Today Emma Grows Up

Last night, on the eve of Emma's half-birthday, I got all teary-eyed and said it out loud: "Emma's growing up tomorrow."  Matt laughed, and then said the best thing he could have said, ever.  "She will still need you for other things."

We've waited to introduce solids until today.  And what I was mourning yesterday - what I'm mourning today - is the fact that she will no longer get all of her sustenance from me and me alone.  Of course, we'll still nurse.  We'll nurse as long as she wants to - or as long as I can stand it.  (I know that it'll be impossible for me to let her nurse while I'm pregnant because I'm so sensitive about pressure on my pregnant belly.)  But introducing solids seems like such a big step for me.  She's no longer an infant - she hasn't been an infant for a long time.  Today that hits me hard.

Ever since I started thinking about babies, nursing, and feeding, I knew we were going to wait to introduce solids until the baby was 6 months old.  For the most part this has worked (except for the vanilla wafer Matt let her suck on and the green bean my mom tried to give her).  But when she turned five months old, I wanted to prolong baby-hood for as long as possible.  So I asked Matt if we could wait until she's older - much older.  He humored me, knowing I'd come to my senses sooner or later.

And I did.  Emma is so interested in our food, in us eating, in playing with spoons and sitting at the dining room table with us.  And this last week, she has transformed from an every 2-3 hour nurser to an every 45 minutes nurser.  So I was ready for today.  For the most part.

On Wednesday I made Emma her first baby food.  Following the directions of who-knows-how-many baby food recipe books that I own, the advice of one or two good breastfeeding books, and my instincts, we started basic.  I steamed and pureed the carrots I found last week at the farmers' market.  I froze everything using the two containers we have (going to figure out which I like best and buy more of that one).  And then I went out and bought her some good spoons and a splat mat for the floor.  We were ready.

 

 

And boy, was Matt ready.  He was excited - got the carrots out of the freezer, defrosted them, put them in her bowl.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made sure he took a picture of the last official breastfeeding-only session.  (I did my best to savor it, even though she wasn’t that hungry and Daddy was distracting her by taking pictures.)

 

 

 

And then I got out a bib and brought her downstairs to the dining room.

It was fun.  Emma was not impressed.  She wanted to play with the spoon and the bowl and the mushed carrots that ended up on the highchair tray. 

 

 

 

 

She spit more out than she kept in.  She learned to push the spoon away and turn her head.  She made an absolute mess, including somehow getting carrots on my jeans. 

 

 

And I survived. 

 

 

My baby is still a baby.  She didn't sprout into a toddler, despite my fears.  She barely ate anything, which is exactly what I knew would happen.  I'm ready to try again... tomorrow.

 

 

 

Too bad Matt can't be around when the diaper happens.  I'll let you know how much I love my BG3.0s now that they contain more than water-soluble breastmilk. 

I cannot believe she's already six months old.  I cannot believe how quickly this happens, even though I knew it would happen oh-so-quickly.

Happy half-birthday, Emma Jayne.  I love you.

Don't grow up too fast.

Other People's Adventures

Well, I dropped Emma off at Ashley's so I could get a head start on the paper that's due at the end of the month. But so far I've only managed to eat dinner, talk to my dad, update his FB page, and register for the MCTE conference. Actually, that's pretty good. And now I will blog, which is not homework but which is still good for me.

Dang it! I forgot to ask Dad something! And here's what: I found this site of this guy who interviews other people's parents and then posts them on his blog. It's a great idea. So at the bottom there's this email link asking for ideas of other parents to interview. I immediately thought Dad would be perfect. I mean, how many parents ask for 6 weeks off in the winter so they can go sail the Bahamas? So I emailed David and he's interested in talking with Dad while he's in the Bahamas. So. I need to make sure that I remember to tell Dad that he's doing it. :) Ok, that's more of a I forgot to tell Dad something, but still.

Speaking of Dad, being his FB secretary is pretty interesting. I have to filter what he tells me and only post what he wants other people to know. I mean, what if he didn't want everyone to know that he said "Getting out of the marina was amateur hour"? (FYI - he told me it was Ok to say that.) So whenever he calls, I take notes. (Notes on a conversation with my father!) And I make sure to say, "So what do you want me to post?" Today what I would have posted pretty much aligned with what he wanted me to post. But maybe not always. We'll see.

How cool is it that my Dad's sailing in the Bahamas? (Ok, technically he's not in the Bahamas yet.) Here's the story for those of you who don't know it: He started thinking he'd be temporarily laid off this winter. He came up with this great dream that if he was laid off, he would drive down to FL, buy a Cal-20, and sale the Bahamas. But then when he talked to his boss about it, he found out that he wasn't getting laid off. It broke his heart, so he asked for the time off. Nice. And now he's going. It's so exciting.

