More Than Any Other...

I love my baby more than other mothers love their babies. I must. It's a conclusion I have not easily reached. But if all mothers loved their children the way I love mine, it would be debilitating. I honestly love her more and more every day. And as I tell her, she sure is a lot of work but to say she is "worth it" doesn't do it, or her, justice. 

Sunday is our "family day" and it's also what I tell Juliette is "our best day." We wake up whenever she wakes up. Our morning is on her schedule and there is no rushing and no guilt. When she goes down for her nap, momma starts the cooking! Today was fairly simple as there were only twelve of us for dinner (typically we have up to double that!) so I made 8 pounds of fried chicken cutlet, pasta, homemade sauce. and stromboli. For dessert, I made a mouth-watering recipe that was floating around Facebook (COUSIN KIMMY'S CANDY SHOP TRIFFLE) which called for a chocolate cake, two boxes of instant chocolate pudding, Cool Whip, crushed mini Reeses peanut butter cups and Reeses pieces. It was disgustingly good and I can't wait until I wake up tomorrow and can sneak a bowlful for breakfast!

Seriously? I wanted to skip dinner and go
straight for this.

After we ate, I took Juliette for a half hour walk around the neighborhood in her carriage, along with my cousin and my aunt. Tomorrow she is 8 months old and one would think she would have outgrown a carriage and would want to be in a stroller by now, but not my smart girl. She gets laid down in there and she is like a little queen - she waits for her "pipey" (pacifier), her baby doll, her blanket, and my iPhone playing her favorite five songs (the same ones I played for her when she was in my belly!) and she is in all her glory. I could push her forever and she doesn't make a peep or move so much as a toe. She lays there and looks around and takes it all in until her eyes start rolling and she falls fast asleep. 

She then just played with my cousin and I so happily all evening. She's already been in bed for over an hour and I miss her. I know. That sounds ridiculous. Other mothers will likely roll their eyes at me. (Again, proving my point that I likely love my daughter more than they love their own ;)) But it really is true (me missing her, not me loving her more than any other mother). I think a lot of it has to do with my situation: the fact that I have to share her and be away from her at times despite not wanting to. It makes me want to use up every single minute I do have her. Plus, she makes me happy. Fairly simple, right? We typically enjoy things in life that make us happy and I have found the one thing that makes me happiest - my beautiful daughter. 

So I am ending this Sunday night missing my baby who is just up the stairs and waiting for me in bed - what a wonderful feeling. But I'm not a complete idiot - I am taking advantage of this time to do the bills, get some work done as a head start on tomorrow morning, and half-watch one of the twenty-seven shows I currently have on my DVR.

I love Sundays. Is the next one here yet?

Love,

Momeo and Juliette

XOXO

Bragging Time

So in addition to being the cutest baby in the world, my daughter is also the best behaved. Totally objective. I put this poor little girl in the car at 4:30 today. I stopped at a store 10 minutes away from home, ran her in and out in her carseat, and then buckled her back up for a one hour, ten minute ride. Once we arrived, I took her from the carseat and put her directly in the Ergo - she was in there for an hour without so much as a peep (just big smiles for momma every time I looked down at her). When we were finished, she went back into the carseat and along for the hour and fifteen minute ride home. She started fussing about 45 minutes away from home and so momma started singing. I actually ran out of baby songs to sing and started making up my own - thank goodness she's an easy audience. As long as I sang, she was a happy passenger. So sing, I did. I made words rhyme that have never rhymed before. We were both relieved by the time we pulled into our driveway four hours after leaving!

I nursed her for as long as she wanted and then we had some Momma and Juliette play time - the best! She loves blowing her lips and spitting right now so I let her do that in my lap for almost half hour straight. My cousin brought over her five-week old baby earlier today and it blew my mind - where does the time go? How did Juliette change from that little, tiny, helpless lump into her fun little self? When did she grow so much? Learn so much? 

