Toddler tantrums and more

RaeRae turned 14 months old on Friday. 14 months! She has been walking for about a month now, and practically running at times! She has such a cute little walk too. She looks like she's walking really fast and her little bum shakes while she has her arms out in the air in front of her and her head up high. If I knew how to put videos on my blog, I'd put one here to show you.

4/6/12: 14 months! Eating out at our favorite place: Chipotle!

She's growing every day. To date, these are the signs she knows:

1. Mama (1-handshape on lower chin)
2. Daddy (1-handshape on forehead)
3. All-done (sticks both arms up in the air)
4. More (1-handshape for right hand and 5-handshape on left hand and makes the movement)
5. Eat (1-handshape on mouth)
6. Milk (uses two hands to sign milk)
7. Baby (5-handshapes for both hands and waves her arms and body like she's rocking a baby, but hands aren't touching)
8. Cat (1-handshape on cheek with right movement)
9. Dog (5-handshape on right leg--she will sign "dog" whenever she sees a dog--whether outside, in a book, a picture, or if we are watching 101 Dalmatians)
10. Bird (looks like she's making the letter "F" but the movement for bird, not on the mouth area but in the air)
11. Duck (same location she signs for bird but with all fingers)
12. Cow (5-handshape in a waving motion over her head)
13. Caterpillar (5-handshape in the air, moving like a caterpillar does)
14. Thank-you (does it slowly)
15. Bed (5-handshape on ear; knows exactly what it means too)
16. Waves bye-bye to mean bye-bye/see you later
17. Some other signs she has copied from us but consistently on her own her: bear, water, car...from what I can remember. She seems to pick up signs each day.

Spoken words she says/knows (from what my husband has told me):

1.  Mama
2. Dada
3. Thank-you ("dank-ooo')
4. Hi (More like "ayeeeeeee")
5. Nana (for my mom)
6. Bapa (for my grandpa)
7. Papa (for my dad; sometimes can sound like Bapa too)
8. Uh-oh

As for behaviors and things she knows,

1. She can squat and stand up from a sitting position
2. The door goes open and shut
3. Caps to my chapstick goes on and off
4. The button on the air filter can be pressed to turn on and off
5. Fake crying to get attention
6. Sticker goes on paper
7. Spoons and forks are for getting food and eating (and also throwing on the floor...oh joy)
8. Knows how to drink water from my water bottle by sucking it up through the straw
9. Baby bottle feeds the baby on its mouth
10. Eggs go in the Easter basket (from recent Easter egg hunts)
11. Knows how to turn the pages to books and signs what she sees in the pictures if she knows the signs
12. Socks and shoes go on the feet (even though she can't put them on herself yet)
13. Toothbrush goes in the mouth (and does not like it one bit, only if she does it herself will she tolerate it)
14.  I'm sure there's more but this list is from what I can clearly think of. 

And of course the biggest one: toddler tantrums!! If I take away something she can't play with or do something she doesn't like, she will throw a huge fit. She will sit down on the floor on purpose, shake her legs, and scream. I'm still learning on what best works for us in these situations. But lately I've just let her cry it out or I will distract her with something else. I'll occasionally tell her something like "I know you want to play with [this object/toy] right now, but it isn't safe. Let's find something else."  What do you do? What works or doesn't work for you when your toddler throws a tantrum?

ALL DONE MAMA! Not so happy.

Hubby and I were talking the other day and I told him, "We took all those classes when I was pregnant on how to take care of a baby, but now we have a toddler. We didn't take any classes for that, so I'd like to research on what's out there that could help us." He agreed. I'm currently about to begin the book "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" by Harvey Karp and Paula Spencer. 


Enjoy these pics of RaeRae from the last month or so!

Natural House Cleaning Products

This morning while going through blog emails in my inbox, I came across a post by Tots and Me on Natural House Cleaning Products. I was excited to read about this review because I always wanted to learn more about eco-friendly cleaning products for the home. I've seen some products on EcoMom but never really checked it out and wanted to learn more about them.


Please go read Tots and Me's blog post here. She did an excellent review on three products and there's a giveaway over there too!!

Giveaway ends today 3/31: Bamboobies and Undercover Mama

Hi all!


Just wanted to share with you this amazing giveaway going on at Tots and Me blog! It ends today so get your entries in!


I have 4 UnderCover Mamas and love them! They are like tanks except without the straps and they hook or loop to your nursing bras so you have tummy coverage but still get the support of your nursing bra. Typically nursing tanks don't really give you the support you need. 


I have yet to try Bamboobies but I'm sure they are great too! They are bamboo nursing pads, soft against your skin and very absorbent.


Please click here to go to the giveaway.

