5/20: Thoughts from the week
-I’m further convinced that being a mom makes you say things you think make sense and/or are funny, when in fact it isn’t the case at all. Number of times I’ve said unfunny jokes out loud in the past 24 hours: 3. I’d give you examples, but I’m embarrassed. When I try to make a joke, I immediately think to myself , “delete! delete!” except it doesn’t quite work that way 😉
-I’ve started to actually enjoy scrapbooking:
I’ll never be a pro or anything like that, but I’m having fun decorating the pages of Liv’s baby book.
Speaking of baby books, thank you so much to those who entered the Ruby Love giveaway! I LOVED reading your sweet and funny memories. Here’s the winner:
Please send me your info to fitnessista at gmail dot com and I’ll forward it to the baby book fairy 🙂
-I decided on the BabyHawk mei tei – it’s like a wrap meets Ergo, not bulk at all and still looks pretty.
(decided to roll with the flower)
That was my first time putting it on and while I loved it, I haven’t carried her around in it yet because I’m worried I didn’t tie it right. She feels secure but can’t see out the top- any tips?
-I’m starting to learn to listen to my intuition a little bit better when it comes to things with Livi. I think it’s because it’s my first time, I’m worried about going by the book on everything, even when it may not be the best way to do things for us. For example, the rice cereal. In my mind I was thinking “it’s just a filler and doesn’t have much nutrition” but figured I should give it to her because the pediatrician said it’s the first step to solids, and our ped is awesome. The rice cereal: not awesome. It tore up Livi’s stomach and she was cranky and miserable all day. I haven’t given it to her since, and am waiting to see if she seems hungry in between meals to check with the ped about giving her fruits and veggies, or another type of cereal (like oats). While she’s definitely curious about the food we eat, she seems happy and satisfied with her b milk and bottles.
-Sometimes I’ll let her smell different spices or bits of what I’m eating to see what she thinks. Her absolute favorite: cinnamon. I’ll take the lid off and put it near her nose, and she looks up at me like “what is that?! I want it!”
-A book that echoes our sentiments of the first few weeks:
A funny gift from my friend Judi- the illustrations are surprisingly gorgeous for such a crass title 😉
So while that won’t be our nighttime staple over here –I might read it to her and make up a story with the illustrations until she can read haha- and I recently picked up a few of my favorites from when I was little, including “Goodnight, Moon.” It’s so calming and peaceful- Livi’s favorite part is the tiny mouse.
What was your favorite book growing up? I used to love all of the Little Goldenbooks- my nana had an entire cabinet full and we could pick out a few for her to read every time we were over. I just ordered Liv “The Poky Little Puppy” 🙂
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My kids love the Little Bear books. I can’t remember who the author is, but Maurice Sendek illustrated them. They are wonderful and sweet little stories about people-like animals in an 19th centuryish forest.
I loved Goodnight Moon! My dad also used to read to us from Song of the Southwestern, and I’m excited for him to read it to his grandchildren someday! Love the carrier, btw. Very cute!
My pediatrician told us that if mama was gluten resistant or intolerant then baby could be too so maybe a gluten free cereal would be better?
i’m gluten-sensitive, so i can eat it, but it upsets my stomach. i don’t have celiac or anything like that. was hoping the rice cereal wouldn’t mess with her, but it could have a lot to do with the iron they added (iron-intense formulas hurt her stomach, too).
Aw little baby tummy aches are no fun:(
My daughter didn’t like any of the cereals or any mashed up baby food either really, we went straight to giving her bits of whatever we were eating at about 9 months
I absolutely love the ‘go the f**k to sleep’ book!!!! When I was little we owned almost every Golden Book that was produced. Mum still has them stored at her house and when I eventually have kids they will be read them as well. Such cute little books!
I had a babyhawk! But it wasn’t a long-lived carrier. Between her height, her wanting to walk more than she wanted to be in it, it just wasn’t long-lived. I wish I had gotten it earlier in my baby wearing days but then you’d have the baby-can’t-see-out phenomenon you two have. Oh well…she’ll get taller is my thought 🙂
And not giving rice cereal. We skipped over that entirely. Our pedi said just about anything is more nutrient-dense, and was fine with us doing what we wanted on that front from sweet potatoes mashed with human milk to avocado to gumming a ripe pear. You guys will find your rhythm, too!
Hah, that book is hilarious! Have you heard the reading of it done by Samuel L. Jackson? If not, you’ve got to YouTube it!
As a kid, I loved Goodnight Moon and the Golden Books. There were also a couple books I loved but can’t remember the titles- one was about a red barn and all the critters that lived inside it, and one was about a father and daughter that went “owling” at night.
