Going Nuts

As part of Tali's bedtime routine, she spends a few minutes in her Jumperoo while I prepare her bath. She's usually in there for about five minutes but last night she was having such a blast that I let her bounce around for 15 minutes. Tali was jumping so hard that I was afraid the whole thing would break. Luckily, Fisher Price makes good toys. She was so funny in there that I had to take some video. Pay particular attention to her feet - she jumps like a dancer (Jennifer - feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!). When I finally pulled her out (not because she was finished, but because her bath was getting cold!), she wasn't even out of breath. It's 8:15 at night, most babies her age are asleep and she's jumping her little heart out. 

Stacking Rings

What a difference a week makes! When I gave Tali stacking rings a week ago, she gently removed the top one (red) and placed it in her mouth. When done, she gently placed it down then took the next one (orange) and so on. She played in a very polite, girly way. Two days ago, this is how she played with the rings.

Bad Mom - Nap Time

It's been a while since I've done a Bad Mom entry and I'm definitely past due. Today I decided to take Tali on two errands during her awake time but while at the first, I noticed she was getting sleepy. So instead of taking her to the second errand, I decided it was best to bring her home so wouldn't be cranky and she could get a good nap. Unfortunately, Tali fell asleep in the car and when we got home I had to wake her to bring her upstairs to her crib. I got her up as quickly as I could but it was too late. She was already awake and crying. I left her room quickly, hoping she'd fall back asleep. No such luck. She cried for 30 minutes and threw two pacifiers out of the crib before I went in to get her. I took her out, calmed her down and read to her then put her back in her crib. Crying again. She finally fell asleep an hour after she normally goes down for her nap. 

You may be wondering where the Bad Mom is in all of this. Well, as I was trying to figure out why she was so tired that she fell asleep in the car (we arrived home 4 minutes after her normal nap time), I realized that she woke up 30 minutes early from her morning nap. So I should have been prepared for her to be tired at 1:00 instead of 1:30 (which she was). Had I properly anticipated her needs, we could have been home at 1:00 and she would have gone to sleep without an hour of crying. Yup, I feel like an idiot.

What Was That For?

Last night, Tali woke up around 1:15 and started screaming, not crying - screaming bloody murder. I let her scream for 15 minutes and since she wasn't calming down I went in to see what was wrong. (Lucky for me, I am the only one who can calm her when she wakes up like that so it's not even worth H getting out of bed - he's tried before.) No fever, no dirty diaper, no spit-up, she just needed her mommy. As soon as I picked her up, she stopped. It took her about eight minutes to fully catch her breath and calm down and then I put her back down. After that she went back to sleep. I, of course, laid awake for an hour waiting to see if she woke up again. She didn't.  Since I don't know what the problem was, I am going to guess it was teething-related. I am so not a fan of this teething thing and she doesn't even have teeth yet! Does this really go on for two years? Will I ever get some sleep?

First Baby Pool Experience

When: Yesterday

Where: Our back porch

Details: Since Tali had such a traumatic experience the first time we put her in a swimming pool, I decided that it would be best to start her off in a baby pool. Now that she's sitting very well I figured it was time. I bought her an inflatable pool (easier to store) with a top to shade her from the sun (she's not a fan of sun hats). Her pool arrived on Monday evening and I blew it up on Tuesday. When I first put her in the pool, she cried (of course).

Then Jackson came over and drank some of the pool water. That calmed her down and she played with the elephant bath toys that I put in there for her.

Next, I gave her a flower (attached to the sides with velcro) to play with.

After playing with the flower, she figured out that the mushrooms are also toys.

She stayed in the pool for about 15 minutes, until it was time to walk Jackson. While she didn't love it, she didn't hate it. I might put her in again today.

An Aunt-Filled Weekend

This past weekend two of Tali's aunts came to visit. On Saturday evening, Tali played with Aunt Judy and on Sunday Aunt Ilana came in for the evening and stayed until Monday afternoon. Unfortunately, Tali is getting to that stage where she needs her mommy to be there at all times. Tali had fun with both aunts but didn't want to be left alone with them and constantly touched me to make sure that I was around. By Monday morning Tali had gotten comfortable with Aunt Ilana and they played and laughed together after I left the room. I was glad to see that she can get comfortable with other people but am a little bummed that she's entering this phase. Fingers crossed it passes quickly.

