Update: 17 months

I haven't been updating this blog, and I fear that I'm kinda done with it.  I no longer need it, since MCAD isn't defining Cupcake's life the way I feared it would.  Our life situation has changed, with moving, I'm going back to work, etc.   Though I want to throw out the occasional update, because I've noticed people who google MCADD end up here, so I want to put out good vibes on the Internet.

Cupcake is now 17 months and she's walking, climbing, and starting to talk.  She plays with crayons, blocks and looooves reading books. Also, her latest obsession is babying her stuffed animals, she holds them, tries to feed them and walks them on her doll stroller.  It melts my heart.

She's also doing great health-wise.  At her 15 month check-up, she was at the 98% percentile for height, and over the charts for weight.  Because of that, we have been officially switched to low-fat (2%) dairy products.  We talked with our nutritionist, and we are on a heart-healthy diet, but  without any major restrictions beyond that.

Nutrition-wise, we have a little foodie.  Cupcake will try all sorts of new foods, and seems to have few texture problems.  Risottos, fish, soups, chicken, veggies, grilled meals, sandwiches, fruits, tacos, Thai, etc, she'll eat all of it.  Great for us, since we can cook one meal for the whole family.  We still stick by the old staples that she loves for snacks and lunch: bananas, blueberries, oranges, low-fat Greek yogurt, pita bread, turkey sandwiches on whole-wheat bread, cooked carrots, peas and bell peppers, chicken.  But she's cool when we want to try something else for dinner.  She's getting more opinionated about not wanting to sit on her high chair, but we're letting table manners slide.  It's more important that she eat a proper diet and develop varied taste buds.

On the breastfeeding front, we weaned at 16 months !  It was easier and harder than I was expecting, though one thing is for sure, it was the best thing for our family.  Cupcake now drinks cow's milk from a bottle.  We weren't able to transition her to a sippy cup, and thinking more about it, with her feeding requirements, we need her to still take a bottle at night.

We are still not taking L-carnitine.  Cupcake hated the taste (would violently reject it), and we had decided with our previous doctor to only take it when she was sick.  We've moved and have a new specialist in Texas, and on our first appointment he did full blood work.  Her numbers came out good (though she still has the genetic mutation for MCAD), so we concluded that she doesn't need any carnitine supplements.

We've made it 17 months without any ER visits or metabolic crises.  Luckily, Cupcake seems to have a tough immune system, and has managed to stay away from major illnesses.  To this day she's never had the stomach flu, RSV, or coxsackie, and for that, we're very grateful.  We take her out everywhere.  She's been in the NY subway several times, and goes to her fair share or playdates, library story times, grocery stores, etc.   We even took her abroad (more on that later).  We haven't done anything particular to protect her from germs, and we've been lucky that she's responded well.

Last month, we had our first ear infection.  Went to the doctor, who prescribed antibiotics, and commended us for catching it so early.  Nice.  She was on antibiotics for 10 days, and it was uneventful.  Her medicine tasted like bubble gum and she loved it; she'd even ask for more.   During this time, she didn't develop any major fevers, or have any appetite problems, so her MCAD was a non-issue.  Thank Dog.

Also, we have started part-time daycare.  The goal is to have her go full time eventually, but baby steps.  My main concern was how seriously they would take her feeding requirements (since MCAD sounds made up when you try to explain it, doesn't it?), and though the daycare was very accommodating and understanding, it took a few tries for all of us to be on the same page.  I had the daycare menu approved by our nutritionist.  The next issue is that in the toddler classroom, they expect kids to self feed.  Cupcake has been refusing to, so they have to spoon feed her.   I'm hoping she'll get the hang  of self-feeding soon, but currently our main concern is that she eat regularly.  It's one of those MCAD concessions, I guess.  We also send a banana daily in her bag in case she doesn't like the menu.  So far, they've had to give it to her a few times.

It's been quite a transition. Cucpake cried the first couple of weeks during drop-off   It broke my heart, but I knew it was a good place (I had personal references and just got a good vibe from the teachers). By now, 6 weeks into it, she's fine when we arrive, and is well rested and happy when I pick her up.  This decision has been good for our family, and she's learning new skills and socializing very well.   She's had a couple of colds and the aforementioned ear infection since she started, but that seems to be par with the course.

