Grow, Jake, Grow!

Jake is 8 months old today.  His seventh month was just full of growth and it seems like in the blink of an eye he went from a passive infant to an interactive baby who responds to his environment.  He reaches for things and is curious about everything.   He scoots around and is almost crawling on all fours.  When our laptops or cell phones are in front of him on the carpet he will scoot forward and do the worm crawl to get it.  He is able to sit up from lying on his belly.  There have been a couple of mornings when Chris went in to get him and he was just sitting in his crib with a big smile on his face.  When I bathe him I really have to watch him carefully because he grabs on to the edge of his baby tub and stands.  We have already lowered his crib so as to avoid him standing and falling out!

His personality has really developed and he now shows a wide range of emotions, from excited to frustrated.  He babbles and makes all sorts of noises.  When he sees the dog he shows excitement and says something like, "gggg gggg....dggg dggg dggg."  He loves our dog Laila and watches her every move.  In the mornings when we get him from his room he is usually on his tummy, and as soon as we enter the room he'll flap his arms and legs, bury his smiling face in his crib, shakes his head, and look up at us, barely able to contain his excitement.  He says "dadadada" though not discriminately yet (I don't think babies can do that until 8 months or so, can they?)  He makes "gagaga" noises, clicks his tongue, and blows raspberries.  He gives high fives.  Oh and he has seven teeth.

As far as eating and sleeping go we really cannot complain.  He sleeps about 10 hours straight and rarely wakes up in the middle of the night, and when he does he usually goes back to sleep easily.  I still make his food, which I really enjoy.  I had to stop posting all the food I have made for him on this blog because a) it's not a baby food blog, and b) it became too much!  He has moved on to "stage 2" foods, which are coarsely pureed and include fruit and veggie combinations.  He can now eat poultry, which I plan to introduce in the next week.  The kid can chow down 5 to 7 oz of food easily and make 6 oz of formula disappear in less than 5 minutes.  He eats three 4.5 oz meals and gets about 24 oz of formula a day.  I don't know where it all goes because I think he is still pretty small for his age.  But he is happy, healthy, and sleeps well so we must be doing something right.

I can't believe how fast time has gone by!  Gone are the days of breastfeeding and waking at all hours of the night (thank God).  I remember how hard those days were...but I actually kind of miss them.  My baby boy is growing up way too fast and I want to cherish each day because when we put him down at night that's already a day of our lives gone forever. 

Little guy, big game :)  8 months old

Jake's Vacation #2: Palm Desert!

Every summer I go to Palm Desert with my husband and his family.  This year was special because not only was it Jake's first time there but the whole family (except for my brother-in-law Sean) was there.  It was quite a reunion for the Harrison family as Chris' half-brother, Rob, and his family came to make up for lost time...

Chris, Jake and I shared a villa with my sister-in-law Wendy, her husband Paul, and their 2 girls.  It was a blast, but I will say that vacationing with a baby is quite an experience!  Our car was packed with mostly Jake's necessities.  We wanted to keep his routine as normal as possible, meaning eat and nap around the same time, bath before bed, etc.  Jake took some time to adjust to being away from home but still managed to sleep pretty well at night except for the first night.  We took him swimming and down the water slide for the first time!  I think he liked the water...he even took a NAP in the pool (in a floatie) the first day!

To sum up the Harrisons' annual summer trip, each of us took turns hosting dinner each night, the adults played board games after the babies went to bed, and we went to the pool every day.  Jake got to meet some of his relatives for the first time. We made a lot of good memories and are looking forward to next year's trip already.

Click here to view these pictures larger

  

San Diego Classic/Jake's first weekend getaway!

What a fun weekend Jakey and I had!  On Thursday we drove down to San Diego to be with Chris for the annual San Diego Classic (girls basketball) Tournament.  I will admit I was a little nervous about taking Jake on his first trip but he did so well!  On the drive down, he didn't make a peep from La Verne to our hotel in San Diego! 

We had dinner with Julie on Thursday night; did some shopping, watched the girls' game, and had dinner with Brent, Kerri, and baby Eliana Gastineau on Friday; and on Saturday we went to Sea World with Ngoc, Kent and the kids during the day and to the team Family Night at the beach. 

Jake did well as we went out and about and slept well even though he was a little off schedule.  I am so proud of him!  I really hope that Jake being such a good baby does not mean that our next baby will be a terror.  But, we won't worry about that now as that won't be for a couple more years.  I'm just enjoying my baby Jake right now...he is my little best friend.

Hanging out at the hotel

Sea World

Jake is 6 Months Old!

I can't believe my baby is 6 months old already.  It seems like just yesterday we were anxiously waiting to take him home from the NICU.  Boy, has he grown fast!  Yesterday he was an infant who did nothing but nurse.  Now he is turning over, eating solids, holding his own bottle/sippy cup, sleeping well, and babbling.  He smiles a lot and is very aware of his environment.  He is observant and likes to watch the cars go by in front of our house.

Jake has grown so much and so have Chris and I as parents.    When Jake was about 2 1/2 months old I started to actually have fun with him and truly enjoy motherhood.  Everyone told me that it only gets better.  Well, they were right!  Being a mommy is so much better than I ever imagined.The amount of joy that he has brought into our lives is immeasurable.  We love him so much and feel very blessed to have such a great baby boy!

Watch our baby boy grow with us!  To see videos of Jake, go to:
Jake's YouTube Channel

Making Baby Food - Bananas and Pears

Bananas:

This one is very simple.  Take a very ripe banana (preferably speckled), peel, and mash with a fork in a bowl.  Serve.  That's it!

 
Pears:

Wash pears.

Peel and cut.

Puree in blender.

Pour into ice cube trays and freeze.

When frozen, put cubes in a labeled Ziploc bag.

 

 

Pears tend to be thin and runny.  Cereal can be added when serving.  Pears can be steamed gently before pureeing if served to babies under 6 months.

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!