Life

The True Meaning of Memorial Day and BLW Progress

05/26/2014 R.C. Liley 7 Comments

Me·mo·ri·al Day

noun

noun: Memorial Day

a day on which those who died in active military service are remembered, traditionally observed on May 30 but now officially observed on the last Monday in May.

Hi there and happy Memorial Day!

I wanted to share the definition of Memorial Day to make sure we all take a moment of silence to remember those who died while serving our country. So please, before you fire up the grill and open a cold beer, pay your respects to these men and women.

Also, Memorial Day is not to be confused with Veteran’s Day which celebrates all of our country’s veterans. Although I have never served, many of my friends and family (including my mom and dad), have, and I am thankful for everything they have done. I’m also thankful for those currently serving and always will be!

I’m writing this a day before since I’m running my last 10k today and will be up before sunrise. The 10k is in honor of our nation’s heroes who died serving and I’m dragging Avery, Going Mom, and G-Ma with me!

Running races used to be pretty common a few years ago, but this will be the first in over a year now! Yes, I’m a little nervous, not for the race, but more on if I’ll be able to go #2 beforehand. Gross? Sorry, this is a parenting blog and poop is mentioned a lot!

If you’ve ever been in a race or any event requiring activity, you know how vital using the restroom before the start is to your performance, so hopefully you understand my concern. In the numerous races I’ve run over the years, this is still one of my biggest issues. Pretty crappy (ha ha), huh?

While we’re on the subject, guess who made progress in our baby-led weaning endeavor.

Yep, Avery took her first real bites of food this past Saturday! She had a little carrot and part of a green bean. But I must confess, I didn’t follow the rules as I held the veggies for her as she bit into them. She also held them, but they ended up in her lap.

After taking a bite from the carrot, she experienced her first gag reflex kicking in and was over it in seconds. It wasn’t fun to watch, but she handled it well. It was obvious gagging didn’t phase her as she was reaching for more a minute a later.

Or maybe she was just raising her hand because she had a question; hmmmm.

Despite her gagging, we weren’t 100% positive that she really had a lot of either veggie since she had a lot of spots on her onesie. But, what she left in her diaper the next day removed any doubt; little specks of carrot all over!

Guess I need to connect that diaper sprayer now. I’ve been putting it off since it seemed like she wouldn’t eat anything, but now we know she will and it doesn’t take much!

G-Ma is coming over to spend the night so she can ride with us to the race, so hopefully Avery will show off her new found eating skills. Of course, she also knows how to pet the cat thanks to Going Mom, so maybe she’ll just do that instead.

It’s getting late and I better get some rest, so until next time, enjoy your Memorial Day! And please remember the reason we are able to enjoy this day with our friends and family. I’ll let you know how the race (and bathroom situation) goes!

Are you doing anything special today?

Do you have a certain way of remembering those who died in service?

Going Strong

Going Strong: Get Fit with this Full Body Babywearing Workout

05/25/2014 R.C. Liley 6 Comments

I’ve been waiting for this day for a while a now; the day I could wear Avery on my back with our Onya! Now that she’s 6 months and over 15 pounds, she’s good to go!

Now that wearing her on my back is an option, this opens up new ways to get in a workout while keeping your baby close (really close). Trying to workout while your baby is sleeping can be difficult, and it’s tough if they wake up crying as you’re in the middle of sweating it out. Do you keep going and hope they fall back asleep or end your hard work and get them right away? Not an easy answer…..like most questions regarding babies!

So, I prefer to have Avery with me when working out as much as possible. She sees her daddy being active, and hopefully will want to do the same when she can move around. Plus, it just makes for good bonding! I’m pretty sure Avery has seen me do enough burpees now that she can’t wait to do them herself. Isn’t that right, Avery?

Well, maybe.

Anyway, having your baby on your back enables to you change the loading parameters on your core and legs, allows you to get on the ground for push-ups. With that, two of the best, most functional moves you can do are squats and push-ups.

Nothing fancy schmancy here, just two simple moves that work your entire body. Like I’ve mentioned before, babywearing workouts offer built in progression. As your baby grows, so will your strength. I put together a video demonstration just to show you the moves and hopefully you find it helpful.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_U2NCaUH7w?rel=0&w=420&h=315]

As mentioned in the video, if you want to make this more challenging than 3 rounds, you can just add rounds or make it into a timed “AMRAP” (as many rounds as possible) session. This, of course, is assuming you have a comfortable and happy baby. Also, I don’t advise doing this right after your baby eats, and I’m sure you know why.

Here’s the AMRAP routine that you can print out if you’d like.

And for an even greater challenge, add another 5 or 10 minutes of continuous work and/or hold dumbbells while doing squats.

Always make sure you are warmed up before starting and above all, have fun getting fit with the help of your growing baby!

Check out my past Going Strong posts for more baby bearing fitness ideas:

This post is part of a new fitness link-up party co-hosted by the great guy behind Disillusioned Dad. Check it out and show some support by linking your post related to diet, health, exercise, and/or well being.

Parenting, Pinterest Picks

Going Dad’s Top Ten Pinterest Picks (6): Baby Proof Your Home!

05/24/2014 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

You had to of known this one was coming, right? At this point, I’d expect to make these posts related to what we’re currently experiencing/learning with Avery.

Right now, she can sit up without even trying. Seriously, she’ll wake in the middle of the night and all of the sudden, she’s upright…..and crying.

She eventually tumbles over and will (usually) fall back asleep.

Now the next big milestone is crawling and/or walking, and we need to get our house prepared! Of course there’s always something we’ll miss and won’t find out until she finds it for us, but thankfully Pinterest is here to offer a helping hand.

By the way Avery is able to move around just by rolling and scooting, it’s only a matter of time before she’s getting into anything within reach. If you have a baby that’s about to be or already is becoming more mobile, I hope these top ten picks help get you prepared.

1. 10+ Tips for childproofing. Practical tips and advice we all should read up on!

2. Pict-o-graphs are fun and a great way to have important info all on one giant page. Great for printing! Now I just need a printer…..

3. DIY baby gate? Yes please, the store-bought ones are pricey!!

4. We don’t have stairs in our home, but I’m sure many of you do and would like to NOT put holes anywhere. So, here you go!

5. Pool noodles to the rescue! It may not be the prettiest way to baby proof, but you might as well get used to the fact that having a baby isn’t always pretty! We’re slowly catching on…..

6. I shouldn’t have to explain the reasoning here; babies in trash = no good. I didn’t even think of the trash until seeing this Pin!

7. Well looky here, the pool noodles make another safety appearance. Again, is it pretty? No. But will it save your kid from busting their lip or worse? I sure hope so!

8. Room by room tips on baby proofing. Just skip to the rooms you need and see if there’s any new ideas.

9. Okay, last pool noodle Pin. Only because I have one left before ten. you could really surround your home in pool noodles! Hmmm, wonder if Going Mom would approve?