I remember being worried when she was really tiny - will I love her as much when she's not so tiny and new? I even asked my sister! And the answer is no - I will not love her as much; I will love her one million times more. Every day that I am with her - every hour - more love sneaks in between us. Juliette and I have discussed this and we've come to the conclusion that it must sneak in at night when we don't see. Because I love this little girl even more than I did yesterday (but slightly less than I will tomorrow). I can't help it.

Somehow, I won the baby lottery and got the best baby there is. What a lucky, lucky gal.

The best baby in the world. Fact. 

Homemade Baby Food - You Can Do It!

So back in my days of Pinterest (pregnant/nesting days before I actually had the baby as opposed to the days now wherein I have no time for Pinterest) I came across a post of a woman and her mother who had just made a month's worth of baby food. Clicking through, the site gave a great shopping list for everything they had made and then step-by-step instructions on how to make it all within two hours. It inspired me and I said, that day, "I am going to make my own homemade baby food!" Fast forward months later when baby is here and I started to doubt it - just a little. Will it really be as easy as the post described? Will it really only take two hours? Will it be that inexpensive? And is it worth it?

I can now answer those questions: It really is as easy as they described; It took me longer than two hours the first few times (especially if you count the set-up/clean-up time which I do!); It can be inexpensive or you can buy all organic and mostly fancy-shmancy Whole Foods things like I have; and yes, yes, yes, it is worth it!

Apples to make (avocados are in the brown paper bag to ripen faster)

I started my baby with some of the basics: avocado, banana, apples. Avocado and bananas cannot be messed up - you smoosh them. Seriously. If you want, you can use the Baby Bullet (which is what I use for everything) to puree them and add a touch of water, but you really can't screw it up so they are the best to start with. WARNING: Your baby will most likely become constipated. My daughter never seemed uncomfortable, but I wasn't happy that her bowel movements changed so quickly which is what prompted me to make things besides just avocado and banana. 

Apples are easy too and once you master those, many fruits/veggies follow the same rules: (1) When in doubt, peel whatever it is (the skin is good for them but more difficult for their little tummies to digest); (2) Put the fruit/veggie in a pot of water so that the water is just covering it and bring to a boil; (3) when the fruit/veggie is soft, put it in the Baby Bullet and add the water it was cooked in as needed to adjust the consistency. I have cooked the following things following those three rules: apples, pears, eggplant, golden squash, zucchini, broccoli, peas, and carrots.

Sweet potatoes, bananas, broccoli medley, and
the Baby Bullet base.

I have also sauteed baby spinach and kale in virgin olive oil and then pureed it. Once I got these basics down pat, I started making other things such as sweet potatoes and butternut squash (bake on 425 degrees on cookie sheet until soft - depending on the size it may take 45 - 90 minutes, then scoop out and puree, adding water as necessary). I also made regular white potatoes this way but will not make them again - they were too thick and adding water and pureeing made them paste-like. It almost broke my Baby Bullet and they didn't taste good. 

I have given her mango (scooped right out of skin and pureed with water) and blueberries (popped into Baby Bullet and pureed with no water).

I regularly make oatmeal. I buy steel oats from Whole Foods (scoop them yourself  - really inexpensive). I grind them in the Baby Bullet into a fine powder. Then I boil 1 cup water and add 1/4 cup of ground oats and whisk constantly for 8-10 minutes. I sometimes add pureed apples (you can even add frozen chunks of this puree if you previously made it), bananas, cinnamon, brown sugar, etc... depending on what flavor I want as I whisk them. 

All of the above can then be frozen in ice cube trays or small Tupperwares (OXO brand makes great small 2 and 4 oz containers with tight snapping lids that I love - Babies r Us carries them). I keep it all in the freezer and every night before I go to bed, I take out a breakfast, lunch and dinner meal for the next day and move it to the refrigerator. Easy peasy. 

To serve it, I either give it to her cold (bananas, blueberries, mangoes, etc...), room temperature (avocado, spinach, etc...) or warmed (potatoes, oatmeal, etc...) At first, she would only eat things cold! But she transitioned out of that and now usually takes whatever I will give her so I serve it the way I would want to eat it!

