Friday Rambles

• I really really really miss my grandparent-in-laws lake house.  I would love to be able to go to the lake and ride on the boat. It was such a great little weekend getaway.  So sad they sold it and moved to Florida.
• I despise moving!!! My house is filled with boxes and there is still so much more to pack.  grrrr.
• We are going to my little cousins graduation this weekend.  He is the last grandchild to graduate, and it is crazy that he is all grown up. 
• I am excited to see my family.Caleb started CRAWLING this morning.  For real crawling, not just scooting.  He has only done it 3 times so far, he prefers to scoot, but I know it is only a matter of time now.
• Crawling+house full of boxes=possible disaster. 
• Did I mention I hate moving?
• I was really hoping for a sunny day today to lay at the pool.  It is kind of overcast...what to do?
• I need to go buy a new formula dispenser.  Ours was lost last weekend. 

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend. 

It May Actually Exist

A food my child does not like!! Could it really be out there??  Up until this point Caleb has eaten everything that we have given him with no problem.  However, last night he did not like the pulled pork that I served him.  He was really tired from a pool day so I am going to try again today, but as of right now it is looking like pork will not be a part of his menu.  This video cracked me up...

(Please ignore my wall o boxes.  We are moving and my house is a MESS).

Sweet Summertime!!

Parenting Style Continued

I have had a few requests to continue up with my previous post.  I am glad that you all are actually getting something from my advice.  I am in no way a mama expert, but I just wanted to keep a record of what was working for us that I can look back on. 

Infancy:

Schedule:  Caleb is still on a schedule.  However, his meals are the only thing that happen at the same exact time everyday.  He naps at different times.  If I know we are going somewhere that day I will adjust his naps around that in order to make sure he is rested.  I will put him down earlier than normal to try to get a nap in if we have something to do that morning/night.  I have learned that as long as he gets his sleep and food he is happy.  His bedtime also varies.  I refuse to go home at a certain time every night just to make sure he is in bed at 8 pm sharp.  I really believe in taking the time out to enjoy yourself and not let the babies schedule dictate your life.  If you know you are going to be out later, make sure the baby takes a nap before you leave.

Sleeping:  As I stated before Caleb's bedtime/naptimes varies during the day depending on what we are doing.  He still takes 3 naps a day, and sleeps through the night. Normal times are Nap at 9:30, 12, and 4/5.  Bedtime generally around 9:30.  He always waks up around 8 or 9 in the morning.  I wait and listen for his ques for naps.  I know as soon as he starts getting fussy and cranky that it is naptime.  I give him a snuggle and kiss, lay him down in his bed, turn on his music and monitor and step out.  Very rarely do I have to go back in to calm him down to sleep.  Generally he will fuss for a minute and fall asleep.  I love to rock him, but he will rarely fall asleep anymore by being rocked.  Bedtime is the same routine, except for the nighttime prayer is added in.

Nightime schedule: When Caleb was first born I was all about the bath, story, prayer, bed routine.  It was a nightly occurance that I was sure he could not function without.  However, with my work schedule I can not always give him a bath at night, and he actually does fine without the nighttime routine.  I have a lullaby that I will sing to him and it immediately calms him down if he is upset.  However, for the most part he will go straight to bed routine or not.

Daddies:  We mama's really need to give our hubs a break when it comes to babies.  It breaks my heart when I see mamas standing over their hubby's telling them everything they are doing wrong with the baby.  I really really believe that we need to give them a chance to figure things out for themselves, and take time to bond with the baby.  I remember many times when Caleb was little bitty that he would cry and hubby would ask me what was wrong, and I would say "I'm not sure babe just figure out what will work for you".  Nick would often walk to Caleb's room and rock him  and sing to him.  Such a great bonding moment that would have been taken away if I would have stepped in.  Sure hubs does not always do things the same way you would or the best way.  However, they love that baby just as much as we do and they want nothing but the best for them.  Give them a chance.  Let them bathe the baby, let them read a story, get the baby dressed etc.  It is a great break for you and a great bonding experience for them. 

