NaBloPoMo - November 2011 - Day 3

Good evening all!

It's 9:04 and I have had a busy day! Work, Costco, Dinner, Clearing out basement! I've done a great job on all!

I am flying solo tonight, my husband is at a work function and the kids are with their grandparents. I hope they are having fun and that the grandparents are enjoying every moment. Visits like this don't happen very often!

Food. Lists. Snacks for kids. I'm working on it. I think I am going to go to bed and take advantage of this me time. Sorry blogsphere, I'll have something for you tomorrow. Food related. I promise!

#1492.

Wow - many women are blogging this month - awesome. I guess I better start reading blogs again!

#1492 out of 1853. Cool. Happy that I have given myself this challenge.

BlogHer

I should point out that all is well so far in the "chest" department. Haven't nursed in 15 hours.

NaBloPoMo - November 2011 - Day 2

Oh boy - I am late for this blog post too, it's past 10pm!

Lily and Johnny left this morning with Mamie and are now in the hands of Grandma and Grandpa. I hope they are having fun! And that they are sleeping by now!

I've been reading about what "healthy and tasty" snacks the kids should be eating and frankly, I think that I am a bit disappointed in myself a bit. I mean, we eat about 80% healthy and 20% not so much and except for the occasional frozen pizza or fast food, we don't eat much processed foods in our house.

So, I think that the reason I am a little disappointed in myself is because of the lack of variety in healthy and tasty snacks that we offer the kids. On the lists I was looking at, I read: tofu, kale, lentils, homemade granola, fruits and vegetables we don't buy/eat etc.

I'll be sharing some of the things we eat on a weekly basis at home and then the lists I have been reading in the next couple of days.

Following that, I have decided that when the kids come home on Sunday (so far away... sniff sniff!) that the rest of my blogs will be about new healthy and tasty snacks the kids are eating.

You know, a baby feeding blog.

NaBloPoMo - November 2011

Hi everyone - I am back. And I have challenged myself to participate in the NaBloPoMo. I don't know much about it, but I do know that the challenge is held by BlogHer and the topic is: Blogging for the sake of blogging.

I can do that. I think. It's a short month. 30 days, I can handle this. Except that I have been thinking about it all day, since it is the first of the month and it's 9:30 and I am just now sitting down and writing my first blog entry. That's ok. I will do it earlier tomorrow and get my grove going for the rest of the 29 days.

It's been a busy night here. As you all know, I have an almost 3 year old, Lily, and a 13 month old, John aka Johnny, JJ or Jack Jack. They are AWESOME. My mom, their Mamie has been here for the last month staying with them during the day while I went back to work. It's been great.

And tomorrow morning, Mamie is taking Lily and John for a long weekend away. Gasp. We'll miss Lily like crazy, but she is going to play with her cousins and have a blast. She will be with her grandparents, her pepere, her aunt and uncle, her matantes and mononcles and her cousins. She won't miss us - well, she'll miss her daddy for sure.

However, Johnny is another story. I will miss Johnny, daddy will miss Johnny. And MY boobs will miss him! I have recently night weaned Johnny (another AWESOME Mamie help!!!!) and day weaned him because I have gone to work, BUT, at the moment, I am still nursing in the evenings and in the morning (sometimes) not nursing for more than 24-36 hours might be a bit difficult for him, but I think that the fact that he will be "away" from me will be best for him and a bit hard for me. Anyways.

My 2 kids are leaving daddy and I for 5 days. I'm sure we'll keep busy.

Yahoooooooo!!!!!!!

I'll have something interesting to blog about tomorrow, I'm just getting the hamster wheel going.

Johnny Led Solids....

March 22, 2011. 5 months 22 days - 8 days shy of 6 months.

For the last couple of days, Johnny has been sitting at the table while we eat and has been drooling, staring and salivating looking at us eat. To say that it hasn't been fun for him or for us is an understatement. Johnny is 18lbs and is a tall boy, he is hungry.

All the signs are there that he is ready for some "real" food (as if breast milk isn't real food!) He is sitting up on his own, he doesn't seem satisfied after having a large nurse, he takes a huge interest in what we are eating and he can turn his head/hands away to indicate that he is no longer interested in what I am trying to give him.

Johnny had an apt with our pediatrician on March 16th, so a week ago. I'm so thankful that I found her, she might not agree with us co-sleeping, but eh, I didn't ask for her advice on this, but she is a staunch follower of Health Canada, the WHO and AAP recommendations when it comes to nutrition for babies. We did discuss that technically he was ready, but that it was my choice on when to actually start.

So, after thinking about it all day (March 22), and weighing the pros and the cons, and also since I had some fresh fruit on the counter, I went for it.

I took a fresh pear, mashed it up and put some on the spoon and he started licking it. He ate the equivalent of 3 teaspoons.




After having a few pieces of fruit, he had his first cookie!



Pickle sucking and first sippy cup.

Yep, we had pickles with our dinner and Jayson put a pickle in Johnny's mouth and he liked it. That lasted about 4 seconds and that was that.

