Pseudo slacker

Last week for Girly's Halloween party at school, I signed up to bring tablecloths. Then, I felt bad and agreed to bring cheese and crackers, too. Sure, it was participation, but I have unreasonable Martha-goals for myself and feel guilty when I don't make something from scratch.

So, in a moment of inspiration, I realized that I had tiny "fall" cookie cutters in my drawer for lord knows what reason. I think I got them at Michael's in the $1 bin several years ago and they have never been used, other than thrown around the kitchen by Girly. I just cut the slices of cheese into fun pumpkin, bat and moon shapes and slapped it on a paper plate. It was fun, kid-friendly, and looked like I made an effort. In other words, score, score, SCORE.

I think I had the popular bento-style lunches in the back of my brain somewhere. Have you seen those? Another Lunch is a great blog with totally cute ideas. I would love to make and receive a lunch like that - but - let's be honest. Who the hell has time? If that was part of the daily program at our house, it would look more like me running around at 6:55am, trying to make coffee and peel a banana, and searching for the freaking bunny toothpicks.

So, again, in other words - not going to happen.

Bag it

How are you all managing your baby bag these days?

I never really got into the 'formal diaper bag' idea ... it didn't fit our lifestyle very well. We are kind of homebodies on our home days, or our girl already has everything she needs at daycare.

My approach thus far has been to have a 'baby station' in our living room, located in a large Lands End canvas bag. (I think I've previously mentioned my love affair with these things). We have diapers, wipes, a few spare outfits, burp cloths, plastic bags - you know, all that miscellaneous crap.
It also includes our Skip Hop Pronto changer, which I just LOVE and couldn't live without.

When we are headed out of the house, I just grab our medium Lands End bag (see - told you - obsessed) and transfer whatever we need - pronto changer, spare outfit, add a sippy cup or snacks and go. This bag also serves as the daycare bag, hence the frequent packing and unpacking.

This has worked pretty well for us, but now that Girly is older and more mobile, I am finding the need for a change. I have several friends who use backpacks for their baby/diapering needs, and I've finally stolen their idea.

I just ordered the Lands End diaper bag backpack upon the recommendation of a friend.
Truly, I don't have stock in this company, but I probably should. I just love to monogram things, you know.

I need to be more hands-free these days ... chasing Girly at the zoo, or farm, or just down the driveway, doesn't work with an open-topped bag in one of my hands. Or, I hang the tote bag on the stroller, chase her, and then watch the stroller fall over.

If a second child joins our family someday, I suppose this plan will need a revision - seems you need a lot more stuff for 2 kids, and not just twice the stuff - more like 10 times the stuff.

Also, are any of you organized enough to have a 'car kit' of sorts? Kind of an emergency stash for the things you forgot or didn't think you would need? I haven't been able to get my act together enough in 19 months to accomplish that, but maybe you have some tips ...

Go ahead. You can do it.

I've mentioned before my concerns with school food programs, and some of those concerns are now hitting closer to home.

I made all of Girly's baby food, and while I certainly don't make everything that goes in her mouth, I try hard to at least buy things with the fewest ingredients and ingredients that I can pronounce.

When I signed up for daycare, it didn't even occur to me to ask about a food program for the bigger kids. I really didn't even know it existed for a long time - I just assumed I would pack and send her food, which was fine. Slowly, her teachers started hinting ... "You know, you don't have to bring her food. You can, of course, but you don't have to." I finally relented when she moved to the next room. It was sure easier for me not to have to pack two meals each night, and I thought there was value in her learning to eat at a table with her peers.

We are now a few months in, and I kept having these nagging annoyances. Her lunches were fine, generally comparable to what I would serve at home. Breakfasts were so-so, but snacks were terrible most days. And by terrible, I mean Little Debbie and crunchy treats that come in foil packages.

I don't think I am being a Pollyanna about this. Granted, I care more about what she eats than many parents, but I also try to be (reasonably) practical. She gets nibbles of sweets at our house, but they are generally things I have made. I don't want to restrict any food group, because I fear it will only result in a revolt at some point in the future. Moderation is key.

BUT.

She is 14 months old. She doesn't have any older siblings. We don't have those foods in our house and she has no idea what they are. She will eat anything you put in front of her. Why can't it be a little healthier?

I thought I could just grin and bear it, but then I decided I really couldn't. I avoid confrontation at all costs, but all of my complaining at home was fruitless (pun intended) if I wouldn't talk to the school about it. I nicely asked for a meeting to get more information.

The directors of her school were very nice and turns out, I was making inaccurate assumptions in many cases. Yes, she gets processed snacks, but she also eats wheat bread, and only frozen veggies, and only fruit canned in juice. There is a lot of fresh fruit on their menu, probably more than in most places. I was pleasantly surprised.

They were also very responsive to my concerns and agreed to serve cereal in her room when the older kids are having packaged snacks. I am happy with the compromise. I'm glad I said something.

I realize that it is a luxury to spend so much time pondering what my child eats. Probably 99% of the parents in the world don't have that luxury. Probably 99% of the parents in Girly's school don't care either, but that is OK. I said something because I care about my child, but I care about the others, too, and I can't help but think it is good for them all. (Don't agree with me? Ask Mrs. Obama!)

