This post and giveaway were made possible by iConnect and Dreft. I was compensated for my participation in this campaign, but all opinions are 100% mine.
It smells like childhood, and even better, early babyhood. I remember painstakingly washing all of my daughter’s clothes in Dreft, after I received tons of cute outfits at my baby shower. With my son, I collected clothes over time – hand picking special items, and gathering hand-me-downs. When it was about three weeks before his due date, my mom was visiting and said, “Hey! This baby is coming. Time to get ready for him!” And that’s when I finally kicked into high gear and washed all of his adorable rockstar and baseball pajamas. Rainbow striped pajamas and graphic tees. I had no idea what to expect with a son, since I was used to my toddler daughter being an only child, but at least his clothes were thoroughly and gently cleaned.
I was always so careful with this boy, to always enjoy and savor every moment with him – because I’ve always thought or knew that he could be my last child. I used to stare into his eyes when he was a baby, and bond with him all day long. I can honestly say with no regrets that I have taken that time to enjoy him fully for the last few years, and now that he can talk and laugh and joke and love and delight, I do it even more these days. There seems to be a slight melancholy, and weight, when your littlest one gets bigger. Maybe it’s just me? It makes me think about years flying by and wondering what and where my place is in all of this. What I do know is how to celebrate. And what I do know, is that this little boy is mine and I am his. And I can provide him with endless love and guidance, and I can show him that the world is at his fingertips.
We all know that babies are messy, but did you know that studies show that the messes actually help babies learn?
Dr. Dyan Hes, MD is the Medical Director of Gramercy Pediatrics and was recently named a 2013 top doctor by New York magazine! Dr. Hes sits on the board of the American Board of Obesity Medicine, and is double boarded in both pediatrics and obesity medicine. She practices both primary care and obesity medicine, and was named one of New York’s top doctors of 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 by Castle and Connolly. Here are some wonderful tips from Dr. Dyan Hes, MD:
1 – Count the fun and use your fingers: Use your little one’s food as a fantastic way to learn how to begin counting. When snacking, start counting with your little one and encourage them to use their fingers. Also, this is a great time to use food to help them learn how to properly grasp things. It will take time and practice so let them get a little dirty with their food and practice, practice, practice!
2 – Throwing practice: Throwing food can definitely be messy, but did you know it helps with their development? Little ones are also still developing object permanence, which means that they don’t know that when they throw things, they won’t come back to them. So throwing food or dropping in on the floor can actually help them learn this basic lesson in physics! Maybe just lay a mat on the floor to protect carpet or allow for easy clean up.
3 – Load up on bibs: Bibs are a great way to capture those messy food moments. Once your little one is done with meal time, throw the bib in the washer with Dreft Active Baby to easily tackle the mess so you can do it all over again. The mess went way beyond the bib? No problem—throw that outfit in the washer too!
Do you have a messy baby or toddler too? If so, take a picture of your little one (6 months – 2 years) making a big old mess – like they do best – and submit it in the #MessiestBabyContest hosted by Dreft and Parents Magazine. 10 finalists will be flown to NYC to participate in a professional photo shoot, and one grand prize winner will be featured on the May 2017 cover of Parents Magazine! You can submit your photo HERE, or you can upload it to Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #MessiestBabyContest. Molly Sims – actress, model, and mama, hosted a Messiest Baby play date with Dreft in NYC on October 25th to help launch Dreft’s nationwide search for America’s Messiest Baby. Could it be yours?
RSVP for the Dreft #MessiestBabyContest Twitter Party!
It will take place on Monday, November 14th from 9:00-10:00PM EST. Make sure you RSVP with this link. There are awesome prizes, like an iRobot Roomba! Again, RSVP with this link. Today!
One of you lucky readers is going to win a $50 AMEX gift card and a Dreft laundry product! Enter using the Rafflecopter form below. You must be 18 or older to enter, and giveaway ends a week from tonight – on November 10th, 2016!