Canadian Thanksgiving

It was my daughters first Thanksgiving dinner last night, and her first turkey dinner that she can actually enjoy the food, have more than just the sweet potato. 

I set aside some turkey, stuffing, sweet potato and potato, and I even topped the potato with a little bit of gravy.  I figured its a special meal she can indulge a little... the thought was there but she only ate the turkey! She's exactly how my sister was at big dinners, would only eat the turkey and maybe a bit of potato. 

How was your child's first thanksgiving or big dinner?

Baby Proofing

My daughter is at the age where she is getting into everything! 

We have some cabinet that she loves to pry open, luckily they are side-by-side so I have taken an elastic band and wrapped the handles together to keep them from openly completely.  This does keep her out, at least for now, one of the elastics is in reach and she enjoys pulling and chewing on them.  Also, our oven has a warming drawer that we use for storage but she loves to open it up especially over my feet! Ouch!

I was hoping for some advice for keeping them shut or at least to keep her out.  I'm not sure about the child proofing "locks" that you can purchase, was more hoping to use some things from home.  All suggestions and ideas are welcome.  I've enjoyed finding new uses for things around the house, have a few ideas to share in an upcoming post! Thanks in advance for your advice!

Our Beloved Tasha

Once again we have had to let go of our older Dog, Tasha.  She was always a little fighter, she fought her way through a heart problem and everytime we thought we would have to come the decision of letting her go she would recover.  It wasn't until this last time, she couldn't even hold herself up, let alone eat or go the bathroom.  It was time to say our good-byes.  Tasha was a 14 year old cock-a-poo (Cocker Spanial cross Poodle), she had a few health problems but always fought through them.  I do feel it was her age that made her body not able to recover.

We lost our beloved Toby back in May 2010 and now our Tasha this September 2010.  Its been tremendously hard loosing both of our loving pets in a matter of a few months apart.  The house has been awfully quiet, although my daughter has been taking care of some of that. 

This time around my daughter was 10 months old and she continues to drop food on the floor looking for the puppy to come clean up.  It saddens my heart that I can't completely explain things to her, but I have explained to her as best as possible to a 10 month and in hopes that she does comprehend some of it. 

I think children are a lot smart than sometimes we preceive and even though my daughter may not completely understand every word that I say when explaining the loss, it does help to put things at ease.  Maybe more for myself I'm unsure.  My daughter may not remember any of this when she gets older but for the now I feel it is good for her, and maybe will help with future explanations for me. 

What did you do to explain the loss of a pet to your child/children? Or any other thoughts would be great to hear!

Missing-In-Action

Hi everyone, sorry it has been awhile since my last post.  My daughter has been keeping me very busy this last little while and I've been neglecting everything else but her.  She's just about 10 months now and is walking and running all over the place, she took her first steps at (9 1/2) months and has been working very hard at it.  I hope to get back to blogging as soon as possible and wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about my blog.

One thing that I want to mention is that I started taking my daughter to our local library once a week to every other week.  It's a great opportunity to start reading to your children, even though they can't read they do listen.  My daughter is starting to love the reading and down time at bed, its our way of winding down the day.  Consider checking out your local library if you haven't already, we've gone through about 10 to 15 books per checkout and my daughters library card is free so for her it didn't cost us a penny and she's got a full range of books, CD's and DVD's.  It is a wonderful source that I almost forgot about. 

and P.S. at my library they actually clean the children's books to help prevent the spread of infections. 

Try it out and let me know what you think about it! If you already use your local library what do you like about it?

Teething Troubles

As all babies have it coming, it comes a time that their nice smooth gums will have small baby teeth to start cutting through.  My daughter is now eight and a half months and her first tooth is about to starting cutting really at any moment.  As a parent, I feel awful for her to have to deal with the pain.  I’ve come across a few things that have helped my daughter get through this ordeal so far.

