...more on toddler food

Oh my gosh, so recently we've started having oatmeal for breakfast and I wish I had done this much earlier!  I feel much better about filling his belly with oats that fluffy bread (add oatmeal to the list!)  I should have taken the que from my older, wiser sister a long time ago!  Her daughter is a year and a week older than Sam so I tend to look to them to see what's coming down the pike!

When I wrote the previous entry about feeding a toothless toddler, I thought of three more things I wanted to share with you, but now I can only remember two of them.  Bummer.  But the two things are still good, so get excited!

1. The snack cup pictured above.  It's seriously awesome.  My toddler is such a grazer (like his parents.)  However, we also have a dog, so if I leave out snacks for him, they will last about 1.3 seconds before being gobbled up by our pup.  I can put so many snacks in here and Sam has access, but Truck (our dog) does not!  Life-changing.  We got them at the grocery store, they're not hard to find.  They usually come in a 2-pack.
2. The Weelicious cookbook. The author has a VERY successful blog (so much so, that she wrote a book.) It was so helpful to me!  Up until we got the book (which was around 15 months old for our son,) we were still feeding him in the high chair in our kitchen floor--not at the table.  After reading a lot of the introduction to the book, we moved him to the table, which I love.  It's a little more work as far as clean up, but he is gaining social skills, a sense of order for meal time, and is becoming a champ at using utensils (which I wasn't even giving him before!)
   
   Some of you may think I'm foolish for buying the cookbook because there is free access to almost every recipe on weelicious.com, but I really love having a physical book.  Plus, I really hate the idea of dragging my laptop into the kitchen and risking its demise with one careless mistake.
   
   This book gave me such a great grasp on how to feed my boy and how to keep him from learning bad habits like requesting a second meal and turning his nose up at the first one offered.  Seriously, check it out (maybe even, just from your local library!)

feeding a toothless toddler

Once we made it through the very trying first year of our son's life things got significantly easier.

But to quote Elizabethtown, "if it wasn't this... it'd be something else."

With most families this would most likely be teething.  But not for our family!

At 17 and a half months, our son's 5th tooth just arrived.  His first two emerged at 11 months, second two at around 14 or 15 months, and just yesterday I noticed a first year molar popping through.  Crazy kid!

So what is it that wears us out, you ask?  Feeding a toothless toddler!  While he manages great with a lot of foods, we still have to be cautious of the foods we present him since he has the ravenous appetite of an ever-moving toddler, but the gums of a 5 month old.

It's been work trying to figure out what fills up this sweet boy's belly, so that's why I want to share some ideas with you in hopes that you don't have to do so much brain storming!

First I should say, we do our best to avoid a whole lot of processed foods, but we're also realistic, on a budget, and on the go a lot of the time (and sometimes just down-right lazy) which makes steaming asparagus and preparing quinoa casseroles often out of the question.

I think about food in these catagories:  protein, veggies/fruits, grains/fiber, other carbs, & snacks. I don't give dairy its own category because we still give him cups of milk and he gets calcium through other foods and in proteins he gets throughout the day.
I should also add that at around 9 months or so, my son only let grandma spoon feed him and when he was home with us it was finger foods only (or getting a baby spoon swatted away and having mashed anything splattered on our carpet.)

Proteins:

• ground meat (beef/turkey) sometimes in a red sauce
• canned beans (organic/regular) strained and pinched to help avoid a chocking hazard
     black beans, kidney beans, navy bean
• hummus (or canned chick peas, but they don't digest as well since they're not fully chewed)
• peanut butter (or other nut butters) 
• eggs (scrambled or boiled)
• yogurt
• cheese

   
Veggies/Fruits:

• frozen peas/carrots (great for sore gums)
• canned peas/carrots
• chopped green beans
• sauteed chopped squash and zucchini
• microwaved sweet potato (cooled and scooped out)
• occasionally things like veggie straws or veggie puffs (like Gerber graduate snacks, but b/c of the preservatives, additives, sugar, etc, we try to keep these to a minimum)
•  canned fruit that is packed in 100% juice or water and not light or heavy syrup, our go-tos are pears, peaches, and mandarin oranges 
• bananas--i had given up on these b/c my son would examine the pieces and then throw them on the floor, recently i tried giving him a whole pealed banana and he scarfed it down!  Go figure!?
• grapes (I feel obligated to say cut these in half, however, my son does great with whole ones along as I'm constantly supervising him) 
• apple sauce jars, cups, and squeeze pouches, we love them all! (The gogo squeez are usually the most economical.  The package says for 3+ years but it seems that is due to the small cap, so if you don't give the small cap to your child, you should be good to go.)
• blueberries (These are an absolute favorite food!  As pictured above, the frozen ones can be a bit messy!)

