Food Glorious Food
Well, Emma is becoming a regular food hound, finally! And since we are rather into it ourselves, we have been enjoying making up new things for her to try, and figuring out what parts of our meals we can give to her. I am having a hard time sticking to the "only introduce one food every 3-7 days" rule because it is so much easier to just give her what we are eating. Which is usually a mix of many things.
A few days ago she has had polenta, adapted from Alton Browns recipe (none of the extras, other than chicken broth), refrigerated, cut into sticks and sauted. She loved them, and sucked down two pieces rather quickly. We will definitely make this again soon, though next time I think we'll go with half water or at least low sodium broth, since it was a little saltier for her than I would have liked. And I think grilling them would be a good way to crisp them up without adding fat, though I don't think a little olive oil now and then is necessarily a bad thing...
Tonight, she enjoyed her first bit of quinoa. I had read about it on another baby led weaning site, and wanted to give it a try, since it is high in iron & protein, as well as other vitamins. We just made hers with water (ours Lonnie doctored up to be sort of a pilaf) and put it in a bowl so she could feed herself. She had a great time eating the quinoa grains and was pretty good about getting it in her mouth, though later I started helping her by mixing it with some apricot puree and giving the mixture on a spoon. She ate the whole bowl that I set out, as well as all the apricot, and some squash.
But, she also likes other things! Here are a few of them.
Emmas Top Ten Foods (for the moment):
Avocado (wedges)
Applesauce (restricted somewhat due to constipating qualities)
Chicken
Brown Rice Congee
Oatmeal and Apricots, (actually, apricots and anything)
Polenta Sticks
Prunes (whole dried or puree)
Toast sticks (rice flour based) with shmear (usually avocado or fruit puree)
Sweet Potato fries/wedges (puree will do in a pinch)
Steak (only had this once so far, but it did go over well)
Squash (pureed and mixed with applesauce is preferable, we call it "squapple")
Whoops, thats eleven! Note the utter lack of green vegetables (unless you count avocado)! So far peas and broccoli have not been much of a hit. I want to try spinach soon, and think I will be able to work that into things like the polenta, for instance. She tried baby carrots (whole, cooked) last night and seemed to think they were okay, but I bet she would like them pureed.
She is taking things from a spoon now, which is nice, though we still like the philosophy (and ease) of giving whole foods so we are doing that as well. Each meal usually consists of something by spoon and a couple of finger foods. She is eating solids with breakfast and dinner, and sometimes lunch or snack (that is not very established yet). For a few days there it seemed like she was not nursing enough, but in the past few days we seem to be back on track for that. She seems always willing to nurse for a few minutes, any time I offer (and often she requests it), but doesn't always have the time to hang around for a real meal. Its hard to know sometimes if its that there is no milk there (same old low supply issues) or if she is just not interested or patient enough to work for it.
She is also making a sign that is remarkably like the "milk" sign language sign, which would be awesome, but she seems to use it more as "I want", which isn't very specific. I want, I want, I want....directed towards the dog, her toys, the TV (ugh), me, or any time she is on the changing table and doesn't want to be. If I make the sign and she's in my lap she'll lunge at my boobs, so she does seem to get it in that context!
24 Jan · Wed 2007
Blog Notes
I am feeling underwhelmed with my current links/blogroll situation. As with many blogs, mine is one that is always in flux, changing as I do. Now that we are not in the trying to conceive, adoption or pregnancy mode, things have definitely changed here, and so, I'm sure, have some (not all!) of my readers. The stuff I am writing about these days is definitely different from a year or two ago!
Sadly, there is never enough time in the day to get caught up on all I want to read, as my Bloglines account reminds me each day. I am following some of the same blogs, but have also found some new & interesting voices I have been meaning to add! So my blogroll needs updating, and perhaps some paring down and adding to. Definitely some reorganization....I am not really satisfied with the current categories. Many blogs, by their very nature, tend to defy categorization. So for now I will lump them, and in the next few weeks I may mess around and trying out some different ideas. Eventually one will stick, for awhile anyway!
