For some time now, I’ve observed that right around the time my oldest goes through a growth spurt, we start to see really wonky behavior: crankiness, sleeping more, eating like there’s no tomorrow, and the like.

Though I saw, and still see, this with him, being that he was our only child, it didn’t occur to me to look for this same tie-in with our newest arrivals. But, boy, something is definitely in the air! My youngest has shown signs of regressing to certain behaviors we’ve not seen since shortly after his arrival here. He’s throwing mild tantrums, and being whiny, clingy and verbally very cranky.

My daughter, who lost another tooth today, has also displayed some undesirable... more

In this corner we have Livi- Aka the powerful princess weighing in at 30 lbs. This reining champion of the toddler world is fast, smart and sneaky. Cute as a button she can charm her opponent with a sly little smile. This beauty is known to outwit and outrun her opponent against the ropes. Undefeated and undeniably cute.

And In this Corner we have Lauri Aka Mama, Mommy or Mom. Weighing in at 132 lbs and in need of fresh manicure and a good haircut. This Mom is relatively new to the parenting scene and is no match for the powerful toddler. She... more

My daughter has been testing my capacity for patience lately. I consider myself pretty easy going, laid back, not too high strung. I seem to have zero patience these days. My daughter is a toddler who’s newest favorite words are No and Mine. She says no for everything, even for something she wants. She will say ask for Juice, I give her juice she screams “No Juice” so I take it away and she screams “ Juice” again… this scene plays itself out over every little thing these days . She turns the smallest thing into a power struggle and... more

When I take Livi shopping I typically allow her to hold something while shopping in the store to keep her occupied. I will typically grab something from the baby or toy section- something that makes noise and that will keep her busy. Then before leaving we go and put it back and we have never had any issues with this system until the purple ball. We say bye-bye toy and off we go to check out. Recently I allowed her to carry a purple ball while shopping because she recently learned to recognize her colors and purple just happens to be her favorite.... more