We just tried the raspberries…and as I thought, no dice. BUT if I crushed them and put them in his oatmeal he ate them just fine. So it’s more texture than anything else, I think. Which means I will keep adding them to his oatmeal, while slowly making the chunks bigger and bigger. 🙂
Category Archives: Owen
BEAVER ALERT!
How pathetic is it that NEITHER of us noticed this before this week? 😮
Our crib did come with the plastic covers on the side rails…but nothing on the ends, which is (of course) where he’s biting. He’s also biting the space below the plastic cover. Tom is going to install additional rubber stuff (that we bought for the entertainment center, but isn’t long enough) when he gets home tomorrow.
More new foods.
So I went grocery shopping today and thought I would get some new foods for Owen to try, that other moms have recommended. Since not a lot of fruit is in season, it’s all EX-PEN-SIVE. Yet I got the $5 pint of blueberries from Chile and the $3 half pint of raspberries from I forget where. I also decided to try avocado again (cheap at 79¢) and lima beans (at $1.39, more expensive than normal because I was at the fancy store).
So, how did it go?
Yeah…not so much.
I cut the blueberries in half to be safe…but it didn’t help. He opened his mouth like he’s good about—but as soon as I put the berry in, out it came. So I left some on the tray for him to think about. He did pick one up a time or two and attempt to eat it, but it just wasn’t happening. Then he squished some and that was, of course, much more fun. So those came off the tray pretty quickly so we didn’t get a big staining mess.
I tried the lima beans…and that was not just a no but a MAJOR no. The bean barely even got in his mouth before it came right back out. I cut one in half. Nope. I smushed one. Nope. I left some on the try and he didn’t even look at them or touch one.
Sigh.
Tomorrow we’ll try the raspberries and avocado, although I’m not holding out much hope (this will be like the fourth try with avocado).
BUT!
I had made some whole grain blends (think rice/couscous-y stuff) and…he liked it! AMAZING! I was so excited he was eating real food—except, of course, as boxed things go, it wasn’t particularly healthy—but he was eating it! And then, after maybe 5-6 tiny spoonsful, he was done. He didn’t want ANY more. Sigh. I guess it was a good start, right?
Then we tried leftover mac and cheese and he wanted nothing to do with it.
Fun, fun, fun!
Shoes, Part 2
So, I just got an email that they sold the shoes in-store before my order came in and they didn’t update the website in time. HOWEVER, I can choose one of these two similar pair with a $10 refund:
And I’m torn. I like the one-color ones because they’re a solid color but I’m not sold on the loafer look. But the sporty ones are just fun and cute.
Baby shoes shouldn’t need this much decision. |-|
Feet & Shoes
I really should get Owen’s feet professionally measured. I’ve just been guessing at sizes and/or holding them up to his feet—and while I’ve not purchased any that were too small, I have certainly bought some that were too big. At first, it was pretty easy—just move up a size in Robeez, starting with 0-6 months, then 6-12 months, 12-18 months, and 18-24 months…but then they stop measuring by months and convert to actual sizes. Well, Owen is currently in 12-18 and 18-24 month Robeez.
So anyway, I thought I had plenty of shoes for him (since I’ve bought a few pair that are too big PLUS we got some as hand-me-downs) but for whatever reason, they still aren’t the right size. Sigh. So I really like the pair he’s growing out of, so I just figured I’d buy them in the next size—but I can’t FIND them in the next size (they are out of stock everywhere). And it’s apparently quite hard (at least so far) to find an all-brown shoe in the size that I want that I like.
I guess he doesn’t HAVE to have shoes to match his outfits…but I thought I was doing well having only two pair (three if you count the cute red/black/white hard-soled shoes that I only have him wear when he wears the matching pants!)…but I searched and searched and searched and searched and FINALLY found the bigger size of his current pair (man I loooooove Google). Hopefully that pair will take us through to the rest of his shoes waiting for him. 🙂
Facebook Status Updates
- Jennifer Hudson is currently restoring 97,600+ files via Carbonite onto her new 1TB hard drive with a new Windows 7 install.
