You’ve documented every little tooth, smile and babble since birth. But once your baby can stand and walk, things really take off (literally!). We’re celebrating the endearing milestones of toddlerhood, from making friends to leaping with joy. Scroll down for 6 milestones to look forward to (or remember fondly) during the toddler years.
During that first year of life, your sweet baby looks to you for, well, everything. And then one day, they don't. The stage fraught with determination and a can-do attitude has earned a reputation as the terrible twos, but it's pretty wonderful too. And those first steps toward independence deserve to be celebrated. Your child feels secure enough to start to step away and find their own way.
We've been loving on these little munchkins from before they were born, but somewhere between 24 to 36 months, they verbalize their feelings for us with three simple words: I love you. Even if you aren't easily moved by milestones, this one will give you all the feels.
The smell of a newborn is intoxicating. The scent of newness doesn't linger long, but we still think babies smell pretty great long after that addictive odor wears off. However, once your baby can mobilize, they're perpetually grimy. Your toddler explores his or her world by touching all. the. things. And while it's amazing to watch their world grow, we suggest having a pack of wipes for post-dirt play.
When your toddler hands a prized toy to a perfect, pint-size stranger, you see the first glow of a friendship form. Empathy, that spark that allows us to connect with other humans, begins to emerge at around two years of age. Watching your child learn to make healthy bonds with those outside the family: priceless.
Running & Jumping with Abandon
iStock
When your baby first began to walk, they toddled and toppled. But by around 27 months they can jump with both feet. By age three, they can run without falling over. At this point, it might be time to swap a stroller for a pair of sneakers so you can keep up!
Your child's first marks might look like chicken scratches, but by 36 months, those scribbles become frame-worthy. Watching your budding artist communicate through color and paint is reason to celebrate with your first fridge gallery.
Think it’s too early to brush baby’s teeth? Think again. Even before the first tooth breaks through, it’s a good idea to establish oral hygiene habits. If your little one is used to teeth-brushing as a part of the daily routine, you may have fewer battles later on. If you’re not sure when or how to get started, here are helpful tips on brushing your baby’s adorable little pearly whites.
1. Start before baby’s teeth come in.
Keeping your baby’s mouth clean even before the first little tooth pops through is an important beginning step. Wiping gums after feedings will help to remove surface bacteria. To do this, wrap a clean, wet washcloth or a piece of clean gauze around your finger and wipe those toothless gums.
2. Choose the right toothbrush.
Once babies have teeth, it’s time to introduce a toothbrush. You’ll want to look for one with soft bristles, a small head and a large handle that little hands can hold—and you’ll want to replace it every three months or so.
The Double Sided Toothbrush from grabease (pictured at top; for kids 6+ months) has a tapered brush head, a wide handle for little hands to grip, and bristles on two sides to make it easier and faster to get those teeth brushed. The handle sports a choke protection barrier for safety, so your little one can safely practice brushing.
The Pure Brush from RADIUS (pictured above; for kids 6-18 months) has a small, cornerless oval brush head that’s designed for babies’ mouths, with soft bristles. The handle is tapered to fit in baby’s hand, and the entire brush is free of BPAs, synthetic dyes and harmful chemicals.
3. Help them out.
Since baby’s fine motor skills aren’t fully developed yet, it’s best if you brush the teeth. Since that doesn’t always go as smoothly as we’d like, take a “Mommy’s (or Daddy’s) turn, and then your turn” approach. Continue to supervise the process until your child can rinse and spit without help.
4. Talk to your dentist about toothpaste.
It’s a question many parents wonder about: Should I use a flouride or flouride-free toothpaste? The answer depends on many factors, including whether your water is flouridated, so your best bet is to ask your pediatric dentist. Whichever you choose, experts recommend brushing with toothpaste the size of a grain of rice.
5. Take your baby to the dentist.
The American Dental Association recommends that you take your baby to the dentist for their initial visit no later than their first birthday. However, you may want to ask your pediatrician’s opinion.
