Maya Starts Solids!

Day 1 – October 7, 2007

I have somehow forgotten how to start a baby on solids. It seems like ages since I transitioned Jayden. I finally decide to start with two ounces of milk and two tablespoons of cereal. I mixed it up and put Maya in the highchair. Jayden looks at me like I’m crazy. He actually starts to whine. How dare me put Maya in his chair. Oh well. Get over it Jayden. I’m desperately trying to spoon feed Maya who is spitting out more than she’s taking in. It’s like I’m willing her to open her mouth with my facial expressions and Jayden is saying “Open Maya!” over and over again. She’s making her special little raspberry sounds and getting cereal everywhere and Jayden is mimicking her. So of course, she continues. The spoon seemed so little and the bowl seemed so big. I felt like it might take me forever to accomplish this task. I finally finished but honestly, I sincerely doubt that she got any into her mouth. At the end, I thought to myself, “Can I just nurse her forever?” To top it all off, she woke up like clockwork at 2am to nurse so my hopes of her sleeping through the night went down the tubes.

Day 2 – October 8, 2007

Tonight, I decide to go with two ounces of milk and three tablespoons of cereal. It was much better, thicker. I can honestly say there was an improvement. She liked the consistency and was smacking her lips. I would guess that she had a good 50% of what I fed her, but then she got cranky so I stopped and finished the meal by nursing her. She fell asleep around 8pm. Then she woke up again around 9pm. What happened? I nurse her again and she falls asleep. Then she wakes up again at 11pm? What’s going on here? I wanted her to sleep through the night. I didn’t mean for her to wake up more often! I actually fell asleep nursing her and didn’t wake up until Esteban came home from work. He put her to bed and she slept all night. She didn’t wake until 5am. Wow! I forgot what it was like to sleep at night. I hope this wasn’t a one time thing.

Day 3 – October 9, 2007

Tonight, I stuck with the same measurements at the night before. This time I was going to try not to get too much of Maya’s saliva into the bowl so that the cereal doesn’t get runny. She opened her mouth for the spoon and I could hear her swallow so I was encouraged. She was laughing and carrying on and being super cute. About 5-10 minutes into the feeding, I lost her interest. And I don’t know what happened, but the mixture ended up going from thick to runny again. She was starting to get cranky and I didn’t want to push it so I decided to stop. I don’t know if she got tired or full, but at least she ate quite a bit of it. Afterwards, I had to run to bathe Jayden and she was crying, but when I came back to check on her, she was asleep. At 10pm, I nursed her and she slept until 4am. Not bad.

Day 4 – October 10, 2007

Tonight, I decided to increase the cereal to 4 tablespoons. It was super stiff, but after a few minutes, it became thinner. Maya took less in though. Maybe it was because the consistency was thicker, but I only got her to take about 25% of it. She fell asleep soon after just before 8pm. At 10pm, I nursed her to sleep, but she had a relapse. She was up at 3:30am and then again at 4:45am. Ugh! What is going on here?

Day 5 – October 11, 2007

Ok, I tried to spoon feed her again and she wasn’t interested in it at all. If probably took two bites, at most. Then, I begin to wonder if maybe she’s just not hungry enough. So, I wait. About an hour or so later, I try again. No luck. So now even though they recommend you don’t do this, I take the cereal and thin it out with 2 oz of milk. I put it in a sippie cup and I give it to her. She gnawed on the nipple for a while, drank/spilt about half of it and left the rest. Oh brother. Now she’s tired and cranky and crying in that “I just want to be nursed” tone. What could I do? I nursed her to sleep. Jayden took to the spoon so easily. I can’t understand what the problem could be. And then relapse! She woke up shortly past midnight, and again at 3:30 and then at 6:30!

Day 6 – October 12, 2007

Ok, what I really want to do is just forget all about cereal and spoons and bowls. I’m looking at Maya and dreading 7:30pm, which is when I’ve been doing her feedings. She’s starting to get cranky and before you know it, she’s hungry so I drag myself to the kitchen and decide to mix one ounce of milk with 2 tablespoons of cereal. She’s now screaming her little head off, tears and everything. I think I’m in more pain and agony than she is. I start to feed her and she actually eats the cereal. Of course, she’s sucking on the spoon as if it were a nipple and the bowl was completely empty with very little spillage. Too bad I didn’t mix more cereal. Afterwards, I nursed her but she didn’t fall asleep. I don’t know what she’s waiting for. And when she did fall asleep, it wasn’t for long cause she woke up in the middle of the night for her feeding.

