Micah's Hair

Micah got a haircut today. I didn't realize how long it was! He did great. Sat very still and watched attentively in the mirror. Both kids enjoyed the parting gift of suckers!

I tried to get a nice photo of him but he wasn't interested in cooperating. He looks a little sad in this one because it was almost naptime. I think he was mad about something too... maybe I wouldn't let him dispense water all over the floor or something.

Peanut Patience

I made peanut butter again and this batch is way better! I just had to have more patience!

I put a bit of olive oil and a bit of honey in and left it in the food processor much longer. It's still not as spreadable as grocery store PB, but much more acceptable in consistency!

Routine

Last week I managed to build a routine for our family that makes sense and is sustainable. I have been feeling that we needed more structure to our daily activities, but could never seem to make it happen. Now we have one and I am loving it even more than I expected. I really like knowing what will happen when, and I am finding that I have more dedicated time for my own thing and for housework than I did before. And the kids are enjoying knowing that there will be predictable and consistent periods of my time that is dedicated to them every day.

Here is the routine:

- get up, shower, get dressed
- smoothies and coffee. Mommy puts in a load of laundry, kids watch a little bit of tv, Mommy has computer time
- go for a walk when Daddy leaves for work
- breakfast
- Mommy does dishes, kids play without crying ;)
- jump on the trampoline together while it's still in the shade
- snack
- errand/outing
- lunch at noon
- Micah nap at 1:00, Eva has quiet time then Mommy & Eva have special time together
- snack when Micah gets up
- gymnastics if applicable
- kids watch video while Mommy makes supper
- supper
- Family Walk
- bedtime for Micah at 7:00, Eva reads 3 books with Daddy then has quiet time before her bedtime at 8:00

Elefante Eva

I have been working on my sewing skills lately. This week I made Eva an elephant trunk and ears. Not the most exact facsimiles but good sewing practice for me! And fun for Eva.

Baby Led Feeding

If I am unhappy, frustrated, and/or angry with a parenting situation, experience shows that one of these two must be true:

(1) I need to change my attitude. Accept and embrace the current state of being. It will pass eventually. This applies to both kids' frequent waking as babies and even now with Micah.

(2) There is a better way and I need to find it.

This applied to the introduction to solid foods.

The mainstream North American method of weaning is a complicated process of do's and don'ts, whens and hows. When Micah was about six months old and showing some interest in solids, I bought some rice cereal (as per The Rules). Baby cereal needs to be mixed either with sterile water, breastmilk, or formula, which of course is also mixed with sterile water. This means that either I had to boil and cool water, or pump breastmilk. Either option felt like a lot of work to me. And that is just for cereals! Never mind all the work and planning involved with preparing pureed baby foods. (Yes I could have bought jars of baby food but I wanted to give Micah the highest quality food I could, and to me that meant making it myself.) It didn't make sense that a baby's nutritional needs would so suddenly change from something so simple and straightforward as breastmilk, to this complicated monster of planning and preparation. So I did some research on the internet to find out if anybody else was doing something that would feel more "right" to me.

I found an approach called "Baby Led Weaning" (BLW). Many people understand weaning to mean "cessation of breastfeeding". Weaning is actually the process of adding nourishment other than breastmilk to a young one's diet. We can call it “Baby Led Feeding” to reduce confusion since we don't understand weaning that way in North America.

Wikipedia has a very good explanation of BLW. I would recommend checking out the Baby-Led Weaning article in its entirety. It's not too long but it has good details about the whats and whys of this approach. Here are some exerpts:

As recommended by the World Health Organization and several other health authorities across the world, there is no need to introduce solid food to a baby’s diet until after 6 months, and by then the child’s digestive system and her fine motor skills have developed enough to allow her to self-feed. Baby-led weaning takes advantage of the natural development stages of the child.

The baby should be able to sit well unsupported, be eager to participate in mealtime and maybe even trying to grab food and put it in her mouth. The child should show signs of developing a pincer grasp, as well as an ability and willingness to chew.

Self-feeding supports the child’s motor development on many vital areas, such as their hand-eye coordination and chewing. It encourages the child towards independence and often provides a stress-free alternative for meal times, for both the child and the parents. Some babies refuse to eat solids when offered with a spoon, but happily help themselves to finger food.

