Doctors, shots and fevers

This week was a rough week health-wise for mommy and son. Barrett had his 9 month doctor appointment. He measured in at a whopping 18lbs, 2 oz and 27 inches. That translates to 22% for weight and 13% for height. What a munchkin! I don't know how we ended up with such a little peanut! I always assumed I'd have a big baby, so I'm surprised with how tiny he is. I am a little nervous because I bought a bunch of clothes in advance, at sales, and now I'm not sure he's going to be fitting in all these 12-18 month clothes for a while!

He did amazing with the shots that he got at the time. But the poor thing developed a fever the next morning. I suspect the flu shot. Daycare called me around 10:30 to say his temperature was 102.7. There is nothing worse than seeing your baby suffering and not being able to do anything about it. It took about another 24 hours before he was back to normal, but thank goodness it eventually passed.

And then onto me - I have been ignoring some pain in my ear for the last 2 weeks or so, because it never got worse and I really had no time to go see a doctor. Well yesterday the entire radius around my ear was painful so I went to an urgent care center nearby. Yep, an ear infection. Did I mention this is the 2nd one in 3 months? I don't think I got any as a kid but am not getting them as an adult? What is up with that?

On top of that, since I clearly couldn't be choosy about the doctor I was able to see on no notice on a Saturday morning, I think I got the doctor who got his medical degree online. He was an hour late to arrive at the office and either reeked of bad cologne or booze. Then, with a wedding ring on my hand and a baby on my lap, he started hitting on me. Interesting doctor's visit, to say the least!

B is back to his normal happy self and I am on antibiotics so hopefully will feel better too before long.

What a week!

Making baby food

I have really enjoyed making baby food for Barrett. I got recipes from online and from books from the library. At the beginning, I made simple purees - butternut squash, carrots, apples, pears, etc. Most of this has already been eaten, except everything green. He refuses to eat anything green. No green beans, no broccoli, no peas. Even with mixing a tiny bit in with foods he does like - yeah, he's not fooled. If he tastes one bite of green in anything, he spits it out, refuses to eat any more bites, and gives you a look like "nice try. how dare you do that to me?"

Some of the best recipes I've tried so far:

Potato, carrot and corn
1 T unsalted butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup water
1/3 cup frozen corn kernels

Melt the butter in a pan and saute the onion for 1 minute. Add the carrots and saute for 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, cover with the water and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. Add the corn and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Puree in food processor.

Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Grapes
2 T onion, peeled and chopped
1 T olive oil
1/4 lb chicken breast fillets, cut into chunks
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 cup water
6 seedless grapes, peeled

Saute the onion in the olive oil. Add the chicken and saute for 3-4 minutes until browned. Add the sweet potato and pour the water on top.
Cover and simmer for about 12 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Add the grapes and puree in food processor until desired consistency.

First Chicken Casserole
1 T veg oil
3/4 cup carrots
2/3 cup leeks, washed and sliced
1/4 cup chicken breast fillets, cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup parsnips, peeled and chopped

Warm the oil in a pan, add the carrots and leeks, and saute until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the chicken and saute, turning occasionally, until browned.
Add the potatoes and parsnips and just cover with boiling water. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until everything is tender and cooked through. Blend to puree.

He is eating about 3 meals a day now. We started cheerios this past week, which I actually didn't think he would eat right away, but he loved them immediately. Must be a sign that he's ready for something with a little but more crunch!

Halloween is a-coming

Halloween is just around the corner and I'm excited to dress up my little pumpkin for the first time!
From before the time he was born, I wanted to dress him up as a bear. Since of course, he's our baby Bear, it seemed perfect (groan - yes, I'm a cheeseball and freely admit it). Unfortunately I haven't found a cute but affordable bear costume as of yet. I haven't given up though.

Now, if we had an unlimited costume budget, THIS would be what I'd get:


But at $49.95 (!) I can't really justify that. Let's see, he'd probably wear it all of an hour, so I'm not sure we'd be getting our money's worth.

Check out those paws though - adorable! I did buy another costume that is pretty darn sweet so I think he'll still be pretty stinking cute for his first Halloween.

(As a sidenote, I think that little baby actually looks a lot like Barrett. Same chubby cheeks and coloring. Weird)

Our daycare is having a Halloween parade for the parents to watch, parties and activities, so it should be fun! You know, as much as I would love to have Barrett attending daycare at Mommy's Loving Arms, I couldn't be happier with the center we have chosen. He gets so much love and attention from his teachers, interaction with other kids, and lots of learning opportunities. The teachers really do love him and give him so much affection and attention. The women call him their substitute grandson and they are definitely substitute grandmothers for him. Since his own aren't really involved in his life at all, it's wonderful to have women who can give me advice, gush over him with me and give him added love. He has some mild stranger uneasiness that has started but since these workers have been with him since 12 weeks old, he's just as comfortable with them as he is with us.

I won't reveal his costume just yet so I know you all will be on the edge of your seats until Oct 31. But I'd be lion lying if I said it wasn't adorable!

100 days

1. In 100 days, my little baby Bear will be 1 year old. Huh?!?! And in just two weeks he will be out in the world as long as he was in my belly. This is craziness. I cannot believe that he's nearly 1 year old. I feel like he should be around 5 months, not 9. I feel like his babyhood is coming to an end. Now he's crawling all over the place, eating food, not nursing as much, and starting to seem so much more like a little boy, instead of a baby. Why is it that the older we get, the faster time seems to go?

2. Along those same lines, Payton, our darling and crazy puppy, turned 3 last week. He was our first "child" and so many people told us that everything would change once we had a baby and that our dog would be neglected and become an annoyance. Happily, he brings just as much fun and joy to our lives and the day we brought him home. He's not exactly sure what to think of the intruder in our house and I think he still longs for the days when he was an only child, but he still gets lots of love and attention and the two boys have started to play tug of war together. Although we did get Barrett a Sophie toy and Payton is convinced that it's his and we just are teasing him by not giving it to him. So we can't leave the toy unattended or poor Sophie would be ripped to shreds in 10 seconds. He may be cute, but he's definitely destructive!

A blast from the past of little Payton when we first got him. He's quadrupled in size since then, and half of which is probably fur!

Labor Day festivities

We had a busy Labor Day weekend - and so much fun! My sister and her family came up to visit and we went to the Last Fling in our town. There were a lot of rides, fair food, and tons of stuff for kids - a magician, bouncy houses, and a petting zoo. Now I'm finally appreciating all the activities the area has for kids, now that I have one.

The kiddos playing together - well, next to each other anyway. They are pretty much the same size, which is funny considering that they're 8 weeks apart. Barrett loved crawling and chasing after his older cousins all weekend. I think he'll spend lots of time trying to keep up with the big boys!





The boys painted a car - pretty funny to see


Grant especially loved the petting zoo




No petting the animals for Barrett, as much as he'd want to


Then we went to an apple orchard too. It seemed early to already be going apple-picking, but actually the weather dropped in temperature and was overcast, so it felt pretty fall-ish and perfectly appropriate for apple picking!

Jennifer lent me her mei tei and I loved wearing B in it. He ended up falling asleep in it, it was pretty darn cute.










And now we have lots of apples to eat and cook with. I envision some apple crisp a la mode. yum!