Baby’s First Solid Food

My son turned 4 months old last week and we were starting to wonder when we were going to start introducing him to solids. Our pediatrician said no earlier than 4 months, and we were not in any hurry. I honestly thought that we would wait until he was closer to six months old. I was nervous! However, our son had other plans.

Our little piggy has been consistently eating 5-7 ounces every 3 hours. He’s insatiable. So I called the pediatrician and they asked a few questions and said, “oh yeah! Your little guy is hungry!” And so, I took copious notes on how to introduce rice cereal and went shopping, (at which point I felt like a giant shopping for such little food jars!).

I was super nervous, but our pediatrician, as I’ve mentioned several times, is phenomenal. His staff answered all 468 of my questions and advised that we skip putting cereal in his bottle and go right to a spoon! Never had a blunt object terrified me so! My pediatrician’s staff also said that little man might start watching us while we eat. To which I responded that he has been studying us for weeks now. She said, “oh! Well that’s a tell-tale sign that he’s ready to eat!”

 

We had not even put together our son’s highchair, yet, so I also needed to do that. *Side rant–why are there no written instructions anymore? Everything is just non-specific terrible drawings that really don’t help at all. Rant over. After I got his highchair together, I had to find all of his spoons and bowls that we were fortunate enough to receive at our baby shower. I washed those and felt as ready as we were going to be!

Blowing bubbles in his cereal. Such a well mannered boy.

 

When my husband got home from work, we got him all set up, bibbed him, and tried it out. His facial expressions were hilarious, as he was unsure at first. But he took to it like a pro! I mean he was still incredibly messy and spat out several spoon fills, but he did really well! I’m so glad my mom was here to capture these moments. Time really is flying!

“More, Mom?”

Can you remember your baby’s first time trying to eat solids?

Giving Thanks

In the spirit of Thanksgiving tomorrow, I wanted to take the time to both explain my current situation and appreciate all that I have. But first, some background.

When I was about 7 weeks pregnant, I started to have pretty severe pain on my lower, right side, near my hip. I immediately worried that it might be an ectopic pregnancy and called my OB. They wouldn’t see me because I was only 7 weeks along (eye roll) so I had to go see my primary physician. He said I had an infection and that he wanted to order more blood work. He told me that he could not verify whether or not the pregnancy was ectopic and that I should keep a very close eye on my symptoms, as an ectopic pregnancy can be incredibly dangerous, obviously. Not to mention devastating to us.

When I was 11 weeks along, I had my first OB appointment and I asked for them to do an ultrasound because I was still in pain. My OB obliged and he found a rather large cyst on my right ovary. It was measuring over 10 cm, roughly 4 inches. He also found a cyst on my left ovary which was measuring 8cm. Obviously they, (I had four OBs technically–they rotated and it was awful, but that’s another story entirely), were concerned about these cysts, because of their size, if they were to rotate either ovary, it could trap the blood flow and kill it. Thereby endangering my future fertility and potentially forcing an emergency surgery which could impact the baby.

So they performed an ultrasound every four weeks to check on the cysts and the baby, all the while explaining that if I had to have a c-section, they would remove the cysts then. If I delivered naturally, they would monitor the cysts after the baby was born, but the doctors were really hoping that they were pregnancy related and would go away on their own.

Here we are, almost four months after my son’s birth, and I finally have the update. The right cyst has shrunken considerably. It’s measuring around 3.5 cm, but the left is still quite large. My new, incredible OB says that I have to have surgery to remove it.

She said she will go in laparoscopically and try to remove the cyst, but sometimes with cysts this large, she ends up having to take the ovary too. In that case, she would have to perform an incision similar to a c-section. If I don’t have the surgery, I risk losing my ovary. But if I have the surgery, I risk losing the ovary. Talk about a conundrum. Needless to say, I’m worried.

