Encouragement

Welcome back to our 2-Part Series on "Potty Training".  Yesterday, we looked at what it takes to fully prepare for our discussion today, which we will affectionately refer to as "Operation Potty Week".  Enjoy! Wake up! - On the morning of the Big Day, get outta bed like a pop-tart out of a toaster at the first sign of your little one stirring.  After a good morning smooch and hug, make the announcement that it’s Potty Week! and it’s time to be a Big Kid & wear underpants…enter Cloth Training Pants. Make a dash to the potty and introduce all of the new and exciting thing you have and go over the rules. Explain that sitting on the potty = 1...

Thinking about Potty Training for your Little One?  Potty Training (PT from here on out) is not something you want to dive into willy nilly.  For a successful go at it, you’ll need to prepare, prepare, prepare. Keys to successful Potty Training A Proper Introduction – At the first sign of interest in the potty, begin letting your child explore and experience what it’s like to use the potty … the real potty.  I recommend using a removable potty seat that you place on top of a standard toilet seat, rather than a separate potty that you’ll have to transition out of eventually and that you can’t take with you when you’re out and about.  Get them used to the real...

May is "Better Speech & Hearing Month," and as moms we know how valuable the gift of speech and hearing are.  For the next few weeks, I will be sharing methods and tools to help foster good speech and language development in your child as they develop from baby to early childhood years. As a Speech and Language Pathologist, I will provide you with a series of posts that address developmental milestones, activities to enhance your child's speech and what to expect if you feel like your child might not be reaching their milestones. Speech and language milestones are a set of skills that are achieved within a specific time frame. These skills are divided into receptive and expressive language skills. Receptive skills refer to...

Our birth stories don’t all begin the moment we bring our children into the world. For me, it began in high school with a moment imprinted on my heart forever: staring at my doctor’s face as she said, “You have endometriosis. Having children will be very, very difficult for you.” From that moment on, I had resolved in my heart that I would never be the one thing I always wanted to be...a mother. Fast-forward five years later after only two months of marriage and seeing those two pink lines, it was instant amazement, awe, wonder, and excitement. With my first pregnancy, I suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, sporadic bleeding, gestational diabetes, preterm labor at 28 weeks, and prodromal labor that...

I never thought a home birth would be for me. Only crazy people did that, right? Then my best friend had a home birth. Soon after, I joined a natural birth community in Louisiana when I was pregnant with my first daughter and it opened my eyes a bit more. But, it still seemed too “fringe” for me. One unnecessary cesarean and a hospital VBAC later, I began planning a homebirth during my third pregnancy. Initially, my husband Taylor was nervous about the idea, understandably so. Midway through the pregnancy, something clicked for him. After a visit with our midwife he said, “It just makes sense. Why wouldn’t we have a homebirth with Sherri? She has so much experience.” He...