It's really hard resisting the temptation to not give in and give him food. He is as ready as he will ever be.

Except he is not 6 months.

It's March 8th today. 24 more days to go.

Although, he has spent a few minutes here and there with Lily alone, so who knows what she has given him, she is just a little over 2 years old, so she hears the word "share" often during the day.

Oh and Johnny got his first sippy cup of water today.

Loblaws - what are they thinking?

In my local Loblaws flyer of the week, there is a special insert entitled "five tips for good health". Tip 1 is about diabetes, tip 2 is about managing your weight and tip 3 is about managing cholesterol. I know nothing of these of these 3 tips. Don't care really (right now anyways).

Tip 4 is: Reducing your risk of life-threatening food allergies. Below this tip is adverts for a few products including "Enfagrow toddler formula powder" and "Pediasure complete toddler nutritional supplement" - I'm not sure how these products are in any way related to the header, but I bet that there are parents who think that giving these products to their kids will help reduce the chances of them having allergies and might introduce foods earlier that recommended.

Tip 5 is where I get a little frustrated. "Food safety during pregnancy" - pictured adverts are: PC Arrow-root cookies (Huh?), Tums (I get), Jameson Prenatal Vitamins (Great), Jameson Folic Acid (Awesome), Enfamil vitamin drops (Huh?), Born Free Eco twin pack bottles (Might be needed for pumping mamas), and the next item is the one that frustrates me, Similac or Isomil infant formula with Omega (HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO FOOD SAFETY DURING PREGNANCY?) I don't understand, why is infant formula pushed and advertised everywhere when it's clearly not something pregnant women need. I understand companies need to make money, but there has to a line drawn somewhere.

Come on Canadian company - you couldn't have put adverts for other products there, like your bakery (fresh grains) or your organic fruits and vegetables on sale or something that is actually good for a pregnant woman's body?

6 weeks to go!

I'm having a little countdown until Johnny can start solids. He'll be 6 months on April 1, but that all depends on if he is ready at that time.

He is sitting up and holding his head quite well at 4.5 months so that's good, however after nursing too much he sometimes, most times actually, spits up quite a bit. He nurses on demand and doesn't seem to know when he is full, so I will keep monitoring this up until it's solids time. I don't want him to be eating solids and then spitting it back out all the time.

Johnny sits at the table in Lily's old high chair and he definitely checks us out while we're eating. I understand how it could be easy to slip him some food, but with all the different health organizations saying to wait 6 months, we're not giving in! I strongly believe in this and 6 weeks will go by fast!

Speaking of 6 week timelines, it has been 6 weeks since I have been at home with both kids and I love it! Next week I am working on pictures so I will be posting some of Lily eating solids that have never been posted.

I have been getting some comments and I love it! I've also gotten some emails asking questions about BLS, send me some more!

Happy Family Day on Monday in Ontario!

2 under 2 makes maman very busy!

Wow - life sure changes when you have 2 babies. Well, Lily technically isn't a baby anymore, she is almost 26 months and is full of life. John is a little over 4 months and is growing fast and steady. He nurses on demand and is getting taller and taller by the day.

This blog was started so that I could chronicle Lily's solids eating... and now, it will continue with Johnny's once he turns 6 months and is ready.

Having 2 kids that are 22 months apart sure makes day to day stuff interesting. We had Lily in daycare for the first 3 months and since the second week of January she has been home with me and John. This is part one of our "me not going back to work in October" plan - which is another story, but so far I love having both kids at home.

Back to the day to day stuff.... when I heard in the past that SAHM (Stay at home moms) didn't have time to brush their teeth, I'd be thinking "whatever!" well, I think that last Tuesday I brushed my teeth before I went to bed! I can never go to the bathroom alone and since John is just 4 months and I can't seem to coordinate lunch time with his nap, I end up eating standing up with one hand and him in the other hand, sometimes I put him in the carrier. Our playroom is downstairs and I love having it, however that's where our laundry room is, and every time I go up or down I am always carrying a kid, so that means that sometimes I have to race back up or down to bring something up or down. I get lots of stair exercise for free!

We also just took a couple of weeks vacation and went to Florida, right outside Tampa to visit with Jayson's parents. They had rented a house by a canal with a pool and a hot tub and invited us. The weather wasn't perfect every day, but it's a million times better than here in Toronto! Lily loved going n the hot tub and I think she went in everyday. Back to food I guess....

WOW eating in the States is SO CHEAP. There are many restaurants, chains and independents on every corner and they all offer good deals. I am ashamed to say that Lily (and the rest of us!) ate like pigs at every meals. IHOP, McDonald's, Bob Evans, Subway, Steak n Shake and the list continues, it was incredible the amount of food you get for the cost. We did manage an all you can eat fish fry at Catches Seafood and more in New Port Richey where Lily ate some fish, which she loves and we ate the most awesome Mexican food at http://www.estelas.com/ a plug I have to make since we went there twice it was so good. Lily had the chicken burrito and it was probably the best burrito any of us had ever had.

Lily is tugging at me, more to come... she is watching a movie and she needs her popcorn!