Mommy's Attempt at Potty Training. Gerritt's Attempt to Cosleep. Gerritt's Favorite Breakfast.

Gerritt in his toddler class


Gerritt found unexpected fun in an empty diaper box


Making faces at the playground


Gerritt's cars all neatly organized


Sitting on a potty while watching his favorite "Word World"

I finally made it to Friday! After watching Sophia for 6 nights I am ready to have some "me" time. My husband took both of the kids to his Mom's house with an overnight stay since I have to work next couple of days. Not looking forward to my 12-hour+ work day tomorrow, however, I can't complain after having 7 days off in a row. I really love being a nurse! What other job would give me such flexibility? Speaking of my job, I got the H1N1 flu vaccine last Monday. After reading reports on Dr. Mercola's website about potential dangers of this vaccine, I wasn't going to get it. I intended to be one of those nurses at my hospital who would complete the Flu education module on line & sign a paper stating that I was informed of the risks of not getting the flu vaccine including potentially not being able to work for up to 2 weeks, infecting my unsuspecting patients & bringing the flu home to my family. I quickly changed my mind after having to take care of 3 Swine Flu patients last week. In fact, when I came to work last Friday, the Evergreen hospital has moved to Level 3 alert due to more than average patients with flu-like symptoms being admitted to the ER. It was decided that all of the flu patients would be put on 8 West, the hospital wing where I happened to be assigned that evening. The swine flu pandemic wasn't exaggerated news after all. The patients I've admitted were very sick & had high fevers (103-104 degrees F), fatigue, malaise, myalgia (muscle aches), hard-to-control cough, shortness of breath, & decreased blood oxygen saturation level (in low 80s with normal being above 92%). One of my patients was a young 32-year-old mother of 4; another one was an immunocompromised woman in her 60s. It wasn't the H1N1 flu itself that made my patients so ill, but the resulting bacterial pneumonia. Heavy-duty intravenous antibiotics (Vancomycin, Rocephin, Azithromax) were needed to help them get "over the hump." I started to seriously doubt that my diligent handwashing, N-95 mask & extra vitamin D3 alone would be enough to keep me from catching the swine flu. I've decided to receive the H1N1 FluMist vaccine instead of the injectable one to avoid controversial mercury & other preservatives. Luckily I didn't experience any side effects. I will have full immunity against the H1N1 flu in about 2 weeks. I was fortunate to get vaccinated since our hospital has received only 400 doses of the H1N1 FluMist & I was on the high-priority list due to working on the front lines, so to speak.
Moving on to my mothering job... I've been trying to potty-train Gerritt for the past couple of days. Several wet urine spots on the carpet, several pairs of wet pants & many hours of watchful waiting didn't amount to much. Gerritt was without his diaper from 8 am until 12:30 pm & he still pooped in his diaper as soon as I put it back on at 12:40 pm. He always has a BM right after breakfast, so I made sure he was planted firmly on his Baby Bjorn potty chair while eating & for at least 30 minutes afterwords. It looks like he is afraid to poop in the potty. Not sure how we are going to solve that one. He is becoming more aware of where the urine comes from & even takes off his wet pants all on his own. It is not pleasant to have wet spots all over our living room carpet, however, we are getting rid of it anyways (we are transitioning to hard-wood floor everywhere). I'll keep on trying...
Gerritt's favorite games still involve playing with puzzles & cars. He loves to stuff the cars into the crevices between our couch pillows, line them up on a carpet in a straight line, hide them under a pillow or a blanket, or line them up along a window seal. He went through a period of wanting to sleep with cars too. It wasn't easy to hold his stuffed dog, bear, blanket & 3-4 cars while putting him to sleep in a rocking chair. I had to wait until he was asleep & then quietly sneak into his room to remove all of the cars to prevent Gerritt from rolling over them in his sleep. Thankfully, this stage didn't last long! Unfortunately, there is always something else to take its place. For the past couple of days, Gerritt has been refusing to sleep in his crib. I would rock him for up to 1 hour in a rocking chair & as soon as I attempted to put him into his crib, he would shake his head "no" & cry loudly. I was so tired that I ended up putting him to sleep with me in our bed for the last couple of nights. Actually, it's not such a big deal to me. I am aware Americans in general are strongly opposed to having their kids sleep with them in a family bed, & cosleepers are looked down upon by other parents & doctors. I used to share my parents' bed occasionally up until I went to school (age 7). My parents divorced when I was about 4 years old, so cosleeping with my Mom & Dad (when I visited him) was very comforting to all of us. Since I practice the attachment style of parenting, cosleeping was something I've been wanting to do for a while. I tried to cosleep with newborn Gerritt & couldn't do it since I wasn't getting any rest due to my anxiety of constantly checking on him & being woken up by all of his newborn noises. I've tried sleeping with him again since he became a toddler, however, wasn't able to do it since he kept climbing all over me & laughing (even with the lights out) thinking it was a game. I will welcome Gerritt into our bed gladly if he is truly serious about it this time. I guess we'll find out. That was the whole reason we bought a king-size bed. I was imagining both of the kids sleeping with us eventually, if not during the week, then at least snuggling together on weekend mornings. :-)
Not sure what brought this on... My husband thinks Gerritt really misses me when he goes to daycare 3 days a week. It is not hard to guess. Yesterday after coming home from daycare Gerritt followed me all over the house & even to the bathroom when I took a shower. He undressed himself wanting to get into the bathtub with me. So much for Mommy's relaxation time! We ended up bathing together & playing with foam alphabet letters once again. On Tuesday in our toddler class Gerritt did not let me out of his sight. When I went to a separate room for my bi-weekly parenting lecture, he found me there, grabbed my fingers & tried to pull me off the couch while whispering, "Mommy, come! Mommy, come!" (I guess he was shy of other Moms sitting next to me, so he didn't speak in his full voice. :-))
As much as Gerritt enjoys being in his new Russian daycare, there is no place like home, even if being at home involves doing nothing exciting. He just likes to be close to me. Since I don't leave for work until 2:30 pm, Gerritt & I have plenty of time to bond in the mornings. Sophia is already at her Korean grandmother's house, so Gerritt gets undivided attention. My husband likes to get a rise out of him by saying," Common, Gerritt! I'll take you to daycare. Let's go!" Gerritt makes a sour face & responds in a whiny voice, "Daddy, york ("work"). Mommy, stay!" If I attempt to take him to daycare, he immediately switches his whining to, "Pacaaaaakes ("pancakes"), saaausyyyyy! ("sausage")." I proceed to ask him if he is hungry, to which he replies, "Baby, hungry!" I usually comply dutifully since making pancakes & sausage doesn't involve that much time & happens to be our family's favorite breakfast of all time.