I probably won't change too much about the music and art sections, since that part of me, though slightly in hibernation, is not too different. I am now just a hippie undercover, an artist taking a sabbatical of unknown length.
Also, I have started closing comments on posts older than a month or two, because I was getting overwhelming amounts of spam but only on the older posts. Damn the spam! Can the spam! Closing them has completely solved the problem, for now anyway, and so I will keep it this way. If you want to post on something old, I guess you will just have to post it on a newer entry or email me!
I am feeling underwhelmed with my current links/blogroll situation. As with many blogs, mine is one that is always in flux, changing as I do. Now that we are not in the trying to conceive, adoption or pregnancy mode, things have definitely changed here, and so, I'm sure, have some (not all!) of my readers. The stuff I am writing about these days is definitely different from a year or two ago!
Sadly, there is never enough time in the day to get caught up on all I want to read, as my Bloglines account reminds me each day. I am following some of the same blogs, but have also found some new & interesting voices I have been meaning to add! So my blogroll needs updating, and perhaps some paring down and adding to. Definitely some reorganization....I am not really satisfied with the current categories. Many blogs, by their very nature, tend to defy categorization. So for now I will lump them, and in the next few weeks I may mess around and trying out some different ideas. Eventually one will stick, for awhile anyway!
I probably won't change too much about the music and art sections, since that part of me, though slightly in hibernation, is not too different. I am now just a hippie undercover, an artist taking a sabbatical of unknown length.
Also, I have started closing comments on posts older than a month or two, because I was getting overwhelming amounts of spam but only on the older posts. Damn the spam! Can the spam! Closing them has completely solved the problem, for now anyway, and so I will keep it this way. If you want to post on something old, I guess you will just have to post it on a newer entry or email me!
23 Jan · Tue 2007
Memo
Dear Emma, 7 hours of sleep is not enough for babies at night, even if the first 3 were in the crib. 4 hours of (interrupted) sleep is definitely not enough for mamas, despite the glorious 3 hours of time in the evening spent eating ice cream, watching Jon Stewart, uploading photos and working on blog posts.
Love, Mama
Dear Emma, 7 hours of sleep is not enough for babies at night, even if the first 3 were in the crib. 4 hours of (interrupted) sleep is definitely not enough for mamas, despite the glorious 3 hours of time in the evening spent eating ice cream, watching Jon Stewart, uploading photos and working on blog posts.
Love, Mama
22 Jan · Mon 2007
She joins the carnivores
We are really liking this baby led weaning thing. It is fun to give her real food, and easier than having her eat something entirely separate from us. Also, nice to not stand by hovering with the spoon! She is getting two meals a day, most days, though since she's still not relying on it for nutrition (milk is the main event until a year or so) its not a biggie if we miss a meal here or there. Usually, I give her a late breakfast/early lunch, and then we all sit down for a dinner together (In the kitchen! Not watching TV!) Often, we can give her something off our menu, like today. She had her first ever steak dinner!
But that was not it, after all, she is a meat and potatoes kind of gal.
We are really liking this baby led weaning thing. It is fun to give her real food, and easier than having her eat something entirely separate from us. Also, nice to not stand by hovering with the spoon! She is getting two meals a day, most days, though since she's still not relying on it for nutrition (milk is the main event until a year or so) its not a biggie if we miss a meal here or there. Usually, I give her a late breakfast/early lunch, and then we all sit down for a dinner together (In the kitchen! Not watching TV!) Often, we can give her something off our menu, like today. She had her first ever steak dinner!
But that was not it, after all, she is a meat and potatoes kind of gal.
19 Jan · Fri 2007
Brown Rice Congee
This is also the first picture of the wave, as well. Waving for congee!
Now, my recipe is not very exact, so bear with me. It makes a LOT, so I often half it.