Play:  Caleb has both accompanied play time and free play time.  If I need to get ready for work I sit him in the floor with his toys where i can see him and let him play. I also will get down in the floor with him a lot and play with him.  I will read books, place toys away and get him to scoot to them, work on whatever developmental milestone he is working towards at that point etc.  I love our play time.

Developmental Milestones:  Caleb is a laid back baby as I have said before.  He could care less about a lot of things. It took him a month longer than most babies to start cooing, rolling, scooting, army crawling etc.  However, that is just him.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with him it is just his personality to be laid back.  He loves to just sit and play with toys for hours, and I love that about him.  It is hard sometimes as mama's to not get jealous or think there is something wrong if your babies are not moving at the same pace as others.  However, take a step back before you freak out and think about your babies personality.  Are they high maintenanced, hyper, calm, laid back, clingy etc.  Each baby is different and they are all going to develop differently.  It is not a competition to decide who has the most advanced/genius baby.  It is their precious infancy. A stage we will never get back again, that is many times wished away to Keep Up With the Jone's.  Don't wish it away, take it in.

Eating: I started Caleb on solids at 4 months.  Why? Because I knew he was ready.  He was showing all the signs, and there was no reason to hold him back.  We are now completely on table food at 9 months.  Why? Because he was ready.  He was eating 5 jars of baby food a day, and had no trouble with the table food we would give him.  Each baby is different.  We have had no problems with starting him at 4 months and I did not stress about it at all.  I make sure he eats a well balanced diet, and just watch for allergies. 

Mood: Our mood effects our babies. If we freak out they freak out.  If we are calm they are calm.  Peaceful you=Peaceful baby.  Take a deep breath and lay the baby down if you are getting frustrated.  Return when you have calmed down, or you will both be upset for a while. 

As I said before I am no expert on Mothering.  However, these are things I have learned through my experience, that I want to remember for future babies.  Hope they help you too. 

Laid Back?

I have read a few posts lately about parenting styles, and how we all just kind of fall into our parenting style.  I honestly have to say I have no idea what the technical term for our parenting style is.  I have been told that I am very laid back, however, I do know at times that I can be a little less laid back.  All in all I just feel as though Nick and I have worked together to form a parenting style that works perfectly for us. 

I am going to discuss a few different issues of parenting, and tell you what worked/didn't work for us.  No problem if you parent differently. I feel as though every family knows what is right for them, and they work together to form that picture.

Keep in note that Caleb has always been a very very laid back baby.  I mean super laid back.  He rarely fusses, or has problems sleeping, and does not really give us too many problems.  Yes we have a "good baby", and we are oh so proud of him.

Newborn Stage:
This stage is so interesting to think back on.  It is one filled with so much excitment, fear, love, and up/down emotions.  You are just figuring everything out, and at the same time so filled with this new love that you just want to burst with happiness. 

• Things I worried about at this time:

1. Keeping the house clean.  Why I do not know.  I have never been a neat freak, but for some reason at this point in time my nesting was still kicking in and I felt as though everything had to be perfect. I remember getting so upset if a dish was left in the sink, or if there was a speck of anything on the carpet etc etc.  I came home from the hospital and literally cleaned while Caleb napped.  Looking back I wish I could tell myself to stop.  I wish I could say "It is okay, Caleb has no idea that the house was dirty, he just wants you to cuddle". 
2. Fear that something would happen to Caleb.  I still have this problem.  In fact I pray daily about God helping me with my fear that something is going to happen to myself, hubby or Caleb.  It is so scary, and this is the one area that I am really not laid back about.  Mentally I can think some awful things about what could happen, and I have to take a breath and pray about it.