Our favorite pancake mixes are the Arrowhead Mills' Organic Buckwheat Pancake & Waffle Mix & the Arrowhead Mills' Buttermilk Pancake & Waffle Mix. I follow directions on the package, but alter it slightly by adding a few tablespoons of Bob's Red Mill Whole Ground Flaxseed Meal (a good source of omega-3 fatty acids) & Pure Bourbon Vanilla Extract for flavor. We serve pancakes with pure maple syrup & sauteed fruit (like peaches or strawberries). I serve some kind of protein at every meal, so our favorite protein to have with pancakes is ground turkey patties (Gerritt calls them sausage). Waking up on Saturday mornings to a delicious smell of pancakes is one of my happy childhood memories & the one I would like to create for Gerritt & Sophia.

"A life-long blessing for children is to fill them with warm memories of times together. Happy memories become treasures in the heart to pull out on the tough days of adulthood." ~ Charlotte Davis Kasl

Beautiful Artwork & Father's Role in Breastfeeding

Sophia did something new today. She has been trying to turn from laying on her side onto her tummy during the past week & today she finally succeeded! I was so proud of her, I was clapping & yelling, "Yeah!" & made her do it a few more times just to make sure it wasn't a one-time occurrence. When my husband got home from work, I showed him what Sophia could do. She is also sitting much better. I am still supporting her with pillows on both sides, however, she is able to lean forward, grab a toy & sit back without any difficulty. Sophia's legs are stronger as well. She loves to be held in a standing position & going up & down. This is so exciting!

I have found a set of breathtaking artful images while browsing the Internet today. I often read blogs & other publications related to pregnancy, natural birth, & breastfeeding, so it wasn't surprising I ran across these thought provoking pictures. I just had to post them in my blog for everyone to admire!

Baby Earth

Papaya: Can you believe where this all began? 1 life. Unlimited possibilities. Remember.