I cried on the way home. I want to give my son a sibling one day. I want to give my husband the large-ish family he has always wanted. I know I can get pregnant with just one ovary, but there’s no guarantee the other works. The uncertainty is snowballing. It could be a successful laparoscopic procedure in which I would go home that day, or it could result in losing an ovary and having to stay in the hospital for a couple of days. Who would care for my son? And on and on…

Then I realized, I have an phenomenal life right now. I have an incredible husband who is hardworking, kind, considerate, and goofy. I have this amazing, tiny version of my husband in the form of my son. He is a happy and healthy little boy, with his dad’s goofiness. I have a great support system in my parents and my in laws. I love my life right now, and I need to focus only on that. I can’t control the future and I can’t obsess over what could be. My little family is everything to me. I’m still worried, but when the anxiety starts to build, I just kiss my little guy’s perfectly bald head and focus on his smiling face.

Updates to come; prayers would be welcomed.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And happy Thursday to my Canadian friend!

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Mushy is not my style, but listen, my son is doing the cutest thing lately. It started a while ago and he would only do it when he ate. Every time I gave him a bottle, he would hold on tightly to my fingers, as if to gain David-like leverage over the Goliath bottle.

Then, he started to do it when we would play. He wasn’t interested in his rattle or ball, he just wanted to play with my hands. He stared at them, especially when I wiggled my fingers around, and then he’d grab my hands and wouldn’t let go.

Now he does it all the time, but especially, when he is tired and we are cuddling to try to get him to sleep. He grabs my fingers and stares into my eyes. I know, guys. My Grinch-sized heart grows three sizes each day!

With everyone else, he is fascinated by their faces. But with me, I guess because he is tired of staring at mine, he has become obsessed with my hands. And because of his Pincer grasp, he enjoys grabbing and holding things. My hands just seem to be in the right place at the right developmental stage.

But the absolute CUTEST thing that he does, when he is really sleepy, is grab my hand or fingers and pull them into his chest and hold it there. He literally pulls my hand to his heart.  I cannot even handle this kid. He is giving me all the feelings. Like all of them. I used to be such an ice queen. Now, I am like some hot-mess, emotional express.

I kind of like it. Shh, don’t tell! What was your favorite ‘small thing’ that your baby(ies) did?

The Disney Tag

I have seen this on a number of blogs now, and am excited to share mine! For the record, I am a huge Disney fanatic and it was REALLY hard to choose favorites! Here goes!

1. Favorite Disney Song

Zero to Hero from Hercules. No matter how many times I hear that song, I always belt it at the top of my lungs and it makes me so genuinely happy. I love the gospel feel to this whole soundtrack, honestly.

2. Favorite Disney Sidekick

Mushu from Mulan. I mean, Eddie Murphy—enough said.

Photo: movies.disney.com

3. Favorite Disney Princess

This one is really difficult. But I have to go with Jasmine from Aladdin. She knew she never wanted to marry for money or political alliances, and she fought her dad, the SULTAN(!), for the right to marry the man she loved. Gotta admire a dame like that.

4. Favorite Disney Character

This one is truly too difficult. Here’s my top five:

• Mulan from Mulan (obviously)
• Kuzco from The Emperor’s New Groove
• Simba from The Lion King
• Genie from Aladdin
• Elastigirl from The Incredibles

5. Favorite Disney Film

Okay, I will narrow this one down as far as I can go. Here’s my top three:

• The Little Mermaid
• The Lion King
• Toy Story

6. Most Underrated Disney Film

I have to go with Hercules here, but I think a very fair argument could be made for A Bug’s Life, too.

Photo: thegirlwiththepurpletights.tumblr.com/

 

7. Which Disney character would be your best friend?

Umm, I would want Timon and Pumbaa to be my best friends because they are loyal and hilarious. But I think I would probably be best matched with Mike Wazowski. He’s a pusher, and I need that in my life.

8. Who would be your Disney pet?

I would love it if Pongo were my dog. I know I am supposed to say Perdita because I am a girl, but I think I like Pongo better.

9. Have you ever been to Disneyland? If yes, what is your favorite memory?

Technically, no. But I have been to Disney World too many times to count. I was lucky enough to grow up in Florida and we had season passes to the parks for several years.  My favorite memory would have to be waiting to meet Pocahontas. I can’t remember the specifics, I think I was only 7, but they released these paper leaves into the air and all the kids would try to grab one to save as a souvenire. It was sort of a Colors of the Wind tribute and I don’t know why, but I treasured my red leaf. I put it in my Disney autograph book next to Pocahontas’ signature, and it’s still there today.