The first thing we usually run to is Orajel and pain medication like Tylenol.  The Orajel is good for instant relief but the taste is awful.  Tylenol, Motrin or Advil are good for longer relief, I did find that Motrin or Advil gave a longer relief period than Tylenol (in other words they were great for over night).  I wasn’t too keen on giving my daughter medication all the time for pain but anything to help at this point. 

I also took a couple of cloths of wet them and placed them in the freezer for about five minutes and took one out at a time for my daughter to chew on.  She loved it, nice cold relief directly on her gums!

A friend of mine suggested Hyland’s Teething tablets.  They are quick dissolving tablets that you put in some water and give with a medicine dispenser.  I used this on my daughter and it was like night and day.  The relief seemed almost instant.  It’s a homeopathic “medicine”, so its full of natural properties and I felt a lot more comfortable giving this to her, also the relief of pain is soothing for all of us.  If you want to try this you can get it at a health food store, I paid $11.99 for 125 tablets and you need 2 – 3 tablets per dose. 

What did you do for teething relief for your little one?

Couldn’t Remember the Lyrics continued…

Like I mentioned in a previous post I found this website that has posted lyrics for lullabies and other classic children's sing along songs.  I also found a few other sites with lyrics for children's songs. 

http://www.babycentre.ca/baby/sleep/lullaby

http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/lullabies.html

http://www.todaysparent.com/baby/tools/index.jsp

These links have really come in handy! I actually printed some of the songs off and taped them to my daughters dresser (which is right by the rocking chair) so if and when I forget the words they're right in front of me!

 

What’s are some of your favourite songs to sing to your little one(s)? What was your favourite song as a child?

My Review

I've mentioned in a previous post some of my most current favourite things and thought it was time for a new similar post!

I've been bottle feeding my daughter for a bit now and had a problem with keeping the bottles in some kind of order, my sister found this wonderful drying stand from Munchkin, it keeps all of my bottles and nipples in a way more organized fashion.  My kitchen is now a little less chaotic! 

Munchkin also sells a bottle brush that fits perfectly with the drying rack which is a two-in-1 brush; a big brush (bristle type and sponge) on one end and attached to the end, hidden inside of the handle, is a small brush which is perfect for cleaning the bottle nipples. 

Speaking of bottles, I've heard mixed reviews about the AVENT bottles but I Love them.  Never had a problem with them leaking with the exception of one time but I didn't have the nipple pulled all of the way through, gave it a small tug and the leaking stopped!  The nipples are a wider fit and I feel provided less confusion for my daughter when I was bottle feeding and breastfeeding.  The bottles are BPA (Bisphenol A) Free.  The caps they come with I love and a great for traveling with; meaning no spills.  

AVENT also has these sealing discs and are great for storing formula or breast milk, I also use to make formula when I'm putting some in a cup without soiling a nipple. 

One last item from AVENT is the sippy cups.  I didn't buy the sippy cups from AVENT, they sell the sippy cup spouts so you can convert your bottles to sippy cups.  My daughter loves these for her water bottle.  I loved that I was able to just buy the spouts, it allowed me to convert one of the bottles to a sippy cup without accumulating more bottles. 

What are some of your favourite products that you have purchased for your little one(s)?

Couldn't Remember the Lyrics!

Its been so long since I sang any kind of child’s song or lullaby, really it has been since I was little I’m sure of it!  I loved them as a child and wanted to share them with my daughter.  Of course, I couldn’t remember the words. 

Happy to say that I have come across a good source for a few lyrics and, of course, wanted to share!
http://www.todaysparent.com/baby/tools/index.jsp?gclid=CJeXht-Lt6ICFRk7gwodykf05g

What were your favourite songs or lullaby when you were little and wanted to share with your children?

Homemade Baby Pancakes

My daughter has been getting picky with her food lately, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts.  She no longer likes the baby cereals or pureed food with the exception of fruit.  I want to continue to feed her the baby cereals but was stumped. 

