Holiday

First off, I would like to say, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I woke up early to go do a 5K Turkey Trot, then headed off to work. I stayed at the office for a couple of hours, then made a beeline for home. During my morning adventures my husband and our friends were getting the goodies prepared for lunch. I made Bread Pudding and Broccoli Casserole the night before. We did a fried turkey and it was surprisingly tasty. The little munchkin had his first Thanksgiving feast! His favorite part was the pistachio pudding with pineapples and marshmallows (don't worry I didn't let him indulge too much). I am not surprised though, if that boy is anything like his momma he will have a mouth full of sweet-tooth's :) I cannot wait for his first birthday on December 16th. It is going to be so much fun.

My Review of Prince Lionheart pottyPOD Anti-Microbial Potty Chair - Green

Originally submitted at Hayneedle.com

Potty training has never been easier with the Prince Lionheart pottyPod. Designed to look just like a toilet this hassle-free pottyPod will help your child transition to the real thing in no time. Its soft cushiony green seat is comfortable waterproof and includes an EPA-approved anti-microbial add...

Prince Lionheart pottyPOD Anti-Microbial Potty Chair - Green

Pleased so far

By Dakota Lind from Central Coast, CA on 11/20/2011

 

4out of 5

Pros: Bright Colors, Fun, Made by a Family Company, Grows with Baby, Easy To Clean, Nice to look at

Cons: Large-ish

Best Uses: Toddlers

Describe Yourself: Budget Shopper

Was this a gift?: No

It's early, but my 1.5 year old is interested in interacting with it. He got a little wierded out about sitting on it after he sat funny on the splash guard, which made me glad we got this one and not one with a hard plastic splash guard. I think as he becomes more ready to potty train this will be an excellent choice of potty.

(legalese)

Sherlock Who?

Let's just start out with the fact that detective work takes too much brain power for me. My poor son broke out in hives a couple of weekends ago, and I am stumped as to what could be the cause. I took him to the Dr. on Wednesday and had to sit through the grueling process of him getting blood drawn. *Tears* I think he is still mad at me. I didn't hear anything before the weekend hit and come Monday, I find out that the tests all came back negative for allergies. What?!? I thought it might be blueberries, but he's had those before with no reaction. That is the only thing that changed. I don't want to give him another rash/reaction so I am not sure if I want to really test my blueberry theory (even though the tests show he shouldn't react). My husband and I also think he could have found a nasty creature on the floor (i.e. a dead bug) and eaten that. He is getting around pretty good by now, and puts any and everything in his mouth. Usually bugs die in the house because of poison, right? I guess it makes sense if he ate a dead bug, he could have been reacting the insecticide or whatever else gross the creature was harboring. Please universe, give me an answer.... and tell me my son isn't eating bugs, Yuck.

Cuteness to Share and a Goodbye to Montana

1. In the last week my son has started to refer to us as Mommy and Daddy instead of Mama and Dada
2. When he wants to be held he says, "Mama hold you."
3. Yesterday we went  on a hike which required crawling through our neighbors fence. As usual, MLO had a stick in his hand (a rather long one) and I asked him if he wanted me to hold it while he went through the fence. He answered, "No, MLO do." Obviously he didn't say MLO, he said his name but lets not nit pick. It was so darned cute that he made it clear that he wanted to do it himself. I thought that was rather groundbreaking.
4. He has taken to spinning in circles and has succeeded in leaving the ground when he jumps.


All of these milestones, large and small have occurred while we have spent a heavenly three months in one of the most breathtaking places in this country. Today we say goodbye to the Swan Range, its river and its lake. We say goodbye to all of the remarkably kind and welcoming people of the valley. We have made friends and fallen in love with the rugged, raw beauty of the place. It will break our hearts to leave both. But winter is coming and the sheet of ice on the pond serves to warn us of the long, cold, dark that creeps ever closer. We leave for milder weather, the sharp smell of the wind blowing off of the ocean, we leave for ag land by the sea. We return to our families, who have missed us and who we have missed. We return to babies being born, a new chapter in our lives and the holidays with all the joyous family fun they bring. We are sad to leave, and hold the promise in our hearts of escaping back next year to our Montana paradise. We happily return, eager to have our families close and to celebrate the lovely coast that is our home.