You can choose a pediatric dentist or kid-friendly family dentist to make the experience more comfortable for your little one. Some are equipped with TVs or colorful art and give kids treats. Since baby teeth are important because they hold the spot for permanent teeth, be sure to take care of them by scheduling regular visits.
Editor’s note: We’re making every effort to provide you with the most up-to-date information. However, there may be last minute closures due to Covid-19. We highly recommend that you call ahead or check a park’s website before you pack your kids (and all those snacks, and diapers…) and haul them across town. Stay safe!
Looking for a day trip that combines fun, nature, and a whole lot of learning? Then point your compass south to Westmoreland State Park in Colonial Beach, Va. Just a 2-hour drive from DC, this gorgeous park features 1200 acres on the Potomac River’s Northern Neck. It’s a beautiful spot to take the kids for a day (or weekend) of hiking, camping, fishing, boating, swimming and–the best part–hunting for ancient shark teeth.
So. Many. Teeth. Millions of years ago, Westmoreland County, VA was under water and a breeding ground for sharks, including the Megalodon, which is said to be the ancestor of today’s Great White shark. If you scoop up some sand at the water’s edge and sift through the pebbles, beach glass and mollusk shells, you’ll soon catch a glimpse of a pointy triangular-shaped shark tooth that is most likely millions of years old. You’ll find teeth from sharks such as mako, cow, sand and tiger, and if you’re lucky you might even find the tooth of a Megalodon (some are the size of a human hand!). But the coolness doesn’t stop there; you’ll also come across other artifacts, such as whale vertebra, stingray dental plates and crocodile teeth.
Know Before You Go But why so many shark teeth? If your shark-loving lad asks you this question, you can remind him that sharks have an unlimited supply of teeth, which are not firmly set in their jaws but in their gums, where they appear in layered rows. If a tooth falls out, another one simply moves forward to take its place. That means lots of fun fossil finds for the rest of us!
Mark Your Calendar Combine your trip with the free public event Music on the Cliffs which takes place on July 18 and Sept. 19. Grab a lawn chair and enjoy the sounds of summer while taking in a spectacular view of the Potomac River. Pets are welcome at these events!
145 Cliff Rd.
Colonial Beach, VA
800-933-7275
Online: dcr.virginia.gov
Parents and children alike have been looking forward to celebrities posting virtual story time videos. PBS KIDS has been hosting a popular ongoing “Read-Along” initiative that celebrates reading and togetherness at home.They just announced two new special story time sessions featuring Kristen Bell.
On Jun. 1, Kristen will read Goodnight, Daniel Tiger, based on the beloved Emmy-winning PBS KIDS series, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, the animated spinoff of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, from Fred Rogers Productions. Then, on Jun. 8, Kristen will read her brand-new children’s book (co-authored with Benjamin Hart), The World Needs More Purple People.
Each reading will be livestreamed simultaneously on PBS KIDS’ Facebook and YouTube channel and will remain available for viewing on demand on both platforms immediately following.
Mon., Jun. 1, 12 p.m. ET: Goodnight, Daniel Tiger
It’s almost time for Daniel Tiger to say goodnight, but there’s still so much to do! There’s play time and then bath time…and don’t forget tooth-brushing time! Finally, it’s time to get cozy under the covers for story time and a special goodnight song. Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood fans will love winding down their busy day with their favorite friend before snuggling into their own beds to say goodnight!
Mon., Jun. 8, 12 p.m. ET: The World Needs More Purple People
What is a purple person? Great question. I mean, really great! Because purple people always ask really great questions. They bring their family, friends, and communities together, and they speak up for what’s right. They are kind and hardworking, and they love to laugh (especially at Grandpa’s funny noises)! A purple person is an everyday superhero! How do you become one? That’s the fun part! Penny Purple will lead you through the steps. Get ready to be silly, exercise your curiosity, use your voice, and be inspired.
To encourage family engagement and a love of reading during this challenging time, the ongoing PBS KIDS’ “Read-Along” series offers families a place to come together and read-along with fan-favorite books on YouTube and Facebook. Each PBS KIDS Read-Along also includes activity ideas and questions to help spark conversation. New PBS KIDS Read-Alongs with special guests will stream weekly all summer long. Additional readers will be announced soon!
