Happy Holidays From Our Family to Yours

Nine month photo shoot!

Somebody turns TEN months tomorrow... month nine flew by...

This boy is my greatest joy!

Visions of sugar plums

Last year I was laid up on bed rest and wasn't able to make anything for the holidays. At the time it was the least of my worries. But THIS year - we have LOTS to celebrate and even though I converted to Judaism (and parted ways with my santa cookie cutters...) I still insist on making holiday treats. You can take the Christianity out of a girl -- just not out of her thighs!

Jeremy and I have a fun tradition of making candy together for the holiday. We represent the OH-IO with dark chocolate buckeyes. My mom and I made over 300 of these for our wedding and I really thought she was going to go postal. Needless to say, it takes time and patience -- but they are so worth the trouble.

A steady surgeon's hands dip PERFECT buckeyes.

{Puppy Chow!}

This year I made two new things. First were Trader Joe's rice cereal treats. If you haven't had these - they.are.amazing (and amazingly easy).

1 cup Brown sugar
1cup Organic Blue Agave Sweetener (buy at Costco, super cheap)
7 cups rice (krispy) cereal
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 bag chocolate morsels
Heat agave and brown sugar until just before boiling to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and mix in PB. Pour mix over krispies and chocolate - stir well.  Spoon into 9x13 dish and pat. Refrigerate to set.
See? EASY.

The other new thing I tried was a version of THIS.  I always have left over chocolate in the double boiler after making buckeyes and rather than pouring it into my mouth waste it I wanted to do something else. We dipped a few Oreos and then I remembered the Sugar Plum post. I grabbed a few marshmellows, put them on a stick and dipped away. Topped with festive sprinkles. I didn't have any styrofoam so I poked holes in a brownie box and angled the sticks to dry. Set in the freezer for few minutes and then wrapped in celophane. HOW CUTE ARE THESE?? I think they look like little Frosty the Snowmen. You know, when frosty wears his b-dazzled hat to the office Christmas party :)

When I was making these I couldn't help but think about Owen. I pictured him as a little first grader complete with backpack and yellow pencils. I will stay up after he's gone to bed and make these tiny, kid-sized treats and then tuck one into his lunch box the next morning. What a sweet surprise for my sweet boy!

Now on to the cookies...

We're lookin' at you kid!

Gone are the days that we glanced down at the video monitor and saw this during nap time...

Me: Is Owen asleep?

Jeremy: Um, see for yourself.

{Standing tall in his crib to say hello to the camera}

Baby Cage

This week I found Owen sitting up in his crib for the first time. He's been working on transitions from tummy to sitting for a while now so I was happy he conquered his task. A few days later -- 2am to be exact -- I heard him yelling on the monitor. He was standing holding onto the side of his crib! I freaked out and ran in because the crib was not on the lowest setting. Jeremy was sleeping on the couch because he was on call, I felt terrible but had to wake him up to lower the crib (alan wrench? where the hell do we keep the alan wrench set?)  He was really sweet when I woke him up and came in to see our tall boy - so proud of himself.

Took about a half hour to lower the crib. Daddy finally got back to sleep and was called into the hospital at 3am... lets just say he had a rough day the next day.

Now, as soon as Owen wakes up from his nap its party time in the crib. I always hear him on the monitor talking to himself while mastering acrobatics. He's been up on all fours rocking back and forth this week too - we'll see!

Also, apparently cribs are good for rolling, pull-ups and teething. AWESOME.

Tears for what might have been

December 16, 2009 was hard. Really hard. It was the day that all of my idealistic, giddy pregnancy notions were wiped away, forever. It was a day that I learned how heart wrenching parenthood can be. It was a day that I remember in snippets, almost as if it didn't really happen to me and I was watching it through a piece of foggy glass.

One year ago I went into preterm labor with Owen. We knew things weren't right and were ready to deal with a cerclage and possible limitations - we weren't ready to see contractions 3 minutes apart on the monitor.

I remember the long tape of waves that my doctor pulled up and then canceled our procedure.

I don't remember how I got to my room in the prenatal intensive care unit.

I remember Jeremy watching the monitor with his very scared almost-doctor-face, willing the contractions to stop.

I remember asking him how big a baby is at 27 weeks.

