Fun with Food

We introduced Jane to cereal last week... first try, she took it happily. Second try onward, she turns her head away, closes her mouth and screams if I put the spoon near her mouth! :p Awesome! I only wish I had the same aversion to solid foods!

I keep trying every other day, hoping she'll surprise me one day and enjoy it. I even mixed in some apple sauce on Friday and it worked for a spoonful or two and then it was over again.

I'm mixing it with breastmilk, thinking that this will make it taste more like what she's used to and, thus, more open to eating it. Stupidly, I wanted to taste the cereal last week, not thinking "oh, my breastmilk is in this" and the result - YUCK! It's not only that I was a little turned off by the fact that I tasted my own milk, it's that it tasted disgusting!

In this article on Baby Center about introducing first foods it says to breastfeed first until baby is almost full, then feed the cereal... here's my issue - when I ask Jane if she is almost full, she never responds! I mean you think the child would say "hey Mom, I'm ready for that cereal now" or something. :p How the heck am I supposed to know when Jane's "almost full". If you're bottle feeding or formula feeding, fine, you know how much your babe typically eats during a feed and you can cut 'um off when they're almost done - not the case with the boob! I have no clue how much Jane eats during a feed. I've timed it before but as if I have the brain power to figure that out... tee hee hee.

Jane's only 5 and a half months, so we started trying the "solids" a few weeks early. I'm not really worried about it at this point because she's still seeming very satisfied with milk alone. Anybody have any tips on introducing cereals and solids that may help?

Jen

PS - Obviously this picture was taken on day one of the cereal intro... because she's eating it!

Fun with Food

For the Ladies...

People posted their Sexiest Men Alive online for 2009... What do you think?

I think Johnny Depp is great but where the heck has he been since Pirates of the Caribbean? Definitely not around enough for me to think of him as Sexiest Man!

And Nick Cannon? Seriously?

I love Jerry O'Connell... he's hilarious and that's totally sexy. I have a recently discovered love for Jason Bateman (here in a pic with his oh-to-cute daughter) as well and think he should replace John Cho on the list.

Ryan Reynolds is the ultimate - Canadian, funny and hot! Have you seen The Proposal? It's hilarious - I think I've seen it 4 times now. OMG that scene with the song in the bedroom, crap, I can't remember the song again...hmmm... It takes two to make a thang go riiGGHTT, it takes two to make it out of SIGHT!

Is it wrong that I think Taylor Lautner should be added to this list and he's 10 years younger than me and basically it's illegal for me to think that?

Oh, add a little Hugh Jackman in there too! He's the hottest Dad around!

No surprise that I'm a big supporter of Rob Pattinson being on here or the guys from Glee... obsessed much? Hopefully going to see New Moon next week with a girlfriend. YIPEE!

Have a great weekend!

Jen :)

PS - A little more eye candy below :)

For the Ladies...

The Trouble With Teething

The trouble with teething is that, once you realize your babes is teething, every time he or she gets upset, you think it's teething! You forget about the obvious "Oh, she may be hungry" or "she's tired" and instead say "oh, her poor little teeth"... it took us a few days of adjustment before we got back on track to properly read her new cues. Like I always say, every 2-3 weeks, God gives me a new baby - a fabulous baby - but a new one! :)

My advice - go through your usual checklist first - is she hungry, is she tired, poopy bum (this one's usually obvious), etc... then assume it's teething.

A week into this teething thing and it's become obvious when it's teething. Jane typically never cries (knocking on wood) but there's been two nights this week where she's started screeching, tears, everything for what would appear to be no reason but, obviously, must be the two little teeth that are now both like razor blades sticking through her gums.

So far, these teeth have not discovered Mommy's nipples... will keep you posted on that one though!

Jen :)

PS - Here's some pics from our "photoshoot" yesterday. I just love to take pictures of her and she is so patient!

The Trouble With Teething

Heads Up

I've had a lot of friends and blog buddies (that's you by the way - I hate "followers" cause it sounds like I'm running a cult) ask me where I get Jane's cute winter hats - and, of course, the answer is ETSY! These hats are the reason I found Etsy... our photographer, Kerianne Brown, used a bunch of these beautiful hats in our newborn photoshoot (see photos). I had to get some for Jane as she just looked too cute!

Ching makes the hats for us, her shop is called Cloo Gifts on Etsy. She is so great to work with... I've made many special requests for different colors, sizes, etc. and I always get the hats within three weeks or so. The best part - they are only $10-$15!!

The hat Jane is wearing now is sized 3-6 months and it will fit her for at least another 2 months or so. I also ordered a 6-12 month sized hat in Ivory for the rest of the winter that is soooo gorgeous - it just arrived last week and I am so excited! If you decide to buy one of the hats and you know your babes head measurement, let Ching know, that way she can make sure your hat will fit perfectly!