Steinbeck, a man of my home town and a figurehead from my youth said it best, “I’m in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection. But with Montana it is love. And it’s difficult to analyze love when you’re in it.”
Travels with Charley: In Search of America 

A Shameless, and Unsolicited, Plug for Skype

Parents, if you have loved ones far away you know how difficult it is to make time for them to bond with your little one. Let's face it, a phone call doesn't convey all of the love a person wants to express to a baby or toddler. Babies have only so much patience for something like a phone, with its tempting buttons. Besides, linking a face to a voice helps a little one put all that love into context.

When we moved to Montana we knew that we weren't going to see either set of grandparents for a couple of months. That's when Hubby and I decided to download Skype. I will never go back to simple phone conversations with my parents. Heck, Skype's more fun for me to engage in, let alone for MLO. Even if the novelty of sitting in front of the computer and seeing/playing with Nana and Papa has expired, I can still train the camera on the little mister while he runs around and plays. This allows me to get a chance to talk with family while they get a chance to see MLO in action.

I strongly recommend downloading Skype. It's free, it's easy and it's a lifesaver when it comes to keeping your little ones connected to family far away!

19 Months and a Bucket Full of Toys

Pack it up, pack it in, let me begin by saying that I had no idea what to pack for MLO's adventure in the wilds of Montana. I brought every bit of clothing that fit and would seem to fit three months from our move out there and of course all of his toiletries and medical supplies. When it came to toys and books, I was lost. The problem was that he just has too many. Hubby and I have purchased maybe two toys for the kid, but aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends have utterly showered MLO. We had limited space, so I had to chose the toys and books wisely.


First, I concentrated on the books. MLO had just started to develop his obsession with heavy machinery, so I scoured used book stores, Ross and Marshall's for inexpensive books that would feed his love of trucks and the outdoors. He spent the months subsequent to his birthday pouring over his new birthday books, so he had somewhat lost interest in the books we had. I kept the newly purchased, "Montana" books hidden to maintain the novelty and ended up bringing about five each of new and old books. While he's been here he's received four more new books.

With regard to the toys, I made efforts to bring things that had versatility and appealed to his more recent phases. For instance, he just started to take a fancy to pulling things behind him as he walked, so I packed my old toy rotary phone with the eyes that move. I grabbed all the legos we had inherited from my folks, which included some with wheels which are his faves. I brought his 'Learn to-Dress Jake' and his much beloved stuffed horsey. For the car I packed a few small toys that zipped, clinked and contained other toys, my favorite being his Wolfy. He loves zipping the pocket and playing with all the characters. It's a life saver for the car. Overall we had about an 18 gallon bin full of toys.

Now that we've had a couple of months here, I more clearly see what his favorites are. He plays with all of his toys, but his newly acquired Tonka dump truck is his favorite outdoor toy. In the house he loves to play with his soft-ball and with a wind up dump truck we scored for $3 at WalMart. The Wheely Cow has saved us... see the review on the Stuff N' Clutter page. The books were also critical. He spends minutes straight (hey, for a toddler that's a long time!) going through the pages of all of his books.

Of course, nothing beats a stick, some pine-cones, rocks and the great-outdoors, but when it's time to go inside it's nice to have a few things other than the furniture to play with.

Inappropriate, Hillarious, Adorable: Things my Toddler Says

MLO pronounces truck, "Cock." That's right, ladies and gentlemen, my son exclaimed in an intimate restaurant during the lunchtime rush, "Cock! Big big Cock!" as he pointed out the window. It was awesome.

He pronounces "Silly" without the 'l' sound and everything is silly: Mama, Dada, the dogs Snoopy (who he calls "Sissy") and Ricky (who he calls "Wicky"), Grandma and Grandpa and the rain ("Wainy").

He loves to throw rocks in the water.  Suddenly during a meal he will exclaim, "Rocks! Water! Throw!" and make a huge splashing sound while throwing his hands into the air, all while making the most serious of faces.

He loves hiking and will pick up a stick, start to use it as a hiking stick then point down our dirt road and ask, "Hike?"

He refers to toast as "Pope." This makes breakfast a particularly holy experience for all of us.

He has started to refer to things in the plural, and when he does so he puts a long pause between the word and the 's' sound, for example, "Gape-eh-sss" for grapes.

He sings along to songs. We have our own version of "The Wheels on the Bus" and he acts out all the parts and sometimes finish lines when I sing certain songs. He can actually carry a tune incredibly well. He must get that from his grandma....

