My husband bought me Randy Pausch’s book “The last Lecture.” I was so moved by his story and have really been  getting a lot out of his book. The main focus is  basically about how he was able to live out some of  his childhood dreams. Naturally it got me thinking about what my dreams were as a child. This is the list I came up with so far.

1. Be WonderWoman
2. Learn to play the piano (and be good at it)
3. Be Anne of Green Gables long lost cousin so I could visit her in beautiful  Novia Scotia
4. Help suffering children
5. Own a horse
6. Be a “super mom”
7. Save the world

I have only semi-realized one of these dreams, number 4.  I went to school so that I could work with disadvantaged kids and enjoyed working in that field for over 4 years (until I became a full-time mom).

I don’t think I have reached “super-mom” status yet.  Talk to me in another 6 years when I have more children and am carting them off to soccer practice, spanish and piano lessons, and holding a full time job while going to school for my PHD.

No, seriously, I hope to accomplish a few more things on that list at some point in my life.  I plan to make a mind movie to help motivate me along the way.

So…what were your childhood dreams?  Have you accomplished them?  I would love to know!

Talk to your child….A LOT. It takes hearing a word a ridiculous amount of times before they can actually say their first word. When your child is learning to talk (and when they are infants) you can read them books or just talk to them about what you are doing throughout the day as if they understand everything you are saying. It feels awkward at first but you get used to it.
Another great technique to use is when you are sitting and playing you can emphasize just one word of whatever it is they are interested in at the moment. Then when they get that word down you can add another one, and so on and so on. Some great words to start with (besides mommy and daddy of course) are “more, up, down, eat, drink, milk, dog”. But basically just whatever your child is most interested in.

.
This isn’t technically from us, it is from the grandparents but we had to return the one they bought because it just wouldn’t have fit so we went and picked this one out today. I love it! It is so cute, and I love that it is wood instead of plastic. It’s at amazon for $370 but we got it at toys r us for just $120.

Don’t put your baby in a walker or exersaucer or if you have to limit it to 15 minutes at a time no more than twice a day. They develop the wrong muscles needed for walking and your baby would be better off exploring on the floor.
This way she can learn to move her body from rolling to crawling to standing and finally walking!

*photo credit: big stock photo

Sorry this is so late but little E and I have been running around all day. I went to Walmart, which was a big mistake this time of year especially. I don’t know if anyone has seen that Walmart bingo thing but it is pretty funny and right on. Today I just had to laugh when I was there because this guy passed by me and he was telling his girlfriend “I don’t have any money because I have to pay my car payment, and my probation.” I don’t know, maybe I am delirious from being so tired but it was funny to me.

Okay so here is your mommy tip of the day.

This might sound odd but some of the best advice I got when my daughter was around 10 months of age was “lower your expectations” when it comes to annoying behavior. Teaching your child appropriate behavior is important but at this age you really can’t expect them to follow directions or to stop throwing things off the table (which was my problem.) So when your child is doing something that is getting on your nerves just say to yourself “this is normal.” Most of the time it is.