I remember he said, "Not big enough."

I don't remember what I ate, or if I ate. 

I remember signing the papers that the nurse brought, the papers that gave my permission for my baby to be taken away immediately and given all means necessary to save his life. I looked down at my signature -- it was barely legible.

I remember a conversation that Jeremy and I had to have. A conversation that hurts just thinking about. We decided that if I were to give birth to our tiny son, no matter what happened, that Jeremy would stay with him. Go with him. Anywhere. No matter what. Because if he only had a short time in this big wide world - he would never be alone and he would know that he was loved.

I remember wishing away that lullaby. 

And I don't remember much after that. That's enough isn't it? Enough to rip your heart out? I couldn't talk about it or write about it. All I did was pray to myself and listen to his tiny heartbeat.

I met a new part of my husband that day. The part who returned all of the phone calls on our behalf and wrote a blog and slept in a chair holding my hand all night long. I met Owen's Daddy that day.

We were reminded that we have friends, lots of really wonderful friends spread out across the country. We had family hugging us from afar and we had strangers praying for us in churches and temples.

While it was an awful day, it turned into another day, and another, and another. Jeremy wrote, "we hope that this period is measured in months and not days." -- and it was. 

I'm scared out of my mind to see two pink lines again. My happy pregnancy whims have turned to fear and all I can see is an exhausting, cautious 36 week countdown. I hope time will heal those wounds. I hope one day I am brave enough to try again. Because it was all worth it.

And that heart wrenching feeling... it never went away. I discovered it is a part of me now. He is a part of me now. And while having a child has made my heart soar to places I've never imagined, the visceral worry lingers in the background. And when he falls or crys out or won't eat -- it pounces.

And today, as all those memories come flooding back, I look at my beautiful, healthy son and pray for those Mama's who aren't as lucky as I was. Because I am lucky and thankful and blessed.

To be his Mama.

My baby ate my cell phone and we ate an awesome dinner

Today was a crazy day.

We got an inch or so of snow last night and Daddy's alarm didn't go off. I ended up waking him when I heard all of the text messages coming in from the hospital. Cue: Panic Daddy off to work. Roads were a mess. PITTSBURGH HAS HILLS PEOPLE!? What?

All Owen wanted to do was nurse and he refused to nap. Not sure what has been up with our bug lately but he's been a little off. Either wants to nurse all day or not at all. Naps are either perfect - 2, 2hr naps or no naps at all. So he played in the exersaucer during what would have been his nap so that I could still fold some laundry and get dinner made. And brownies. And lemon bars.

Dinner was AWESOME. A friend of mine gave me a recipe for Korma Chicken in the crock pot. Jeremy and I aren't huge Indian food fans but I figured we'd give it a shot for something different. I had all of the ingredients except for minced ginger and she was such a sweetheart she dropped of a little baggie of minced ginger in my mailbox yesterday morning - PERFECT!

This meal was so awesome. I only used 1/4 tsp of cayanne because I was afraid it would be too hot. We might like it a little hotter next time so I'll add some back in. I used a mix of breasts and thighs. I also added peeled/cubed potatoes which turned out great. Jeremy and I pretty much polished off this entire meal. There was no brown rice left and only about one serving of Korma that we'll have to fight over later this week. YUM!

Then to top off tonight, I let O play with my phone for FIVE MINUTES. It is his goal in life to obtain our phones. He wants them to light up. Once he get it-- in the slobbery mouth it goes. So, we don't let him play with phones or ipods. Until tonight. Jeremy ALWAYS tells me not to let Owen play with my phone so I take it away from him as soon as I see him grab for it. Tonight, well, tonight it was keeping him quiet. He was a fussy monkey all evening (see above, NO NAPS) and I just wanted him to be happy --- so I let him play with the phone. I saw him biting it and dropping it down the couch cushion. I took it back, he cried, I put him to bed.

I came out to find my phone was totally dead. Once we finally got it started up again it was shorting out and going to some strange sych screen. Long story short - my phone is toast.