He will go to the stereo system in the dining room (even though he isn't allowed anywhere near it) and ask "Dance?" That's my queue to turn on Pandora so that we can rock out to Simon and Garfunkle or MGMT.

My son recently received a Melissa & Doug animal puzzle that he adores, although doesn't quite know what to do with. Whenever he sees it, he gleefully and affectionately exclaims, "Aminews!"

Though he hasn't purposefully achieved airborne status, he loves to "jump". Usually this means squatting down really low, then lifting one foot really high off the ground while shouting, "Gee-ump!"

When he falls down he announces his sudden contact with the earth in the following ways:

1. "Oh boom."
2.  An emphatic, "Oh no!" (complete with upturned hands in the air)
3.  "Bonk." (accompanied by a hand to whatever part of his body is "injured")

...and counting

MLO has begun to count to three. He will even count his fingers, "One two three, one two three...." over and over. I can't get over that he knows the cue, "Can you count them?" and appropriately follows up with numbers. We started to play a game when he was 18 months old called, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, no fingers, boom!" where I would show him my hand full of fingers, count down, and when we got to no fingers I would shout , "No fingers... Boom!" and give him a gentle punch. He loves it, and it's an easy way to entertain him in a restaurant while we wait for food. Ever since that became a favorite game, he got interested in counting the trees or houses in books. Of course, we clap and encourage his efforts, so he thinks this counting business is the bee's knees. I've lost touch with any books that indicate when certain milestones ought to be achieved, and we've been gone through his 18 month check-up, so I really have no idea what he's supposed to be doing developmentally. I don't worry too much about it, and it lets me think that he's the bee's knees for counting, so I think I'll go with it!

Wildlife Adventures in Montana

Described herein are two of the most dramatic wildlife experiences we have had as a family, so far.

I mentioned in my come-back post, "Oh, What?" that there had been an incident with a bat in the washing machine. To give some background, we moved to a relatively remote part of Montana in August. About two weeks after we arrived, I was doing some laundry. We had experienced our first real trial of back woods living when our septic system backed up and proceeded to leak black water from the bottom of our toilet. My husband soaked up the water with some towels and once we had the problem fixed I ran a load of wash that included said nasty towels and a rug that had previously sat directly around the toilet. The rug had been thrown over a bucket in the laundry room once we figured out what it had been soaking up, to be washed with the rest of the poo-water-soaked towels when the time came. As one might expect, I washed those suckers on hot for the longest time the washer allowed. Even though the days and nights were plenty hot to hang the washing out to dry, I wanted the added security of a hot dry cycle to kill any possible remaining poo-bugs. As I loaded the drier, I noticed a rather large and soggy piece of lint at the bottom of the washer. I thought to myself, "That's odd, I didn't wash anything that was that dark." As I picked up the lint I noticed that it was particularly felty feeling, not at all like the old rough towels and synthetic rug I had washed. Suddenly the shape and the texture came together in my mind: bat- wet, soggy, bat. I threw the drowned, ragged, lifeless body of the creature on the ground and shuddered heartily. I walked out into the kitchen and said to my husband, "I need you to go in there and tell me whether that's a bat on the ground."

Shocked and utterly confused, he walked in and confirmed what I already knew: I had inadvertently killed a poor bat in really a horrific way, then desecrated its body by throwing it with gusto to the ground. As close as we can figure it, the little fella climbed in the open washer sometime in the night and had gone to sleep. In the morning chill he was not able to register that I was throwing things into the washer and so didn't fly out. The other possibility was that it had gotten into the rug-covered bucket and was hanging from the rug when I picked it up and threw it into the washer. Either way, the poor little guy met a terrible end, for which I will feel
eternally sorry. As my sister said, "Peace be to that poor bat...." In homage, I briefly considered the following Halloween costume for MLO. Props to Pottery Barn for the adorable costume, but man, that kid sells it!


It's Fall, and here in our lovely valley the Birch and Cottonwood leaves are changing, the weather has cooled way down, and the fish have all left our pond for deeper waters. All the wildlife of our region are doing their best to put on some pounds before they bed down for winter. The berry crop was abysmal this year, and the glut of rain in the spring left the grass more tough than nutritious, so the entire food chain is feeling the effects of limited food. With that comes the inevitable attempt by our bigger and bolder predators to take advantage of the easy food supply that accompanies human settlement. Just a few weeks ago we had a 600 lb, 20 year old grizzly bear break into our closest neighbor's garage. Suffice it to say, Hubby and I are a bit on edge. Taking on a hungry animal 5 times your size, and likely willing to settle for eating you, is no small charge.