First Taste of Dairy

When: Monday, August 24

Where: At home

Details: Monday was Tali's eight month birthday and that meant she was officially old enough to have dairy. It's recommended that you start babies on yogurt (cultured, easy to swallow, etc.) so that's what I did. I gave her some pear-flavored yogurt and it was the typical "new food" routine. Confused at first, then happy.

First Bites. The voices you hear are her Aunt Ilana and me.

After a few bites of yogurt, she was hooked. Then she was talking and playing with the lion attached to the tray of her high chair.

Watch out cows, here I come!

Fashonista in Training

Tali has a lot of dresses, a lot of cute dresses. So on most days you'll find her wearing one of these dresses. What you may not know is that she picked out her dress. Each morning I open her closet door and she leans in and touches a dress. Whatever she touches is what she wears for the day. I began doing this as entertainment for myself but now it's something Tali really enjoys. As soon as I put my hand on the closet door knob, Tali's face lights up. She gets very excited as the door opens and then leans in to pick out her dress. When she touches/chooses something, there is a huge smile on her face. As it comes out of the closet, she gets very excited and she smiles (sometimes even laughs) as I put her dress on. This has become one of my favorite parts of our day.

Finger Food

"breaded" papaya

Now that Tali has mastered Puffs, she wants all of her food to be finger food. Whenever there is a crumb of food on her tray, she tries to pick it up and put it in her mouth. (I give her a few Puffs as "dessert" after each meal so that she can satisfy the urge and practice hand-mouth contact.) This leads me to believe that she is ready for real finger foods. So after she finished her dinner last night I cut up some banana and put it on her tray. She was definitely excited about the banana but it didn't go as well as I thought it would for three reasons: 1. the pieces were too big and she gagged on them at times; 2. due to its texture, the banana was hard to pick up; 3. she misses her mouth, a lot. Today I solved the first two problems. After Tali's 3:00 meal, I cut up some papaya. I made the pieces much smaller and "breaded" them by coating them in her rice cereal. Success! Tali didn't choke once and she could easily pick up the pieces of food. There were still quite a few pieces of papaya that landed on the seat of her high chair or the floor, but that will just come with practice. At least she's having a good time!

Homemade Baby Food

When I decided that I would make Tali's food instead of buying the jars, H was very supportive. I also received encouragement from friends who had done it (explaining what they did and that it really wasn't that difficult), a friend who is a chef and my mom. However, there were others who were a bit more negative - mostly those who didn't do it themselves. I remember being told that after a few weeks I'd give up and start buying the jars. Well, Tali's been eating solid foods for three and a half months now and I am proud to say that I have yet to purchase baby food (I do have two jars from a friend but don't even care to open them). Why did I decide to make her food? Here are the top reasons:

1. I know exactly what she's eating. 

2. It is more nutritious than jarred food (even the organic ones) since store-bought food must be cooked at very high temperatures in order to have a long shelf life. The high temperature depletes nutrients. 

3. It just tastes better. I had one friend tell me that her son thought apples were sour! Yup, the jarred applesauce made him pucker his lips. 

4. It allows me to be creative. I don't have that many opportunities to express my creativity these days so Tali's food has become one outlet. I make my own combinations (mango/peach/blueberry or squash/peas/carrots are two recent combos- yum!) and she loves them.

5. It's cheaper.

6. It's better for the environment. I store her food in reusable plastic cubes. 

7. I believe this has made her a good eater. H was a very picky eater as a child and while I wasn't as picky, I wasn't as good as she is. Again, the food tastes better.

Now we're ready to start on finger foods and while I will give her Puffs (although I hate the fact that is has ingredients I cannot pronounce), I plan to give her a lot of homemade finger foods. This will be fun (and Jackson will benefit greatly).

Tali eating Puffs

Revenge of the Nerds

Tali now snorts when she laughs. It's a loud, mouth fully open snort. H and I think it's hysterical. 