Lol, Livi can’t even see out of the top! Does it fold down?
I would go with your intuition. We didn’t start solids until a little after 5 months, though we were given the go-ahead at 4 months too. Sydney had avocado, bananas, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, apples and peas to start with. We started rice cereal yesterday and so far no
side effects, but I think she actually prefers the veggies and fruits. Good luck with the solids.
Love the new carrier. I wish our girl liked hers more, she tolerates it, but that’s about it.
Never gave my daughter rice cereal. My doc was fine when I told him I started her with mashed apples, bananas and avocado. She liked them mashed with breastmilk at first. Now she eats all sorts of vegan yummies like beans, quinoa, millet, sweet potatoes, broccoli, all fruit, green juices and smoothies and of course, breast milk. 18 months going strong! 😉 always follow your instincts. I would never tell someone what to do, but just follow your own gut, even if it means going against the doc. 🙂
We started with avocado and sweet potatos at 6 months. And i eventually started making my own cereal for her. Basically just ground up Farro, brown rice or oats in a coffee grinder and then cooked them up. It’s really easy and you skip all the additives.
I just bought a baby hawk too! So I now own a moby, baby hawk and ergo. My son is 1 month and just shy of 12 pounds and I felt like I needed something between the moby and the ergo, so far I love it. As for her head, put the bottom of the carrier higher on your waist/torso, see if that helps.
that did help, thank you!!
I still have my copy of The Poky Little Puppy! Saving it for my future little ones 🙂
My favorite book was Old Hat New Hat. It was the first book I “read”. I say that tentatively because I’m pretty sure I just had the whole thing memorized and recited it. Nevertheless, my whole family made a huge deal out of it which made me proud. I saw that Go the F to Sleep in an Indie book store. While I didn’t buy it, I definitely had a laugh.
I can’t wait to hear what you think of that carrier. Please let us know. I may have to get one soon.
That book title just says what most of us moms are thinking! Haha
I still have my collection of Golden books. I love them.
Babies guts aren’t designed to digest anything but breast milk until around 6 months 🙂 we waited until 6 months with both our children and had no issues 🙂
I loved poky little puppy growing up! One of my faves
We skipped rice cereal totally with #2 & 3. We went straight to veggies and fruit but they didn’t start eating solids on a regular basis until 15 & 14 months.
Is the baby hawk hot at all ? I have a moby and I feel hot and sweaty n it after 10 minutes ( I live in fl 🙂 ) I need to find something else I love as much but that is a little less suffocating / so much fabric.
it is hot, but she doesn’t have so much fabric covering her (like she did in the moby and ktan). i think it will be too hold to wear her around outside in during the day, but indoors it will be totally fine
The Poky Little Puppy was always one of my favorites from waaaay back in the day. It’s a classic!
Scrapbooking is definitely addicting! I have a pretty obsessive personality and became addicted to scrapbooking through high school. Unfortunately I went off to college and never completed the book 🙁
I used rice like once, bc I thought it stopped him up from the iron. I use oatmeal and it seems to work just fine!
Goodnight Moon and Poky Little Puppy was definitely were definitely some of my all-time faves! I also loved “The Runaway Bunny,” “The Owl and the Pussycat,” “The Hungry Caterpillar” and “The Paper Bag Princess”
I Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. My mom read it to me, I read it to my girls. Makes me cry almost every time. Also, I Love You Through and Through. And anything by Sandra Boynton, like the Going To Bed Book.
I remember that book you showed was so full of controversy when it first came out. I haven’t read it, but I think anyone that gets their undies in a bunch over it isn’t a parent, I think if we were all honest, we would say we have all felt that way one time or another about our kids.
I started my youngest on oatmeal as her first solid. I make hot oatmeal many mornings for breakfast anyway, so I would just give her a few bites. We quickly moved on to more interesting foods.
i looooooove that book, but yes, i would cry my eyes out now
I loved Golden Books too! Actually, if you want to check out a gorgeous book to read to Livi, try Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger… It’s the most beautiful children’s book of all time, seriously! It was my favourite as a kid, and I actually still have the copy because it was so peaceful, and beautiful, and I feel had this huge impact on me 🙂 But Go the F*** to sleep, it always good choice… hehe.
