Thursday, November 26, 2009
happy thanksgiving!
brian and i are thankful for so many things this year and our beautiful banana is at the top of that list. we hope you have a wonderful holiday!
Monday, November 23, 2009
diaper sprayer tutorial
if you are going to use cloth diapers, you'll eventually want a diaper sprayer. once we started hannah on solids, her bowel movements got a bit firmer and i did not want to put that in my washer. swishing in the toilet got very old very quickly, so i built myself a diaper sprayer. it was insanely easy, and i am so ridiculously proud of myself. a friend had suggested i could make my own very inexpensively. it cost me about $25 to make; apparently you can buy them for about twice the price and i'm thinking the only difference is that those might look a little more streamlined.
this one is from pottypail.com. it retails for $34 plus $6 s&h and you still have to do some assembly/installation. mine was cheaper and required minimal additional effort.
i actually did not use jaimey's instructions, i just could not understand them. sorry jaimey! the general idea is about the same though (i think) and there is a great video tutorial here. first, shut off the water at the main valve behind the toilet, and flush the toilet once or twice to drain the tank. then disconnect the supply line from the tank and the water pipe. you will need a flexible supply line to install your diaper sprayer; you might have to look for a toilet in your home that has a flexible line. i put ours in the upstairs bathroom closest to hannah's room.
you will need two 3/8" barb adapters; one 3/8" x 3/8" x 3/8" tee barb connector; five 1/4" - 5/8" hose clamps; one kitchen sprayer assembly; and one ball valve. the ball valve should be either 1/4" or 3/8", depending on the size of the threaded end (MIP) of the barb adapters. i got 1/4" because the 3/8" valve looked bulkier. also, you may want to measure your toilet supply line to be sure that you don't need a 1/2" tee barb connector, but apparently only about 5% of homes in america have 1/2" connectors.
you will also need a hacksaw or a small hand saw, a couple monkey wrenches or a set of crescent wrenches, a screwdriver for the hose clamps (usually flathead), and some teflon tape. you might also want a hook to hang the sprayer on the wall; i just used a large cup hook that i bent a bit more open with a pair of pliers. i thought about taking pictures while i was making this, but i was so excited to get it done that i just did it.
using a hacksaw, cut the supply line in half. cut the fitting end off the kitchen sprayer assembly as close as possible to the fitting (you want as much tubing as possible), and then cut the tubing again about six inches down from the spray nozzle. you will end up with a spray nozzle with a short bit of tubing attached, and a long piece of tubing with nothing on either end.
slide a loosened hose clamp onto one of the supply line pieces, then work one end of the tee barb into the hose. do the same for the other side of the supply line and tighten the clamps with the screwdriver.
wrap the threaded ends of the barb adapters with teflon tape, then slide a loosened hose clamp onto the tubing attached to the spray nozzle. work the barb end of one adapter into the tubing, then tighten the clamp. do the same for one end of the rest of the tubing, then slide a hose clamp onto the other end, work it onto the third end of the tee barb, and tighten the clamp.
screw one end of the ball valve onto one of the threaded ends of the barb adapters in the sprayer tubing and tighten with the wrenches. you will need two wrenches, one to hold the tubing and one to tighten the valve. do the same to connect the other end of the ball valve to the sprayer tubing.
now your assembly is complete and you just need to reinstall your jury-rigged supply line back onto the water line and the toilet tank.
turn the water back on a little and open the valve, then spray the sprayer. you will probably need to play with the valve to see how much water pressure you need to spray your diapers.
the purpose of the ball valve is to prevent constant water pressue on the kitchen sprayer. the sprayer is just plastic and i did not want anything in the sprayer to fail and cause a flood. when the red lever is sticking out, the valve is closed; i just line up the lever with the tubing to open the valve and "turn on" the sprayer.
you can see i just screwed that mug hook into the wall to hold the sprayer. apparently this is also good for rinsing kiddos while they are taking a bath, though the water is not heated so i don't see why you'd want to spray your kids with freezing cold water. personally i think this will also be awesome for spraying down the tub/shower when i'm cleaning it.
all total this project took me about twenty minutes from start to finish.
i know it isn't a huge thing, building and installing this sprayer, but if you would like to come to my house and marvel at my handiwork you're more than welcome to!!