Tracks from the huge-mongous bear that broke into our neighbor's garage

With the scene set let me explain our latest big adventure with Montana wildlife. Hubby and I were enjoying the last warm fall day forecasted for as far as anyone could tell. I sat, unarmed, in our expansive yard while Hubby unsuccessfully fished our empty pond, which we share with our nearest neighbor. Yes folks, this is the same neighbor whose garage had been ripped into by a gi-normous grizzly bear. As he was fishing he noticed some movement near the neighbor's house and looked up to find a very brown bear standing on its hind legs, both front paws on the window. The hubster began to yell and the bear looked over, then proceeded to ignore him completely. Hubby yelled for me to take the dogs in and get his firearms ready.

My brave, madman of a husband went over to the neighbor and did his darndist to scare off this bear. No charging car, honking horn, or gun-shots seemed to drive the animal away. Only when Hubby fired buck-shot at the ground near its feet did the animal flee. Hubby came back and immediately called the grizzly guy, with whom we had come to be on a first name basis. As he hung up the phone, the hubster looked out the window and exclaimed, "Holy sh*t, the effing bear is in our yard!!" He had crossed the pond and now stood somewhat bemused in our front yard area. Now within 20 feet or so we could see that it was a little black bear, that couldn't have weighed more than 120 lbs. Hubby tried to scare him off with bear spray (the can of which we had not used before and found out in this instance that it was frighteningly sub-par), pots and pans and yelling. To no avail! The beast merely ran up a nearby pine tree bordering the pond. Finally we waited for the bear to move in a direction that would allow us to chase him off, and move he did. He ambled casually to within 10 feet of our window, near which MLO was enjoying a mid-afternoon snack. As I picked up my son he pointed out the window and said happily, "Doggie! Nice, nice doggie. Give pets." That was not the reaction I was looking for, regardless of how adorable this little bear was.  

Hubby was finally able to get close enough (yes, close enough) to spray the bear in the face, which should impart on the bear a healthy fear for people. We found out that this little fella had been orphaned as a cub, raised in captivity, and recently released in our area. The bear was only about a year and a half, and his upbringing explained the alarming disregard he had for people-threats. We learned that a bear does sh*t in the woods (I have footage of it), that black bears can look very, very brown, and that MLO is an unreliable detector of potentially threatening animals in the wild, not to be relied upon when hiking. 

Our little black bear friend in our front yard

The baby who wouldn't kiss

Ever since MLO began to express his personality he has had a way of attracting an entire room's attention and sending the mood of the place into joyful wonder. He's always been beautiful, funny, easy to love and shamelessly flirtatious. However, while other babies his age would hug and kiss and express love in myriad other ways, MLO generally kept his affection to himself. For instance, after he learned to walk he would now and again run over to me, wrap his arms around my legs and say "Hiiiiii Mama." Then, as quickly as he appeared, he would scamper off to wreak havoc on some toy or clean corner of the house. That was it. No kisses, few hugs. As adoring and utterly devoted parents, Hubby and I would shower hugs and kisses and "I love you"s on the child with abandon, so we didn't really understand why MLO didn't seem to reciprocate. To clarify, neither of us doubted that he loved us and that he knew he was loved, we just didn't understand why he didn't express it in ways other kids his age did.   

My favorite example of this is as follows: One morning, when MLO was around 15 months old and had just awakened from his nap, I walked into his room. The picture of happiness, he smiled broadly from above the rails of his crib and exclaimed, "Hiiiii Mama!"  I went over and gave him a big kiss and a squeeze, and as our routine dictated, proceeded to play a game of hide and seek while he remained in bed. We both laughed and smiled and when I went to lift him from the crib I asked for a kiss. "Kiss for mommy?", I said, and leaned my cheek in toward his face. He took his little hands, one on each side of my face, and turned my face around to look him in the eyes. He then turned his cheek to face me, and pulled my face toward his cheek, so that I may kiss him. Yes, my son in effect said, "You may have the profound privilege of kissing me. That's as much affection as your gonna get, lady."

