FOMO

Our kids have a serious case of FOMO. FOMO keeps them awake during nap time and other times they wake up too early in the morning.

Ian came over to play....

I've been meaning to post these photos of Maya and Max playing with Ian. Ian one of the most smiley babies I have even met. We had a fun time playing together and snuggling on the hammock.


If you look closely in this photo you can see Max's top two teeth. He now has 8 teeth. It seemed like almost every day last week I would find yet another tooth. Maya is just starting to cut her top right tooth. She is also showing off her bottom two teeth in this photo.

baby food

The babies are now eating three meals a day. So far Max is the bigger eater. He opens his mouth wide and is pretty much willing to try anything that we give him. I am amazed at how much he can eat in one sitting. Maya on the other had is kind of hit or miss, one day she will love something then the next she will turn up her nose and refuse to eat.

They also REALLY love being able to feed themselves. They will sometimes refuse to eat unless they can put the food in their mouths themselves.

I have been making most of our baby food. I'm not a health food purist, as this would be pretty hypocritical considering that given the option I would eat ice cream all three meals of the day (although I have been able to convince myself that ice cream converts directly to breast milk). I do like the idea that I know what goes into what my kids are eating. I also like the babies to be exposed to a variety of foods, in hopes that they won't be picky eaters. I also like the convenience of being able to make my own baby food out of food that we would eat ourselves. And finally I am cheap and I just can't seem to justify spending money on something that I could make myself for a lot less money. I've used the website Wholesome Baby Food as a resource for knowing when to introduce different foods.

Here are some examples of what the babies have been eating these days....

Our basic food staples:
* Pumpkin- right out of the can. It is packed with vitamin A and fiber. It is also cheap and very easy because it is already purred.
* Prunes- this is our number one food, due to the fact that Maya tends to get constipated very easily. I bought a huge bag of prunes while I was pregnant and hardly ate any of them. In the last two and a half months we have almost gone through the whole bag. We blend them with water in the baby food grinder and mix the sticky paste with water until it is palatable. The kids LOVE prunes.
* Avocado-mashed up right in the peel or cut up and served as slippery finger food
* Sweet potatoes-These I throw in the oven (not wrapped in foil) and make for dinner for us all. There are usually enough left over for the babies to eat for a couple of days.
* Peas- I've used frozen peas, steamed in the microwave and mashed.

All of the above mixed with:
* Whole milk plain yogurt
* Baby oatmeal (we don't make our own because baby cereal is fortified)

Finger foods:
* Baby Mum mums -these are great, they are easy to pick up and don't make much mess. They are sold at HEB (here in Texas) but you can also buy them on Amazon.
* Seaweed (nori)- (the type used for wrapping sushi) I read about this on the internet and tried it out. The babies love it and its good for them! It is especially useful when at keeping them occupied while I am cooking dinner or Lonnie and I are trying to eat without having little ones grab our plates.
* String cheese
* Grilled boneless tilapia
* Shredded chicken
* Blueberries
* Puffs- I avoided buying these because I thought they were a waste of money....but the kids love them and the keep them happy-money well spent.
* Soft fruit covered in baby cereal to make it easier to pick up

The babies have also tired and enjoyed:
* Cantaloupe
* Guava
* Mango
* Papaya
* Banana
* Apple sauce- I buy just the regular adult kind, but with now sugars or additives
* Clementine- Some sources say to avoid any type of citrus until 1 year old. The pediatrician we saw in CA said oranges and oj with pulp were good for constipation.
* Apricot
* Peaches
* Pears
* Green beans
* Carrots
* White potatoes
* Butternut squash
* Cottage cheese
* Rice cereal
* Barley cereal

Our next foods on the list to try are:
* Lentils
* Bell peppers
* Spinach

What do/did you feed your babies? What are your baby feeding tips and "secret weapons"?

Photos of Maya and Max eating nori (seaweed).

playing with shadows

In the late afternoon the sun makes great shadows through the trees into the babies' room. When Max wakes up from his nap he likes to sit on the floor and play with the dancing shadows.

What color eyes do you think Max has? We can't quite figure them out. They can look green, brown and even sometimes blue.

first sunburn and teeth

Yes, our kids really don't have much hope for getting tan skin. I'll have to me more careful from now on. We went to the park on Friday, I didn't think it was sunburn weather....but I was wrong. Thankfully Max's hat kept him a little better covered.