Mother Earth

Milky Way


While looking around I was also able to find two informative articles about the role of a father in the breastfeeding relationship. I have underestimated the role of my husband & underutilized his support after Sophia's birth as I described a few months ago in Postpartum Recovery. The 1st article titled Experiences of a Breastfeeding Father comes from the Chronicles of a Nursing Mom & the 2nd article titled A Father's Role in the Breastfeeding Relationship is from the Arubian Breastfeeding Mamas. If your partner feels shut out & useless because of your exclusive nursing relationship with your child, reading these articles is a must!

Sophia is 5 Months Old Today!

Our goofy kid trying on several hats at once


Trying out the swing


Bath time with Mommy


Sophia snuggling with Daddy


Sophia loves her jumperoo!

Our little girl is growing up fast. She can already hold her head & is trying to stand up. She likes to jump in her jumperoo. She also loves to be held. I give her many kisses & hugs (especially if it is just 2 of us at home). Sophia has the cutest laugh. All it takes is me looking at her & saying, "Where is my baby?" She also laughs when looking at herself in the mirror. We've started to read the Mirror Me book this week & she squeals with excitement every time I turn the page. Sophia has the strongest hands & grabs everything she can get her little sausage fingers on including my hair. She is healthy & has not had a single cold despite not being breastfed. I love her fat rolls & give her frequent massages, especially after a bath. She is addicted to her pacifier & always sucks on it when falling asleep. She doesn't use it when she is awake since she has her favorite Sophie the Giraffe & the BornFree teether to chew on instead. Gerritt always used to fall asleep with a bottle. Sophia can fall asleep with her pacifier alone as long as she is not hungry, so we've made progress in that area. Once she starts getting fussy, rubbing her eyes, look tired or loose interest in playing, I swaddle her & give her a pacifier. She is asleep 2-3 minutes later - easy!
She is definitely teething since she's been drooling & putting fingers into her mouth frequently. I rub her gums with my finger & Sophia likes to "bite" me.
Sophia often gets mistaken for a boy since she wears a lot of Gerritt's blue handy downs. There is no reason to throw away perfectly good clothes just because it is blue. She has a few cute outfits in "girl" colors.
She loves to watch Gerritt play or goof around & she always smiles when she sees him. Gerritt used to ignore her, but now he knows she is a real baby. If she drops a toy, he often picks it up & gives it back to her. He likes to be helpful so he brings a bottle for Sophia or put her dirty diaper in a trash when he is around. It is so great to have Gerritt entertain Sophia! I didn't have such luxury when he was a baby. That's how the Duggars from the show "18 Kids & Counting" do it - the older ones help raise the younger ones.
When I was pregnant I often wondered whether I could love another baby as much as I loved Gerritt. I found that my heart just got bigger. My love for Sophia grows stronger every day & our relationship is everchanging. She is so easy to love! I've always tried not to treat her like a baby, but a little person who has similar to mine emotions & feelings, but limited ways to express herself. Sophia is definitely more emotional than Gerritt. She can get quite loud if she doesn't get her way & it takes her a while to calm down once she is upset. Crying is a late sign of a certain need not being met, so most of my time is spent anticipating Sophia's needs. My Facebook friend Danelle Frisbie (who I've never met, but learned a great deal from) could not have said it any better:

"I used to say, "Babies cry to communicate - not manipulate." But, really, babies communicate in many non-verbal ways and their cry is indication that their initial non-verbal cues were not read or attended to. Maybe they were ignored, missed, or misinterpreted. Their cry is a last ditch effort to tell us something is wrong - a need they have has yet to be met. Babies never cry to manipulate. There are societies where a baby's cry is rarely heard. And attending to babies' needs is never detrimental to their health, happiness, well-being, or development. Let's learn our babies' cues and non-verbal forms of communication. Let's listen to what they are telling us - in their own way - and meet their needs as only a mother can. Note: I am not speaking here of older toddlers who fuss as a means of getting attention - although this occurs less often among toddlers who were peacefully parented as infants. And I am also speaking of babies labeled with 'colic' - there is a root cause to their pain - there are needs that were not or are not met. Maybe it was protection from pain or bodily harm at birth (being sectioned out before their lungs were ready, being genitally cut apart at birth, etc.); maybe it is gastrointestinal pain from cow's milk proteins in their diet that they cannot digest or pass; maybe they are simply in need of being held - close to mom's heart - being comforted, being worn, for more hours during the day; maybe they need more time at mom's breast. There is always reason for the tears. It is our job to know our babies well, to protect them, and to meet their needs when they cannot yet do so for themselves. And, hopefully, to do so before the cries are necessary."