My cousin gave me the idea to make pancakes with the baby cereal.  Great idea, I’ve made pancakes in the past and gave her some and she loves them.  I found a recipe online and it look good but I like to take recipes and make them my own.  The original recipe added some regular flour in as well so thought I would stick to the theme with my own. 

Baby Cereal Pancakes
1/2 cup of flour (whole wheat or All-Purpose)
1/2 cup of baby cereal (I used Wheat Cereal – its the one my daughter does not like at all.)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup Brown Sugar (granulated sugar or even Apple Sauce would work as well)
Optional – add 1 tsp of any spice such as cinnamon for something different
1 egg – beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup (4oz) Formula – I don’t know how well Breast milk will cook, I mainly used Formula because the wheat cereal needs milk added to it, also thought it would be better for baby’s nutritional needs to add some)
1 tsp Vanilla extract
- Mix all the dry ingredients in small to medium sized bowl, use a whisk to help with the mixing, if desired, I do find that the dry ingredients seem to mix better.
- In a larger bowl mix all liquid ingredients.  Once all combined add in dry ingredients and stir until all blended in.  Lumps are good to have in pancake batter if you have them, if you don’t no need to worry they will still turn out. 
- When cooking make them about “silver dollar” sized, makes for a good size for portioning for baby.
- Instead of syrup try serving with pureed fruit of choice, makes a great substitute for syrup and baby gets in a serving of fruit at breakfast time. 
- These pancakes are freeze friendly, and best way I find to warm them up either the next day or from the freezer is in the toaster.

This recipe passed with my food critic! Let me know how they turned out! Is there a recipe that you would like to share using baby cereal?

Spring and Summer Months

The warm and hot days of spring and summer are among us.  My daughter isn’t too fond of the warm weather when it comes to sleep time.  I noticed that every time the temperature reaches above 20 Celsius (around 70 Fahrenheit) my daughter seems to have a harder time sleeping for her naps and bed time.  I’ve tried cooler baths just before bed, cooling down the room before bed time with the fan, and letting her sleep in just her diaper.  I feel like I’m out of ideas…

What do you do for your little one to keep them as comfortable as possible during the day, naptimes and bedtime?

Walking and the Weather

The easiest way for me to get in some exercise outside of my home right now is going out for walks.  Walking is a great way to get some exercise and fresh air for both me and my daughter.  Unfortunately, the weather can be predictable some days or just not great walking weather, either too hot or raining. 

For days that were lightly raining I wanted to get outside with the baby, enjoy the rain and the fresh scent that the rain brings with it.  Baby’s are not a fan of rain they like to be comfortable.  Best way to keep dry is an umbrella for us but not so great for a baby in a stroller.  I found this wonderful weather shield for these wet days.  There’s a flap on each side that can be opened up to allow for better circulation or can be left shut for if you are outside and it really starts to come down.  Either way allows for baby to remain dry, I love it because than I can continue to get outside for a little exercise; with the exception of thunderstorms and its just best that everyone stays inside.  This weather shield is also great for cold and, or windy days.  The instructions say that it can be used for sunny days but I’m concerned about how hot it would get under there.

Sunny days are definitely the best days to get outside for a walk with the baby.  BUT with good weather comes bugs and a higher concentration of UV Rays.  I found another type of weather shield but is more like a mesh screening.  It helps keeps bugs away from your darling daughter or son and helps to protect against the suns UV rays.  I don't know how much I trust the UV protection but I also carry some sunscreen with me if we plan on being outside for longer periods.  I like this item its great for all of the above, although it doesn’t provide shade to help keep the little one a bit cooler but that seems to be hard to do on days where its above 30 Celsius (or 90 Fahrenheit).

Both of these weather shields I really like and I keep them in a bag at the bottom of the stroller for easy access.  Also a great way to always make sure they’re with you when you really need them. 

Is there anything you use for your walks with your little one(s) that you find helpful?