update: i used it for the first time last week and it works GREAT!! yay! also, i was thinking - this is a very easy thing to take with you if you move. just shut off the water to the toilet, take off the jury-rigged supply line/sprayer assembly, and reinstall a new (uncut) supply line. you could also easily install one in an apartment, just like you would your favorite showerhead.
cross-posted at éireann
this one is from pottypail.com. it retails for $34 plus $6 s&h and you still have to do some assembly/installation. mine was cheaper and required minimal additional effort.
i actually did not use jaimey's instructions, i just could not understand them. sorry jaimey! the general idea is about the same though (i think) and there is a great video tutorial here. first, shut off the water at the main valve behind the toilet, and flush the toilet once or twice to drain the tank. then disconnect the supply line from the tank and the water pipe. you will need a flexible supply line to install your diaper sprayer; you might have to look for a toilet in your home that has a flexible line. i put ours in the upstairs bathroom closest to hannah's room.
you will need two 3/8" barb adapters; one 3/8" x 3/8" x 3/8" tee barb connector; five 1/4" - 5/8" hose clamps; one kitchen sprayer assembly; and one ball valve. the ball valve should be either 1/4" or 3/8", depending on the size of the threaded end (MIP) of the barb adapters. i got 1/4" because the 3/8" valve looked bulkier. also, you may want to measure your toilet supply line to be sure that you don't need a 1/2" tee barb connector, but apparently only about 5% of homes in america have 1/2" connectors.
you will also need a hacksaw or a small hand saw, a couple monkey wrenches or a set of crescent wrenches, a screwdriver for the hose clamps (usually flathead), and some teflon tape. you might also want a hook to hang the sprayer on the wall; i just used a large cup hook that i bent a bit more open with a pair of pliers. i thought about taking pictures while i was making this, but i was so excited to get it done that i just did it.
using a hacksaw, cut the supply line in half. cut the fitting end off the kitchen sprayer assembly as close as possible to the fitting (you want as much tubing as possible), and then cut the tubing again about six inches down from the spray nozzle. you will end up with a spray nozzle with a short bit of tubing attached, and a long piece of tubing with nothing on either end.
slide a loosened hose clamp onto one of the supply line pieces, then work one end of the tee barb into the hose. do the same for the other side of the supply line and tighten the clamps with the screwdriver.
wrap the threaded ends of the barb adapters with teflon tape, then slide a loosened hose clamp onto the tubing attached to the spray nozzle. work the barb end of one adapter into the tubing, then tighten the clamp. do the same for one end of the rest of the tubing, then slide a hose clamp onto the other end, work it onto the third end of the tee barb, and tighten the clamp.
screw one end of the ball valve onto one of the threaded ends of the barb adapters in the sprayer tubing and tighten with the wrenches. you will need two wrenches, one to hold the tubing and one to tighten the valve. do the same to connect the other end of the ball valve to the sprayer tubing.
now your assembly is complete and you just need to reinstall your jury-rigged supply line back onto the water line and the toilet tank.
turn the water back on a little and open the valve, then spray the sprayer. you will probably need to play with the valve to see how much water pressure you need to spray your diapers.
the purpose of the ball valve is to prevent constant water pressue on the kitchen sprayer. the sprayer is just plastic and i did not want anything in the sprayer to fail and cause a flood. when the red lever is sticking out, the valve is closed; i just line up the lever with the tubing to open the valve and "turn on" the sprayer.
you can see i just screwed that mug hook into the wall to hold the sprayer. apparently this is also good for rinsing kiddos while they are taking a bath, though the water is not heated so i don't see why you'd want to spray your kids with freezing cold water. personally i think this will also be awesome for spraying down the tub/shower when i'm cleaning it.
all total this project took me about twenty minutes from start to finish.
i know it isn't a huge thing, building and installing this sprayer, but if you would like to come to my house and marvel at my handiwork you're more than welcome to!!
update: i used it for the first time last week and it works GREAT!! yay! also, i was thinking - this is a very easy thing to take with you if you move. just shut off the water to the toilet, take off the jury-rigged supply line/sprayer assembly, and reinstall a new (uncut) supply line. you could also easily install one in an apartment, just like you would your favorite showerhead.