Day 7 – October 13, 2007

Ok, tonight I feel more confident and mix the usual 2 ounces of milk with 4 tablespoons of cereal. No deal. She took 2 or 3 spoonfuls and stopped. Then she got cranky while I continued to try and finally she started wailing! Ugh. How could this be so hard? I finally gave up (which I didn’t want to as hard-headed as I am) and nursed her. She fell asleep instantly. Of course, she woke up when her daddy came home and I was so tired I have no idea what happened after that. Maybe she was latched on for the rest of the night. Who knows? When I woke up, there she was being all hungry, wiggling her hands and legs and trying to reach out for me with her mouth. Oh goodness!

Mommy and Me Class Four

This was the last class in the session. Honestly, I am not sure if we will return for another session next week. Jayden spent the entire class being cranky and whiney. This week’s theme was Goldilocks and the facilitator brought in three different size chairs to aid in telling the story but Jayden and two other kids started to heckle over who was going to get which chair. He did manage to stay still for the craft where we made paper puppets. But after that was over, he went back to being cranky. He kept peeking out of the window and pointing to my car and calling out words like home, Maya, there it is, car, Maya, cars coming, Maya, home, Maya, Daddy, Maya, Maya. He was driving me nuts. I loose my patience quickly under three circumstances: hungry, tired or hot. And I was hot. I actually had to speak to him in a strong tone, during the class. He didn’t want to participate and ran away from the class facilitator saying No, no! Or he would point to the door and say go. Grrr! I wanted to just leave, but we stuck it out until the end. Neither of us said a peep on the way home. That’s unusual too because Jayden usually talks for most of the ride. Maybe he was tired. I don’t know. I was just quiet in thought. I can’t go to class and enjoy our alone time when he’s so desperate to get home to daddy and Maya. I was so upset. Of course, I can’t take it personally, but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

Recent Pictures

I took the kids to a safety fair. It was really great but Jayden didn't seem to enjoy himself. He was only happy about the lollipop and the balloons. He didn't seem to care about the bounce houses or the clowns.
Maya was all smiles as usual and went along for the ride. She never complains. She just goes with the flow.

Jayden on the otherhand was clearly not himself. He started to cry and I just couldn't help myself. I love his purple lips here. Evidence of the lollipop he tore up!

I got Maya a pin wheel even though she's still too young for it, but I attach it to her carseat and she's completely entertained by it. The wind was blowing and it was just twirling away. She was in a trance, just staring at it.

Here's Jayden at Mommy and Me class. This is our third week and he gets a hoot out of it.

Here's the Piano Man. This is one of those toys that isn't always accessible to Jayden. We rotate some of them so that he doesn't loose interest. This includes his TMX Elmo, leggos, musical instruments, and puzzles. He hadn't played with the piano in a while so he didn't even stop to look up for the picture.

Maya really enjoys this thing. I noticed that since she's started to use it in the last month, her legs have gotten stronger so she is putting more weight on them than before. I don't know who loves the attachments more. Jayden or Maya? Sometimes, Jayden will give her toy while she's in the excersaucer so that he can take over and play with the gadgets. He's no fool!

Maya Turns 6 Months Old

Maya is 6 months old. She’s such a special little girl. She’s content and growing. She’s got these amazing chubby cheeks, bright eyes and a beautiful smile. Her little rolls are so cute. I just want to chomp on them all day long. I believe I’m not alone on this one. I catch Jayden blowing air bubbles on her tummy all the time. She keeps us entertained making those cute little raspberry sounds. And Jayden mimics her. Now I’ve got two chatterboxes. Maya has found her toes and at any chance she gets, she’s reaching for and inserting them into her mouth. Every time Jayden catches her doing this, he yanks them out of her mouth. She also rolls both ways with ease. I spread out a blanket and put her in the middle. I place a toy at each corner and she will roll her way to each and every toy. She sure does move around for someone who is no where near crawling. Maya’s greatest accomplishment though is that she is now the proud owner of two little teeth. It was a rough time for her, but she made it like a champ. Things to look forward to next month? I’m going to start her on solids and attempt to wean her from the middle of the night feeding. I’ll keep you posted.

Couponing Depression...

I hit a couponing depression. I had a humongous wad of coupons that clearly outgrew the little holder I was using. My purse which used to be the perfect size was no longer perfect. In fact, it weighed a ton. I could never find anything in it and every time I tried, I was reminded of my coupon disorganization. I was starting to get coupons from friends and neighbors and was falling behind on my clipping because I was dreading trying to organize them and since I didn’t have the coupons ready, I was late in getting my scenarios together, late in looking at sales circulars and I even lost my desire to find deal. I hit a low.