It was some months later that MLO finally started to give hugs and kisses. At first his kisses were fully opened mouth affairs, with plenty of drool. He finally got that he should purse his lips a bit. He still only very rarely volunteers a kiss, though he generously doles out hugs. His favorite times to hug are when he is sitting in his highchair or laying on the changing table. I'm fairly certain he uses the imploring request "Hug!" on the changing table as a distraction mechanism, since he seems to hate having his diaper changed. He has also picked up the habit of saying lovingly, "Ooooh, Mama!" and "Ooooh Dada!" when he finds us particularly funny or sweet. He has even started saying "Silly Dada!" (or Mama) and pronounces "Silly" without the 'l' sound. So yeah, my baby that wouldn't kiss is now the toddler that loves to hug. I'll take it!

The joy of cooking... for baby

Ah the food issue. Mommies have all had it: my kid won't eat this, my kid will only eat that, my kid ate this religiously and now won't touch it.... I can safely say that, in short, food is a struggle for all of us at one point or another.

When MLO started on solid food there was little he didn't like. Those few things were easily avoidable and nutritional equivalents were readily available and appreciated by him. Somewhere around 12 months he started to get weird on me. He would turn his nose up at our tried and true routine of scrambled eggs with cheese, broccoli, and  a touch of garlic powder for breakfast. WTF pal? All of a sudden I had to get creative. How do I pack the same amount of nutritional bang into an MLO sized meal? I started to branch out: french toast made with maple syrup instead of sugar, no syrup on the toast with a banana or oatmeal with honey and whole milk and a serving of veggies and hummus at lunch or dinner. I cut scrambled eggs out all together and started to offer more meats and cheeses. I discovered he loved goat cheese and that aside from 'outside' the only other discernible word he uttered was 'hummus'.

As I was struggling with the need to explore food choices for MLO I kept asking myself, "What changed?" One day it dawned on me, the kid was bored. Can you imagine eating the same things at the same time of day for 3 or more months straight? In hind-site, I would have been concerned if he hadn't started to turn his nose up at our "tried and true" routine. As time went on, I started to mix things up as a matter of course. I tried hard to move those staples around so they didn't happen in the same way at the same time. I began to bake bread and muffins that I knew could pack a punch for the whole grains they contained. As our trip to Montana grew closer I began to fret over how I would meet his needs over 8 days and 7 nights of road trip and camping. The cooler and the fridge in our tiny trailer weren't long term storage situations that I trusted, and I knew that at least one meal of the day would happen in the car. Fortunately, I stumbled on Go Go Applesauce, an individually wrapped packet of organic applesauce. I packed string cheese and a plethora of crackers, my favorite for MLO being the Trader Joe's Multigrain crackers for their relatively low sodium, delicious flavor, practically choke-safe texture and Peanut-free-ness. What I didn't plan for was the emotional and temporal need for fast food; on that trip MLO was introduced to his first McDonald's hamburger and fries, and Jack in the Box breakfast bowl, and I don't feel a bit guilty about it. MLO ate Daddy's grilled burgers for dinner and enjoyed many a breakfast of cheerios and banana as we rolled out of the campsite. 

Since arriving in our destination MLO has discovered fresh trout (shish- for fish), raw spinach slathered in ranch dressing, raw green beans and plain raisins. He loves wheat toast with butter at breakfast and snacks of yogurt with cinnamon, cheerios and applesauce. Oatmeal with whole milk, a touch of honey and raisins or fresh fruit is a welcome way to beat the morning chill. Much to my shame, he has a derth of experience when it comes to feeding himself with utensils. He has such a propensity for making a mess that I shy away from giving him the spoon when he has yogurt and I never thought to hand over the fork except with food already on it. I have resolved to overcome my fear of mess and give him cheerios in a bowl with a spoon (I'm starting slow... don't judge me!) and green beans on his high chair tray with a fork at his disposal. The dogs are going to love it.

So So Funny

This has nothing to do with parenting. It is a representation of several pop-culture and cult classic favorites of mine slathered in pure silliness: Doctor Who? check LOTR? check X-Men? check Sexy Lumberjacks? check.

http://gingerhaze.tumblr.com/tagged/art

Oh, What?

