This week seemed to drag on yet fly by at the same time. How does that work?
I consider “dragging on” and “flying by” as mutually exclusive, but I figure this occurrence has something to do with being a parent. Parents of the world, is this a familiar thing to you?
For the past few weeks, Avery had been showing signs of a soon-to-be crawler. This week she has graduated from rolling as if practicing what to do if caught on fire to being an official crawler! Now when we set her down to get something in the next room, she simply crawls to us.
Leave the room, huh? I’ll find you wherever you go!!
Yeah, guess we should probably get around to that whole baby-proofing thing, huh?
This is sturdy enough to pull down on, right?
I’m fairly certain our nights spent playing with the laser and our cat helped her progress into the crawler she is now. So many benefits from that little red dot emitting tool; cheap entertainment, exercise for cat and baby, and good for learning to crawl!
One day, cat, I’ll crawl and even the playing field….
I have been wanting to build an activity board like the many ones I found on Pinterest, and finally had the chance early this week. On Tuesday, Avery was sleeping a little longer than usual, so I took advantage and went to the garage to put it together.
I am far from a great craftsman, but thankfully it didn’t have to be pretty! I grabbed several wood floor and carpet samples at the Home Depot, bought a chain lock, smiley face push light, light switch (not connected!), plastic chain, and several door stops. I figured the door stops would be her favorite just going off of her use of the ones around our home.
Turns out, my assumptions proved accurate!
I also bought a bell for bicycles that attaches to the handlebars, but don’t have a way to attach it to the board. I need to get another bell like those you see at a bank teller’s window that you just hit, but she seems happy with it as it for the time being.
Yep, I’m happy. Seeeeee?
This week was reasonably productive and busy with having a crawler to watch over, and I can only imagine what adventures we’ll have in the coming week. Whatever they are, I’ll be sure to document them all right here. She’s already bumping her head more, so that will be fun…
Now it’s time to enjoy our Sunday before the looming workweek starts again; it’s a vicious cycle!
Do you ever have those long weeks that somehow also seem to go by?Do I even make sense?
Ever make or want to make an activity board for your little one?
Hey there, happy Hump Day! How’s your week going so far?
Doing good here, and now that it’s summer, the Texas weather is wasting no time on turning up the heat! If you’re looking for a way to cool down with a refreshing drink, look no further than Zevia, the zero calorie soda.
Zevia offers 15 flavors of zero calorie deliciousness and anyone is sure to find a favorite or two…..or more! Not only do I love the company for creating a healthy alternative to those unhealthy sugary sodas or dangerous sugar-free sweeteners, but they are helping to spread the word and fight against childhood obesity.
Here’s a video they have on YouTube that gets the message across pretty well!
As a major supporter in the fight against obesity and raising awareness of what we are putting in our bodies and feeding our children, I love to see companies that help spread the word. And, now that I’m a parent to the most precious little girl ever (Biased? Nahhhh), I know it’ll be tough trying to teach her about all of the processed food we don’t eat when so many of her peers and parents will have it daily. It will be a struggle, but something I will never back down from or give up on. Thanks to companies like Zevia, the fight will be easier.
Avery’s not ready to drink anything other than mommy’s milk right now, but you can rest assured I’ll happily share a can of Zevia on a hot summer day when that time comes. Who says being healthy is boring? I say it’s only what you make of it, and it is far from boring!
Zevia sent a 6-pack sampler for me to review which included their Cream Soda (yes!), Ginger Ale (double yes!), Ginger Root Beer, Grapefruit Citrus, Grape, and Cherry Cola flavors. I’ve tried these in the past, but not since they’ve “cracked the code” with their next gen sweetening system, SweetSmart.
Tangible Happiness!
I was already more than happy with their flavors before, so I had to find out if they could actually get any better. Turns out, they can! Ha ha, get it? Can? Anyone? *Crickets chirping*
Grape – If you like grape soda, you’ll love this one! It’s crisp, bubbly, and not overwhelming. I’m not a huge fan of grape flavored drinks, but if someone offered this to me, I’d happily accept.
