Anyway, Sweet P turned 1 two weeks ago. She still takes two naps a day on days she is home with me (she usually goes to daycare MWF), but her “awake time” is really starting to expand (I suspect we’ll be down to 1 nap soon), and we are only nursing mornings and evenings, so we have so much more free time than before! We are having a burst of warm spring-like winter weather, and I have found myself with the desire to get her out and about more often, both to explore and expand her horizons, to enjoy beautiful weather and get some exercise, to take advantage of all our wonderful city of Nashville has to offer, and to give me (us) a break of it being just the two of us in the house! Sweet P is a very happy, typically non-fussy, baby, but if she ever gets in a funk where she is whining, it seems to clear up if we leave the house. She is very observant and let’s face it, she’s 12 months old, so just about everything is new to her! She loves to take in new people, places, and things, and I love exposing her to her world.
I have one other real experience with blogging. During my pregnancy I wrote weekly letters to Sweet P, (then called “Baby P”), and I published them on a blog that only our family and friends had access to. Although the letters I wanted Sweet P to ultimately have as a record of my pregnancy with her (and love for her!), I also used this as a tool to share updates on my pregnancy, the baby’s growth, and our preparations for the baby along the way. It seemed unnecessary (and maybe a little invasive) to have it anything but private. In thinking about documenting our adventures all around town, I have other parents in mind. I *might* actually make this blog public! I think it would be fun to share not only our adventures, but to encourage other parents to get out and explore opportunities in their cities with their kiddos. Plus, it might keep us more motivated to continue to look for new things to do!
Now…you might be thinking, “but I don’t have the funds to be trying out all sorts of things with my little one, especially when they can only be out and about for small increments at a time”. Me either!!! We pinch pennies in this house, and the things I do (and hope to do) with Sweet P are either free or very low cost. I come at this with a few things in mind. First, I am a mom who wants to enjoy time her daughter! On a personal level, I love to see her light up at new sights and sounds. One year is SUCH an amazing time for learning. Getting out beyond what she sees daily at home is a wonderful asset to her learning. But secondly, I am an educator and a speech-language pathologist. I work in the area of language development. My personal love of her learning and language growth is absolutely enhanced by my knowledge of what research tells us benefits children’s early vocabulary and learning, and the long-term effects that has on language and reading development, and beyond! I want to give her everything I can to help her be a happy, bright girl! Thirdly, although I would not call myself a thrill-seeker, I would say that I am adventurous in that I like to get out and see new things. And it is amazing the fun that can be had doing commonplace, everyday things around your own town…things you overlook or take for granted because you’ve lived in one place for so long, or because you always say, “one day I’ll do that.” This is my own guilty pleasure of exploring the sights and sounds of Nashville, TN!
We welcome you to share in our adventures via this blog, and if you are in Nashvegas, I’ll be looking for you when I’m “All Around Town with Sweet P!!!”
Here is my sweet girl - one year old:
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