Her current sleep arrangement is a full-sized futon mattress in her bedroom floor, Montessori style.  This way, we can lay down next to her to help her fall asleep without braking our backs.  It's an in-between to co-sleeping. At night, we transitioned slowly to less feedings by gradually adding water to her bottles.  Cupcake has been cleared to go 8 hours at night without food, so we give her only water if she wakes before the 8 hour mark.  After the 8 hour mark, we give her some milk diluted with water.  The theory is that the water satisfies the sleep association and thirst, while slowly retraining the body's hunger cues.  I think this is why she STTNs some nights, but who knows for sure? 

When she's sick, we go ahead and give her some milk in her nighttime bottles, just to be on the safe side.

One last thing, Cupcake went on her first international trip to a South America!  The flight was exhausting (toddlers don't like staying on their seat), but she did very well during the actual stay.  We were visiting family, so we had lots of extra hands to keep her entertained and active.  Our concern was food, as lots of people get food poisoning when visiting South American countries.  It's just a fact, no judgment here.   We were extra careful to keep her away from uncooked foods, and poor Cupcake missed out on amazing tropical fruit and fresh fish.   Instead, she ate lots of chicken soups, cooked veggies, mostly homemade stuff, and what do you know, she never got sick.  I was still breastfeeding her then, so we knew that no matter what she'd have a calorie source at hand.  I'm really glad we were nursing, as there were many times we found ourselves with weird schedules because of all the family obligations, and I was able to keep her fed every 3 hours, no matter where we were (house, beach, park, car, etc).

Ok, this was way longer than I intended, but its been a while. 

Sleep Chronicles

It's been a busy last few weeks, both in Cupcake's life and in ours.  The main issue with Cupcake is a bizarro sleep regression that I'm having a hard time dealing with.  Please forgive the dangling preposition, my mommy brain isn't functioning very well.  Sleep deprivation is a b-ch.

Life before baby

Life after baby

 I also seem unable to organize my thoughts into a standard essay-style blog entry, so maybe I'll just try to touch the highlights of what's going on with us.

- We tried a form of modified sleep training.  Basically, my arms gave out and I just couldn't rock her anymore for as long as she needed.  The new plan was to rock her for 5 - 10 minutes (which seems reasonable, since she is, after all, a baby), then set he down on her crib.  At this point, if she cries, just sing to her and pat her and reassure her that I'm there.  She cried, and wailed, and looked very angry, but never more than 15-20 minutes.  I would stay in the room with her, not wanting the issue of sleeping of her own to get confused with separation anxiety. 

It worked, I admit.  Hearing her cry felt terrible, but she would fall asleep, and stay asleep for an hour.  Then proceeded to be in a wonderful mood the rest of the day.  I had feared that she'd hate me for doing this to her, but a baby's short term memory is bliss.  Mostly, I felt like I had no choice, since I couldn't rock her.

- I'm not sure how I feel about crying to sleep, even though we had to do it.  It seemed to me that Cupcake started waking up from naps mid cry, as opposed to the cooing she used to do.  Am I projecting?  Probably.  Reminds me of Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog, when Captain Hammer is frozen mid song, and when he unfreezes he finished the note where he left off.  Yes, I just compared my 10 month old's napping pattern to Dr. Horrible, what of it?  In any case, even though my arms were finally getting rest, I wasn't fully convinced that this was the best approach for us.  A week and half later, she was still crying 10 minutes per nap.  Is that normal?  Shouldn't she be happily self soothing by now?

- She's learned to stand on her crib.  She's known how to pull up for long time, but she finally figured out how to go from laying down to sitting, and from there the rest is easy.  So now, I can't even let her cry as an option, because as soon as I put her down on the crib, she immediately sits and stands.  It's so quick, I could blink and I'd miss it.

Which leaves me with some options, rock her to sleep until she's really good and zonked out.  Which.... no, this is what got us in this predicament.  My arms can't rock a 22 lb baby.  Not gonna happen.   Or I could take her out to nap on the stroller.  Or I could just leave her to cry and figure it out for herself.

I've tried to let her fuss it out, and it's just not working.  She cried, gets completely red and snot nosed, and just doesn't let down.  At what point do I throw in the towel?  So far I'm stopping the torture after 20 minutes, I just assume she wasn't tired and we can try for a nap again later.

- Have I mentioned that she's just kinda not sleeping during the day but stays in a great mood?  She looks exhausted, will fall asleep within 30 seconds of me rocking her, and wakes as soon as I put her on the crib.  But once I pick her up she's all smiles, plays well on her own, and largely shows no signs of being tired or overtired.  I'm trying to remind myself that at this age many babies only need one nap, so as long as she gets one nap in there, it's all good.  She'll fall asleep when she's tired enough, right?

