Voicing his complaint

Today Cyprian's fussing took on a kind of complexity.

Cyprian tries rice cereal

Cyprian has been grabbing at our food with excited vocalizations and facial expressions for a couple of weeks. I was going to wait until he turned 6 months old to have him try food (beyond an occasional lick of apple, etc.), but we decided to let him go for it at 5 and a half months old.

For convenience's sake, I fed Teresa boxed cereals and jarred purees her first few months of eating. This time I'm more committed to making baby food at home. It helps tremendously that my friend loaned me her Baby Bullet. Yes, it's gimmicky (a regular blender or food processor could probably do everything it does) but it's also very helpful. Making baby food with it is straightforward and easy thanks to its guide book.

First I ground organic brown rice to a powder, cooked up a batch of cereal, and froze it in tiny portions. I put a smidge in a little jar, watered it down, and gave some to Cyprian last night.

As you can see in the video, he seemed excited and pleased by the experience. We're not sure whether he liked the cereal so much as the spoon and the jar. I don't remember Teresa guiding the spoon to her own mouth right away. Cyprian WANTED THAT SPOON! But he consistently let go of it so I could put more cereal on it.

About an hour after the eating adventure, Cyprian spit up about as much as he seemed to have taken in. We'll see how it goes tonight!

Daily Feats

A $10 Starbucks gift card arrived in the mail today, and I did a happy dance.

A post on MoneySavingMom.com prompted me to join DailyFeats on August 25th. After registering you can "check in" various "feats" you accomplish each day. Some examples: caring for your baby, eating fruits and veggies, taking a walk, cooking a meal, cleaning the bathroom. I spent 20-30 minutes on the site each day for the first 3 days, figuring out how to use it efficiently. After that, I logged in for 10-15 minutes about 4 days each week (usually just before falling into bed at night) to log my accomplishments and rack up points.

On October 7th, I had enough points (5,000) to redeem for a $10 Starbucks gift card (my prize of choice - I like to treat myself to peppermint mochas once a month when I have gift cards). And today (less than 2 weeks later) it came. It really worked, I thought.

Hours of time on a website for a measly $10 gift card? you might be thinking. I really do try to be efficient with my time, so my efforts on DailyFeats had to be worth more to me than just the monetary/coffee reward. Here's why they were: logging my daily activities on DailyFeats made me feel like my efforts at home - the little stuff of my vocation as a stay-at-home mom - were being recognized and rewarded. I was earning points; I was working toward a greater goal and every bit added up! I began to want to do more...I found myself motivated by the prospect of getting to log in my accomplishments.

Yes, I will eat salad with lunch so I can check in !leafygreens.
I'll let Teresa help me make supper so I can check in !cooktogether.
I won't splurge at Target so I can check in !thinkb4buying.
I will prayerfully meditate on today's Mass readings so I can check in !dailyreading.
If I run that load of diapers I can check in !laundry.

When I participate in "challenges" on DailyFeats I am pushed to do more so I can earn extra points. And the activities are all really good for a person and/or her community: practice mindfulness, donate to charity, include someone who seems left out, express love, go on a date night.

I am not sure how long I will continue to use DailyFeats, but for now it's really working for me. I have struggled with the thanklessness of my vocation (and I have a very appreciative husband!) - I really miss the recognition I received in school and work. I know that, ultimately, I should strive to do everything for God alone and find contentment in seeking to please Him in all things. This is just a step toward that goal. :)

PS If you decide to try DailyFeats and like it (or if you're already on it!), let me know and we can be teammates.

Grandma Rita's visit

My grandmother came to visit us for 5 glorious days. Although the weather turned a bit chilly and everyone in our family fought colds, keeping us on the down low for most of the time together, we thoroughly appreciated her company. I would have been a wreck without her here: Teresa was miserable from her cold, Cyprian was waking every 2 hours or less at night and crying in pain (cold or dairy sensitivity, we're not sure yet), I was exhausted and cranky (from the waking, cold fighting, and abstaining from dairy), and David worked the full weekend. Oh, and our dishwasher is broken, so we have to wash everything by hand.

I lost my patience frequently and barely got us to Mass on time on Sunday, but things would have been far worse without Grandma Rita (as David dubbed her for Teresa) here to hold and soothe the baby, play with Teresa, wash and dry dishes, fold diapers (three loads worth!), and all sorts of other things. She even enabled me to get an occasional nap!

Grandma discovered that bouncing Cyprian while letting him look out the door at the sunny yard and passing cars eased his suffering.

In honor of Grandma's visit I planned a tea party with our neighbors as guests. Grandma hosted so many tea parties for my siblings and cousins and me over the years...fond memories. In honor of it being Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19th), we made it a Pirate Tea Party. Argghhh!

Mouths of Babes Monday

Yes, we have a rubber chicken toy. He (yes, our chicken is a he) squawks when you squeeze his tummy, so we dubbed him Squawky Chicken. Teresa has been playing with him daily recently. Her musings from bed one night:

"Squawky Chicken has a vitamin on his head!"

Why, yes. His comb does kind of look like one of her vitamins!

___

Scene: Teresa is sitting at the dinner table, picking at her toes.

Mama to Teresa: "Don't play with your feet at the table."

Teresa to Mama: "Eat your bread. You'll feel better."

Reminded me of her earlier "calm down" - just more sophisticated now. This observant child knows I am easily bothered when I'm hungry.

New Orleans spirit

Cyprian has been sporting some Fleur-de-lis in honor of Papa's hometown (thanks, Jenny and Theo!)

Video clearout: get your Cyprian fix here

Uploaded from the camera today (from the past 2 weeks):

Cutting practice

I did it. I gave my 2-year-old scissors!

When I want to keep Teresa occupied help Teresa build skills, I let her do one or more of the following tasks at the kitchen table:

1) Color with crayons (on blank scratch paper or in coloring books)
2) Play with playdough (she can choose from 3 colors and use a plastic knife with it)
3) Paint with water (she can do one page from a paint-with-water book each day)
4) Practice cutting with kid scissors (she can cut circulars from the recycling bin)

Having read and heard many stories of preschoolers (and even older kids!) using scissors to cut their own hair (or a siblings'), I was wary of letting my little one use them. But others believe it is a skill that children can work on from a young age, and I figured letting Teresa try cutting with supervision (and giving her plenty of instruction in what we do and do not cut) would be best.

After just a few practices, I'd say she's doing pretty well:

"From the Mouths of Babes" Monday

I'd figure I'd chime in a bit with some posts. Here are some good quotes from Teresa this week:

Teresa stood over the opened board game, Sequence for Kids, with over sixty multi-colored chips strewn about the guest bedroom floor. "I made a big, beautiful mess."

Frances, Teresa, and I were sitting at the table eating dinner, and I was holding Cyprian in my lap. After I finished, I moved my plate away so I could place Cyprian on the table. He has been holding up his own weight a bit better as he wobbles on his plump little legs while holding our hands.
The second his feet hit the table Teresa said, "No feet on the table."
I looked at her and said, "You're right Teresa, I'm sorry."
She smiled big. "It's okay, I forgive you."
She's catching on quick.

Dancing with Papa