Feeding a Toddler (and Gerber Giveaway)

I have to say, feeding a toddler is a serious challenge. When we first starting introducing food to Sebastian about a year ago, we were really proud of ourselves for getting him to eat all sorts of healthy foods. He gobbled peas and carrots and sucked down kale purees with glee. This isn't so hard, we thought. Our kid loves vegetables, B and I congratulated ourselves as we high-fived. Ooh, boy. What newbs! We clearly didn't know that the real challenge isn't getting a baby to eat things, but to get a toddler to eat things that they suddenly and inexplicably don't like anymore. I shared before what I do with leftover bananas when they fall out of grace here. But now I want to talk about how we make sure our eighteen month old kiddo gets all the nutrients he needs, even on days when he isn't interested in eating much of anything.

Mostly we try to serve Seb some of whatever we're eating for our meal, and supplement with his favorite fruits and veggies. Our go-to's right now are roasted sweet potatoes, applesauce, blueberries, raisins, and grapes. Sometimes, that works! Other times, he is only interested in squishing food around and throwing it on the floor. While we try to discourage the mess making, we also know trying to force a toddler to eat his dinner is a lost cause.

We recently were introduced to Gerber® Good Start® Grow Toddler Drink. It is formulated for toddlers like our kiddo to fill in the nutrition gaps caused by incomplete (ahem, rejected) meals. Of course, our first approach will always be to offer wholesome food, but on those days when our meals falls a bit short, it is nice to know there is an option that he will readily accept. 

It mixes easily with water and Sebastian happily gulped it down the first time we offered it to him, so it must be pretty tasty! It is not intended to be a meal replacement, but rather a supplement to a healthy diet. Gerber® Good Start® Grow Toddler Drink includes probiotics, Iron, Vitamin C, D, and E, Potassium, and DHA. It is also GMO free, which I think a lot of moms would feel good about when feeding their toddlers. #formulaforhappiness

Now the fun part! In partnership with Gerber®, Ceci Bean readers have a chance to win a "Welcome to Toddlerhood" kit which will include a sample of this product for your family to try and other surprise goodies! Open to U.S. residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway If you have any best practices for getting picky toddlers to eat or if you've tried Gerber® Grow Start® for your child, please share in the comments!

Spread the Love with Huggies #UltraHug Contest

I don't think I was ever quite prepared for the profound impact having a baby would have on my social life. I mean I was told that the childless friends in my life might quietly step back a bit once Sebastian was born, but I didn't realize what a strong impulse new parents have to connect with other new parents.

B and I have joked a bit about how we find ourselves, two introverts, smiling at babies and introducing ourselves to their parents as though we've been social butterflies our whole lives. Eh, we're probably still a little awkward, but hey! these people have babies! they know what we're going through!

#ultrahug

A photo posted by Cec (@ceci_bean) on Jun 7, 2015 at 10:21am PDT

It is through one of these new mom friends that I learned about Toots Fore Tufts, an organization raising money for Tufts' Neuro-Oncology Patient Care. Created in memory of a friend that lost the battle with brain cancer, their mission is to provide support for both patients and their families who experience financial hardship due to the cost of travel for treatment.

This is where Huggies comes in. To promote the Huggies Snug & Dry Ultra Diaper, they are running the #UltraHug Contest to award grants to community projects and organizations. How cool is that?

While my city has many awesome projects that I'd be proud to support, in the spirit of the contest I decided to choose an organization which was started by a friend in my newest community – the mom community.

Do you have a project you'd like to support? Here are the details:

From April 20th until June 25th, Huggies will be accepting all selfies of you and your baby with the hashtag #UltraHug, and featuring them in a collage on the campaign landing page. On July 6th, voting will begin to narrow down the 20 finalists to 10 winners who will win a $2,000 grant from Huggies for their nominated community initiative.