Some updates

Here are some updates from the Cole-Regis household:

-RaeRae is WALKING!! It started with a few steps but then when she made that "connection," she started going everywhere! It is a lot of fun to watch her walk around and explore in a way she didn't know before. She is already trying to run though. She does like to chase us and be chased already, even when it's time to change a poopy diaper.
-RaeRae is almost 14 months and we are still strong with breastfeeding.
-RaeRae is sleeping in her own room for the first half of the night. It's nice to have our own room back for a few hours at least.
-I've been working more outside the home as a sub teacher. We finally found a part-time nanny/sitter who signs and is experienced.
-Next month, hubby and I are celebrating 10 years together! Still thinking of what to do. We may have a sitter and go out to dinner.
-I've started reading more. Just finished "The Help," and next is "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." I want to read "The Hunger Games" though and waiting to borrow a hard copy from a friend.
-Scored an ASL interpreter for the Great Cloth Diaper Change on Saturday, April 21st, 2012! Very excited about this! Are you going? Last year we missed it because it was on Easter weekend and we were out of town. GroVia is having a contest if you use one of their diapers for the event and submit a picture to them along with your ticket info. I am thinking about participating in that contest.

That's it for now!

Babbles and Words

Today (and in the past few days) RaeRae was such as babbler--in both ASL and spoken language. She points at everything and tries to copy some signs. 
The cats are known as "dog" and so are the other animals in her books. It's an easy sign and her favorite.
Yesterday morning, I signed to her, "where is the baby?" She looked over to the other side of the room where her baby doll was and then looked back at me. I signed "come bring the baby to mama." And you know what she did? She crawled over to the baby doll, smiled, picked it up and crawled back to me while holding the baby doll in her hand! I was so impressed.
A little while later, I read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" book. She tried signing "caterpillar" with the 5-handshape while looking the book independently a little while later. 
Last night, we met with some friends and she signed "baby" over and over in her own way. It was so adorable. She has this Snow White baby doll and was giving our friends the doll and signed "baby." Then she'd take the doll away, hold it for a minute, then give it back to them. Like a "back and forth" game.
She also signed "kitty" at dinner time because the kitties were walking around nearby. 
This morning at breakfast, she signed "eat" while sitting in her high-chair while I was prepping her breakfast. 
Today while Daddy took her out to a local game store, he asked her opinion on which box of Warhammer minitatures to buy by asking "this one" or "that one." She nodded her head and said "no" at the same box and signed "yes" at the other box...consistently! DH and the store owner were impressed. But when they got home to show me what they bought, she nodded her head "no," as if to say...nope, daddy.

Then tonight at bedtime after Daddy read a bed-time story, I asked if she wanted another book or bedtime. She signed "bed" and put her head on my shoulder. So precious.


I love watching her language grow. Currently she can sign (but not all of them consistently): eat, baby, all done, Mama, bed, kitty, dog (her favorite), thank you, daddy...from the top of my head.
As for spoken words, she knows: mama, dada, uh-oh, and no.

A special review: Pitterpat shoes!

Here's the birthday girl!

For her birthday, my daughter RaeRae wore a pair of one of the most adorable baby shoes I've ever seen!! They matched her birthday party theme and outfit perfectly!!
Allow me to introduce Sharie, owner and founder of Pitterpat. She is a work-at-home-mama (WAHM) to two little girls, ages 5 and 3 and lives with her family in Montana. She started making shoes in 2009 after her second daughter was born. It first started as requests here and there (such as on Diaper Swappers). Then finally on October 1st, 2010, her business was launched on Hyena Cart. It has expanded to many congos on Hyena Cart, Etsy, and some online and local shops as well.

I first learned of Pitterpat through a friend last fall. I was in the planning stages of RaeRae's 1st birthday party and announced on Facebook that the party theme was going to be The Very Hungry Caterpillar ("VHC" for the rest of this blog post)by Eric Carle. 
My friend Lisa said she bought a pair of baby shoes for a friend as a baby shower gift and saw some VHC shoes on the site. She was immediately impressed with the high quality of the shoes, especially for those babies/toddlers who are just starting to walk. So I took a look-see at Pitterpat's facebook page.

I contacted Sharie via email last October and told her what I wanted. Sharie immediately responded (I think in the same day!) with such exuberant energy! She had a pair available on her Hyena shop (which you can find here by the way) and showed me a couple of options. After some email exchanges, I got on her waiting list and was not expecting to get shoes for another month. Turns out she had another customer that wanted very similar shoes that weekend and it was easy enough to make another pair at the same time. We got the shoes I think sometime during that next week!