Cream Soda – Loved it before, and now I love it even more! Going Mom and I both rank this as one of our favorites! If you’re trying to get off the sugar-laden cream sodas out there, you’ll be surprised to find you’re not sacrificing anything by switching to Zevia’s Cream Soda.
Ginger Ale – I buy this one often, and enjoy it with a little bourbon every now and then. Alone, it’s not a very strong ginger flavor, but it’s light, refreshing, and subtle. Perfect in the Texas heat!
Grapefruit Citrus – Probably my least favorite of the sampler pack, but by no means bad. I actually like the real grapefruit and its slight bitterness, but the slight bitterness in this drink just didn’t do it for me. Like the grape, I’d happily accept if offered to me, but wouldn’t buy this one for myself.
Ginger Root Beer – Ginger + Root Beer = two things I love! Another favorite of ours, and one that I also use with bourbon or a little vodka. This has more of a root beer flavor than anything, but that’s okay with me.
Decisions, decisions….
Cherry Cola – Another winner for me! I used to love Cherry Coke back in my “heavy boy” days and was excited when Zevia first released this flavor. It tastes just like a cherry cola should, and is a perfect replacement for the high calorie, liquid sugar alternative.
Something I found a few years ago was a recipe to make cake with Zevia. The instructions were simple; just use a boxed cake mix and follow the instructions using a can of Zevia for the liquid. If it was yellow cake, Cream Soda was the preferred choice, and if it was chocolate cake, Dr. Zevia (like Dr. Pepper) was suggested.
Well, I’m not a fan of using boxed anything, so I skipped that and tried my own recipe with Cherry Cola. The result was a big hit and Zevia even has it on their website now. Check out my Zevia Cherry Cola Protein Bread recipe here and look around at other creative ways to cook with Zevia.
Kelley and I have been enjoying Zevia for several years now, and have enjoyed watching the health-minded company expand as more people caught on to their guilt-free sodas. Zevia is the only soda we’ve had in our home for a long time, and it was always a treat for us to share a can during lunch when we both worked together.
When Kelley was pregnant with Avery, we anxiously counted each passing week of her pregnancy, and it became a weekly tradition to have a celebratory Zevia to cheers with. Every Wednesday, the completion of another week pregnant, I would pack either a can of Cream Soda or Ginger Root Beer Zevia for us to share. For the major milestones, I’d pack 2 full cans for us each to enjoy!
We loved the fact that Zevia was an extremely delicious safe drink to enjoy while Kelley was pregnant, and it will always have a place in our heart when thinking back to those 9 months leading up when we first met Avery.
Ready for a tasty treat at work!
Now that I’m a stay-at-home parent, we aren’t able to share a Zevia at lunch, but every now and then, I still pack a can for Kelley to enjoy on Wednesday. It makes me happy just picturing the smile on her face as she opens her lunch bag to see a Zevia waiting for her to enjoy.
Another reason to love Zevia is that they have agreed to give 5 lucky readers a 6-pack of their wonderfully refreshing and guilt-free soda. Winners can select the flavor of their choice. All you have to do to enter is complete the Rafflecopter entries below.
Make sure to check out Zevia on the following social media sites and look for great deals and coupons that they’re always sharing! Or go to their site and print off a coupon now!
Geez, who needs a time machine for the future when becoming a parent “apparently” yields the same effect? Avery is now over the half-year mark and is becoming more active (and vocal!) every day.
On my 6 Memories post, I anticipated that one of my 7 memories for her 7th month would include her crawling, but it hasn’t happened yet. Seriously, the 8 month post is sure to have a memory of her crawling!
I think I’ll just stay in this position and do nothing else.
Scooting, military crawling, and forward thrusting while on her hands and knees are all there and fool us into thinking “this is it” every time. Soon, baby, soon.
With my 30th birthday and first Father’s Day behind us now, hopefully the rest of June will be a bit calmer and we can focus on our little girl crawling. Oh, and she’ll be helping me clean up our neighborhood too.
If you haven’t entered to win an awesome Outback baby carrier from Onya Baby, click here and do it now! I wear Avery in our Onya everyday and it allows us both to get quality father-daughter bonding time.
