13: It's Never to Early to Learn

It is so easy to expose your baby to learning.  Here are a few ways how that worked for my little McKayla.

• Counting her outfit buttons during diaper changes.  After I would count out loud, I would then show her my fingers and count to that number again.  Can you believe that I've gotten up to 12!
• Count the stairs as you climb them.
• At bottom of stairs, tell her/him we are going to go UP the STAIRS.  Vice verse with going down.
• Read to your baby.  Most of the time the books I read captured her attention.  Choose ones with short paragraphs or one liners a page and with bright, fun pictures.
• Present flash cards.  I used to do them once a day with her and it held her attention pretty good.  If she got bored, we just stopped doing them.  
• Start your baby on "Your Baby Can Read!" DVD's. I started McKayla on the set when she was around a month old.  I called it "going to school."  She would get so excited when I'd say that.  To this day, she's 19 months now, she "goes to school" every morning.  I have since expanded her selection.  She loves the Baby Einstein videos which you can easily find on YouTube or you can purchase the DVD's.  Just recently she's really gotten into "Wild Animal Baby Explorers." She even requests to watch it by saying "babies!" I like to limit how long she's in front of the TV and let her go for about 45 minutes, which is how long some of the shows are.  Added benefit: I get 45 minutes to clean!  UPDATE: My daughter is now 23 months old so I want to add a couple of new things.  We were introduced to Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood by my friend Zoë D..  She loves this show and so do I.  Great learning tool!
  
  My daughter watching Baby Einstein 
• Start teaching your baby right and left.  When putting on socks, shoes, shirts, pants, seatbelt.  I know many adults who are not very good at knowing right or left so I think the earlier and more they hear it as babies, the better the chance they'll have it correct in their head as children and adults.  In fact, when I did test the theory on McKayla at 18 months, she did so correctly.  I asked her to give me her right foot to put her sock on and that's the foot she gave me.  Now I know that she had a 50/50 chance of getting right and that maybe she just got lucky.....BUT.....what if she just knew!
• Tell her/him the color of the garment you're putting on them.  I've heard that children don't understand the concept of colors until much older, but still, what could it hurt?
• Speak another language.  Are you bilingual?  Is your spouse?  If so, teach them the other language from the start.  Click here to read more on the subject.  
• Talk to your baby all the time.  Tell him/her what you are doing whether you're cleaning or giving them a bath.  They're learning with every word you tell them.
• Teach your baby manners.  As soon as they seem to get the concept of "give me something" they should also be provided with the know-how to be polite.  McKayla was able to say (in the best of her ability) and properly use the word "please" just after a year old.  She has even waved thank you to a car in the parking lot who had let us pass by because she saw me do it.  She was around 14 months old.  Show your child how to use please, thank you, God bless you, and excuse me.  The world will thank you for it.  
• Encourage your child to help you clean up his/her toys at the end of the day.  My friend Rachel S. gave this advice to me and said that if you show them young, once they're old enough to understand how to do it themselves, it becomes automatic.  It worked for her daughter.  
• I used to be so opposed to a child/baby using an iPad/iPhone.  I don't know why because it's a great learning tool.  There are a ton of apps that are free for babies to use.  Read this post about how to lock your iPhone so the child can't leave the app by accident.
• Start your baby on checking for traffic in parking lots.  In the past two months, two toddlers older than my daughter of 23 months, have took off running through the parking lot, across the lane, all the way to the storefront.  Ever since my daughter seemed to slightly understand what I was saying or even was able to look in the direction I pointed to, I have been repeating to her to check for traffic.  When I'm carrying her, pushing her in a cart or stroller, or having her walk with me with her hand in mine, I have her stop, tell her she's about to cross the road and to check for traffic.  She points one way and looks (I tell her look left/right as she looks), she points the other way and looks and sometimes, on her own, she has pointed behind her and at extra awkward lanes.  People, she is not even two years old.  All it takes is taking the time to protect your child.  As she gets older, she will be able to do this without prompting and struggling with me to get her to do it. 
• Have your toddler help with caring for your pets.  Please keep safety in mind first.  Don't involve your baby if you have a food aggressive dog.  And also make sure baby can't find their way into a fish tank.  McKayla has been helping me feed the fish and the dogs for several months now.  We've worked up to these tasks in steps, but currently, for the dogs, she grabs both of their empty bowls, takes them to the laundry room where I store the food, and sets them up on the hamper.  I fill the bowls and she'll carry one, I'll carry the other.  She'll place both of them on their rug where they're fed and tell them "babies," short for "good babies" (their release from sitting to eat their food).  She's able to do this with my dogs because they are calm and trained to wait to eat their food.  This may not work for everyone depending on the temperament of your dogs.  Use your best judgement; maybe baby can only help with some steps and not all.  As McKayla gets a steadier hand, I'll teach her how to fill the bowls, but right now that causes a mess.  As for the fish, I have three betas in small little tanks that are always out of her reach or behind closed doors. (which will need toddler proofing soon).  I have one on my bathroom counter she can reach and I will place the fish pellets in the palm of her hand and she'll drop them, one-by-one, into his tank.  She thoroughly enjoys feeding both the dogs and the fish.  When I do anything else, like fill the water bowl for the dogs, or change the fish water, I let her observe until she's older, but helping me feed and observing what goes in to having a pet teaches her how to care for lives that are dependent on us.  Another plus is that one day, she'll be able to help me do these tasks down later down the road when there is another baby to take care of.