And now its snowing again and supposed to do so through tomorrow night. I will be without a phone for a while because I am not venturing out to the Sprint store - in the snow - with my baby. The Sprint store makes me want to go postal. AND I love my phone and I'm pretty sure they don't carry it anymore plus I'm due for a new one. Which means I'm going to have to pick a new phone. (CHANGE! NO NOT CHANGE!) Which means I'm going to have to LEARN A NEW PHONE. I don't even know how to do half of the shit on my current phone and I've had it for over 3 years.

That was our day. I lost a ton of phone numbers. I made an awesome dinner. My husband is asleep on the couch and my baby is asleep in his crib.

I'm eating a lemon bar.

I'm paying it forward. Take it from me, the recipe is awesome and don't let your baby play with your cell phone.

The end.

Not mine, but this is exactly how it looks

Chicken Korma- crock pot recipe

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated (I use bottled, minced ginger)
2-inch piece cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup canned tomato sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
salt
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup roasted cashew nuts*, pureed in food processor
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro (for garnish)

In a large frying pan over med-high heat, warm the canola oil.  Add the onion and saute until it begins to soften, about 3 minutes.  Add the garlic, ginger, cinnamon, bay leaves, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and cumin and saute until the spices are fragrant and evenly coat the chopped onion, about 1 minute. Stir in the broth, tomato sauce, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt and deglaze the pan, scraping up the browned bits.  Bring to a boil.

Transfer the broth-spice mixture to a slow cooker.  Add the chicken strips and stir to coat.  Cover and cook until the chicken is very tender and the sauce is thickened.  3 hours on the high-setting or 6 hours on the low-heat setting.

About 15 minutes before the chicken is done, combine the buttermilk and cashews in a blender or food processor.  Blend or process until the nuts are finely pureed and combined with the buttermilk.  Add to the chicken and stir to blend with the chicken and sauce.  Continue cooking until the sauce is completely heated through and thick, about 5 minutes.  Remove and discard the cinnamon and bay leaves.  Serve with rice and garnish with cilantro.

*to roast the cashews spread on a baking sheet and roast in oven for 5 minutes at 400 degrees. Flip once.

Couch Potato

Solid Feeding MUST HAVES

If you're observant (and I know you are) you may have noticed a new Listmania! list in my sidebar. This one is for introducing solid foods. We've struggled with Owen's level of engagement for solid foods for almost five months now so, after lots of reading and trial and error I wanted to compile a list of things that have helped us along the way.

I must say as a qualifier to listing books that I never take one strategy to heart (sleeping for example: We very loosely used THIS BOOK but also incorporated the dream feed strategy from THIS BOOK). Perhaps its my relentless nonconformity or general indecisiveness but I like to read a bunch of methods/theories and go with what works for our family. In my opinion if you are too rigid about any one strategy and your child doesn't fall into alignment exactly as demonstrated in the book this can lead to lots of unnecessary frustration.

My intent was always to make Owen's food and that hasn't changed. It has saved us SO MUCH MONEY, I get peace of mind out of knowing exactly what goes into what he eats and most importantly - I make it with love. Recently I was feeding Owen at a public event and another mother asked me about what he was eating. I responded that it was pears. She asked me why it looked that way and I told her that I had peeled and pureed them myself.

Her: "Your make your own baby food?"
Me: "Yes."
Her: "WHY."  (very pointed, almost defensive statement)

I didn't know how to respond to this. She is a mother, a busy working mother, and I in no way wanted my response to imply that homemade food was superior to store bought. It was a choice for us. My mother made my baby food when I was small and I guess I always intended to do the same. It happens to save us a boat load of cash and I really like doing it (except peeling pears - peeling pears is slippery hell. Or grapes. Or peeling in general.)

My response: "Well right now I stay home with Owen and my full time job is to take care of him. I make food for the rest of our family so it came pretty natural to just make his as well."

I contemplated for a long time about buying THIS. I read reviews, looked for sales and even found one that had been used once from a ready seller on Craigslist (post a wanted ad - never know what you'll get). In the end I decided I didn't need a fancy contraption to make his food. I bought a $4 basket steamer from Wal-mart and already had a mini Cuisinart. I've never thought twice about this product. I'm sure its great and helpful and might have been a perfect addition to a baby registry - but in the end isn't necessary to make your own food.