- The sleep training has had one awesomely positive side effect.  Cupcake now sleeps on her stroller again.  After a 5 month stroller strike, she now will happily zonk out in her umbrella stroller, her neck bending to utterly uncomfortable looking positions.   Freedom.   I can now leave the house without worrying about coming back home for naps or risk total breakdown while out.  Is it related to the sleep training, or simply a developmental phase?

- Could she possibly be transitioning to one nap?  And if so, she's gone from 3 naps to 1 in a matter of weeks.  Not sure how to handle this.

- Now with the the crib standing, she's back to waking up 4+ times a night.  We'd managed to cut it to 2, by letting her fuss it out for a few nights.  We're regressing.  And the worse thing is that Cupcake seems to be sitting up in her sleep, and then her body wakes her up.  None of us, baby included, are happy with this situation, but are at a loss on what to do.  The night we let her sort it out herself, she just cried while standing for a half hour.  I was so exhausted I let her, but we share a room, so this just wont work.  Should we set up an air mattress in the living room?  Would that work better?

I'm having a some tough weeks, where I feel like I'm doing it all wrong.  She doesn't sleep well, and it feels like a direct reflection of my love and parenting abilities.  It's hard to convince me otherwise. 

Taking a baby to the beach

Jacob Riis Beach.  Photo from National Park Service.

Gone are the days of picking up a bag, throwing some sunblock, towel and book, and heading to the beach.  Trips with a baby means tripling the amount of stuff you lug around (at least), staying for half as long, and changing your expectations of ,"fun and relaxation".  Having said that, a little bit of preparation, and you can have a wonderful time going to the beach with your little one.  And if you're lucky, they'll love the sand and water.

Today we took Cupcake to the beach for the first time.  I was a bit nervous.  What if she hated it?  What if we had a total meltdown in the car?  Would we forget something vital and important?  And most importantly, would it be fun for all of us?   It was a resounding success.  So much that I've decided to compile my patented advice for posterity.  

Ways to have a wonderful time at the beach with a baby:

• Sun Protection   I'm a little paranoid about the sun (not for myself, just the baby), since their skin is still so delicate.  So we followed the advice of overprotecting.  Applied sunblock at home before we dressed Cupcake, then reapplied at the car when we got to the beach (by this point, between getting ready, driving and grabbing a bite to eat, it had been over two hours since the last sunblocking).  And again after being at the beach for about a half hour.  Honestly, it's impossible to overprotect the skin, and though the baby lotion is grossly overpriced, I'd rather waste 5 bucks than have to deal with sunburns at 3 am.  We use California Baby Sunblock SPF 30.
• Time the outing around naps.  No sense in dealing with a cranky and sandy baby.  We decided to hit the surf after the morning nap, hoping that she'd sleep in the car on the way there.  For this purpose, we also picked a beach that was approximately 40 minutes away.  We thought we were soooo clever.  Instead, Cupcake had a meltdown as we were arriving in the beach area, and we had to give her an Ergo nap while we grabbed lunch in an air conditioned diner.  Ended up working out.  Then we started packing up as she began to show signs of tiredness, so that by the time we drove bar she zonked out in the car.  All in all, we maximized our time in the actual sand.
• Have the right gear.  We had a spankin' new beach umbrella (with an adjustable tilt), beach towels, a foldout chair, sun hat, plastic toys (didn't buy anything special, just used her regular plastic toys), bucket, t-shirt, water, snacks and swimming diapers.
• Don't bring more stuff than you can carry.  Even if you are driving and the beach has on-site parking, you'll still end up walking a bunch on the sand.  Unless it's one of those beaches where you park right in front of your towel, but meh, those beaches aren't too nice in my book.  Most beaches have water, then a long stretch of sand, some type of boardwalk/ bathroom area, and then a parking lot.  And if it's a beautiful sunny day, the car ends up pretty far back.  We brought a bunch of stuff, but there were also two of us carrying it.   I wish we'd packed more compactly, as we didn't take into account that Cupcake would be super squirmy with excitement of being outside, so it ended up being one of us with just the baby, the other one in Sherpa mode with too many small bags.  Next time, larger bags so there's less packages.
• Bring an inflatable pool.  This was a bit of a hassle but oh so worth it.  With an inflatable pool, we were able to have Cupcake play in the water under the umbrella shade right next to us.  We filled it with ocean water, and gave her some toys, and she had a wonderful time.  She played there on her own for over 20 minutes.  Time for us to relax some, chat, get some sun.  Our main issue was deflating it, because it wouldn't fit in the bag again, so next time we have to bring a much large plastic bag to squish it into.
• Designate a non-sandy towel.  Everything gets sandy, it's just a fact.  But it helps to have a towel that stays in your bag, until it's time to dry everyone up.  This towel stays clean and off the ground, and is perfect to dry the baby before you head home.
• Bring snacks and water.   We had bananas (her favorite), mum-mums, and sport nozzle water bottles.  When in doubt, when Cupcake got fussy, we gave her water.  One can never overestimate how much they're sweating (specially if your baby has a metabolic condition, as Cupcake does).  We also gave her milk at the beach, as I have absolutely no qualms about pulling my bikini top to nurse Cupcake (while under the shady umbrella). Hydrated well-fed baby = happy baby.
• Address how baby is responding to the water.  In our case, Cupcake turned out to not be a fan of sitting on the shore and having the waves hit her.  And she does NOT like wet sand, hilariously.  However, she loved loved loved having us hold her and moving her around the waves.    We'd hold her in something like the "colic hold", and have her splash her arms and legs in the water, then when the waves came they'd splash her and she loved it.  I was expecting her to sit on the sand, but hey, she knows what she likes.
• Take lots of pictures!  It took us by surprise how much Cupcake enjoyed it.  Specially a long interaction with sand.  She was absolutely perplexed at how it slid off her hands.  Glad we were able to capture ever moment.

