Here’s some advice that’s a little more practical than, “buy organic and the world will be better.”
It’s hard (and expensive) to convert totally to buying all organic food. But according to the article, these five staples are a good place to start:
* milk
* potatoes
* peanut butter
* ketchup
* apples
I gotta admit though, I’m pretty well set in my super chunky Jif peanut butter habit. Maybe I can change.
(Via Worldchanging)
Well, it has been years and years since I had short hair, but it had to happen! As you may know- hair does not fall out as often from women’s heads when they are pregnant. So- my drains were not clogged and my hair felt nice and thick for the past year! A few months after giving birth, it is common to lose the hair that normally would have been lost during the pregnancy plus the current hair loss. SO- for the past few weeks, it felt like my hair was falling out quicker than ever! It was getting caught in Caden’s hands, it was all over the bathtub… I even had a bad dream about Caden swallowing my hair. So- I got the “Mom Chop”. Since my hair was very long, I decided to go ahead and chop off more than 10 inches, so I could donate my hair to an organization called Locks of Love. Although I was scared… I am now happy it is done… Here are the Before and After photos… Luckily Caden & Dave still recognize me!
Wow! I have been a slacker! I haven’t posted on the blog for an entire month. So, clearly now Caden is 3 months old and showing some signs of growing up. Well, sorta.
We have had a lot of sleeping issues lately- possibly a growth spurt. Caden often fights sleep at night and for naps. Often he is cranky and hard to settle down, even when it is clear he is tired. Back when Caden was about 7-8 weeks old he was sleeping very well (usually 5-6 hours) for his 1st stint of the night. But over the last month, he only sleeps for about 3-4 hours before waking to be fed again. Maybe his stomach is larger now…??? It is downhill from there, as he usually only sleeps for 1-2 hour stints after that. So, we have some books on baby sleep habits and will try to get this more under control. It has been tough feeling rested with night after night of broken sleep.
On a positive note- he has gotten much better at tolerating “Tummy Time”… so his neck muscles are getting a bit stronger. This is important for eventually learning to roll over, crawl, and eventually walk. Caden smiles a lot at a little toy bee, at funny noises and kisses, and sometimes even at the living room ceiling, for no apparent reason. He also likes to look at books as we read to him! We already have a bookworm! It has been so much fun learning what he enjoys and what makes him laugh.
It is hard to believe how time has flown by! Caden has matured a lot over this past month! He’s getting chubbier thighs and revealing more of his “personality”. We know how to make him smile and we are better at reading his cues… he often whimpers before he cries, he focuses intently when he need to poop, and at times his hiccups seem to mean he is bored of a certain activity or situation. It has been so much fun learning about our little guy and watching him grow every day!
His loving grandma comes over to play with him and teach him new things about 2 times a week. She has been SUCH a wonderful help- from buying groceries, to giving me a chance to rest or shower (I was getting pretty stinky when she was out of state for a few weeks)! Caden sure loves his grandma!
I am a part of two small Mommy’s groups, which are great fun! It is nice to be able to learn from each other, enjoy the adult company, and sometimes vent…. I have met up with one Mommy (and one Mommy-to-Be) at a park in Berkeley that has a paved path by a body of water. It is also (unfortunately) sandwiched right between the freeway and a train track. The positive about that, it the freeway sound is a nice white noise (like the ocean, I prefer to think). The babies really seem to like and often fall asleep to the”ocean” sound.
After our walk today, we went out to lunch at a nearby popular Indian Restaurant….. It was Caden’s 1st lunch out! He did fairly well- staring at the lights and his surroundings, until he got overstimulated and tired. I nursed him for a few minutes and he conked out in the noisy restaurant for the remainder of the lunch! It is nice to know we can survive meals out!!
I have been trying to get a good photo of Caden’s feet, since he has such interesting toes! They can look normal at first glance, but he at times stretches them out and it appears that he has prehensile toes! He’ll be climbing trees in no time!
Funny side note: I emailled these photos to my wonderful grandma, who in turn emailled some photos of her feet! (I won’t post those here though, without her permission). Toooo cute! I love my Grandma!
We drove down to Santa Barbara to spend the weekend with my dad and celebrate my birthday. This was our first long drive with Caden. Normally, it takes 5 or 5 1/2 hours to get there. But we had to stop a little more frequently on this trip.
We all survived, had a nice visit, and had a mellow celebration with my family. Caden’s schedule got thrown off though, so his sleeping patterns this week have been a little erratic.