Grains/Fiber:

• whole wheat Chex cereal
• whole wheat or multi-grain bread
• whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread or English muffins (toasted or not)
• pita chips
• matzah bread/crackers (with a dip like hummus)
• whole grain Goldfish (I know these are not as healthy as they sound, but they're better than the regular ones and a mom has to have some go-to snacks!)
• whole grain pasta (including mac and cheese)

 Other Carbs + Snack Foods:
       This is my least favorite category because I know there is the least nutrition in these, but it's also unrealistic for use to never have snack food that fills us up and is easy to prepare.

• crackers (Ritz, Saltines, Triscuits)
• pretzels
• puffs
• yogurt melts (There are dairy free ones at Target that are rice-based)

As far as beverages, our son usually drinks only milk and water with the occasional watered down juice.  He also rarely has desserts.  I don't see a reason to expose him to them since he doesn't even know he's missing out on anything at this point.

My mind is already reeling with more tips and strategies that have worked for us, but I will save those for another day!  Hope this provides some guidance for you in feeding your toothless toddler!

Are there any awesome foods I left off the list!?

"i've never" with a twist

You know the game "I've never" right?  You say something you've never done (usually in a new group of people) and then the people that have done that thing have some kind of response.  Upon googling it, it looks like the most common 'something' is everyone rushing to find a new seat who has done the thing the "it" person has never done.  Resulting in the "it" person rushing to a seat and the new "it" being the person who didn't grab a new seat quick enough.  Got it?

I'd like to play a similar game with you--and by game, I really mean make a list.  I'd like to make a list with you.  I mean, that's kind of like a game, right? 

The idea goes like this: Pre-baby I said several things about parenthood that usually started, "I'll never [...] when I have kids!" and now I just look back and giggle at all the things I've done to survive parenthood that I never thought I would do.

I'll get the list going and I want your help adding to it.  I'll add your "I'll nevers" to the list with your name or initials and we can all laugh together.  Leave yours in the comments (or maybe even on FB and I'll do my best to add them all!) 

Here's the only rules:  Be nice!  And no judging.  Just because someone else does something one way doesn't mean the way you're choosing to do it is wrong.

1. I'll never let my kids have messy snacks in the car.  -Mary
2. I'll never let my baby sleep in my bed.  -Mary
3. I swore I wouldn't be the mom to upload pics of her kid all the time. -Whitney
4. I said I wouldn't dress her in all pink (I'm getting better about accepting pink into my life). -Whitney
5. I will never give my baby cookies. -Whitney
6. I will never use my iPhone as a distraction for my baby/toddler while out shopping, at a restaurant, etc. -Hannah
7. I will never take my baby to daycare on the days I'm not working. -Whit's friend
8. I will never let my child eat off the floor. -Whit's friend
9. I will never let my child go in public with dirty clothes &/or hair not done. Whit's friend
10. I'll never be quiet during nap time. She'll just have to sleep through it. -Sarah Q
11. I'll never change my daughter's diaper on the display patio furniture in the middle of Sears. -Kelly B
12. 
    

three hundred sixty five days

Recently I've been amazed at how much different my life is than it was a year ago.

You remember a year ago.

I was going bonkers trying to get my kid to sleep.
I was a floundering breastfeeding mama who was getting utterly discouraged.
Heck, I even started a blog to try and control the situation a little bit because often it seemed like my life was spinning out of control.  Though my "dark days" have now been accounted for, once I was able to realize I had PPD.

Things got better just before my little baby turned one.  And hopefully all you newer mamas who are still in the darker days don't feel like I'm rubbing this in your face--but life with my toddler is so much fun!

Ok, yeah, there are still times when I get super frustrated.  I'm not a machine.  But the ratio of tears to giggles has changed exponentially.

We went to the Gulf this past week. 
Sam loved the beach SO MUCH MORE than he did the year before when we had just stopped breastfeeding despite our best efforts. (Who would have thought that a 27 year old, healthy woman would be diagnosed with pericarditis which would demand her be on medicine that was not BFing approved!?)

During our stay there in the condo, my son was wearing a diaper, a pajama shirt, blue crocs, and eating a snack while listening to the Beatles on Pandora.  Our little swaying dancer cracked us up so much, I just had to share!

I thank the Lord often for bringing me through those first 365 days.  And I am SO GLAD the next 365 days are shaping up to be awesome.  God is good, all the time.  And all the time...

Five Minute Friday: Song

Music is the thing that brings joy to my family.  We seriously love it.  My husband plays beautiful guitar and dabbles in piano.  He finds such joy in music.

I love music, too.  From the time I was born I was being sung to.  Every night (or as far as I know, every night) my mom or dad would rub my back as they tucked me in and sing "Turn your eyes upon Jesus."