All in all our first beach experience was a big success, and I can't wait to repeat it next weekend.  For now, we're gonna take it easy tomorrow and give Cupcake's skin a break from the sun.  We were prepared, and Cupcake is a total beach bunny.  Next adventure, the local outdoor pool.

Baby Earrings - solved

We went back to our pediatrician today, as the nurse who's the earring expert was in today.  I like her, we've seen her for a sick visit before, and she's very professional and reassuring.

She looked at Cupcake's ear and told me that the hole might not have closed all the way and that she wanted to try to get the earring through before re-piercing.  No reason to put Cupcake through pain if it wasn't necessary.

I gave her our earring (the thinner one), and she managed to poke it in through the back (which is where we'd been having trouble).  So it was decided, the hole was still there, so we could just push the original thicker earring through. I wanted the thicker earrings because their backs have a locking mechanism and would be safer.

So she asks me to hold Cupcake down while she gets the earring in the hole,  and in the second try it goes in!  Sure, Cupcake cried, but it was more of the angry cry rather than pain. It wasn't her usual banged-her-head high pitched shriek, but more of a low angry cry.  If I had to translate it from baby talk, it would probably be something to the effect of: "stop touching me, weird nurse lady, I want to practice standing... why are you still touching me, why can't I move my arms!"  I can handle her anger.  As soon as the nurse was done, I picked Cupcake up, and all was well.  She got a Mum Mum to distract her, and she promptly forgot that she was upset.

Our pediatrician didn't even charge us for this.  I'm so grateful at how professional and thorough they were with all this. I felt like Cupcake's ears were in good hands.  We were at her pediatrician's in a sterile environment, where a medical professional is overseeing it, and her ears are fine.

Drama is over.  Back to our regular programming.

Baby Earrings - follow up

I went to the pediatrician today to see what to do about Cupcake's missing earring. We'd tried to put it back ourselves last night, but we couldn't get it through. I called her doctors office (where they did the original piercing), and the doctor nicely told me that she could try to put it back, no biggie, just stop on by around lunch time.

We went a little after 1 pm, and waited for about 10 minutes, which is fine because our pediatrician has a wonderful waiting room full of wooden toys that must be some Montessori fantasy (you know the type, wooden, pure and very Swedish).  Cupcake has a great time playing with new toys.

When the doctor finally saw her she regretfully informed us that the hole had healed completely, and the best thing to do would be to re-pierce it.  I mean, we could try to push it  through, but then we'd be risking potential pain, and also infection.  Her medical advice was to re-pierce so we'd know that the needle was antiseptic, and they could use the proper little piercing contraption.  I was devastated.  I just could not believe that the hole could close in a mere 30 hours.  Our pediatrician was super nice about it, and reassured us that this was in fact wonderful news: Cupcake is very healthy and can heal quickly.  Well... when you put it that way...