In addition to this method being easier for Mom and Dad, it makes so much sense! Babies aren't magically ready for solids the day they turn 6 months. They are ready for solids when they can pick something up, bring it to their mouth, bite, chew and swallow it. It makes sense to me to trust that baby knows best for what his or her digestive system is ready, and when he or she is full. Constipation can often be a problem for babies fed solids according to The Rules. It is possible to overfeed a spoon-fed baby, and what impact will this have on the child's future eating habits?

You may worry about safety. Isn't a baby in danger of choking on chunky foods? Some argue that a baby started on purees is in greater danger of choking. A puree- fed baby learns to suck food, whereas a finger food-fed baby learns from the start to bite and chew before swallowing. When you offer a puree-fed baby chunky food, that baby may mistakenly suck the food and it could end up lodged in the windpipe. The Wikipedia article says: Contrary to popular belief there is no research supporting the introduction of solids by purees and in fact babies can become very confused when stage 2 foods are introduced (with lumps) unsure whether to swallow or chew.

Check out this YouTube video about BLW:



Something that I have noticed about Micah is that he became very proficient with cutlery very early on. Interesting that the video mentions it as one of the side effects of BLW.

I didn't know about BLW when Eva was at this stage, but her behaviour reinforced the appropriateness of this approach. She refused cereal early on, and always insisted on having control of the spoon at mealtimes. She gave up purees very quickly and showed a definite preference for table foods.

Parenting Picks and Pans Part I

Some integral parenting tools for our family:

- Baby Sling. This product deserves a post of its own and will get one in due time. It is like an extra set of loving hands. I didn't get one until Eva was almost a year and I don't know how I parented without it. It comforts, it carries, it covers. You can go places you could never go with a stroller. You can do things you'd never be able to do without one. I really cannot recommend "babywearing" more highly.

Eva in the 'ring sling' in Thailand

Micah in the same 'ring sling' in Puerto Vallarta


Micah in the 'pouch sling' in Creel, Chihuahua, Mexico. I sewed this one myself. The other one is a little more comfortable because it's padded, but this one fits in a purse. I carried it with me all the time and also used it a ton.

Micah in a 'wrap', overlooking the Copper Canyon in Chihuahua, Mexico. This is just a long piece of fabric that you rig up in any number of ways. The fabric I had was a little too thin to be overly comfortable, so I didn't use this type of sling/wrap much. But there are lots of parents who use this type extensively.

- Eddie Bauer (Safety 1st) Transit Tandem Stroller
We still use this all the time. It is fantastic! It folds umbrella-style quite compactly. The kids love it. It is comfortable for both of Andrew and me to push, despite the 13.5" difference in our heights. It is nice and narrow. And the price was right at $129 US at Target. Highly recommend it. The only thing we don't like about it is the teeny tiny storage basket. Also I suppose it would be nice if it had a parent tray or cupholder. But at $129 who's complaining?!?

- Blue Baby. I got this guy at Toys R Us. Eva had a few other babies but didn't really fall in love until she got this one. Micah also loves Blue Baby. I'm pretty sure the key features are the hard head and open/close eyes.


Things for which we have had no use:

- High Chairs. The one we had, anyway. Took up too much room and collected too much gunk in the nooks and crannies. Tray unwieldly to wash in the sink. Haven't hit upon the ideal solution, as the booster seat we're currently using also collects a lot of gunk. But at least it doesn't take up the whole kitchen.

- Pureed Baby Food and Baby Cereal. Eva ate some but Micah never did. I just offered him finger food at about 6 months. He was interested and able at about 7 months. I gave him non-choking-hazard non-allergenic table food in easy-to-grip chunks. He decided what and how much. Sooooooo much easier for me than sterilizing water or pumping milk for cereal, than boiling and blending fruits, vegetables and meats. And he's done excellent. No choking issues. No weight gain or developmental issues whatsoever. No problems with illness.

I may expand on "baby led feeding" in a future post.

Updates

- Eva can now handle scissors well

- All of Micah's molars are through

- It is becoming intensely hot here. I'd actually almost forgotten just how intense. (I know you may not believe that I'm not trying to rub it in when I mention this.) This is significant because our A/C will not be up and running until a week from now.

- Eva isn't ready for bed at 7 anymore. Her bedtime is now closer to 8pm. She doesn't get tired during the day anymore.

- Micah is now waking up around 6am. Yippeee! He is however waking at least once in the night. The other night he wouldn't let us put him back to bed and ended up sleeping with us all night. Maybe pain from that last molar that isn't 100% through?

- I am hopeful that the desire to be nudie poodie will cause Micah to fully commit to the potty thing. What joy it would be to scratch diapers off the shopping list!