Tag Archives: growing up

Toddler Smiles: Fake vs Real

05/13/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

At two and half years old, our toddler daughter is catching on to what it means when we say “smile.” We’ve only had the camera in her face since day one, so it only makes sense that her smiles are coming around.

toddler, smiling, cute, baby, parenting — Nope, not smiling!! What is this place?!

She’s come a long way in developing her smile since then, and even knows how to fake a smile. Like, for instance…

toddler, smile, smiles, cute, kids, parenting

Still cute, but definitely not a smile. We only hope she faked it on purpose!

Going through the recent pics we’ve taken, I have found several smiles that are fake and some that are genuine. Of course, after scrolling through, “Blog post!” sprung into my head. And now, here we are.

Let’s move on and see the fake vs real smiles from our toddler as of late.

smiles, toddler, cute, family

It’s not a super wide-grinned happiness smile, but this is in fact a genuine smile Going Mom caught on camera. A little unsure? Yeah, but real nonetheless.

Another real one here. Helping Daddy cook in the kitchen is a surefire way to put a smile on her face.

Fakers!! This is a result of her getting tired of me telling her to sit still and smile. I called her out on the fake smile which resulted in….

toddler, cute, eyes

Here boo-boos on her lip and face are from falling face first while riding her WOOM 1 Balance Bike. She wasn’t even moving, just sitting on it! She’s recovering fast and just has a little scab on her lip left now.

A photo posted by RC Liley (@going_dad) on May 6, 2016 at 3:09pm PDT

No question, wearing her new beach robe equals an obvious real, albeit cheesy, grin.

This is one I’m not sure on. It has both real and fake qualities. Maybe she’s unsure as well?

Real. Playtime in the backyard with Mommy always yields a happy girl.

This one seems rather forced, but I’d like to say playtime with Daddy in the backyard also makes her happy. I’m playing the ignorance card if it’s fake and just going for real here.

Okay, this is forced. Confirmed fake toddler smile here.

Phew, I think Mommy joined Daddy in the fake smile from our toddler club. Still both beautiful girls though!

And Mommy wins it back with an excited and real smile! She’s keeping her eyes on a spiderweb on our back porch roof which spooks her out.

Subtle, but it’s a half real smile from a cute little girl. I don’t think we even asked her to smile for this one. Oh wait, we ALWAYS ask for a smile.

toddler, smile

This is a Happy-to-be-me-and-free genuine smile! Running around like a wild child shouting “We’re having fun!” Love this picture!

A photo posted by RC Liley (@going_dad) on May 9, 2016 at 1:18pm PDT

Fake. She was doing it just for the NuttZo. Can’t blame her though!

As you can see, she’s getting it down. Soon she’ll perfect the fake smile and we won’t be able to tell what’s real and what’s not. Then we’re in big trouble. As if her bottom lip weren’t enough!

Luckily, we’re seeing more real than fake smiles from our precious toddler, and hopefully it stays that way. One thing I know is that our whole family smiles when we’re together.

magnesium, deficiency, anxiety, salt bath

Does your kid have a fake quality they know how to use?

Can you spot it or does it fool you sometimes?

Life, Parenting

Moving On From The Big D

05/07/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

I think it’s safe to say we have moved on from the big “D”, and no, I don’t mean Dallas. Any Mark Chestnutt fans? I’m not talking about the Big D Texas Marathon either.

big d, dallas, diapers, parenting

Despite the fact that I live in the suburbs of Dallas and have run many marathons in the past, I despise going into the city mainly because of the constant construction and traffic so it’s just not appealing to me. That, and my long distance running days are long gone……by choice.

Oh yeah, I’m most certainly not talking about the other Big D know as Divorce. Although I know a great guy who moved right past his Big D and is now happier than ever, I’m perfectly happy as is. Thanks to Going Mom for being such an amazing wife and mother! Anyway, the Big D I’m referring to would be diapers.

YES!

