The Experts

My little Peanut is my first child and since I did not have any siblings I really did not spend a lot of time around babies.  So, I really didn't know what I was doing as a mom when she arrived.  There's no crash course on parenting and you don't get a manual when they come out.  That being said, my personality is such that if I don't know something I will find resources that will help me better understand.  Books are probably my favorite as evidenced by my extensive library.  However, being a new mom I really did not have time to read book after book.  So, the next best thing was daily and weekly emails from the various "experts" out there on parenting.

At first, I will admit, I took everything I read as Gospel truth and, consequently, almost needed medication for the anxiety that produced.  My word, these, so called experts will scare the poop out of you as a parent.  Don't do this. You must do this.  And on and on.  And, of course, if you don't heed their advice something terrible will happen to your child.  Yikes!

I no longer regard these email gurus as the be all and end all in expert advice.  My turning point came when the Peanut was about 8 months old.  Please don't fault me for taking so long remember this child is my first =)  I received an email about caring for my child's teeth.  Yes!  I needed this.  I had figured out the basics.....like now that she has teeth I should probably brush them.  It's not rocket science.  So what did the experts say?  Yup, you got it, brush your child's teeth.  Seriously!  I kinda figured that one out on my own.  However, they did offer some additional advice.

Now, if you have a small child get ready to roll on the floor laughing.  The "experts" recommended flossing your child's teeth once they have two teeth are are together, like their front two teeth.  No joke, they wanted me to floss my 8 month olds teeth.  I was ecstatic that I was actually able to brush her teeth, there was no way on this green earth that I would be able to floss my 8 month olds teeth.  Wow!  Apparently the expert that wrote that tidbit of advice does not have children because they would know that ain't happening.

So, to that expert here's my challenge I'll floss my baby's teeth once you are able to floss your cat's teeth.  It's kind of the same thing.  Good luck!

Ready, Set, Go.....Again

A number of years ago I decided that it was time to lose weight and get fit.  I started exercising regularly and eating better with the help of Weight Watchers.  I had always wanted to run, so I decided that it was time since I was trying to get healthy.  Eventually I worked my way up to running a half marathon after losing 75lbs.

Fast forward a few years.  I am now married and have a beautiful daughter AND baby weight to prove that I did truly carry her.  I'm not going to disclose how much weight I gained during the pregnancy, but let's just say it was more than what is recommended.  And now I know why there are recommendations about how much weight to gain during pregnancy.  Grrrrrrr!

I don't do New Years resolutions, so I wasn't about to jump on the get fit bandwagon on the first of January, but I was ready to do something about losing the baby weight.  A few weeks have passed since the New Years resolution hype, so I decided it was time.....again.

My new iPod arrived in the mail which was a replacement for my old one that had been recalled.  I dusted off my new running shoes which were on the top shelf in the closet and I found a couch to 5K training plan.  I was all set.

I got started and, boy oh boy, did I realize quickly just how out of shape I was.  Day one was hard.  Day two was tough, but not as hard as day one, and by day three I began to think that I could actually do this.  Then, my daughter got sick.

We're not talking the sniffles, it was full blown scary fever time.  Up all night making sure temps didn't get too high time.

It kind of goes without saying, but I will say it.  The whole experience was exhausting and I wanted nothing to do with working out.  I just wanted sleep.  Sleep, glorious, sleep!

The fever broke and my little Peanut slowly got better and slowly began sleeping better, so Mama B started sleeping better too.  This meant it was time to get back on the workout schedule.

I'm not going to lie. I was a little scared.  I had this sinking feeling that it would be like starting all over again and I didn't want to do it.  My husband gently nudged me into getting my running shoes back on again and getting on the treadmill.  I'm so thankful he did.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be and I even ran a little more than what my training schedule recommended.  Yah, I'm a rockstar!

I'm really quite excited about getting back in shape again.  It really does feel great to be running again.  And although I am not quite ready for a half marathon, I know that the small steps I am taking now will have long term benefits.