Iron Rich Foods

I’m always wondering if the food I’m feeding my daughter is good enough.  I’m always concerned mainly about the Iron content, is this Iron-Fortified or have enough iron in it, does it have to be an Iron-Fortified cereal.

Well I found a wonderful site that gives lots of good useful information about iron.  Also a good list of iron rich foods. 
http://pediatrics.about.com/od/nutrition/a/06_iron_foods.htm

Is there any other Iron rich foods that you would add to this list?

Dirty Toys

Toys are definitely something that is hard to keep out of baby’s mouth and off the ground.  It’s inevitable that your child’s toys will become dirty at one point or another. 

Disinfecting toys, in my opinion, probably isn’t the best idea to do every single time you clean them.  I feel that it does get rid of too many of the “good germs” but even though it does kill all the bad ones.  A disinfectant probably isn’t the best idea because no matter how well you rinse the toys there will be some form of residue left behind.  A residue on toys that your baby will put in his or her mouth…

My favourite way of cleaning my daughters toys is to fill up the sink or a bucket with hot water and adding in a little bit of dish soap and vinegar.  My mother did this as well when me and my sister were little all the time, so its one of those tried and tested passed down family cleaning “secrets”.  After soaking and/or scrubbing the toys soak in another bucket or sink filled with plain hot water and let air dry. 

This way of cleaning is a lot more eco-friendly than harsh chemicals and also a lot more safe for baby, never mind the fact that’s its also a lot easier on the wallet in the long run.  What’s your favourite method for cleaning your child’s toys?

Dinner Tonight

My girl, like most children, is a little picky at times with her food.  I did find that she only seems to like to eat one type of food for only a one to no more than 2 meals, than its time for something new.  Until I made my little one this Pumpkin Soup Recipe that I found in “Cooking for Baby”. 

I do enjoy cooking and frequently find new, different and amazing recipes to try but I rarely stick to the actual recipe.  Making my own changes I found that the recipe than kind of becomes my own.  Here’s the recipe that I made, my daughter enjoyed it so much that I wanted to share it!

Pumpkin soup

• 1 Tbsp Butter
• 1/4 of an Onion, finely diced
• 1 grated Carrot
• 1 finely chopped Celery
• 1 Clove of Garlic
• 1 Cup Canned Pumpkin Puree
• 2 Tbsp Apple Puree or Applesauce
• 1/8 tsp Allspice
• 1/8 tsp dried Thyme
• 2 Cups low-sodium Chicken Broth (or Vegetable Broth works well too)
• 1/4 Cup Red Lentils (or small pasta like alphabets or stars)

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic.  Cook until onions start looking transparent, about two (2) minutes. 

Add pumpkin puree, apple puree, allspice and thyme.  Once warmed thru add your broth of choice and the red lentils.  Once soup is boiling bring down to a simmer.  Cook until lentils are soft. 

Puree soup with a hand blender until you reach your desired consistency or one that your baby can handle. 

Store away remaining soup into your refrigerator for up to 3 days, this soup can also be frozen. 

This is a great recipe and one that even the rest of the family enjoyed as well.  I was also finding it hard to feed my daughter her infant cereals but now I’ve been able to mix a little of the rice or barley cereal in with the soup. 

A Tot Tragedy close to Home

Front page on one of my local papers… “Tragedy for Tot” ( http://bit.ly/aKdm4R ).  The tot was only 18 months and was run over by a car on the driveway to his home.  Sadly, the tot died in the hospital. 

First off, my deepest sympathies to the family for their loss of their son.

Saddened by this story, but what could’ve been down to prevent this? Of course, the whole, real story isn’t published and we probably won’t come know the whole story.  Was there sufficient supervision? was my first thought and question.  I can only speculate that there wasn’t, and no parent is prefect we all make our share of mistakes.  From every tragedy there is a lesson to be learned.  What are your thoughts on this story?

