A Sunday Reflection

A moment from the past week, that sums it up, when words don't suffice....

Today teeth, tomorrow boobs

I forgot to mention in my last post that June has TEETH! Two of them to be exact. The first tooth came at about 6 1/2 months and the second came a couple weeks later. The first one was a complete surprise...well, almost. At her 6 month check up, the doctor mentioned that she would be getting teeth soon, as her gums looked pretty swollen. But I had friends whose baby had swollen gums for 5 months with no teeth, so I didn't really hold my breath. And then one evening as I was putting her to bed, there it was! She hadn't even seems crabby or especially cranky to me. I couldn't believe it. I felt emotional, like she'd gotten her period or something. Our little girl is growing up so fast! Today teeth, tomorrow boobs. Okay, okay, maybe thats a bit of an over-reaction, but I really did feel like she has passed this huge milestone and was truly "growing up." Amos and I both realized that we could no longer let June Apple suck sweetly on our pinkies, which she has done for comfort since she was born. Shit, if she can't have that, she might as well move out and get her own place. She clearly doesn't need us anymore. Maybe I can convince her to stay.

Seriously speaking, I really did get a little choked up over her new tooth. At first I couldn't really name why it meant so much to me, but then I realized that getting teeth means that she has begun the process of moving away from me, more specifically, one day she will stop breastfeeding completely and only eat big people food. For some reason, when she started eating solids, I did not have this reaction. But her first tooth was real, physical proof that she is not always going to be my little baby who relies on me, solely, for her complete survival. And while much of me celebrates this milestone, another part of me mourns the inevitable evolution of our closeness, our proximity.

The days when she needed me....

Knashers and a Bad Parent Confession

June's second tooth did not come as gracefully as her first. After nearly two weeks of misery for all those involved, her second tooth, right next to her first, made its grand appearance. I have read that once the teeth break through, the pain lessens considerably, but June Apple is still pretty miserable and chews on everything (including me-more on that later), so I am guessing more teeth may be on their way.

Did I mention that these teeth are SHARP? We've had to learn together how to deal with biting. And here comes the mega- shameful parenting confession. I hit June Apple. Okay, hit might be a strong word. This was before her first tooth came in, but she was definitely teething, and she bit down especially hard while she was nursing. Without thinking about it, I screamed OUCH and bopped her on the head with my hand. Her response was to look at me a smile. My response was to consider turning myself in to Child Protective Services. I felt completely awful and horrified. Now, I did not bop her hard at all (clearly, because she smiled). But what disturbs me most, is that I did it without thinking. As if it was instinctual. Oh my God, I am a terrible, unfit mother, if my instincts are to harm my child. I never thought I would do something so awful. So, I think I need to do some soul searching about what that means, and check myself before I wreck myself (and, more importantly, June Apple).

Needless to say, she has gotten better about the biting, but I don't attribute it to my head bopping episode. I think that the fact that I stop feeding her momentarily whenever she bites me, hopefully, sends her the message that Biting=The Kitchen is Closed. We'll see what happens when she gets more teeth. In the meantime, I am hoping that my bopping instincts lie dormant.

A Sunday Reflection

A moment from the past week, that sums it up, when words don't suffice....

7 months old!

I finally figured out how to make my pics lusciously large! And speaking of large, look who is getting to be so big (well, relatively speaking)! These months seem to fly by. Several people have told me that your 30's go by so quickly, most likely because these are the baby rearing years for many, and time just seems to swoosh away. I am trying to hold on to her tininess while looking forward to, and celebrating each milestone, evidence that she is growing up. When I took June Apple to get her 7 month vaccinations, she weighed in at a whopping 14 pounds, 10 ounces, gaining almost a pound this month. In other news, I have lost several more pounds this month. They have, most likely, just transferred into Juju.

This past month June has enjoyed moving around by a variety of rolls and scoots, so that now our house is carpeted with blankets, which protect her noggin' while she throws her self to and fro. I told Amos the other day June's major motivation for moving, and what undoubtedly will propel her to crawl and eventually walk, is her desire to get to Rosco and Juliette. To say that she adores them is a gross understatement. She finds them fascinating and hilarious, often bursting into a fit of giggles and squeals whenever they come near. They are both extremely tolerant and allow her to pull one their tails and grab their whiskers. Although she has gotten a few scratches along the way, nothing deters her from expressing her deepest love for them both. It makes me wonder if she is destined to be a vet or an animal communicator, or an animal hoarder. Only time will tell.

While at the doc's office, I mentioned to the nurse that June isn't sitting up on her own quite yet. They had asked me about this at her 6 month visit, and now, a month later, she still hasn't quite got the hang of it. Now, I am not too worried about it, as she has hit all of her other milestones on schedule, and it seems like only a matter of weeks before she starts crawling, as she loves to pull her knows up under her and grunt her way, commando style to try and terrorize Juliette Binoche on a daily basis. The nurse at the doc's office said she would mention it to the doc and call me if there were any concerns. The next day I got a call. "Dr. Guelda feels like June Apple should really be sitting up by now." Now comes a familiar territory of My Instincts vs The Doctor's Shoulds. I feel, and know, that development is on a continuum, and not every baby hits every milestone at exactly the same time. Personally, I think June Apple finds sitting to be too boring. She would much rather move than stay still and sitting is for the birds and the buddhas. When I try and sit her up, she lunges forward onto her belly and starts squirming (we call he our Squirmy Wormy) to move forward. The doc referred us to a program called First Steps, which assesses and provides support for babies and children who have developmental delays. Amos and I happen to have a friend who is an occupational therapist for First Steps and she offered to come over and do a mini assessment of June Apple to see what she thought. She came over and basically decided that June is almost sitting and that by the time First Steps gets around to visiting us, she will probably be caught up. Which only confirmed my feelings that June Apple is doing her own thing, in her own time.

With so many books, doctors, internet sources, friends and family members giving advice and information, it can sometime be hard to weed out the information that isn't true or right for my family. I decided during my pregnancy, that I would try and keep my pregnancy and child rearing resources down to a minimum, so that I don't get bogged down and overwhelmed by conflicting information. I sought out books, blogs and even doctors by asking for recommendations from other parents who I viewed as raising their children in a manner that I deemed sensible and in line with my parenting and life-style. I try really hard not to compare June Apple's development to other babies her age (unless of course, she is obviously superior). I only take advice from friends and family who have good track records themselves (and even then, I only go with what seems right for us). While I have the advantage of working many years as a child whisperer in one form or another, which taught me many things about how to and how NOT to parent, the best thing I can do is choose my sources wisely. And follow and trust my instincts. And look to June Apple to tell me what she needs. And when all that fails, I guess we'll just have to go with good ol' trial and error.

Adventures in Eating

So.... Juju turning 6 months meant that we could venture into the Great World of Solids! Our first attempt came in the form of a fingertip of banana. Here's what June Apple thought of that:

After the banana came a Saturday trip to the Douglass Loop Farmers Market to buy lots of beautiful orange vegetables. It was such a beautiful day with gorgeous food abound. I am so excited to introduce June Apple to delicious food and create a mini foodie.

I brought home the gorgeous loot, ready for steaming and pureeing

And the finished results:

While Mama and Papa may eat Totino's Pizza, taquitos and fish sticks, June Apple dines on organic pattypans, sweet potatoes and carrots. At least one of us eats right!