Looking Back

Okay, I will admit it.  I am one of those people.  Those people who take tons of pictures and videos and then just leaves said items on my cameras.  I do print pictures, I have an entire album just for the Peanut already and she's not even a year old yet.  But I did not have any cds of dvds of anything I had taken since she was born.

So, I decided the other night that I had better get going on saving all these memories and did just that.  I was up well past my bedtime burning cd after cd of pictures.  And I am very happy to say that I have cds of all my pictures now.  Yay!

Usually the dvds are my husbands job.  He is  in charge of the video camera and I'm in charge of still photos.  Tonight though I decided to help him out since he tried making dvds the other day and our computer decided not to cooperate with him.

So, here I am waiting very patiently for six months of movies of the Peanut to save so that I can burn some dvds.  I guess it's going to be another late night, but so worth it.

I must say too, that I have been having fun looking back at the videos we shot over the past six months.  It amazes me just how much our daughter has changed, how she has grown, and yet how she has also remained so much the same.  It's been fun looking back.

Can't wait to do this again in six months!

Motivation

Motivation is a mysterious thing.  It sneaks up on us at very unsuspecting times and sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to it.  At least for me.  I can think about something that I want to do for a very long time, but not do anything about it.  But then, out of the blue, I decide to do something about it.  Why?  Who really knows.  It just depends on the circumstance.

I was overweight for most of my life.  I thought about losing the weight and made several halfhearted attempts, but it wasn't until I got an iPod and started listening to sermons that I actually began to do something about the weight and actually lost about 75 pounds.

What got me thinking about this was the recent recall of my first generation iPod Nano.  I bought the thing about 8 years ago (I think) and it was a trusted friend during my workouts for many years.  Then my technology situation changed and I wasn't able to keep my sermons updated and then my workouts began to change.  Let's just say, I haven't really worked out for a long time now and it is very evident.  Ugh!  I hate admitting that.

But now, everything is about to change thanks to the wonderful Apple company.  Bless them for recalling my ancient iPod and for sending me a replacement.  I should be receiving my new iPod in the next few days.  I have already downloaded iTunes to my new laptop and have subscribed to some of my favorite sermons.  I even have new running shoes.  Now, let's see it my motivation returns.  I'm hoping it does because I still have baby weight to lose and I'm ready for it to be lost.

Strolling

It is not uncommon for me and the peanut to go for a walk most days.  We live in the part of the country that makes it very conducive for walking outdoors nearly everyday and I absolutely love it!  Not to mention we live in an area where we can very easily walk to parks, the library, shops, restaurants and even a spring training stadium.  It's a tourist hot spot too.  Good stuff!

The walks are good for the Peanut, you can't beat all the fresh air and sunshine.  We get to see doggies and ducks and fountains and flowers, lots and lots of flowers.  Best of all because my daughter is a real extrovert, we get to visit with lots and lots of people from the volunteer lady at the library to the shopkeeper to the winter visitors.  It's great!  Not just for her too.

I'm not one of these moms who is in five different moms groups.  I don't pay for classes for my daughter to attend.  And as much as I have tried things like MeetUp, it just hasn't happened, so our daily walks have become my opportunity for Mommy to have some adult interaction.

Please don't hear what I'm not saying.  I love, love, love being home with my daughter.  It is one of my greatest joys, but only being able to interact with my daughter all day sometimes gets hard.  So getting out and chatting it up with folks I get to meet on our daily strolls is just an added benefit to enjoying the sunshine, the fresh air, and seeing the joy on my daughter's face when she gets to see the duckies.

Oooh, What's That?

My daughter is 11 months old and can be quite the chatterbox at times.  Every morning when she wakes up she stays in her crib for a good 10 minutes just chattering away.  When she looks at her books you can hear her mumbling as she flips pages.  And when she sees something outside and gets excited she gets blabbering.