In other news, Max is cutting four teeth....yes, four, that makes 6 in total. The top two plus one on the right have been starting to poke through for the last couple of weeks. (he got his first two at 5 months old) Then this afternoon I noticed that he is also getting another one on the bottom right. Thankfully other than a lot of drool he has been in a pretty good mood. I'm already missing his gummy grin.

Maya is pretty happy with just her bottom two.

the blog fairy

The blog fairy answered my wish! The babies still woke up early this morning, but they weren't screaming by 6:30am...they were laying quietly in their cribs talking a little bit and making just the occasional yelp. Of course it is still a bit early to say that they have learned how to not cry upon waking in the morning, but at least I got me wish of waking up with out hearing crying babies in the morning and even a couple moments of snuggling before I got out of bed.

For the last two weeks we had been letting the babies fuss and cry until our "start time" of 6:30am, as long as it didn't get out of control. I guess your pediatrician was right Emily, that was all we needed to do...and of course ask the blog fairy.

alarm clocks

My alarms clocks are broken. I have three of them, one on my night stand and two that sleep upstairs in their cribs. Every night before we go to sleep I set the alarm clock on my night stand for 6:00am. Each night as I put my babies to sleep I repeat to my other two alarm clocks....."Sleep at least until 6:30am, sleep at least until 6:30am, sleep at least until 6:30am.....". Then just for good measure, just before I go to bed myself I check on them again and whisper in their ears...."I love you sweet baby and please sleep at least until 6:30am". Even with the constant checking and resetting somehow at least one of these precious alarm clocks loses track of time and wake up too early.
It is not always the same child who gets off track, so I know that they CAN sleep in until at least 6:30am. It also doesn't matter what time they go to sleep the night before. The sweet babies take turns being the one who wakes up early. Each morning one baby will sleep in while the other takes on the responsibility of making noise, talking and then crying-until mom or dad decide that they can't take it any more and give in to the nagging alarm.
The rotating alarm clock responsibilities can start as early as 4:30am, but thankfully this is often a weak attempt, that only a mother can hear, that can be put on snooze at least for a little while. The stronger, louder and much more insistent alarm starts somewhere between 5:30am and 6:00am, those precious quite morning hours when I am finishing up my dreams and trying to squeeze in at least 6 hours of sleep.
This morning it was Max. The previous two days it has been Maya's responsibility. There have been less than a handful of days in the past eight plus months that I haven't been woken up to hair-raising sound of a crying child.
I can't really complain (and yet I do), the babies are sleeping much better than they did while on vacation- when they were waking up sometimes twice a night. At least they are sleeping through the night for the most part. But now that they are sleeping well at night I want more. I want that last hour or hour and a half. I would love to slowly wake up and a enjoy a few quite moments of peace before I get out of bed. Please sweet babies....give mommy a break. :)

Our two sweet babies showing us their innocent faces.

"Who me?? I would never want to disrupt your beauty rest mommy!"- Max

Do you really think you are in charge around here mom?- Maya

walking forward in that light

It was a very important day. We didn't go to Washington, wait in long lines or stand out in the cold. We sat on our couch and watched CNN on a big TV. The babies played with their toys, not knowing how different the world is today than their grandparents imagined it ever would be. Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States. I teared up as the first African American president was sworn into office and as Heather and I watched people of different generations, ethnicites and backgrounds show faith and hope in our country and our society.

Thank you President Obama for seeing beyond the limitations we place upon ourselves and others, thank you for inspiring hope and asking for dedication and commitment. I pray that we can all rise to the challenge.

Praise song for the day

Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others' eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.

A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin."

We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road."

We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.

Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."

Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.

What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

Inaugural poem recited by Elizabeth Alexander

At just a year old, poet Elizabeth Alexander was with her parents in the crowd on the National Mall when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed, “I have a dream.” This week we came another step closer to that dream. At age 46, Alexander was in Washington D.C. for another historic moment—this time she had a front row seat.

Utah Utes - 2008 National Champions

With creative use of our holiday travel schedule, my Christmas present this past year was a trip to New Orleans to attend the Sugar Bowl and see Utah beat Alabama. Of course, the Utes capped off an undefeated season at 13-0 and had a strong argument to being the national champions. Here's a little video (with commentary added later) that I took after the game. Or you can click this link to watch it on youtube in higher quality video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UgO-mPxmCE

-Lonnie

san pedro.....catch-up from over the holidays

While we were in San Pedro, CA (where I grew up) over Christmas we went to the Los Angeles
Maritime Museum with my sister Aimee, her husband Matt and my nieces Emily and Paige.

It was an unsusually clear day for Los Angleles. We could even see the mountains.