We have another appointment tomorrow for the re-piercing, when the nurse practitioner is in.  On one hand, I'm really upset that she'll have to go through the pain again, but I'm reassured that our doctor is taking care of it.

Whatever.  My mom is currently in a conference in Spain, and I asked her if she could go  buy us some baby earrings to have as backup should she pull one out again.  I seriously don't know where one would go about buying baby jewelry in the US.

Apparently, my mother went to the first jewelry store she found and asked for baby earrings, and they had newborn, baby and toddler styles. Bless them. She started chatting with the store owner, explaining to him that she needed earrings for her granddaughter, because in the US babies don't have earrings, and told him how scared I (Cupcake's mama) was about the piercing falling off, since some people in the US considered baby piercing barbaric.  His response:  They legalized handguns,  but they consider earrings barbaric? That's ridiculous.

It's so reassuring whenever I hear of other countries that pierce.  I was feeling very mixed about it today, but it's just a cultural difference, much like Cupcake's late bedtime.   I'm still scared about the re-piercing tomorrow. But it'll be okay. It's being done in a sterile environment, and Cupcake is a tough girl.  We'll be fine.

Swimming pool

Yesterday, as a father's day treat,  we took Cupcake to the pool for the very first time.   It's summer time, and the weather is great, but since  the local school aren't on summer break yet, the public pools aren't open .  So instead we went to a nearby indoor pool that offers open family swim Sunday afternoons.

I'm glad we went the indoor route first, because we didn't have to worry about sunburns, or Cupcake getting cold from the breeze after getting out of the water.

Our initial goal was to be there for 15 minutes, figuring Cupcake might hate it, but since we had to pay to get in, we should try to stay as long as possible.  No issue, she LOVES the water.

When  we first put her in (there's no wading pool, so this is all us holding her on the 4 ft end), she made a strange face, seemingly confused at the concept of being inside such a big bathtub.  But within minutes, seeing that both mom and dad were there with her, she warmed up to the concept. She started splashing, moving her legs, and smiling.  Big wide smiles as she looked at all the other kids playing in the pool.  I'm so glad we went, she had a wonderful time.  Didn't put her face in the water, or anything too ambitious, we just wanted to make her familiar with water.  I want her to enjoy being in the pool and the ocean.

In the end, we stayed for 35 minutes, much longer than anticipated.  And when we got back home, she zonked out for a nap within minutes.  What a great way to tire out an 8 month old baby. I expect we'll be going back many Sunday afternoons in the future.

Letter to my Baby: 8 months

Dear Cupcake,

You turned 8 months yesterday, and I cannot believe how time is flying.  It feels like yesterday that we brought you home from the hospital, and now you're an established baby, smiling at the world.

You like to eat.  A lot.  In fact, I don't think I'm keeping up with how much you could actually eat, and I constantly worry that I'm not giving you enough solid food.  Then again, I want to make sure you're still getting the bulk of your nutrition from my breast milk (yes, we are still breastfeeding!).  You current favorite food is bananas.  I think you like it so visibly because you can recognize it.  All your other food comes to you in pureed form, so you have to wait until the first bite to know what it is.  Bananas, on the other hand, we feed you straight from the source (with a spoon, of course).  The other day we were at a convenience store and I reached to buy a couple of bananas and you audibly squealed in delight.  It was hilarious, and you managed to freak out a couple of school aged kids.

At this point you have officially become a carnivore.  I made you chicken and vegetable puree this weekend, and you loved it.  Actually, not to toot my own horn, but it came out delicious.  I should have made some for all of us too.  So far you eat:  chicken breast, lentils, spinach, apples, apple sauce, pears, bananas, brown rice, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, peas, butternut squash, yellow squash, parsnips, yogurt.  All your food is homemade with lots of love (and the help of blenders and ice cube trays).  Additionally, you love munching on MumMums, which is a commercial-food concession I've had to make.  I mean, they're such practical snacks.

You love standing.  Seriously.  All the time.  You stand, stand, bounce, try to walk, and stand again.  I'm certain, now more than ever, that you will bypass crawling, since you still show NO interest in ever being on your belly.  (Unless, of course, you are on your crib, since you finally sleep comfortably on your belly.)  In fact, your new trick is that you let go of whatever you're leaning on so you can balance on your own.  It's amazing watching you learn to stand on your two feet.  Sometimes you balance for half a second, a few times you've made it up to 15 seconds.  After you stand on your own, you look so excited!  It's almost like you realize the importance of what you're doing.  At this rate, I don't know how soon you'll be walking, but it'll be sooner rather than later.

