Week 23

Tricks: Finding and attempting to eat all of the things we should stay away from (see pic) - babyproofing here we come!!! Still mostly moving backwards instead of forward on crawling flat, but she's moved forward a few inches here and there.

Life: We're realizing that we need to childproof!!! Ah!

This is how changing diapers looks these days...

Flip on over kid! 

First Major League Baseball Game!

Baby's first game: Phillies vs Pirates. 7:05 start. Dollar Dog Night!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Alert!

Moms,
Do not give your 5-month-old fruit juice. Apple, prune, pear, etc.
Love,
Previously Misinformed Mom

Week 22

Tricks: Oh, she's tricky alright! Ellie is now able to, I'll call it, 'fake throw'. In case it's not obvious what that means, it's when she clasps something big so firmly that she's able to show you and then pull it back. Still interested in anything that you're holding.  Maybe the start of sitting up?

Life: Generally good - she got sick and with her new love of putting her hands all over my face, it's no wonder that I came down with the cold too.

Colds are wonderful sources of parental discontentment - we're more exhausted than usual and the baby is incredibly cranky, coughing herself out of naps, trying to eat while unable to breathe, kinda miserable all around.

But despite the cold and weary weather.  We've had a good week.  

Fresh Tomato Sauce

Compliments of my sister, who makes this fantastic sauce while the water is boiling for the pasta.

2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
S and p
Drizzle olive oil
Bunch of Basil leaves, coarsely chopped

Heat saute pan medium high coating pan with olive oil, sweat onions until transparent, adding garlic for a minute before pouring in tomatoes. Let simmer for 5 minutes, season to taste with salt and pepper, more olive oil, and basil. Serve now for fresher flavor or can continue to simmer for deeper flavor.

Enjoy!

For leftovers, I add chopped sausage, spinach, pinenuts, asiago/parmesan/romano and a different pasta.
Yum!

Comments Please

It's come to my attention that many more people read this here blog than I imagined.

I found this out when I was reprimanded for slacking off on new posts.

Here's the request, please leave a comment, it'll be part of her baby book one day, and it's also a great boost to keep me working at it.

Thanks!!

Week 21

Tricks: Personality growth week. Primarily, she's been destyructive in ways we thought were a ways away...i.e. pulling table cloths, plates, utensils, paper, pens, drinks, lamps, and any other items that are within reach. Not to be overlooked: cell phones, remotes, sunglasses, laptops, dogs ears, and the like are particular favorites.

Life: We feel as though she's learning something new every day! The same old toys are losing their spark, and new ones are being subbed out - thanks to friends and family.

In general, still sleep deprived, dealing with trying to up milk production, so almost every 2 hour feedings. We so quickly forget how exhausting those early days are/were. :)

Dear Babies

Why does the routine that was so successful so well for so long suddenly not work?

We'd love to know.

Much appreciated,
Moms

Apparently not pooping for 6 days isn't really a problem.

Not for adults, but for breast fed babies it's a milk production situation that works itself out. Who knew?!

The first time she hadn't gone in I think it was 4 days. I was driving home from my parents' house and frantically called Dave's cell. He was outside building a shed, so he wasn't able to get any of my 7 methods of communication. (voicemails, texts, screams-just kidding about the screams.) I was just begging him to go get prune juice for me to drink. He said I was yelling at him when I got home. I didn't think that I was, just merely talking loud enough so he could hear me over the wailing.

He encountered another Dad in the prune juice section who was all too happy to share some advice. He indicated that they gave their child prune juice, in a ratio of 2 (water): 1 (prune juice) as early as 4 months.  Since we were right at 4 months, David came home and shared the vast knowledge obtained in the juice aisle with his frantic wife. 

So we mixed up the potion and she gobbled it up!  Here's the hindsight.  The poor baby was HUNGRY.  I've since learned, and it makes perfect sense, that babies grow a lot around 4-5 months.  They need more food and so if they're being breastfed, the supply needs to crank up to meet demand.  When she's not pooping, it means she's not eating enough, which is also why she seems terribly upset and wails in stomach pain - it's called hunger.  I had no idea, so of course, I gave her more prune juice - which she continued to lap up (again, clearly hunger, but what did I know?!)  Then I learned part 2 of the prune juice encounter: gas.  It's the smelly stank of putrid. I kept mistaking the gas for her poop, but it wasn't so.  The poor child had awful gas.

Lesson Here: our bodies are meant to work - let them. :)