Beechnut Baby Food

Our package of new Beechnut Baby food arrived a few days ago! I thought it would never come! There was 10 jars packaged individually in cute little windowed boxes, each with a $1.00 off coupon. which made me feel even more special about getting free baby food to try. The flavors are Just Honey Crisp Apple, Just Pear and Black Cherry, Just Apple and Aronia Berry (which I had to google Aronia Berry and found it’s packed with all good stuff and very common all over the US) and Just Pineapple, Pear and Avocado. Isabella is the type of baby that eats everything I put in front of her which is great for me. But when she doesn’t like something she will make gagging noises and do a little shivery shake with her body. It’s the cutest thing. These flavors are delicious, she was making Mmmm sounds the whole time eating them. I try everything I feed her and I even loved them. The Honey Crisp Apple tasted like light crisp apple sauce. I even saved half for later and when I gave it to her cold right out the fridge I think she liked it even more. The Pear and Black cherry had the same texture as apple sauce also and the flavor was just perfect.  All in all she absolutely loves this Beechnut baby food and I have to say its my favorite too.

Stages & Phases

Its crazy how much my daughter is changing every day.  Just when I think I know her mannerisms she switches it up.  I realize now that these stages are just phases, and she is whizzing straight through each phase like a Boss.  Once she started turning over on her own, you couldn’t stop her. So she went through a real wiggly phase.  You couldn’t even change her diaper without her flipping over and wiggling. Then she hated being laid back to change her, so she would cry.  She can turn on and off that cry like a switch.  So I would just go at the same, calm pace because just because it’s taking longer to change her I still don’t mind.  I feel like she has to get the wiggle out of her system. Turns out me staying the same and not reacting so much to her, sort of outburst of fussiness, would allow her to learn.  Learn maybe that its ok to fuss alittle and wiggle around and mommy is here in case she needs me.  So for about a month putting her on the changing table was a project, once she flipped herself over on the table she would talk in her baby babble almost sounding proud of herself for accomplishing the table flip.  I would lean down and say something silly to her and she giggles.  That phase is over.  She now lays on the changing table like she used to, I don’t need to keep flipping her back over to get her diaper on right.  At the back end of the changing table flipping was the whiny phase.  This literally just ended today it seems.  Isabella has been a great communicator since birth.  I’ve always known when she was hungry, tired, cranky or had a dirty diaper.  Our wordless exchange of thoughts and feeling has come very natural.  When the whiny phase started it made me start to think what am I doing wrong?  Why is she not happy when she finishes her bottle, shes not happy playing with that toy she loved yesterday, her stuffed puppy is not making her smile in the morning like it always had.  It was another phase.  Her way of communicating shifted to a screeching whine that only a mother, father or very patient grandparent could bare.  I let her whine, and I didn’t change my pace.  I can’t make a bottle appear out of thin air and I can’t blink to magically replace a dirty diaper.  Her whining can not hurt her.    I can see how a whiny baby might get a parent flustered, but controlling your fluster is what being a parent is all about.  So many things can change and you have to be willing to roll with it.  After all, there are so many worse things a baby could be doing than whining.  This phase came and went so fast to my delight.  This morning she woke up a cooing, babbling, smiling baby.  She gave herself a bottle so I could make my coffee and get started on the day.  Today is a work day for me, so having her so content to play with her little Fisher Price Cellphone and stuffed puppy in her bouncy chair all morning so I can get ready for work is an amazing start to the day.  Life is good with my beautiful baby girl.

Where’s your baby?

As a brand spanking new mom you are already pretty hard on yourself.  So why is it that even friends insist on saying things that make you stop and think about if your being a “good” mom.  Since the day your bundle of joy is born, your there, with your baby 24 hours a day.  In the middle of the night, 2, 3, 4am your with your baby.  Your friends with no kids are really clueless about these times your taking care of your baby.  They just think that if so many people do it it must be a breeze. But they are clueless.  So when you decide to take a little “mommy time” and friends start asking, “where’s your baby”, I’m starting to realize why my reaction to this is somewhat annoyed. Where’s my baby? I don’t know, I must have left her in the supermarket.  Oh gee your right, Where is my baby? All these wise-ass remarks start flooding my brain.  I think in the 8 months since I gave birth to my daughter I didn’t bring her with me twice to gathering with friends.  Once was my official first time out of the house and baby girl stayed home with grandpa while my husband was working, and the second time was to go to a birthday bbq where there was going to be lots of people drinking and god forbid, I wanted to have a drink.  So she stayed home with daddy.  My husband works alot and sometimes may not want to come to one of MY friends houses, and that is fine with me.  I don’t make a big stink when he would rather relax at home, especially if he really just wants to relax at home with his baby girl.  So now that I didn’t bring my new born baby with me twice, people start passing judgement and I get the “when am I going to see the baby”, “I never see you with the baby”, “wheres the baby” oh and I love this one when I do have her with me is “oh finally there’s a baby here, I haven’t seen you with the baby in forever!” What the heck are you taking about, I’m with my baby all the time, Its you that don’t take the time to come see her.  On top of that I don’t always want judgmental, nosy people coming to my house. And excuse me! I didn’t realize it was my responsibility as a new mom to make sure all of my friends see my daughter on a regular consistent basis.  Well guess what? Its not my responsibility and its not any new moms responsibility to make sure their friends see your baby.  If they are good enough friends they will always be there, your baby will be comfortable with them and they will be comfortable with your baby.  The ones that are too busy or self consumed, and this is OK mind you, because childless people are allowed to be selfish, won’t know your baby like your besties do.  The relationship that forms between your baby and your best friends is very unique and becomes very natural.  The friends that miss out on this opportunity to bond with your baby, its their loss.  You work hard to be the best mom you can be so you can’t let the words of “friends” that aren’t there and don’t know your new normal eat away at you.  They will learn one day when they have their first baby how life really is as a new parent.  Until then, they will continue to say offensive things that they don’t even realize are offensive. 

Lunges in the Ladies room

It’s been 7 months since I had my baby girl and everyone is asking me how I lost all the weight.  I know there’s this big movement of woman having to lose all their baby weight as quickly as possible but being fit shouldn’t just start after you have a baby.  Generally I try to be mindful of how I eat and how much I exercise every single day.  I feel like if you put “good” stuff in your body on a regular basis then you don’t have to worry so much when you want to enjoy the “bad” stuff.  I gained 35 pounds with my daughter and lost all that weight before she was 3 months old.  Granted I am naturally small, but it would be easy for me to gain tons of weight if I didn’t focus on my health.  My trick is to walk…. a lot! Whenever I get a chance.  I park a few blocks from my job just so I can get a walk in every day, no matter what.  In the morning I stretch, do light weights, planks and squats.  Sometimes there’s no time in the morning so I find myself doing lunges in the ladies room, haha.  Listen whatever works for you.  It’s a lifestyle to stay healthy.  I think it’s one of the most important things for me now because of my daughter.  I want to be able to keep up with her when she grows up, I want Izzy to see her mom as a confident healthy woman because I want her to grow up to be healthy and confident too.  So we walk together, in the stroller or in the carrier, no matter what I include her in my healthy life.  So we can be healthy together!