All posts by R.C. Liley

I'm an ex-mutual fund accountant who left the cubicle world to be a stay-at-home dad to my beautiful little girl, Avery, who entered our life on 11/15/13 and handsome little boy, Wes, who joined our family on 11/19/17. Also happily married to my wife, Kelley, as of 8/17/07. Sorry ladies... :) Fitness and nutrition is of the utmost importance in our family and we strive to reflect this in our daily life. I always prepare our meals at home and only go out if it's a special occasion, and even then I tend to not get much. Food should be fun and a joy to eat, not something quickly consumed from a fast food chain or scarf down before the next meeting. I have come from strictly logging high miles to train for the next marathon to keeping exercise varied and focusing more on strength. I still enjoy going for a run when I can, but nothing crazy, and I prefer hill sprints while pushing my daughter, Avery in the stroller. She loves it and I get a great workout! I want to show the world how to appreciate their body and feed it real, wholesome food while moving more throughout the day. In doing so, everyone would be healthier, happier, and we'd all live in a better place as a result. I blog mainly about my life as a stay-at-home dad and frequently include reviews, participate in campaigns, and share my thoughts on fitness and nutrition. If you ever have any questions or thoughts to share, please reach out as I'm always open to listening or helping others however possible. That is, when I have free time since Avery is and my wife are the number one priorities!
Going Reviews

WOOM 1 Balance Bike: Learning to Ride

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Have you heard of a balance bike? It’s a bike without pedals meant to allow 1.5 to 3 year olds get comfortable riding a bike. As they get older and ready to use pedals, they can learn to ride a pedal bike without training wheels.

I was not aware of this type of bike until I saw a couple neighborhood boys riding around on their balance bikes as Avery and I went for our daily walk. I could see Avery’s eyes locked in with awe (okay, mine were too), which made her trike pale in comparison. Although she didn’t exactly say it, her actions made it clear enough with her awkward stance….

balance bike, trike, bikes, kids

Yeah, I’m not a big fan of the pink trike either.

Luckily, after speaking with Mathias from WOOM Bikes, he graciously agreed to send me their WOOM 1 Balance Bike to use and review.  Just 2 days later, after going on our walk, Avery and I returned home to a glorious site waiting in our garage, the WOOM 1 all boxed up. Avery’s excitement was obvious…

Hugging WOOM 1 Balance Bike Box

We immediately opened the box to reveal a safely wrapped shiny red WOOM 1 Balance Bike. I think someone was ready to go right away as evidenced by those little grabby hands.

WOOM 1 Balance Bike

After working to fight my surprisingly strong toddler off as if she were a zombie after my exposed brains (Yes, I’m a guilty fan of The Walking Dead), I removed the foam and adjusted the bike for Avery to test. We were even sent cool blue hats that she had to wear and would not let me take it off!

WOOM 1 balance bike, trike, bikes, kids,

Poor pink trike in the background, it’s glory days are long gone. This girl looks born to ride with her pink Soft Star Shoes and blue WOOM Bikes hat. Once on the sidewalk, she slowly started out just trying to get a feel of having only 2 wheels.

Riding WOOM 1 Balance Bike

She took very tiny steps, made a little progress, then fell. After shaking off her boo boo, she tried again and stumbled over again. More crying and boo boo shaking/kissing ensued. We gave her a little confidence boosting pep talk and got her to sit back on her new bike. That’s about it, she was content with just hanging for the day.

WOOM 1 Balance Bike_1

Hanging and looking cute as all getout! So, we were off to a rough start for the first day, but practice makes perfect, right?

Okay, maybe not perfect, but the next day she actually covered ground on her balance bike hog. We just need to work on her sitting on the seat and, well, we need to work on a lot. Either way, progress was made and she had fun in the process.

Patience is a mandatory prerequisite in parenting, and I had to keep reminding myself that being on a bike is something completely new to Avery. Just like rolling over, crawling, walking, etc, for the first time, it takes time, and we need to keep that in mind when our miniatures are learning.

We’ll be spending plenty of time practicing this weekend and I’m confident she’ll be riding circles around those neighborhood boys in no time!

I’ll post updates here, on Facebook, and Instagram to monitor her progress on the WOOM 1 Balance Bike. Now we just need to find a good nickname for her bike. Lately, she enjoys watching Little Einsteins and loves the character Rocket. Since Rocket is also red, I’m thinking Rocket is a perfect fit. Yay or nay?

Learn more about WOOM Bikes and find the perfect fit for any age on their website. They have bikes for little kids just starting to walk all the way up to teens.

Have you heard of WOOM Bikes or tried a balance bike before?

Any tips on getting started riding a balance bike?

