Learning to Cook With Uncle Dave

Aki Burrito was enthralled with the motion and sound of the spoon stirring the steel cut oats. Just in general I could hold him and he loved to watch Uncle D cooking in the kitchen.

Sitting...

Kinda.

It's amazing, when he bumps his head or bonks his face he rarely cries. He just "gets up and dusts off his onesie".

In the Arms of Others

As we were all sitting around the Christmas dinner table Stanley was in the arms of cousin John (above), who is married to Barb(far left), the sister of Andy whose house we were at. Not confused yet? Barb and Andy are just two of the children of Grandma Sally's first cousin (am I getting this right?) So if I remember correctly Andy and Barb( and their siblings) would be Sally's first cousins once removed. I think that would make Andy and Barb - Mike, Jen and Sue's second cousins. Have a look here, I think I'm correct. It's so confusing. To simplify - Andy and Barb and siblings = family.

Stanley with all the kid cousins!

Anyhoo. At dinner Stanley was so at ease with whomever was holding him. We were all so impressed. Mike's sis Sue and hubby Dave have their doctorates in psychology - Sue's is in child's psych so she can read Aki Bear's mind. Not really, but she's as close to a baby-brain-encyclopedia as a human can be. They were saying that when he gets to be closer to 9 months old he will get stranger anxiety. So, several months from now he may not be so easy going with all of these cousins and strangers holding him. I asked why that is, why is he o.k. now but won't be later? They said that he still thinks he is as  one with his parents, he doesn't realize that he is his own being (or something like that.) When he is around 9 months old he will start to become aware that he is separate from us, he is his own person and that is what will make him and other babies around that age anxious in non-mom and non-pop's arms. Interesting, yes? I thought so. I'd be full of nerves too if, for my entire life I thought I was safely attached to someone and then one day (((BOOM))) I realized that I was actually on my own - separate from my safety net. I can understand that. I will try to comfort him during that transition and explain to him that we're still here for him - even if he doesn't quite understand us yet.

First Teeth!

I took about 10 pictures before I got this pic of his two little teeth. I never thought that teeth could be cute - but now I know better.

First Road Trip

Aki Bear did such a great job on our drive up to Maryland for Christmas. We stopped only two times. Once to change his diaper and once for lunch (for the grown ups.) We had him do tummy time when we stopped which is a good counter-pose from sitting in the carseat for a long while. I fed him a bottle while Mike drove, which was a lot of fun because we weren't sure if he would take the bottle from me, but he did! He drank it up. It was nice to see the bottle-drinking progress he had made for myself. I also fed him a small amount of sweet potato. He never cried. He fussed a little, but never cried. I sat in the back with him for maybe 1.5 - 2 hours total and the rest of the time I sat up front. He slept 3 times. He was a dream. Some of the things he seemed to love while on the road:

• The sound of the car.
• The sunlight streaming through Mike's black and white scarf that we used to shield out the bright sun - he looked at that and played with the scarf for a good amount of time.
• Cars or big trucks passing by

Look! A pacifier in his mouth! We think he's taking these more easily these days because he enjoys biting on them with his sore gums and it helps soothes away any aches.

He does get really hot sitting in his seat. Every time I'd take him out his back was a little moist from being sweaty hot. I make sure he isn't bundled up when he sits in there and I even take his socks off, even if it's 32ºF out. He's a little heater.

Maryland Cousins

Aki Bear met his Maryland cousins! He loves them. He can't wait to meet his Seattle cousins.

Cousin A feeding Aki B his first mashed potatoes.

Christmas Shenanigans

 Aki Bear got this lovely little bear ornament in his stocking. Mike thought it was a nod to Nathaniel Hawthorne...it's actually meant to stand for "Aki" and it's on a bear....Aki Bear. (Or Adulterous Bear, according to Mike.)

 

Here is the brown paper package that I made him. I would take an after pic but it basically looks the same. He was more interested in other things and wrapping paper.

 Here he is, content in his Auntie's arms.

 Here is a box of tea that held his interest for a good while.

 Here he is opening a present with Uncle D and Cousin A's help!

I think it was a good morning for the bear. He is enthralled with watching Uncle D cook in the kitchen. He got to gnaw on an apple peel which he really enjoyed.