12: Wait...I'm supposed to clean the house too?!

I have to admit, I wasn't very good at keeping my house clean before the baby so you can imagine my worry keeping the house clean with and for a baby!  I have certainly surprised myself! I think I've vacuumed more in the past nine months than in my entire life!  I'm not kidding! Before I begin my suggestions and what I TRY to routinely do, keep in mind I am a stay-at-home-working-mom. Also remember, baby comes first, cleaning will fall in place when it should so try not to let it stress you out or drive you crazy. But once you find those golden opportunities, here are some tips to help keep your home tidy. 

Picture Source: someecards.com

• Once baby naps, and you don't need to take one yourself, use this opportunity to get some cleaning done. 

• Get a baby carrier to use during vacuuming.  Make sure it is ergonomically safe for baby such as the carrier in the link.  (Which was a gift from my awesome friend ZD!) Babies actually enjoy the hum of the vacuum and McKayla has actually fallen asleep several times while I was vacuuming.  The carrier listed is for front, back and hip so you can choose what is best for you. Added benefit: great workout! Especially if you have stairs (be careful!!) and your exercise naturally increases its own weight!  Once your baby is grabbing and can reach the back of your head, I suggest wrapping a bandana or scarf around your head. The last time I vacuumed I HAD to do something, she was going crazy on my hair! I folded it in half once to make a triangle, placed the straight edge at the base of my hair, tied the ends at the top of my head and tucked the corner under the tie. She grabbed at it, but couldn't grab any hair. It also helps to attach a toy for baby to play with or chew on. 

• Use an umbrella stroller to walk baby around the house.  This was actually a life saver when she would cry and we couldn't get her calm. It works great for me when I'm trying to pick up the house. I attach a toy for her and I walk around the house, pick up this, put it away, pick up that, put it away.

• Once baby is more mobile, carry a microfiber cloth in your back pocket.  When she gets entertained by something and I see something within arms reach that I can I dust, I do a little wipe. Before, I always noticed dust in the oddest places that would never get touched, so while I'm walking her around the house and watching over her as she explores, I can dust those places she'll get into that I would otherwise never have thought of touching. 

• Clean dishes after every meal. I know, I know. That's what your supposed to do, right? Not me. Not ever. Until now. It makes it so much easier to clean a couple of dishes or even a few dishes as opposed to an entire sink full.  I was usually good keeping the sink clear until the dishwasher was running or waiting to be unloaded, then the dishes would pile up. Now, I've made a rule to myself that every time we eat, I clean out the sink whether that means dishwasher or hand wash. I haven't had a problem since I decided to follow this rule. And when my husband is home, my rule turns into clearing the sink every time I visit the sink. LOL!  Update: Let your toddler help with the dishes.  I only let McKayla help/play with the sliver ware and cooking utensils.  This helps to keep her within eyesight when you're trying to wash the dishes.  It teaches her that there's more to just eating the food on the plate with a spoon, but now that spoon and plate must be cleaned afterwords.  It also teaches her boundaries because I won't let her touch anything else on the rack like glass dishes.  Just make sure there is nothing sharp she could hurt herself with.  Hand wash sharp knives, pizza cutters, graters, etc.  And also make sure she doesn't wander off with a handful of forks that she could trip on.
• To help me keep her high chair tidy, I keep a pack of baby wipes in the holder underneath.  I use these to clean her face and hands and her tray top so that I don't have to make an extra trip to get a washcloth or deal with the hassel of cleaning that cumbersome tray.  And just recently I've started collecting the dirty ones in a mesh laundry bag and washing with her laundry to reuse in an all natural, home made solution.  Trying to be greener and healthier.
• Once you have a toddler who can be in the bathtub safely without you having to constantly have a hand on her, you can have an opportunity to clean the toilet.  I say this because my toilet is conveniently located within two feet of the tub, so I literally don't need to move anywhere.  To keep your toilet tidy, keep a container of disinfectant wipes near your toilet (out of toddler's reach) and do a quick wipe down during the bath.  I've also just started a new thing (this may be because I'm nesting at 8 months pregnant) where after every time I use the toilet, I take a piece of toilet paper and do a quick wipe under the lid, on the rim or where ever I see could use a wipe.  It's so quick and easy and help keeps my toilet clean in between major cleanings.