I decided to work on a new storage system for my coupons and I can’t tell you how many hours I spent, invested, or wasted (depending on who you ask) on this project. Lots! I cut out little dividers, labeled them and then reorganized all the coupons and fit them into my metal lunch box. Then I had to go through and remove all the expired coupons since it was the end of the month (atleast a hundred). I also got completely caught up on cutting coupons from four sets of inserts, and added those into my box. Thank goodness. I had to pick up groceries and I tried out my new system. It worked great! I loved it. When I got home, I found more inserts. What’s this! The neighbor had dropped off more coupons. Ugh. I cut those out and add them into the box. Whew! I go get the mail and what’s in the mail box? Two coupon trains! These are two small groups of couponers who circulate and exchange coupons amongst each other. You get the envelope, take what you want and add more to replace the ones you’ve removed. Now, I am back at the coupons adding in the new coupons from the trains and removing those I’ll be using to fill up the envelopes. My entire weekend, which is 4 days long mind you, is completely gone and most of it to couponing! I’m so happy that it’s over and hope I don’t have to go through that again.

This month, my grocery bill only went down by 7%, but everything is overflowing and I’ve even had to move some things into the garage. The medicine cabinets, vanities, kitchen cupboards, fridge, and freezer are all stocked. I even have baby cereal, and baby food in size 1, 2 & 3 for Maya who doesn’t even eat yet. This month, I bought more diapers than usual. For one, Target was running a sale and then I found a clearance deal at Walgreens for diapers and training pants that was too good to pass up. I bought 10 packs of diapers for both Jayden and Maya for normal everyday use. Then, I bought 8 packs of training pants for Jayden and Maya (yes, Maya). I now have size 2, 2-3, 3, and 4 diapers for Maya in storage. I bought most of these at great prices and all with coupons which I’ve been trading for. Now, I won’t have to pay what the store is asking when I need them because I bought them at clearance prices before I needed them. Overall, I’m happy with this month’s deals and progress.

Jayden Gives Mommy a Big Scare!

Maya had been in her bouncer seat for a while so I spread out a blanket and lay her on it. Jayden was watching Monsters Inc. for the hundredth time and I was in the kitchen fixing dinner. I came around the corner with my plate, thinking that Jayden may want to eat from my plate since he didn’t eat very well earlier in the day. I see Jayden sitting watching TV and I realize that I don’t see Maya. I don’t see Maya because Jayden in sitting on her, as if she were a pony. I look at Maya to see if she’s moving but she’s completely still and not making any sounds. I think my eyes almost popped out of my head. I’m shouting Jayden’s name in pure awe and amazement. What was he thinking? Why are you sitting on Maya? Never, never do this again. You sit on the chair or sit on the floor. Not on Maya. Now mind you, Maya is just fine. She’s squealing and clearly enjoying her brother’s antics. (Don’t egg him on Maya!) She’s much more resilient than I think, but Jayden scared the daylights out of me. I didn’t spank him, but my eyes were like saucers and I know he must have been scared at the look on my face. When Daddy called, I told him what happened and Jayden just sat there still as could be. He would not take the phone to greet his daddy. He knew he was wrong. He said he was sorry several times and assured me he loves me. Breaks your heart, doesn’t it? I know. Me too, but he better not sit on Maya again. I mean it!

Mommy and Me Class - Week Three

Today, we had our third class. Jayden went in with the usual serious look on his face, but he warmed up very quickly. Our story today was the Three Little Pigs. After the story, the instructor had straw, wood (Popsicle sticks) and bricks for the kids to feel and explore. The kids loved the straw. It has a very different texture and a distinct smell. It was everywhere. The kids really liked the popsicle sticks too. Then it was craft time. They glued together a piggy’s face together and then colored it. It was very cute. It’s always hard to tear Jayden away from the craft table, but when the parachute came out he came running. We played with that for a while and then we built houses with blocks and practiced blowing them down. Of course, they really enjoyed knocking the blocks over. At the end of the activity, the kids helped with clean up. I’m still pleasantly surprised at how much they want to help at this age. We closed with a song and made it out just in time. A rain storm had just ended. I am really enjoying sharing this time with Jayden and I’m hoping that there’s another class we can do together after this one is over. I’m learning just as much as he is. Lots of times, I refrain from certain activities because I think to myself, he’s too little or he doesn’t get it, or it’ll just make a mess. I’m so wrong. I need to do more. He’s this little only once.