We had Caden’s 2 month MD app’t today, which was interesting. Unfortunately Caden was very upset and almost screaming during most of the visit, so I spent a lot of time trying to calm him, thinking the visit was almost over. The MD talked more than expected and Caden just got more and more upset. I finally ended up asking the MD if I could nurse Caden in the middle of the visit. I had been embarrassed that it appeared I couldn’t soothe my own baby, but thankfully the feeding calmed Caden down quickly.
Luckily Caden has a clean bill of health for the most part. One of his eyes has a clogged tear duct, so we were instructed to massage the side of his nose a few times a day. Luckily he seems to like this. Also, because Caden does not like “tummy time”, his neck muscles are a bit weak. We will need to work on it. It is just so difficult, because Caden gets extremely upset and cries very soon after placing him on his tummy. Hopefully that will change with time.
Caden’s measurements were ALL in the 50th percentile, which I have never heard anyone say. (Most people seem to have at least one outstanding percentile… 90% in height, 50th in head size and weight…. etc.) I guess he is the “average” 2 month old baby. Height= 22.25 inches, Weight= 11 lbs, 4 oz, Head size= 15.5 centimeters. It is interesting that the 1st height measurement we received when he was born was that he was 22.5 inches at birth. We believe they measured incorrectly then or he is the Incredible Shrinking Baby…
After the MD appointment we went to another floor to get Caden’s 2 month shots. Unfortunately the wait was about 45 minutes to an hour because many kids were getting shots before the beginning of the school year. So- no shots for him yet, we’ll return after the kids go back to school. (Caden was relieved!)
I feel the need to include a photo in every blog posting, but we didn’t happen to take any at his MD app’t. SO here is one of Caden on his changing table…. which he actually really enjoys! Especially if he decides to pee on one of us.
Caden’s first real smile was on Monday, August 6, but I was able to capture a couple on film today! How fun to see him entertained by his silly mom.
It is hard to believe that Caden is already one month old! Although we have had some nights that seemed to go on forever, his birth seems like just a few days ago. (How does that work?) This month has been wonderful. Caden is now locking eyes with people and is quite the active boy when he is awake. He loves to look at himself in the mirror (uh-oh…. already into his own reflection!) and he seems to be discovering his hands and feet more. He now weighs 10 pounds.
Similar to all babies- Caden basically sleeps, eats, cries, and has some “active” time…. here’s a break-down of his life…
Sleeping- At night Caden is sleeping better- about 4-5 hours before waking to be fed. Then another 2-3 before the next feeding. For the 1st 3 1/2 weeks we had him sleeping in a “SnuggleNest” – a mini-bed on our bed between us. But we have recently moved him to his own room just across the hall. Luckily he seems to like his crib and nursery already!
Eating- Caden is quite the eater! He favorite food is…. breast milk! He’s happy with the left or the right and he always eats more than just three meals a day. For awhile I felt like the human pacifier as feeding him seemed to be the only way to calm him when he cried. We have heard he wouldn’t eat if he wasn’t hungry… so he just kept eating. He went through a couple growth spurts, (as we hear that is common between 7-10 days old and 2-3 weeks old) and at times he was eating every hour. It would be nice if he could learn to feed himself soon.
Crying-Caden has quite the cry when he wants to belt it out. Our neighbors sure know him now! As mentioned above, Caden’s crying is often calmed by eating. One other thing we have discovered, if all else fails, Caden will be calmed by the sound of the hair dryer! Supposedly the white noise calms babies, as it sounds like the uterus sounds he heard for months. Another theory is that crying is often used to block out over-stimulation for babies. The white noise of the hair dryer (or sometimes if we make the “SHHHH” sound) blocks out the over-stimulation instead.
Active time- This can be anything from diaper changes, baths (which Caden does not yet like), tummy time, floor time, stroller rides (if he is awake), or other interactive time when he is not eating. He really enjoys relaxing on the living room floor on his play mat with toys, being held and rocked, and being burped. He is still getting used to his swing and his bouncer, but he seems to be warming up to them.
Caden has had so many wonderful visitors and is happy to meet more of you! He (and we) would like to thank you all for the visits, the smiles, and cuddles with Caden… he really enjoys people! Thanks for taking the time & making the effort to meet him! (A special thank you to my mom who has helped out a few days/ week at our home! And 2 more special thank yous to the “out-of-staters”… his grandpa who flew out from Indiana and his Auntie Lorri who drove all the way from Oregon to meet him!)