• What worked for us

1. Scheduling: We started Caleb on a schedule immediately.  I have worked in child care for a while, and I am educated in Early Childhood Education, and I see a true benefit in a schedule for a baby.  As soon as we had Caleb we started him on a 2 1/2-3 hour feeding schedule. This worked amazing for us.  We knew when to expect him to get hungry, and this helped so much.  He never had gas issues or any type of over feeding problems, and I really do feel as though scheduling his feedings helped us with that.
2. Sleeping:  I do not think Caleb was put down for more than 3 hours the entire first week of his life.  We were notorius for cuddling him while he slept, which made for some interesting first nights.  However, I would not change a thing, because lets face it those newborn snuggles do not last long enough. I remember so many mommy Caleb moments of snuggling and napping on the couch, that are no longer a part of our day, and I miss them.  However, Caleb would fuss when we put him down to sleep, and that was wearing on me.  I could not keep my house spotless as I  felt I should while carrying a sleeping newborn.  At around 5-6 weeks we started implementing a lot of the Baby Wise teachings, and I let Caleb cry it out.  I admit the first two nights were hard and I cried with him.  However, after only two nights of crying it out he was sleeping like a champ on his own, and he began sleeping through the night at 7 weeks. 
3. Feedings: Caleb was breastfed for the first month of his life.  We had a problem latching so I pumped, and eventually my milk supply ran out. He was always given a bottle of my milk, and I knew exactly how much he was getting each time.  I had no problem increasing his feedings by a 1/2 ounce if he acted as though he wanted more, and I feel as though he was always well nourished.  To help him start sleeping through the night I started decreasing his middle of the night feedings by 1/2 ounce each night around 5-6 weeks.  He eventually no longer was hungry in the middle of the night and began sleeping through at 7 weeks. 
4. Going Places:  We took Caleb out at 5 days old.  I know that a lot of people feel as though they have to stay locked in their homes when they have a new baby, however, we just wanted to start including Caleb in our world, and not have a completely seperate world with him.  This has worked wonders for us.  He is used to going places with us, and we revolve his schedule around what we have planned for the day.  If we wanna go out one night and hang out with friends, we take him with us, feed him his dinner where we are, put him in his pj's and get him to sleep there.  I never felt like I had to be home at a certain time in order to get him to bed, or that I could not go somewhere because of his schedule.  Of course he does nap better at home, but he will nap in the car as well on the way to where we are going.
5.   During this time I was more of a germaphobe than I am now.  With a newborn it is important to watch who touches him and make sure that everybody washes their hands. 

Infancy Advice To Be Continued....

So Close

Caleb is  so so Close to crawling.  Like crazy close. He is alternating both legs and arms, but he is just unable to get his belly off the ground.  You have to see it.



Often times he crawls for this toy....in which he has to play with upside down.  The side with the toys is no fun at all, he prefers the wheels.  I added a little ring to it today and it made for a new hour long adventure. Who knew a circle could be so fun?  He also picked this toy up with one hand today.  I went to pick him up, and he just brought it with him.  My little strong man. 

Da Dress Up, Da Box Da Air Mattress

Confused?? Yea, I know my title does not make sense.  All in all it was my way to try to cram together my weekend without using the all famous "Weekend Recap" title....

Friday night I went to my in-laws to fix my sister-in-laws hair for her 8th grade dance.  She looked adorable, and Caleb truly enjoyed her little purse.  He held it for seriously ten minutes.

Afterward Hubby, Caleb and I decided to have a sleepover at the new home we will be moving into in the next few weeks.  We are renting a three bedroom home with a huge yard for Syd to run in, and the owner was gracious enough to allow us to start moving things in before our actual lease date begins June 1st.  She understood that it would be awful to live out of boxes with a baby scooting around.  We went over, and cleaned a little and played games.  It was a great time.  However, Caleb was not too used to the idea of sleeping in his pack-n-play in his new room.  The sound machine that we brought from home was not enough to make him comfortable. All in all he ended up on the air mattress with us for most of the night, and neither hubby or I slept too much in the fear that we would roll on him and kill him. 

(Please ignore the siding. That is currently taking up the living room until it is put up). 

Dress Up Check
Air Mattress Check
Boxes???

I am so corny with this post yall'.  My living room in filled with boxes right now. I mean like an entire side.  My view when I walk in the door is a pile of boxes. I despise moving, but since we are still renting it is a  must do.  Hubby and I have lived in 6 different places so far in our 4 years together.  Ughhh.  One day we will finally purchase a home but until then I will suck up the fact that I hate moving.  At least we will be in this new home for 2 years!