Oh, and on the way out the door from my meeting, I casually asked, "Have you ever thought about having a garden?" Oh, funny you should ask! I am now the proud parent in charge of the summer garden and pole bean teepees. Oh yes I am.

Stay tuned ... should be interesting.

Also, if you care about this topic and want a few more places to get riled up, take a peek:
Fed Up: School Lunch Project
Better School Food
Processed Kids
La Vida Locavore
Chef Ann: The Renegade Lunch Lady
Two Angry Moms
Jamie Oliver's TED Prize Wish: Teach every child about food

Also, write your legislators regarding the Child Nutrition Act at Time for Lunch. It is important. A lot of things are important right now, and there are needs everywhere. I wish people could focus more on the big picture ... obesity is a major problem and healthcare costs will bankrupt this country. Sooo ... am I the only one who sees the obvious connection to what we feed our children and the importance we place, as a country, on healthful food? Maybe I am being Pollyanna about this, but that's the way I see it.

Off soapbox.

Yep. That again.

Oh, let's discuss naps again. Just for fun.

Remember when we tried to go from 2 to 1 naps? And then when we went right back to 2 naps?

We made our first attempt at dropping the nap around 11 months. She was napping poorly to sporadically, and was also making the switch from the Bunnies to the Bears room at school. It was very hard to entertain her for multiple hours in the morning, and after 3 weeks of effort, I decided to revert back to the 2 naps. (Especially after my scientific mommy poll revealed that most of my friends had toddlers who still took 2 naps).

I was encouraged that maybe our Girl would continue to take 2 naps, and maybe even longer naps once she started walking!

Ummm ... not so much.

Our Girl is an excellent sleeper at night, and used to be a wonderful napper before starting daycare at 12 weeks. I believe that daycare really messed with her napping, or perhaps she just evolved into a poor napper, but that is what she is. I've learned (am learning) to deal with it.

I had a lot of trepidation about her move to the big girl room at school, mainly related to the single nap and sleeping on the cot. She really adjusted pretty quickly and was consistently taking a 1 1/2 - 2 hour nap at school within about 2 weeks. Far better than she ever did in the baby room. (Again, I underestimated her and was pleasantly surprised. When will I learn?)

So ... at home, she continued to take 2 decent naps for about a month. Then, ever so slowly, her naps got all wonky. Because she is an early riser, she was taking her first nap from about 8:30-10:00, then her second nap from around 12:30-2:00. Then bedtime at 6:30ish. Then, she just stopped taking the second nap, or cried and fought us until it was too miserable to stand. If you are calculating ... yes, she would be awake from 10:00a until 6:00p. And yes, god-awful.

I knew this was really the sign that she was ready to go to 1 nap. I resisted it - I thought it might be a phase - because I was really enchanted with the idea that she would continue to take 2 good naps well into her 2nd year. It finally became beyond obvious that we needed to make the switch.

About a week ago, I just kept her up through the morning nap and put her down at about 12:30, which is what they do at school. She required far less entertaining than our previous attempt, which was also encouraging. She adjusted very quickly.

We are now in a pretty good place at 14 months. I can count on her sleeping at least an hour, usually 1 1/2 hours, and on a good day 2 hours. I still would love for her to sleep longer, but she consistently sleeps 12 hours at night, so I'll take what I can get.

Hard to believe that I've spent so much time and mental energy pondering naps. NAPS! And now, no more pondering until the day she drops this last nap altogether.

Please, please ... let that be a long time from now.

Worth noting

Just a few things that I thought were worth mentioning, in case I haven't yet ...

1. Our Girl loves her pacifier. It will be a sad day for all involved when it comes time to get rid of it, which is really any day now. I may have mentioned way back that I had read about a perfect window of time where it is (relatively) easy to get rid of the pacifier, sometime around 6-9 months. I will say, in retrospect, that this was definitely true. She had a very "take it or leave it" attitude about the whole thing. We persisted, and now she is addicted. Oh well.

Another tip from a very wise Mom friend ... at bedtime, Girly gets one pacifier. We tried really hard not to play the "replace the pacifier" game, but until your baby has the searching skills to find a pacifier in bed and put it back in their mouth, you have somewhat of a dilemma. Once she could do it herself, we would load up the crib with tons of pacifiers, and she would proceed to throw every.single.one on the floor. Then scream. So, now she gets just one at bedtime. Later in the night, I go in her room to check on her and put several more in her bed. That is it until morning, when she throws every.single.one on the floor, as if to say "come and get me!".

2. We moved up to Overnight diapers a month ago or so. We never really had a problem with soaking through, but when it happened 2 nights in a row, I knew we needed a change. Cold, wet PJs and sheets don't make anyone happy. We are using the Huggies Overnights on a recommendation from a friend, but I know there are other types. She is usually in size 3 diapers, but these are size 4 because that is all they had at Target. I don't know if they make them smaller or not. It has worked like a charm! I have also known babies who wet through the Overnight diapers. If this is the case, I guess the next bigger size diaper might work, or I think you can also buy diaper liners that go inside the diaper for some more absorbency power.