Pull up a comfy chair and get ready for story time. Whether you’re looking for a new read aloud or an engaging activity book a few classic characters are coming back with new stories for your little ones. Llama Llama and Spot are here with new adventures.
Llama Llama is here to help your young readers get ready for bed and wake up with Llama Llama 2-in-1: Wakey-Wake/Nighty-Night. This convenient two-in-one board book brings night and day just a page turn away with Anna Dewdney’s classic rhyming text. After Llama Llama introduces little ones to bedtime rituals like tooth brushing and book sharing, turn the book over for breakfast and a brand-new day.
If you are looking for a fun interactive story, the classic children’s series Where’s Spot? Returns with Find Spot at the Stadium. Celebrate the summer weather with your kids as Spot and his mom take a trip to the local sports stadium. From soccer to tennis to swimming, Spot loves trying something new. This new book is filled with loads of lift-the-flap surprises.
Llama Llama 2-in-1: Wakey-Wake/Nighty-Night goes on sale Tues., Jun. 2 for $8.99 and Find Spot at the Stadium goes on sale Tues., Jun. 9 for $9.99.
When 7-year-old Evolette expressed to her mom that she was nervous about losing a tooth during the pandemic, she had a good reason. How was the tooth fairy going to safely come to her room and pick up her tooth when we are all supposed to be social distancing?
That’s where her mom, Kayla Westhouse, came to the rescue. At the request of her daughter, the Grand Rapids, Michigan mom did what she’s been doing since the coronavirus started––she made a mask.
While the tooth fairy mask was her 178th mask the seamstress has made during the COVID-19 quarantine, this one was perhaps the most challenging. Kayla told Cafe Mom that she initially put off making it in hopes that her daughter would forget about, but she never did. And so the mom set out to make the tiniest and perhaps most intricate mask the pandemic has seen yet!
And great news: the tooth fairy successfully visited Evolette, picked up her mask and wrote a darling thank you letter to the 7-year-old. Now, the tooth fairy can visit children all over the world while practicing safe and healthy practices!
The first rule of baby sleep is you DO NOT talk about baby sleep.
The minute you talk about baby sleep, baby will CHANGE HOW SHE SLEEPS. I bragged to ONE person—not even a parent, just a normal person—that my daughter had been sleeping eleven hours straight at night…and she promptly stopped. She also, just for fun, stopped with the blissful and surprising two hour morning naps and now just does an hour which is exactly enough time for me to fall asleep or start something fun or…clean, I guess, but not enough time really to have any free time or really do anything at all. Basically, I have enough time to read the internet and then she’s up and giggling.
Look at me breaking the first rule again already.
If she had her way, her ladyship would be held all the time when she sleeps…which is precious, of course, but we want to instill good habits and not suffocate her with our pillows by accident and whatnot, so we have the following “sleep routine” (the internet says it’s very important to have a sleep routine) in place:
1. Boo looks tired.
2. Feed Boo boobs
3. Snuggle Boo with binky
4. Remove binky and continue snuggling
5. Try to put down Boo (pretend you’re going to put her to sleep on her back but gently encourage her to roll onto her stomach where she immediately takes on “child’s pose” with her baby booty in the air. Pat pat booty and run away silently)
6. Half the time Boo wakes up crying
7. Repeat previous steps
8. If not successful, turn on the projector that plays classical music and walk away. She usually stops crying and puts herself to sleep in under three minutes.
9. If not, call in Dada who is always successful in under ten minutes. If he is not home or willing, start over.
10. She will be asleep within five minutes to three hours and will stay asleep for one to eleven hours.
Did you know that babies aren’t consistent? Or, rather, mine isn’t. I’m sure there are clockwork babies out there who do everything the same all the time and you can just live your life predictably and I’m sure your house is also very clean and you also work full-time saving people’s lives or money or something.
