Eating Like A Big Girl, Sorta

Today we all went to lunch with my cousin Michele and her boyfriend Matt. I brought veggies and Puffs and also ordered a chicken quesadilla for Tali. The quesadilla came just as soon as the last Puff had dissolved in her mouth. Like a good mom, I began cutting the quesadilla into itty bitty baby pieces and giving them to Tali. Apparently, this wasn't how she wanted to eat her food today. She reached over, grabbed a piece of quesadilla and fed herself!

For a while she simply sucked on it so that it would get mushy.

Then, she began pulling out pieces of cheese and chicken to eat.

Finally, she started pulling the quesadilla apart and putting large pieces into her mouth.

It was quite fun to watch, even though she got pretty messy (she's normally a neat eater since she rarely misses her mouth). It was also nice to be able to eat my lunch instead of feeding her the whole time. Yes, I watched her closely, but she did it all by herself! Guess she's ready for larger pieces of finger food like crackers, fish sticks and grilled cheese fingers. She's such a skilled eater, though I'm not sure I should be so proud of this.

Schedule Overhaul

Since the time change a month ago, I've been having a lot of trouble with Tali's sleep schedule. She hasn't been getting enough sleep and has just been very cranky. So last night H did a bit of research online and today Tali is getting a new schedule. I'm also increasing her food intake (I thought I was feeding her plenty but it appears as though she should get even more). I know it'll take a few days to adjust but hopefully this will make for a happier, fuller and more well-rested baby (and a happier mommy). Fingers crossed!

Giving Thanks

Thursday was Tali's first Thanksgiving and she sat down with all the adults to enjoy a typical Thanksgiving meal. She ate turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce and loved all of it. She ate and ate and ate and ate. And after all of the adults were finished eating, she ate some more. While we did not go around the table and say what (and who) we were thankful for, I'd like to do that here.

The Who's:

My husband - He works hard to provide for our family. And on Thanksgiving morning, he watched Tali so that I could prepare the meal. He's also been very supportive in my decision to breastfeed for the full first year.

Gran and Savta - They do their best to make my life a little easier. Savta comes two or three times a month to watch Tali for a few hours and Gran comes every two months for a week. It's nice to have a break and a little help.

Doctor Holly - My childhood friend is a pediatrician and a huge help to me. I can e-mail her a question and she usually gets back to me within a day. Nothing like having your own personal doctor!

Jackson - When I'm having a really bad day, Jackson seems to know. He comes over to give me a dog hug and cuddle. It makes me feel much better.

The What's:

Wisp - I know I'm not the target audience for this product, but a "toothbrush" on the go is the perfect thing for a new/busy mom! Yes, we sometimes forget to brush our teeth or realize that our breath smells terrible from our last meal and it's too much trouble to turn the car around and unpack the baby before we get to our next destination. The Wisp solves the problem. I always have them handy.

Car Navigator - We moved to a new city just 3 1/2 months before we had Tali and I still don't know my way around. I don't know what I'd do without that woman's voice telling me where to turn and figuring out a new route when I make a wrong turn. She's a life saver and has a lot of patience.

Wholesome Baby Food Web Site - So far, I have made all of Tali's food. She's never tasted food from a jar (to those who told me I'd give up quickly - sorry to prove you wrong). This site has tons of great recipes and helpful guides.

Ergo Baby Carrier - Most people use the Baby Bjorn but I found it strained my back and the Ergo doesn't do that. All of the weight is on your hips (similar to a hiking backpack) and it makes carrying Tali so easy. I've used this carrier on countless walks with Jackson, a few trips to the grocery store and have even worn it around the house. Plus, it has a weight limit of 40 pounds! I'll be using this for a while.

Fisher Price - They just get it. Their toys, the high chair, etc. are all well made and loved by kids and parents. I know this is what they do, but I must say that they do it very well.

And, of course, I am thankful for Tali. I cannot even imagine my life without her anymore.

Eleven Months Old Today

Dear Tali,

Today you are eleven months old today. One more month and you'll be able to eat eggs, drink milk and have honey (yes, I do milestones by food - it's your favorite thing). In this past month you've really gone from looking like a baby to a little person (maybe it's the skinny jeans?).