Road Trip Packing List

My previous post “First Road Trip” was all about our first family road trip to visit my grandparents.  The trip went well and with everything I packed I don’t feel like my daughter missed anything with the exception of her own crib.  We were gone for three (3) nights and 4 days.  This is my list of things that I did pack for my little one:

• Diapers – I packed 10 per day and 2 per night, I actually kept track of the amount diapers that my daughter goes through per day for about five (5) days prior the trip to know how many I might need.  Average six (6) per day and 1 per night, extra’s for the just in case, if I did run out I know I could’ve easily picked up another package at the store.
• 1 Package of wipes
• Bum Rash Cream
• 1 Bath Wash – I packed a head-to-toe wash so I wouldn’t have to pack Shampoo and a separate wash
• 1 small tube of Lotion
• 2 face clothes, 1 towel
• 6 Bibs, 6 clothes – I did a quick hand wash of these
• 3 pre-measured containers of baby mixed cereal, 1 package baby rice cereal – Breakfast is packed
• Enough pre-made fruit for 4 days – we usually feed our daughter what we eat as per her doctor, this has helped to make this trip a bit lighter to pack for
• 1 tin of formula – I packed a brand new tin and again if I ran out I could easily pick up another tin (I did only one (1) and had plenty leftover)
• 1 8oz bottle, 1 4oz bottle, 1 sippy cup – I washed each bottle after each use and the sippy cup was used for water
• 1 container (about a cup) of Cheerios – my daughter loves these and are the best snack for her
• 4 sleepers, 5 outfits – I packed an extra of each because you never know, the extra outfit came in handy.  Also I mostly packed more sweat suit type outfits for her to be as comfortable as possible and out cute dress because we did plan to go out for dinner one night.
• 3 Blankets – 2 thinner receiving blankets and 1 thicker blanket for night time
• a few toys – just a couple of small toys to keep her occupied and also for chewing because she has been teething a lot more lately.
• Booster seat – her seat easily clips onto any chair
• Play Pen
• Stroller and car seat
• Tylenol, oral gel – all for teething and I am happy we did, what I forgot to mention in my previous post was that my girl was teething really badly on the way home, we had to find a safe place to pull over so I could give her some Tylenol and numbing gel to help keep her as comfortable as possible until we reached home. 

One thing that we needed was an SUV or a Van for packing all her stuff plus ours, thankfully my parents were coming and they had lots of extra room in their car.  We had everything we needed and like I mentioned my daughter didn’t seem to miss anything with the exception of her crib.

How was packing for your vacation with your little one (s) at hand? did you forget anything or over-pack? 

First Road Trip

Finally off to visit my Grandparents so they can meet their great-grand-daughter.  My daughter is their 3 great-grand-baby but like many great-grandparents, they were just as excited as if she was the first. 

The road trip to my grandparents place is about a five and a half hours with short bathroom stops and a quick stop of a small bite to eat.  My parents used to take this exact trip with me and my sister when we were little, so not much has changed with a new baby in house.  My mom warned me… this trip will now take over seven (7) hours. 

How can a trip that normally takes under six (6) hours now take over 7!  Well, the short bathroom breaks now turns into short bathroom break, diaper change and feeding (bottle or food) for the baby.  So as opposed to the stops taking about 15 minutes they now average about half an hour, if not longer.  The longer breaks were actually not bad, it gave us all a little bit of extra time to stretch from sitting so long. 

My daughter did really good for about 2/3’s of the way, all she did was nap.  Once we reached to our last stop she was tired of napping, I could really tell she wanted to stay out of her car seat and play.  So my mom sat in the back seat and played with my daughter to help keep her entertained for the remaining part of the trip.  All I could hear from the back seat was baby babble, laughter and my mom talking to her.  She remained awake for the last two (2) hours of the trip and I was thankful that someone was in the back seat with my daughter to help keep her entertained. 