On sleep.  You're habits are changing, and you've dropped one afternoon nap.  This is a bit exhausting for me, but its a good sign that you're maturing towards a more adult sleep.  I wish this also translated to you not waking up three times a night, but I try to remind myself that you're just a baby, and it's normal for you to to have interrupted sleep patterns.  

For your month-day, we took lots of pictures with the new party dress you Mamama brought you.  She's been visiting for a few days, and you love spending time with her.  And your mom and dad got some much deserved time off.  We love spending time with you, but it's also nice to go out to dinner and drinks.  Plus you got to hang out with your Mamama, so it was a win-win.

MCAD hasn't affected us yet.  You're still nursing at the same times as before, you're just eating extra solid food now.  And though you eat a lot, I know you're burning lots of calories by pulling yourself to standing so much.  So far you've been a great baby for MCAD, you have a healthy appetite and a strong immune system.  Lets hope it stays that way.

I have so much I could tell you, but soon you'll need your night feed.  

Love,  Mom

Eating solids

Among the things I'm grateful for:  Cupcake loooves eating food.  If you're gonna have an FaOD child, where your doctors instructions are pretty much "make sure they're eating", it sure helps to have a kid that takes so well to food.

It's not anything we've done, I'm afraid, she just likes putting things in her mouth and swallowing them.  Our current routine is that I breastfeed her when she wakes up from sleeping (roughly 9:30, 12:30, 4, 7, 9:30), and twice a day, about an hour after she's had her milk, I give her solids.  We're going with the idea that under one years old, food = fun, and she isn't really getting nutritional value from the food.

And it is fun.  It's amazing seeing her taste things, make faces of curiosity when we introduce new foods, sometimes she even grabs her own spoon and puts it in her mouth.  When we are out and she sees us get out her plate and a banana, she gets super excited and eager for her food.  Where does it come from?  How does she know so well what food entails?

We started her when she was about 5 1/2 months old, and at the time we'd have about one meal a day, and at that only a few spoonfuls.  She wasn't 6 months yet, but she was just soooo curious about everything that went into our plates and mouths, it seemed only fair.   By now she has two meals a day, of about 4 oz each.  I guess she could eat more, but I'm taking it easy.  Sometimes she doesn't even finish her 4oz, and other times it seems that it's not enough.  It changes per day, probably in direct relation to how much she's been jumping on her exersaucer.

So far she loves bananas (and she can eat an whole one, where in her stomach does that even fit?), apple sauce, pears, apple slices, her favorite by far is sweet potatoes (I can mix them with anything to introduce a new food), butternut squash, carrots, yellow squash, peas, parsnips, and she'll tolerate brown rice when it's mixed with a vegetable.  She also tried spinach (mixed with apple sauce, she loved it), but it seemed to not agree with her digestive system.  Ditto for yogurt, which gave her explosive diapers, and I don't really enjoy cleaning doodoo from onesies, so I don't think she'll be eating yogurt for a while.  We tried avocado a month ago and she didn't like it.  Time to try it again....

I make all her food, and so far it's been very easy.  A couple of times a week, while I'm making our dinner, I'll steam or boil a veggie for her, and them I'll mash/blend/food mill it.  Then I freeze it in ice cube trays and store it in zip lock bags.  When it's time for her to eat, I just warm them up in the microwave.  Too simple right?  I was expecting to put more effort into making her food, and I'm happy to report that this is simple stuff. 

So far, Cupcake  hasn't had a single jar of food, which I'm pretty proud of.

She'll be 8 month next week, and we're ready now for the next stage.  Some chicken, maybe beef, and more grains?  Chunkier purees?  Her food is pretty chunky as it is, so I'm not sure how to proceed next.   Suggestions?

Wedding Reception

Today we went to an afternoon wedding reception, the first time we've gone to a formal event as a new family.  I wasn't too worried, because it was an afternoon event, (as opposed to an evening full out gala), a nice party with food and drinks for all the people who weren't able to fly across the country for their actual wedding 4 months ago.

And Cupcake looked a-dora-ble!  I know I'm biased, but she was the cutest baby within a 10 block radius.  She had a white dress some Argentinian friends got her from a nice boutique there (so it has that wonderful handmade quality), and a white headband.  Usually I'm against headbands, and think the poor babies in them look like their head is split in two, but I take it all back, the headband really tied the outfit together.