We're back! Well, actually, we are very very far away. But with all the new adventures afoot I knew I needed to update the site, so here we go:

MLO turned 18 months old on September 2nd. In the last few weeks he has begun to say 'no' and nod his head 'yes' in response to questions. He has started to string words together such as, "River... cold water... fish!" You may wonder where he got those particular words, seeing as we live on the central coast of California. It just so happens that Hubby has the type of job that lets him shove off and work from a home office for, say, three months every seven years. That being the case, we moved to Montana at the end of July. That's right, Montana. Big sky country, lakes, rivers, streams, mountains, grizzly bears, cougars, wolves, black bears, beavers in our pond, bats in the washing machine and moose in the road. Us being us, we did it in style. We are living fifteen minutes out a dirt road off of the only paved road in this particular valley. We are about an hour and a half from a hospital, and half an hour from the nearest physician. Most days we are literally miles from any other human and the eighty year old rough hewn log cabin we are living in has been broken into by bears twice in its lifetime. Roughin it? You bet your ass!

So MLO has a whole new vocabulary to match his new world: "Boom! Thunder" (that applies to thunder and gunfire....), "Doe! Buck!", "Dada rod" (don't be gross, daddy fly fishes!), "Lake, river, creek" and "Pond" all have "Cold water" and "Fish" and we explore them on the "Boat" together. "Rock, stick, pine cone" and "Log" are his new favorite toys which he throws with relish into his new Tonka dump truck or in the case of the log, balances on and practices his jumping. The Tonka is a mild manifestation of MLO's newest and most potent love. MLO can now identify excavators, skid steers, loaders, dump trucks, bull dozers and backhoes... he's obsessed. To fuel this love of big machinery we watch the "Twenty Trucks" videos on You Tube. CHECK IT OUT.

We all love them, but for such different reasons. I have never heard a man sing so passionately about excavators. It brings tears (from fits of laughter) to my eyes. MLO sits transfixed on my lap, absorbing every word. I think those videos have taught him more about trucks than the myriad truck board books he reads every day.  

Speaking of videos, MLO has also started to watch the "Baby's First Word Stories" video series by So Smart. I relented on the whole TV thing when I realized that he had the patience to sit and watch a few minutes at a time. When you think about it, TV is an incredibly potent teaching tool. It combines images with corresponding sounds and allows for repetition so that the kiddo can start to integrate words with objects in context. He has really picked up on the vocabulary introduced in the videos. I do limit his TV time to 30 minutes a day, as I don't want TV to overshadow play. He has gone from watching 5 minutes at a time to demanding more when I turn it off after 30. The videos have engaging but gentle music, cute relate-able characters and simple story lines. Each episode finishes with a review of the words learned. We have the "Pets", "Get Dressed", "House" and "We Go" DVDs and there are several stories on each. MLO loves them all, and now asks for Edward, Dee Dee, Larry and Iggy when he gets up in the morning.

MLO is now awake and demanding that we go outside, so I will leave you with those wild images and movie recommendations with more descriptions of outdoor toddler living to follow.

Cheers from MT!

A view from our yard

 

Happy Father's Day

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Father's Day. Ours was a little mellow. We all felt a little cruddy so daddy stayed home while mommy and baby went to have lunch with the grandparents.

Whirlwind

Sorry all for the time away. My life got super busy unexpectedly. I had to go back to work full time about 6 weeks ago. My boss passed away and I am now doing her job. Although in that time we took our first plane ride, and it really wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. He was laughing at take-off and slept most of the time. One thing, have you ever seen the changing tables in the airplane bathrooms?!?!?! Insane. They are very tiny and don't have any straps. Turbulence? I guess it's not a safety issue. I was grateful that my son was so small during that interesting process.
Oh, he also discovered we have a dog, and that said dog is soft and has a wet tongue. He is fascinated. He was laying on the floor yesterday and he was petting the dog. Those two will be fast friends for sure.
Let's see, plane ride, dog petting, I told you about starting veggies, and I think that's all the major stuff. Less than two weeks and the chunk will be 6 months. Un-freaking-believable. Already.

My Second Mother's Day

This Mother's Day weekend was a real treat for me. I had the immense pleasure of sharing it with my grandma, mom and dad and Sunday itself with my mother- and father-in-law as well. On Mother's Day we hosted a brunch at our house with MLO entertaining his most adoring fans. We ate fresh cinnamon rolls with coffee and tea then feasted on salad of locally grown fruits and Hubby's patented camping trip scramble; a cornucopia of meat, cheese, eggs and veggies. Frank Sinatra played in the background but MLO stole the show.