1 cup brown rice (short grain is what I have been using)
12 cups water (not exact, I tend to start with less and add more as it cooks)
1 cup (more or less if you wish) of dried apricots, or another fruit
Emma hates baby cereal. But she loves homemade rice congee! It is easy to make, and tastes great. Its a good alternative to oatmeal, and you can add yummy things to it like dried fruit. Emma is just starting to get the hang of the spoon, and will now sometimes lunge at it when I hold it out loaded with congee. She also loves to feed herself with the spoon, which is a messy proposition, but mainly the way we do things around here....
Now, my recipe is not very exact, so bear with me. It makes a LOT, so I often half it.
1 cup brown rice (short grain is what I have been using)
12 cups water (not exact, I tend to start with less and add more as it cooks)
1 cup (more or less if you wish) of dried apricots, or another fruit
Put the rice and water in the slow cooker. Cook overnight on low, or for 4-5 hours on high. Check and stir occasionally, if you are able. Add the dried fruit halfway through cooking (unless you are doing it overnight, then just toss it in at the beginning). Add more water if the congee isn't soupy enough or if the grains of rice haven't started to dissolve, cook longer if it is too liquidy for you. I like mine a little soupier than oatmeal, but not as thin as the traditional Chinese method. I think using brown rice makes it a bit more textured than white rice would, but we like it that way!
18 Jan · Thu 2007
8 Months Old
Dear Emma Rae,
You are 8 months old today! It is hard to believe you are such a big girl these days....it seems like just yesterday you were my tiny baby who nursed all day long! Now you are moving all over the place and getting stronger and bigger every day (and you still love to nurse, just not all day long anymore. Whew!).
The week after Christmas, less than a month ago, you started crawling. Not just army crawls and scootches anymore, but real up on the hands and knees crawling. At first you did a lot of nosedives, tripping on toys and faceplanting on the floor, but in just a few weeks you are an old pro and getting really fast (when you want to...sometimes you just sit and cry pathetically for us to come pick you up). In bed, you love to crawl all over me, trying to get to the bedside table and the cd player and clock. I have to hold you back with all my strength as you kick and claw your way to it. You are so strong for such a tiny body!
As soon as you were crawling you also started pulling up on things. It took you a few weeks to get steady on your feet, and you did a lot of falling and head bonking as you figured it out. I hate to see your precious head hitting the hard floor! And so do you! But now, you are really getting good at it and are trying to pull up on everything! You have tried the coffee table, the TV stand, the chair and the couch, the desk, the table with a plant, the dishwasher, the walls, the baby gate, your toy basket, the kitchen chair, the laundry baskets, the garbage can. Sometimes the thing you try to pull on is too light and it falls over, and you go over too. But you are determined, and are soon back at it again!
Just in the past three days, you've also started to cruise! You stand at one piece of furniture, and look determinedly at another nearby. Then you slide, and step, or lean and reach to get over to it. Sometimes you make yourself nervous and you let out a concerned cry, your hands clinging tightly to whatever it is you are on. Sometimes you get stuck and forget how to get down. You lean over, one arm reaching down, and then you decide its just too far and go back up again. Sometimes you whine and whine for me to come rescue you. Soon, you won't need me for that, and will be able to get anywhere you want to. Yikes!
You are also starting to eat new things, and are really enjoying it. At first you really didn't like eating all that much, and thought it was weird to have stuff in your mouth. You would make awful faces when you tasted something new. But now, we have figured out you like to feed yourself, and you are loving it! Yesterday you squealed and laughed all through lunch, having a grand time. You love eating a whole pear, or slices of it. You love avocado, and we give you a quarter of one that you squish up in your hand, and cram bits in your mouth. You are starting to get the hang of the spoon, though you'd rather do it yourself so I fill it up and hand it to you most of the time. You like applesauce a lot, and today you tried mango and blueberries. You love the rice & apricot congee I made for you, and eat it for breakfast every day, but you hate the baby cereal out of a box (I agree with you, it tastes nasty). Your daddy likes that you like beets, and boy do you get messy when you eat that!
