Perfection

Have you ever had a perfect day with Baby?  They are glorious, rare things.  The naps are long, playtimes are perfect, and appetites are good to the last bite.  As new mom, I have stressed about the normal imperfection in my Baby's day more than I'd really care to admit.  "He only eats two bites," "He took forever to fall asleep," or "He didn't like the walk" are just a few of the million little things that can throw off my pursuit of the perfect day.

I love Ann Dunnewold's discussion being "perfectly good" as in "those are still perfectly good shoes."  It's not just "good enough" but "perfectly good."  It doesn't feel like giving up, but doesn't smack of obsessiveness either.  I can be content with a B+ day.  And I need to be.

How to Behave, so your Children Will Too! points out that babies and young toddlers are really only capable of 60% obedience when they begin to understand obedience at all.  With training, they can improve, but rare will be the days of 100% perfection.  Kids (and parents) don't lend themselves to perfection.  They will misbehave, cry, and make mistakes.

If I can accept that parenting is hard work and won't always look perfect, I can have a much happier life and be a much more balanced mom.  I intend to continue with the hard work of instilling values in my children and giving them structure in which to thrive, but I also need to relax in the knowledge that perfection is reserved for God alone.

RESOURCES
Even June Cleaver Would Forget the Juice Box

How to Behave So Your Children Will, Too!

Cooking for Baby

I love to cook! I try a new recipe every week or so. I take great joy in watching my husband enjoy a meal I've prepared. Now that our 8-month-old son is becoming a more adept eater, I am having fun trying out new baby-friendly foods too. Here are some of my favorites:

*Homemade pureed babyfood: Most any vegetable or fruit can be cooked and then either mashed with a fork or pureed in the blender. Fill up an ice cube tray with the puree and no more buying jars of baby food. I usually look up the veggies I'm planning to puree first to make sure they're OK for my baby at his age.

*No-Sugar-Added Applesauce: You don't have to buy special 'baby applesauce,' just get the kind with no sugar added and you've got a great side for the rest of the family too. I also find it helpful to mix some applesauce in with new foods so he'll eat them and get familiar with the taste. Then he enjoys them without the applesauce later.

*Oatmeal Deluxe: Our son can now handle more textured food like real cooked oatmeal rather than the baby flakes. I mix some mashed banana and plain yogurt when I cook it up, and we both have it for breakfast. Yummy!

*Spices: I was excited to discover that now at 8 months, we can start to introduce cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic, lemon zest, mint, and even curry.

*Cooked veggie pieces: Our son really enjoys the texture of pieces of cooked green bean and whole peas. They're easy to serve in pieces too. I have had issues with hands in the mouth since introducing finger foods, so I am putting the pieces in his mouth for him still.

*Cheerios: This is a great favorite with our son. I usually give him some with every meal. He's never been a big fan of baby cereal so it's a great way to get some grains in him. This is also so easy to bring along as a snack when we're on the run.

As our son grows, he'll be able to share in more of our family meals, but in the meantime, I like making fun baby food for him.

RESOURCES

Naturally Healthy First Foods for Baby

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Sleep Tight

As a child, I loved being tucked into bed. Hugs, kisses, stories, singing, and then those blankets tucked next to me. It was a sweet tangible reminder of the security that came from my parents' love and care. Bedtime is now one of my favorite Mommy times with my 8 month old son. His Daddy and I sing and rock and pray and then "tuck him in" for the night.

When he was a newborn, the nurses at the hospital taught us how to swaddle him. We found that he was greatly comforted in those early weeks by being tightly wrapped. He was used to the confined quarters of the womb and it just felt natural. Sometime even when it wasn't sleepy-time, swaddling him helped to calm him. It's the most extreme example of how boundaries create security in children.

As he grew, however, he seemed more interested in getting his fingers into his mouth than being securely wrapped. We began to swaddle him under his arms when he became too adept at getting unwrapped (4-6 months). I still liked wrapping him up because it sends the message of "It's bedtime" clearly, and I love the cozy associations from my own childhood.

Then around 7 months, I was given a Halo Sleep Sack. It was a nice transition from the swaddle since he could then roll out of his blankets and during the fall and winter it's too cold for him to sleep without them. I think having a special sleep blanket (or sleep sack) still sends the "bedtime" message pretty well.

I don't think there's any reason to rush Baby to grow up and out of his swaddle, but when it's time to move on, simply let it go. The transition out of swaddling was an easy one for us. When Junior gets big enough to have sheets and blankets like a big boy, we'll see if he likes being "tucked in" as much as I did.

