I Rocked My First Easter at Nana and Papa’s

03/27/2016 R.C. Liley 1 Comment

We’re traveling back in time to Easter 2 years ago. Our daughter was 5 months old, but apparently quite fluent in speaking/writing. I enjoy looking back at our little chubby-cheeked sweetheart, so I thought I’d share her story of rocking her first Easter.

Today’s she’s rocking her third Easter and hopefully finding all of the eggs hidden in our backyard. Guess we’ll know if she missed one if our dog has worse than usual gas. Whomp-whomp.

Happy Easter!

Hey there all you bunny-loving babies! Did you just get through your first Easter like I did; crazy, huh? Bunnies, colored eggs, stuff called candy, a basket, and a search to put the colored eggs in a basket.

I wasn’t sure what to make of the whole occasion, but I owned the day like a baby boss and made sure I had everyone’s full attention! Here’s how I owned the day and plan on doing the same for the next time I am put in a crazy situation…

First things first, right when we arrived at Nana and Papa’s, several giant babies called my family immediately flocked to me. You might deal with the same thing if you are the only baby around; learn to embrace this and take advantage.

Don’t act very enthused at first, that’s too easy, just kind of stare and look droopy. No hard feelings, Papa, just making sure you know who’s in control here.

And Aunt Stef, I know you were excited to see me, but I was more interested in watching those little hairy things scurry around and bark.

After a lot of banter over how much I’ve grown and blah blah, things were quiet for a while. Aunt Stef held me and I could see the other giant family babies with plates of food. I didn’t like the quiet, so I made my loud chicken sounds and screeches which made everyone acknowledge my presence again.

With eating out of the way, I was told it was time to hunt for Easter eggs. I found out, this is similar to when Daddy and I went on a scavenger hunt for Mommy’s breast pads, only it’s outside. Oh, and instead of a laundry basket, you put eggs in an Easter basket. My basket was the head of a rabbit with my name on it. It seems pretty cruel to make a basket out of bunny’s head, but he looked happy.

There was no way I was going to just go hunt the eggs, so I demanded Mommy to carry me to my plastic prey.

My first quarry; a shiny golden egg! I was pretty excited about reaching out and getting this one.

But then I noticed the floppy ear on my bunny head basket and became distracted. What egg?

So take note, there will be distractions, but don’t lose sight of the ultimate goal; get the eggs! I let my defenses down there, but luckily Daddy but it in that poor bunny’s head. I directed Mommy to my next destination where I was faced with two eggs! Ahhh, choices!!

But I maintained my composure and made the obvious choice; the shiny blue egg!

One of those barking things (my family calls them dogs) looked like a threat, so I snatch the egg and held tight!

Once the barking threat was gone, I safely placed my glistening trophy in the bunny basket.

Moving on, I directed Mommy to another popular egg hang out where I was once again faced with two non-shiny options. They were dull and I was not egg-cited about either one. Ha ha, get it? No? Was it a bad yolk?

Mommy tried to pick one for me, but I just laughed at her simple mindedness.

But Nana’s plants were intriguing…

It was an arduous egg hunt, I even lost a shoe, but I let Mommy hold me a little longer and even smiled for pictures. Another note, everyone want to take pictures of everything you do; just use it to your advantage and watch as they make ridiculous sounds and faces.

I told Mommy to let Daddy hold me for a while since she did a good job, but something didn’t seem right when he had me.

Oh yeah, I wanted to be higher! I promptly demanded Daddy to hold me higher so I could see everything and have the giant babies look up to me just as they should! This made me happy.

Daddy didn’t hold me higher for very long until he brought me down again. I did not like being lower and let everyone know with my “not cool” face.

But this didn’t bode too well for me; I just started to get passed around. First it was my great grandma, Papa’s mom.

Sweet lady, but I was still bored, or maybe it was that hat…hmmmm. Then my cousin, Garrett, took over. I didn’t even know what to do with this, so I tried to make it an awkward situation with my wide-eyed poker face.

It worked and I finally got to do something fun; play with aunt Stef and my cousin Taylor!

Playtime was tiring and I was demanding we leave soon, but first I wanted a picture with “the girls.”

Back home, all of the activities from the day caught up to me and I became very tired. I let Mommy and Daddy know just how tired I was by using my vocals until they put me to bed. It worked. My Mommy rocked me to sleep and I slept well!

Going Reviews

Gaining Confidence with the WOOM 1 Balance Bike

03/25/2016 R.C. Liley 3 Comments

We’ve had the WOOM 1 Balance Bike for only a month, and our little girl has already improved so much! Her coordination, speed, balance, and most importantly, happiness on the bike all increase every time she gets on her Rocket.

WOOM 1 Balance Bike, kids, bikes, riding

I’d say that’s the look of one proud and confident kid if you ask me. Pretty darn cute too!

Going Mom and I have been spending a lot time watching and encouraging her as she practices gliding down our driveway. Not always with both feet in the air, but building her balance a little more each time.

WOOM 1 Balance Bike, kids, bikes, riding

Here she is with both feet up as her hair apparently follows suit. She’s loving her new Soft Star Shoes when she walks, runs, or rides too. Aren’t they cute?

