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Archive for the ‘Firsts’ Category

Baby Food: Buy or Make?

Posted in Firsts, Routine and Rituals, Tools of the Trade on December 30, 2011| 5 Comments »

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!

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The Holidays.. Our First with the Baby

Posted in Firsts, Juggling it All, Routine and Rituals on December 20, 2011| 1 Comment »

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!

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Check “SICK” Off Our List

Posted in Firsts, Rookie Behavior on December 7, 2011| 1 Comment »

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!

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Airplanes Really ARE Disgusting

Posted in Firsts, Juggling it All, Rookie Behavior on November 27, 2011| 1 Comment »

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!

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BACK to Sleep

Posted in Firsts, Routine and Rituals, Sleeping on November 18, 2011| 1 Comment »

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!

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Boo! So much for Halloween..

Posted in Firsts on November 1, 2011| 1 Comment »

The cutest monkey EVER!

I have to tell you, I was SO excited at the thought of experiencing every “holiday” with Bella this first year, even the ones that we consider to be more the Hallmark variety.  You know the ones – Halloween, Valentines, St. Patrick’s Day.  They would all be so remarkably different from previous years, seen through some fresh perspective and the eyes of our innocent sponge, soaking it all up.   It’s very cute to see her absorbing the concepts of costumes or yummy smelling food in the kitchen (I made rice crispy treats for Keith for Halloween!) 

The company Keith and I work for LOVES Halloween.  Because our busy time is year-end, we take Halloween very seriously, parade and all!  So, this was OUR year.  Bella was going to dress up in her MONKEY costume and she was going to take 1st place in the parade.  Of course.  Hands Down!

However, this year, apparently Mother Nature had other plans.  It rained torrential downpours the entire night of October 30.  Lightning storms so fantastic, they woke me from a deep sleep.  By the time we started our day, close to 6 inches of rain had fallen and most of our local streets were flooded.  So much so, that they had things called “pump trucks” combing the neighborhood trying to suck the water off the streets.  They even asked people to stay off the roads, if not absolutely necessary.  I thought “maybe by 3pm, it would recede far enough to be able to pack my monkey in the car for the 30 minute trek west to my office for the parade.”  WRONG.  In fact, right around then, we were issued a flash flood warning and a tornado warning between here and there.  So, in an effort to avoid ending up in OZ with Dorothy, my monkey and I stayed HOME.

We did not, however, let the rains completely wash out Bella’s first Halloween.  Keith and I dressed our monkey and went next door to our neighbor’s house and then further down the street to our friend Barbara’s.  We HAD to show someone how cute our little trick-or-treater was!  We also took lots of pictures (surprised?) to remember this important first!  Unfortunately, there was NOT ONE SMILE!  Maybe the monkey suit was itchy.  Or hot.  Or just plain weird to her.  Maybe she wanted to be a Princess instead?  Whatever the case, we experienced it together as a family and loved every minute.  As for the company parade, there’s always next year!

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We have become “THOSE” people!

Posted in Bella-isms, Firsts on October 21, 2011| 2 Comments »

US at the Happiest Place on Earth

“BB”, which is affectionately known as “Before Bella“, Keith and I would be out places and wonder “WHY ON EARTH would someone bring a newborn to Disney World?” or perhaps “WHY ON EARTH do those people have that young child out with them at a fancy restaurant – haven’t they heard of babysitters?” or even “WHY ON EARTH would our friends have to cancel on a fun night out and blame it on babysitter issues?”  This week, we confirmed it… We have become THOSE PEOPLE!

This past weekend, we took Bella to Disney World and brought her onto It’s a Small World.  She absolutely loved it.  All the colors, the brightly painted dolls and figurines and all the movement.  At least I think she loved it.  She was definitely smiling… Or pooping… But, either way, WE enjoyed the experience WITH her.  Seeing her curiously staring at all the new things was just so precious. I took a ton of pictures to capture the memory (probably completely annoying to the people on the ride in the row behind us, but whatever).  So, yes, we are “those” people.. and now I kind of understand why.

After spending the full day at the theme park, we decided to go out and get some “real” food at one of the fancy restaurants on Disney property.  Bella was sleeping in her stroller, so we moved one of the chairs away from the table and parked her on one side.  It was probably 10:30pm before we were done eating.  We got several sneery looks from people in the restaurant.  You know they were thinking  1)  that baby better not cry and 2) thank god those people didn’t sit next to us!   Our angel was perfect, slept all the way through dinner without a peep.  We were out-of-town, had no nanny and we were HUNGRY.  So, we took her.  Apparently we have become “those” people, too.

On to tonight.  All of our friends are going to a Halloween costume party, adults only, no kids.  A really, really fun costume party that we will be missing.  Why?  Because we do NOT have a babysitter.  I always thought it was a cop-out when friends would use that excuse.  I also always told them to duct-tape their kids to a chair and come anyway, but, that’s “BB” also.  I now realize that we have finally, fully become THOSE people.  The ones that have to sit home on the couch, babysitter-less, while their friends have fun without them.  We will have a wonderful, quiet night at home.  Me, Bella, Keith and Louie.  We love each other’s company.  Plus, we have another party tomorrow night… and we HAVE a babysitter !

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Why am I awake ?

Posted in Firsts, Juggling it All, Missing My Baby on October 19, 2011| 1 Comment »

At least someone was able to sleep.

This was my first night away from Bella since the day she was born.  If I thought having her sleep in her own room all the way down the hall was difficult for me, this topped that tenfold!  However, I was somewhat excited for a long, uninterrupted night of sleep, of which I have been deprived for months.