Also, I wish I were there with him. In the Bahamas. Or at least in FL.

***

Other things that have interested me today:
1. The Diane Rehm Show had this great interview today with a former Assistant Secretary of Education from the second Bush administration. She used to support No Child Left Behind, but now she's fighting against it AND against Race To The Top. She said that public schools are failing because of the emphasis on testing. (Where have I heard that before???) I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of her book.

2. Matt sent me this video on FB. It's interesting overall, but the focus on schools was the best part for me. (Wonder why?) Jamie Oliver knows what he's talking about. "The food that your kids get every day is fast-food, is highly processed, there's not enough fresh food in there at all. The amount of additives[...] there's not enough veggies at all, french fries are considered a vegetable." (See segment starting at 11:14!) I'd like to see a local foods initiative happen in schools. "There needs to be a new standard for fresh, proper food for your children." Volinia has maple syrup, so why can't schools also have gardens! I'm not just talking elementary either (which would really help with the kids who don't know about vegetables - see the segment starting at 13:10 on the video.) As Jamie says in the video, "We've got to start teaching our kids about food in schools - period."

***

In household news, I made Emma's first batch of homemade baby food yesterday. (I'll post pictures here tomorrow - I don't have my camera with me here at Panera.) Yummy local carrots. We'll see if she likes them when we start solids on Saturday. (I feel the need to let you know that giving her the spoon to lick after making the carrots does not count as starting her on solids.) (Also, she loved licking the spoon. Actually, it was more like chewing on it.)

She's also learning to use a sippy cup. Growing up so fast. As always.

Early Morning Book Review

Both kids were sleeping, and as I was cleaning up the living room, I decided it'd be a great idea to share some of our favorite library books.

Emma & Noah enjoying some early morning reading.

Emma and I checked out eight board books on Friday when we went to KPL Central (after missing Baby LapSit at Washington Square) - four books for Emma and four books for Noah. Here they are in alphabetical order (of course).

***

A Day at the Market
by Sara Anderson

I first picked up A Day at the Market because I thought it'd be a story about a farmer's market, and I'm jonesin' to take Emma to our local market this summer. But I was VERY happy to realize that the market in the book is not just any market - this amazing book tells the story of a day at Pike's Place market in Seattle. Having been to Pike's Place twice myself, I can tell you that A Day at the Market is a perfect example of the beautiful hustle and bustle this famous Seattle institution.

"Black-eyed Susans / Sweet Surrenders / Pink Perfection / Golden Splendors."

Sara Anderson's illustrations steal the show, but Noah seemed to like the short rhyming stanzas that tell the story. Of course, it is possible that the reason he was sitting still was because he was so interested in the vibrant pictures. I cannot wait to be able to take Emma to Pike's Place ourselves in a couple of years, but for now this book will be a great substitute.

Verdict: A Day at the Market is definitely on our purchase list.

***

My Very First Book of Colors
by Eric Carle

My Very First Book of Shapes
by Eric Carle

I am in love with Eric Carle books. If you don't remember, Eric Carle is the genius behind The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We love that book in this house (and all stuff they've spun off of it, like Emma's onesie that no longer fits her and the big stuffed caterpillar we got her for Christmas). So when I saw these books I thought that Noah would probably enjoy them. Each book has a top flap and a bottom flap, which you match to practice colors and shapes.

The books are pretty basic - on the left page is the word (either the color or the shape), on the right are pages to match. Unfortunately there's no story, so to keep Noah's attention I had to walk him through it:

Circle. Is that a circle? No, that's a triangle.

Circle. Yes, the sun is a circle!

Is the umbrella blue? No, the umbrella's black.

Blue. The bird is blue.

He quickly went back to his tractor book. Maybe he's a bit too young at 22 months. If we borrow them from the library again when he's older, I'll let you know how it goes.

Verdict: Cute books, but not very interesting for this crowd. Maybe when they're older.

***

The Very Busy Spider
by Eric Carle

Yes, another Eric Carle book. I told you I'm in love with his books. Emma & I read Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? often - I love using the animal signs as I read it. I even had to look up new signs just so I could sign the whole book to her. Anyway, back to The Very Busy Spider. A spider floats into the farm yard on the wind and lands on a fence. She spends the entire book too busy spinning her web to play with the farm animals. At the end, she catches the fly in her web and goes to sleep. I do enjoy this book. The illustrations are beautiful (of course, it's Eric Carle!) and the story is cute. Each page presents a new farm animal and the noise it makes.

"’Cock-a-doodle do!’ crowed the rooster...”

But I do have to confess that my favorite thing about this book is that the web, the spider, and the fly are textured. As the spider weaves her web, you can feel (and see) it growing bigger and bigger. Neither Emma nor Noah were impressed by this, but I have a feeling that someday they will be.