- Jennifer Hudson likes the thought and spirit behind “We Are The World 25” but it doesn’t even compare to the original.
- Jennifer scored a BINGO in SCRABBLE with the word TOLLERS worth 81 points!
- Jennifer Hudson was not excited at all about the Olympics, until watching an hour or so of Olympic preview-type broadcasts. Now I can’t wait. BRING IT ON!
- Jennifer Hudson just realized it’s Friday night. Being a SAHM with a husband who works six days a week kinda lessens the impact of a weekend.
- Jennifer Hudson woke up and was depressed her dream about seeing Roger Mitchell and Ursula Mitchell wasn’t real…but was glad her screaming match with Jean L. Schwalm and Tom Hudson wasn’t real.
- Jennifer Hudson—The boy is 12 months old and still sleeping with his burpie over his face. I wonder how long he’ll continue to do it?!?! I wish I could ask him why he loves it so!
- Jennifer Hudson is ready to throw the Windows7 Upgrade right out the window.
- Jennifer Hudson never gets as much done during Owen’s nap as she hopes to.
- Jennifer Hudson is happy to celebrate Valentine’s week by sharing a photo of hubby and me…we first met 2/7/97 and started dating 2/14/97…so we’ve been together 13 years and married eight.
- Jennifer Hudson is finally watching the season premier of Lost!
- Jennifer Hudson just downloaded and tried Google Chrome. They need to work on Tab issues before I switch.
- Jennifer Hudson thinks it’s hilarious that I have Shazam’ed the same song now THREE times. 😐
- Jennifer Hudson has decided life is too short for uncomfortable socks! In the garbage they go!
- Jennifer Hudson wants someone to stop her the next time she wants to subscribe to Cosmo because it’s a good deal.
- Jennifer Hudson thinks that the Chocolate Cheerios were a waste of money. Blech.
- Jennifer Hudson just got Owen to wave back at her! YAY OWEN!
- Jennifer Hudson was having fun watching Owen dig around in his toybox, leaning completely over with his feet off the ground…until he fell in and started crying.
- Jennifer Hudson thinks she needs to take a break from Scrabble. I seem to be getting worse the more I play (instead of better) and it’s frustrating me terribly.
Issues, issues, and more issues.
What kind of issues? Well, food issues, nap issues, playing, and then more food issues.
So today I asked some parents (on my online boards) what I can do with Owen and his eating. Meaning, we keep trying real food but he just isn’t loving it—but he should be getting off jarred food and eating more and more “real” food. So they gave me some ideas, which I had already mostly tried. But the big idea was
Babies/small children are MUCH better than adults at recognizing their own bodies’ signals for “hungry” or “need nourishment”. Some of the best advice I ever got about kids and eating was from my MiL. If a child gets hungry, s/he will eat. Period.
So anyway, just to share my response (so you know what we’re dealing with!):
We have tried frozen corn, peas, green beans, and carrots and he doesn’t really like them. Meaning he won’t eat them plain (heated) but he would eat a few of them when used in fried rice.
I have tried doing sweet potatoes a variety of ways—the consistency of jarred food (which he ate for awhile, but no longer likes), baked chunks, steamed chunks, a steamed mash, with cinnamon, etc., and he didn’t like any of them.
We’ve tried sliced cheese, chunk cheese, grated cheese, and melted cheese – none of which he’s thrilled with.
I tried cooking peas and beans (from dried) and those were a BIG no.
I have tried minced, chopped, and pieces of chicken (all a big no), roast beef and burgers (he likes it! he likes it!), and grilled pork (okay for a bit, but not terribly interested).
I have tried grinding/mashing various meals into a slurry and just chopping them up—no dice.
He does love pears and does okay with bananas—but doesn’t like watermelon, fresh strawberries, or apples (although he likes dried).