Good news - I'm going to be doing a GIVEAWAY with some of Ching's fabulous hats, so stay tuned!!


Jen :)

Heads Up

Weigh-In Wednesday

Despite a weekend of heavy exercise which included mall shopping and two bouts of outdoor shopping, added to a diet heavy in chocolate, wine, steak, Coldstone, and the odd english muffin, I am appalled, shocked, mind-blown-surprised that I did not lose weight this week?!?! I mean what does a girl have to do?

What I did do was a little retail therapy. I was avoiding buying any clothes to fit my current body because I didn't want to waste the money and I thought that buying clothes for this body might make me less motivated to lose the weight. However, after spending a weekend with my fabulous, beautiful, lost-my-baby-weight-in-a-week girlfriend (I know, it makes you want to hate her but you can't because it's not her fault... she's been chasing after her baby boy since day one), I realized that the better I feel about myself, the more I like myself, the more I want to like myself more, the more I am motivated to lose this weight. So, I sucked it up and went shopping - I know, poor me!!

So, now, in my new jeans and t-shirts, I am feelin' good and ready to not fit into them anymore! :p In a good way obviously - like they are too big (I feel the need to be clear because I know there are others suffering from the MB out there).

I also bought some new shoes. Shoes and purses are the BEST make-you-feel-good purchases... because I am always a size 8. Even when I was 40 weeks pregnant, I was a cute size 8 shoe! ha ha ha. And who doesn't love a new purse? So exciting to look inside and find new spots to put all your old crap!

Jen :)

Weigh-In Wednesday

Exhaustion

Finally, after what seemed like 2 years but actually about a week, Jane had a more "normal" sleep... normal for the last month anyways. She only woke up twice, for boob, then went back to sleep. Hilariously, I'm more tired today after getting such deep sleep and woke up looking like I had been in the boxing ring all night.

We had a fabulous weekend with our friends from home and their little 8 month old Parker. God, it's awesome to hang out with another couple going through similar things as yourself. We went out to eat, went shopping, everything. It's totally different when you're with a couple or friend who "gets it".

Both Parker and Jane were little devils yesterday - both of 'um are teething and they just weren't the typical happy-go-lucky babes we're used to. Added to the fact that both Moms were a little zombie-esque from lack of sleep. So, we went out to dinner - good idea right? :p Usually, when we've taken her out before, Jane would have some milk and pass out but, of course, last night Dan and I had to take shifts eating - I got to go first because every Mom knows how to polish off a good sized plate of food in under 3 minutes. Had we been out with anyone who didn't have kids, I'm sure they would have been driven mad. Within the first minute, water was spilled across the table, we were ripping up table clothes to use as toys, both babes were "talking" which basically means they were screaming, Parker was chewing on the table (which of course had been disinfected by Clorox wipes :p), no one talked while we ate because we were all too scared if we took a break to chat we'd miss our opening to actually enjoy our food... and with all of that, I'd consider it a great night out! ha ha ha. How times have changed!

I wish I could think of something helpful or entertaining to write about today but my mind is mush. Jane's having a nap now and all I wanna do is lie on the couch, watch Project Runway, and eat chocolate... but it's only 10am and chocolate is like booze, ya kinda should wait until at least lunchtime to give it a go. But I don't have any chocolate anyways so I'll just eat an orange... yum. Totally the same satisfaction... not.

Jen

PS - Jane's sitting up on her own now... so exciting! It's amazing how these milestones pass you by so quickly!

Exhaustion

As Always, HELP

I am struggling this morning after four nights of little sleep. I'm quite sure, in addition to the two teeth that are now through the gums, Jane's going through a growth spurt. She's eating every two hours and waking twice at night to feed as well as a bunch more times just to wake up and smile at me! :p

When she's been napping in her crib, I've been allowing her to sleep on her belly. She can flip both ways now so they say that's ok but I'm too scared to let her do it all night. She sleeps SO much more soundly and longer when she's sleeping on her belly. Last night, in my frustration about not getting any sleep, I flipped her on her belly - she immediately went from wide awake to passed out cold. Of course, then (because I'm crazy) I lied awake for 2 hours worrying about SIDS and eventually flipped her back on her back, of course, waking her.

What the heck do I do here ladies? She can flip both ways, she easily lifts her head and shoulders off the ground when on her belly, but is that enough to allow her to sleep on her belly? I read online you should always put them to sleep on their back and if they flip onto their belly then that's ok... but not to put them to sleep on their bellies?!?! HELP!

At this point, I don't know what to do. She's not getting a good sleep and neither am I. But I just can't imagine if something happened to her, I would never forgive myself.

What are your thoughts?

Jen xoxo

PS - Here's a picture of Jane and her "boyfriend" Parker from this weekend! They look like an old married couple in this picture! :p

As Always, HELP