Verdict: We will own this book some day.

***

Inside Freight Train
by Donald Crews

I obviously had the train-freak in mind when I picked up this book. I knew that it'd be a hit with Noah, who says "Thomas" as soon as he walks in my door. I was right. As soon as he saw it, Noah wanted to read it. Actually, we didn't read it, but we looked at the pictures. Uncle Matt tried to read it him, but by that time I'd shown Noah that the pages opened, which meant that reading the book wasn't high on the kid's priority list.

"The purple box car carries..."

"...toys and books."

Obviously Noah loves this book. He loves everything to do with trains. Opening the trains up to see what's inside is fun, but unfortunately it's very difficult to close the book back up. Noah's gotten frustrated a couple times already and almost had a break-down about it just before nap time. But he still loves the book. And maybe someday he'll let me read it to him.

Verdict: Fun book, but difficult to put back together. It'll be around the house until it's due back at the library. I probably won't check it out again - unless we have a boy. :)

***

Big Stuff: Tractors
by Robert Gould

This book was built for a boy. What is it about tractors, large equipment, and fire trucks that make little boys so crazy? I will never know. Luckily, I do understand that the phenomenon occurs, and I'll always embrace it. I grew up with a little brother, remember?
So I got this book for Noah. I think I read it to him at least five times in the first 30 minutes he was here. It's the best thing we have here, according to him.

Actually, the book would be so much better if it were only photographs of tractors. Sorry, Robert Gould. I tell it like it is. There's no story, just statements about tractors on every page. It'd be tolerable if it stopped there, but there's also these comments by the kids at the bottom.

Maybe if the kids weren't trying to be such hams, I'd like the book better.

See their crazy poses? I don't know them, but I can't stand them. On one page, they actually say they built the tractor. (And I don't believe for one minute that the girl really cares about these tractors. Sorry. I know that somewhere out there is probably a little girl who LOVES tractors. But I still don't believe the girl in this book.)

Verdict: Just another tractor book. We'll exchange it for something better soon.

***

Silly Suzy Goose
by Petr Horáček

Oh Silly Suzy. I'll tell you right now, I can't get enough of this book. Silly Suzy is a goose who wants to be different from all the other geese. She wants to flap her wings like a bat or swim under the water like a seal.

"If I were a giraffe, I could STRETCH up high."

Not only is the story great (when Suzy meets a lion, she tries to roar but it comes out "Roarrrrrhonk!"), but the layout of the words on the page is amazing. This is the kind of book that makes me want to teach... something to do with page layout. :) And who doesn't love saying, "Roarrrrrhonk!"?

Verdict: I will definitely check this out again. And it's going on our wish list.

***

Ten Sleepy Sheep
by Phyllis Root
Illustrated by Susan Gaber

Emma and I first found this book at the Eastwood branch and kept it for a week or so until we went back for Baby LapSit. After that, I added it to her Amazon wish list. This will quickly become a bedtime classic. (If not across America, at least in our house.) It's time for bed for ten lambs, but none of them are tired. They go scampering across the farmyard to play, but one-by-one they lay down to sleep.

"Sleep sheep..."

My favorite part is at the end when the last sheep says, "Mama, I can't sleep," and Mama tells him to try counting sheep. Children's book clichés such as rhyming and counting are skillfully executed here. The only problem is trying to say "sleep sheep" on every page.
Verdict: The illustrations are gorgeous, the story is adorable. The day we brought it home I was scouring Amazon for my own copy. We'll keep checking it out until we have our own copy.

Verdict: The illustrations are gorgeous, the story is adorable. The day we brought it home I was scouring Amazon for my own copy. We'll keep checking it out until we have our own copy.

Scattered Thoughts

This is what I get for not posting for a couple of days - a list of things I want to say. Never mind that most of them came to me today. (Do you ever wish that "never mind" was actually one word like I do?)

So here I go, in (as close to) chronological order (as possible).

First, my dad left on his trip! [insert applause here] On Friday he called me to say that he was 10 minutes away from leaving the house. That was the first warning I had that it was actually going to be this weekend. Apparently he didn't want to jinx it by telling anyone too soon. So he drove himself and the boat down to our house Friday night. I wish I'd been able to take a picture or video of the boat pulling into our driveway. From my position, laying down on the couch, it really did look like a boat pulling into the driveway. I couldn't see the truck at all. Just a boat. Pulling into our driveway. It was great.

Most of the rest of Friday night was spent dealing with the new addition to the family - Dad's cat Dylan. He'll be staying with us while Dad's on his trip (until mid-April).

My kitty-brother, Dylan

He's such a tiny little thing, but I'm sure he'll gain wait in this house. We don't grow skinny cats here.

