Things to Do

I took my little one when he was almost 3 months (he was also 5 weeks early) we loved it. We live in Florida so have stayed away while its been really hot but will go again soon. Ive got a portable play pen with a shade on it so he can stay in there for some shade. Its hard carrying all the stuff and a baby on my own so prob skip the umbrella for a litte bit until hes walking. Take plenty of fl... More

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My baby had a lot fun with balloons! He used to move his legs and loved to see how the balloons were moving too.

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My 5m loved table spoons and kitchen utensils, plus riding around on me in a carrier chewing on said spoons just watching all the stuff I did. Lots of songs and narrating our day.

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He is down to 1 nap. Sleeps around noon for an hour and a half & goes to bed about 6:30pm. Seems like I'm on the same page with what everyone is saying. Just need to figure out how to swing next weekend out of town. A bit anxiety provoking. Where do toddlers even sleep when out of town. I'd be surprised if he used a pack n play.

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My 3 yo still uses pack n play when we travel. We got the peapod and she screamed when we put her into it. Also have tried intex inflatable toddler bed and she won’t sleep in it either. Side note-she outgrew pnp at 18 months due to height.

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Don’t buy junk because you feel like you have to. You’ll hate it as a parent yourself. Applesauce pouches, temporary tattoos, mini play-dohs. Those are the only things that I give because they’re enjoyed by wide age range, serve a purpose, and then go away without much guilt.

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Are you doing a theme for the party? Look on Pinterest. I’m not into goodie bags...I’ve managed to leave all of my friends’ kid’s parties avoiding them. For my son’s first birthday a few months ago I threw him a dinosaur themed party and went with an idea I found on Pinterest. I ordered some small-ish plastic dinosaur toys and had an “adopt a dinosaur” cage. Most of the kids took them home and ... More

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Exposure therapy is the most effective at eradicating fear. Take him now and be patient. He may be freaking out because he wants to do things himself but can't. It may also be because it's cold so maybe try a long sleeve rash guard to help a bit.

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I would try to respect his fears or apprehensions, i mean not pushing him to go to the deep for example. If the pool has steps let him play there just as he plays in the bath. Let him get confortable with the water and everything about it. The beach is a little scary because older kids scream a lot!

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Ok another thing to try, ask if he wants to go in five minutes or two minutes...or something like that! Give him a choice of when he leaves.

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I have always found it to be an ice cream when I want to go. or something tasty to eat or drink. Now I simply call him, I say "let's go" and he already knows that some prize awaits him for listening and obeying.

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My daughter is 3 and a half. She loves Super Monsters (Netflix), Mickey Mouse Club House, and Team Umi Zoomi (Hulu). I try to stay away from PJ Masks (which she loves), because of the behavior of the "villians". They are very whiney and annoying. ;)

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My little is into machinery, so we watch a series called Mighty Machines by Canadian Public Broadcasting. 3 seasons, available from several channels on YouTube. We've been watching since little was 8m and I'm still learning things, and my now 2yr knows more about tow trucks than I do. Lol.

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The Kissing Hand! I found this book before my daughter started preschool, and then her Kindergarten teacher made it a part of their first week of Elementary School, too.

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Not a book, but Daniel Tiger has episodes and help with this.

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We used to take our oldest out when it was clear he needed a break but one day I noticed our son was intentionally being bad to get taken out. After going on a long plane ride to Orlando we realized that our kid is very capable of sitting for long periods of time without having to run around. So now we treat church kinda like an airplane ride. You are stuck in this spot for the next hour or so ... More

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Thank you soo much for your feedback!!! And yes we do try to rotate. And not really let the kids play with the “church toys” outside of church just so they don’t get bored!! We will definitely try this!! Thank you!!

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Look @ OC parenting, Kidsguide magazine, tiny oranges, sandy toes and popscicles blog... we live in vacation land! Also, go check out the airplanes take off at John Wayne

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I got a pack of colored pipe cleaners and let my 2 1/2 yr old thread them through a colander. 😂 So simple while I’m cooking.

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I found a book called I heart my little assholes

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Cecilia Ahern is chicky-Flicky & I’ve enjoyed her books. A fabulous book is Reading People by Anne Bogel - she has a wonderful web site above - Jessica Turner at The Mom Creative has wonderful book recs. If you like mysteries, I like Catherine Coulter’s FBI & the Brit in the FBI series and the Linda Fairstein series.

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Im 28 now, but when I was a child my parents sent me to overnight summer camps. Only one every year. Those were some of the best years of my life, and I think my parents were able to send me on some sort of scholarship, because you’re right, they are super expensive, and i highly doubt someone in their field of work could’ve afforded it. I plan to send my son when he gets older. He will no doub... More

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I’m just finishing to read “Simplicity Parenting” book and it makes me feel no worries, I love its idea of not adding many scheduled activities to kids’ life (whenever possible).

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The board is awesome. I don’t have enough time to make one. We actually just stop by to latch, lock, and handle section at Home Depot to get our input. It is about 50 items at toddler height for her to practice. We do language too with open/closed, in/out, on/off. She loves it, it is free, it doesn’t clutter our house, and the employees haven’t minded one bit.

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A family made one for our little lady and she loved it. I think every kid is different, but our daughter never messed with real locks and what not. We have some thing she can take off too via Velcro (like a small calculator and flashlight)

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Weird I actually enjoy the app and reading everything.. I didn’t get this much information with my older son so I actually enjoy reading the wonder weeks and knowing when we enter a leap. 🤣

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I feel that it profits off of basic knowledge. Typically babies get fussy when learning knew things/growth spurts/reaching milestones. Most babies roll between 4-5 months. Now we select most of the weeks between this time and say the baby will be fussy because they are having a "leap".

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We took both right about 3. They were both very interested in the movie we took them to so were a little better about sitting still. My recommendation is to try and hit a mid week matinee or a dollar theater flick first in case it all goes south and you have to leave!

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It sucks every single time you have to leave your baby, especially for those long shifts. But remember that there is only one mom and your baby will never love anyone else the way they love you! Babies are a lot more resilient than we give them credit for- it's the mamas that can't handle stuff!

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I work 17 hour shifts my kids still want to see and cuddle with me the most every day.

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My oldest we did a cake and it was the first time she had sugar really. (That went out the window with number 2), just some friends and family came over. The 2nd child shared a party with big sister since their birthdays are only 3 days apart. Any celebration you choose to do should be about you surviving the 1st year of parenthood. The baby will have no clue what’s going on and no memory of... More

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On my daughter's first birthday the three of us (her, dad, & I) went to the zoo and a random restaurant on the way home. We had a birthday party for her on the weekend that was entirely too big but she loved it. We hosted at our house and had a theme (jungle). After the craziness was over, I took her to build a bear and we built her a bear together. That will be our tradition. The firs... More

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Lol just enjoy your kid. Mine growls all the time. There will be a day when they are fully grown that you will miss these silly things

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My daughter was doing the same thing. But when she did it to my husband he did it right back to her and on and on. She didn’t like it and stopped doing it. I didn’t think that was going to work he does that to my 11 year old and it works on her too.

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30 min or longer. They tell me when they are ready to come out

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I set a 5, 10, or 15 minute timer at the beginning of the bath and make sure that he knows ahead of time. He'll sometimes throw a fit, but will still comply with putting away the toys. So, he has until the timer goes off, then we clean up the toys, then get out. I use the green timer cube off Amazon (has 1, 5, 10, and 15 minute timers). We use that cube for a lot of things.

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