WOOM 1 Balance Bike, kids, bikes, riding

There are times, however, when a car will pass, a bug will fly by, or she sees “money” (it’s just a dead leaf) that distracts her just enough to lose focus. Consequently, her balance is lost too.

WOOM 1 Balance Bike, kids, bikes, riding

But, no biggie, we’ve never had a quick knee-jerk reaction when she falls so as to not foster her into thinking she can be a drama queen. Instead, we just shake it off and do a little shaky dance. Followed by picking up her crashed WOOM 1 Balance Bike.

WOOM 1 Balance Bike, kids, bikes, riding

The bike is made of lightweight aluminum alloy and weighs in at just 7.7lbs, which is no problem for our strong little girl to pick back up and get back to riding. Sometimes daddy likes to make Rocket fly by lifting up the front wheel and “taking off” with her in the cockpit/seat.

WOOM 1 Balance Bike, kids, bikes, riding

I think I enjoy doing that more than her, she just want to ride……on her own! She usually makes it quite clear, so I make sure to keep my distance for our confident daughter. Notice that poor rejected dad in the background?

WOOM 1 Balance Bike, kids, bikes, riding

Guess I can understand though, she’s already turning into Little Miss Independent. I’ll just have to keep an eye out for the neighborhood boys.

So, in just over a month, our initial impression is a very pleased one. Getting the WOOM 1 for her to ride was a great choice, and we’re extremely happy to cut out the need for training wheels.

With her first downhill session looking like she was impersonating the Flintstones driving their cars to learning to lift her feet up and glide down somewhat smoothly, we couldn’t be more proud of how far she’s come.

Weekly confidence boost with no feet! She’s really catching on to her @woombikesusa #WOOM 1 #balancebike. #learning #bikes #toddler #proudparents

A video posted by RC Liley (@going_dad) on Mar 22, 2016 at 3:29pm PDT

We still have lots of biking adventures to come. The next thing to work on is riding on flat ground at a pace faster than the Mayflies blowing backwards in the wind. All in due time, check back for updates on her progress soon!

WOOM 1 Balance Bike, kids, bikes, riding

Disclaimer: I was provided a WOOM 1 Balance Bike free of charge in exchange for my honest, unbiased review and was not compensated any other way. All thoughts are 100% my own. Seriously, love this bike!

Books, Going Reviews

First 100 Words: The Best Baby Book of 2015

03/23/2016 R.C. Liley 1 Comment

Choosing a baby book for your little one can be difficult. With 488 million results when you search for “baby book” on Google, it’s simply overwhelming! Luckily, I have one book you simply must add to your baby/toddler book collection…. First 100 Words by Roger Priddy.

We bought this book for A before she was 1 and we’d just go through each page describing the pictures. Babies may not seem like they’re responsive, but they are absorbing everything around them and filling their constantly growing brain.

When you just don’t know how to initiate a conversation with a little person that doesn’t talk back (at least with actual words), First 100 Words is handy to have around. It’s the perfect way to get your baby into reading and associating them with so many everyday animals, objects, and food.

For every 2 pages, there is an associated theme like Colors, Things That Go, Food, Outside, etc. with pictures to resemble each theme. It’s a fun way for those growing brains to learn not only about the theme, but about what they see in each picture.

We love pointing at each picture and making the associated sound if there is one. The cat says “meow”, the big truck goes “HONK HONK!”, the flower says…………ha ha, got you, it says nothing! 🙂

Even when we weren’t reading to her, A would flip through the pages, give the soft cover a little chew, flip some more, chew, repeat. Yeah, babies like to chew, so why not on something educational? Being a board book, it actually holds up quite well to baby/toddler abuse. This is a must-have for kids’ books!

At almost 2 1/2 (when did that happen?!), she can easily name most of the things in the book and make any of their associated sounds. She will sit in one of her favorite reading spots and study each page with vigor while saying each thing she sees out loud. It’s the most adorable thing to see how much she has learned from when we first introduced her to the book.

It’s also just the right size to pack in a diaper bag to take along when out and about. Reading to your little ones is a perfect way to spend quality time together and bond with them. Sit down with this book and take your time describing the words, colors, and objects in each picture, it will mean the world to them!

The only minor issue I have with the book is that the pictures seem a little outdated. I mean, that yellow BMW Z3 to show a “car”? C’mon! They have Z4’s now!! Honestly, that’s hardly an issue, and I would quickly buy this book again and again for any baby/toddler. It makes a great inexpensive gift too! There’s even a Spanish Version!

The First 100 series by Roger Priddy also has a book for the First 100 Animals which was the #6 best selling baby book in 2015.

Annnddd, when they’re craving more, and they will, make sure to check out the First 100 Numbers, Colors, Shapes as well as the First 100 Trucks.

You really can’t go wrong with any one of these books, but you might as well get several and keep them around in the car, grandparent’s house, and a backup for when the first one gets chewed through. True story.

Disclaimer: I purchased this book on my own and recieved no compensation for this post. However, there are affiliate links within this post that if you click on them and make a purchase, I will earn a few cents. So, please click and make a purchase! 🙂