During the day, she’s nearly a person, lately. She makes yummy noises when she eats people food and can clap her hands and crawl and stand up and pet (grab) the kitty. She’s no longer merely a squish of tears and poop. For funsies, we looked up her horoscope and, I gotta say, she is pretty much living up to it as much as a baby can. Aries are independent, driven, energetic, aggressive. If you ever get the chance to witness Boo versus the cat, you will agree.
But at night, The Creature emerges. I’m not saying The Creature is bad, it’s just, not quite a person. Ever since she was a tiny squish, nighttime Boo has been more bug than human. When she was little, she had a green, Velcro swaddle that made her look just exactly like a larva. And that’s what she was: squirmy body and a mouth, sucking the life force from me to sustain her. Her night time cry is not like that of a day time baby. It’s fetus-like, impulsive, and unemotional. It’s only id. Its only want: hold me, feed me, I feel alone, make me feel less alone. The Creature doesn’t know she’s a person. The Creature still thinks she and I are the same person.
The Creature is the cutest and the sweetest. She is all mouth, no eyes. Give her the binky and she immediately is subdued. Give her the nook of my arm, and she shakes her head into it and her whole body relaxes. Her little squish face is the most placid thing you’ll ever see. Such a different face from that of the person emerging in the day time. In the day time, she’s expressive and opinionated and not a little bit judge-y. At night, she’s soft eyes, petal lips slightly parted.
The Creature does not care about my emotions or needs and I can’t blame her. She doesn’t care that it’s inconvenient for me to sit upright, nuzzling her at all hours. The Creature requires sleep. The Creature does not find things funny, only cold or scary or displeasing or, eventually, acceptable.
Sometimes I feel embittered toward The Creature because she occasionally sprouts a tooth and that means she must be held at all times. Then I tell myself, stop. Look at this little thing. Soon she will change into something else entirely. The larva will hatch or whatever bugs do, and she will be her own person in both the day and night. She won’t reach for you with desperation, her eyes pinched tight, knowing you’re there because you’re always there, waiting to be received in your arms. Soon she will grow up.
The greatest wish you can wish for your kid is that they’ll grow up. As much as we want to plead with them to stay little, you want them to move on with their lives, to be free, to develop new skills and get big and tall, to fly like a beautiful butterfly or some cliché like that.
Laura Wheatman Hill lives in Portland, Oregon with her dentist and two children. She blogs about parenting, writes about everything, and teaches English and drama when not living in an apocalyptic dystopia. Her work has appeared on Sammiches and Psych Meds, Her View From Home, Scary Mommy, and Motherwell.
“I’m so scared to have teenagers!” or “I want my kids to stay little forever!” I’ve literally heard these and other similar quotes from so many friends and acquaintances when talking about parenting teenage kids.
When our son was entering the teenage years my husband and I decided our motto for these years would be, “Laugh our way through it.” Because we realized very quickly laughter replaces tears, shock, confusion, and fear that comes with parenting this age. If we don’t laugh, we will just spend our time wondering if the adolescents in our care will end up with full-ride academic and athletic scholarships to a top-rated school or flunking out of high school, forgetting their entire upbringing and becoming psycho drug-addicted killers. We all know those are the only two rational choices of course.
Our oldest three children (there are five total), are aged 12, 13 and 14. When they were younger, I remember thinking about how much I loved the little stage. I was so fearful of having teenagers, thinking I wouldn’t have a clue what to do with creatures of that age. They seemed so dark, confused, self-absorbed, weird. Would they want anything to do with me? Would they push back against all we tried to instill in them? Would they still want hugs, heart-shaped food on Valentine’s day and family time? The answer to these questions is yes, yes and yes!! I am seeing now they still need and want all of those things. It just looks a little different.
I tell anyone and everyone that I love the teenage stage so far. I think I love it much more than even those precious little years (although I loved that too). Teens are hilarious, smart and dumb at the same time, curious and self-reflective. They are figuring out what they like, who they are, what they like to do best. They make some choices that make you so proud to be their parent and others that make you want to hide under a rock, but didn’t we all?