{Super Baby Food} - this was the first book I read after seeing a friend use the method successfully. Her toddler eats the coolest stuff! Some things I like: When to introduce what, food cube method, preparing different foods for different ages, money saving hints and tips.  What I don't follow: the portion size for age, and I don't make my own porridge. At least not yet. Right now I use Earth's Best Oatmeal because 1) Its easy and 2) it is the only iron fortified food that Owen gets. He hated rice cereal so we switched to Oatmeal because he was more accepting, he still doesn't like it alone so I started incorporating it to other foods such as pears and peas. (look for this book at your local half-price books! Its usually $6. I have two copies. One for me and one I lend to friends!)

{Baby-Led Weaning}This book was released in the US in the last few months but the methodology has been embedded in attachment parenting theory for a while now. I originally disagreed with this approach because seriously? Babies get baby food because... THEY ARE BABIES. But since Owen rejected spoon feeding early on, I desperately wanted him to show interest in food experimentation. That is exactly what this method is. Owen's first solid poop was after I introduced broccoli "trees". The downside: lots of gagging at first. This method requires soft consistency and a close eye. Hard to tell exactly how much baby is ingesting. Its also harder to do the '4 day allergy wait rule' with this if you are feeding from your dinner table. Thankfully Owen doesn't seem to have much sensitivity to foods.

{Child of Mine} This book was handed down to me from Jeremy's aunt. Reading this book helped me to relax. I dreaded our feeding times and this book helped me see that through meals Owen and I are communicating and I needed to respect what he was telling me and be respectful in how I fed him. Some great tips were not to hold new foods right up to the baby's face - rather hold them at least 12 inches away where they can see and study what they are about to eat. Done means done and each child eats at a different pace. Our daily feedings became more relaxed after reading this book.

So the combination of these three books has turned into our "feeding strategy". I use the food cube method and freeze in nested freezer bags. Owen enjoys whole milk cream top yogurt plain and I mix in anything and everything. We were struggling with constipation so with a wonderful recommendation from my friend Kelly, Owen eats at least one serving (1-2 Tbsp) of "Prunanas" a day. Bananas bind him up (but he loves them) and prunes - well yea. So the mixture balances itself out and we have a BM every 1-2 days with limited screaming. Fun fact: rehydrated prunes look like something left behind by a German Shepard or small horse. True story. Kills me every time.

Owen has a very sensitive gag reflex but refuses food that is too liquid-y so I experiment on a daily basis with consistency (apparently gift wrap goes down effortlessly!?) Almost anything can be thinned with yogurt or breastmilk. I'm experimenting with lentils and pastina right now and we take things day-by-day. I am sure this is a fluid process and will change as Owen grows to accept (and reject) new foods and textures. Eating has definitely been our biggest challenge with Owen, and the comforting part about it is that with our next kid at least I'll have a basis for comparison.

There are a few things that I wanted to include but are not from Amazon:

This Bumkin bib pack is a steal! The bibs are great - washable, velcro, shoulder coverage and go for $20 for three on Amazon. This is a SEVEN pack from Costco ($28) which includes the three super bibs AND two infant bibs (we keep these in the diaper bag) AND two toddler bibs (put away for later). This is seriously the only pack of bibs you would ever need to buy. We went for the Dr. Seuss pattern and they are adorable! If you don't have a Costco nearby you can shop online if you know someone with a membership.

Picked up THESE shallow bowls from Ikea the other day for $2.99/ 3pk and they are great. I am going to grab another set next time we are there. It is the perfect size for baby portions, easy to hold in the palm of your hand and just shallow enough to allow food to cool properly. Durable, dishwasher safe and cool colors! Did I mention I really like these bowls?

I think that completes my babyfood dissertation but I've been meaning to share some of my favs for a while. What are your favorite feeding items? Any great tips?

Baby, it's cold outside

We've had our first flurries of the season and it reminded us of when we brought baby Owen home from the hospital in a snowstorm.

We've been bundling him up just enough to get to the car and then once he's fastened in, we cover him with blankets. He wears babylegs almost everyday underneath his pants because they always seem to ride up on his legs exposing tender baby skin to the cold chill of winter. He learned how to take his hat off this week, so I spend most of our outings trying to put it back on to keep his noggin warm. His little hands are another story. When we have him in his full bunting (sweaty monster suit) his hands are warm - but otherwise not. I've been swooning over THESE (the baby ones don't even have thumbs!) but they're a little pricey. How do you keep baby hands warm without spending a fortune?