You are really starting to become a little person now, and are doing so many new things each day that just amaze us. You are starting to interact with us in ways that are so fun! One thing you have started to do is to hold up toys, or food, for me to put in my mouth. You think it is just hilarious when I bite on your toy. Ha ha! I love that you are trying to share with me, or are trying to get me to play with you. Yesterday, we played a game with blocks where I made a tower and you knocked it over. We did it again and again and again. You definitely enjoy that one!
Today, I really think you figured out how to wave, and did it to me with the biggest smile on your face! You also waved to Aiko the dog and the TV, too....hmmmm... We have been teaching you sign language and you definitely know the sign for milk, though I don't think you've made it yourself yet...at least not intentionally. But you are so very close! You are also using your voice a lot, and making all sorts of sounds, squeals, and screeches. You are getting to be rather chatty, it seems! You even like to hum when you are falling asleep!
One thing that you have not grown out of is your opinion of sleep. You have always hated it, and avoid it whenever you can! You hate to miss out on anything, I think, and you want to be right in the middle of it all, not tucked away in a quiet bedroom. When you are really sleepy, you can fall asleep with Mama, and sometimes with Daddy, but you really hate sleeping by yourself. We are trying to teach you that your crib is a place for sleeping, but you don't really agree. You do like napping in the sling, carrier or wrap, just like when you were a little baby. But you are getting a little heavier now, and sometimes I wish I could put you down! My aching shoulders and back! You still sleep in the bed with us at night, and we both love when you reach out, with your little hands, to make sure we are still there.
It is only 4 months until you will be one year old! I think, by then, you will be walking, and maybe even saying a few words. I can't wait! But I also want to remember exactly what you are like right now, my 8 month old baby, because you are so sweet and funny and perfect just as you are now.
Love, Mama
Dear Emma Rae,
You are 8 months old today! It is hard to believe you are such a big girl these days....it seems like just yesterday you were my tiny baby who nursed all day long! Now you are moving all over the place and getting stronger and bigger every day (and you still love to nurse, just not all day long anymore. Whew!).
The week after Christmas, less than a month ago, you started crawling. Not just army crawls and scootches anymore, but real up on the hands and knees crawling. At first you did a lot of nosedives, tripping on toys and faceplanting on the floor, but in just a few weeks you are an old pro and getting really fast (when you want to...sometimes you just sit and cry pathetically for us to come pick you up). In bed, you love to crawl all over me, trying to get to the bedside table and the cd player and clock. I have to hold you back with all my strength as you kick and claw your way to it. You are so strong for such a tiny body!
As soon as you were crawling you also started pulling up on things. It took you a few weeks to get steady on your feet, and you did a lot of falling and head bonking as you figured it out. I hate to see your precious head hitting the hard floor! And so do you! But now, you are really getting good at it and are trying to pull up on everything! You have tried the coffee table, the TV stand, the chair and the couch, the desk, the table with a plant, the dishwasher, the walls, the baby gate, your toy basket, the kitchen chair, the laundry baskets, the garbage can. Sometimes the thing you try to pull on is too light and it falls over, and you go over too. But you are determined, and are soon back at it again!
Just in the past three days, you've also started to cruise! You stand at one piece of furniture, and look determinedly at another nearby. Then you slide, and step, or lean and reach to get over to it. Sometimes you make yourself nervous and you let out a concerned cry, your hands clinging tightly to whatever it is you are on. Sometimes you get stuck and forget how to get down. You lean over, one arm reaching down, and then you decide its just too far and go back up again. Sometimes you whine and whine for me to come rescue you. Soon, you won't need me for that, and will be able to get anywhere you want to. Yikes!
You are also starting to eat new things, and are really enjoying it. At first you really didn't like eating all that much, and thought it was weird to have stuff in your mouth. You would make awful faces when you tasted something new. But now, we have figured out you like to feed yourself, and you are loving it! Yesterday you squealed and laughed all through lunch, having a grand time. You love eating a whole pear, or slices of it. You love avocado, and we give you a quarter of one that you squish up in your hand, and cram bits in your mouth. You are starting to get the hang of the spoon, though you'd rather do it yourself so I fill it up and hand it to you most of the time. You like applesauce a lot, and today you tried mango and blueberries. You love the rice & apricot congee I made for you, and eat it for breakfast every day, but you hate the baby cereal out of a box (I agree with you, it tastes nasty). Your daddy likes that you like beets, and boy do you get messy when you eat that!