One of my favorite ways to spend some quality time (in short bursts because that’s all they will give you), is in the car. Driving here or there with one kid is the perfect time to laugh with them or at them, talk about the hard things in life or their dreams and hopes for tomorrow. While it feels like torture for them to set their lifeline down (phone) and communicate with you for a few minutes, they’ll do it!
Laugh! All the time. Daily. Laugh with your teens and for sure laugh at them. They do the absolute dumbest things that are hysterical. Write them down to use in your speech at their graduation party or wedding. Embarrass them. I promise they actually kind of like it. Drive them right up to school in your work car with the lights flashing, video them after wisdom tooth surgery, do the floss dance in front of their friends (just random examples of course never attempted in our house)! You need laughter and funny stories to carry everyone through these years. Funny memories to reminisce about when the hard moments and pain threaten to drown everything else out.
Find some funny people. Friends, family, parents of other teenagers. You need a community of people to get together and laugh about how dumb and funny the teenagers around you are.
And, for the love, get a family motto. Feel free to use ours. Parenting is the absolute hardest and the best job out there. Laughter is truly the best medicine out there. So enjoy the little stages and enjoy the teens too! Step out of fear having teenagers and into the joy and laughter it can bring! LOL!
I am a part-time teacher, CHP wife, mom to 5 kids biological and adopted, ranging in ages from 14-5. I love friends, trailering, fun dinner parties, booze, exercising ( because booze) and being with my family. In my spare time....ha ha ha ha!
When a child loses his or her first tooth, it’s a very big deal in most households and one that is celebrated with great fanfare! The ninth or twelfth tooth? Not so much. Kids have a LOT of teeth and parents (aka the tooth fairy) have a lot on their plate already. So what do you say to a disappointed child that just discovered the tooth fairy was a little forgetful last night? We asked around and found a few crafty parents with very clever excuses you can borrow next time the tooth fairy fails to show. Keep reading to see them all.
"Taking it to the dentist to see how much it's worth."
—Myla, NJ
Go Above & Beyond
@Fakeadultmom
Our winner for "Best Tooth Fairy Excuse" goes to Renee from @fakeadultmom. When her daughter lost her tooth on vacation, and she couldn't sneak away from the hotel to grab cash, she set up an email account from "Tooth Fairy Corp" and sent the clever message you see here. Happy Tooth Fairying!
Congratulations! Your kid is about to lose her first tooth. In order to help you out, we’ve chatted with the Tooth Fairy herself and found out everything you need to know to ensure the handoff goes as smoothly as possible. Keep reading to discover the best way to handle every question, from what the Tooth Fairy actually does with the teeth to when she “forgets” to make a stop at your house.
1. What to do with the teeth.
Do they stay or do they go? Some kids get very concerned about where their teeth are going. Make it fun and tell your kid her tooth will be used in the advanced Tooth Research Lab to discover how to make teeth more resistant to cavities and decay. If you decide to keep them, tuck them away somewhere special in a little jar … preferably one that is not easily opened by curious little toothless kids.
2. Select your currency of choice.
First-time parents, please remember that your little one has a lot of teeth to lose, so if you start out high, you’re going to have to maintain that level of payment for the next 10-ish years. You can always increase the amount, offer more for molars, and how about combining cash with a new toothbrush and floss??
3. When the kids compare notes.
Have your story prepared for why some kids get more money than others. Something along the lines of the amount of the money you get depends on how many other kids lost teeth that day too is a good story. So, if there were a ton of teeth lost, he might only get a quarter, whereas his friend got $5 (parents who do this, you’re killing us) last week for her tooth because not many kids had lost teeth that day—the Tooth Fairy had more to give.
4. Provide a tooth receptacle.
So you don’t have to frantically search under your kid’s pillow without waking her up, consider a special bag, dish, pillow for teeth. There are a ton of fun options and we especially love these adorable, personalized pouches.
5. Post-delivery clean-up.
If you want to go all out, it’s been said that the Tooth Fairy leaves a trail of glitter behind. Kids cam check window sills, front porches, kitchen tables, etc. for signs of arrival and departure. If you want to play it up, but don’t want to deal with a glittery mess, there’s even a Tooth Fairy door to welcome her into your home.