cross-posted at éireann
Sunday, November 22, 2009
babyproofing
for some reason i am inordinately proud of these:
that's my soaping cabinet. it's next to my refrigerator in the kitchen, a lower cabinet. it contains all the soaping supplies i use on a regular basis - herbs, colorants, oils, soap scraps. tools that could hurt The Kiddo. glass bottles that could break. essential oils and fragrance oils that could be fatal if ingested. sodium hydroxide - LYE - that will destroy her skin if she touches it. we have latches for all our cabinet drawers and lower doors, but i wanted something sturdier for the soaping cabinet. something with a key.
those are just cabinet locks that i picked up in the latches section of home depot, the same area where you would find those little locks that go on window frames. they have a flat or offset piece in the back that swings across the cabinet frame, blocking the door, and they are pretty darn strong. the same kind of thing you'd find on a filing cabinet in your office. for some reason i was a bit put off by this project but decided to just dive in and do it, and it ended up being very simple. i traced the frame on the back of the door (so i knew where the frame hit the door) and then marked where i wanted the lock. i drilled a hole the size of the lock completely through the door, then diassembled the lock, fit it into the hole, and reassembled it in the hole. the concept is the same as installing a new door handle.
also, i should have checked but ended up completely lucking out - the locks are sold individually but the two i grabbed off the rack ended up taking the same key. the package does note on the back which key they use (ours was something like # 21233). i don't know why i didn't think to make sure when i bought them because it would have been a massive pain in the butt if i had to use one key to get into the left side and a different key to get into the right side.
cross-posted at éireann
that's my soaping cabinet. it's next to my refrigerator in the kitchen, a lower cabinet. it contains all the soaping supplies i use on a regular basis - herbs, colorants, oils, soap scraps. tools that could hurt The Kiddo. glass bottles that could break. essential oils and fragrance oils that could be fatal if ingested. sodium hydroxide - LYE - that will destroy her skin if she touches it. we have latches for all our cabinet drawers and lower doors, but i wanted something sturdier for the soaping cabinet. something with a key.
those are just cabinet locks that i picked up in the latches section of home depot, the same area where you would find those little locks that go on window frames. they have a flat or offset piece in the back that swings across the cabinet frame, blocking the door, and they are pretty darn strong. the same kind of thing you'd find on a filing cabinet in your office. for some reason i was a bit put off by this project but decided to just dive in and do it, and it ended up being very simple. i traced the frame on the back of the door (so i knew where the frame hit the door) and then marked where i wanted the lock. i drilled a hole the size of the lock completely through the door, then diassembled the lock, fit it into the hole, and reassembled it in the hole. the concept is the same as installing a new door handle.
also, i should have checked but ended up completely lucking out - the locks are sold individually but the two i grabbed off the rack ended up taking the same key. the package does note on the back which key they use (ours was something like # 21233). i don't know why i didn't think to make sure when i bought them because it would have been a massive pain in the butt if i had to use one key to get into the left side and a different key to get into the right side.
cross-posted at éireann
Friday, November 13, 2009
sleep training
ugh, i hate that phrase. it makes it sound like my baby is a dog or something. don't worry, we'll housebreak her soon.
we were not even going to be here or do this. we hit the four-month mark and that awful four-month sleep regression, and we decided we could handle this. mostly *i* could handle this, because i was working only part-time (and for the last month, not at all) and brian has to be on top of his game every day, often 12 hours a day, sometimes 6 days a week. we started co-sleeping part-time - hannah would nurse to sleep and then go in her crib, and when she woke up screaming and hungry because i hadn't fed her in about six years, i would get up and get into bed with her. i'd nurse her back to sleep and we'd sleep there together. i read dr sears' baby sleep book which was so on target with our feelings, and thought, we can do this! sleep is not an issue! she is only a tiny baby, and she has needs, and we will do what we can to fulfill those needs. it will not be like this forever and we will cherish it while we can. sleep will come and we will not push it before she is ready.
yeah. about that.
it was kind of the perfect storm that pushed us to start sleep teaching. (doesn't that sound nicer than "sleep training?") brian was VERY uncomfortable co-sleeping, so hannah and i would sleep together on an air mattress on the floor of her room. this worked very nicely on a lot of levels: we could co-sleep but brian could still get a good night's sleep. her fussing in the middle of the night did not disturb him. his alarm and morning noise (and he is NOT quiet in the morning) did not disturb us. i wasn't sleeping with one ear cocked for the sound of her cries, because she was right there with me.