You've also grown very attached to me and Jackson. When you are upset, you look to me for comfort and Jackson for giggles. Luckily, we are good at meeting your needs.

You now have full-blown separation anxiety and freak out when I leave you home with Savta or a babysitter (hopefully you'll get over this soon).

You have become a very skilled crawler and can get to what you want rather quickly.

You have definitely inherited my independent streak but that's okay. It's fun to watch you try to do everything yourself.

In the beginning people would tell me that every month is better than the last. For a while, I felt that every month was the same (so much crying!), but now that you are getting older, it really is getting better. I'm having a lot of fun with you. I hope you are enjoying it too!

Learning How to Share

Tali gets 2-3 snacks everyday. The snacks are always Cheerios and I give them to her in a cup so that she can feed herself. Jackson is right there to catch any Os that might fall to the ground and he is always very gentle with her. I am so proud of both them - they are very good at sharing.

Sick Update

Two hours after Tali went to bed last night, she woke up. Poor baby was so congested she could barely breathe! It took us about an hour to get her back to sleep - a combination of rocking, steaming and finally some Gripe Water. I prepared myself for another all-nighter but to my surprise Tali slept until 6:30 this morning! (I, of course, didn't sleep so well because I was worried about her). She's still a bit congested today but it seems like she's on the mend.

Today I woke up with a bit of a stuffy nose (and still have the sore throat), which is a big problem. Tali is now in a phase where she hates loud noises (vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, etc.) and cries whenever I blow my nose. This'll be fun.

Sick Again

Tali officially has her second cold. It started yesterday afternoon with just a few sniffles and became a full blown cold last night. She was up every few hours (so I got about three hours of sleep) and we must've used half a bottle of Gripe Water. Today we revisited the steam room from this past August and had four 15 minute sessions. In August, she sat in the Bumbo and played with a rattle or two. This time she crawled around and played with stacking cups, a book and Jackson. Much more fun!

Wherever she caught this cold, I caught something as well. I have a sore, scratchy throat. I've drunk my way through six cups of herbal tea (I don't even like tea) and endless glasses of water today. It's no fun being sick and dealing with a sick baby. Tonight I gave her some Tylenol before bed so that she'll (hopefully) sleep better. I am hoping today was the worst of it and we'll both be on the mend tomorrow.

Best Friends

(Make sure you have your volume on for this clip!)

First Phone Call

When: Yesterday evening

Where: In our living room

Details: Tali was playing with the phone (as usual) when it rang. So I took it from her, answered the phone and had this conversation:

Man on phone: Hi this is the police. Is this the D... residence?

Me: Yes.

Man: Did someone dial 9-1-1?

Me: No....oh wait, my 10-month old daughter was playing with the phone. Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!

Man: (Chuckle - as if this happens all the time.) Not a problem, ma'am. At least you know the number works.

Me: I'm so sorry. I can't believe she managed to do that!

Man: No problem. Have a nice evening.

Somehow Tali managed to hit the "Talk" button and dial the numbers 9-1-1 in that order! Must've just been a coincidence but I can't believe she managed to do that. I always ask her if she's calling China when she plays with the phone. I guess now I need to be more concerned with her calling the police.

She's Learning

It's fun to see Tali start to learn and retain information. She's just at the point where she's starting to show that she can grasp "complicated" information. There were two recent instances that were very cool to watch.

Our cleaning woman, Vicky, comes once a week and Tali really likes her. When she arrived last week, she picked up Tali to say hello. Tali immediately began pulling down the collar of Vicky's shirt to find her necklace. Vicky wears the same necklace every week and Tali likes to play with it. I was very impressed that she knew Vicky had a necklace and where to go to find it.

This morning Jackson was on the sofa with one of his toys. The toy dropped to floor and Tali crawled over to the toy, picked it up, looked at Jackson and put her hand up for him to take his toy. Until now, she has played with his toys, somewhat teasing him to come and get them. But this morning she saw he dropped his toy and she gave it to him. This was very intentional and so cool to watch.