Here is what I made in just under three hours (that includes set-up and clean-up)! What takes me the longest is peeling whatever needs to be peeled - the rest is smooth sailing! You can see the Baby Bullet storage containers on the bottom right, the OXO containers on the bottom left, the Baby Bullet rubber container on the top left and the ice cube trays I use (got them at the dollar store - three/four trays for one dollar!).








Below is my freezer door full of food I made last time (once I transferred it from the ice cube trays into Ziploc bags). After it freezes in the trays, I place 2-3 "cubes" into a Ziploc and label it with the food and the date I made it. Food lasts up to 3 days in the refrigerator (although I don't usually go more than two days to be safe) and up to 3 months in the freezer (although it's best when used within 1 month).

So try it! I love the fact that I can buy all organic produce and can make it easily at home - I know every single thing that has gone into my baby's mouth! If I can do it, anyone can and it is beyond worth it. Your baby will be happy, healthy and will be a great (read: not picky) eater! Have fun cooking! 

Drained...But Trying

I am mentally exhausted after today. Court was fine (in the sense that not much happened and we were out of there fairly quickly). The upside is that I didn't have to pay my attorney quite a million dollars for today and I got back to my baby very fast. Downside was that F tried to come over and talk to me as if he hadn't completely disrespected me yesterday by texting me a personal attack about me as a mother. So I calmly told him I was not speaking with him. He had an adult temper tantrum (if there is such a thing) in the middle of the courthouse - shaking his head, huffing and puffing. He even took out a pen, clicked it open angrily and wrote down, I am sure, our exchange. (Although I would bet my life he left out the first part of my response which was, "You attacked me as a mother and so I have nothing to say to you right now.") He then held up the notebook to show his attorney and, for all intents and purposes, tell on me. This is who I am dealing with. A thirty-one year old "man" who says disrespectful things, accepts no responsibility for them, and then has a temper tantrum when he doesn't like the repercussions. It's exhausting. But now we move on. 

We have until our next court date (approximately three weeks) to get an agreement signed. If we do, we don't even have to appear in court again. If we don't, we begin a trial. I am done negotiating with him, however. I am not giving in and so if he doesn't want to agree and sign, then we will go to trial. At least then I can sleep at night and know that I did everything in my power to do what I feel is best for my daughter. So that's that. For today.

He also has her tomorrow morning for two hours. He is supposed to have her tomorrow night for two and a half hours but he needed to change (for a football game, I am sure. Priorities, priorities). I still hate it every single time. And that explains why this post sucks. :( Today sucked and I am dreading those two hours tomorrow. But then I have the rest of the day and all day Friday with my little girl, uninterrupted. I suppose I need to get used to this but the thought of doing so overwhelms me and so I have to take it day by day. And I have to remind myself that there are parents with children who are not healthy and would likely sell their souls to trade spots with me and "only" have to share a perfectly healthy child. I try to think about that when I start losing it. 

Is it tomorrow at 11:30 am yet????

Love,
Momeo and Juliette
XOXO

Breastfeeding, Boogies and Bad News...

First (and I will likely follow this up with a more in-depth post at some point), I love breastfeeding. This has surprised me more, perhaps, than anything else about motherhood. I knew it was best for my baby. I knew I would do it.  But I didn't expect to like it. Love it, really. It sounds silly (especially, I am guessing, to those who have never done it) but I feel very proud of the fact that my daughter has been breastfed every day of her life thus far. Up until 6 months, she was exclusively breastfed - nothing else passed those lovely little lips. At six months, she started on fruits and vegetables and has since expanded into some grains and meats. But she is still breastfed like clockwork and I love it. I feel like I am doing right by her ever time I feed her. I love the bonding time; it's built-in, take-a-break-from-life-and-love-your-daughter. I don't even mind it at 11;15 p.m. right as I was on the brink of falling asleep. Or at 2 a.m. Or 4 a.m. Or 6 a.m. For some inexplicable reason, it never ever bothers me to feed her. So I just wanted to share that. Like I said, I have so much more I could say about it and so maybe another rainy day post will be dedicated solely to "the boob" as we call it around here. We shall see. But for any mothers-to-be, try it. You might fall in love with it as I have.