Okay, lets get started…
1. Most of our nights now have us in the living room before your bath time where we play on the floor. Depending on how the day went, you can be really fussy or a happy baby. When you’re happy, I will hold you in the air and let you jump on my stomach or just try to entertain you with toys.
As it gets later, or you just had a rough day, getting on the floor with you does nothing for your temperament. This is when we break out the laser and get Lou (the fat black cat) involved to help us keep you calm. It works well, and “Fatty” gets some exercise.
Don’t move, you might scare it off!
2. Just recently, you have started grabbing at my face while I’m trying to feed you a bottle. I start to make weird noises and act like I’m going to eat your hand and you laugh every time. It’s cute, and no matter how ridiculously annoyed I am that you won’t take the bottle, I forget all of my frustrations and just give you a kiss on the head.
As an aside, you also grab at anything and everything in your sight; other people’s faces included. You may or may not have grabbed a bottle of beer as mommy was trying to take a drink and spilled it on the both of you. But don’t worry, the beer was safe!
Daddy’s face can be boring, I’ll grab at Paul’s.
3. We were in our first race together and won 1st place! Sure it was a small race with very unenthusiastic competition, but we rocked it, baby! Thanks to G-Ma, Paul, and Mommy, we had the best spectators out there, and they made the day even more special.
Besides it being our first race, we’ll never forget this day because of how much we stood out from the rest of the cheerful attendees. 🙂
4. You got to experience your first trip to a brewery! The same day we won the 5k, we went with G-Ma, Paul, and Mommy to the Martin House Brewery in Fort Worth as part of my 30th birthday celebration. I had more than my fair share of good beer, and luckily mommy drove us home safely. I did help direct her out of our tight parking spot though!
As you can see, you were thrilled to be there! Even with live music and clusters of people drinking and talking all around you, you managed to sleep quite well.
Actually, when live music stopped is when you seemed to wake up; coincidence? We’ll never know!
5. You had been to Nana and Papa’s pool before, but this past month was your official first dip in the pool. Mommy, You, and I all walked down to our neighborhood pool where you happily splashed around in the baby pool just like it was your own giant bathtub.
You must’ve really enjoyed yourself playing, because you were out before we made the walk back home.
We brought you back again on my birthday and you still loved the water like before. I have a feeling we’ll be making many trips to the pool since you obviously enjoy each time we go; even if you’re “too cool for pool”.
6. Avery, caffeine and you don’t make for good times……ever! Along with all of the other firsts the same day as our race and trip to the brewery, mommy had more than one cup of coffee for the first time since pregnancy and it became apparent that night. Caffeinated boobs are lethal!
You woke up crying more times than you had in a long time, and despite mommy’s many attempts, you wouldn’t stay asleep very long. This, in turn, resulted in starting my birthday earlier than any of us had planned (or wanted), but the day ended up being great. I even got to try out your crib with you in it for the first time.
Since then, mommy has been keeping her coffee consumption to one cup or less per day. Phew!
7. You ate your first solid food! We started to introduce you to solids through baby-led weaning, and at first we felt like you’d never eat what we gave you.
But after several encouraging commenters on the blog, we kept at it and eventually you took your first bites. You also gagged a little, but that was expected, and you didn’t let that bother you a bit!
As I write this, we are waiting on a hair chair mommy ordered since what we were using wasn’t working out, so hopefully we’ll have the new one soon and start feeding you healthy foods once more.
Okay, so I’ve exhausted my “7 things”, but I must add one more thing. You are becoming more vocal about EVERYTHING! Yes, if we so much as think about stepping on foot out of your sight, you’ll turn into hysterics and scream as loud as humanly possible. The sound resembles that of a cat screeching when you step on its tail mixed with a very frustrated baby bear trying to growl. Not a pretty sound.
From what I gather, this isn’t ending soon, so I guess we’ll just deal with it as it comes.
We are hopeful to see some crawling action before the 8th month rolls around, so we’ll keep working with that laser!
At what age did your kid(s) start crawling?
What about when they found their loud voice?
An at-home dad on a mission to keep it real when it comes to food, fun, and raising a healthy, happy family.