He does love yogurt, but he can’t live on yogurt, right?
So we ARE trying…it is just extremely frustrating because there’s really not much he likes so far.
All that said, I tried at lunch. (I really did.) I cut up half a banana, gave him about four rigatoni noodles with meat and sauce, and a tiny handful of puffs and dried fruit…with a sippy cup milk chaser. He ate about half the banana, half the noodles, and his pile of puffs/fruit. Which is about 1/4 of what he normally eats. I then tried to feed him the pieces and didn’t get much more down. And he was giving me his cranky “I’m hungry” cry. So I buckled and gave him a yogurt and that was it (still way less than he normally eats). About an hour later, he was giving me the hungry whine again, so I gave him a cracker—he didn’t want it. I tried puffs—no dice. I tried milk—nope. We cuddled on the couch and he got tired…so then he took some milk and…
On another note, it drives me insane how he is so tired and practically falling asleep on my lap so I put him in his crib and he cries and whines and screeches and cries and whines and screeches because he doesn’t want to be in there—but I leave him anyway, hoping he will just fall asleep…but this afternoon it’s been 30 minutes and it’s still going on. Ugh. I hate letting him win (LOL) but I can’t leave him in there forever.
They then agreed that he was being a stinker, and to just keep trying new foods. So, to continue the story…just to show you can never expect what will happen.
We ordered Thai for dinner, which was too spicy for him, even as Mild. But we did share tiny pieces—my chicken, egg, and carrot (from Basil Fried Rice) which he did eat (chicken, yay! except it took a few tries) and chicken and potato from Tom’s Massaman Curry. So we’re excited. He’s also eating some Graduates apple pieces (which he never ate before!) and puffs. And drinking milk. But even though he was eating, he wasn’t really eating that much.
But I wasn’t going to give him any jarred foods…but I was going to give him a yogurt. But before I did that we had some fun (which, of course, completely made up for him being a stinker earlier today at nap time):
And then, after playing, without warning, he barfed his entire dinner. So, was it from the raucous laughing? Or too many new things for dinner? Or something else entirely?
Sigh.
But wasn’t he cute in that video? 😀
Oranges
Today we tried oranges and while he wasn’t overly enthusiastic, he didn’t spit them out. But he didn’t want a lot of them, either. 🙂
Beans & Potatoes
Today for lunch we tried leftovers from Owen’s birthday dinner—Easter potatoes and baked beans. And he liked them both!
YAY FOR LIKING NEW FOODS!
Gramma Jean’s Beef Barley Soup
Gramma Jean brought soup for the lunch before Owen’s party…and of course I gave some to Owen so he could try a new food…and he loved everything in it! The beef, the barley, the carrots, the mushrooms, the celery—YAY! So he ate the leftovers for the next few meals and today we finished it! YAY, OWEN!
1st Birthday Party!
What a day! We had a houseful of family to celebrate Owen’s first birthday…
He wasn’t too sure about the cake but quickly got into it (while still holding his balloons). And I was expecting him to get VERY messy, but it wasn’t bad at all. YAY OWEN! GOOD BOY!
And things continued to go pretty well through the bath…
And the meltdown happened when we tried to get a group photo…
But all in all it was a great day…and here’s just a little 9-minute snippet of the festivities:
12-Month Check-Up
I couldn’t wait for today’s appointment, because I was VERY interested in how much Owen weighed—I was positive he had gained a few pounds from the last visit when he was 26#. So imagine my surprise when he weighed…26 pounds 4 ounces. Big whoop, he gained four ounces. I guess my back is just getting worse and worse and I thought (assumed) he gained more then he did. 😳
So, his stats:
Height: 32″ (95th percentile)
Weight: 26# 4oz (95th percentile)
Head: 47cm (75th percentile)
His head size also surprised me—his head looks so big that I couldn’t believe it was only in the 75th percentile.
And he apparently doesn’t like anyone to touch him now. He fought tooth and nail when the doc was trying to look in his ears, listen to his heart, and whatever other things she was looking at. Sigh.