You should try “Happy Bellies Oatmeal”! My little girl couldn’t eat ANY of the regular baby foods. Happy Bellies has probiotics and helps with baby’s digestion. It was like night and day when I switched over!
good to know, i’ll look into that when we decide to give it a try again
I always try not to ever give other people parenting advice because it’s not our business
so I’m going to just make this a general comment. I wish every new Mom would try to
remember – you know your child better than ANYone else ever will. People have been
raising children since the beginning of time – without books and ‘experts’. 🙂
Livi looks healthy/happy/beautiful. Y’all are doing a great job. Keep taking your cues from her. 🙂
AMEN! Plus what works for one baby doesnt always work for the next. Dont feel like you have to fit into a mommy “category” either (attachment, traditional,etc) just follow your heart!
Oh goodness, Goodnight Moon is my favorite EVER. My dad used to read that to me every single night; we still talk about how much I loved that book!
Have you heard the Samuel L Jackson version of Go the F*** to sleep? So funny!!
I think every new Mom I know has that book 🙂
Don’t worry at all about the rice cereal…so many people skip it! I am doing oatmeal and it doesn’t bung Max up at all. In fact he will poop about an hour after
oh and fave books include: Mortimor, I love you forever both by Robert Munsch
I also liked the Berenstein Bears (however you spell it)
Honestly, we skipped baby foods all together and my kids nursed until they could pick up things with their fingers. Do what feels right to you!
I bit my tongue after the rice cereal post because, like a previous commenter, I don’t like telling other moms what to do. 🙂 I will say that baby’s gut isn’t fully closed until about 6 months, which is why I have always delayed solids with my kids. We also skip baby foods. My kids nursed, and around 8 or 9 months I’d start mashing up whatever we happen to be eating and let baby have a bite or two.
http://kellymom.com/category/nutrition/starting-solids/ has lots of good information about starting solids. I go with the saying “solids before one are just for fun.” 🙂
Goodnight Moon was my favorite. My kids are into the pigeon books at the moment, and the baby has a great time laughing at them laughing at the book.
thank you for the link, i’m reading it now!
xoxo
I LOVE that book’s title!! Our daughter didn’t sleep through the night until probably 8 yrs old. She’s now 10. I always hated when friends would brag how their baby went down at 7 and slept till 7. We joke that we are still catching up on our sleep.
I loved “The Sweet Smell of Christmas”. Its a scratch n sniff, and even though its a Christmas book, it’s awesome!
One book that you should think about is Make Way For Ducklings. It is a book that every child born in the Boston area has read or has had read to them many times. It is such a sweet book and I still love it!
Runaway Bunny and Make Way for Ducklings were both my favorites, especially the first one: my Mom and I would always read that together!
We did rice cereal for a very short time, She never really liked it and it made her very constipated and gassy. We actually started solids at almost five months but it just wasn’t right for her so we pretty much stopped for another month and eased back into at 6 months. Speaking of cinnamon when my daughter was 7 months we started adding it to her oatmeal and organic applesauce (no sugar added) and she LOVED it 🙂
that’s good to know- i think livi is going to really love it
Babies don’t have the digestive enzymes necessary to digest grain, and as others have said, they have undeveloped digestive tracts. This is likely why the rice would upset her. We started with avocado at 5.5 months, just giving chunks and he learned quickly. At first it is just a game, but now at 11 months he feeds himself over half of his food everyday. Avocado is also full of nutrients, instead of just starch, so it is good that way too. Hope your journey to solids goes more smoothly in the future!
thank you, i hope so too!
i LOVE that new wrap! so pretty! i miss carrying my sweet boy around but he’s 20 months and 26 pounds now and i’m just worried he’s way too heavy now. i think it’s just time for me to have another sweet baby to wear around 😉
i think it’s GREAT that you are starting to listing to your intuition with mothering. when i stopped reading books and listening to what other moms were doing, how their babies were sleeping, etc, i could be the mom i was meant to be for my little guy. we had the very same problem when my son started rice cereal and ended up waiting until 5.5 months because it just didn’t feel right. it sounds like you are doing great being a mommy to her.
my favorite books were golden books also but these days we read “goodnight, moon” and “llama llama” books.
Goodnight moon is a classic! Love that one!
For the carrier — take a fluffy blanket and fold it in half lengthwise and roll it up. Stick it in the bottom before you put her in. It will give her a cushy boost. I do that with the ergo after seeing it on the Daily Garnish blog and it works great, although can be hot outdoors. (though all babywearing is pretty hot in 85+ weather for mama and baby.)
i’ll try that- thank you!
Just like the last commenter I also heard about folding a blanket and sticking it in the bottom of the carrier! Hope that works for both of you!
Scrapbooking is fun… but my it can get expensive!