{boots}

Toga Party!

PLACE: Owen's Crib
TIME: 5 minutes after waking from a morning nap
ATTIRE: Self-inflicted pajama togas only

This is exactly how I found him. I laughed my ass off for a good five minutes and then grabbed the camera. As you can see, he was pretty proud of himself this morning. I think this is an adorably charming fashion statement, that and his crazy bed-head!

{Thanks for the new big boy jammies Grampie Dick and Gramie Suzie!}

Nine Month Check Up

Weight: 19 lbs 3 ounces - 27th percentile

Length: 28.8 inches - 64th percentile

Head circumference: 45.5cm - 54th percentile

Owen had his nine month check up this week and as always, he was a star. He still doesn't have stranger anxiety so he was "chatting" away the minute the doctor came into the room. 

The first thing she said was, "Oh my, looks like the baby I saw a few months ago has been replaced with a little boy. Its amazing how quickly that happens!" 

You're telling me lady! 

The first thing we talked about was Owen's weight. He did not gain since his 7 month sick visit (although we think they may have mis-weighed him at that appointment because when we brought him home he only weighed 18.5 lbs on our scale). She said the weight alone was not cause for concern because his length and head circumference are still following the same upward trends. She said is it common for children to "pick a new curve" around this age and he might genetically trend more along the 25th percentile. I am always hard on myself about O's weight and eating, and although he isn't super interested in solids he still eats plenty (a serving size is only a couple of tablespoons per meal) and nurses 6 times a day. She said to just keep offering and once he gets better at picking up food and getting it in his mouth, which he is just starting to do, he'll eat more because he can do it himself. I was so happy when she said, "by looking at this boy there is definitely no cause for concern. Healthy, happy boy."

We talked a little about gross motor and Owen's hesitation to crawl. He demonstrated for her how he likes to creep for Daddy's cell phone. She said "combat crawl" is very common and some babies do it for quite some time. She told us to just keep encouraging him. She noted that he makes up for what he isn't doing physically with his social skills. She praised how interactive he is, and loved his "talking" and smiles.He mimics sounds and makes lots and lots of noise and razzing!

We discussed a big issue we've been having with Owen - biting. It started out with biting while nursing and when we returned home from vacation he was biting my face, my arms, my neck - everywhere. It was like I was holding a tired piranha. I eventually had to start setting him down and let him cry because the biting was hurting me so badly. I've tried everything people have recommended to stop him, and nothing has worked. He only bites me, never Jeremy. I don't necessarily think its malicious biting, but those seven teeth are razor sharp and come close to breaking my skin. The doctor told me her son was a biter and she had a hard time breaking him of it. She demonstrated the tone we (I) have to use when he bites and it nearly scared Jeremy off his chair. She wasn't messing around. She said I have to be consistent and STERN (read: MEAN) to curb the behavior before it transitions into a problematic toddler behavior.

and there is was. My baby is being referred to a toddler ((wipes away Mama tears)).

No shots for Owen this month so he was a VERY happy boy! Jeremy and I almost fainted when we were scheduling our next visit -- ONE YEAR. We just sat there stunned that this little person will be one before we know it. 

for his next visit.. .four shots and a blood draw. We pushed it off a week so not to cloud his birthday with such a painful visit to the doctor. Not looking forward to that one - Daddy is definitely going to have to get the day off ;)

I throw my latkes in the air sometimes!

Saturday night we went all out. We had friends over to make latkes in celebration of Chanukah and I even whipped up a batch of my famous Christmas Jew-themed sugar cookies.

No fried fun fest is complete without jelly doughnuts. Seriously Chanukah? Your music doesn't hold a candle to Christmas but your food is mega awesome.

We ended the night with a [highly supervised] present unveiling. Two special books sent just for Owen by his Aunt Marylou and Uncle Phil. He LOVED the books - especially the fuzzy parts of the animal book. I let him choose from three books this morning and he picked that one every time.

His onesie says "I light up Mommy's life" and it was a gift from my cousin Jen. So cute this boy!