3. Sippy cups. We are struggling with the milk-in-a-sippy-cup transition. I'll report back on my trials and tribulations, but in retrospect I might have done things a little differently. There are so many kinds of sippy cups and I think a lot of kids will have a preference for one or another. I started her on the Tilty cup at 6 months, and now she does very well with it. I picked this cup because it doesn't have a valve, so fewer parts to keep track of and more like drinking from a normal cup. We also use the Take and Toss cups because that is what she uses at school, and they are very similar. (Note: if your daycare uses one particular kind of sippy cup for all the kids, ask about that earlier rather than later. I had no idea until recently. It wasn't a big deal, but might have been nice to know). My point: Girly does great with these cups if the liquid inside is clear or purple. Not white. I know this really isn't because of the cup design, but I wish I would have worked harder with her on a straw, at a minimum, so we would have more options to try at this point. She won't drink from a sippy cup with a valve or one with a soft spout. In the long run, I think this will help her drink from a real cup, but in the short run it is driving me crazy.

The end.

Transitions

The 1-year mark is quite the milestone, for both baby and parents. And, as if the first 12 months weren't full of enough change, a few more come on the radar screen about this time.

Breast milk or formula to Milk.

Weaning from boob or bottle to Cup.

Paci to No Paci. (Um, thanks, but no thanks. We'll be hanging on to this one a bit longer).

I have a plan for these changes (kind of) and will report back on my success, or lack there of, when we've made the transition.

For now, I'm focusing on the Bunnies to Bears transition.

Our Girly has been in the Bunnies room at school from March until now, and we are working on moving up to the Bears room. I thought it would be breezy since we were already familiar with the daycare process, BUT? Not so much.

This one took me a bit by surprise. I was excited for her to move rooms because she really liked being with the bigger kids and watching them play. I love the teachers in her current room, though, so it was a bit bittersweet. What I didn't anticipate, though, was the lack of control I would feel in the process.

Maybe we have been spoiled by her teachers, but we got a report card everyday with her naps, diapers, and meals. I always felt that I had a good handle on what happened during the day, and even if it wasn't what we would have done at home, I felt involved.

Now, in the interim, she starts her day with the Bunnies and ends her day with the Bears, so there is very little information about what happens during the day. I might pick her up with different clothes on, one full bottle leftover and someone else's sheets and no one can tell me exactly why. I understand that these are tiny issues in the grand scheme of things, but it is an adjustment.

Overall, I am still happy with our daycare and I think these are universal issues, not just at our place. Lord knows, 8 or 10 toddlers will mess a bit with organization. I finally let go of sending her to school with homemade breakfast and lunch because I just couldn't be the mom who sent her kid with lentils when everyone else got fish sticks. And, you know what? It makes our school prep much simpler.

I think this is a healthy transition, both for our Girl and for us. (Really, who am I kidding ... the Huz doesn't care. It's ME.) I don't want to be a "helicopter" parent. I trust the people who take care of her and she is happy when I pick her up. I want to know every little thing about her day, but the reality is that it isn't essential. I can't go back and fix the fact that she only slept 45 minutes, or didn't finish her bottle. We proceed with our evening routine just as we normally would.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Mission (not) accomplished

Earlier in the month, I posted about starting a new nap regime to match the program at school.

I would like to issue a retraction.

Our Girl is NOT ready for 1 nap, nor are her parents.

I pretty blindly jumped in to the one-nap routine - thought it would take a few days / weeks to get her used to the new plan. She; however, did not agree. Our first weekend was actually quite promising - by the 3rd day on the new schedule, she took one good long nap - equal to or longer than her previous 2 naps combined. We've been on a downhill slope since then, though.

Many days at school she would sleep only 30 or 45 minutes for the whole day. You can imagine how nice our evenings were. When she was home with me, it was almost impossible to keep her entertained from 6 am to noon by myself, and errands were out of the question because she would briefly fall asleep in the car and then refuse to nap in her crib.

I was pretty exasperated after two weeks of this, and expressed my concern to my super-mom friends. They asked why I didn't have her on different school and home schedules?

Why?

Well, because it never occurred to me!

I have read so much about schedules and how children thrive on consistency. I believe it whole-heartedly. I thought I was doing the best thing for her by keeping her on the same schedule all the time.

You know what is better for her? SLEEP. (And a happy mom).

In further discussions, I've found that many of my friends, whose kids are in all kinds of different daycare situations, have different school and home schedules. And beyond that, many kiddos kept 2 naps well past their first birthday.

So, back to the drawing board. We switched back to our 2 nap schedule on Friday and we were all happier. She took 2 good naps, went to bed on time and slept LATE all weekend. Guess we've (you've) solved the early waking problem, too!

Just confirms that sleep is a fickle bitch. When you think you've got it right, think again. Also, goes to show you that your friends often have a lot better perspective on a situation looking in from the outside - listen to them!

