Darah and I have created some rituals that we do on a daily or weekly basis, and these rituals are very important to us both. They help us bond, they help us gauge the time of day and they provide us with something special that is just for us two.

One example is that every Friday we paint our toes. First I paint Darah’s with her Piggy Paint, and then I paint my own. She selects the colors for us both to wear. She takes this event VERY seriously. Another ritual that we have is her nap ritual. There’s an order to putting this kid down, and I won’t go into all the details, but one crucial step is that she must be kissed in between when she is picked up and when she is laid down in her crib. She is quite aware of this, and puckers her lips, even if she is in melt down mode. And it is such an important moment for me, because even if I am at my wits end with her (which is sometimes the case by nap time) we have a moment where I am very quickly reminded that she is my little love and my world.

Over the last few weeks we have developed a new ritual: lotion time. We’ve been using the Angel Baby Lotion from Earth Mama Angel Baby and Darah is a HUGE fan of it. When I squirt out the lotion, I have to make a certain noise that I just can’t seem to write down (it’s more of a noise than a sound, I think), and Darah does it, too. Then we smell the lotion on my hands. She loves the smell, which is the same smell as the Angel Baby Shampoo & Body Wash that we reviewed last month (orange and vanilla…yum!). Then I apply it to her legs and then her arms. Darah likes to talk about how it is, “cool, cool” (meaning that is is cold). And then she takes the pump and pretends to put lotion on her Elmo, Grover and Bunny. That’s pretty much how the ritual goes. Oh yeah, and we do this during morning potty time, and sometimes during potty time right before bed. But ALWAYS during potty time. Sheesh! Little ones really value structure and predictability. The first time I put lotion on her, she was on the potty. And I suppose I did what I listed out above. And the rest is history. Darah remembered it all for the next time!

The Angel Baby Lotion is doing a great job of keeping Darah’s skin moisturized during the dry winter months. Before we go this, I was really at a loss about what to do. I could tell she needed lotion, but I didn’t feel comfortable about putting any of my products on her…there were just too many chemicals that I couldn’t even pronounce! This is not a worry I have with Earth Mama Angel Baby products. I know they use the very best and safest ingredients!

Buy it!: Earth Mama Angel Baby skincare products are all currently 25% off, which makes this lotion just $8.21. Woo hoo!