Bathtime Rave!

Daddy always comes up with the most fun activities!  He started performing light shows for Ivan by swinging and dancing around with glow-sticks ... you know, the ones you could buy for $5 a piece during firework shows or concerts to wear around your neck as a kid!  In the spirit of trying to be fun myself, I ordered a tube of necklace length glow-sticks from Amazon for one of Daddy's Christmas presents (who knew how easy they are to find!) and the sporadic light shows continued ...

One night I was giving Ivan a bath and of course, I am not as entertaining as Daddy can be, nor was I ready for him to come out of the tub ... then a LIGHT BULB went OFF (in my head)!  Light show in the tub!!!  And that's how the bath time rave was born.  See!  Mommies can be fun too!  

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Ivan swimming in the tub with a beach ball + glow-stick; and singular glow-sticks in varying lengths (all from Five Below)

After my Amazon purchase of the tube of necklace length glow-sticks I have also had luck finding glow-sticks at Target (in the $1 bins near the front door) as well as super cool glow-in-the-dark sticks, balls, etc at Five Below stores.

Teething SUX

They say every child teethes at a different pace ... Luckily Ivan got his teeth relatively fast and was not as miserable as I have heard some can be.  Throughout the process we experienced all the typical symptoms: mouthing & biting EVERYTHING, irritability, red cheeks, diarrhea, sleeplessness, fever, drooling & chin rash. The age old tricks for relief include: freezing a damp wash cloth or other items that can be frozen and safe for a baby to hold and bite and other medications.  Not wanting to constantly drug my child, I discovered Hyland's Teething Tablets made of homeopathic medicines: Calcarea Phosphorica (for teething, dentition); Coffea Cruda (for sleeplessness); Chamomilla (for teething pain) and Belladonna (redness & teething).  They also make gel you can apply directly on the gums with the same ingredients.  The other homeopathic product that worked well was Borion's Camilia which comes in single dose liquid capsules you can just squeeze in your little one's mouth.  Camilia worked especially well for us when Ivan had a bit of diarrhea due to it's ingredients: Chamomilla (for teething pain); Phytolacca decandra (for painful gum relief); Rheum officinale (diarrhea).

Homeopathic medicines are made from highly diluted natural substances (plants, animals & minerals) and have been used for over 200 years ... I have been told when presented the proper remedy or combination of remedies for a symptom a person is feeling, they don't even necessarily need to ingest it to feel relief, but by just holding the container, the energy can heal.  Ivan seemed to know what the Hyland's Teething Tablet container was and while in pain, was always eager to open his mouth for a few tablets.  (I gave him 3 tablets at once.  If I didn't notice a difference in his behavior or symptom he was experiencing in 15-20 minutes, I gave him 3 more.  He was usually noticeably experiencing relief after the first dose of 3 tablets).  Both Hyland's and Borion's products were easy for me to find at the regular neighborhood stores (Kroger, Giant Eagle, Wholefoods, CVS, Drug Mart & Walgreens).

Getting his one-year old molars ... found him sleeping with a lion over his head.  Fitting for his irritability ... RooaAAR!

Even though we were able to get through Ivan's first 16 teeth avoiding the medicated route, there were a few times Motrin was necessary ... Holy Molars!   

Fun on the Scioto Mile ... pack a TOWEL! life in Columbus, Ohio

Time flies when you are chasing a 16 month around!  We recently went on spring break vacation in Florida and have solidified Ivan's LOVE of water!  Fountains, pools, faucets ... he is not choosy, just wants to be IN the water NOW.

My new Mommy tip of the week: With the nice weather upon us, DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT A TOWEL! 

We have an amazing downtown area in Columbus called The Scioto Mile.  I thought it might be fun to go walk around the park and see the fountains ... Ivan had other ideas!  Luckily I had a swim diaper in the diaper bag left over from vacation and an extra change of clothes!  Wish I had had 4 hands so I could have taken a video ... this baby had a BLAST!

Happy Spring!

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A surprising 78 degrees makes everything better!  Ivan, 16 months