Great idea to go with your mama gut instinct. Yep it takes a while to get the confidence in yourself to believe that, but when you do realise it, it frees you up so much!
Manus never had grains till he was about 10 months and then it was wholegrain toast. He loved sweetpotato with breastmilk or formula so much so I had to switch it up before he turned orange!
I have also found Your Green Baby book to be awesome for baby and toddler recipes (some even for mum) – Gena did a review on it and alerted me to it. They use cinnamon in the baked banana recipe. Kim gaves us a copy to do a giveaway, maybe you can get one too. http://yourgreenbaby.ca/
We, too where given that book and it’s soo funny. What’s funnier is Samuel L Jackson reading it aloud on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CseO1XRYs9I
My nana had all the Goldenbooks, too, and they were always our favorite, along with the Richard Scarry books. My son isn’t really into the Goldenbooks yet, though, but he has the Spanish “Good Night, Moon” and loves it! Lately, all he wants to do is look at his birthday books. I ordered a shutterfly book for each birthday, recapping his year, and he’s pretty self-centered so he’s all over that 🙂
Our pediatrician told us meat should be the first food. I’d never heard of that before, but she said the rice isn’t very easy on digestion and there was this study and that study… I’m vegan, and as I suspected, he wasn’t big on the meats we tried, but mashed fruits and veggies (avocado, sweet potato, banana) with breastmilk were pretty consistent in our mealtime rotation!
I have a similar carrier and the same problem. I roll the bottom once and then tie it around my waist.
that baby hawk is so pretty!! and it looks super comfy! also i was thinking about you yesterday because my iphone camera has 1860 pictures now and is still taking more 😉 you must have had more videos recorded on yours, but i definitely have to start deleting duplicates!!
Get her some Sandra Boynton books! The illustrations and the stories are wonderful — kids love them, but they are adult-friendly, too. My baby bro (who is now 16) adored them. My favorites were “Barnyard Dance” and “But Not the Hippopotamus,” but she also has a great bedtime book called “The Going to Bed Book.”
I’m sorry but I can’t believe that book ever made to publishing. It’s horrible and not funny at all – just my opinion and I am not going to judge anybody that thinks it is funny and chooses to read it to their children.
I waited until our son was 8-1/2 months before giving him food. I skipped the rice cereal and went straight to veggies and oatmeal.
I don’t think it’s meant to be read to children! It’s for parents to chuckle over and nod their heads.
I LOVED reading time as a kid (and still do as an adult and fully believe it’s why I’m a huge book worm now). 🙂 Goodnight Moon, Angelina Ballerina, and 101 (1001?) Arabian Nights were my all-time favorites! 🙂
Just a heads up, from a 3rd year med student – there’s a reason pediatricians usually suggest starting with rice cereal, and that’s because the infant cereals are heavily fortified with iron. Around about 6 months, a baby’s supply of iron runs out (there’s virtually no iron in breast milk), and their iron needs shoot up as they’re growing so much. That’s why it’s always recommended to start with iron-rich foods like fortified cereals, meats, or beans, especially since prolonged iron deficiency in infants and toddlers results in permanent cognitive deficits.
I don’t mean to scare you at all – you are obviously doing a fantastic job with Livi – but just something to think about!
yeah that’s a great point! ours said we don’t have to worry about that with liv because she drinks formula and breastmilk, so she’s been getting iron that way
Oh, good call – formulas are another great source of iron.
You clearly know what you’re doing 🙂
Katie the kitten (a Golden Book). When I read it to my niece, having not heard it for at least 35 years, I realised that I had the whole book memorised.
Go the f**k to sleep is so funny, because it’s so exactly what you feel when you’re on the fourth story, second cup of milk, second toilet visit, 30th minute of backrubs, you’ve excavated the cupboard for bogeymen and got the nightlight at just the right level of brightness and you’ve still got wide-awake eyes looking at you. Haha.
And.. I think I mentioned it previously but with J we started with veges and got onto cereals later. She started with mushed up veges (boiled and food processed), and the organic ones in jars when I was too lazy or busy for that. Some of those had meat in them, but I think those were labelled for babies over 6 months. We started the veges at four months, but by then her great aunty had already fed her chocolate anyway and who knows what else when I wasn’t looking.. I stayed away from potential allergens like nuts and eggs until she was over a year, then watched it closely when she tried them. Gluten is funny because I avoided it, thinking it was bad for babies, but when my sister had her next baby in Switzerland the standard protocol is to add gluten to the formula for extra protein.
i still can’t believe she gave her chocolate!
and very interesting about the gluten- it makes sense, though