but an air mattress is only comfortable for short periods of time, and after about 6 weeks your back really starts to hurt. also, your baby gets used to nursing in the middle of the night even though she probably shouldn't need to. after a while, the achiness from the air mattress and the constant nursing and in-her-sleep fussing keeps mama awake more than she gets to sleep.
so here we are. last night was her first night of her new routine: we had some dinner (carrots) and then some nursing. then we said goodnight to daddy and went upstairs for our bath. we got changed into our jammies and read a couple stories, and then she went into her crib with her chewie and her doll gracie. i said goodnight, i love you, turned out the light and closed the door. (well, it was about 6 inches open.)
she cried for about five minutes. i thought about going in there a la ferber method - a girlfriend's pedi suggested that unlike ferber, it's okay to pick them up and comfort them - but decided to see what happened. after about five minutes of crying, she settled down into poor-pathetic-me whiny fussing for about ten minutes and then fell asleep, and mama got to watch the office in peace. hopefully we will be able to repeat that performance tonight.
we have also been trying to let her cry when she wakes up in the middle of the night, which is not really working... she usually cries for a couple minutes and then when i can see she is NOT going to self-soothe back to sleep, i go in and nurse back to sleep. she initially eats like she's a starving child in africa but then pretty quickly drops back to sleep. i'm not sure how to combat that. a couple nights ago she slept entirely through the night, but that was only once in the past five or six days since we have stopped co-sleeping. do i just let her fuss and cry, at 230a? or do i continue to nurse her back to sleep? i know most [unweaned] babies don't drop that last nighttime feeding until they are a year or so old, but does that refer to the evening "before bed" feeding or this middle-of-the-night feeding?
i will be so thankful when we are through with this stage, and yet it was sad for me to put her to sleep without nursing. just one more way she is growing up and becoming less of a baby.
we were not even going to be here or do this. we hit the four-month mark and that awful four-month sleep regression, and we decided we could handle this. mostly *i* could handle this, because i was working only part-time (and for the last month, not at all) and brian has to be on top of his game every day, often 12 hours a day, sometimes 6 days a week. we started co-sleeping part-time - hannah would nurse to sleep and then go in her crib, and when she woke up screaming and hungry because i hadn't fed her in about six years, i would get up and get into bed with her. i'd nurse her back to sleep and we'd sleep there together. i read dr sears' baby sleep book which was so on target with our feelings, and thought, we can do this! sleep is not an issue! she is only a tiny baby, and she has needs, and we will do what we can to fulfill those needs. it will not be like this forever and we will cherish it while we can. sleep will come and we will not push it before she is ready.
yeah. about that.
it was kind of the perfect storm that pushed us to start sleep teaching. (doesn't that sound nicer than "sleep training?") brian was VERY uncomfortable co-sleeping, so hannah and i would sleep together on an air mattress on the floor of her room. this worked very nicely on a lot of levels: we could co-sleep but brian could still get a good night's sleep. her fussing in the middle of the night did not disturb him. his alarm and morning noise (and he is NOT quiet in the morning) did not disturb us. i wasn't sleeping with one ear cocked for the sound of her cries, because she was right there with me.
but an air mattress is only comfortable for short periods of time, and after about 6 weeks your back really starts to hurt. also, your baby gets used to nursing in the middle of the night even though she probably shouldn't need to. after a while, the achiness from the air mattress and the constant nursing and in-her-sleep fussing keeps mama awake more than she gets to sleep.
so here we are. last night was her first night of her new routine: we had some dinner (carrots) and then some nursing. then we said goodnight to daddy and went upstairs for our bath. we got changed into our jammies and read a couple stories, and then she went into her crib with her chewie and her doll gracie. i said goodnight, i love you, turned out the light and closed the door. (well, it was about 6 inches open.)
she cried for about five minutes. i thought about going in there a la ferber method - a girlfriend's pedi suggested that unlike ferber, it's okay to pick them up and comfort them - but decided to see what happened. after about five minutes of crying, she settled down into poor-pathetic-me whiny fussing for about ten minutes and then fell asleep, and mama got to watch the office in peace. hopefully we will be able to repeat that performance tonight.