When I got these shoes in the mail, I have to tell you...I just LOVED them!! They were sooooooo adorable and I immediately squealed! They came in a soft, breathable bag with directions for how to clean them. I was beyond impressed with the quality. They are soft sole shoes with scuff guards for both crawling and walking tots. They were so easy to put on RaeRae's feet too, not like those difficult shoes you wrangle to get the foot into...and also sized to fit your tot's feet well! Sharie has info on sizing here.

And I must say...after browsing her listings on her Esty and Hyena Cart, as well as her facebook pictures, I just want all of them! They are sooooo adorable! She can pretty much make anything. If you had a personal request, she has custom slots on her shop so you can request certain prints, colors, and sizes. 

She not only makes shoes, but knits outfits too. I encourage you to go "like" her facebook page, tell her I sent you, and check out her shop! You will not be disappointed. I'm sure these would make great baby shower gifts if you just need another reason to get some. Instead of buying baby shoes from a corporate store, buying shoes from Pitterpat is also supporting a family directly.

I copied/pasted a few pictures from her page and sharing with you here. Aren't they all so beautiful?

Birthday girl

The birthday girl!

This is an overdue post. But I kind of wanted to wait until both birthday parties were over to write about it. We had two parties--one in our home with our local friends (most kids around RaeRae's age) and another in Sacramento with our family and friends there. 

So my darling RaeRae turned ONE on February 6, 2012! I can't believe a year has passed since she was in my tummy and I was getting ready to give birth to such a miracle. I love her soooo much! I had so much fun planning her first birthday party(ies). 


February 4, 2012:


The first birthday party (in our home) was sooo much fun! It was nice to have an all signing environment. Nearly everyone was Deaf or an interpreter or involved with Deaf Education, or a CODA (Child of Deaf Adult). I never had that type of party growing up, so in a way, it felt like the party was for me too. 


DH and I decorated our condo the day/night before since I knew we would not have any time in the morning. The party was to begin about 11am, and it ended up going until almost 2pm. I was finally excited to put up all the decorations I spent months planning: 

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar wall decals we bought from Target
2. Handmade butterflies that hung from the ceiling (all supplies bought at Dollar Tree store; cheap and easy)
3. About 25 floor balloons
4. Table decor for the fruits from the story
5. Very Hungry Caterpillar cake-pops we made the night before the party (and sooo delicious!)
6. And more...

The birthday girl woke up about 7:30 in the morning, instead of her usual 6ish. So that meant no morning nap.  Guests arrived at various times between 11 and 12. Kids played, mamas chatted, and we ate fruit and lumpia. 
When it was time for cupcakes, we gave RaeRae one of the green cupcakes because I did not want to give her red food dye (and had failed at making natural red food dye the day before) from the cupcake-cake our wonderful friend Jane made. The cupcake-cake turned out fabulous! RaeRae was intrigued with the candles but not so much with the cake. She took her time and then eventually took a bit of liking to the frosting and cake. 

Now here are all the pictures from Party #1!

Party favors

Action shot of party: you can see the hanging butterflies and sort of see the caterpillar balloons and wall decals

Table set-up (missing cake-pops and butterfly snacks)

Close-up of butterfly snack for kids

Close-up of cake-pops

Close-up of hanging butterflies

Waiting for her cupcake!

Proud parents...let's get ready to sing "Happy Birthday!"

Is that for me?

It's for me!

Hm...

A bit unsure...

She sort of started liking it...

Collage pic

Tried to get a pic of ALL 12 kids! Impossible but fun.

Another collage pic my friend put together.

Sweet pic of RaeRae with friends

Cute pic of birthday girl with her daddy

Gifts time!

Totally cheesing it up for the camera. She had a fun party!

Then she took a 2.5 hour nap!! Party was a definite success and everyone enjoyed themselves!

February 11, 2012 (Party #2)


This party began at 3pm and lasted until about 5pm. I brought all the decor from last week's party for this party so it was nearly a breeze setting up. It was more fast-paced because RaeRae was tired and some of our family had to leave early. 
She opened gifts about 3:30pm and boy, was she spoiled! Lots of clothes, some toys, and a princess Coupe! She would not have anything to do with the red cupcake cake that my sister made using red beet powder for natural food coloring. She did an awesome job making those cupcakes. But RaeRae wanted to eat some of my cupcake when I held it so I gave it to her. She mostly just liked the frosting off her fingers. 


RaeRae was awake from 12pm to 8pm on this day and she slept so hard that night. It was a nice, sweet party. Nice to know she is loved. Here are pictures!

The food! And awesome cupcake cake my sister made.

Having fun opening gifts

Clapping after we sang "Happy Birthday!"

Here mama, have a taste!

Gave her my cupcake since she didn't want the red one.

Was sooo tired!

She got really into it!

The neat Princess Coupe she got! She LOVES it! From Nana and Papa