electric pow wow

unreal. i. am. obsessed.

check out a tribe called red. if you dig it, download the album- for free!

 

cedar's birthday - family portraits

i wanted to get some portraits of cedar with various family members at his party. i envisioned beautiful, matching, happy photos with a delighted 1 year old. what i did not count on, was him refusing to nap despite being up hours before his usual time, being tired, and cranky, missing family members, a broken camera, and being exhausted. (obviously its my first child's birthday, right?)

overall, the photos we did get, i cherish. this first one of him and his sister is my absolute favourite.

cedar and dahlya

so tired we couldn't even fake it..

cedar and his nana

cedar with my mum and her partner steve

cedar with my grandparents

cedar with my aunty sandy

cedar and my cousin april

cedar with my cousin chris and his partner steph

cedar and my aunt teresa

cedar 

cedar's 1st birthday

cedar had pancakes.. which he did not want to wait through happy birthday for..

he blew but momma and daddy finished the job <3

opening his present from my mum's best friend

"walter the farting dog" was terrifying..

traumatized..

comforting..

even Dahlya got presents

quilt from nana

In just a few short hours...

At 5:25am, my little boy will be 1 year old. I thought I would be scared and sad but I'm just so proud and full of gratitude for this kid and all the people in our life (especially my brother Liam and sister Ashlie who passed away earlier this year) who have loved us and helped our family get here.

I love you Bug. You are my heart and soul. No matter what I say, I've loved every minute with you. Even the poopy screamy late night pull my hair put ones.

Keep up the good work..

waldorf pinning

here are some waldorf toys i've pinned lately

Source: g-cdn.apartmenttherapy.com via Marantha on Pinterest

Source: chezbeeperbebe.blogspot.com via Marantha on Pinterest

Source: img3-llalt.etsystatic.com via Marantha on Pinterest

Source: littlecharlies.com via Marantha on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Marantha on Pinterest

Source: 2.bp.blogspot.com via Marantha on Pinterest

toys!

my family likes to give. and give. and give some more. and a lot of it we really just don't need (or want!). when we were adamant that our unborn baby did not need toys made of plastic, that lit up and played electronic music- not because we wanted to deprive it of fun! but because that's not how we choose to raise them. 

they were good, they stuck to our (very) carefully outlined baby registry and bit their tongues, but the older he's gotten the more protests we hear, and the more my grandmother "sneaks" him noisy toys with the excuse that they have an off switch- which of course is not the point. we have 2 loud toys currently, neither of which cedar has any interest in, and which in a little while, we will be donating. my mum knows and helped shape my parenting approach to toys, and we definitely appreciate the things she buys cedar, i'm just working to cut down on the volume. just because its a great toy, or adorable, does not mean he "has to have it." most of those kind of toys end up in a box and he rarely picks them up ag ain.

in a book erik bought me after cedar was born call "the tao of motherhood," there is a verse that always hits home for me and reminds me why i choose to limit the number of things we allow into our home for our children.

a wise mother keeps her child's life simple. 

she gives away ten thousand toys and keeps only that which is useful.

she lets her baby gaze into her face and at the wondrous colors of nature

she gives her child household things and tells stories the same way over and over

feeling that you must have every toy, every device, every piece of equipment 

merely places objects between you and your child

you have to work that much harder to provide them;

work which robs your child of his most important stimulation-

your company.

but we do love toys! and here are a few of our favorite ones that never seem to get old!

1. HABA GRROW BEAR 

this little bear is wood, organic, clacks back and forth when baby shakes it and has fun little paws to suck on (very important.) it is definitely one of my go-to toys to throw in my bag on my way out the door.

2. PLAN TOYS SOLID DRUM

this drum is amazing! it sounds great, and all the other plan toys i tried at the store were rad! i can't say a lot more about it because its a gift for cedar's first birthday, so he hasn't broken it in yet, but i am excited about this! i'm already planning on buying him the banjo next!

3. ANAMALZ DINOSAUR

these are apparently for kids a lot older than cedar, but he adores it. its arms and legs bend, its organic and wood and has lots of bits to suck and gnaw on. its simple and will grow with him.

4. BOON ODD DUCK

besides bpa and all that scary stuff, traditional rubber ducks get gross. lets face it, after a long hard day, and a messy bath, most of us don't squeeze all the water out of our kids bath toys, and we have definitely had to throw away a lot of my step baby's toys that have gone moldy. this little duck is solid, non-toxic, floats great and never ceases to amuse cedar- in and out of the tub.

5. MANHATTAN TOYS READY, SET, GO CAR

my mum just recently bought this for cedar, and it is fabulous! its quite heavy, which is apparently to ensure baby cannot hurl it at you (bonus! these people obviously have children!). its heavy duty rubber wheels are set far enough apart to keep it from tipping over, and it is built to support baby's whole weight. cedar just loves this thing!

6. UNDER THE NILE GRAPES

organic, cute, wash and dry able, and totally chewable. seems kind of boring, but cedar really liked these little guys. use them to play kitchen with when bigger.

7. STUFFED GIANT SQUID

this guy is just fun all around. both kids adore "squidy" and so do we! i think any stuffed animal that actually looks like a real animal is fun to have, and grows well with kids. educational and timeless, they are a welcome addition to our household!

what are some of your child's favorites?

baby led weaning and why it isn't right for us

i started out feeding cedar pretty calmly and optimistically. he was happy, i was happy. then he started to get picky.. and pickier. and then i read about BLW. and the stress began.

baby led weaning is a newer approach to introducing solids to babies, skipping the mushy food stage and focusing more on giving baby small manageable pieces of solid food and letting them choose what they like and putting them more in charge of their eating. 

 (read more about BLW here)

i don't know why i felt suddenly pressured to take this approach. cedar was being picky but what we were doing was working and i had my mum's knowledge and recipes. but i decided to try BLW. and honestly, it was frustrating. other than bananas, cedar pretty much refused to actually eat any other food i gave him. oh sure, he'd mush it up and lick it, and throw it off his highchair, but not actually consume it. its important for him to get to play and experiment with food, but i still needed him to actually ingest some if it too. 

it was beginning to feel like a never ending battle, and that's not how i wanted meals and eating to be. (not to mention i have reoccurring nightmares about serving cedar a bowl of baby cereal with a candle in it for his 1st birthday.) so i gave up! and pulled out the food processor and everything was good. 

he's happy and gobbling up (almost) everything i make him. he still gets his beloved "bananans" and other bits of food to play with, but the pressure is off for those finger foods to provide nutrition. and the planning and fun begins to whip up tiny little puree meals. 

whether i'll find a "cake" type food to serve him for his birthday in a couple of weeks that he will eat- i'm not sure, but you know what? i don't care. if he wants a banana with a candle in it, that's what he gets. <3