we have also been trying to let her cry when she wakes up in the middle of the night, which is not really working... she usually cries for a couple minutes and then when i can see she is NOT going to self-soothe back to sleep, i go in and nurse back to sleep. she initially eats like she's a starving child in africa but then pretty quickly drops back to sleep. i'm not sure how to combat that. a couple nights ago she slept entirely through the night, but that was only once in the past five or six days since we have stopped co-sleeping. do i just let her fuss and cry, at 230a? or do i continue to nurse her back to sleep? i know most [unweaned] babies don't drop that last nighttime feeding until they are a year or so old, but does that refer to the evening "before bed" feeding or this middle-of-the-night feeding?
i will be so thankful when we are through with this stage, and yet it was sad for me to put her to sleep without nursing. just one more way she is growing up and becoming less of a baby.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
love letters: month six
dear hannah,
six months!! you are six months old!!
it is almost thanksgiving, and you are six months old. where has all this time gone? your father and i cannot believe you are already six months old, and yet it feels like we have been doing this for EVER, (six months? that's IT?) and we cannot imagine our life without you.
you have become HUGE this past month - you are 27 inches long and outgrew your baby carseat. two weeks ago we purchased a new one for you and it is this behemoth thing tethered to the backseat of my car. at first you looked so teeny in it, like when we brought you home from the hospital and you were swimming in your sleeper and i felt like the straps of the carseat were too long to hold you in tight enough, even tightened all the way up. now - either i'm used to you in the new carseat or you've just exploded in size, because you don't seem so small in it anymore. you weigh almost 18 pounds too, which is SO FUN when i have to contort my body to get you in and out of that darn carseat when we go to the store.
you started rolling over in earnest this month, allaying my fears regarding your tendencies toward sociopathology, and suddenly you are MOBILE and everywhere. within a week you figured out how to roll from your back to your belly AND how to get up on your knees, though not how to do anything when you are up on those knees. you CAN scooch backwards, which happens unintentionally, and you end up wedged underneath the coffee table or the sofa or the tv unit with your bottom pushed up against whatever edge is there. sometimes you end up against the fireplace hearth, and you push forward off it and then slide backwards, over and over, crawling in place. just this past week you really got the hang of rolling from your belly to your back (though you don't really like to and still break down crying when you've had enough on your tummy) and have started to figure out that there are interesting things out there and you can get to them by rolling. your father and i figure we have about 7 more hours to babyproof the house before you get into everything.
every month you become a little more vocal, and last night your father swore you said "dada" though i think he's delusional because OF COURSE you'd say "mama" first. after all the times i wipe your bottom, it's the least you can do for me. RIGHT? we had a barbecue with all the mommies and daddies from our mommy & me group this past month and your father thought you were the most talkative baby in the group. he also thought you were the prettiest, which of course you were, but we don't say that out loud because it might make the other babies feel bad and give you a big head. last week you were playing with your friend kyle at mommy group, and all he wanted to do was touch you and grab at your hands, and you just kept on talking at him. he didn't say anything, so you talked more and louder, just like a girl. daddy says you're JUST LIKE YOUR MAMA, isn't that nice of him.
your first halloween was this month, and we all dressed up as pumpkins, a jack-o-family. next year we'll do something more creative, this year i was a bit low on energy and creativity and the creative ideas came a little late. nana came out to spend the weekend with us and you just loved answering the door with her and seeing all the people there. you also loved visiting the neighbors when we dropped off goodie bags for them. we also went to the pumpkin patch with mommy group, and to a halloween lunch where we borrowed your friend lexi's banana costume to take a picture. now why didn't we think to dress you up as a banana? i told you, all the creativity came a bit late.
you and i went to the zoo for the first time this month too, which i think you enjoyed. really, these outings are more for the mommies than the babies at this point, but you were very interested in the flamingos (until we tried to take your picture, of course - then you were more interested in your sunglasses). they were noisy and smelly and bright and moved around a lot and very fun to watch. in stark contrast to my favorite, the lemurs, who were very lazy and quiet that day and just sat there doing nothing and you got bored very quickly with that.
with your buddy lexi at the pumpkin patch. you were the cutest punkin ever!