Random Da??

Caleb said DaDa last night. I missed it because I was at work.  However, Nick was feeding him dinner and he just said dada plain as day. I am sad I missed it, but so excited that hubby got to hear it for the first time. 

Hope you all had a great weekend.

 (Sorry Commonwealther's I have no good pics of Caleb from this weekend. I will be sure to take some today and post tomorrow.  I know you need to see his pretty little face :) ). 

A Weekend to Laugh About

We have had an amazing weekend. A post about that later.  However, we have been trying to catch Caleb's big boy laugh on camera, and we finally did.  Enjoy.  It is so contagious.  (Please ignore my lounging clothes, and my bra straps showing). 

My Experience So Far

As you may or may not know we switched Caleb completely to table foods at age 9 months.  Caleb had been eating bits and pieces of table food since 6 months, but up until the 9 month point he was eating 4-5 cans of baby food a day.  That was a little rough on the purse strings, and after an okay from the doctor we are in complete transition. 

I have been iffy about what I give Caleb and trying to plan out his meals.  I want him to be as healthy as possible, and I want to make sure he gets all the nutrients that he can.  I do not want him to know what french fries or a chicken nugget is until he is a lot older, and right now I want to start him off with good eating habits.  Here is my experience so far.  What has worked, what hasn't, questions I have had etc.  Keep in mind that I have a baby who loves to eat and who will turn down nothing. He also has zero teeth, but he is eating like a champ.

(The doctor told me the only food to stay away from until age 1 was peanuts of any type).

Caleb eats 3 meals a day with bottles in between. 

Breakfast (6 ounce bottle first). (What we have tried): 8am

• Baby oatmeal mixed with fruit pieces.  (Pear, oranges, crushed pineapple, apricots etc).  I use canned fruit with natural fruit juices.  One can generally lasts 3-4 days.  I usually cut three pieces of fruit with his meals.
• Scrammbled eggs: I asked the doctor if we could do eggs and he said it would be fine.  However, as of now Caleb is allergic to eggs.  He broke out with bumps on his eyes, hands and feet.  The doctor said to hold off until the one year point and then try again.  We are hoping this is an allergy he will outgrow.  (Always have benadryl on hand and ask the doctor the dosage amount that is safe for your baby, just in case there is reaction to food).
• Yogurt and fruit.  I just buy yoplait yogurt.

11 pm: 6 ounce bottle

Lunch (2 pm): When eating baby food Caleb would have a veg and meat for lunch.

• Deli meat. Turkey and roast beef are our biggest hits so far.  We buy shaved meat, and give him small portions.  Also, try to buy no sodium added meat.
• Vegetables: I cook a small amount of veggies every few days and refrigerate them for his meals.  Green beans, broccoli, carrots, spinach etc.
• Fruit: canned fruit once more or banana.
• Soup: I purchased some no sodium vegetable soups.  We are going to try these this week.
• Cheese pieces

4:30/5: 6 ounce bottle

Dinner 7:30/8

• If I am at home I give Caleb what we are having.  I sometimes cook his food differently if what we are having has a lot of spices.
• Chicken
• mashed potatoes
• vegetable
• fruit
• bread

Snacks:

• yogurt melts
• cheese
• puffs

I basically make sure Caleb has 2-3 servings of fruits/veggies.  2 servings of meat.  Milk throughout the day.  Grain-2 times daily. 

PS. I had previously stated that I had bought light and fit yogurt for Caleb.  However, my MIL informed me today that it has aspertame in it, and that is not so great for babies.  I researched it and basically it said just to give them regular yogurt.  Stay away from low cal/light and fit etc and you do not have to worry about aspertame. I will no longer be giving him light and fit.  I had no idea what aspertame was until today. 

I am still trying to come up with more ideas.  I basically bought things that he had already had while eating baby food and went from there.  You have to watch ingredients to make sure you know what is causing a possible reaction. 