It's ingrained in me.
I had it played at our wedding five years ago while my husband and I took communion together for the first time as a married pair.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
and the things of this world will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

I have a 16 month old.
Guess what song I choose to sing to him during our bedtime routine?  You guessed it.  I don't do it every night, but almost.
My parents also use to tell me "sweet dreams of Jesus" as they closed my door and left me to drift off to sleep.

I love speaking that phrase to my boy.  I hope it instills in him the same love for Jesus that I have.

don't say the "c" word

You hear the whispers and see the glances as you try to dash out of church with your wailing baby who you've been paged to come get out of the arms of the gracious nursery volunteer who is holding your baby on his belly in her arms as she rocks and attempts to sooth him with her shhhing.

You've avoided saying the word for a few weeks now, but it just can't be denied any longer.
Your baby has....colic.

GASP!

Isn't that how the story goes?  Babies who are assigned that word are suddenly freaks with crazy-underdeveloped intestines.  You get "bless your hearts" and "I'm so sorrys" from all the moms you talk to.  You get moms who raised (seemingly) spawns of Satan who tell you their horror stories while still shuddering a little bit as they reminisce.

Yet your baby doesn't seem that bad.  Right?  Surely she can't get stuck with that label.  No way!  You didn't suffer through forty long weeks of pregnancy and long hours of labor just to find out you got "stuck with a bad one!"

Mamas.  I feel like colic has gotten a bad rap.  And because of that, all of us new, frightened mamas tip-toe around the word to avoid getting our baby pinned with an unpinnable fate. 

But I'm here to dismiss the stigma.  A LOT of babies have colic...or are colicky...or have colic-like symptoms.  AND THAT'S OK.

Sure, it's no walk in the park and parents don't wish it upon their babies, but we all eventually get through it.  Hang in there, mama!

And don't be afraid to embrace the "c" word.  Once you do, it's a lot easier to live day to day because at least there's a reason for the gas, reflux, crying, and sleepless days and nights!

From one colic-baby-raising mama to another,
Mary
P.S. If you're looking for some tips to help with a colicy baby, check out this post. 
       If you're wondering if a colicky baby has contributed to postpartum depression, check out this post.
P.P.S.  Guess what!?  This blog has been up and active for over a year!!!  Happy one year anniversary, blog!

the day we almost killed our son

In honor of my sister's dramatic story telling, I'd like to tell my own dramatic story about how our son was almost crushed to death and I saved him with sheer brute mama-strength.

Recently our garage door decided to stop opening.  I pushed the button in the garage so I could push Sammy out in his stroller for a little walk.  The door opened about three inches, closed, then opened three inches again and stopped.  After trying this a few more times, I gave up, hauled my son, who was already strapped in his stroller, up the stairs, then back down the outside stairs where I think too a pathetically short stroll that was probably not worth the effort.

Later that evening my husband and I decided to investigate and see if it would be a simple fix.  I pulled the rip cord on the door which made it close the three inches, but then, nothing.

Since we are (one of the 36) people in America that actually use our garage to store our cars, we realized we needed to get the door open so I could pull my car out.  Since the cord is pulled on the door, it should just pull right up and open manually.

Keeping this in mind, my husband starts lifting...and it doesn't budge.  It's a two person job.

At this time Sam is happily exploring the garage, not paying much attention to us. 

My husband's knee is somewhat injured from a running incident, so he decides to pull on the rip cord and I'll use the handle at the base of the door.  We'll get the door open, get the car out, and worry about fixing the door later!

We begin pulling the heavy two-car garage door up and it's working--the two of us are doing it!  However, there are three of us in the garage.  Sam sees his escape and starts going under the gap in the garage door.  My husband, with his safety instincts on the tip of his tongue yells to Sam to stop and come back.  Well, instead of our 15 month old heeding his commands, he instead becomes very frightened and just stops dead center under the door and begins to cry--petrified with fear.

So there we were, using all of our muscles to hold this door three feet from the ground, with our toddler frozen underneath the suspended door.

My mama bear instincts kick into gear.  I realize I have three choices:  1. let my son be crushed under the weight of the garage door  2.  hold the garage door up long enough for Sam to stop crying and either come in the garage or out of the garage (in which case I could run out the front door and get him) or 3. I could life up the garage door.

With all my strength I take a deep breath and hoist the door up and throw it up over my head like a heavy-weight champion!  And it works!  The door is up!

Lee J holds the door (which is now at its resting place at the top) while I scoop up my terrified son.  We proceeded to put him in his stroller (which was still outside from our earlier walk) and then I pulled my car out and lowered the garage door slowly closed until it is repaired a few days later.

So there you have it.  The day I saved my son's life (after being one of the ones
to put it in danger in the first place!)