you also started eating solids this month, much to my chagrin, because babies don't eat solids - big girls do but not babies - and i wanted you to stay my baby for as long as possible. but your pediatrician said you needed to have started them by 6 months, so here we are. you love squash and green beans and carrots, but you hate rice cereal, and you hate bananas only marginally less than rice cereal. we're still trying on the bananas, though every time i shove some in your mouth you look at me as if you're this horribly abused child and i must hate you on some level.
your personality has exploded this month - not that you didn't have one before, but it's become much more apparent now. you have OPINIONS and you are not afraid to let us know them. you actually spit some bananas at me the other day. you let us know when you are tired of being in the high chair, or want to be held, and it's very obvious when you're sleepy and need a nap. what a wonder a little sleep does for you - you turn back into my wonderful little ray of sunshine. you wake up and grin this huge happy grin when you see your father and me, as if say YOU! IT'S YOU! AGAIN! MY FAVORITE! i hope you'll always be like this, excited to see us, because we are always excited to see you.
okay, now this is my favorite picture of you ever. you love that little chewie, and even though i swore i'd never put you in little headbands (and we don't ever wear them), you look so sweet and girly in this one. you just get more beautiful every day.
i love you, banana.
love,
mama
six months!! you are six months old!!
it is almost thanksgiving, and you are six months old. where has all this time gone? your father and i cannot believe you are already six months old, and yet it feels like we have been doing this for EVER, (six months? that's IT?) and we cannot imagine our life without you.
you have become HUGE this past month - you are 27 inches long and outgrew your baby carseat. two weeks ago we purchased a new one for you and it is this behemoth thing tethered to the backseat of my car. at first you looked so teeny in it, like when we brought you home from the hospital and you were swimming in your sleeper and i felt like the straps of the carseat were too long to hold you in tight enough, even tightened all the way up. now - either i'm used to you in the new carseat or you've just exploded in size, because you don't seem so small in it anymore. you weigh almost 18 pounds too, which is SO FUN when i have to contort my body to get you in and out of that darn carseat when we go to the store.
you started rolling over in earnest this month, allaying my fears regarding your tendencies toward sociopathology, and suddenly you are MOBILE and everywhere. within a week you figured out how to roll from your back to your belly AND how to get up on your knees, though not how to do anything when you are up on those knees. you CAN scooch backwards, which happens unintentionally, and you end up wedged underneath the coffee table or the sofa or the tv unit with your bottom pushed up against whatever edge is there. sometimes you end up against the fireplace hearth, and you push forward off it and then slide backwards, over and over, crawling in place. just this past week you really got the hang of rolling from your belly to your back (though you don't really like to and still break down crying when you've had enough on your tummy) and have started to figure out that there are interesting things out there and you can get to them by rolling. your father and i figure we have about 7 more hours to babyproof the house before you get into everything.
every month you become a little more vocal, and last night your father swore you said "dada" though i think he's delusional because OF COURSE you'd say "mama" first. after all the times i wipe your bottom, it's the least you can do for me. RIGHT? we had a barbecue with all the mommies and daddies from our mommy & me group this past month and your father thought you were the most talkative baby in the group. he also thought you were the prettiest, which of course you were, but we don't say that out loud because it might make the other babies feel bad and give you a big head. last week you were playing with your friend kyle at mommy group, and all he wanted to do was touch you and grab at your hands, and you just kept on talking at him. he didn't say anything, so you talked more and louder, just like a girl. daddy says you're JUST LIKE YOUR MAMA, isn't that nice of him.
your first halloween was this month, and we all dressed up as pumpkins, a jack-o-family. next year we'll do something more creative, this year i was a bit low on energy and creativity and the creative ideas came a little late. nana came out to spend the weekend with us and you just loved answering the door with her and seeing all the people there. you also loved visiting the neighbors when we dropped off goodie bags for them. we also went to the pumpkin patch with mommy group, and to a halloween lunch where we borrowed your friend lexi's banana costume to take a picture. now why didn't we think to dress you up as a banana? i told you, all the creativity came a bit late.