He did, however, enjoy playing with the vertical blinds and spinning the doctor’s chair:
We now get to transition to whole milk in a sippy cup (not even a bottle!) AND get to brush his teeth after each time. That means an entirely new routine. IF he even likes the sippy cup for milk. IF he even likes the milk. I can’t wait. |-|
Then it was time for his immunizations. Four of them (well, three plus a flu shot). Two of which apparently sting like the dickens. Oh, there was screaming and crying and tears…poor kid. He was pretty okay a few minutes later, but I am guessing that was the Tylenol kicking in. He had a bottle on the way home and is now napping.
To Owen on his 1st Birthday
Dear Owen,
We can’t believe it’s already been a year since you were born. It seems like just yesterday we were headed to the hospital, completely unprepared to have a baby (you were three weeks early, after all!). We also can’t believe how much we love you—we never thought it was possible to love something or someone SO much. Your dad and I constantly tell each other (and you) how much we love you, and we hope you can tell, even if you can’t understand us yet.
We are very, very thankful for the great little boy you are. Your mommy wasn’t sure she’d have the patience for a baby…but you have really been so easy—such a wonderful baby—that we feel very lucky.
- You have pretty much been a happy baby since Day One.
- You rarely cried and were never colicky.
- Once you started sleeping through the night, you slept like an angel.
- You continue to nap well and sleep well.
- You never needed to be held or rocked to fall asleep.
- You have only been sick once, and even then you weren’t that cranky.
- You really didn’t care what brand bottle we tried with you.
- You liked the cheap formula from Costco.
- Once you started solids, you were a really good eater and ate most whatever we gave you, quickly and easily.
- You have never had any major potty accidents (“poopsplosions”), at home or in public.
- We have never had to change the sheets in the middle of the night.
- You have the best laugh, and you laugh easily.
- You can play by yourself and keep yourself amused.
- You love to cuddle and watch Sesame Street.
- You haven’t been terribly cranky while teething.
- You transferred from a bottle to a sippy cup without missing a beat.
- You transferred from formula to milk without missing a beat.
- You love water and love baths!
- You don’t mind getting water on your face or in your eyes.
- You don’t mind getting your teeth brushed.
- You have always traveled well.
- You have always liked other people and will let anyone hold you.
- You are amazingly cute and unbelievably photogenic.
Of course, there are some things about you that we’d wish you’d quickly outgrow (every one of your books has chewed corners and your crib looks like it was attacked by a beaver) but these things pale in comparison to the love and joy you bring into our lives on a daily basis.
We can’t wait to see you continue to grow and develop, and we hope the upcoming years go by a bit slower than the first year.
Love Always,
Mommy & Daddy
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OWEN!!!
I really can’t believe Owen is a year old already. I think this past year might have been the fastest year of my life so far (if I forget about his first 6.5 months when he wasn’t sleeping through the night, which seemed like the longest 6.5 months of my life!).
Unfortunately, the morning didn’t start off too well…I decided to change him in his room (where all his clothes are now—we moved them earlier this week) because I wanted to start the day off in his “1st Birthday” onesie. Well, he really kicks up a storm now during diaper changes—and he’s also started to LOVE throwing things (repeatedly!)—so he kept throwing his toy and kicking like mad AND reaching back behind him for the lamp.
UGH.
So I was trying to give him the toy (again and again) so he would stay still for just a minute, while trying to wrangle him back on the changing pad, while trying to keep him away from the lamp, while trying to take off his PJs…when he kicked EVERYTHING off the dresser—including the humidifier—so there was water spilling everywhere.
Needless to say Mommy wanted to scream and she was NOT happy about being frustrated with the little man on his birthday. 🙁 But then we had our quiet cuddle time on the couch watching Sesame Street, and I loved him again. 🙂
Then, as usual, he wanted nothing to do with sitting still to take pictures—but with Grandpa Mike’s help, we did manage to get a few (overall, so far today, about 10 out of 80 were decent).
