Author Archives: Jeni

About Jeni

Creator of Little Sproutings, Written by Jeni Taylor, MPH MSN RN. I'm a nurse, public health advocate, and new mom living in Los Angeles, CA. I created Little Sproutings to share my experiences as a mom and discuss relevant baby-health topics through well-researched posts to help parents (new, experienced, and expecting) learn the why and how.

Day 1 of the “3-Day Potty Training” Method (+video!)

20-30 pairs of Minnie Mouse and Disney’s Frozen underwear. Check.

Moist (FLUSHABLE) wipes for post-potty bottom cleaning. Check.

Potty chair AND mini potty seat. Check. (chair for the car, mini seat for the house)

Rewards chart for stickers as well as mini chocolate candies for going in the potty. Check.

Fluids fluids fluids. Check.

Fibrous foods (pears, other fruit, veggies, beans, brown rice). Check. (I am not condoning Metamucil or other like-supplements for your child)

Plan to stay indoors and at home for three consecutive days. Check.

Crossing your fingers that your toddler will pee her entire bladder’s worth in the tub tonight so she doesn’t pee in the bed. Desperate check. Check check check. Please please please (yeah right, wishful thinking)

Continue reading “Day 1 of the “3-Day Potty Training” Method (+video!)” »

What’s She Doing Wednesday: Holiday Photo Dump and a Few Other Things…

So I’ve been bad about posting. It’s been a little bit me being lazy and enjoying the downtime, and a little bit me being busy with career-oriented things. Plus, Jia is finally NOT SICK. It took her a good two whole weeks to get over this last cold, full of snotty and congested sinuses, lots of phlegm, and that Nose Frida Snot Sucker was really going to good use! Getting down to it: Continue reading “What’s She Doing Wednesday: Holiday Photo Dump and a Few Other Things…” »

1 Month (20 Meals) of Yumbox Daycare Meals!

Yup, this Saturday’s a fun one!

No research articles, no checking statistical integrity or inclusion criteria for control and intervention groups to formulate a conclusion, today! And I know it’s been a while since I actually published a *new* Saturday post, but with a sick toddler, I’ve had my fair share of distractions.

After getting slightly burned out by the time- and brain capacity- intensive Saturday Sproutings posts, it’s time to take a break and post about something I have been learning to adjust to, as Jia’s new routine is full time daycare for 8-9 hours a day:

MEAL PREPPING!

Nope, I’m not a gym rat referring to some uber healthy meal prep that involves a ton of brown rice, lean meats, veggies, and plastic ziploc containers, I’m talking about daycare meals. Continue reading “1 Month (20 Meals) of Yumbox Daycare Meals!” »

What’s She Doing Wednesday: At it Again (Sick, that is)

October 16th and November 12th: The onset of symptoms including a fever, twice in a month. This last Thursday, I picked her up from daycare to find her inside (other kids were playing outdoors) with one of her teachers. Jia was “helping” her gather her classmates’ coats, and she let out a dry cough. Her teacher reported that Jia has been off and on fussy in the afternoon and coughing occasionally. She said that she was afraid that maybe she had a fever, but she hadn’t felt warm to her. Took her home, she was definitely a little fuss ball on the ride home, but once we were inside she was happy as usual. Right before her bath, I took her temperature since she felt a little warm to the touch and her temp was around 101F. Rut-Roh. Our ibuprofen was expired by 2 weeks, so I made a quick call to Jeff and had him stop by the pharmacy on his drive home, and I gave her a dose of the expired stuff (meh, 2 weeks isn’t a big deal) and started her bath. The next day I kept her home from daycare as a precaution despite not having a fever in the morning and she’d developed congested sinuses. Then that progressed to congested coughing, which is still around. We are day 5 of her congestion, with no real great improvement – only a slight improvement from when she started to lose her voice over the weekend and she’s gotten it back about 95%. Continue reading “What’s She Doing Wednesday: At it Again (Sick, that is)” »

What’s She Doing Wednesday: Happy and You Know It

This week’s post is going to be a lot of pictures. I caught a cold this last weekend so I really want to drink a hot cup of tea and watch Fargo with Jeff and then hit the hay as I’m recuperating, plus I have to have some energy for our outing to the Los Angeles Zoo tomorrow. We’re meeting up with my friend (and one of our bridesmaids) Berry and her 2 year old Maddie. Continue reading “What’s She Doing Wednesday: Happy and You Know It” »

What’s She Doing Wednesday: Jia’s First (Real) Halloween and Other Stuff

Yup, I’m ’bout to blast a bunch of Halloween-ness on this post because 1) last week’s post didn’t fall on the day of Halloween parades and outings; and 2) my main audience for these Wednesday posts are close friends and family members who look forward to seeing these pics more than the average person. Besides, with all the stores rushing for us all to get to Christmas, I don’t mind a little Halloween recap to slow things down a bit. I mean, why are we completely skipping over the joys and excitement of Thanksgiving? It’s actually one of my favorite holidays, competing with Christmas.

So anyway, Jia experienced her first Halloween. Last year was technically her first Halloween since she was born, but at only 8 months I didn’t really feel like making a huge deal out of it since she wasn’t going to remember it. Sure, we bought her a Halloween onesie (see last year’s post) and cute little jack-o-lantern knitted sock/booties, but we didn’t try to figure out an official costume or organize a stroll around the neighborhood. This year; however, was a whole different game. She didn’t like the orange glittery butterfly wings I’d bought her from the 99 cent store (it really freaked her out having the wings strapped to her shoulders) and she is really very into Mickey and Minnie. So, we got her a Minnie Mouse costume dress from Target and I ordered a little matching bow barrette from Etsy to go with it. Continue reading “What’s She Doing Wednesday: Jia’s First (Real) Halloween and Other Stuff” »

What’s She Doing Wednesday: Not a Real Halloween Post

This week, Jia’s personality is shining through even more than it has in the past. It’s really remarkable how these little people develop and change in the course of just a couple weeks, with really huge leaps and bounds every few months. I think back to what she was doing and how she was behaving and communicating when we first moved to California and she’s grown up so much over the past 2.5 months we’ve been here. Continue reading “What’s She Doing Wednesday: Not a Real Halloween Post” »