you and i went to the zoo for the first time this month too, which i think you enjoyed. really, these outings are more for the mommies than the babies at this point, but you were very interested in the flamingos (until we tried to take your picture, of course - then you were more interested in your sunglasses). they were noisy and smelly and bright and moved around a lot and very fun to watch. in stark contrast to my favorite, the lemurs, who were very lazy and quiet that day and just sat there doing nothing and you got bored very quickly with that.
with your buddy lexi at the pumpkin patch. you were the cutest punkin ever!
you also started eating solids this month, much to my chagrin, because babies don't eat solids - big girls do but not babies - and i wanted you to stay my baby for as long as possible. but your pediatrician said you needed to have started them by 6 months, so here we are. you love squash and green beans and carrots, but you hate rice cereal, and you hate bananas only marginally less than rice cereal. we're still trying on the bananas, though every time i shove some in your mouth you look at me as if you're this horribly abused child and i must hate you on some level.
your personality has exploded this month - not that you didn't have one before, but it's become much more apparent now. you have OPINIONS and you are not afraid to let us know them. you actually spit some bananas at me the other day. you let us know when you are tired of being in the high chair, or want to be held, and it's very obvious when you're sleepy and need a nap. what a wonder a little sleep does for you - you turn back into my wonderful little ray of sunshine. you wake up and grin this huge happy grin when you see your father and me, as if say YOU! IT'S YOU! AGAIN! MY FAVORITE! i hope you'll always be like this, excited to see us, because we are always excited to see you.
okay, now this is my favorite picture of you ever. you love that little chewie, and even though i swore i'd never put you in little headbands (and we don't ever wear them), you look so sweet and girly in this one. you just get more beautiful every day.
i love you, banana.
love,
mama
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
hannah recommends: crinkle squares!
just so you know, this is not exactly a shameless plug for my etsy shop. there's nothing new under the sun - a friend's baby had one, and i was intrigued by it. [so, they ARE out there to buy commercially - i don't know where or what they're called, but they're there.] her daughter loved it, and i figured i could make it pretty easily. i made a "test" one for hannah and she ADORES it.
i've posted about these on my facebook page, and a couple baby-less friends asked what they were. a crinkle square is simply two pieces of fabric sewn together with a crinkly middle. i usually use two layers of cellophane though i did initially purchase "crinkle material." cellophane seems to work just fine - it does melt under intense direct heat, so i do have to be careful when pressing them, but i wash hannah's in hot water and dry in the dryer on high heat and the square is fine. on one side i use plain cotton in a cute print, and on the reverse i use some sort of interesting textured fabric for tactile interest.
hannah has two though i've been selling them as a set of 3 which is cheaper than buying them individually. she has a cute one with pink flowers and brown corduroy on the back which she's kind of meh about. i think she's not keen on the corduroy, though another friend's son LOVES his corduroy one. the one in the photo above is the "test" one i made with her butterfly fabric and some plush minky that my mother had sent up for a changing pad cover. that plushie square is one of her absolute favorite toys so far. it's soft and feels kind of like a burpie (which she also loves). she can stuff it in her mouth (but not choke on it thank heavens) and squish it and best of all IT MAKES NOISE. thank the Lord it does not make annoying noise like some of her toys. she can happily play with her crinkle square for 20 or 30 minutes straight, and i don't go insane after 10 seconds of listening to it.
get them here! i was thinking too, they would make a great baby gift.
i've posted about these on my facebook page, and a couple baby-less friends asked what they were. a crinkle square is simply two pieces of fabric sewn together with a crinkly middle. i usually use two layers of cellophane though i did initially purchase "crinkle material." cellophane seems to work just fine - it does melt under intense direct heat, so i do have to be careful when pressing them, but i wash hannah's in hot water and dry in the dryer on high heat and the square is fine. on one side i use plain cotton in a cute print, and on the reverse i use some sort of interesting textured fabric for tactile interest.
hannah has two though i've been selling them as a set of 3 which is cheaper than buying them individually. she has a cute one with pink flowers and brown corduroy on the back which she's kind of meh about. i think she's not keen on the corduroy, though another friend's son LOVES his corduroy one. the one in the photo above is the "test" one i made with her butterfly fabric and some plush minky that my mother had sent up for a changing pad cover. that plushie square is one of her absolute favorite toys so far. it's soft and feels kind of like a burpie (which she also loves). she can stuff it in her mouth (but not choke on it thank heavens) and squish it and best of all IT MAKES NOISE. thank the Lord it does not make annoying noise like some of her toys. she can happily play with her crinkle square for 20 or 30 minutes straight, and i don't go insane after 10 seconds of listening to it.
