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Where did our BABY Go?

January 18, 2013 by jbrafman

IMG_7268

Princess Bella is 19 months old.. Time Flies!

I know, I know it has been a VERY long time since I have written. I made a NYE resolution last year to be more consistent with my writing.. and well, that went the way of MOST NYE resolutions.. Ditched shortly after New Years (probably why my loving hubby says he never makes them). I’ve let “life get in the way”. I have been having so much fun bringing up this nugget of love, that I simply abandoned my writing to be in-the-moment.

But, what’s crazy is what has happened in the short course of 1 year.  Somehow my little blob that only ate, pooped and slept became this whole, fully functional human – with a larger than life attitude and an opinion.  WTF?  No one warned me these things would happen so quickly!

Bella is now 19 months old and the following are some of the amazing things she has accomplished already:  goes to school, climbs stairs and goes down slides at the playground (sometimes head first), has friends, swims, counts to 10, spells, met (and hated) Mickey Mouse, punches the dog in the nose, unlocks and swipes applications on “her” iPad, eats real food in real restaurants, opens doors, recognizes characters on TV and calls them by name, colors and paints, blows kisses – my personal favorite, fakes a Southern accent (hiiii maaaama!), squeals with delight at the sight of strawberries, rips toys out of the hands of innocent children if she wants them, steals watermelon from the plates of others, says “bless you” if someone sneezes and screams “bye bye” or “hiiii” to anyone and everyone no matter if they are coming or going.  AWESOME, right?  Ok, a couple we will have to work on…

I’m no expert, but I would say she is a child genius!  In addition to being smart (and incredibly adorable and photogenic), she is also TALL.  Which is why some people may be missing how genius-y she actually is, because they must think she is like 2 or 3.  Duh.

I would like this whole “advancing” thing to slow down.  This is our only time to this parenthood rodeo.  I don’t want to blink and all the sudden she’s leaving for college.  I am absolutely loving every day with my baby.  It brings new words, new adventures.  I love smelling her skin and holding her in my arms until she falls asleep at night.  Everyone says that it just keeps getting better, but I find that so hard to believe.  It really is so incredibly perfect exactly how it is right now.  Except for the toes she put in my mouth the other night while I was asleep…  Actually, that’s kinda perfect too!

Posted in Missing My Baby, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 3 Comments »

Baby Food: Buy or Make?

December 30, 2011 by jbrafman

I am NO Martha Stewart. I proved that many years ago when my hand-painted holiday wrapping looked like a 7-year old made it (I was 30 at the time) and when my dried-flower-wreaths were a hot-glue-gun-mess and epic failure! I do have great creative ideas. I love to invent. It’s just the execution of these crafty delights that trips me up. Anyone that knows me, knows that I completely believe in and support outsourcing. If there is someone who is GREAT at what they do, why not let them continue to do it and then I can be the benefactor of their excellent service. I really do NOT need to be good at everything. Specifically not necessary would be things like cleaning our pool, washing my car, painting my nails. So, when I was asked about whether Bella was going to eat store-bought-jar-food or if I was going to make her food, my answer was… to everyone’s surprise.. a resounding “OF COURSE I’M GOING TO MAKE HER BABY FOOD.” I am a huge fan of all things organic and I hate the thought of her ingesting chemicals or preservatives. So, this seems like a natural for me.

We registered for the Beaba baby food steamer/food processor and my mom’s business partner gave it to us. This machine is amazing and so easy. I just wish it was a little larger. I can steam the food and puree it all within the same machine. Then I freeze the puree in ice-cube trays and transfer to Ziploc bags once they are hardened. Our freezer, which once had vodka, lobsters, lemoncello and ice cream has now been taken over by ice-cubelets of sweet potatoes, avocado, banana and pears.

YUM!

I think Keith is skeptical that this new hobby of mine will last. But, I am having fun with it. So much so, that last night I mentioned that I thought I should start my own fresh baby food business. Yeah, yeah, don’t quit your day job rang through my ears.

I guess the proof will be in the pudding. Bella has just started on “solids” from a big girl spoon. We had our first puree of banana two days ago and she had some sweet potatoes today. She seems to like mommy’s cooking so far. Another BIG milestone for our little girl! And I feel good doing my part to make sure she has the freshest, yummiest meals possible. Although I have heard that chicken and beef can get pretty gross when they are pureed. And that diaper time is not going to be so fun with the introduction of these new things. Oh, and that her nose can turn orange if she eats too many sweet potatoes.