Secondly, boogies - oh my word, the boogies. My little angel is sicky. It's quite heartbreaking and she's not even that bad. God help me if she ever legitimately gets sick. Since yesterday, she has had rosy cheeks and a red bum. She has also been leaking from every single hole in her face. A lot. And yet another cliche is true: "it's amazing what doesn't bother you as a mother." I will wipe those boogers and those runny eyes and that drool with my hand and then immediately use it to wipe my own face. Or to finish my apple. Because those are my boogers and tears and drool. I made all of that. It's not gross, it's cute. The night before last, one of us had an accident in our bed. I won't say which one out of fear of embarrassing someone, but someone peed a bit too much and the sheets were wet at 2:34 a.m. Awesome. Out of bed we were. Changed baby. Cleaned baby. Threw down a blanket over the new definition of a "wet spot" in bed, stuck a boob in a mouth and back to sleep we went. So obviously the first thing I did yesterday morning was strip the bed, wash and dry the sheets, and re-make the bed. (Although, maybe that's not so obvious if you're still grossed out that all I did at 2:34 a.m. was throw a blanket down on top of it. Survival.) Well, I woke up this morning and it looks like all Juliette did the entire time I was sleeping was blow her nose on as many square inches of our sheets as she could possibly reach. So the washing machine and I reunite. It's quite a lot of work having a baby. (But shhh! I wouldn't trade it for the world!)

Lastly, the bad news. F and I were so close to coming to a visitation agreement over the past few days. We had been going back and forth over email with proposals and counter-proposals and counter-counter-proposals. Then today I explained  - again - that there were some things I am just not going to voluntarily agree to. Ever. He said he wouldn't either and so we were frozen. He then asked me to switch his visitation time this Thursday and a weekend date next month. I told him that I would be happy to do my best to accommodate him with that if he would agree to this. Well, that is all it took to set him off. I received some nasty text messages, one of which attacked me as a mother. (Really? Ugh. When do men grow up? He is 31 years old. I am the mother of his child. A damn good mother, which he knows, and it's the first place he goes when he's stomping his feet and crossing his arms. So disrespectful.) Anyway, I am fairly confident that the same person attacking me as a mother wants to cancel his regular time with his daughter because of a football game. I wish these men were forced to grow up as much as them women are when they become pregnant; their lives don't change. Yet they still want all the benefits, all the "pro"s of becoming a parent. It really frustrates me despite how much I try to blow it off. So - back to court we go tomorrow. It's our last conference (i.e., another opportunity for the judge to chastise us, tell us to grow up, talk it out, and come to an agreement because we don't belong in Family Court) before our set trial date. I am not giving in this time. I'm just not. I have to follow my gut and do what I think is best and if other people around me think that makes me "difficult" or "a bitch," I just cannot care. I am crossing everything that a miracle will occur and someone will grow up a bit tonight as he sleeps and be willing to agree with me tomorrow. If not, well...I am sure you will hear about it here.

Love,
Momeo and Juliette
XOXO

Baby Wearing! WARNING: It's Addictive!

...who 'da thought? I started wearing Juliette when she was about a week old. She started in the Moby - loved it. Comfy, stretchy, warm - perfect for a winter baby. I originally ordered a carrier because it was on a friend's "Suggested things to register for" list and I found one with a NY Yankee logo. The day I wrapped her to my body, I fell in love with it. I knew I would wear her until she graduated. College.

But then she got a bit heavier. And I got a bit tired of wrapping and unwrapping (and re-wrapping and unwrapping again) yards and yards of material. So I switched to the K'Tan. Also loved it! It was similar to the Moby but with speed and ease - it was already "wrapped" for me! I slipped the rings on, tucked her in and off we went. I cringe to admit that I even wore her facing out a few times until I researched all the different holds and carriers. It was then I realized that in wearing her "front facing", I had committed the cardinal sin of baby wearing! (You can research it yourself, but it really is the cardinal sin. It's just not good for baby's physical development or their mental/emotional security. Silly me.) The K'Tan was also much easier to bring with me - I could throw it in the diaper bag or over my arm on the way to the car. Much easier than rolling up the entire Moby (and never using the supposed-to-use pouch it comes with).

