Making Baby Food - Sweet Potatoes

Step 1: Wash sweet potatoes, poke holes in them with a fork, wrap in foil, bake at 400 degrees for 40 - 60 minutes.

Step 2: After cooling, scoop the sweet potatoes into a bowl.

Step 3: Puree in Magic Bullet or,

...puree in a blender.  Add purified baby water to thin potatoes in blender.

Step 4: Pour into ice cube trays.

Step 5: Once frozen, put the cubes in labeled Ziploc bags and store in the freezer.

Jake's first vegetable!  And these are delicious!  One bag of organic sweet potatoes = 43 cubes of baby food, which will probably last us for a month!  The extra potatoes from the bowl were served to Jake for dinner.  Breastmilk or formula can also be used to thin the puree but I personally didn't want to freeze formula and I had no stored breastmilk.  The entire process took a total of about 2 hours and cost less than $20 (and that's only because I had to buy ice cube trays).  Great way to serve organic baby food and save money!  Plus, it's fun!

A great resource:
http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/     

Catching Up Part 2

Mothers Day 2011 - Jake's first time at church. Picture taken in the Baby Room at Paz Naz.

18 weeks old - Sunday school group picnic at the park, honoring Jake's birth.

5 months old - sippy cup champ!

4 months - first time eating solid foods (rice cereal)

Also in the 5th month, Chris celebrated his first ever Fathers Day in the hospital due to appendicitis.  I created a video for him which I will try to post here...

And that's it.  I think we are all caught up now.  Jake is 5 and a half months old already.  I wish I could slow down time!

Catching Up (Months 4 and 5)

Today is Fathers Day.  My poor husband is spending his first Fathers Day in the hospital getting his appendix out.  So what better time to blog, while I am in the waiting room.  And since I am kind of rush blogging right now I am going to have to go back to this post to add pictures later when I am home.  So be sure to come back!  I have been wanting to blog since May but I have been extremely busy, and that is an understatement.  It's more like too-much-to-do-not-enough-time busy so better-not-waste-any-minute-of-the-day busy.  I realized that I am not just any new mom, I am a new mom who is in graduate school, which puts me in a whole 'nother category of moms.  I have to juggle classes, homework, practicum, my son, my marriage, my health, my family, my friends.  And so, I do what I need to do when I can.  For survival.  For sanity.  To maintain my happiness.  People tell me all the time, "I don't know how you do it?!"  When you're as driven as me and in a situation like mine, you don't dilly-dally.  You just do it and get it done.  Work hard now, play later, although recently it's been Play with Jake now and work when he sleeps.  I also believe that nothing is impossible as long as God and my support system have my back.

So, what have we been up to since my last blog...well, a lot.  I celebrated my first Mothers Day on May 8th.  I really wanted to blog about that right then and there because exactly one year ago on Mothers Day I took a pregnancy test that forever changed my life.  And that change is now 5 months old, with 2 bottom teeth.  Jake's 4th month was a time for catching up.  Catching up on his weight because at his 4-month check up he was in the lower range of the percentile rank.  He is now eating rice cereal and oatmeal and in a few weeks we will start him on vegetables/fruit.  For me, I was catching up on my dissertation, which I am happy to report that I successfully turned in the first draft of my Chapter 1 last week.

Last month was also a time for acceptance- acceptance of the fact that I was not producing gallons of milk to keep my baby exclusively breastfed, acceptance that I am not like any other new mom, acceptance that my labor and delivery was unlike most deliveries...remembering that for the first 10 days of his life my baby was in the NICU and I was having to pump, after having to endure a traumatic delivery, so of course my milk supply was going to be affected.  So now I am having to supplement and I have learned to accept that.  All things considered, our baby is happy and healthy!  And he brings such joy to our lives! 

It is amazing how Jake went from being an infant to a responsive, growing baby.  He is not even 6 months old and I'm already feeling sad about him growing up too fast.  So I try to savor each day with my baby because I know that once that day passes it is forever gone except in my memory...

