It can be so easy to compare ourselves to others. I am so guilty of this on a daily basis whether it be comparing what I’m doing to my friends or the random momma in the shop! We also have access to so many people’s lives through social media which can make the comparison game even more depressing. I remember early on when my son was a little baby a number of my friends were doing sensory classes with their little ones. I was more interested in catching up with my friends with littles when we went out and doing sensory activities at home, but I did feel a little bad, like maybe my son was missing out! Well, one day one of our friends couldn’t attend her baby sensory session and she graciously offered to let us take her spot and try it out! We went and my son fell asleep during the session with streamers waving in his face and music blaring in the background! It was so funny. In that moment I realized I didn’t need to feel bad about not taking my son to sensory classes because it wasn’...

We've been 'painting' and the deck is looking so fresh! 😂 It's been warming up down here below the equator so it's been lots of fun to get outside and play! My child absolutely loves water and water play so I thought it would be fun to give water painting a go. This is a fairly popular and really easy activity so I thought we'd try it and use a few different 'brushes'. 1. Gather supplies For this activity I used a sponge that we had for kitchen clean-up a small paintbrush a large paintbrush a cloth a couple plastic containers we usually use for food storage water 2. Set up To set things up I filled a couple containers with water and put them outside. I then grabbed all of the various items to let baby paint with and put them outside. 3. Let baby play! I then let baby play and he loved it! I had to show him how to use the paintbrush and to be fair he was much more interested in the sponge as well as tipping the water out! But it was ...

Thanks for reading along! I hope this encourages you in some way. Genesis 16:13 “She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.” The same God who saw Hagar in the midst of her troubles with Abram and Sarai also sees you and me in our day-to-day.  I’ve been thinking lately about how as a parent it’s easy to feel unnoticed. There are endless sacrifices, to-do items and more that we are juggling which are usually pretty thankless tasks. It’s so easy to feel unseen. A few weeks ago we had a few things going on and it turned into a very busy week. One of the nights I was making dinner with my toddler glued to my leg and feeling a bit frustrated that no one was helping or even seemed to notice my need for help. I looked outside and there was the most beautiful sunset and in that moment it just felt like God said, “I see you.” And that tiny moment was so reassuring.  Psalm 33:18 says “But the eyes o...

Welcome to Counting Toesies 2.0! I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately and I’ve decided to shake things up a bit and focus more on encouraging moms (and dads), on this journey of parenthood. As a Christian mom I have found there to be an overwhelming amount of advice and opinions on how to raise my children, but not as much encouragement about being a mother in a way that also celebrates children. We are expecting baby number 2 at the start of December and couldn’t be more excited. It hasn’t been the easiest of pregnancy journeys (with either of our kids actually), and it’s helped me realize what a gift children are. I really want to celebrate my children as best I can while also focusing and drawing my strength from God and all of the encouragement He offers as I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today without His faithfulness and encouragement. So I’m hoping to bring a little more encouragement to all the parents out there in a way that celebrates our children and also share my ...

  Welcome to Counting Toesies! A place to get ideas for baby and toddler play as well as a bit of  encouragement. Would love to have you join the fun by reaching out to say hi or by subscribing to my youtube channel! Thanks for visiting and hope you enjoy. :)

Christmas is quickly approaching and with it comes the joy and the pressure of finding the perfect gift for all of your loved ones. Finding the perfect gift can be very tricky as everyone is different and if you've got a little one it can be hard to just find the time to think of what to get everyone. Luckily a recent study done by Vistaprint showed that around 62% of Americans prefer a personal heartfelt gift over any other gift type including gift cards and generic presents of up to $100 in value, meaning you can give the best heartwarming gift while keeping it simple and cost-friendly! Coming up with good gifts to be can be a daunting task depending on the size and complexity of your family situation! Finding the time to think of a thoughtful, reasonably priced and attainable gift can sometimes be a real challenge. It is so worth it though and if you're reading this you probably already know that! A recent study by Survey Monkey showed that around 68% of people consi...

I just had my first week back at work, so I thought it would be interesting to take a look at working mothers to see what the stats are like and if I can get any helpful tips from mothers already working! Here's a look at what I found. The Statistics Globally In general, mothers seem to be returning to work at a higher rate than in previous years. There are probably a lot of different facts that contribute to the higher return. An article by the Washington Post speculates that a large portion of mothers returning to work do so because of the financial factor. Let's start by looking at the facts.  50% of households in OECD countries (the OECD is made up of 36 different countries across the world) include children 67% of mothers in these households return to work according to OECD statistics . This is a lot higher than I expected and helps me realize that I won't be alone in my efforts to balance everything.  According to Catalyst , women do double the u...