First birthday balloons!
Owen apparently LOVES balloons. You can see him here with Grandma Linda and his first birthday balloons! We all got a kick out of his reactions!
Playing house with Grandpa
Last helmet check!
Today was Owen’s last helmet check—three months after he stopped wearing it—and the specialist said his head looks great! It has evened out a bit more and we don’t need to go back unless we start to have any concerns!
Mac & Cheese!
Today we tried macaroni and cheese (which was made with those small seashell noodles, which were just the right size) for lunch…and Owen loved it!
Barf.
Tom fed Owen tonight while I was working on dinner. I was amazed, because he went through a 3.5oz veggie, then a 6oz veggie, and then during the last bit of a yogurt, I asked Tom if Owen had burped at all…and just as he was saying no, Owen barfed.
Yeah, I thought it had been too much food too fast, but I didn’t make a big deal about it because it’s rare that Tom feeds him so I didn’t want to criticize anything (love you, babe!). We just cleaned him off and put him in the bath.
Then, since he had barfed up most everything, I made a big bottle, which he sucked down crazy fast. Before I put him down, I wanted to make sure he burped…and boy did he. I heard it coming, but it wasn’t just a burp.
That’s right, folks. He vomited all over me. Then turned to the other side and barfed some more, which got in my hair. I immediately yelled out — HELP! HELP NOW! — and Tom rushed up to see me and the boy covered in barf. He took the boy to get changed. I hopped in the shower. Then Tom got out the Rug Doctor and cleaned the green bean vomit (first in, last out!) while I played with the VERY HAPPY boy.
I was scared to try another bottle, but he needed something before bed—so Tom took a turn (he called me a wuss for not wanting to try again) with a 6oz bottle but I don’t think he even ate 2oz.
Poor baby.
Poor mom.
Wonderful dad for rushing to my aid.
Don’t miss this video!
Or should I say THESE videos…
December 5, 2009
December 25, 2009
Grandpa Mike and Grandma Linda brought Owen his first sled! He loved being pulled around inside the house!
December 26, 2009
In the middle of Owen’s first sledding experience. The actual sledding videos are jiggly and headache-inducing to watch, so this is what you get!
Fun with chopsticks!
Grandma Linda got Owen his own chopsticks for Christmas…and he LOVES them. As soon as you get them out, he smiles and laughs—and he loves it when you click them together. He will even take pieces of food from you!
I dropped a puff (hey, give me a break—I was using my left hand because I had the camera in the other hand!) and he tried to give it back to me (the chopsticks)!
Owen likes lobster!
Well, his lobster teething toy, that is. (Thanks, Gramma Jean!)
Sleeping in, part 2!
Yessiree, we both slept in again this morning! I woke up at about 7:30 and by the time I got up to pee, Owen was banging on the walls! (So, granted, he might have been up a bit earlier, but still…that’s later than it usually it.)
Unfortunately, I think it might be because the house is quiet in the early morning, with Tom being gone…so when Tom comes home, the early mornings will start again. I want Tom home, of course, but MAN do I love sleeping in until 7:30.
Sleeping in!
Yay to Owen, who slept in until 7:30—which also means I got to sleep in until 7:30 (actually I woke up first)! Mornings are sooooo much nicer when you get to wake up on your own time…
Scrambled eggs!
So, Owen and I just ate some scrambled eggs with turkey and potatoes and cheese for breakfast. Well, he ate some jarred peach muselix for his main breakfast, but then I tried out the eggs…and he really liked them. (I was pretty sure he would, as he likes the eggs that I put in fried rice.)
The funny thing is, I tried just the plain turkey first. No way, out it came. I tried a plain potato. Not interested at all. But scrambled in eggs, with a little butter and seasoning? Nom nom nom.