MLO has learned a few new tricks that really tickle the funny bone. He claps, not in response to anything, but to initiate a glowing round of applause from his devotees. Other children did that months ago, but MLO has been holding out on us. He also shakes his finger and says "No, no, no." He learned this adorable, albeit potentially problematic, trick from watching my folks scold their lovable but forever naughty dog. The looks on his face while executing both of these new moves send me into stitches. He looks so amused and gleeful when clapping and the mild scowl he adopts while shaking that little finger cracks us all up.  I can't get past how truly wonderful it is to watch this baby become a little boy.

Knowing how much I adore my son, and how fleeting his babyhood is, I can only imagine how much it means to his grand- and great-grandparents to spend this time with him and see him happy with his parents, their babies. I feel so fortunate to have the kind of relationship with my parents and in-laws that allows us all to get together and enjoy each other and this very special time in MLO's life.

Fun Mother's and Father's Day Gift Ideas

Being a mildly creative person I wanted to do something fun for my mom, grandma and mother-in-law for mother's day last year. I wanted it to be personalized and unique to MLO. Several companies in our area do hand and foot prints of your baby in clay that they glaze and fire and they look beautiful but cost a bit more than I was interested in paying. Additionally, I wanted to make something so that both MLO and I had our stamps on it, so to speak. Another mom suggested going to our local 'paint-your-own-pottery' shop to stamp MLO's foot prints on something (hand prints are next to impossible, even for a 1 year old- they just clench). All of the adults in our extended families drink coffee, so I went down, picked out mugs and painted away.

There are a few keys to success:

1. Bring someone else to handle baby. I brought my mother-in-law which allowed her to pick out the colors she wanted on her mug.
2. Don't try to reprint baby's footprint if the first one didn't quite make it. If you have to, paint in the toes.
3. The imprint is a three person job- Grandma held MLO, while an employee held baby's foot still and I rolled the mug across MLOs foot.
4. The older the baby, the harder it is. I took MLO just after his birthday to finally make a mug for myself and he was far more difficult to entertain at 12 months than he was at 2 and 3. He also was more engaged during the imprint, which proved more challenging as he tried to pull away.
5. Use a lighter color as the base color and use a very dark color for the footprint. You don't get the advantage of multiple layers of paint for the imprint so it's important that the print be much darker in color than the base color.

I ended up with some really cute mugs that were totally DIY. They were not professional quality, but hey, they're going to your parents. I love the idea of making something for your folks that includes an aspect of your child so that they benefit from a double dose of personalized gift giving!

A less DIY but totally personalized gift option is the photo mug or calendar. I use Snapfish to create mine. Photo mugs are actually a bit cheaper than the paint your own options, and they are totally cheesy, but grandparents love them. Calendars are great around Christmas time since the new year is about to start. I used pictures from each month of MLO's first year and it was so cute. Already we have compared MLO this year to MLO last year  using the calendars and it's fun to see.

A slightly more personalized option is the brag book. You can find classy looking ones at CR Gibson or Etsy or you can make one yourself. Giving the book already filled with pictures personalizes it and makes it more meaningful. This gift is more of a grandma gift, since they usually have purses with ample enough room to carry such an object. For a similar idea you can get a relatively inexpensive digital photo frame with a memory card already filled with pictures of your little one and/or your family through the years. This works great for dads as it's something they can have at work.

Those are my ideas, what are yours?

Adventures in Baby-Feeding

So we have had some changes in the little one's diet. My milk supply was drying up (only enough for about 2 feedings a day) so I started supplementing with formula. I was pumping every 2 to 3 hours to try to increase my supply, but it wasn't working. I decided it was a losing battle so I switched to formula only, no more mommy milk. I was a little sad about the situation, but what could I do? My son then had his 4 month check-up at the doctor, and while there the doctor was asking me if I started solids yet. No. Well, he wanted me to try introducing some veggies for the next few weeks. Off to the store to get baby food. I don't have a baby food maker yet so I just bought the jars of baby food for now. I am open to suggestions on a good baby food maker. We started with carrots. Now I was expecting a little gagging or funny faces or something. What I got was "mmmmmmmm" and a lot of excited licking of the spoon. He loved the veggies! I then tried sweet potatoes and got much of the same again, pleasure. You don't know how excited I am that he likes his veggies. I am just hoping he gets the hang of eating off the spoon real soon because this licking stunt is very messy.