Our stay with my grandparents is mostly just hanging out and relaxing.  We did just that with the exception of my daughter being the centre of the entertainment.  My daughter took immediately to my grandparents as if she’s known them her whole life.  It was a wonderful visit!

Nap time seemed to be ok, she just napped in her play pen for about an hour or two (2), so she wasn’t too out of sorts.  Bedtime was a different story.  She would go down initially for about a couple of hours than she was up and wanted to sleep in our bed. 

We stayed by grandparents for about three (3) days and by the 3rd day my girl was ready to go home and be in her own bed.  The road trip was the same on the way home with the last two (2) hours of the trip she was tired of napping and this time I sat in the back with her. 

One thing that I feel we did need for the car ride was one of those window shades for kids.  We ended up just using a blanket to cover up the window. 

How was your first road trip with your little one? Happy Vacationing!

The passing of our beloved Toby

Recently, we had to put our sweet 12 year old cock-a-poo Toby down.  This was such a sad moment in our life.  My daughter is only six and a half months so she doesn’t have an understanding yet of losing a pet or someone in our lives.  I would love to hear what you have done to help your child or children understand when it comes to losing a pet? We have one more dog Tasha who is nearing 14 years old and like any other life we don’t know how much longer we have with her.  If my daughter is older how do we deal with it?

How did you and your family deal with losing your family pet?

Diaper Bag Essentials

Have you ever packed your babies diaper bag and left the house than realized there’s something else you should have packed?  Over time I’ve realized that there are certain things that become essential to have with you while away from home.  Yes, I figured this out by trail and error!
So other than the obvious diapers and feed here’s a list of the little extra’s that I found to come in handy:

• Feed – So besides formula or breast milk some little ones need an extra snack, I started doing this now that my daughter is eating solids and loves Cheerio’s so I pack a small handful of them. 
• Soother – my daughter no longer likes them, so no need for them but when I did I used a small container to keep it free from most germs also helped to keep it handy when she was still using them.
• Paper Towel – My daughter is now able to sit in the shopping carts AND weather can sometimes be unpredictable (and sometimes predictable).  Wet weather, rain or snow, means wet shopping carts, so I started packing a few paper towel sheets so give my little one a dry seat to sit on.
• Blanket/Receiving Blanket – I always pack an extra one in case it gets a little cold as well as now to add a little padding to the shopping cart seat.
• Chew Toy – My daughter started teething around three (3) or so months and now she chews on everything, also she’s at the stage where she puts just about everything in her mouth. I throw in a chew toy like Plastic Links I found they have helped to keep her mouth off of the shopping carts also helps to keep her a bit more occupied while we try to get the errands completed. 
• Sleeper – I pack an extra sleeper for the just in case, diapers do leak and I’ve got a few at home and thankfully it hasn’t happened while we’ve been out.  But you never know…

What else do you pack in your diaper bag as one of your essentials?

Mothers

I received this in my e-mail the other day and it brought a tear to my eye, to all the "Mothers" I know, have a Happy Mother's Day this Sunday.
     MOTHERS
     Real Mothers don't eat quiche;
     They don't have time to make it.
     Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils
     Are probably in the sandbox.
     Real Mothers often have sticky floors,
     Filthy ovens and happy kids.
     Real Mothers know that dried play dough
     Doesn't come out of carpets.
     Real Mothers don't want to know what
     The vacuum just sucked up....
     Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'
     And get their answer when a little
     Voice says, 'Because I love you best..'

     Real Mothers know that a child's growth
     Is not measured by height or years or grade...
     It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother........

     The Images of Mother
     4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!
     8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!
     12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't know everything!
     14 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother? She wouldn't have a clue.
     
     16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's so five minutes ago.
     18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!
     25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!
     35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.
     45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?
     65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom...

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair..
The beauty of a woman must be seen from within her eyes,
Because that is the doorway to her heart,
The place where love resides.
The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,
But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.
It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she
Shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!