10. Who is your Disney alter ego?

This is a tough one. It would probably have to be Mulan. I never really felt like I fit into a mold either. I really identified with her when she was trying to bring her family honor by presenting herself as an available bride, but totally botched the event.

11. Favorite Disney Villain

I have to go with Yzma and Kronk from The Emperor’s New Groove here. I realize that Kronk wasn’t really a villain, per se, but I loved the dynamic between him and Yzma. Downright hysterical.

12. Do you collect anything Disney?

Yes. Well technically my mother did on my behalf. She collected dozens of Disney Christmas ornaments for me. Now, my son gets to stare at all of my favorite Disney characters on our ‘Disney tree.’

13. What film would you star in if you could?

Without question, The Little Mermaid. I would love to live under the sea.

 

Photo:http://www.bigissue.com/features/interviews/3006/jodi-benson-interview-i-can-relate-little-mermaid

 

14. How old were you when you watched your first Disney Movie?

I know that the first movie I saw in theaters was The Little Mermaid.  It came out when I was one and a half or so, so that was probably my first.

15. What do you love about Disney?

The imagination component that Walt himself pushed. I adored it as a kid, and I love it now as a mom. I think we can’t ever be too creative, nor can we be too old to use our imaginations!

Smooth as a Baby’s–Nope

Today has been a long day. My son was up all night trying to scratch his cheeks. Yes, my friends, Baby’s First Boo-Boo is still a problem. An even more severe problem. A month ago, we took him to the pediatrician and he said that the boo-boo was just what I thought: a heat rash that he had managed to rub raw. The oozy scrape-looking owie just kept getting worse. He would let it scab over, then the scab would itch and no matter how hard we tried to keep him from doing it, he would scratch with his hands or rub his cheek on whatever surface he could to seek relief. And then it would start oozing all over again. Eventually, he got a similar spot on the other cheek too. AHHHH! So frustrating!

After the first appointment the doctor told us to use Neosporin and Aquaphor to try to keep the weepy spot from getting infected. We have been doing that, to no avail. It wipes it off before it can do any good. So, back to the doctor we went. Our pediatrician is incredible and fit us in the day I called. He immediately noticed that little man is still struggling with eczema on the rest of his body. He determined that the eczema on his face is just really enflamed and continues to irritate him. He examined him, and told us very candidly that he didn’t feel comfortable prescribing a steroid cream to such a little baby, so he referred us to a dermatologist.

I called the dermatologist as soon as we got home, and lo and behold, they wanted us to come in ASAP. So we put baby right back in his car seat and left for another doctor visit. The dermatologist was also fantastic and told us all about baby eczema and all of the things that can make the poor little guy’s skin worse. He prescribed a mild steroid cream for his cheeks and an oil treatment for the rest of his body.  Let’s hope that baby can finally get some relief!

Baby was on the go all day today.

In the meantime, I am trying to figure out how I am going to kindly decline family members’ offers to hold baby this holiday season. The dermatologist told us that he should not be exposed to perfumes, fuzzy sweaters, dyes, etc.  This is going to be hard given the fact that he is still so new to our extended families, but I can’t let him get any worse. The poor kid is miserable and I am tired of saying, “No! Don’t touch your face, buddy!” It might be a long holiday season. The poor kid can’t even be around stuffed animals and needs new hypo-allergenic bedding.

In summation, if you were trying to metaphorically demonstrate the softness of a product, you would not compare it to my son’s raised, dry, and itchy skin. I mean, his bottom is actually unaffected and quite soft, technically speaking.  I wish he didn’t have to deal with this. I feel bad, because the dermatologist informed me that my family history of asthma is likely to blame, as asthma and eczema are cousins on the illness family tree. Would that tree even be alive, by the way? That’s one sick sapling. But seriously, I feel responsible for giving the little guy crappy DNA. Like my dad always says, he’s at “the shallow end of the gene pool,” thanks to me.

I Think He Just Wants His Mommy…

Everyone knows that little babies love their mommies.  And yes, sometimes, they do just want their mothers. However, and maybe I am alone here, but I think this phrase is uttered out of fear far too often.