Perfect Storm

Weaning + Development + ?Growth Spurt + Poor Naps = WHOA.

I'm finding 9 months to be a challenge. I think it is really the first glimpse into the rest of our lives - "constant vigilance" appears to be the theme. Those babies are full of trickery - just when you get past the sleep deprived stumbling and reach a place of relative calm, everything changes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm obviously thrilled that she is exploring and moving as expected, but it does take some getting used to. We finally rearranged all the furniture to make things more Girly-friendly. I'm happier not to have a running dialogue of "No. No. Don't touch that. On your bottom please. No Ma'am. You'll hit your head. That's not for you. Please don't touch that. No."

The weaning is going well. Really, better than expected. I'm also feeling fewer pangs of sadness that breastfeeding is coming to an end, and more excitement that the baby acrobatics, nose-grabbing and hitting me in the face while nursing is coming to an end. She is showing me that she is ready. I am, too.

I set up this prolonged weaning schedule, which has been fine, but may need to be expedited. On the days that I've dropped a feeding, I've usually had to pump once just a little bit for relief, and then the next day has been OK without pumping, and by the third day everything seems normal. One factor that I hadn't considered is that my milk supply also seems to be lower for the remaining feedings. So, this coupled with the baby distraction and acrobatics, makes me really question whether Girly is eating enough.

Exhibit A: Our Gal is waking up early. Early. I think it really started before I was full-on weaning, but she is routinely up in the 4's or 5's, which is just not tolerable. It's not everyday, but more days than not. And, she is screaming and mad, not her happy normal self. This usually indicates hunger, and when I've fed her, she will often go back to sleep, but not always. So, I don't know if this is a growth spurt, or that she isn't getting enough milk, or a sinister combination of both. I do know that I want it to be fixed.

Exhibit B: Naps are sucky these days. My former excellent napper has been ruined by daycare, I think. While she has always napped poorly at school (at least 1-2 hours less than at home), it never affected her home napping schedule. Now, it has. She is too young to go to 1 nap, but some days only takes two 30 minute naps. Not enough for me or her. I really feel that her explosion of developmental milestones is playing a role here: when she used to wake early, she might lay there and talk to herself and fall back asleep. Now, it becomes sitting up and crawling around and general "get me out of here-ness". I'll ride out the storm and hope it passes soon.

I hadn't mentioned the biting before, but should. Yes, biting. She bit me while nursing about a month ago for the first time. YEOWCH! After I hollered out in pain, I gave her a firm "NO!" and smacked her arm. I sat her up and she cried big, fat crocodile tears. Then smiled and giggled. Stink-er! It has happened fewer than 5 times, none of which were pleasant. I watch her mouth really closely and can see when she is about to bite me and I pull her off. I think it is boredom on her part.

Again, not something I'll miss.

My Current Approach

I am really having a good time planning the Girl's menu these days. Making our own baby food has been pretty simple with a little planning and I think the cost is about the same (or less) as if I was buying the organic stuff in jars.

The gear:
- Baby Cubes
- ice cube trays
- Magic Bullet
- immersion blender
I've mentioned all these before, but they really are essentials at our house.

The "recipes":
- Baby and Toddler cookbook
- Cooking for Baby
- Babyfood 101
- Nurture Baby
You don't really need "recipes", but more for inspiration. Also, we were lucky enough to get a few cookbooks as gifts. You don't need to buy them, though - there is tons of stuff on the internets.

The process:
If I spend a few hours on a weekend, I can easily make enough food cubes to last the Girl for 2-4 weeks (depends if it is a FAVORITE food or merely a TOLERATED food).

I do buy organic produce when it is "recommended". Usually this is at a farmer's market (makes me feel better about spending the money) or at Whole Foods. Our farmer's markets in the Midwest rarely have a lot of fruit, but do have tons of veggies. (I also shop at our local Price Chopper and on Tuesdays they have 10% off organic produce - ask at your store!). Also, I use some frozen foods (mangos and peas at this time, but probably more during the winter).

I bake in the oven (potatoes, butternut squash), microwave steam (carrots, peas, zucchini) and cook on the stove top (most fruits).

I fill the Baby Cubes or ice cube trays with the pureed food, lay plastic wrap over the top and stack in the freezer for a day or 2 before removing. (Last time I didn't wait long enough and the center cubes weren't totally frozen - a mess!) Then, transfer each food to separate ziploc bags and I stash all of it in the bin in the bottom of my freezer.

I really like the Baby Cubes for the convenience of sending food to school, but if I were home all the time, I think ice cube trays (1 oz. cubes) would work better. A Baby Cube holds a 2oz. portion, and I generally give her about 3oz. of food per meal (3 times a day). It is my preference to mix up the foods - generally giving 2-3 different foods (1oz. each) per meal. I don't think she really cares ...

I find that the Ziploc Snap n'Seal 1 cup containers work great for transport- hold 3 ice cubes of food for a meal. At home, I just pull out the ice cubes and microwave them for about a minute in a ceramic ramekin. Easy!