My main piece of advice is to just take it day by day.  Pick out some foods at the grocery, see what works/doesn't and make a plan from there.  Don't allow yourself to get worked up over it.  Refresh your memory on how to perform the hymlic and have Benedryl on hand.  I am still hand feeding Caleb a lot of the food.  I get a little worried that he will put too much in his mouth otherwise.  He practices hand feeding himself his snacks. 

"Your heavenly father already knows all of your needs and he will give you all you need from day to day." Matthew 6:32

I Win!!!

It happened today friends.  The great moment of anticipation that we have been waiting for all of Caleb's life.  The great debate between hubster and I of what word would come first...."MaMa, or Dada" was finally ended. I am proud to announce that I WIN!! Caleb finally said MaMa 6 times this morning.  He generally does it when he is whining like he is crying out to me "MaaaaMaaaaa MaaaaMaaa".  It was love to my ears!! I just love my little man, and obviously he loves his Mama too :).

"Let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God".  1 John 4:7

The Full Motion Picture...of my First Mother's Day

"To have a child, is to have your heart walking around outside of your chest".

I remember reading that quote while I was still pregnant with Caleb, and thinking about the great love that a mother has for a child.  The love that is born at the moment you see your sweet one's face, and a love that is above all other loves.  I have to admit it is the most amazing and scary feeling to love a person that much.  To love a baby so much that you would give your life a million times over if you just knew they would be safe.  A love that causes you to fall to your knees in prayer daily, and beg God to keep your child healthy, allow you to be there to raise them, and to help them grow in love for him.  Caleb is my heart, and he has made me the happiest mother in the entire world. 

Our mothers day started with church.  Caleb has been protesting the nursery lately due to seperation/stranger anxiety so he came to the service with us.  After church we came home for lunch, and then headed to my inlawas to celebrate with them.  We had a wonderful mother's day dinner, and it was ohh soo yummy.  We also gave Nick's mama her gift.  We took a plain white platter, and put all of our handprints on it, and Caleb's little footprint.  It was really cute. 

Caleb surprised me bunches yesterday.  He gave me a wonderful present.  A clay imprint of his hand and foot.  Dada still have to paint it, but I will be sure to post the finished product! He also started army crawling forward yesterday.  He did it TWO whole times :).  He has only been able to go backwards until now. He also learned how to sit up from his back, and how to walk his own feet.  I hold his little hands and he just walks his feet all around now.  I was so excited.  I had been moving his feet for him for weeks now, but he has learned how to do it himself. He is just growing up before my eyes.

Dada was also great to me on Mother's day.  He got me a gift certificate to a spa to have a massage, and I can not wait to use it.  He also had Caleb duty all weekend, and he did wonderful with him.  It was great to have some relaxing me time, where I did not have to change diapers or plan meals.  Thanks babe you are amazing.

My first Mother's Day was so wonderful, and I thank God everyday for the great oppurtunity to be Caleb's mama.  I hope all you Mama's had a wonderful day as well. 

Sneak Peak

We have had a GREAT Mother's Day.  Here is a sneak peak of our day so far.

 

Sun Swim Sun Swim

Today was a glorious day, all except the work part.  It was perfect weather here in KY, and it was the perfect day to lay in the sun.  Mama Taylor and I took our little babes to the new home that hubby and I will be renting shortly to play in the backyard.  First of all let me just tell you how excited I am to have a backyard! Finally Syd will have somewhere to run, and it will be great to hang a swing from the tree to push my sweet precious in.  Anyway, back to the point of the post...

Hubby came to the rescue first of all and came to K-Mart to load the pool I purchased Caleb into his truck, because it would not fit in my car.  We decided to get a generic plastic one because Syd can not pop that.  Anway, he took it over to the house and filled it up with water, and  laid out the blankets for a day of mama/baby fun.  Taylor and I had some good convo while the babies played.  Neither one of them we too interested in playing in the water, but Caleb eventually decided it looked like fun. I think he liked it because I got in with him.  It was a perfect day, and  I am looking forward to many more days like that this summer. 

Love how he is looking at Isabel

Don't know what this face was about

I just love his eyes