I pride myself on trying at least. And I crown myself the Top Chef of Baby Food. I’m thinking it’s a niche that BravoTV has not yet thought of. Watch out Padma and Tom!

Posted in Firsts, Routine and Rituals, Tools of the Trade | 5 Comments »

The Holidays.. Our First with the Baby

December 20, 2011 by jbrafman

I always look forward to the holidays!  I love this festive time of year!  Everyone seems to be in a happy mood.  Except for the sour-faced bakery lady at Publix who clearly hates me for asking her for the definition of “half and half cake” (but that could be a whole other blog entry).  Christmas on Las Olas and Boat Parade parties bring lots of outdoor fun for everyone, houses are decorated with pretty lights and the frosty adult beverages get more creative, more plentiful and frequent!

Bella and the Guy Whose Beard she Pulled. A Lot.

There are so many facets to the holidays:  a busy time of year at work, schedules to coordinate, grocery shopping/cooking/food to prepare, presents to purchase/wrap, and parties, lots of them.  It’s ALL good stuff, but sometimes hard to juggle such a busy calendar.  Add in a dab of 6-month-old-baby, a year where we will be remembering Bella’s grandmother, Miriam, who left us too soon, and a mixed-religion household… It can definitely get a bit hectic and stressful.  For me, thank goodness I have running as an outlet!

Keith and I decided we were going to expose Bella to both of our holidays and start new holiday traditions at our home for our daughter.  I was brought up in a Jewish family (we lit menorah candles, but also had a Christmas tree) and Keith was raised fairly conservative Catholic.  No reason Bella shouldn’t see it all.  We are treating this year as our practice year.  Our mulligan, in golf terms – a “do-over” if we don’t get it right.  We get to practice the traditions, get our stories straight, purchase our Elf on the Shelf and make sure we know what we are doing for next year when she actually may understand SOME of what is going on.

The day is finally here.  Hanukkah starts tonight at mom’s house and we have a 5-day countdown until Santa arrives.  We are so excited to share this first holiday with our precious little elf.  Can’t wait to see her soaking it all in.  It will be a great, fun-filled 5 days.  There will be tons of yummy food.  There will not be a lot of sleep.  And lots of family time, though there are lots of family members that we miss dearly, who are celebrating around the country.  But, best of all, we will be together with our new addition to the family, at the beginning of some new traditions.  And if there is any drama or stress (or too much food), I’m going running!

Posted in Firsts, Juggling it All, Routine and Rituals | 1 Comment »

3 Men and a Baby

December 14, 2011 by jbrafman

Another business trip. Another few nights away from the family. I feel so bad. Not because I don’t think Keith can handle her, not because I worry about whether or not she will be ok, but because I know handling a 6-month old on your own for THREE DAYS is hard work! Keith is absolutely the BEST father ever. And Bella adores him. So, I feel very comforted to know the two of them are hanging out having fun while I am in Atlanta.

3 Men and a Baby: Pizza, Beer, Football!

I arranged for our nanny to stay a few hours late each day, so daddy could wrap up his work day before being on baby duty. And my father is in town from North Carolina, so he came to sleep over one of the nights to help Keith out. It was so cute… they packed up Bella, picked up my stepfather and the 3 men took Bella out for pizza, beer and Monday Night Football. A girl couldn’t ask for three better dates than that!

I felt like I was with them, at least virtually. I got pictures texted to me of Bella drinking root beer, chewing on an IPhone and then later, in the bathtub. Everyone had an awesome time and the grandfathers got some quality time with their Princess.

Then, the next night, my mom stopped in to make sure all was in order at my house. You never could tell this is an only-grandchild, could you?

It makes me feel very comfortable going away knowing that my precious jewel is in such caring, capable hands. But, I cannot WAIT to get home tomorrow night. I have been craving some slobbery baby kisses!! And a big bear hug and kiss from Keith. Nothing compares to the feeling of either of those!!

Posted in Juggling it All, Missing My Baby | 2 Comments »

Where Have I Been ?

December 9, 2011 by jbrafman

I thought I could do it all. I’m Wonder Woman, after all. Of course I’m capable of juggling a career, a charity event, the holidays and a family. Big deal, right? Well, yes, Virginia, it IS a big deal. Much harder than I thought it would be to manage my time. It is amazing how little time I can actually carve out to do things like get my nails done, take a nap, write in my blog or even go grocery shopping (yes, I do like to do that)!