We stopped rice cereal pretty quickly - too constipating. The Girl now gets 1oz. of juice (prune apple!) each day and 1 oz. of plums each day, which seems to help move things along. Ahem. We do use the oatmeal cereal to thicken fruits and veggies now that she will take more texture.

We added plain whole milk yogurt a few weeks ago and she loves it! I was getting a little lax on introducing foods every 3 days to watch for allergies ... I was vigilant at first, but after she didn't have any issues, I loosened up a bit. (As my pediatrician said - if you wait 3-5 days for every new food, she'll be 3 years old and you will still be checking things off the list!). That being said, I was cautious with things like milk and wheat, just in case. (No problems so far). I like the little portions of yogurt - she only eats about a tablespoon at a time, so it is less wasteful to use a tiny container for a few days than to open one large container and throw it out due to spoilage.

She started eating Ritz crackers at school, so I promptly went and bought the "healthy" version of Ritz in the health food section of our store. I know, I know - my mother thinks I am crazy. Makes me feel better, though. I find that half a graham cracker is easier for her to manage and she doesn't bite off such a large chunk. Puffs and Cheerios are fine, too, but she can't quite get them to her mouth yet, so for now, just pincer practice. Big sticks of cucumber are good for chewing, but certainly require supervision if she bites off a big chunk.

On the horizon ... I am holding off on meats, mainly because I don't want to deal with it yet. I got some quinoa and lentils that I will start adding, along with some whole wheat rotini noodles. I think whole wheat couscous would work well, too. I am loading up on fruits now while they are in season.

While you may be tempted to go hog-wild and fill your freezer with purees, I would advise making smaller batches. I have lots of purees still frozen and she can definitely take chunkier texture, so I am mixing cereal with everything to thicken it up. Also, be wary of freezing larger portions of certain fruits - like plums and blueberries - that might cause a poopy nightmare. I like to mix just 1 oz. of these fruits with a couple of ounces of apples or peaches, you know, just to balance things out!

Phew.

I'm off ... my blender calls!

Feeding Gear

Let the fun begin!

Here is some gear that I've rounded up - I'll let you know how we like it as we go. Yes, I know that feeding your baby cereal could be as simple as food on your finger in your lap, but where is the fun in that? Just doing my part to stimulate the economy!

Inglesina Fast Chair - I originally had the Chicco chair, but the arms were too long for my counter (and I figured this out 6 months after I bought it and couldn't return it to Babies r'Us - check yours sooner!). Phil and Teds has a similar chair, but you can't remove the seat for washing.
Baby Cubes - lots of people just use ice cube trays, but I think this will work well for daycare - no transfer of frozen cubes and fewer containers to wash.
Boon Squirt - again, couldn't you just use a regular spoon? Sure, but I've read that this works well for daycare (just load and send) and especially when eating out and on-the-go!
Tiny Diner placemat
Kipiis Clips
Tilty Cup
(Also, check out the Zrecs Sippy Cup Showdown - pretty useful!)

Here are some baby food websites that I've found to be helpful.

Wholesome Baby Food
Nurture Baby - great checklist for baby nutrition (you know I love lists!)
Baby Food 101
Environmental Working Group Guide to Pesticides
Environmental Working Group Shopping Guide to Pesticides - List

I also have the Cooking for Baby cookbook that looks great. I've read that the Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel, The Petit Appetit by Lisa Barnes and Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron are also good.

As for kitchen tools, I am really going to try to not buy anything else! A fork and some elbow grease will work well when she can eat a little chunkier food. For now, I think we'll use a steamer basket in a pot on the stove or roasting in the oven. I already have an immersion blender that I use all the time. I've also heard the Magic Bullet works well - don't several of you have that thing collecting dust somewhere? I know we do!

My goal is to do a lot of shopping at the farmer's market this summer for local, organic produce. Frozen fruits and vegetables are also good if the fresh stuff is expensive or not in season. Finally, a good rule of thumb is to freeze food only once in each "state" - so you can freeze raw chicken, thaw and cook it and freeze it again. You cannot defrost raw chicken and re-freeze it without cooking it. If you mix breastmilk with food purees you need to use fresh milk, not milk that has already been frozen if you plan to freeze the food in cubes.

So, once again, any suggestions for 300+ ounces of frozen breastmilk?

Carpe Diem

It's really more like "Seize the opportunity", but I don't know Latin.

I know I've spent a ridiculous amount of time talking about our Gal's schedule. She's on it. She's off it. We're changing it. Blah, blah, blah.

I did something totally out of character this week and just went with it.

I was planning to move to the 4 hour schedule this weekend. My smart friend told me to just do it already - rip that band-aid off! But, nooo, how could I do that? In the middle of the week? I had a plan, you know.

Best laid plans ...

We were a little off schedule yesterday: Girly slept in (till 6:30, SOO not my prior definition of sleeping in). And then she took a great nap and I didn't want to wake her just yet. And then she took another great nap! And before I knew it, she was almost on the new schedule. I decided to just go with it - see if I could hold her off until 6:00 to eat and go to bed.

So many variables, you know! Eating later, only 4 feedings, 7oz instead of 6oz, earliest bedtime yet. Yikes! It is enough to push an OCD-mother over the edge. I perseverated about what to do when she woke up early because she was hungry.