Also, another gigantic milestone: I fit into my pre-pregnancy lil' black dress!  Just one of the many amazing things about breastfeeding, at least in my case I eat, eat, eat, and I keep losing weight.  I want to keep nursing her if only for the extra calories it burns (and the health aspects for the baby, of course, I'm not THAT shallow).

I don't know what the bride and groom's family must have thought about us, though.  We were the only people with a baby, we sat her at the bar while she was munching on apple slices, then put her on a baby carrier so she could nap while we still mingled, I drank wine, then we found a quiet side room and breastfed her (while still in my cocktail dress), then we danced around with her.  Did we achieve looking carefree and delighted with our own daughter, or were we those crazy parents that start the cautionary tales?  I don't want to find out.  We had fun, our friends were happy to have us there, and it was a wonderful afternoon.

At the end of the day, we are true attachment parents.  Our baby goes wherever we go, and as long as her needs are met (food, sleep, clean diapers), her entertainment can be following mom and dad around.  I think she had a blast, and the moment she began to be fussy I put her in her baby carrier so she could feel close to me and protected.

Lots of little things

It's been a weird week, with all the rain and us having the slight sniffles.  It's just enough to keep us home bound, only venturing nearby in the neighborhood and going a bit stir crazy.   I have nothing specific to write about; just wanted to do a general state of the union.

- On Wednesday we went a baby sing-along in a neighborhood cafe, and Cupcake LOVED it.  A few weeks ago we'd gone to check out a music "class" for babies (I have an entire rant on classes for 6 month olds, but I'll save that for another day), and she was wholly uninterested.  So we went to this sing along as a lark, since it was raining and it was only 2 blocks away.  Cupcake was mesmerized by the songs the entire 40 minutes, and I got to chat with some friends that had gone too.  Win-win for everyone.

- We've been battling the mildest and stubbornest of colds since last week.  It's just a stuffy now, that will. not. go. away.  Aaaargh!  Cupcake seems to be dealing fine with it, her mood is unaffected.  But it's messing up her sleep, since the stuffy nose will wake her up, and force her to spit out her pacifier.   All the wonderful progress we'd made a couple of weeks ago with her 1.5 hour naps?  Pretty much gone.  At this point we're back to rocking her to sleep.  I mean, anything to get the rest her body needs.

- I might be over-dramatic, but I went ahead and called her metabolic doctor for advice on what to do.  That's why they're there, right?  They told me to not worry about it if she didn't have a fever, but IF she got a fever, her new L-Carnitine dosage is 2.5 ml three times a day.  Man, I'm glad she doesn't take it everyday, or we'd be going through it like crazy.  They also reassured me that as long as she eats something every 2.5 hours, her sugar levels should be fine.  And yes, a snack of solid food does count.

- We've been having crazy naps all week because of the stuffy nose.  It seems the discomfort wakes up Cupcake before her sleep cycle is finished, so she's been waking up cranky yet unwilling to go down again.  I've been rocking her a lot, and it really feels like her sleep is regressing.  Isn't there supposed to be an 8 month sleep regression?  I really hope this is it.

- Cupcake is standing like crazy.  No longer happy just chilling on her butt, she must now stand at all time or else.  Which results in me having to be behind her at all times, because ma'lady hasn't figure out how to fall gracefully yet.  We've gotten her foam tiles for the floor (about time), and they look wonderful, but still, must watch her closely.  I have a feeling we're gonna skip crawling altogether, she's seriously ready for walking.  Any minute now....

- We might be working on another tooth.  There's nothing visible on her gum, but she's drooling like crazy.  Will it appear soon?  It'd be lovely if it could explain why she's having such disturbed sleep.

Letter to my baby: 7 Months

Dear Cupcake,

I can't believe you're already 7 months old!  For some reason, this age feels "old".  You're now an established baby, who sits, grabs things, rolls, laughs and is the perfect age to appear in toilet paper commercials.  It feels very strange to see you as this little girl, as opposed to the blobby baby you were just 4 months ago.

You're eating food now, and you love it.  Besides avocados, which you refused to eat, you've taken great to everything else.  I make all your food, and you eat as if your stomach was a bottomless pit.  Seriously, where does it go?  You're also getting really smart at figuring out where the food is, I think you recognize your plate, spoon and bib.  Also, you seem to take it in stride when we feed you outside or anywhere that's not your high chair.  Last weekend you ate while we were at an outdoor cafe, and as soon as you saw the banana and your plate, you seemed to know what was up.  And then you finished the whole banana.  I like to think it's because you're super smart, but I might just be a tad biased.