Both my husband & I can't stand to hear a baby cry (probably the result of our parents' upbringing). I remember reading in Dr. Sears' The Baby Book that if you want to teach your child empathy, demonstrate it to her on a daily basis. It comes naturally to us.
I've been re-reading another wonderful book the Diaper Free Baby by C. Gross-Loh about elimination communication (EC) & trying to put both kids on a potty. Yep, you can start potty training in infancy! EC is toilet training practice involving timing, signals, cues & intuition to address your child's need to eliminate. The goal is to partially or completely avoid the use of diapers. I can usually tell when the kids have to have a bowel movement, especially if I am holding Sophia. "Pee catching" is more difficult. Gerritt has seen us use the toilet & loves to flush it afterwords. He asks to sit on a toilet once in a while, but has not produced any "goods" yet. I need to get some more supplies from the EC Store to jump start the potty training process.
It took Gerritt about a week to learn colors, so now he proudly names them everywhere we go including when driving in the car. "White car! Black car! Red car!" It is too cute! His favorite color may be purple. He doesn't wear it that often, but likes to say the word "purple."

The pumpkin patch

Today we all went to the pumpkin patch. I have never been to one & felt now that we have children we needed to start our own family traditions. When Gerritt was 5 months old I wouldn't even dream of going anywhere since our lives revolved around his 2 daily naps. Times have changed, however, since now I am responsible for happiness of not only Sophia, but also a 2-year-old toddler who has a curious mind & an active body. We chose a farm close to home - the South 47 Farm. My double stroller sure came in handy. Of course, when Gerritt saw a field of bright orange pumpkins, he left the stroller & began to run around in amazement. There were beautiful tall sunflowers everywhere, corn & pole bean mazes, hayrides & farm animals including lamas, miniature horses, chickens & goats. We didn't make it for the hayride, but did enjoy chasing Gerritt through the corn maze as well as admiring farm animals. Gerritt ran around the field & even attempted to lift a few of the pumpkins. Sophia fussed a little, but thankfully, quickly fell asleep in the stroller after her bottle of milk. Gerritt "passed out" upon returning home around 1:30 pm without much resistance. I took a lot of photos & even videotaped a little since Gerritt will probably not remember this outing. Since Gerritt insisted on carrying his stuffed dog & blanket to the pumpkin patch with him, I had to wash it once again today. :-)
In the evening I intended to give Sophia a bath in her plastic tub, however, have decided to do something new & different. I filled the tub with warm water so BOTH of us could take a bath together. I put her in my lap & gently washed her head & body. Then I helped her to swim while laying on her back as well as on her belly. Sophia didn't even cry although she was slightly apprehensive in the beginning. She was kicking her legs enthusiastically & smiling by the end of our "swim." Gerritt's birth doula mentioned taking a bath with her newborn daughter & I wanted to try it for myself. I have also been inspired by the book I've ordered yesterday - We Are All Waterbabies. What a gentle way to help your baby feel relaxed & loved! I will definitely be doing this again.

Gerritt is 2 years old!!!