You know what? IT WAS FINE. She even slept longer than ever before and was a perfectly delightful girl this morning. Instead of coming home with a color-coded potential new schedule from her daycare teacher, I got a glowing phone call about how well she did today.

I learned that we often underestimate our children. Given the opportunity, they will usually rise to the challenge!

(I also learned that Mr. Medela and I are relaxing our relationship. Feeding/pumping 4 times a day is SUPER).

Baby Wrangling

Dressing a baby is a skill. It takes practice. I've got it down now, but at the beginning? Wow.

My husband still curses me in the morning when I lay out the "difficult" outfits.

A few tips that work for our daughter ...

Snaps and buttons are better than zippers. Most sleepers have a zipper front, which is easy in the middle of the night, but they "creep". The zipper front balloons out and needs to be tucked in just so when swaddling or nursing. Also, along those lines, I don't really like shirts and onesies with those crossover things on the shoulders. They always seem to stretch and grow through the day, so she ends up with her shoulder out or showing lots of cleavage. Snaps and buttons by the neck are better for us.

I find that Gerber stuff runs really small. Our daughter is very average sized (with short legs) and she barely fits in the 12 months onesies at 5 months. It does mean, however, that Gerber stuff can be really great for newborns because most other clothes will just be too big.

You can spend a FORTUNE on children's clothing, and I might in another life as Mrs. Surplus Income, but it is just too wasteful now for outfits she will only wear once or twice. I really like Carter's stuff for PJ's and everyday daycare clothes - washes and wears well and is inexpensive. You can generally catch great sales at Macy's or Kohl's. (And for the expectant mothers out there - their stuff is sized 3 months or 6 months or whatever, not 0-3 and 3-6 like most clothes. Totally confusing to me as I washed and put away clothes in those last few preggo weeks. Which pile? WHICH PILE?).

Every company has different sizes and obviously all of it will fit your child better or worse depending on their growth parameters. I find this to be a great annoyance, but I guess it shouldn't surprise me because it is pretty much the same when I shop for myself.

Here are some of my favorite kid's clothes - please add your comments below with your favorites!

* Hanna Andersson: A good friend of mine gets PJ's here for her boys and they are so cute.

* Mini Boden: Our nieces are always delightfully dressed and their stylish Mom finds good stuff here.

* Gap Kids / Baby Gap: I like their basics and Brennan's favorites. Their skinny leggings are especially good for our Girl because she has short legs and few pants fit her. They are also great for under dresses when it isn't warm enough for bloomers.

* Zutano: I really like their fun, colorful prints. And, I don't think their clothes ever have writing on them, which is sometimes hard to find.

* Tea: Again, great patterns without words. Not too grown up or too babyish. Plus, each collection is designed to mix and match. The Little House in the Creekwood Shops has a nice selection.

* Robeez: These are great little shoes and we are just starting to fit in the 0-6 month size.

* Trumpette Socks: This is probably the one baby clothing item that we have washed and worn the most. I love, love these socks - they are hard to kick off and SOOO cute!

As for clothing rotation ... our Girl has an embarrassing amount of darling clothes and it just kills me to find something in her closet that she hasn't worn and can barely fit into. She has a small closet in her room and a dresser. I loved hanging every itty bitty piece of clothing before she was born, and then promptly forgot about all of it because I was only digging in her drawers for PJ's and onesies.

I try now to peek in her closet once a week or so to see if there is anything that needs to be washed that she might fit into, then it goes into the clothing rotation in her drawer. Anything that is too small moves right to a storage box (and keep that storage box somewhere close to baby's room until it is full, otherwise you'll never make it to the basement to put the stuff away). Making it Lovely is a cute design blog. The writer just had a baby and she has a good way for labeling your boxes. Even better, share those boxes with your friends who have younger babies.

On the bright side, it is now a lot more fun to dress your baby than yourself!

Safety First

Not much to report on week 21. I learn more and more about our Girl's personality every day, but can't say that I have had any "aha! moments".

So ... a random, but hopefully useful topic.

I have (rather atypically) found myself having several conversations about guns in the last week or so. We don't own a gun and there will never be a gun in our home. As part of these conversations, I have repeatedly pointed out to my family members that I will need to ask other parents about their own gun policies once our Girl starts visiting friends.

Yes, I have time before this becomes an issue. But, you know me, obsess early and often!

I think my approach will be more "let me tell you about our home ... no guns, no pets, no drugs, no smoking, no prescription pain killers, no pool ..." and hope that the other parent follows suit. Our daughter does not attend an in-home daycare, but obviously the same issues apply.

For those of you with older children - how do you deal with this?

Other things I obsess about ...

Registered Sex Offenders in your neighborhood? Family Watchdog lets you search your neighborhood. There are a lot of issues with accurate tracking of registered sex offenders, but at least this is a start.

Infant CPR: We took a class before the Girl was born and it was terrifying and helpful. I keep the little cheat sheet on our refrigerator and should review it more often than I do. Ideally, all grandparents, aunts, uncles and caregivers should also have taken a CPR class. Check out your local Red Cross for more information.