For the past few weeks, I kept saying “I’ll write a blog post tomorrow”. Quickly, however, that became a week, then two weeks. I really missed writing. I had so many ideas in my head, but they just had to sit there in DRAFT. I found myself downloading my blog application on our iPad, so I could write more portably. And then when that was a #FAIL, I downloaded the blog application on my iPhone. Sadly, I found that even I am too OLD to write whole paragraphs and edit on that tiny little screen. Not to mention, I have no clue how you would possibly attach a photo with a caption on that sucker.

Time for Family and Turkey

So, what the heck have I been doing with my time? In the past few weeks, we have been to a hockey game, we have been to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving and a cousin’s wedding, we have had end-to-end meeting-filled days at work, we have attended 2 charity events and a handful of holiday gatherings, we have had a house full of strep throat (everyone but Bella), we had girls-night IN (for Bella and Mommy) when Keith went to Tampa for two days, we went for our 6-month-old visit with Dr. Amy for immunizations and ended up with a low-grade fever afterward, we tried our first food (oatmeal) and we had a marathon sales visit from the hurricane impact window man from hell. All that didn’t leave me with a whole lot of time for bonbons.

But, I vow to write. Because I think the ideas trapped in my head give me a headache. Or it could just be a side-effect of the strep throat. But, also, because I have a new MacBook Air and I’ve downloaded the blog application. I’m Back!

Posted in Juggling it All, Rookie Behavior | 4 Comments »

Check “SICK” Off Our List

December 7, 2011 by jbrafman

Immunizations.  A surprisingly controversial topic.  And one that mother’s who are against them amazingly find loopholes so their kids can go to school without them.  To me, it’s a no-brainer.  I can immunize my child against a set of rare diseases and guarantee she will never get them or what?  Cross my fingers and hope?  Come on.  Being as anti-germ as we are, we decided to do them.  All of them.  We travel a lot and Bella is exposed to a lot of new people and places, so we are playing it safe and getting her pumped with everything they can think of.  At this point, she’s pretty much protected from everything but athlete’s foot and emotional instability.  For those, she is on her own!

Immunizations come with warnings about side effects.  For the first two sets, our Princess came through like a champ.  Happy as a clam.  This time, however, she didn’t seem to feel so great afterward.  Our normally happy baby was fussy and crying.  A LOT.

SICK. Not a Happy Camper

However, we also tried out our first solid foods that same day.  Oatmeal.  Seemingly harmless.  Did she have an allergy to oatmeal and not a reaction to the immunizations?  No clue.  All I know is that after she had BOTH, her cheeks turned red like Santa Claus, she got rashy-looking spots on her feet and she had a low-grade fever.  The doctor we called (Dr. Amy’s on-call replacement) pretty much laughed at us when we told him her fever was 100.8 degrees.  Apparently it’s not alarming to a doctor until it’s over 104 degrees.  To me, 104 degrees is “holy shit the baby’s burning up and about to combust” temperature, but I defer to him.  He told us to give her some grape baby medicine to reduce her discomfort and bring down the fever.  Thank goodness she slept like a champ!

Although we still don’t really know what caused her to feel bad, her symptoms seem to be going away.  By last night, her cheeks were back to normal, fever subsided and feet were clear and kissable again.  It broke my heart to see our munchkin in pain.  I know this is the first of many little illnesses and I can check “sick” off our list of FIRSTS, but I don’t think it will ever get any easier!

Just in case her reaction was allergic, I have irrationally banned oatmeal from her diet (2 days is enough on solid foods, right?).  I know she needs the iron in the cereal, but can’t she just get it from her formula?  I don’t want to chance having her feel crappy again just for a few oats.  I think Keith is worried she will be going to college and I will still be keeping her from oatmeal!  So, instead, next week we will try RICE cereal – it’s got iron, too.  Wish us luck!

Posted in Firsts, Rookie Behavior | 1 Comment »

Airplanes Really ARE Disgusting

November 27, 2011 by jbrafman

Keith and I were faced with the challenge of air travel early in Bella’s life.  Sadly, Bella’s paternal grandmother, Miriam, passed away in Pennsylvania last August when Bella was just 2.5 months old.  We didn’t have time to panic about traveling, as we bought our tickets an hour before the flight took off, since we had to get there quickly.  We bought Bella her own seat, because we didn’t know what it would be like to travel with her and also because we wanted the whole row of seats.  I didn’t want any potentially sick strangers sitting next to us and breathing their germs on the girl-Princess.  Yep, germaphobia runs rampant in my head at ALL times.  We got so lucky – she slept the entire flight – in her car seat.  Not a peep from her the entire 3 hours on the plane!  Hardly believable, right?