First Christmas

At the piano with cousin C.

I will publish a second post today with Stanley's before and after picture of his "present".

First Christmas: What to Get?

Many people have asked me things like, "What are you getting the baby for Christmas?" or made statements like, "I bet you're going to spoil the baby for his first Christmas!" Unfortunately my answer is very Scrooge-like and I have said, "Nothing." or "We're not getting him anything." That's not totally true. We'll get him some more diaper covers and some 9-month sized clothes as he is growing out of the 6 month sizes quickly but I'm definitely not wrapping those things up.

Bah humbug. 

Money that we have received may go towards these things but we may just put it in his savings account.

Actually, what I may do is wrap a small box, just big enough for him to grab, filled with...air or tissue paper, wrapped with a brown paper bag and a home-made pom-pom yarn bow for him to hold on Christmas day. I'm sure he will literally eat it up. It'll be the best, cheapest present on earth. I will take a before and after picture of it because I'm sure it will look like some drooling, drunk got his hands on a present and couldn't figure out an easy way to open it up. Happy Christmas, Merry Hannukah, Belated Bodhi Day to you all!

Cloth Books

Hopefully his craving of cloth books will extend into the love of listening to stories and reading books. If he's anything like his Ma and Pa he surely will. For now he will just eat the books.
Thanks to Nana and Oji for "Buzzing Through", he loves to read eat it!

Ergo Carrier

Here is my little snuggle bunny in the Ergo carrier. It puts his weight on my hips and he's slowly getting used to it. He much prefers facing outward (in his Bjorn) but he's getting too thick in the middle for the Bjorn! Especially when he's bundled up in extra layers. So the Ergo is the one I've been wearing him in lately. One morning, before work, while Mike was still asleep, I put him on in the Ergo and went outside to collect pine cones from the yard. I felt like a farm worker, picking berries or something. My quiet neighbor spies us and says, "You makin' Christmas decorations?" Hahaha. I was, but for work. Every time I leaned over I had to hold the Bear's head out of habit because his neck is sturdy enough to hold up now, I just didn't want him to fall out head first onto a prickly pine cone!

Diaper Rash Update

Nothing like a cute baby butt padded by a thick cloth diaper!

 The Bear is back on cloth dipes as of the first of December. We were able to get the rash under control with paper dipes, diligent changing and not being shy with the ointment. I also washed all of his cloth dipes in a hot wash with no suds at all just to make sure that the detergent wasn't building up. You can also strip the diapers by washing them with vinegar but I decided to just do a simple hot wash. I am still diapering him in paper at night (about 2 diapers per night.) The paper diapers have all of this fancy wicking-away-moisture-technology that the cloth doesn't have. I will probably try him in cloth at night again...maybe come January.

As for diaper ointment I must say that although everyone seems to bow down to the zinc oxide ointments (white ointments) I hold All Good Goop by Elemental Herbs in high esteem. That is what I've been primarily using. My Auntie Ann gave me a small jar of it and I have gone through it and have purchased the bigger jar and am quickly going through that as well. It has all of these natural ingredients in it: Extra Virgin Olive Fruit Oil, Beeswax, Calendula, Comfrey, Plantain, Lavender, Yarrow, Vitamin E and Lavender Essential Oil. Plantains?! Whodathunk? Good enough to eat. Not only can you use it as diaper ointment but you can use it for cuts, scrapes, abrasions, minor burns, chapped lips and a whole lot more. Actually, it says to use it for diaper rash not as a diaper ointment. I've been using it even though his rash is lickity split. I gave K a tube of Boudreaux's Butt Paste which is a zinc oxide based creme, so he's getting a variety of stuff on his nether regions, just to keep those dark, moist, warm spots on their toes.

