A new mommy's mishaps, mayhem, and majesty

Monday, July 18, 2011

Things happen in their own time

Lately, Lily just hasn't been interested in baby food. she will eat a few bites, lose interest, and play with her bib or steal the spoon while I try to sneak a few bites in before she gets fussy and tries to escape from her bumbo. she's getting pretty close to doing it, but just can't seem to get her legs past the middle piece separating her legs (so I guess it's time to get a high chair).

I made myself breakfast for lunch yesterday- scrambled eggs and hash browns- and remembering that egg yolk is an acceptable food for babies, decided to give her a bite to see how she tolerated it. I'd just started giving her some yogurt melts the day before, and she did just fine with them (I did try them first, and it basically is freeze-dried yogurt. they dissolve pretty easily). I picked the most yolky- looking bit and gave her a bite. she loved it! so we had a bit of fun exploring different food textures- scrambled eggs, yogurt melts, and I let her go crazy with a slice of pasteurized- processed cheese food. she squished it more than she ate it, but she did really well with the soft food I gave her. I was quite surprised- I've mostly been going off the labels on the gerber jar, and for 3rd-stage foods (and Graduates) it says "your child may be ready if: crawls with tummy off floor; and begins to self-feed".

well, I'm both sad and somewhat relieved to say, Lily doesn't seem to be anywhere close to crawling let alone getting up on all fours, and I don't know if she can self-feed because we don't have the equipment for her to try. though she does like to steal the spoon from me, she's more interested in the brightly colored plastic spoon than what is on it. sometimes the spoon does make it into her mouth, but more on accident than intent. So the fact that my child not only wants but is ready for food with texture instead of puree really caught me off guard. I've been breaking the rules the past few days and giving her samples of every soft thing on my plate: macaroni and cheese, pizza, tomatoes, lil' crunchies... she even had fun tearing up a hot dog bun. I've been putting some treats in front of her so she can practice picking them up and putting them in her mouth. as soon as we get a high chair I will put some baby food in front of her and let her finger paint.

though she isn't really showing any interest in crawling, she likes standing up to furniture and jumping in her exersaucer. she might just be one of those babies that walks before crawling. my mom says that studies have shown that walking before crawling can affect a child's hand-eye coordination, but my neighbor's little boy never crawled and he seems just fine. so we'll see what happens. right now her mode of transportation is rolling around on the floor; she likes to roll under the futon in our living room and play with the bars. I had most of my craft stuff under there, but I've started babyproofing and moved it to a cupboard that I can lock up once she starts getting curious.

though I am thrilled that she is growing and learning new skills, it reminds me that she won't be a baby for much longer. in a few short months, she will be a year old, and considered more of a toddler than an infant. and before you know it, we will have another little baby to love and cuddle. I feel like I have a handle on the mom business for now, and I'm ready to start trying for #2. I've figured I am ready for the next one once I feel like I have everything under control- most of the time. there are always going to be times when things feel out of control crazy, but I haven't felt like that for awhile. more sleep helps a ton- funny how she sleeps through the night almost all the time now that she's been weaned (my milk dried up recently- stupid me didn't realize my allergy med was an antihistamine until it was too late. and now I've gotten used to how easy it is to hand her a bottle and walk away. does that make me a horrible mom?).

I'd prefer them to be closer in age so they can be playmates and have more of the same interests in common than I did with most of my sisters. I am 19 months older than #2, and 6 and 10 years older than #3 and #4. I was closer with Kristynn because we were closer in age. I had a harder time finding things in common with malan and mckenna. I will be going to my 10-year reunion when mckenna graduates. that makes me feel old. I want to be able to do fun things with my kids, like games and camping and other fun activities that are more fun if the players are on pretty much the same level.

there are many dreams I have for the growth of our family, and for our future home. I hope that most of them turn out to come true. It is really hard for me to be patient and wait for life to evolve. much has happened in the past 2 years, but we are still relatively new to marriage. so I will be patient- and let things happen in their own time.

2 comments:

  1. when my friends start talking about baby number 2, that makes me feel old! lol! I'm just hoping that I pass my PE exam in Oct so I have less time to be patient!

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  2. My mom was worried that Anya wouldn't crawl before she walked, saying that babies who did that lacked any idea of left and right, or something. I did some research and pretty much it doesn't matter. Crawling is just intermediary, but if she skips it, she'll be fine. And with the food, if she can stuff food in her mouth with her fingers, that's considered "self-feeding". Anya is almost 14 months and isn't great (ok, she's terrible) with a spoon. Oh, and Lily is so stinking cute! I love her big blue eyes!!!

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