Okay, technically, No, because we still rely on Honest Company Training Pants overnight and sometimes when running errands, but we have definitely moved on from cloth diapers. I shared about our cloth diaper collection/routine on this post, and while I highly recommend that route over disposables, it’s still a lot of work.

Avery and I have many memories of putting diapers together. She would sit in her Mamas & Papas Baby Snug or on the bed in our guest room as I put the inserts into each diaper and I called out each color to her blank baby stare.

Helping daddy put together cloth diapers

It seemed like it wasn’t getting through at the time, but now she’s a color-naming and counting whiz! Remember, parents, always talk to your babies! Their entire growth and development depends on hearing you talk to them.

She’s far from perfectly potty trained (I think I could even use some help sometimes), but it’s mainly undies from here on out. We have seen some impressive “snakes” followed by her announcing the movement simply by saying “Hiissssssss!’ and I *insert Chandler’s from Friends way of speaking* couldn’t be more proud of our daughter. As for her, I think she’s slightly annoyed with me…

potty training, toddler, poop, funny, humor, parenting

Guess I can’t blame her. Sorry, Avery!

While we’re on the topic of potty talk, our 2.5 year old is already learning anatomy. She’s been aware that her and mommy have vaginas for a while now, but when she tried to say the same about daddy, I had to quickly let her know otherwise. For reference, here’s a recent conversation we had….

Me: Okay, Avery, we need to wash your hands before lunch.
Avery: Mommy and Avery have vagina, daddy has peanut.
Me: —————–
Avery: Penis
Me: So we scrub our hands with soap for 20 seconds…..

And now we hear this several times a day. At least she no longer says peanut. Is that a good thing?

Meh, whatever the case, it’s bittersweet moving on from the diaper part of parenting. It’s awesome because, diapers, but sad because that means growing up. As always, it’s too fast. That’s one cliche that will stand the test of time as truth.

But we have plenty of fun ahead and she constantly reminds us how we will always be new parents each and every day as she continues to drop new bombs on us. Unfortunately, that’s a literal statement at times.

Do you remember the day you realized diapers were done?

If you still use them, are you impatiently anticipating the day?

Food, Going Healthy, Life, Parenting

Healthy Cooking With Daddy

05/02/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

Finally, the time has come to teach our little girl the ways of healthy cooking! In our house, pants are optional….

healthy cooking with daddy, toddler, kids, teaching, food

I’ve thought of this before she was even born, and it warms my heart now that it’s becoming a reality. Oh, wait, that’s my shirt on fire!!

Okay, all better. So she’s not exactly ready to start slicing and dicing ingredients, but with a little help, she can add spices pretty well.

healthy cooking with daddy, toddler, kids, teaching, food

This was us making a lunch for Mommy to bring to work. Now if she calls sweating from a little too much cayenne, I can blame Avery. She knows that we add fresh ground black pepper to all of our meals and made sure she had a “hand” in that part too.

I had to hold the dish lower since her new non-slip Froggie Step Stool is not quite high enough for her to reach the counter. It’s called the Mommy’s Helper Step Up Froggie Stool, but looks like we just changed that to Daddy’s Helper, huh? Time for a product name change!

Product naming conventions aside, our growing toddler is using her stool for potty training and cooking training. Yes, we use a butter knife to stir in this house, but don’t worry, I was supervising.

I usually tackle several meal preps at a time, so I took the time to get her dinner plate ready as she posed for the camera. Or maybe she was watching the cat walk by….

Either way, she gets so excited if I ask her to help me, and even though she has a way’s to go before I can really trust her to do a few simple things, this is how it starts. For anyone who has cooked with kids, I’m sure you know they are more likely to eat the healthy food if they have a roll in helping prepare/cook it. This includes quality control of whatever we make.

And the verdict?

It’s an underwear-iffic win for dinner tonight!

Avery continues to put a smile on our face every day, and she seems to learn/grow more faster than we can keep up with. Soon, she’ll be stating things to us that we never knew. To those with older kids, when should we expect this?

When time allows, get your kids in the kitchen and explore a new food/recipe together. It will pay dividends well into the future in the form of bonding, healthy eating, and cooking skills.