How to Enter the #UltraHug Selfie Contest

• First, take a selfie of you and your baby and upload that selfie to Twitter or Instagram. Make sure to use the hashtag #UltraHug (Your baby doesn't have to be wearing Huggies Snug & Dry diapers, but it sure would be cute if he were!)

• In your same post, make sure to include a text nomination (approximately 100 – 120 characters) including a name and/or identifying description of a community project in the US, which you would like to nominate. Make sure the community project is something near and dear to your heart.

#ultrahug

A photo posted by Cec (@ceci_bean) on Jun 7, 2015 at 10:22am PDT

What projects in your community would you like to nominate for the #UltraHug Contest?

Roundups on Remodelaholic

In case you've missed it, I've been sharing decor round-ups over at Remodelaholic for the last year. Here are some of the fun topics I've shared over there. Check them out if you're looking for inspiration for your next DIY project. And let me know if there's a topic you'd love to see in the future!

25 Table & Floor Lamp Projects

25 Gift Wrapping Ideas From the Recycling Bin & Beyond

25 Ways to Use Food as Decor

25 Curb Appeal Ideas

25 Nursery Decor Projects

25 Cool DIY Clocks

25 DIY Backyard Games

25 DIY Hardware Store Decor Projects

25 Chair Makeovers

25 Edible Garden Ideas

25 Clever Closet Offices

24 Inspiring Finished Attics

DIY Modern Woodland Mobile

This post contains affiliate links for some of the products shown.

It feels a little like an overstatement to call this a DIY project. It takes pretty much no artistic talent to create and the only crafty tool I had to use was a pair of scissors to cut string. So if you're easily intimidated by DIY projects and doubt your natural crafting abilities, rest assured this is one project you can totally do!

When I started collecting ideas for Sebastian's nursery, I was really drawn to the modern and simple look of the Petit Collage Mobile (forest friends style no longer available), but it was a little pricey and I wanted to keep our spending down.

It looked like the kind of project I could make myself, but I wasn't sure quite how at first. Should I cut out cardstock to create the animals or maybe Shrinky Dinks would work better (because I know what cool things can be made with those)? But I really wanted the natural color and texture of wood, so I turned to Etsy. You guys, there are a million options for inexpensive cool wood cutouts!

Embroidery hoop + Bead cord + Wood cutouts

I purchased a cute little set of animals from here and picked up a 10" Wood Embroidery Hoop and some Clear Beading Cord at my local craft store.

First, I determined how low I wanted the mobile to hang. Then I cut six pieces of beading cord a few inches longer than the distance from the hoop to the ceiling. I cut a seventh piece a bit longer and tied all seven pieces together at the top. I tied the sixshorter pieces to each side of the hoop, being careful to keep them equal lengths so the hoop would hang fairly evenly. I let the seventh piece of cord hang down in the center.

I tied one cutout to the center cord and then added the other animals (I used seven in total, with two sets of duplicates) at varying lengths around the hoop.

And then I put my child in the crib and spun the mobile gently so he could watch it move. HE LOVED IT. Maybe all babies love mobiles, but my kid is obsessed with his. It is his happy place.

Knowing that woodland creatures are not the perfect fit for everyone's nursery decor, I rounded up some other cutouts on Etsy that work work really well too.

Feathers // Triangles // Dogs // Leaves // Metal Fish // Bikes // Tapered Shapes // Trees // Guitars

Which shapes would make the perfect mobile for your little one's nursery?

Big News

On Mother's Day, I wanted to share the news, but it was too soon.

On Father's Day, I thought it would be cute to announce, but B was uncomfortable.

On basically every day since, there just hasn't seemed to be a right way to say it.

So today, on a random Monday of no particular importance (wait, not true! Happy birthday, Jeff Tweedy!), I'm sharing with you all that we're expecting a little boy in December! I'm just shy of 25 weeks pregnant, and so far things are going pretty smoothly.

The big unknown right now is whether we'll "make it work" in our tiny house or move into something a bit larger. I'll be sharing some of the ways we might address this soon. Either way, we can't wait to bring our son home with us, wherever that may be!