If you have been here for a bit you know I’m a huge proponent of getting babies outside. I have been bringing Yitzchak outside since he was first born. Most of my best memories of his infancy happened outside. I thought I would share some of the benefits of the outdoors with babies.

Read about our wild one birthday party and our healthy first birthday cake. Sugar-free and full of nuts and vegetables it is healthy, delicious, and perfect for baby-led weaning.

What is the number one thing you can do to help your child’s gross motor development? I had a pretty good guess and speaking with Jena, a Pediatric Doctor of Physical Therapy confirmed it.

In this installment of the Ask the Expert series I speak with Jena of @drivingdevelopment about gross motor development and how to set your little one up for success!

How we hacked our Ikea play kitchen into a Montessori functional kitchen for our one-year-old! He loves the running water!

The Montessori birthday celebration known as the Montessori birthday walk is a great way to make the abstract concept of birthdays more concrete for children. At one year Yitzchak is a bit young to understand that but it was still a meaningful way to celebrate his birthday.

The reality is the best first birthday gift is your time and attention. That’s really all they actually want. Knowing that though doesn’t mean I was going to skip out on birthday gifts for Yitzchak. I took this as an opportunity to get some of the items I have been wanting to get him anyway. Below I am sharing our Montessori-aligned first birthday gifts.

Interest in shelf work has really taken off this month. At 10 months Yitzchak was almost exclusively interested in gross motor work and being held. This month he began ball posting in his object permanence box, stacking things, and putting the rings on the ring stacker.

To answer some of the questions I get frequently about baby-led weaning I spoke with Christiana of Real Food Littles. Christiana has a background as a health-focused personal chef and Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. She recently launched a course with everything you need to know for starting solids and how to raise an adventurous eater.

I love the Montessori floor bed, but what does a sleep consultant think? Will it lead to a sleep-deprived toddler. Here I speak with Lucy Bagwell of Second Star to the Right Sleep.

One question I get a lot is about the difference between open-ended and close-ended toys. I often mention them as toys that are not our Montessori materials. I have gotten a lot of requests to dig deeper into the question than a comment reply on a reel allows.

In this post I am going to do a full breakdown of what Montessori floor beds are, why we switched to one, our process of switching, and why we love our Montessori floor bed.

We believe there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothing. Since we get outside in all weather, quality outdoor gear is essential I get a lot of questions about where we get the gear Yitzchak is wearing. I am linking everything below to have an easy way to get to it all!

It is totally normal that your baby is dependent on you. In fact, it is necessary your baby is dependent on you.

Children are born completely dependent on caregivers. That dependence is why parenting is necessary. That dependence also lasts a really long time, longer than any other species. Children are in need of not only food and shelter, but guidance, direction, support, approval, and a sense of belonging.

4 free ways to add a little Montessori to your home- no wooden toys required! Did you know Montessori is a lot more about how we treat children than it is about the toys they play with?

The Pikler Triangle is one of my favorite purchases in our home. We got it when Yitzchak was 6 months old.

Here I am sharing how I approach the Pikler and what encouraged my son to climb to the top of it!

Finding activities for babies can be difficult! Check out this compilation of all our favorite activities we have done since 6 months!

Last week for the first time my 10-month-old woke up from his nap, got out of his floor bed by himself, crawled over to his toys, played a bit, and then came and found us.

It was an incredible milestone. It also was a fantastic illustration of how I feel about the interplay of attachment, independence, and dependence.

The Montessori-inspired Baby Registry I wish I had.

I spent A LOT of time researching the best items before welcoming Yitzchak and yet I still made A LOT of mistakes. This list is especially good for you if you are interested in practicing Montessori at home as I have some less standard items (see the floor bed that I wish I bought from birth). Not all of the things are Montessori-musts but they are what we loved in our Montessori home.

One ritual we look forward to every week is Sunday waffles. This has been a tradition for some time now and one we have really looked forward to including Yitzchak in. I originally made the King Arthur Flour sourdough waffle recipe, but over time have adapted it to fit our needs (we often do not have buttermilk, I wanted mixed flours, and I don't like measuring things).

I have gotten several requests for a list of Y’s first 100-ish foods so I am sharing it here along with a separate list of spices (to the best of my recollection). I am not an expert on BLW. I am just a mom who has done some research and is trying to raise an adventurous eater.