Except that I’ve noticed (or at least it seems to me) that he isn’t so much chewing (gumming) but just swallowing. I know he can “chew” because I can hear him crunching puffs, but when I gave him a pretty big bite of egg/potato/cheese, I didn’t really see him chewing at all. I guess he could just be swallowing (the stuff is soft so it would go down easy) and he doesn’t seem any worse for the wear, but it just seems off/wrong to me that he’s not chewing.
I’m not terribly worried, because I know he does chew/gum things…but it just seems very odd to me.
Dinnertime fun!
Food issues
I always say food issues would never bother me. But now that I’m having to deal with them….
Owen can drive me nuts. One day he will love pears and eat, I swear, half a pear. The next day, he won’t touch one piece. One day he loves real corn, the next day he won’t touch it. Or he will eagerly eat two spoonsful of a jarred food, but then refuse to eat any more.
He won’t eat ANY food I make, regardless of the consistency (he used to at least eat my sweet potato). He loves the dried strawberries, so I got fresh berries and he pretty much won’t touch them (although I did manage to get two pics and a short video).
He started eating chunkier food (and will pick up pieces) but doesn’t really like chunky stage 3 food. But he will still eat the hell out of stage 2 food, so I still give him that so he gets some veggies.
I think if he could live on YoBaby yogurt and puffs, he’d be thrilled.
So we just keep plugging along, knowing that every baby is different and this is all normal.
Sigh.
Big boy oatmeal!
We tried steel cut oats instead of Owen’s baby oatmeal this morning… He didn’t quite love it as much as his oatmeal, but he did eat it!
Naps, they are a changin’…
First, I think we are slowly moving towards one big nap a day. For the past few days (this morning notwithstanding) Owen has slept in until 7:30 or 8. We assumed it was because Tom stopped showering in the guest bathroom (which he did to try not to wake me up, but was very loud for Owen’s room). While my dad and stepmom were here, and he didn’t need to go to work, he stopped showering in the early morning and Owen seemed to sleep longer. Well, on those days that he slept in, he only took one long midafternoon nap—still going to bed at his normal time. BUT…just when we thought we had a new pattern emerging…this morning he was up—babbling and playing—at 6:15. So who knows what’s going on.
But, second, I think Owen’s naps have moved to his crib vs. the living room pack-n-play. We (I) loved having him in the living room because it was easy to put him down and know when he got up. We could also, of course, peek in on him and how cute he is when sleeping. He would nap without any issues 99.9% of the time.
Things started to change once he could stand up, however, because if he wasn’t quite tired enough, he would pull back the blankets (which we had covering the pack-n-play to make it darker) and grin from ear to ear…not wanting to miss anything because he knew we were still around (which used to be helped by the blanket because he couldn’t see us). But, even with his new ability to stand up…if he was tired enough, he’d still fall asleep eventually.
But lately he just doesn’t seem to want to sleep in there. I know he’s tired but he wants to stand and look around and see me and play. So I’ve started putting him in his crib when he seems tired—and for the past two days, it has seemingly worked well, with him falling asleep in under 10 minutes and sleeping anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours.
So now, I have to decide if I want to totally remove the pack-n-play from the living room. One one hand, it would free up a big chunk of space…but on the other hand, we use the diaper changing part of the pack-n-play religiously throughout the day. We could relocate the changing table part of it to the ottoman, but then that would require us (and grandparents) getting on our/their knees to change a diaper. XX( (Although, honestly, the day is coming…as he’s technically already over the suggested 25# weight limit on the p-n-p diaper thingy.) We don’t even have a changing table in his room that we could bring down–we just used the top of a dresser. Or we leave the pack-n-play where it is and use it for storage. 🙂
Decisions, decisions…
STAIRS!
I forgot to mention this (yes, I’m behind on my blogging)…Owen can now zip right up the stairs! I knew he could do multiple stairs because he did that at another mom’s house, but he really never even ventured towards ours. Until Grandpa and Grandma Smith came and somehow he “discovered” the stairs and now will rush right up if given the chance. 🙂