You are really starting to become a little person now, and are doing so many new things each day that just amaze us. You are starting to interact with us in ways that are so fun! One thing you have started to do is to hold up toys, or food, for me to put in my mouth. You think it is just hilarious when I bite on your toy. Ha ha! I love that you are trying to share with me, or are trying to get me to play with you. Yesterday, we played a game with blocks where I made a tower and you knocked it over. We did it again and again and again. You definitely enjoy that one!
Today, I really think you figured out how to wave, and did it to me with the biggest smile on your face! You also waved to Aiko the dog and the TV, too....hmmmm... We have been teaching you sign language and you definitely know the sign for milk, though I don't think you've made it yourself yet...at least not intentionally. But you are so very close! You are also using your voice a lot, and making all sorts of sounds, squeals, and screeches. You are getting to be rather chatty, it seems! You even like to hum when you are falling asleep!
One thing that you have not grown out of is your opinion of sleep. You have always hated it, and avoid it whenever you can! You hate to miss out on anything, I think, and you want to be right in the middle of it all, not tucked away in a quiet bedroom. When you are really sleepy, you can fall asleep with Mama, and sometimes with Daddy, but you really hate sleeping by yourself. We are trying to teach you that your crib is a place for sleeping, but you don't really agree. You do like napping in the sling, carrier or wrap, just like when you were a little baby. But you are getting a little heavier now, and sometimes I wish I could put you down! My aching shoulders and back! You still sleep in the bed with us at night, and we both love when you reach out, with your little hands, to make sure we are still there.
It is only 4 months until you will be one year old! I think, by then, you will be walking, and maybe even saying a few words. I can't wait! But I also want to remember exactly what you are like right now, my 8 month old baby, because you are so sweet and funny and perfect just as you are now.
Love, Mama
15 Jan · Mon 2007
Disappearing Act
Hmmmm.....it seems my system administrator, while working on getting our living room "tv" keyboard & remote unified into one (really, that is more exciting than it sounds -- keyboards do not go well with my living room decor), somehow deleted all the picture files for my blog.
Unfortunately, I cannot fire him for this. He was, thankfully, able to retrieve the ones up to about Jan 2006, which is good because I really doubt I would be able to find all those. So, for the next few days I am going to be trying to locate and re-load a years worth of photos, which should be an interesting blast through the past. In the meantime, things will look a wee bit drab around here...
Perhaps Emma will be able to sort this all out for us....
Hmmmm.....it seems my system administrator, while working on getting our living room "tv" keyboard & remote unified into one (really, that is more exciting than it sounds -- keyboards do not go well with my living room decor), somehow deleted all the picture files for my blog.
Unfortunately, I cannot fire him for this. He was, thankfully, able to retrieve the ones up to about Jan 2006, which is good because I really doubt I would be able to find all those. So, for the next few days I am going to be trying to locate and re-load a years worth of photos, which should be an interesting blast through the past. In the meantime, things will look a wee bit drab around here...
14 Jan · Sun 2007
Hush little baby
Nap Regime 2007 is on hiatus. I stopped keeping track of the crib and nap minutes, because it was too depressing and obsessive. It was making me feel like crap, worse than if I just admit that she is not a good sleeper and live with it. Maybe if we just kept at it, practicing and repeating the routine for weeks and weeks, she would get used to transferring. But maybe she wouldn't, and it just seems so fruitless and frustrating to spend all the time (and deal with a cranky baby day after day) and see no results.
She has been taking naps, usually somewhere between 20 to 40 minutes, once or twice a day. And nursing down in the bed works sometimes, so thats good. Nursing or walking her down in the wrap works well too, and is better than her sleeping on my lap because I can move around, so we've been doing a lot of that too. Yesterday, Lonnie got her down in the crib with a bottle and no crying whatsoever, transfer and all! She was there for about 25 minutes when the FedEx man knocked, causing the dog to bark ferociously, and she awoke.