As cute as it is, and it is very cute, it's a bunch of gibberish right now.  It's a bunch of consonants and vowels strung together in no certain order. Even her "mama" and "dada" isn't mommy and daddy since most of the time she is saying those words to some toy or her food.

That is until just a few weeks ago when she began to say, "What is that?"  Now, please keep in mind that when she says it it's her unique version, but it is definitely "What is that?"

 Mommy and Daddy were so excited when we realized that she was talking and we knew what she was saying.  Not to mention we were so proud of her inquisitive nature.  Every time she was picked up she began asking her favorite question and pointing to everything in sight.  It was perfect timing too because it was right around when the grandparents came to visit.

It's been a few weeks now and we are still very proud of our inquisitive little Peanut, but let's just say that we are ready some new questions.

Responsibility and Electronic Media

So, what would say is the benefit for a child between the ages of zero to three to watch an educational video or television program?  The promoters of the video or program probably would have a litany of the educational benefits.  How could Elmo counting and doing the alphabet not be beneficial for my 11 month old to watch?  It will help them learn their numbers and letters, right?  Wrong!

There have been very few studies on the benefits of electronic media, i.e. television, on children ages zero to three, but the studies that have been done have come to similar conclusions.  There is really only one thing that a child between the ages of zero and three learns from watching an educational video or television program.  Any guesses?  They learn to identify characters.  Not bad, right?  At least that's something.  Well, it is something, something wonderful for the marketers behind the electronic media because now they are able to build brand loyalty earlier than ever.

That child that watches the Elmo video will now begin to recognize Elmo everywhere like the box of crackers at the store, the book at the library, the shoes on his little playmates feet.  Now going to the store with mommy becomes an Elmo spotting adventure with the child wanting everything he sees with Elmo on it.  Mommy will possibly give in and so begins brand loyalty.

Brand loyalty isn't that bad.  Kids want things, it's part of being a kid.  There are though seriously negative effects from early television watching as well.  Such as, some researchers believe that the child is in a seizure like state while watching, that is why it appears that they are so mesmorized by what they see.  Also, researchers found that just having a television on in the same room that your child is playing in reduces their ability to focus.  One study observed that a 12 month old was able to focus on a toy for one minute with no television on, but when a television was on in the room they were playing in their focus decreased to 25 seconds and they weren't even watching the television.

I believe that we, as parents, have a responsibility to our children to do what is best for them.  I know that often we have questions about what is best and we consult the experts for help.  It is crucial that we use discernment when doing this and really do our research, which isn't always easy.

Blueberry Infused Steamed Pears

Sounds kind of fancy doesn't it?  Kind of gourmet?  Not so, my friends.  It was simply what my little peanut had for breakfast this morning.  So simple and yet so delicious. 

It's exactly what it sounds like too, by the way. 

I have been making my daughter's food from the moment she was ready to try her first solids.  I had zero clue what I was doing initially, but I knew that whatever I did would be far better than any jarred food I could buy at the store.

It's been a journey.  It's certainly been a lot of fun too.  And it's been remarkably easier than I ever imagined.

The toughest part, which really wasn't tough at all, was just making sure that I didn't introduce foods that were considered high allergy risk foods and I have a handy reference book for that. 

Pears have been part of my daughter's diet from the beginning and they will probably be a part of her diet for a long, long time for several reasons.  One, she LOVES them!  Two, they keep her regular, like clockwork.  No pears, no poop.  Seriously!

Blueberries are something new that I decided to try and these too she loves.  So it was kind of a natural fusion to combine the two. 

I just thaw some frozen blueberries.  When I use the microwave they produce a nice amount of juice.  I then add the steamed pears that I previously prepared and froze in Peanut size portions. Those too are thawed in the microwave and produce a nice amount of juice.  Voila!  My little Peanut now has blueberry infused steamed pears. 

For a little extra something something I sometimes add oatmeal....mmmmmmmmm!

It's official, my daughter eats better than I do =)