Jake at 5 1/2 months:

• is very aware of his environment and actively reaches for things
• has 2 bottom teeth! (showed up at 20 weeks)
• eating rice cereal and oatmeal
• can drink out of a sippy cup
• "stands" up with our help
• coos and babbles.  A lot.
• smiles and laughs out loud
• startled by loud or sudden noise
• turns his head to sound 
• not rolling over yet, but is very close.  He will do it when he's ready.

Easter 2011

On Easter morning, I was woken up by my precious boys to go on an Easter egg hunt.  Chris (and Jake) placed jellybean-filled eggs all over the house that led up to a basket with some of my favorite candy.  It was so special and made me feel very loved and blessed!  Moments like that make me stop and appreciate what a sweet and wonderful husband I have, and now a sweet little baby boy that we have together.  We are looking forward to Easter next year when Jake can actually go on an Easter egg hunt!

We spent the rest of the day spending time with both of our families.  It was a great way to celebrate Jesus' resurrection!  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son...and God must really love me for giving me such a great husband and family. 

3 Months Old

Exactly 3 months ago today, on January 7, I gave birth to the most beautiful and precious baby boy.  Though his entrance into the world was rough, his journey since then has been relatively smooth.  When he was taken away from me after birth to be stabilized at Queen of the Valley NICU, I was worried that we would not have a strong attachment to each other.  But in the past couple of months our bond has surely strengthened.  Even though he cannot talk (although he thinks he can by cooing all the time), my baby lets me know that he loves me every chance he gets.  When he is being held by someone else and I walk by, he tracks my every move and smiles at me.  One time he was crying as my mom was holding him and upon seeing my face he briefly smiled at me through his tears.  He is such a sweet and happy boy.  He has a cold right now and we think he is going through a growth spurt so he has been more fussy than usual but he still manages to smile and coo and be content. 

I cannot begin to describe what a great baby he is, and I would go through what we went through at his birth all over again if it means having Jake in my life.  He is growing up so fast and I kind of wish that he could stay small and be my sweet little baby forever.

Jake at 3 months:

• When he is not hungry or sleepy, Jake is very mellow and observant.  He can sit in your lap and look around and observe what is going on for a long time.  He loves looking in the mirror and smiling at the baby he sees :)  He loves to chat and smile.
• We've noticed that the right side of his head has slightly flattened due to him preferring his right side and us not giving him enough tummy time until recently.  We thought that all babies preferred one side over another but now we know to have him turn his head to his left and put him on his tummy or sit up a lot when awake.  In just 1 week, we have seen improvement in his ability to turn his head to the left.  We are continuing to correct this issue.
• Sleeps through the night most nights.  We have delayed putting him in the crib because he has been congested for a week and needs for his head be elevated, so he currently still sleeps in his bassinet.
• He loves sucking on his thumb at naptime.  His favorite sleeping position:

At 3 months, Baby Jake is doing well.  Still lots to learn for us as new parents but I can honestly say that it's now starting be more fun.  Funny how I can't even remember details about those first few weeks, just that they were the toughest weeks of my life...and somehow I survived them...   

These Are the Moments...

Jake is 10 weeks old and for the last 2 nights he has slept all the way til 5:00 am, when I wake him up for his first feeding of the day!  We knew he could do it eventually!  It took lots of patience and consistency with our routine but it has definitely paid off...so far.  I have become a believer of parents providing some order in their babies' lives instead of automatically responding to every cry with a bottle/breast.  I have learned how to make assessments with each cry and that there are other sources of comfort for him besides my breasts(i.e., holding him, burping him, bathing him and changing his diaper comfort him when he is uncomfortable, gassy, and dirty)!  Most importantly, I have learned to respect other parents' parenting and feeding preference with no judgment or criticism.  I just know what has worked for us and am happy with that.

Jake has definitely made progress when it comes to sleeping.  He sleeps in his room, though still in the sleeper and not his crib (that will be our goal at 3 months).  We no longer rock him to sleep for what seemed like hours.  When we put him down to sleep we do let him cry for a few minutes, console him, then walk out of the room.  Sometimes he talks himself to sleep and it is the cutest thing you will ever hear.  Think what you will, but letting your baby cry for a few minutes (at 2 months old, not any younger) as he goes to sleep doesn't make one a bad parent!  Everything that I have read and older moms I have talked to will tell you that crying won't kill a baby, nor will it give him psychological issues later on in life :)  Besides, he has learned to fall asleep on his own, which is a skill that he needs to learn anyway.

