Disney trips… We’ve had two more visits to Disney since the first one and I am just now posting the photos and a quick recap of the Epcot and Magic Kingdom visit when Alexis was 7 months old. I know it’ pretty bad. But what can I say – I get busy. I get a zillion emails from you guys, another zillion for other people, other posts to write and life to live. I have to pick and choose based on urgency and desire. This was neither until now. I just wanted to finish posting pics from our first trip –  it was fun, it was memorable, it had to go up on the blog.

So move along if you don’t want to see cutie patootie 7 months old pictures of Lexi at the most magical place on Earth.

Age reference: 7 months old

EPCOT

How much fun are toddlers?

The answer is A LOT OF FUN!

It’s a pretty recurring theme here on the The Art of Making a Baby.

But it’s true. We’ve known that Alexis has been focusing on her physical development for a while now. It has been constant since about 9 months when she first started walking supported.

What’s interesting is that it has not changed until maybe now (16 months) when she started to work on her speech development in parallel (another post coming). But the physical aspect is and has been front and center.

I know every baby focuses on its own thing, works on one thing at a time, or two things at a time, with one always being the primary focus. It’s usually pretty obvious in babies. If you’ve been to the playground, you’ve seen a kid who’s in non-stop motion, climbing a top of everything, demanding swing rides, slides, rushed from one side to another, runs around with his mouth open, screams. Then there are talkers, builders, collectors, swing babies, slide babies….

This is just some photos from a nice night out we had back when my mom was still here. I’ve had these photos sitting in a folder ready to be posted, but never got around to them. Alexis had just turned a year old there and it was one of our normal evenings out.

She is just too much fun in these pictures.

This post has been due since Lexi started walking 5 months ago.

SHOES!

Such an important part of a baby’s wardrobe.

Making sure what they are wearing is comfortable, doesn’t rub, lasts through their roughplaying, looks great and is versatile (because at $30-50 per quality pair of shoe, they better last long and look great).

Proper footwear is surprisingly important for your baby’s foot health, their developing walking skills and their comfort.

Here are our favorite shoes and brands:

Before I had Lexi, I remember talking to a friend of mine who has a particularly active baby as well, about how she HAS to take her places because staying home is a nightmare.

We are experiencing a similar thing.

While Lexi doesn’t cry or whine or throw tantrums at home, I can still see that she gets bored easier when we are not out and about.

We’ve been having a ton of fun dusting off my long forgotten SingStar disks, Rockband game and our keyboard and drums.

Alexis instantly took to all of it and asks to go sing and play several times a day. It’s really cute, too, the way she asks for it. She will point in the direction of our movie room and sing “Dadabada” while dancing :)

I can’t help but notice her taste in rockstar clothing is pretty awesome, too. Nununu star romper couldn’t be used for a better occasion.

A year after having a baby and I think I am finally in a good place when it comes to my personal care routine. {I am always searching for better products, though, so I will keep updating you if I find something superior}

I still don’t have time to do certain things regularly, especially now with my new website, Daily Mom.

I don’t get to shave legs unless I am going out somewhere semi-important.

I forget to moisturize my body more often than I care to admit, and that is one of the biggest things I need to work on.

I wash my hair only if I know that I will be leaving the house. Or when it’s really dirty.

I put my make up on at the same time or when I want to look more put together at home.

I like to prioritize and personal care falls somewhere in the middle on the priorities list. However, one thing I have done over the last year is assemble a good “team” of personal products that I use, love and swear by. They help me be a little bit more of a woman that I want to be without having to put too much effort into it. I’ve been mentally writing this post for 6 months and each month I would add something else to it.

In fact, in the last week, I’ve had a chance to try out some organic and natural hair products that I am quite impressed with that you can read about on Daily Mom in the coming months. I am thinking about going on a mission of finding more obscure products and brands you don’t see in retail stores and trying them out. If only I could find time…

In the meantime,

I am absolutely in love with the Russian trend in baby clothes. This is quite unlike me because I don’t tend to like “Russian things”, but the old Russian style of Matreshkas and roses and fashions of that era agrees with me. The heritage plays a big role, too, of course. I do want Alexis to know where her mom came from and the history of Russia and its rich culture. One day we’ll be sitting next to each each other reading History of Russia together ( as long as her love of reading continues to grow like on steriods).

One of my favorite brands, Polarn O Pyret, surprised me with a release of Russian Rose collection (search for it on their website) this year, which is, mind you, on sale right now. I am in love! They really are masters of prints. Check out this post about their spring pattern on Daily Mom

So one of the cooler spring days, when my mom was still here ( *tear*), we went out for a walk in the park and a little Russian Rose inspired photoshoot.

I present to you, Russian Alexis!

I know I am technically on a break this month, but I couldn’t help but share this cute little video of Ms Lexi jumping into the water. Over and over again.

My little 15 months old water baby is enjoying herself and the surroundings at the Marriott in Palm Beach. Give her a body of water and a new environment and she’s one happy baby. I think it won’t be long till she’s going to be diving head first into that water :)

I’d like to write a quick post to remind you, guys, that the event meant to celebrate the launch of Daily Mom has come to an end. The last giveaway of the 50 Days of Giveaways has been posted today.
The good news is that you  can still enter the last 7 giveaways and hopefully win (fingers crossed). So if you’ve been staying away until now, here’s your last chance.

I am happy and sad that the giveaways are over.

Happy because it was A LOT OF work for me and some of my fellow Daily Mom’ers and the primary reason why I’ve been missing from the blog. So I am very happy to be partially reclaiming my life back and working on other aspects of the website, as well as writing for this blog. I am also glad to be getting back to what Daily Mom was supposed to be, a website designed to help women, posts that enrich and help our lives.

Sad because it was a great event, it was wonderful to hear the excitement from winners and in a small way help women get something nice for free with minimal effort. Once you’ve entered one giveaway, others are a breeze.

So here’s list of the giveaways that are still going and can be entered into. Good Luck!