Car Seat Installation: Something ridiculous like 85% of car seats are used incorrectly. This is so, so important. Our local police department does it for free (and my husband almost missed the birth of our child because the seat was being installed!). You can check Seatcheck.org for local sites. Even more importantly, make sure you understand how to install it on your own if the car seat will be taken in and out of the car.

Some Safety Sites ...
Check out Hip Monkey if you are planning to purchase a car seat or stroller (or other baby gear). They donate all proceeds from sales to a non-profit organization that provides safe car seats to kids in need. They offer free shipping on orders over $99 and no sales tax and sell only the safest models.

Choking Hazards: I'm becoming more and more aware of this and will have to be especially vigilant once the Girl becomes mobile. In planning a get together for young kids of all ages, I realized that I don't know what toys and games are really appropriate for a mixed crowd, so I'll go with the safest option - no parts smaller than your head! (Seriously, though, I think a good rule of thumb is anything that can fit through a toilet paper roll is a choking hazard.)

Recalls: It seems like items are recalled every day. While they are often publicized on TV or in the paper, they are easy to miss. Be sure to fill out the registration papers that come with your baby furniture or any big toys - they can notify you of recalls that way. I also find these Baby Bargains blogs to be useful (Book Blog, Baby 411)

Be careful out there!

24 hours in ...

So far, so good with the Big Switch.

The Girl really didn't seem phased by dropping a feeding and moving bedtime around, at least not that she let us know (yet).

Our Girl has been on a 3 hour eating schedule pretty much since birth. I fed her every 3 hours when we came home from the hospital. "They" say you should have 8-12 feedings in 24 hours, but I think there have only been one or two days in her life when she had more than 8. She just didn't demand food and she was growing fine, so 8 worked well. Since she started sleeping well pretty early, she was at 7 feedings in 24 hours pretty early on.

About the time she really slept through the night and we started the "cry it out" (around 6 weeks), she was down to 6 feedings a day (6a, 9a, 12p, 3p, 6p, 9p).

Some babies stretch out the 3 hour feeding schedule pretty early, but since she slept so long at night, I really felt she needed the nutrition during the day.

At about 11 weeks, we started to move up the 9pm feeding by 15 minute increments. When I started back to work at 12 weeks, her last feedings of the day were at 530p and 830p. At 15 weeks the last feeding was at 815p and at 16 weeks the last feeding was at 8p.

I began to notice that she only "snacked" at the 530p feeding - nursed a few minutes each side and really preferred to chat instead. She would then take a full feeding before bed. I wanted it to be the reverse, and took this as a sign that she was ready to drop a feeding. In retrospect, I also think this had something to do with the fact that she was getting 3-4 bottles on daycare days instead of her typical 1 on home days.

(Side note: When we started the bottle at 3 weeks we arbitrarily picked 4 oz. and she did fine. We moved up to 4.5 oz. pretty shortly thereafter, and really never increased it again. The Girl rarely acts hungry, so it is hard to tell if she needs more).

I tried to ease the adjustment from 6 to 5 feedings. I changed the evening feedings to 545 and 745p for several days, then we had an illness interruption, and then the feedings were moved to 600p and 730p for a few days. Starting yesterday, I just combined those feedings into one at 700p. Also, over the last 2 weeks her bottles were moved up to 5 oz. and she did fine (no extra spitting up and still taking the full feeding when due) and now she is getting 5.5 oz.

I decided to make the change over the weekend when we had several days at home to adjust before starting school again next week. Also, being the OCD person I am, I will give her bottles for 3 of her 5 feedings for these few days to help with the adjustment. I want to make sure she is eating enough so if she gets up during the night I can be pretty sure it isn't hunger. It is a lot harder for me to judge when she is just breastfeeding.

Our schedule is now eating at 6a, 930a, 1230p, 330p and 700p (a combo 3/3.5 hour schedule). I would have liked to do a 3.5 hour schedule, but it just doesn't work with our work and daycare schedules, so this will do for now. She still takes 3 or 3.5 naps during the day for a total of 4-5.5 hours of sleep, and then goes to bed at 730p and gets up at 600a.

(Side note 2: Our Girl has always napped more than the "typical" child, and I am totally OK with that. As long as she slept well at night, I didn't care if she had more naps than she "should". I think a lot of kids have 2 good naps and 1 variable nap until about 6 months, then drop to 2 naps. She really is at 3 good naps with a variable 4th nap.)

This is probably way too detailed of an account of the Switch, and in many ways I made it a bigger deal than it needed to be. My challenge was that I read as much as I could about how to do this ... and there isn't much information. I have books that describe sleeping and naps well, and books that describe feeding well, but have yet to come across a book that explains how the two ideally work together (while also taking breastfeeding and milk supply issues into account). The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems comes closest, but she advocates a 4 hour schedule starting at 3-4 months (which generally means 4 daytime feedings), with an extra feeding during the night. No thanks - we are past that.

