Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Baby Steps

So Natali stood unassisted for the first time while in New York. I got to thinking and came up with an idea. Carpet.

When she stood in New York it was on hard wood. I figured she had issues balancing on carpet. I yanked the rug from the living room. She's been much more comfortable standing and walking (while holding our fingers) this week.

I think we weaned too fast. We went from 6 bottles a day to 3. I bumped it up one.

Today while Natali played hooky (I kept her out of daycare as she wasn't in the mood to go) I let her drink out a sippy cup as her only option for water. She did very well. We were out for 3 hours and she eventually drank just fine while in her car seat.

She's eating more table food and less baby food. I'm pretty sure after the current baby food is gone Kelli won't make anymore.

Natali's sleeping habits have been off this week. Some days she goes along fine with one nap. Yesterday she had NO nap at day care. Rough day at home followed. She woke up in the middle of the night and then very early.

Whenever I tell someone that I am , "one and done," they get upset. It's been said if you have one kid you are doing it for yourself if you have two you are doing it for your child. Bleh. I just plan on being very involved with Natali and making sure she is as involved in outside the house interest as she wants too be.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB2N8Q-CpVk

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Weaning

Natali is a year old now.  It's amazing how fast time goes.  We had her 1 year check up and shots on her birthday.  There were lots of shots, which sucked, but she was a trooper and got over it all really quickly.  Natali is now 21.2 pounds and 29.5 inches long.  Her head circumference is 18.5 inches, which from the calculator I found is the 90th percentile.  I don't know if that is a good thing or bad thing or if it doesn't matter?  Maybe her big head is the reason she won't walk, too much brain to hold up on 2 feet. :-)

While at the doctor's appointment we received a large packet about weaning.  This is going to be a big challenge for us.  We have had such a good routine going with the formula and baby food.  We knew exactly when and how much to feed her and she always had a really good variety of foods.  Now she is supposed to eat "table food".  We have been giving her finger foods for a while now, but if we have to switch all her food to table food from pureed food it is going to be a big challenge to find a good enough variety for her.  The other thing is the formula.  We are supposed to switch her now to whole milk from formula and feed her from a sippy cup instead of a bottle.  I have been working on this for 2 days now.  I am still giving her a bottle first thing in the morning and before bed at night.  Then throughout the day she gets whole milk from a sippy cup.  Of course, she hasn't quite mastered the sippy cup yet so that has been yet another challenge.  The milk thing has been going ok though.  I think that will be the easiest part.  The table food is much harder for me.  I am still giving her some pureed food, because we have it, and it can be easier to get her to eat spoon food.  I have been trying to find a good variety of small vegetables to give her too.  She will eat veggies just fine (corn, peas, etc), but I have to give them to her first before I show her what else I have.  If there is anything else on her tray with the veggies she won't eat them.  She loves hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, and just plain bread.  She likes chicken too.  I think tonight I'm going to try a turkey burger patty cut into little pieces with peas and carrots (served first of course).  I am trying, but this is definitely not going to be easy for me.

In other news, Natali has figured out a few things she is absolutely not supposed to do (such as pull on the window blinds).  However, she will crawl in that direction, stop, give me a big grin, and then immediately pull herself up and mess with the blinds while smiling and laughing at me.  I hope it doesn't get much worse or I will be one frustrated mom.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

One year old

Today Natali is one year old. It's been an amazing year watching her grow.

As I did one year ago today, I published a video on youtube chronicling the last year of having Natali in our lives.

It hasn't been easy. Flying a plane through bad weather onto a wet runway during a thunderstorm is easier than raising a kid. That being said I am very happy Natali is in my life.

Of note, this video is not viewable on "mobile devices (Iphone, Ipad etc) as I have songs in the video in which the owners blocked being played on a mobile device. Silly I know.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8eaNP7YMjM

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Peanut Allergy Test.....done

Natali will be one year old tomorrow.

I thought about having a big party....but we aren't big party people....and it's her first birthday which she will never remember. We will have our own little party (there will be cake and hats!). Maybe something bigger next year.

Natali completed her 24th flight last week. We have traveling with a baby down to a science. Check all bags. We each have a backpack, Natali is in her feather weight car seat attached to rollers. Done.

We spent the last week in New York with family. My two year old niece and Natali played a little. The two year old is named Renee. She walks....Natali doesn't. Renee would take toys away from Natali and walk away. Natali didn't care much....just gave a WTF?!!? look.

While in New York Natali was tested for a peanut allergy. We were in a hotel room and Natali had a few regular M&Ms (cut in half). I grabbed some peanut butter M&Ms from my brother in law and thought "Natali would love these!". So I gave her a few when Kelli walked in and was in shock I was giving Natali peanut butter. Ooops.

My sister in law is a Pediatric Nurse. She was in the other room which was connected. We yelled over that Natali had peanut butter. She yelled back that as long as she is still breathing she is fine. Phew.

The day before we left Natali finally stood on her own. Her record was about 35 seconds before she sat down. Since we have been home she hasn't tried once. Bleh.