The Kavanaugh Report

As I said last week, I'm starting a series on high needs babies. But, what exactly is a high needs baby?


Doing research for this post, one thing is clear -- there is no single definition of a high needs baby or toddler. No one defining quality or checklist. But there certainly are similarities between high needs babies. Parenting expert Dr. Sears lists 12 qualities that are seen in high needs babies. You can read the full descriptions here. In summary a high needs baby or toddler is:

Intense* -- in your face about their every need, driven, loud
Hyperactive* -- constantly in motion, hate containment, fight swaddles
Draining* -- continuous need for attention
Feeds Frequently -- fights schedules and demands feeding
Demanding* -- strong willed, strong sense of urgency in everything they need
Awakens Frequently* -- poor sleepers, low sleep needs
Unsatisfied* -- hard to make content
Unpredictable* -- the same techniques for sleeping, soothing hardly work twice
Super Sensitive -- very aw…

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This week's Toddle Along Tuesday topic -- Things I actually say:

"Get down, you're going to kill yourself!"

"Get down now, please."

"Don't eat that!"

"Please, don't pee on the couch."



"You're going to bump your head."

"Holy stinkiness."

"Seriously, get down."

I'm sensing a theme. This kid is going to give me a heart attack.

What are some things that you actually say? Link up to share!


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Henry is 18 months old


After last week, I had pretty low expectations for this week's tot school. I figured Hen would continue to fight me. But, much to my surprise, Henry did great. This week, we continued our fruit theme as we moved onto squares. Henry seemed to enjoy the activity wall this week. On the magnet board were four foam strips with a number on the front and a magnet glued to the back. These strips allowed us to make a square shape and introduce numbers. Hen spent a ton of time putting these on the board and taking them off.



On the felt board was a bunch of squares. Henry enjoyed these, like always. This week, Henry also spent a lot of time playing with the weather wall. He thought it was so silly to pick random weather combinations.




The tot trays were an enormous hit this week. The first tray was a shape puzzle. This was just one of his normal toys, so I didn't expect him to play with it a ton, but he surprised me. Henry still played a bunch with this, and by t…

I knew Henry was different from the time he was three hours old. When he was born, he was wide awake. Wide awake. For seven hours straight. Every hour or so, he would scream out. Just bloody murder for a few seconds. It would stop as soon as it started. It scared me, it scared Morgan, it scared my mom and everyone else that visited. From that very day we heard "what's wrong with him?"

From that moment, Henry has been 100 percent different than what I imagined. Reflux, no sleep, colic, constant screaming, endless energy, an extreme need to be held, and the list goes on.



After months, I came across the term "high needs." It fit Henry to a T. It turned out there are other babies like him -- lots of them. I wasn't alone. I wasn't crazy. I wasn't doing something wrong. 
At 18 months old, Henry is still very much a high needs toddler. But thankfully, I'm very different. I'm more prepared to deal with a high needs child. I'm more informed and …

Today is Wednesday! I love Wednesday. You know why? It's the day I get my eMeals meal plan! I've written about my love of eMeals before, but I love it so much that I need to share again.


For those of you that don't know, eMeals is a meal planning service. Every week eMeals sends me a meal plan for the upcoming week. For around $5 a month, the service includes seven complete dinners and a perfectly organized grocery list.


My favorite part about eMeals is that it saves us money and time! There is no wandering around the grocery store picking up random ingredients and hoping you have enough. The plans are coordinated so that if you buy a bag of celery, you use it in multiple meals. There is no waste, and no extra expense. Plus, with easy, already planned meals, the temptation to eat-out fades away.



If for some reason you don't want to eat one meal on the plan -- no problem. The grocery list is coordinated so you just need to cross that number off of the list. That way, t…

I cannot believe it's time for another one of these posts! Two words can describe these last three months -- GROWTH SPURT! Henry is now 31.5" long (22%) and weighs 21 lbs 13 oz (19%). Most of the growth has been over the last month or so. Henry is finally wearing 12 month size pants and 12-18 month shirts. He's still in a size 3 diaper though. It felt pretty great to finally pack up the 6-9 month size pants that he had worn for 10 months.




Henry is a total ball of energy! He normally gets up between 6:30-7:00 a.m. and doesn't stop moving until he goes to bed at 8:00 p.m. He climbs, jumps, runs, and slides. His favorite things to do are go to the playground, ride in his cozy coupe -- which he affectionately calls Buddy Buddy -- and play with food in his play kitchen. He is obsessed with all things Sesame Street. His favorite color is yellow and he will point out the color whenever he sees it.







Over the last three months, food has remained a friend for Hen, especially du…