Saturday morning, Dad, Emma & I got up early and spent some time together. Matt was hit hard with a cold Friday afternoon, so he got to stay in bed. After some last minute frenzy (Dad thought he had forgotten his passport) and some last minute adjusting of the boat on the trailer, Dad said goodbye and backed the boat out of our driveway. (Impressive, by the way, for those of you who don't know our driveway.) I immediately posted his progress on his FB page, which is my official job. That way everyone can feel like they're connected with him. Unless he never calls me. He won't do that, but I'm positive he won't call as often as I'd like him to.

I spent the rest of the day Saturday feeling Dad's absence. It always amazes me how even if I don't see people often, the moment they leave for a trip or move out of state, I miss them more. It's like my heart can feel the difference.

On Sunday, Matt and I just lounged around the house. I was nursing a terrible headache that refused to actually leave and he was still sick. We really needed a mommy to take care of us, or at least a grandma to take care of the Monster. She was a good girl, but sometimes I didn't really want to deal with her at all. Why we didn't just pack her up and send her to Mike & Barb's I'll never figure out. But that's ok. She was a sweetie and I got a couple of good pictures...

Does anyone remember me saying I didn't want my daughter dressed in pink?
I hope not.

She picks out her clothes in the morning.
I just hold her up in the closet and she wears the first thing she grabs.
This was Sunday's choice.

I'm on a headband kick, since I found some that don't leave impressions in her skin.
Emma prefers to eat them, though.

Today Matt stayed home from work. While he slept on the couch and Emma slept in her crib, I was able to get a lot done on my silly Discussion Analysis. Once Matt started feeling better, we left the house and played in the sun. Matt wore Emma on our first walk in the park as a family. I can't believe it took almost 6 months to do it.

Real men wear babies.

This is Emma's first taste of snow.

I love this photo, even though (because) her face is half missing.

There were four deer taking a walk too. This was the best picture I could get.

This is Matt congratulating Emma on their perfect shot.

This is my reaction to their perfect shot - THEY HIT ME WITH A SNOWBALL!

This is Matt's unapologetic face.

It was a wonderful walk in the sun and the warmth, even if my headache tried to come back after my head was attacked by a snowball.

Finally, I just have to share my happy kitties. They soaked up the sun today, especially after I opened the sunroom door for them.

Buckley & Richard Parker didn't understand why they couldn't go outside to enjoy the sun.

Sha found a great hiding spot (away from Dylan) on top of the fridge.

RP enjoying some sun 'n' shadows.

Proof that Buckley & Sha like each other.

Dylan getting in on the sunshine action too.

The boys snuggling.

So to summarize my weekend: Dad here, Dad gone, Matt sick, cute baby, Matt home,Matt (a bit) better, walk in the park, sunshine kitties, finished the paper, had some me-time, going to bed.

*heart*

One Day, Two Girls

Once I read a book about a stay-at-home mom called What Do You Do All Day?. Thinking about the fact that our days are always busy (even when we don't leave home) made me want to do an Emma Jayne special. So here it is:

One Day, Two Girls: The Photo-Essay (March 5th, 2010 Edition).

We often wake up next to each other.

Then I take a shower and Emma plays with her toys.

Today we played Peek-a-Boo.

Emma hangs out while I feed the cats.

And patiently waits for me to make myself breakfast.

Then she plays while I eat breakfast.

And she plays some more while I watch some DVR.

Finally she's ready for her first nap.

But first she has to eat.

Then she puts herself to sleep.

Today we had plans to go to the library for Baby LapSit, but she slept through it.

Hopefully she wakes up happy.

Then it's time to get dressed.

And try a new hat. (Just look at those cheeks!)

We normally play with her "birds."

And if the nap was long enough, it's time to nurse again.

There are always a ton of kisses throughout the day.

And probably a bunny-ears-photo-shoot.

Today we decided to leave the house.

So we went to the indoor farmers' market.

And to make up for missing the Baby LapSit, we went to the library.

Emma played.

And picked out some books.

And paid more attention to the other babies than to the turtle. Silly girl.

Time for a diaper change and more yummies.

Then we shopped 'til she dropped.

After a quick nap in the car, she's up and ready for some more.

We nurse again.

Read Ten Sleepy Sheep.

(It's a good book.)

And try to take a nap.

It doesn't work, so we play with the birds.

And then try to take a nap together.

Which doesn't work.

So we watch some Baby Signing Time.

Which makes little girls sleepy.

But not sleepy enough.

So I decide we need to go to the pet store.

And then to Meijer.

Where Emma tries on some headbands.

And picks out some new shoes.

Another diaper change.

Another feeding.

Another nap.

Daddy's home!

Play with Daddy.

Check out our new purchases.

Once last bounce.

Detour to play with Buckley.

Bath time.

After bath, it's PJs and a final nursing session in the dark. The the exhausted little girl falls asleep until it's time to eat again.