RESOURCES

Halo Sleep Sack
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer

Sitting Pretty .... er, Handsome

Here's our little guy practicing his new sitting-up skills some before Church. Doesn't David look cute in his new outfit from Grandma? It's a little on the big side, but he'll grow :)

Actions Speak Louder

What are your bad habits? Come on, you know you've got some. Watching movies, eating junk food, getting angry with the slow driver ahead of me, occasionally arguing with my husband, obsessively cleaning... Now that I've got a baby, all those habits are being carefully studied. Along with everything good I'm trying to teach our son, he's learning from my habits, good and bad.

I noticed it just lately -- he is fascinated by the computer and my cell phone. He is making mental notes while I chat with my mother. He's curious what I'm reading and cooking. He is developing his idea of "normal behavior" that will stick with him the rest of his life. Children learn from what we say, but so much more from what we do.

"Oh, Lord, make me better than I am!" This was our staff prayer the first year I taught at the Christian school in town. How much more I need it now! It is a divine mystery how my effort and God's grace work together to bring me to spiritual maturity, making me better than I am. My example is instructive for my son, so I pray and strive to make it an example worthy to be followed.

RESOURCES

How to Behave So Your Children Will, Too!

Cheerios and Consistency

My 8 month old scientist is fascinated by Cheerios. The dexterity required to pick them up, get them to his mouth, and let them go is new and exciting. His Daddy and I think it's fun to watch him work on these new skills with his cutely wrinkled little brow.

We had been cheering him in his new endeavor for a few weeks (we started them around 7 months) when we began to notice a disturbing change in his eating behavior. He has grown increasingly interested in exploring how food feels in his mouth with his fingers, whether pureed food or finger food. What's a new parent to do?

We began by looking at things from his point of view. Sometimes we cheer him for getting his hands (and the accompanying Cheerio) in his mouth and other times we look displeased and pull it out with a "hands out!". Why is that behavior sometimes OK and sometimes not? He hasn't seemed to figure that out yet.

So, cute as it is to watch him work on getting that Cheerio into his mouth, we've revoked the privilege. We're working on consistently reinforcing the "hands out" during feeding rule. When we think he can understand the concept of "hands out" when being fed, but not when feeding himself, we'll try again with Cheerios.

After just one meal of no Cheerios and lots of focus on the hands ("hands out" whenever they went in and "good job" for every bite they stayed out), he is doing much better. This is a simple discipline case, but thankfully a baby's world begins simply. If we lay a consistent foundation of rules and obedience now, it will make for easier toddler months and teenage years down the road.

RESOURCES

BabyWise II
How to Behave So Your Children Will, Too!

Play for the Older Baby (7-9 mo)

As a newborn, our son slept a LOT.  When he was awake, he was content to study the ceiling fan and easily overstimulated.  By 7 months, however, an active and alert baby had revealed himself.  He can stay awake longer, eats solid food, and is mobile (somewhat).

What's a Momma to do with these longer playtimes?  Baby Talk has some great suggestions for play that helps stimulate language development and doesn't require fancy toys:

*Beginning Hide-And-Seek: Put a towel over baby's head and say "Where's Baby?" Then pull it off with "There he is!"  Then put the towel over your head and say "Where'd Momma go?"  See if he'll pull the towel off you.  This is a great version of peek-a-boo.  As Baby gains more physical control, he'll enjoy more action in the game.

*Copy Cat: Games like "Patty Cake" have been around a long time because they delight babies this age.  Start by singing the "Patty Cake" song and doing the motions yourself.  Then help Baby imitate them. Try again doing the motions yourself and see if he can follow along.

*Name Calling:  While Junior is playing by himself, call his name and smile when he looks at you.  Then move behind him and try again.  This helps reinforce what his name is.  Also, refer to yourself or Daddy or siblings with their names when possible rather than "I", "he" or "they."  Baby can't understand pronouns yet, but he can learn names.

*Block Banging:  Baby is just learning how to hold one toy in each hand.  Try banging two blocks together saying "boom boom" to show him how.  Then give him two blocks to pick up.  See if he can get one in each hand to imitate.  My son still drops one toy to pick up another, but he enjoys banging our wood floor (even with just a hand) to hear the noise it makes.

*Foot Up: Encourage Baby to help while you're dressing him by saying "foot up" before putting on socks.  If he doesn't respond on his own, do it for him.  Before long, he'll know how to help.

*I'm Gonna Get Your __________:  This is a great way to get Baby to learn his body parts.  Pick two or three and say "I'm gonna get your toes!" before tickling them.  If you stick with just a few parts at a time, you're reinforcing those more often so he's more likely to understand.

It's amazing how quickly he's growing and developing.  Even now, his babbling begins to sound like his native tongue.  A Chinese baby's babbles will sound Chinese and an American baby's babbles will sound like English.  Before long, he'll be speaking in real words!  What fun to help him get there!

RESOURCES
Baby Talk