We are trying to keep the bedtime early, around 6:30-7:00, and I think it is working. Getting her to sleep has not taken too long, somewhere between 25 min to an hour (trust me, that is nothing compared to the 2-3 hour marathons that we were getting there for awhile). Some nights she wakes up a lot after that, needing to be nursed down again and again (these only take about 15 min though), but some nights there is only one or the occasional no wakeups before 10-11ish when I go to bed. Yeehaw!
Right now, unfortunately, she is screaming her head off upstairs with Lonnie, and has been for about 45 minutes. Lonnie gave her a bottle and took a short nap with her, I think, but she has had enough and is really putting up a fuss. She wants me and I am not there, and she is royally pissed about it. I wish she could handle being away from me for more than 20 minutes at a time. I really do. Geesh! This happens again and again.
On a cheerier note, she has been really talkative in her happy moments, too, and has started saying all sorts of consonant sounds, like ba and ma and la. I work with her on the ma ma ma more than the others. She is really starting to love the eating, too, and the baby led weaning concept is really working for us. I will post more on that soon.
Bonelos Manglo
This morning, Lonnie had a hankering for doughnuts. He found this recipe online, in all its dairy-free goodness. It is originally from Guam. He tried it. Delish! They are going to be gone by tonight because I can't stop eating them....
Bonelos Manglo
2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 tablespoons sugar 3/4 cup coconut milk (canned can be sweetened)
1. Mix ingredients until it comes together to form dough. 2. Roll on a board with a rolling pin until 1/3 inch thick then cut into long strips about a half inch apart, then cutting it into diamonds. 3. Preheat oil in deep frying pan then place diamond shape dough into it, turning occasionally until dough is golden brown. 4. Remove, let cool on brown paper bags or paper towels. 5. When cool dust with powdered sugar or regular granulated sugar.
Notes: Lonnie used self-rising flour and just a pinch of baking powder, instead of regular flour and the full amount of baking powder, because we have it on hand and are trying to use it up. He used canned coconut milk, and did not add any extra sugar, though the dough could have been a little sweeter, maybe. But, since we doused them in a good layer of cinnamon sugar at the end, we didn't really notice! He also didn't cut them into diamonds, like it mentions above, but used a biscuit cutter to make round ones (without holes). Shape, to me, does not a doughnut make.
This morning, Lonnie had a hankering for doughnuts. He found this recipe online, in all its dairy-free goodness. It is originally from Guam. He tried it. Delish! They are going to be gone by tonight because I can't stop eating them....
Bonelos Manglo
2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 tablespoons sugar 3/4 cup coconut milk (canned can be sweetened)
1. Mix ingredients until it comes together to form dough. 2. Roll on a board with a rolling pin until 1/3 inch thick then cut into long strips about a half inch apart, then cutting it into diamonds. 3. Preheat oil in deep frying pan then place diamond shape dough into it, turning occasionally until dough is golden brown. 4. Remove, let cool on brown paper bags or paper towels. 5. When cool dust with powdered sugar or regular granulated sugar.
Notes: Lonnie used self-rising flour and just a pinch of baking powder, instead of regular flour and the full amount of baking powder, because we have it on hand and are trying to use it up. He used canned coconut milk, and did not add any extra sugar, though the dough could have been a little sweeter, maybe. But, since we doused them in a good layer of cinnamon sugar at the end, we didn't really notice! He also didn't cut them into diamonds, like it mentions above, but used a biscuit cutter to make round ones (without holes). Shape, to me, does not a doughnut make.