Maybe the moral of the story is that a book just can't explain exactly how it will work for your child. Most advice says that your child will just let you know when they are ready .... I'm not sure what that means.

Books help, but a lot of it is really paying attention to your baby's cues.

I'm still trying to learn her language, but we'll get there.

Back to Work: Thoughts from the 2nd Day

Or, really could be titled: "You can't be too organized or too nice"

My number one thought is YOU CAN DO IT! I wavered throughout my maternity leave - at times wanting much more stimulation and projects and at times being perfectly content with PJs and CSI:New York. The bottom line, at least for our family, was that not working was not an option. I feel privileged to be only working 3 days, but working 0 days was not in the plan. So, the sooner you can understand that no one will pay you to stay home and that daycare MUST work out, the better you will be. (This is not to say that it was an easy transition for me - I must have told Erik 317 times in the last week that I was just going to quit my job and stay home and that Girly told me she agreed).

The next thought is: be organized! I can take anal to a whole new level, but I feel that over-organized is better than under-organized. It will certainly depend on your daycare situation, but being at a daycare center or a larger place with lots of kids means LOTS of bodies and labeling everything. I ordered labels from Label Daddy and they are working great so far. I got the combo pack with 3 sizes to use for clothes, bottles, caps - all kinds of stuff. Some have peeled off the bottles, but I really think any kind of label will come off with something that is washed and sterilized so often. I also ordered bumpy name labels from http://www.inchbug.com/ - I think this will work best for bottles. Also, I kind of sorted out things that needed labels and things I thought wouldn't go to daycare - don't waste your time. Just label everything so you aren't racing around trying to find labels in the mornings. This includes pacifiers - label them all.

I typed up an emergency contact sheet for daycare and made one for me and Erik, and also our parents or whoever else might be picking up baby. Daycare can be a little scatterbrained, so I was sure to leave one in the Girl's room, too. I also typed up her typical schedule and little hints about her (when she gets the paci, how warm the bottles are, that she cries when you take the bottle out of her mouth ... whatever). The daycare providers are certainly great with kids, but they don't know your kid yet. I send the Girl with a Lands End monogrammed bag everyday with her bottles, a jacket, ziploc bags for dirty stuff, papers - whatever she might need.

On that note, be NICE to your daycare providers. Not that any of you are anything less than super nice people, but I think it is surprising that some parents just aren't nice. My friend Marie told me that she gives her daycare provider a card every week with her $ in it and sometimes a little candy or something. The lady said Marie was the first person in TEN YEARS to really thank her! After all, these are the people you have entrusted with your child's life ... if your baby gets extra special attention because her parents are lovely, then great!

Next tip ... LET IT GO. This will be a work in progress for me because I pretty much perseverate over every.little.thing. I think it will make me a better parent when I am forced to get over the little things - like Girly smelling like spit up the first day when I picked her up because her-shirt-was-dirty-and-I-probably-would-have-caught-it-but-they-didn't-because-they-were-busy. Your child will not follow your "home" schedule while at daycare, at least not at first. They probably will, however, be able to transition to a "home" schedule and a "school" schedule with time.

If possible, make Dad do the drop off in the morning, at least the first day. I cried in my kitchen, but actually physically leaving her would have been worse. Then, you can race to pick baby up after work and be the good guy!

Pumping (or, a good way to literally suck hours out of your day): I can see why people stop breastfeeding when they go back to work. Milk supply issues are a potential concern and certainly wouldn't have shown up yet for me, but it takes some dedication to deal with ALL the supplies you need for the day. Also, depending on your work environment, it may or may not be so easy to take the time out of your day to pump. For me, it is pretty easy. I now leave the house with four bags every day and my big hospital mug of water: work bag with laptop, pump bag with all supplies, purse, lunch. I need to find a way to consolidate ... will probably order another Lands End bag for me (I'm obsessed) to hold all the pump paraphernalia and lunch, at least. This is where the Medela Freestyle Pump is so great - can go in any bag you want.

I need to pump 3 times at work, at least for the beginning till we get this all figured out. I try to pump as close to the times the Girl eats as possible. I bring 6 little bottles with me and 3 sets of the pump parts, along with sterilizer bag, ziploc bag, pump, freezer bag and ice cooler, burp cloth, extra breast pads and a log to write down pump amounts. I also put a diaper in the bag so it smells like "baby". I have access to a microwave and fridge, but it is difficult to sterilize the parts and set them out to dry - much easier to sterilize and throw in a ziploc bag to take home, and then just use a spare set next time.

Your morning routine will be interesting - took us 1 hour and 45 minutes the first day! I have to leave at 7:15 to get to Topeka, so for us it works best for Dad to give a bottle first thing on those mornings while I pump instead of me nursing her and then pumping after. I was stressed about her getting 4 bottles on those days instead of 3, but in the end I think it is better for me not to get up so early and I focus on nursing her as soon as we get home and then before bed. Eventually it will probably be easier / faster for me to nurse first thing and not have to pump after. Lay out baby's clothes the night before so Dad can dress them and have bottles in the fridge ready to go in the cooler pack.

This is what I know so far .... it's a transition, you know ...