MY seat!

Fast forward to November.  Bella was almost 6 months old.  We flew to Pennsylvania for Turkey Day.  Once again, she was a trooper on the flight there.  She ate well, she stayed mostly quiet.  All good.  On the way back, however, she decided to POOP as soon as we took off.  Now, mind you, she doesn’t mind sitting around in a dirty diaper one bit.  But, there was no way to hide what had happened.  I think the whole plane could smell Bella, 36 rows back!  I did a reconnaissance mission to the bathroom.  Yuck.  Maybe Double Yuck.  What ARE people thinking that join the Mile High Club?  I didn’t even want to take my daughter’s pants off in there (on paper towels over the diaper pad), so surely you will never catch me taking mine off in there for any reason!  I decided it had to be quick.  No time for the germs to attach.  Bella and I were in and out of there in record time.  All fresh and clean again.  and LOTS of hand sanitizer.  Everywhere.

This past weekend we went to Nassau, Bahamas.  We decided for a 26 minute flight it would be a waste to purchase a ticket/seat for the Princess.  It was kind of cute having her on our laps – for the first 2 minutes. She’s in a very squirmy stage.  She wants to be sitting up on her own, not being held.  Good thing we brought lots of toys and know EVERY animal noise possible for Old MacDonald’s Farm!  Oh, and apparently altitude is what makes her poop – couldn’t be a coincidence!  This time, we were on our descent into Fort Lauderdale, so I wasn’t allowed to get up to change her.  That damn seatbelt sign!  Our friends 10 rows back said they even smelled her!  There was another baby on the flight, so I blamed it on her… Of course.  Bella had to wait until we could get to the “uber-clean” (insert sarcasm) airport bathroom to get her bottom cleaned this time.  Pretty much just as disgusting as in the air.

Next month the three of us head to Las Vegas.  Bella is getting lots of frequent flyer miles!  She is a real pro at the security pat-down by now too, since I don’t want to put her through the X-ray machine (I had a hamster once that lost all its hair after going through one, so I’m not taking the chance with the baby).  I guess for the next trip, we just need to stock up on more diapers.  And LOTS of hand sanitizer!

Posted in Firsts, Juggling it All, Rookie Behavior | 1 Comment »

BACK to Sleep

November 18, 2011 by jbrafman

Sleeping.  Sleeping has always been the time in Bella’s day that scares the crap out of me.  Maybe because it’s the only time that Bella is really on her own and not being watched by anyone.  Maybe it’s because of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) that you read about in every baby how-to book.  Maybe it’s because they make SUCH a big deal nowadays about the “BACK to Sleep” campaign, to make sure the babies are put to sleep on their backs.  Whatever it is, I silently say a little prayer every night to keep our little lovey safe as she counts sheep and drifts off to sleep.  I did not carefully carry her around for 9 long months, give birth to her, fall instantly in love with her and vow to protect her forever for something to happen in that friggin crib!

Apparently the sleeping rules have changed since I was a baby.  My mom told me I was a belly sleeper and so was Keith.  Way back then, they thought babies would choke on their vomit if they slept on their backs.  I guess doctors weren’t aware that we DID have the ability to turn our heads if we needed throw up.  Doesn’t take a rocket scientist.  

Back, Schmack!

But, nowadays, we are unanimously coached that children must be placed on their backs when going to sleep.  It seems that they have decided that babies can’t breathe on their stomachs and since they don’t have much head/neck control, they risk suffocating on their sheets.  Again, assuming no ability to turn their heads sideways.  YIKES.  We were also told to put Bella to bed with absolutely NOTHING in the crib, except the fitted sheet.  So it’s a balancing act to find the right pajamas each night.  Wouldn’t want her to be cold – if she’s anything like Mommy, she will be a big comforter snuggler.  And definitely don’t want her getting too warm – another cause of SIDS.  You can’t have bumpers in the crib.  Apparently babies smother in them, too.  Better to bang their face off the crib bars with no padding ?  Guess so.  And God forbid you put a pacifier or toy in the crib to soothe your baby to sleep.  That would probably equal choke AND smother.  Why exactly do they sell baby blankets if you are not allowed to use them??  I have SO MANY cute ones!  The medical community and the retail community really need to get in synch!