First Time At The Playground

When: Yesterday afternoon

Where: A nearby park

Details: H and I took Tali to the playground for the first time yesterday. First, we put her in the swing and she absolutely loved it! Since she's too young for the monkey bars, we decided to try the slide next but she wasn't a big fan. I went down the slide with her the first time and she seemed pretty indifferent. We then took her over to a small slide so that she could down on her own. I held her and helped her slide down. But, leave it to Tali to decide it would be more fun to walk down the slide. Then H decided to try and slide down the big slide with her. She didn't like that either. So for now we will stick to the baby swing. 

 

She's Getting Bigger

This week we've had a few "getting bigger" milestones: 

• A few days ago, we lowered Tali's crib. (Okay, H lowered the crib, I kinda helped.)
  
• We took the mobile off of Tali's crib. 
• I removed the final head support and shoulder padding from Tali's car seat earlier this week.
• Tali can now push up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth.
• She ate her first finger food. (See previous entry.)
• She's (finally) wearing some of her 6-9 month clothing.
• She drinks water from a sippy cup.

Pretty soon she'll be asking me for the car keys...

First Puffs

When: This afternoon, after her lunch

Where: At home, in her high chair

Details: Last week a friend of ours with a one-year-old and gave me two cans of Puffs for Tali to try. (For those of you without babies, Puffs are simply flavored puffed grains that are about the size of a corn flake. They pretty much melt in your mouth but are a good way to introduce a baby to the concept of chewing.) I'd put it off because the can says that the baby should be crawling and Tali isn't doing that yet. But today I decided to try them. After Tali's lunch I poured a few of the peach flavored ones onto her tray and decided to let her figure it out. She looked at them, grabbed one, examined it closely and then popped it into her mouth. Just like that she had her first real "bite" of food. I gave her about 15 puffs (70 puffs are considered one serving) and she ate them all like she'd been doing it for months. So now we have our first snack, and I've heard they are addictive.

Baby Kisses

Tali has started giving kisses and it's so funny. She only gives them right after she's been breast fed and they are usually just given to me (although she's now given a few to H). After she eats, Tali and I stare at each other for a few minutes (much more interesting for me). She smiles at me, touches my face and plays. And now she kisses me. First Tali gets a very serious look on her face as if kisses require all of her concentration. Then she opens her mouth and leans in to my cheek. Smack! She plants one on me, pulls away, and smiles. I thank her and she smiles some more. Tali's kisses usually come in pairs. There are a number of occasions when I've gotten four or five pairs of kisses, and a very wet face. But I don't mind. It's now one of my favorite parts of the day.  

Mother/Daughter Bonding

I'm sure your first thought this morning was "I wonder how Gia and Tali are feeling." Well, thanks for thinking of us. We're both still sick but I'm on the mend - just a terrible, lingering cough. I'm hoping that Tali will begin to get better tomorrow. We were both up early today and so at 6:30 a.m. we had our first steam of the day (we did four 15-minute steams today). Nothing like a bit of mother/daughter bonding in the bathroom to get the day going. Here's a glimpse of our morning.

First Time Being Sick

Well, Tali caught whatever it is I have. She was a little congested yesterday but is very congested today. She must have slept with her mouth open last night because her nose was completely clogged. I feel like such a bad mom for getting my daughter sick but there really was no way to prevent it. When H was sick a few months ago, he stayed in the bedroom the majority of the time and wore a mask when he came out. He didn't see or touch Tali until he was better. Unfortunately, I can't avoid Tali so I am not surprised that she got sick. So far, Tali's been in pretty good spirits. She was smiling and laughing yesterday and wasn't cranky this morning. 

There's not much I can do to get her better and unless she has a fever of 101 or higher, the doctor can't really do anything either. I was told to bring her in the bathroom with me when I shower so that the steam can clear out. Then, after I get out I should "milk" her nose to get some of the mucus out. So this morning I tried that. The shower worked well for her but the milking did not. She screamed (hates being touched like that, even if it doesn't hurt) and nothing came out. Since the steam is good for me as well (yes, I'm still sick), I think my bathroom will be turned into a steam room this weekend. I'll bring some toys so Tali and I can play while the steam clears us up. (Not quite the relaxing steams Karine and I did on Saturday mornings in NYC, but I'm sure it'll fun.) I am hoping that the steams and plenty of fresh air will heal us both by Monday. That way we can enjoy H's week off of work.