For instance, my husband LOVES this phrase when baby becomes fussy and he can’t pacify him. I hear the standard, “WHATTT, buddy? WHAT DO YOU WANT?” And like clockwork, about 30 seconds later, my baby will be four inches from my face, hanging from his dad’s outstretched arms. “I think he just wants his mom…”  [Sigh. Of course he does.]

There seems to be a pattern here. Baby coos and babbles and everything is okay. Baby starts to fuss, and—oh look the baby is being handed to me whilst uttering the aforementioned, flattering phrase.  I mean really people?!

 I love my little guy, please don’t misunderstand me. But, mama needs a break too, (DAD)! And quite honestly, I really don’t think my kid is even like that. He doesn’t really seem to favor me. Maybe when he is really tired or ornery, but in general, he seems to take well to just about anybody who holds him. So I am calling BS on this whole, “awww…I think he wants his mommy…” thing.

Half the time he is handed to me, he doesn’t even calm down. Sometimes, babies are just irrationally cranky. If my son could talk, I don’t even think he could tell you why he was crying. Exhibit A: toddler tantrums. They can’t tell you what’s really wrong, and that’s probably part of their meltdown. [Check out @assholeparents on Instagram to see hilarious photos of children mid-tantrum, captioned by the ridiculous reason they are screaming and crying. I am in no way affiliated with this account.]

My point (albeit long and drawn out) is that my son falls into this category sometimes and it’s okay that you don’t want to deal with my whiny baby! But, you don’t have to come up with some false-flattery for an excuse. Just say, “hey, your kid is being difficult. Here you go!” and hand the kid off. You don’t have to find me in desperation, and say the dreaded phrase. “Ohhh, he’s so sad. He must just want his mommy.”

I totally get it. It’s my job, not yours! I know he can be difficult, so don’t feel like you have to sugarcoat it when he gets to be too much. It’s a mom’s job! Moms deal with happy, fun-time baby, and also screaming, I-hate-everything-baby. Moms have to be there for the teething, the tummy aches, and the tantrums. We are there for everything.  So don’t feel like you have to schmooze me into taking my child back. I get it! And I love it. Mostly, because I have to…just kidding 🙂

Did you ever hear this phrase when your kids were little??

‘Inside Out’ Got Me Inside and Out

Disney-Pixar hit another home-run with Inside Out. As I have previously mentioned, my husband and I are Disney fanatics. We missed this one when it was in theaters this summer, okay we skipped it because I was really pregnant and didn’t stand a chance at sitting in a theater for more than 15 minutes at a time without having to get up and pee.  Needless to say, from all the traction it got online, I knew it would be a film we would want to own. So, when it came out last week, I bought a copy.

Fear, Disgust, Sadness, Joy, and Anger.
Photo: http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/2015/06/17/43327/many-critics-love-pixar-s-inside-out-not-this-guy/

We sat down and watched it Saturday and I couldn’t believe how well done this movie was. For those of you who have not seen this flick, GO RENT IT. Seriously, you won’t regret it. Baby was glued to the first 20 minutes of the movie, until he started rubbing his eyes and had to reluctantly go down for a nap. (No we don’t give baby TV time regularly. I have read too much about this topic to ignore that there are no positive effects of the TV on baby. That being said, when we watch, he likes the lights and colors and stares sometimes.) My husband and I watched the rest of the film, but all I could see what my childhood playing out in front of me.

**There might be some tiny spoilers in this unofficial review, but I swear I don’t reveal the ending.**

For those of you who have not seen the film, the premise is to explain emotions to kids in a new way. This is accomplished by bringing these emotions to life through fun characters that live inside little Riley’s brain. You are introduced to Joy, Fear, Sadness, Disgust, and Anger, all of whom obviously act like the emotion they are named after. The movie explains psychology to kids in a fantastically simple and beautiful way.  Long term and short term memories, imagination, and recall are all explained. But the part that really hit close to home for me, was the explanation of how Riley’s personality was developed and later threatened.