Since Bella has been in her big girl crib, she has been a side sleeper.  I put her on her back, I tell her to stay there, but she doesn’t listen.  EVER.  She rolls immediately to her left side, puts her hands together in front of her face and curls up sideways.  If I try to roll her onto her back, it’s like wrestling a snake.  Fruitless.  So, we learned to live with it.  We  watch the video monitor (yes, of course we have the one with night vision) to make sure she is ok.  She actually does donuts throughout the night.  Many times we wake up during the night and find her facing the opposite direction or even sideways.  What I wasn’t prepared for, however, was this week when Keith handed me the monitor and said “LOOK”.  Our little rule breaker was on her BELLY!  I give up.  She sleeps how she is most comfortable.  She is happy and healthy.  We put nothing “smother-y” in the crib.  We put her on her back every night.  I can’t help it if she simply wants to do things her way.  I encourage her creativity!  And she obviously takes after her mommy.  At least there’s SOMETHING she got from ME!

Posted in Firsts, Routine and Rituals, Sleeping | 1 Comment »

Instantly, I Get Competitive

November 13, 2011 by jbrafman

Of course Keith and I (and her grandparents) think Bella is the best, brightest and most gorgeous baby alive. Who wouldn’t? Just LOOK at her. Duh.

See? Sitting.

So it’s a funny conversational “dance” when you talk to other mothers with children about the same age. You compare notes, complain about the post-mommy body changes, basically have comrades that share your woes. But then the topics move to the babies and the gloves come off. It’s a tit-for-tat, one-upping conversation about whose baby has mastered the baby-basics soonest, fastest, best. The books tell you not to compare, because all babies develop at different rates, but WE DO. We can’t help it.

I really didn’t notice it too clearly until yesterday when I was talking to the makeup lady in the mall, who has a baby one month older than Bella. Keith even saw the challenge being extended in my direction. She proudly relayed that her baby rolls over. Yeah, so does Bella. Her baby sleeps through the night. Big deal, Bella’s been doing that since she was 3 weeks old. Her baby sits up like a gorilla. Yep, check, we got that too! Her baby has a tooth and is starting to talk. What? Wait. Liar.

Fair warning to those that do not know me. I’m very competitive and think my angel ROCKS. A very proud Mama Bear, so you won’t win this battle with me. Bella is BEST at everything, of course. And I will tell her that for the rest of her life, so she has unfettered self-esteem. However, we HAVE immediately begun “talking” lessons with Einstein, so Bella learns to say “DaDa” in the event that I run into the makeup lady again next weekend. Game ON.

Posted in Bella-isms, Rookie Behavior | 4 Comments »

Can anyone find my HAIR ?

November 11, 2011 by jbrafman

I know this sounds like bragging, but I have to say, I’ve always loved my hair.  It’s stick-straight.  Brown, but not mousey.  And basically always looks the same, whether I blow dry it, let it air dry, or if I come straight out of the ocean.  Totally EASY hair.  If I had to pick one negative, it would be that it is very fine.  Like baby hair.

So when I got pregnant and was taking my prenatal vitamins, I was even more ecstatic, as it seemed like my pregnancy was a natural hair fertilizer and volumizer!  I rarely needed mousse and my hair grew like a weed. Literally inches each month.  Ok, maybe not inches, but it felt like it.  My hair was even thicker, too!  I was finally one of those two-twist scrunchie girls instead of three.  Little things thrill me, obviously.

Perception is Reality. I just LOOK like I have a lot of hair left.

That’s why my excitement came to a screeching halt about 3 months after Bella was born.  I began to shed.  A LOT!  Like a dog.  A shower-drain-clogging dog.  Or maybe even Sasquatch.  I’ve never seen such hair loss.  I would wash my hair, it would fall out.  I would brush my hair, it would fall out.  Basically, if I would even LOOK at my hair the wrong way, it would fall out.  It was brutal.  I could probably have made a cute wig with all that came out.

Of course, I worried.  Wondering when it would stop.  I definitely fear female baldness.  My head is shaped way too weird.  And, as-if recovering from having a baby doesn’t make you feel crappy enough, now this!  Nature’s cruel trick.  I guess this was payback for having an easy pregnancy, barely any weight gain, an easy delivery and an easy baby.  Whatever.  I don’t completely understand the reason it happened either, except “Dr. Internet” said that hair “rests” during pregnancy – apparently that made ONE of us!

The good news is that it has finally stopped falling out.  We are now at 5 months and the shedding seems to slowly be coming to an end.  Maybe molting season is over?  I guess it is yet another chapter in my journey of motherhood that I will survive gracefully.  For now, I will wear my temporarily thinner hair very proudly, as Bella was worth every last strand!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

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