She's definitely growing up!

Balloon

Tali got a purple balloon today at a birthday party. She had a great time playing with both the balloon and the ribbon. Jackson was terrified of the balloon and gave it a stare down for about 30 minutes. No matter what we did, he wouldn't go near it. It was pretty funny.

Stranger Anxiety

Just as quickly as it came, it left. It seems as though Tali no longer has stranger anxiety. We went to a birthday party today and while I was talking to another mom, Tali leaned over and put her arms out for this mom to hold her! She was perfectly fine in this mom's arms and had a great time. She was in a new place and surrounded by tons of people she didn't know. Yet, she chose to go to a woman she barely knows. We were all a bit shocked. Guess I have a friendly baby.

My Little Secretary

Pig Protection

Tali got her first swine flu vaccination today (she gets her second one in a month). In general, I believe in vaccinations and think it's very important that your child be protected against possibly fatal diseases. However, this vaccination was a hard decision for me. There has been a lot of negative noise about this vaccine and it took me a long time to decide whether or not it was something I wanted to give to my 10 month old. I did a lot of research and spoke to Tali's doctor about the pros and cons of this shot. In the end, it seemed like the only actual complaints were simply things like soreness and fatigue - same with the regular flu shot. After doing my research, I concluded that the negative things I had heard and read were somewhat alarmist and I am chalking it up to people who like to be heard (like those who don't think our president is a U.S. citizen). Besides, if I didn't give Tali the vaccine and she suffered complications from swine flu, I would never forgive myself.

I'm sure this is just one of many difficult decisions I will have to make for Tali. I guess it's good practice - she cannot protest my choices yet. I'm happy with my choice and only hope that there will be enough vaccination left for me to get it (I have asthma so I am high risk).

Now it's time for me to go wake her up from a very long afternoon nap. Shots always make her sleepy but she should've eaten lunch 1 1/2 hours ago!

The Honeymoon is Over

Sunday was Daylight Savings and we were all supposed to gain an extra hour of sleep for the night. I spent last week worrying about how this was going to affect Tali (whoever came up with this stupid plan obviously didn't have small children). Was she going to wake up at her normal time everyday? Would the new bedtime be good or bad for her?

H and I decided that the one thing we would do is switch her bedtime from 8:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., which really meant that she would now go to bed at 9:00 p.m., according to her internal clock. On Sunday morning, Tali woke up at 6:20 a.m. (she'd been waking up and eating at 6:30 recently) and I was thrilled. On Monday morning, she woke up at 5:45 a.m. and I managed to hold off feeding her until 6:30. But this morning she was up a little after 5:00 a.m. Yup, it sucked. I tried everything to get her back to sleep but nothing worked. Finally I let her cry it out in her crib for a while. After lots of screams and tears, I fed her at 6:15 and put her down for a nap shortly after. Getting her on a new schedule, even if it's just an hour difference, is going to be tough.

I. am. exhausted.

This Morning's Project

This morning I gave Tali a box with some tissue paper inside. She had a blast. The clip below is about the middle of her playing. She eventually tears up the paper into tiny pieces and moves them back and forth from hand to hand.

First Taste of Curry

(Yup, curry.)

When: Yesterday

Where: Stone Barns farm

Details: Yesterday we went to the cafe at Stone Barns farm for lunch. Since Tali eats most everything now, I decided that I'd buy lunch for her there. When I looked at the offerings, I realized there were only two things that she could actually eat (the rest had either eggs or milk, or they were not cooked enough for her to chew). One salad was quinoa with broccoli and green beans and the other was squash, chickpeas, onion, spinach, etc. in curry. So I put a bit of the quinoa on the plate and more of the curry salad and hoped that she would like it. Well, she loved it! She ate it all. I tasted it myself just to see how strong it was and it there was definitely a curry taste to it. I know she likes most everything but I was still a bit surprised that she liked this. The best part? I was out running an errand when she had her "curry" poop today. H got to change that diaper. (Sorry, H - I change about 4 VERY stinky diapers a day so I guess this is payback.)