First Item Tossed Out of the Crib

This morning Tali threw one of her pacifiers out of her crib (there are about five in her crib at any given time). She had woken up early from her nap and was crying. The pacifier must have been thrown out in a fit of rage. I heard something drop to the floor but since I was hoping she would go back to sleep I didn't go in to see what it was. When I woke her up later I saw it. Her pretty, pink pacifier was laying on the floor - the first morning nap casualty. 

Guaranteed Weight Loss Method

Anyone who is trying to lose weight will tell you that you have to burn more calories than you consume. Usually, this is done by eating healthy foods and working out. However, for those of you who are too lazy to do so, I have a new method that I'd like to call "Sick Mom." It's pretty simple, actually. Breast feed your baby (which burns up to 500 calories a day) and get sick. In order for this to work, your illness should be one that doesn't make you hungry and makes you congested enough that you can't really taste anything anyway. So now you are breast feeding to burn calories, looking after a young child (also burns calories) and not eating a lot. Presto! Burning more calories than you take in. And all without stepping foot inside a gym. I am living proof that this works. I've lost three pounds in just three days! 

Calling in Sick

Hi Tali,

I'm not feeling well and will be out sick today. Your breast milk is in the freezer and you can defrost the bags in hot water before putting it into a bottle. I've already put your food for the day in the fridge but you might need to warm it up in the microwave. You get pretty messy when you eat so wipe yourself off with some wet paper towels. You will scream, but do it anyway. When your eyes start to get heavy or you pull your left ear, it's time for you to go down for a nap. Don't forget to set an alarm so that you can wake up to eat. You can entertain yourself in the Exersaucer or just roll around on the floor. Deirdre is coming for Jackson today so he does not need to be walked this evening. Take a bath around 8:00 and Daddy will be home in time to read Goodnight Moon and put you to bed. 

Hopefully I'll be well enough to work tomorrow.

Love,

Mommy

Sleep Update

Well it looks like H was right on this one. It seems as though Tali is sleeping through the night now. Since we are shutting the door to our room, it's hard to know if she wakes up or not (H insists he'd hear her, but he'd sleep through her cries on the monitor...). We now put four extra pacifiers in her crib in case she wakes up and a small blanket for her to cuddle with in the hopes that if she does wake up, she can get herself back to sleep quickly.  Last night I got to experience her new skill. Unfortunately, my allergies have gotten the best of me and I was up most of the night. I just laid in bed trying my hardest to get to sleep and enjoying the peace and quiet coming from the next room. I didn't hear her all night.  So I think we can finally say that she's sleeping through the night - hooray! Now if only I could do the same.

Gran's in Town!

Gran's back for another visit and it's been great to have her here. Luckily, Tali is still in the stage where she'll let some people hold her so my mom can just jump right in. She's been here since Thursday and we've been busy the entire time. 

There are both pros and cons to my mom living far away. The con is obvious - she lives far away and only sees Tali every other month. But the pro is that she can really see changes in Tali. It helps me realize how much she has grown. Although Tali still likes to cry (Gran calls this "her hobby"), she's doing it much less than she used to. The biggest change is that Tali can now entertain herself for periods of time - especially if she's given the freedom to roll around on the floor. My mom sees a lot of me in Tali and it's fun to hear that I did this and that as a baby. For example, if I wanted something (before I could crawl), I would just roll and roll until I got to it. Tali does the same thing. Even at this age, Tali is already showing her independence. My favorite phrase was "I'll do it myself." Tali loves her dresses (mainly because she likes to put them in her mouth) and all I wanted to wear when I was little were dresses.

Most importantly, my mom timed her visit so that she'd be here when I got sick (fever and all - yuck) and it's been great to have help with Tali. I'm sure I could have managed on my own, but it is really nice to have the help. Thanks, Gran!

Slimy Yet Satisfying

Tali is no longer a vegetarian. On Friday she tried chicken for the first time. Usually she makes a face when she tries a new food so I took out the camera (okay, my mobile phone) to capture it on video. Of course this was the time she didn't make a face so all I caught were Gran feeding Tali her first bites of meat. She seemed to like it but that might just be because I mixed it with apple and yams - nice and sweet.