Our baby loves knee bobbing games! They were one of the first activities we could do with baby to get a little giggle. I've listed some of our favorites below along with some motions in parentheses. If you're doing these games with a baby who can't sit on their own yet make sure they are very supported. At the start of each of these songs, you will want to put baby on your knees facing you. 1. Ride-o  This song can be done at a slower pace which is nicer for the younger babies. It's very gentle and sweet. Lyrics Ride-o, ride-o, ride-o (bounce baby on knees facing you) Which way shall we ride-o?  To the countryside-o (bounce your knees and lean baby to your left) To find a pretty bride-o ( bounce your knees and lean baby to your right) Ride-o, ride-o, ride-o (while bouncing your knees lean baby to your left then your right and repeat) Clip-clop, clip-clop,clip-clop, clip-clop (back to normal bouncing) 2. Ride the Horsey This rhyme is a classic and o...

Baby has been loving opening anything and everything! So I thought it would be fun to create little animals that would pop-out when my little opened a little box. He definitely enjoyed opening the boxes and seeing the animal inside! Here’s how I did it.  1. Gather supplies For this activity, you’ll need:  a box or two with a lid that opens and shuts. I used two cute stationery boxes we had left from baby shower thank you cards. paper pencil/pen scissors tape  2. Draw the animals  I am an absolutely terrible drawer so I’ll tell you my secret! There are a ton of drawing videos on YouTube that will walk you through how to draw cute animals! I chose these 2 videos and used a pencil. My drawings came out alright. Just don’t look too closely at the lines!  How to Draw a Cute Elephant - Easy Pictures to Draw How to Draw a Lion | Lion Head Easy Draw Tutorial You could also color in the animal if you wanted!  3. Create the po...

My little one loves hand games and songs! They're easy and convenient for me as they only require my hands. So it's a win-win for both of us. I thought I'd put together a quick list of our tops choices along with the lyrics and motions for each song so you can try them too if you like :). 1. Itsy Bitsy Spider This song has been my little one's favorite since he was about 2 months old! He loves watching me do the motions. Song Lyrics The itsy-bitsy spider went up the water spout  (place the index finger of one hand to the thumb of other hand and vice-versa, rotate one finger and thumb pair upwards to meet again and then rotate the other pair up and repeat to imitate spider climbing) Down came the rain ( flutter fingers and bring hands down in rain motion) And washed the spider out (move hands away from each other in a wiping motion) Out came the sun and dried up all the rain (raise both hands and move back and forth) And the itsy-bitsy spider went up the...

Toe rhymes are a wonderful way to interact with your little one from even the youngest of ages! When my little one was only six weeks old we started going to a little music class and these were some of the first rhymes I did with him. He loved them! I've included some of the actions as well in parentheses.  1. Shoe a Little Horse This is a great song for even the tiniest of babies as it is very relaxed. Lyrics Shoe a little horse (tap baby's right foot three times) Shoe a little mare (tap baby's left foot three times) With a tap-tap here  (tap baby's right foot three times) And a tap-tap there  (tap baby's left foot three times) But let the little horse go bare bare bare (rub both of baby's feet in a circular motion with your thumb) 2. This Little Piggy This is a classic! You can't have a list of baby toe rhymes without including 'This Little Piggy!' Lyrics This little piggy went to market (wiggle baby's big toe) This ...

Happy Rugby World Cup Semi-Finals Weekend! To celebrate we decided that we would play some baby rugby this weekend!  Baby is loving rolling balls and enjoys 'rugby tackles' (aka nudges) from dad, so I thought this activity would be fun for the whole family. As an American, I'm fairly new to rugby so if you are like me and are fairly new to rugby here's a fun video by How to Dad to get you more familiar with the game! Read on to see how to create baby rugby. 1. Gather supplies For this activity, you'll need  Paper Towel and/or Toilet Paper Rolls (rescued from recycling) Paint & Paint Brush (optional) Tape or Glue Small Rugby Ball (or any other type of ball really) All Blacks Rubber Duck (Just for fun! How cute is it??) 2. Build your rugby post I built my rugby post with two old paper towel rolls. I opted to paint all the old rolls white first, but that is completely optional as your little one won't mind what color the posts are!  ...

Looking for a quick, easy, low-cost activity you can put together for your baby to keep them occupied while you get a couple things done around the house? Then this one's for you!  I had heard about this activity from several different people after my little was born, but never got around to putting it together. Then we went to visit baby's new daycare and they had some small bottles that baby loved so I thought I would finally get my act together and give this activity a go. It was brilliant! My child rarely holds still for more than 5 minutes, but he was very intrigued by these bottles and enjoyed playing with them while I made dinner.  Here's how you can do it too!  1. Gather supplies. For this activity, you'll need Bottles - I used 3 big bottles, 2 old juice bottles and 1 old soda bottle that I rescued from recycling, but you could use bottles of any size or shape. Just make sure they have a good lid that will stay on Fillings - I used uncooked pas...