13 Jan · Sat 2007
Snow Daze
Well, we are on day 3 of being snowed in here, which doesn't take much here in Seattle, land of the mild winter! On Wednesday night, it started snowing, and Lonnie barely made it home in time; he was skidding all over the place with his crappy tires on his way home. Here is what our front yard looked like then:
We got about 6 inches that night, within a couple hours. Thats a LOT for these parts! I guess we in West Seattle were hit harder than some other parts of the city, because from pictures on tv it looks like other parts are somewhat bare. But the temps stayed below freezing, so it stuck around Thursday and Friday, and after a nice walk in the nippy weather our house still looked like this:
Since our cars suck at this snow and ice biz, we have been housebound. The road in front of our house is still packed snow and ice, and we watched our neighbor totally spin out, unable to move past her driveway yesterday. Today we started seeing some SUVs and trucks go by occasionally, and of course the mailman, who has chains. We have gotten some mighty big icicles on our house...
Though she did go out with us in the carrier for our walk, and got to look and touch the snow from our front porch on a couple occasions, we finally got the obligatory baby snow pics today. I think she was a confused at the whole ordeal...
Well, we are on day 3 of being snowed in here, which doesn't take much here in Seattle, land of the mild winter! On Wednesday night, it started snowing, and Lonnie barely made it home in time; he was skidding all over the place with his crappy tires on his way home. Here is what our front yard looked like then:
We got about 6 inches that night, within a couple hours. Thats a LOT for these parts! I guess we in West Seattle were hit harder than some other parts of the city, because from pictures on tv it looks like other parts are somewhat bare. But the temps stayed below freezing, so it stuck around Thursday and Friday, and after a nice walk in the nippy weather our house still looked like this:
Since our cars suck at this snow and ice biz, we have been housebound. The road in front of our house is still packed snow and ice, and we watched our neighbor totally spin out, unable to move past her driveway yesterday. Today we started seeing some SUVs and trucks go by occasionally, and of course the mailman, who has chains. We have gotten some mighty big icicles on our house...
Though she did go out with us in the carrier for our walk, and got to look and touch the snow from our front porch on a couple occasions, we finally got the obligatory baby snow pics today. I think she was a confused at the whole ordeal...
09 Jan · Tue 2007
To Sleep, Perchance to Dream...
Day 7
AM nap: 40 min in bed
Method: nursed down
PM nap: 90 min in bed
Method: Bottle and cuddle with Daddy
Crib attempt: one, unsuccessful
Asleep by: 9:00ish
Day 8 (yesterday)
AM nap: 45 min in car
Noon nap: 40 min in car
Do we like our new carseat: yes!
PM nap in arms: 25 min
Crib time: 0
Bedtime routine started: 6:30
Fell asleep: 7:00
Wakeups before 10:00: 4, after which I abandoned this post and went to bed
So, I've eased off on the crib napping attempts, mostly because we've been out and about. But we did start our new earlier bed routine last night! We had been trying to get her down earlier a few months back, but it just drifted later and later, until it was 8:30-9:00ish most nights. Yesterday, she had a great day, with a couple naps in the car which I extended buy listening to the radio in the Costco parking lot, and then keeping the car door and the house door open (with the dog on watch duty) while I unloaded and put away groceries. She did go down for the night pretty easy at that earlier time, though the wakeups were not so great after that. Hopefully we can get her used to sleeping for longer stretches once she gets into the early to bed routine.
Yesterday's Costco trip was our first solo (without Lonnie) trip since Emma was born. Ha! The thought of wrangling baby and cartons of foodstuffs was more than I could handle until now. But Emma is now very able and happy to ride in the cart (yahoo!) which makes a big difference. She lasted until we were in line, where she began screeching so I got her into the Kozy Carrier on my front to nurse. The elderly Asian grandparents with toddler in tow behind us rushed to help unload my cart for me, which was really nice. Look at what we scored for 25 bucks, too!
I think it was a return, and the guy who did the price check marked it down for me since there was only one of them. She loves it! It is all wood and has a whole bunch of wood, cloth and plastic blocks in it. She's not quite ready to walk with it on her own but loves pushing it with help, or crawling around/on it by herself.