Going Green, Going Reviews

Plan Toys Push Along Duck Review

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You know those toys you had a long time ago but forgot about until going through some mystery stash in the corner of a room? Then, all of the sudden they are a favorite once more? Our daughter’s Plan Toys Push Along Duck is one of those toys.

plan toys push along duck, review, kids, toys, toddlers, eco-friendly, wood toys

We first got the duck, Quackers (original, I know), around the time our little girl started walking over a year ago. I remember growing up with one of those plastic push along poppers with balls enclosed in a bubble and how much I enjoyed running around making the most obnoxious noise and knew I did not want something like the Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Corn Popper for Avery.

Fisher Price Brilliant Basics Corn Popper

Fun toy for kids, but we try to limit the amount of plastics in our home, so this was an easy one to avoid. Just not a fan of everything that comes out of China to begin with. Plus, how cool is it to have a wooden duck with flappy feet to push around instead?

Yeah, it's pretty cool, Dad.
Yeah, it’s pretty cool, Dad.

When Quackers first waddled his way into our home, Avery enjoyed the new toy but didn’t seem too impressed.

baby, toddler, parenting, funny, humor
Yeah, I see the duck, but do YOU see I took off my sock?

I think Going Mom and I were more excited about the cute rubber feet flip-flopping along as it was pushed around the house; usually by us. One of Avery’s friends was instantly drawn to it during our NuttZo tasting party last year, and that’s all she played with the entire time. Obviously kids love once they see, feel, and hear it in action.

The natural rubber feet, which are easy to clean (trust me, this is a wonderful thing!) don’t make as much of an audible flappy noise as I’d expect. Guess it’s not such a bad thing, but when compared to the noise a Corn Popper makes, the feet are almost ninja-like. One reason is that the wooden wheels are very squeaky, almost to where you can’t even hear the feet flapping, and can quickly become irritating when your kid goes on a marathon duck pushing jaunt. An easy fix for this is something like WD-40 or, as I used, coconut oil. Problem solved!

Just the look and feel of the Plan Toys Push Along Duck proves it was built with quality care. Our destructive tot further proves this as it has stood up to the vigors of daily abuse. The paint has yet to chip and all of the parts are just as sturdy as the first day we bought it.

The latest use for Quackers is for him to “help” Daddy every time I vacuum. It’s cute, but when Quackers winds up between my feet and knocking into my legs multiple times as I clean around the house, it gets old….fast. But hey, if it makes my girl happy and not crying, I’ll take it!

plan toys push along duck, eco, toys, review

We love having fun, eco-friendly toys like the Plan Toys Push Along Duck, and I’d highly recommend one for any kid aged 1 and up. I wish the handle could be detached to make it easier for travel, but that’s a minor issue. I’m more concerned with getting hit by the rounded end on the handle, which happens A LOT. But again, just a minor thing that’s easily overlooked when it comes to the safety and happiness of our kid.

Plan Toys is one of our favorite eco-friendly toy companies as they use a variety of material like organic rubberwood, e-zero glue, water-based dyes, recycled and recyclable materials, soy and water-based ink and their proprietary PlanWood. All good things when it comes to what our kids are playing with all day.

Plan Toys Push Along Duck Review

Pros

  • High quality, eco-friendly construction that will last years
  • Sturdy, but light enough for little ones to easily push and maneuver
  • Makes for great imaginative play….like a vacuum, for instance
  • Freakin’ cute duck on a stick, what else can I say?

Cons

  • Wheels are very squeaky (can be fixed with a little oil as I mentioned)
  • Wish the stick could be removed for traveling
  • Can become a dangerous duck when it gets airborne or pushed into your legs, knees, and sometimes head.

If you’re looking for a great gift for an upcoming toddler birthday, this is a perfect choice. At just $24.99 on Amazon, it won’t break the bank but will warm the heart watching those little feet push their duck with a big grin!

I purchased the Plan Toys Push Along Duck and full price and was not compensated in any way for this review. All thoughts are strictly my own. Although I never collaborated with Plan Toys for this or any review, I’d love to work together for future product reviews. *Hint* *Hint* to any Plan Toys associates who happen upon this post. 🙂

Avery Talk, Life, Parenting, Vlog

What Happens When You Ask Your Toddler Not To Whine?

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Just had to share this with you today. Our toddler daughter has a habit of honing in on us and asking to be picked up. Daddy doesn’t get the whiny request as much as mommy, but it’s usually when my wife and I are trying to have a discussion. Such is life with a toddler, huh?

toddler, funny, humor, cute, parenting
Helllllloooooo, is anybody paying attention to me?!

Lately, we’ve been telling her not to whine when asking for “Please mommy, up.” and trying to teach her to say please and thank you. She’s usually good at using manners, but we happened to catch a different response that, technically, isn’t wrong.


Now that she knows it’s cute and sees mommy and daddy getting a kick out of it, she does it all the time. And, well, it’s hard not to just laugh and accept our deep-voiced daughter.

If we could manage, I’d love to share her request for more goat cheese, green smoothie, or anything else in this low tone. Maybe we shouldn’t feed her sarcastic tendencies, but it’s just so hard to resist!

Have you ever had your kid respond in a way you weren’t meaning but was still correct as a technicality?