I travelled to Atlanta yesterday afternoon.  I recently took on a new, exciting role at work and I came to meet with my new team.  Part social and teambuilding, but mostly WORK.  Last night, we all went to dinner and then bowling.  I had planned to duck out after dinner and go nitey nite EARLY – hello snorefest!  Plus, I suck at bowling.  But, the “right” thing for me to do was hang with my new team.  So, I bowled.  I scored a whopping 95, but it was a really fun time and good distraction from missing my family. 

Keith, who had Bella on HIS OWN for the first time, gave me periodic progress reports and texted me this picture.  How he was able to text me, hold the baby, hold the remote and eat with just two hands is amazing.  Talented man – That’s why I married him!  He, however, did not marry me for my bowling prowess!  Confirmation of what I already knew:  Keith and Bella are a wonderful team… They ordered pizza, watched hockey, took a bath and went to sleep – all uneventful daddy/daughter time.  Such a good girl!  And at 5:00am, I got another text saying she was still sleeping.  Simply amazing.

So, with the complete and utter quiet in my dark hotel room and “heavenly bed,” why can’t I sleep ?  This is MY opportunity to catch up on that coveted sleep I have needed.  But, I have been awake on and off all night.  I miss my people, that’s why.  I love my little nighttime routine with them.  I love listening to her little noises all night long.  I love the little baby kisses and the daddy kisses before bed.  It soothes me.  Thank goodness I will be home tonight for some SLEEP!

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First Night in the Big Girl Crib.. epic Success!

Posted in Firsts on October 17, 2011| Leave a Comment »

First Night in MY OWN room

Perhaps epic is a slight exaggeration, but it was a huge leap forward in Bella’s plan to move out of our bedroom and into her own.  As I have stated before, she’s only 4 months old, so I really don’t mind her sleeping in our bedroom.  Within arms reach.  Where I can hold her pacifier for her.  And I can hear her breathing.  She NEEDS her mommy!   Apparently this change will be traumatic for BOTH of us.  But, Dr. Amy said if we didn’t start this transition process now, it would become infinitely harder the longer we wait.  She also said it should only take 3 days, which is great because I am not the most patient person on this planet.  So, on my birthday and at the close of a fun Disney weekend, we decided to give it the “old college try.”

After bathtime and a yummy bottle, we carried our sleeping beauty upstairs to her room and gently placed her in her crib.  She looked so tiny and alone in there, it made my heart sink.  Keith and I gave her a bunch of kisses and some quiet encouragement and walked gingerly out of her dark bedroom to our own.  I couldn’t help but start to cry at the thought of my precious peanut down the hall all by herself.  I also couldn’t keep my eyes off the baby monitor to see how she was doing.  We even bought the fancy one with night vision!  But we did not need the monitor to hear her when she started crying about 45 minutes after going to bed.  It was a loud, gut-wrenching cry and we had to show major restraint to keep from swooping in to soothe and cuddle her.  I even had to pull the bed covers over my head, otherwise, I would have caved in!  Bella cried for 20 LONG, awful minutes and then fell back to sleep.  At first, the sudden silence scared me, but after confirming she was ok (my hand on a moving set of ribs), I went back to bed.  She repeated this cycle about 3 more times, each crying period shorter and shorter.  We made it all the way from midnight to 8am!!  Keith and I barely slept and are exhausted today, but we held our ground and did not bring her back into our bedroom.

I know this is all part of “the process,” but listening to her cry is simply heartbreaking.  I don’t want our daughter to ever feel scared, ever feel alone or ever think mommy and daddy wouldn’t do everything in the world to make her boo-boos go away!   This is only going to take 3 days.  That’s what I keep telling myself.  I guess you will have to ask me in a few days where Bella is sleeping!

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We’re going to Disney World!

Posted in Firsts on October 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I have lived in Florida on and off (mostly on) since I was in elementary school.  Like most other Floridians, Disney World has always been a huge part of my life.  I remember fondly when my dad took me, with my friend Harper, to Magic Kingdom and we wanted to ride the Mad Tea Party (those cups that SPIN) over and over.  After tiring of the “round and round” by ride #3, my dad asked a sailor in uniform, if he would mind spinning the wheel for his two little girls.  Said sailor obliged and proceeded to spin us as fast as he could, the centrifugal force pinning our little bodies to the sides of the teacup as we squealed with glee!  That is, until the ride stopped, but our brains kept spinning.  Several cotton candy pukes later, we all decided it was time to head back to the hotel to nap it off. 

My annual company trip to Disney World is this weekend and for me it will have new significance.  It will take me down memory lane, but I will also be creating new memories of this special place with Keith and Bella, as a family.  We are staying at the Contemporary, which was always a

6 months pregnant - Bella's still on the INSIDE during THIS trip.

favorite when I was a kid and more recently where my mom and I stayed when I raced in the Disney/Danskin triathlon.  We will take Bella to Magic Kingdom and track down Mickey to get the coveted picture of her with The Mouse!  We will ride It’s a Small World, because there are very few “rides” a 4-month old can ride, but THAT is one of them!  We will buy Bella the quintessential mouse ears with her name embroidered on them, JUST BECAUSE.  And finally, at the end of the day, we will watch the fireworks over Cinderella’s castle and take in the whole Disney experience.

I know it is early in Bella’s life to take her to Disney, and if it wasn’t for my company trip, we probably wouldn’t.  Most people think we are crazy, since she won’t remember a thing anyway.  BUT, I am really looking forward to sharing this part of my history and this little piece of “happy” with our Princess.  We will be taking lots of pictures to show her someday!

However, we will be keeping the tea cups and the sailors away from her… For now…

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