06 Jan · Sat 2007
More Data
Day 6 (yesterday)
Mins spent in crib awake: 8, while drinking bottle
Mins spent in crib asleep: 2, but then the bottle ended. Damn.
Nap in bed: hour and a half (!)
Nap in arms, at dinnertime: 20 min
Bedtime routine started: 7:30
Finally fell asleep, after much (silent) cursing: 10:00pm
Day 7 (today)
Napping in crib: one hour!!!
Who put her there: Daddy
Screaming: none, fell asleep in sling and actually transfered!
Would she ever, ever do that for Mama: no
Napping in arms: 20 mins
Bedtime routine started: 7:15
Aborted: 8:15
Fell asleep in wrap ("wearing her down"): 8:35
Nursed down in bed for the night: 9:45
So, now I am starting to get annoyed with this bedtime trend. She seems to get sleepy right at dinnertime, dozes a little and then gets a second wind that lasts for hours. She is tired, but crazy and crawling over everything, impossible to get still long enough to fall asleep. I didn't expect the wrap would work so well, but I put her in it in a front carry after I got tired of corralling her in the bed, and she fell asleep within 15 minutes as I did dishes, without even nursing! I kept her in it until she stirred and then the nurse down in the bed was quick and easy. I probably should try getting her to sleep earlier, when she first shows signs of sleepiness around 6:30 or 7:00. That means we are going to have to change our dinner time, earlier or later. Doable, and definitely worth it if we can get her to sleep a little easier and quicker. I think it is becoming a struggle because she is so overtired at that point. I don't know, maybe I'm just overthinking this a bit? Ya think?
I am reading an interesting book right now about the concept of ethnopediatrics, the study of child rearing across cultures, and it discusses the obsession with sleep that Americans/Westerners have. I have heard of this before, how parents in other cultures just don't obsess about their baby's sleep the way we do, partly because they sleep with the baby and are therefore not as disturbed by wakeups, etc, or wear them more and so they nap that way, in the sling. Sleep just isn't that big of an issue elsewhere! Jeesh, thats a novel idea. Supposedly Italian mothers obsess more about what and how their babies eat (I think I do a little of that as well) and parents of the !Kung tribe of Botswana worry more about motor skills and development. Interesting book. Must stop obsessing about sleep. Ha.
04 Jan · Thu 2007
Yum
Emma is a self feeder. She thinks spoon feeding is a joke, purees are for other babies, not her, no way, no how. In fact, this is what she thinks of spoon feeding:
But! She does like food as much as the next gal. Well, maybe not AS much, but she is liking it. She just has to be in control. Enter the mesh feeder, in all its glory! You just put in anything, chunks, frozen cubes of puree, and voila. Food with a handle! Here, she is having baked potato:
Next up, beets! Delish!
Emma is a self feeder. She thinks spoon feeding is a joke, purees are for other babies, not her, no way, no how. In fact, this is what she thinks of spoon feeding:
But! She does like food as much as the next gal. Well, maybe not AS much, but she is liking it. She just has to be in control. Enter the mesh feeder, in all its glory! You just put in anything, chunks, frozen cubes of puree, and voila. Food with a handle! Here, she is having baked potato:
Road Block
Well, Nap Regime 2007 has encountered a road block.
Teeth. The girl is teething. As we attempted some crib napping this afternoon, things quickly deteriorated into inconsolable screaming. She was very very unimpressed with the whole situation, and nothing, not even nursing, would help.
I have been feeling the bumps on her lower gums the past few days, but today I could see the telltale white lines. I gave her some Tylenol, and took her to bed with me, where she calmed down once distracted by stories. She slept with me, but woke twice when I got up. I have some homeopathic teething gel which we may try tomorrow.
So, here are the stats, but we are going to play it cool for a few days and see what happens. I don't think we will have much success with the new sleep routines if she is in pain, so for the most part that will have to be put on hold.
Total napping today: 10 min in stroller, 5 in arms, 40 in bed
Crib attempts: 2 miserable ones, plan aborted quickly
Mins sleeping in crib: 0
Asleep for night: 7:45pm