Joy (sort of the narrator and basically the boss of “headquarters”—get it?), explains that Riley’s personality was composed based on 5 core memories:  Family, Hockey, Goofiness, Honesty, and Friendship. I should mention that Riley was born in Minnesota, hence why she plays hockey. The major conflict of the film, is that Riley’s family has to move from Minnesota to San Francisco. She obviously has a hard time with this move, and her emotions try to guide her through this obstacle, but it’s very difficult on Riley.

Riley’s core values–the foundation of her personality.
Photo:http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/06/inside-out-review-pixar/396311/

Riley’s core values really resembled mine, when I was about her age. I was born and raised in Florida and moved to Michigan right before my 12^th birthday. The move was incredibly hard on me. Watching Riley’s core values get rattled, helped me understand (15 years later!) what I was really going through back then. Riley’s five core values started to shut down because the move changed them.  She missed her friend and hockey, her parents seemed different because of the stress on their careers, their goofiness faded with the stress, and she was considering doing something dishonest. All 5 pillars were in jeopardy, and if they all shut down, so would Riley. Her emotions go into over drive trying to fix everything and bring Riley back to her normal, Joyful self.

If you replaced hockey with softball, me and Riley would have been almost the same. My core values were severely jarred when I had to move too. My dad and I used to hang out every day after school just watching silly tv, eating peanut butter and Saltines, and goofing around. That changed because of his work schedule when we moved. So two of my pillars (family and goofiness) were rocked.  In Florida, softball was played year-round, so when I moved to Michigan and couldn’t play 9 months of the year, that pillar was rocked. Pair that with the fact that softball was how I had always met friends, and you can take down two pillars, (softball and friendship).   Lastly, there was honesty. I have always been a ‘by-the-book Betty’, but when we moved that changed too. I hated my new school and felt really rebellious towards my parents, because it felt like they had changed everything by moving to Michigan. It was a short lived period, but it was ugly. I was Angry, and Fearful, and Digusted, and especially Sad. But I didn’t know how to express it, or fix it. I had never felt all of these things at once before. Joy was nowhere to be found. This was explained so beautifully in the movie, when Riley was going through the same thing.

Photo: http://www.comicvine.com/forums/gen-discussion-1/best-movie-of-2015-so-far-your-opinion-1718540/

I highly recommend this movie to anyone and everyone, especially children! I can vouch for how accurate it really is. I mean, Pixar nailed the feelings that Riley must have been going through and using the hilarious characters to show it, was sheer brilliance. Please, please, please see this movie!

I did not get endorsed in any way to write this review.

Has anyone else seen this movie? What did you think?

My Favorite Mom-Pastime

I have shared lots of crazy mommy-moments here, but I have yet to share my favorite thing about being a new mom.  Maybe that’s because my favorite changes from day to day. It is amazing how much babies change from day to day. Like one day they suddenly walk, when the day before they couldn’t. It blows my mind.

Anyway, my favorite pastime as a mom, right now, is being a commentator for baby’s day to day activities. Since baby can’t speak, my husband and I, like many parents and the cast of Look Who’s Talking, try to interpret what he could be communicating to us. We don’t just limit this to telling one another what our son might want. We carry out complete conversations speaking for our son.

For instance, my husband was holding our son and trying to calm him when he was crying. I came up and said, “you’re okay, buddy!” And my husband said, “OBVIOUSLY I’M NOT MOM!” in his best pissed off baby voice.

Recently, I was doing laundry and my husband came in with the fussy baby. As previously explained, my husband has interesting ideas as a dad, and put our son in the laundry hamper. The baby stopped crying and looked from me to my husband, and I instinctively spoke for him, “Dad, are you on crack? Get me the hell out of here, you idiot!”

It never fails that each time we take our son out of his Velcro -ing swaddling blanket, (yes we have to constantly straight jacket our kid to keep him from clawing his own eyes out), he throws his arms up in the air as soon as he’s released. And any time that my husband is around to witness this, he proclaims in a sing-songy fashion, “FREEDOMMMMM! FREEEEEEDOM!”