Teething Tools

You hear about teething. I was expecting pure and utter hell but so far it hasn't been so bad...(Stanley's sitting behind me shaking his head and saying in his secret language, "That's what you think, Ma! It really really hurts though!") Perhaps that's true but he's been a trooper so far. I want to say that he's fussiest at night but then he wasn't last night...I want to say he's fussiest in the morning but he wasn't yesterday morning. So I guess it's safe to say that it just hurts when it hurts and there's no schedule involved. These are the things he likes best for soothing his achy gums:

1/ Sophie la Girafe - We just call her Sophie. She's cute and she squeaks. Aki Bear goes to town on her mouth, hooves and ears and when he really gets into it all you hear is "squeakysqueakSQUEAKsqueak!"
2/ Tuttel Doekje Eend - AKA Ducky or BamBam. He chews on her top knot which he will soothe himself to sleep sucking on that thing.
3/ Avent Teething Animal Ring - AKA Fishy. I put this sucker in the freezer because the little fish tail is filled with water. He has gotten into this alot lately and I think it really works. The yellow-green portion of the ring is slightly rubbery and he used to gnaw on that a lot but has moved on to the tail.
4/ Nuby Pur Ice Bite Circle Teether - You'd think with a name like that we'd have a nickname for this one like we do the others...but we don't. I think that is the case because we don't use it so much. You can put this in the freezer too but it gets cold all the way around therefore making it hard for him to hold (because it's so cold!) If it had handles, like Fishy, then maybe he would like it more. We'll try it again when he gets more teeth, perhaps he'll enjoy it more during a later stage.

Someone had told me that they, the teethers,  like wet wash cloths that have been stuck in the freezer. So I crocheted this little thing where just the tip could be wet and put in the freezer and the rest can be dry and grab-able so that it won't soak his clothes. I probably should have used a different color yarn as it looks a little private-partsy. Oh well. I'm probably the only one with the tainted mind that sees that. I'll let you know if he takes to it or not.

Yesterday morning I was cradling him and he was sucking on my arm which soothed him. As a result I got this:

An arm hickey! Hahaha!

We have administered two types of homeopathic remedies. One is the Hyland's Teething Gel and the other is Hyland's Teething Tablets that dissolve very quickly under his tongue.

From what I can tell I don't think that the gel is quite as effective as the tablets. I will probably not buy another tube of the gel and stick with the tabs.

I'm going to attempt to get pics of his teeth over the holidays so, stay tuned!

Sleep Challenge, Part V

I started Phase 2 from the No Cry Sleep Solution book several weeks ago. This is what Phase 2 says:
Phase Two: Baby's Settled and Sleepy
Sit in your chair and rock, nurse, or bottle-feed Baby until she's settled and sleepy, but not yet falling asleep. Play your sleep-cue music or sounds. Put her in her crib, pat or touch her, and say your key words until she's asleep. If she wakes and cries, pick her up and repeat this process. You may have to do this two, three, four, maybe five time, but that's OK. If you or your baby get upset at any point, just go ahead and put her to sleep in your usual way. As in Phase One, she will become more comfortable with your new routine and will go to sleep. When you feel that your new routine is working, go on to Phase Three.
 
I think I see improvements but let's chart it!

 

Whompwhompwhomp. Looks like the rolling waters of a puddle at sunset. The longest span he slept was for 4 hours and 15 minutes! Woohoo! (I probably only slept for 2 of those hours.)

Here's what the last Phase One chart looked like for comparison:

Doesn't look like much difference...although I must say we are inching towards longer sleep spans...but sooo slowly. Honestly, I'm getting lazy about this sleep solution thing. I have slacked off some nights and fallen asleep while nursing. We'll see if I continue this. I have decided not to do the cry it out routine. Can't. Especially now that he's sprouting teeth.

 

I also must say that sleep is so important. I wrote "sleep shmeep" in my post about daycare and napping but really sleep is needed but not to be overdone. If I'm not well rested I say the craziest things and think crazy thoughts. I get frustrated more easily in situations that I normally can handle - no problem. I'm not going to even type some of the things I have said as I don't want Social Services to come knocking on my door. Thank goodness for naps and a good support system (Mike and friends). The village helps me stay in a sane and healthy place.

To add another challenge into the sleep-pot, he is feeling the wrath of teething. Poor fella. He goes bananas on his chew toys or our fingers, thrashing his head back and forth while something is in his mouth (like a puppydog!) I must say that baby teeth are serrated and SHARP. Owie. No biting on the nips yet but can tell he has teeth.