On October 1st Gerritt turned 2 years old. His birthday happened to fall on a Thursday, so we've celebrated with my husband's Mom the weekend before & with Chris & Gerry on Wednesday. On the weekend we had dinner with my husband's Mom & I baked a carrot cake with cream-cheese frosting. It was one of my favorite recipes from the "From the Bastyr Kitchen" cookbook & included honey & maple syrup instead of sugar & all organic ingredients. Gerritt enjoyed it & even attempted to cut himself another piece when we were not looking. So the leftover cake was full of holes. :-) On Wednesday Gerry & Chris traveled from Wenatchee to celebrate Gerritt's birthday with us. They presented him with a beautiful Radio Flyer tricycle. We blew up many balloons & Gerritt had fun kicking & throwing them up in the air. Gerritt also received a BPA-free, recycled-plastic truck, 2 dinosaurs & a hunter from Judy & Jerry Lawson & a gift certificate to Target from Diane & Greg Olshavsky. Gerritt really enjoyed the singing happy-birthday Elmo card from Judy & Jerry & kept playing it several times a day. We've decided not to make as big of a production out of Gerritt's 2nd birthday as his 1st one since he is too young to fully appreciate it.
Sophia is already 4.5-months old. She is definitely more vocal than Gerritt. She loves to bubble & talk; in fact, she can get pretty loud at times. She loves to look at herself in the mirror & smile (it used to be Gerritt's favorite game too). She likes her baths & her long naps afterwords. We've been putting her to sleep on her sides instead of her back to prevent a flat head (Gerritt's head is still slightly flattened from all on-the-back sleeping he did as a baby). She is always propped up with rolled towels so the possibility of her rolling onto her tummy is slim. She sleeps better when swaddled, so I recently broke down & bought a few more of my favorite Swaddle Designs blankets. They are soft & large. I initially received my very first Swaddle Designs organic cotton blanket as a gift from the Group Health Hospital after Sophia's birth & was hooked.
Sophia recognizes people & cries when she sees someone she doesn't know. She takes multiple naps during the day. Usually she plays for an hour (1.5 hours would be really pushing it) & then gets fussy & rubs her eyes. So about every 2 hours I swaddle & put her down for a nap. Another lesson learned from raising Gerritt... I remember thinking he was such a fussy baby during those first few months until I read how much sleep small children needed. Sophia is only starting to sleep longer at night & usually wakes up to eat every 4 hours. She slept 5-6 hours straight only a handful of times (usually after a day full of activities). She outgrew her bassinet, so she's been sleeping on a bed with one of us for the past couple of weeks. I put her in a perpendicular to my body position so I can feel her feet touching me. She doesn't even have to wake up fully. She starts to hyperventilate & smack her lips & then I know she is hungry, so I get up & feed her.
Sophia is already fascinated with our eating process. She literally turns her head & follows the spoon with her eyes as the food travels from my plate to my mouth. Less than 2 months to go before I can start giving her solids! I let her suck on a ripe banana a few times & she enjoyed it so much she was grabbing the banana with both hands. We will not be rushing into feeding Sophia anything else though. There are many reasons to delay the introduction of solids as outlined in the Kelly Mom. The main one I remember is that babies younger than 6 months have "leaky" guts, which means the spaces between the cells of the small intestine are large enough to allow food proteins & pathogens to enter the bloodstream predisposing her to food allergies & diseases later on.
Sophia is getting better at grabbing & holding things & started to use a Jumperoo a few weeks ago. One of her favorite things to chew on is the BPA-, phthalate- & PVC-free teether from the BornFree. During her last check-up, Sophia's doctor recommended we dilute her formula or feed Sophia less frequently since he thought she was gaining too much weight. I've tried diluting the formula & Sophia proceeded to demand feedings every 2 hours instead of 3. So, we are just going to disregard Dr. Yam's recommendations & let her determine how often & how much she wants to eat. I took Gerritt's health record out & compared it with Sophia's. He was a big baby as well (in the 95th percentile for weight & height during his 1st year). Sophia is actually smaller.
Our parenting life is much easier this time around since we just did the newborn stage less than 2 years ago. I honestly can say I am enjoying Sophia much more than I did the first few months with Gerritt. I am more confident, relaxed & content as a parent. I've learned not to "sweat the small stuff" & cherish those little moments. Sophia is a content baby & hardly ever cries. The only time she gets really loud is when she is hungry. She is like a baby bird: she leans forward, opens her mouth looking for a nipple & her body becomes spring-like & rigid. She recently learned to put both of her hands on the bottle - so cute!
We've been so fortunate to keep her out of daycare so far. She is at home with my husband on the weekends & goes to her Korean grandma when I have to work during the week (every other Wednesday, Thursday, Friday). Ironically, I get more rest when I work since grandma watches her BOTH days & nights. The first time we did it I felt so guilty, like I was a bad Mom sending Sophia away for several days in a row. However, she always came back clean (grandma insists on bathing her every day), powdered, well-fed & happy, so now it is our routine.
Gerritt goes to daycare 3 times a week, so on the days that I work I have all mornings to myself. I mostly cook, clean the house, do laundry (almost daily), sleep in, run errands & read. I got hooked on watching the HBO's True Blood this summer, so I've read all of the books the show is based on. The series are about Sookie Stackhouse, a young pretty barmaid & a telepath, & her adventures involving vampires, shapeshifters, maenads, werewolves & other supernatural beings. I didn't think I would find anything as enjoyable as the Twilight books, however, the Sookie Stackhouse novels came a close second. Since I can't travel now (I could but I don't want to put myself through such torture with 2 kids), a good book is like my little getaway.