We do this so often, I didn’t even really notice it until I recently started cracking up and realizing that it wasn’t my baby that made me laugh, but my husband. I thought to myself, we are insane, and I hope my son really is that funny someday.  My son was being particularly fussy one night and my husband was trying to cheer him up, while he thrashed around in my arms. My husband, acting as our son, said, “Mom, I love you but you are pissing me off!” When I shot him a warning glare, he quickly added, “But don’t give me to Daddy! He’s the worst!” I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. My annoying husband was, in his own way, trying to relieve the tension in the room, without being handed the screaming, little miracle.

Curiously, our son has a very foul mouth when he speaks through us. Also, he has a very biting sense of humor and likes to take jabs at his parents. He’s a real card.

Please tell me that we are not alone in this! Did you do this with your baby(ies)?

 

Daddy on Duty

Allow me to preface this post by explaining that my husband is a phenomenal father. However, when dad watches the baby without me there to, let’s say guide, their play, weird things happen. Funny, but weird. I usually end up getting random Snapchats sent to me that are borderline worrisome. So, without further ado, here is what has happened so far when Daddy is on duty.

 Baby gets a new hat.

 Baby gets a new hairstyle.

 Baby gets blanketed in Dad’s love.
(For the record, this is a bad angle. There is nothing near or on baby’s face. Dad is just convinced that he naps better with blankets around him.)

 Baby gets a custom bassinet.

 Baby gets another new hat.

 Baby learns his shapes and colors.

 Baby learns how to stick his tongue out.

 Baby is hungry only if he will suck on Dad’s nose.

 Baby visits black and white exhibit at the museum.

 Baby gets to help hang the lights on the Christmas tree.

 And, Dad loves doing daddy chores!

All in all, my husband is, let’s say innovative, when it comes to caring for our son. He likes to play with him in ways that I would never think of and help him nap with techniques that all the baby books say to avoid. Despite my many attempts to sway him, he is who he is.

The best piece of advice I ever got about how to keep your marriage intact with kids, is to let dad do things his own way. At the time, I thought, well duh…But then when I became a mom, a very worried one, I understood. I think that it is minimally in our nature to want to show dad how to do everything and even the finesse in doing everything, but really I am a control freak. However, right away, my husband jumped right in. And right away, I let him! He does things his own way and guess what? It works! Baby is full, well cared for, and well rested. So as crazy as his methods might be, I know that he has the same intentions that I do with our son: keep him happy and alive. Overall, Dad duty is fun, creative, and most importantly, gives mom a break!

Does Daddy do anything crazy with your children?

They See Me Rollin’

We did in fact see baby rollin’ this week, as he rolled over for the first time. It was more exciting than I ever thought possible. I always saw mothers reacting to this feat like their infant had just scored the game winning touchdown in the Super Bowl, and thought to myself, ‘what is the big deal?! Literally every baby does it…’ But now I get it! When it’s your own previously immobile and helpless little baby, it is truly more exciting than any sporting event could ever be.

For a few weeks now, baby has been rolling from his tummy to his back, but it hardly seemed skillful. It just looked like he lost his balance on his elbows and gravity just rolled him onto his back. There seemed to be very little work on his end. So when he was consistently rolling onto his side and trying desperately to flip onto his belly, I was a much better cheerleader. He would lunge and kick and pull on his blanket for any sort of leverage. He was so close for so long! He would have his entire body contorted and would be throwing his top leg over the other, all with the focus of a tightrope walker painted on his face.

Before he successfully rolled over…

I would pat his bottom and verbally encourage him to “keep going!” but eventually he would get tired and frustrated. Monday, though, after his morning feeding, I saw a look of absolute determination in his eyes. It looked like he was well rested and had consumed a big carb-loaded meal the night before. The boy was ready for this athletic endeavor. He even stretched when I put him on his blanket, (safety first).

After he limbered up, the starting pistol shot rang out and he got right onto his side. He kept rocking and lunging, and finally, he figured out that his arm was stopping him, moved it and rolled onto his belly! I was cheering and telling him how proud I was of his hard work, and when he looked up at me from his tummy, he had the most contagious, prideful smile on his face.  The look on his face was pure, “Did you see that, mom?! Did ya?! Did ya?!” I almost cried. It was an incredible moment.

I am so blessed to be home with him, so that I can witness these moments. I can’t imagine having missed that. This moment gave me so much perspective. Family truly is everything. I love this little boy so much.