And then...she got a bit heavier. So I started researching structured carriers. I, of course, loved the Tula as I am sure any baby-wearing momma is apt to do. They are beautiful. They are expensive. They are virtually impossible to get your hands on. I started entering contests to win a Tula because once I find out there is something I cannot have, well, I must have it. It was weeks later when I realized that I was not entering drawings to win a Tula. Oh no, no, no. I was entering a drawing to win a chance to purchase an ultra-expensive Tula. Not kidding - they are in high demand. High. And mommas who set their minds on something are set. So Tulas will likely not be available until Juliette is wearing her baby. So I moved on.

I reached out to a friend who has worn no less than five kids. Sometimes, it seems, at the same time. She, not surprisingly, knew about every carrier I inquired about. She told me it was her Ergo that she was in love with. I ended up borrowing it from her for two days so that I could decide if it would pacify me after my daydreams about the elusive Tula - it did. Within one hour of wearing Juliette around the house and yard (with only two buckles to clip each time), I was online looking for the cutest Ergo at the best price. I found a purple one for $115 and committed; it was on its way.

Ah, I have never looked back. Juliette has been worn belly-to-belly, in the hip carry, and most recently on my back. (I still love the belly-to-belly as it makes me feel she is smaller and younger and cuter and not-growing-up-ever. I can also access the front pocket easiest this way and, most importantly, see her big blue eyes look up at me. She is starting to like the back carry better as she can see where we are going - shoot. I think she's going to be independent. Great. Just great.) I wear her so much that my father calls her his "little marsupial." I wear her in the house so that I can unload the dishwasher, fold laundry, work on my computer and pretty much do anything without yelling into another room, "mommy's almost done!" I wear her almost every time I step outside the house as well - for walks, down to the beach, and at every store. 

I might be addicted to wearing her. But I love it and she's only wear-able for such a short time. So I dismiss all the guilt (and strange looks from some of "those people") and I enjoy every single second of it. When she sees me grab it from our basket near the door, her little wrists start spinning so fast it seems she may just take off one day. I know she loves it too.

She's one week away from 8 months old and so I cherish every moment in which literally nothing separates momma from her daughter - she's attached to me, right where she belongs. 

Things I Loved Today...

• Being woken up by a good hair pull from my baby girl. I turn to her and get a HUGE smile.
• The fact that she cried for me every time I left the room. (Not the actual crying, but the fact that she does it)
• Her "mmmmm"ing every time I fed her a quarter of a blueberry (have I mentioned my maniacal fear of choking? My poor daughter gets bits and pieces so small that she probably doesn't even know it's a solid. I puree everything. Everything. So blueberries - even a quarter of one blueberry - is brave for me)
• The admiring looks and comments she got as I wore her through BJs (she is really cute, especially as a marsupial!)
• When she was crying because I put her down to carry in the groceries, I looked at her and said in a funny voice, "Momma is just getting the groceries from the car" and she started laughing. My funny voice isn't even that funny. But it is to her.
• Our impromptu photo shoot halfway through carrying said groceries into the house. She was too cute not to capture! 
  
  
  
  
• Sneaking her a small lil taste of my Mr. Softee and seeing her smacking her lips like I gave her an entire filet mignon
• Dancing with her in Michele and Jay's kitchen. She got so excited for our dance party that she turned into my squinty-eyed, thigh crushing, toe curling, awesome baby.
• Nursing her before bed as part of our nighttime routine: bath, boob, book, bed. Boob was my favorite tonight (probably hers too) ;)
• Checking on her in bed halfway through this post because this made me miss her. Smelling her. Kissing her. Loving her.

How did one girl get so lucky? "So somewhere in my youth, or childhood, I must have done something good..." 

Love,

Momeo and Juliette

XOXO