New Things, New Progressions

At 9 months of age, my little J has grown and developed so much, as do all babies of course. He continues to light up my life each and every day. I have learned to take notice to his needs as they have changed - his desire to play with his toys, our dog, and with me. He likes to mix things up, but is also really good at individual play, which is so nice when I need to get things done. J is so easy when it comes to eating solids, too. At six months, I began to puree his foods and haven't stopped. I make and freeze a bunch of different items - pears, apples, butternut squash, peas, sweet potatoes, and carrots. Before him, I don't think I had ever shelled an English Pea! He loves prunes, which are so easy to puree - I buy organic prunes, put them in a bowl covered with boiling water, let them sit until plump, drain, and puree. He loves them with his oatmeal. For his oatmeal, I just grind up the dry oats and cook as you normally would cook rolled oats. I also buy, and sometimes mix, organic short brown rice and pearled barley; cook it in boiling water until very soft and then puree it. I haven't spent a dime on his foods since I would buy all of these items anyways. I can't justify the theory that having kids is so expensive? Now, I know that will change when the day comes for him to say, "Mama, I want this." And I am sure I will cave in at times!

J also has six teeth now - always got two at a time. He never fails to show them through his constant smiles. With his last two he did great and was not fussy at all. We also had our 9-month check-up recently and the doctor put my mind at ease with his one-time-a-night wakings to nurse as she enlightened me with the notion that he is less than a year old and a growing boy who still needs his fillings. Most babies can go all night at this point with no extra feedings, but since he really wants/needs it, I don't question it.

He has and continues to pronounce the three first consonants - m's, d's, and b's. "Mama" came first in December, then "Dada" came in January and continues, followed by "baba." He also spent the last few months rolling everywhere and made sure that was the best way for him to get around. Following his constant rolls, he has since turned to the "army crawl," using great upper body strength. While he often likes to get up on all fours and crawl now, he still seems to like the feeling of moving forward on his belly and mainly using his arms. His targets are wires, shoes, fireplace tools, and our dog - who is so wonderful with him as she lets him pull and bite her ears, and slap at her face and feet. J also has become a pro at the "down dog" yoga pose, and even "plank." And he recently learned how to give people "high-five," which is so sweet to receive.

It's each new day that brings on these little sweet things, reinforcing the joy that I never knew a year ago.

A Weaning

MLO and I struggled with nursing these last few months. I screwed up my milk supply and had barely enough to get us through the day. The nursing first thing was the only really good feeding we had. The others, generally occurring at 3 hour intervals thereafter, were low volume, and he tended to fuss for much of the time. By March we had, for the most part, dropped the latest feeding (occurring between 3 and 4 PM), sort of accidentally. Neither of us remembered, and with all that exciting solid food he didn't seem to mind. So, on March 1st I stopped the other feedings all together. For the first two weeks of March we nestled close in the mornings and shared our beloved morning routine. It wasn't the quiet, focused feedings we shared months prior. He pulled off and looked around, poked my belly button and would seem to lose interest entirely, only to cry when I buttoned myself up, so to speak.

One morning in mid-March he woke up, and instead of expressing interest in my chest he seemed to want to get down and play. So I let him. And then it struck me, "He isn't asking to nurse. You wanted to nurse for a year, but no longer. Let's just stop." With a twinge of loss and nostalgia I fed my son a meal of eggs and cheerios and he hasn't looked back. I both miss nursing and relish not having to do it. The quiet moments spent holding each other that led to long gazes into each other's eyes are no longer. These days I can hardly get MLO to sit still long enough to hug and kiss him before he pushes my face away and slips from my lap. I have to admit, though, that I don't miss the pressing feeling of obligation that came like clockwork to find a quiet place to nurse. I don't miss sitting alone in a room to avoid the constant distractions that led to MLO's patented nurse and pull-off, nurse and pull-off method of nursing; a completely maddening way to feed a child. I don't miss fretting about what I've eaten and how much water I've consumed. I don't miss worrying about how much milk he's getting and how to increase my supply.

Overall, the weaning was easy and has been a good experience for both of us. MLO loves to drink his milk and snack every few hours. In addition to his milk cup, he has a water bottle that is always accessible to him. He doesn't seem to miss snuggling with me, and he certainly relishes feeding himself. As with everything so far, I register a deep significance, feel strongly these senses of loss and gain. MLO just keeps on keepin' on, living fully in each moment but always ready for the next. I have discovered there is no greater teacher than my 1-year old son.