get them here! i was thinking too, they would make a great baby gift.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
who ever heard of a kid who DIDN'T like sugar.
and so it begins, the end of hannah's babyhood. (actually, every little milestone to me is another little bit of the end of her babyhood.) dum dah dum dum: solids!
which is such a joke, right? i mean, if her food were ACTUALLY solid, it might stay in her mouth, instead of dribble out the corners and get smeared all over her eyebrows.
we started with rice cereal two weeks ago: no luck, she hates it. i've heard this is typical, not that i exactly see why, i mixed it with breastmilk, her favorite - and i even tried it, and it was not so bad. better than oatmeal in my humble opinion, not that MY opinion matters much because it's not going into MY mouth. she did not like it thick, she did not like it thin, she did not like it in-between. we have tried multiple times since introducing other foods and she still grimaces as if she is eating poo.
bananas, i thought! bananas will be better! so sweet and sugary, who can resist a banana. (well, me - i don't like bananas personally, but still. it's not going into MY mouth.) i've heard it takes about ten tastes to start to actually develop a liking for a food, but after about the fifteenth try she still looks at me like, "really, mama? bananas? why do you hate me?" and spits them out.
and yes, i've heard the trick where you hold the spoon in the baby's mouth, on top of her tongue, so she learns to eat off the spoon. every time we do that she pulls her tongue back and gags herself and we end up in a screaming fit, which is not a pleasant way to conduct feedings, so we're skipping that part for the moment. could my baby be a bit of a drama queen? NOT OUTSIDE THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY.
speaking of poo, WOW, her diapers. i thought they were bad before, when we hit about the 4-month mark, but those were butterflies and rainbows compared to these diapers. WHOA NELLY, girl can poop.
all things considered, bananas were hated less than rice cereal, and squash was hated even less than bananas. i think she actually kind of liked the squash. so far green beans seem to be successful also. maybe my daughter will be a vegetarian with no sweet tooth? one can only hope.
update: because her poop is more solid now and no longer as washable as breastfeeding poop, i made a diaper sprayer so i don't have to swish her soakers in the toilet bowl. it was very easy and inexpensive. see my tutorial here.
which is such a joke, right? i mean, if her food were ACTUALLY solid, it might stay in her mouth, instead of dribble out the corners and get smeared all over her eyebrows.
we started with rice cereal two weeks ago: no luck, she hates it. i've heard this is typical, not that i exactly see why, i mixed it with breastmilk, her favorite - and i even tried it, and it was not so bad. better than oatmeal in my humble opinion, not that MY opinion matters much because it's not going into MY mouth. she did not like it thick, she did not like it thin, she did not like it in-between. we have tried multiple times since introducing other foods and she still grimaces as if she is eating poo.
bananas, i thought! bananas will be better! so sweet and sugary, who can resist a banana. (well, me - i don't like bananas personally, but still. it's not going into MY mouth.) i've heard it takes about ten tastes to start to actually develop a liking for a food, but after about the fifteenth try she still looks at me like, "really, mama? bananas? why do you hate me?" and spits them out.
and yes, i've heard the trick where you hold the spoon in the baby's mouth, on top of her tongue, so she learns to eat off the spoon. every time we do that she pulls her tongue back and gags herself and we end up in a screaming fit, which is not a pleasant way to conduct feedings, so we're skipping that part for the moment. could my baby be a bit of a drama queen? NOT OUTSIDE THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY.
speaking of poo, WOW, her diapers. i thought they were bad before, when we hit about the 4-month mark, but those were butterflies and rainbows compared to these diapers. WHOA NELLY, girl can poop.
all things considered, bananas were hated less than rice cereal, and squash was hated even less than bananas. i think she actually kind of liked the squash. so far green beans seem to be successful also. maybe my daughter will be a vegetarian with no sweet tooth? one can only hope.
update: because her poop is more solid now and no longer as washable as breastfeeding poop, i made a diaper sprayer so i don't have to swish her soakers in the toilet bowl. it was very easy and inexpensive. see my tutorial here.
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