it has become such a special time for us and i look forward to it every day.

this was us sliding...i really wasn't trying to push the camera away :)

good baby. bad baby?

"Is she a good baby?" 
This is a question I get fairly often from a lot of different people...from old acquaintances to random strangers in the grocery store.

And every time I hear it my insides get a little tense. 

I almost never say what comes to mind...
 I just smile and say "she's the best."  

"Is she a good baby?"

 {What does that even mean?!}

Is your puppy cute?! Of course your puppy is cute! All puppies are cute -- even the ugly ones!
What kind of a question is that??

For whatever reason this question really bothers me. If you're asking if she's good that means you think she could be bad. What makes a baby bad? Seriously. I'm curious.

Maybe what they mean to ask, "Is she a happy baby?"

That is what I think most people are really asking... is she happy? 

But if that's the case, then are you saying

 if she's not happy (i.e cries a lot or doesn't sleep well etc.) she is a bad baby?
And that is the part that I dislike the most. The thought that being happy is equal to being good, insinuating that if your baby fussed a lot or didn't sleep well he/she was bad {because she was too much of a bother to her parents}.

I doubt most people think of it that way when they ask.

I'm sure it is mainly a way for people to make small talk. I'm sure they mean well.
I'm sure I'm just a crazy person lol.
But it really does get me thinking about the mindset so many have towards children...
that they are less important -- their feelings, their wants, their needs
And that makes me sad.. 

I really want to help change the way our world sees children.

I'm excited :)

photo credit: Jenni Photography

learning at home

little s is over 14 months old now. crazy.
she loves doing new things. i'm always trying to keep her toys rotated and coming up with new things for her to do.
thank God for pinterest. if i'm not taking an exact idea that i found on there i am inspired and come up with something else.

this is one of those inspirations.
so simple.

i used an old parmesan cheese container and gave her q-tips to put thru the holes on top.
i showed her how to do it and she caught on and did it right away with little trouble.
sometimes asking me, with her grunts and pointing, to hold it steady so it didn't fall.
sometimes we use straws or dry beans. she likes the noise the beans make and will shake it
until they all fall out.

i love using stuff around the house to play and learn!

today was an extra chilly morning so we stayed in our pjs a while!

i love being a momma to a toddler :)