I am absolutely in love with my son.  He is such a good, easygoing, happy baby.  He cries only when he is hungry and fusses right before he falls asleep at naptime.  He smiles, he "talks", he melts my heart.  My favorite moment is just holding him and cuddling with him in the rocking chair after his first feeding at dawn.  He is the happiest right after his feedings; he "chats" with me or Chris as we change his diaper-- also some of my favorite moments.  These days Jake has also become my favorite shopping buddy.  I put him in the Baby Bjorn and we walk up and down the aisles of Target.  Most of the time he falls asleep in the baby carrier.  He doesn't really cry in the car either.  He just looks around and takes in everything that he sees.  I think he enjoys being out.  Last week, we attended Chris' basketball banquet at Glendora High and Jake did so well for his first big public event.  He slept on my chest in the Bjorn while I ate dinner, then I fed him in Chris' car and enjoyed the rest of the banquet with Jake while Daddy did his coach thing. 

I have to say that being on a schedule has made our lives easier.  Having a set (but flexible) feeding schedule helps us plan our day.  Jake eats about every 3 hours and in between feedings he has waketime and naptime.  So when he eats at 5 pm, we know that we have until about 8 pm to do something like go on a walk with him or go shopping with him.  And since he is content after he eats we can be confident that he will be happy while we are out and then head home in time for his next feeding.

I feel like we have come a long way since January.  I am truly enjoying being a mommy.  In fact, it is the best thing that has ever happened to me, next to marrying my best friend, of course.  I am so thankful that I am at a phase in my life where I can be home with my baby most of time.  These days, everything that I was used to doing before--school, practicum, life--seem doable again.  And on top of that, I have so many moments in between that I treasure...precious moments spent with my baby boy. 

"These are the moments I thank God that I'm alive/and these are the moments I'll remember all my life/I have all I've waited for/and I could not ask for more..."

Jacob - 10 weeks old

Progress

Jacob is 8 weeks old!  Hard to believe but he will be exactly 2 months old on Monday when he goes to the doctor's for his check-up.  He is doing so well at home and last night he had the best sleep of his life!  At 8 weeks I felt that it was time to start letting him sleep on his own, in his own room.  We have had him on a flexible eat, wake, and nap cycle every 3 hours for about 3 weeks now.  Normally we would rock him to sleep for his naps, which would take an hour sometimes and cuts into his sleep time before he wakes up to eat again.  During the day I was lucky if he slept for an hour in between feedings.  So yesterday I tried the tough love method.  After I fed, burped, and changed him I held him for a little bit then put him down for a nap.  I let him cry for a few minutes, then came in to soothe him, then walked away to let him sleep.  It took a couple of tries at first but sure enough he fell asleep on his own.  By bedtime he totally got it.  He was fed at 8:00 and in bed by 9:00.  He slept til 12:30 am, I fed him, and went back to sleep around 1:00 am...he did not wake up until 5:30 this morning!  Hooray, more sleep for mommy and daddy! 

Progress, progress, progress.  A month ago I was frustrated, weary, and not fully enjoying being a new mommy.  I was at my wits' end and did not know if I would make it to the next day.  But now I am actually enjoying it and look forward to our feeding sessions when I get to bond with my baby boy.  The best part of my day is when I have Jake on the changing table after he eats and we "talk."  He smiles and coos and melts my heart in the process.  I'm happy that it just gets better each week and everyone tells me it only gets better from here. 

Lessons learned this month: trust yourself as a parent, know that you are doing the best job you can, and be patient- especially with a newborn.  Trust that your child has the capability to be a good child, maybe the best in the world, even at 2 months old.  Everything is trial-and-error in the beginning and things get easier the more you get to know each other.   

Jake - 8 weeks old