You are also very adventurous.  If life were up to you, you'd probably live it all upside down.  Unfortunately, we have to sit you up once in a while.  You also love going to the swings.  How do I know this?  You laugh the entire time the swing is moving.  Last week we also tried taking you down the slide while you were on my legs, and you LOVED it.  Maybe you've taken after you mom, who loves roller coasters?  Only time will tell.

The weather is getting nice now, and we are going on play dates in the park.  The outdoors seems to agree with you.  You'll stay out for a long time entertained looking at people and chewing on your toys.  You are no longer fussy at play dates or seem wary of other babies.  As long as we are outside, you'll happily play alongside them, and even grab your toys back if one of your friends tries to "borrow" them.  I know you should share, but at this point I'm just happy that you recognize a toy and lean forward to grab it back.  Sharing will come later.  Don't worry, we will parent you.

You see your dad a lot more in daylight, now that the days are getting longer.  You get so happy when he arrives home from work.  You smile and your feet begin to kick.  Then you spend the rest of the evening being held by him.  You like it and he does too, and it's giving him huge biceps.  Also, this is the best time for him to flip you upside down and make you do the kinds of acrobatics your mom is not quite ready for.

Things are good, Cupcake.   We love you sooo much, and you continue to grow, smile and be healthy, which is what we want for you.  You're just such fun now that you babble, try to stand, and play.  Sometimes I feel like the Grinch, whose heart grew three sizes in one day.  Except I've always liked Christmas, so don't worry about that.

You have no idea what summer is, but I have a feeling you're gonna really enjoy it. Get ready.

With lots of love,

Your Mom

Breastfeeding and biting

Cupcake has two bottom teeth. And yes, they are adorable, and we are in awe of how well she's growing.  She's eating food, getting teeth, trying to stand, babbling left and right, and still seems to have absolutely no interest in tummy time or crawling.

So what's the problem?  She's started to bite.  Hard.  When I'm nursing her.

I always told myself I would breastfeed for 6 months, and if everything was going well we would continue to a year, at which point she would wean to cow's milk.  (Dont tell the La Leche people!  They'll tell me to not wean so early).  So the question is, would biting be considered "not going well"?  Because it hurts.  Really, it does.

She'll usually suck normally, but sometimes she just chomps down, and I pull her off the boob and try for my most authoritarian "no!" like the books say to do.  And she just finds this hilarious.  I don't think 7 month-olds understand the concept of consequences yet.

I like my boobies.  I want to preserve them.  So Nate and I have decided to give it a week.  Cupcake has 'till this Saturday to get used to her new teeth and stop biting the boob that feeds her.  Otherwise, I think we're gonna have to start weaning to formula.   I want to keep breastfeeding, but enough is enough.

Teeth

Dear Cupcake,

I know it must be painful.  The mere idea of having a jagged tooth literally break through your gums sounds horrifying.  And because of this, I know you're not being  obnoxious on purpose.

Seriously, when a baby gets a tooth, the whole family suffers.  We were all up several times a night to sooth you.  We rocked you and sang, and nursed you when you'd start crying as if you were in pain and still looked half asleep.  Should we have let you sort it out yourself? I don't know, but seeing that we can see the bump in your gum, I think we're just going to indulge you as you go through this process.

I hope it ends soon.  I love you and want you to feel right again, but this is exhausting.  We can't have too many more night like this.  Or else soon we're going to stop being receptive to your cries, and none of us want that.

We're so happy you have a tooth and are working on another.  Really, we are.  I know you had little control over it, but I can't help but feel proud of how well you're growing.  I just wish it would get here, you know, faster, and without so much fuss.

There's only so much Motrin we can give you before it just gets ridiculous.  So we've decided that a bit of painkillers at night are probably good for you too (I really think you're happier when you sleep well at night), and during the day I'll just tough it out.  During the day we can play and distract you.  We'll be fine.

Just please, don't be one of those babies that is teething for three months straight.  We'll love you matter what, but I really want to like you the whole time too.

Love,  Mama

First words

Cupcake keeps on babbling.  She now says something to the effect of Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma, which I usually interpret as her being hungry. 

She also will say Agua, the Spanish word for water. 

Also, as a good Arrested Development fan, she'll say to herself Bob Loblaw's Law Blog.

And finally, our other favorite word she keeps saying... Abba.  At this I feel compelled to serenade her with my best rendition of Dancing Queen.  Thus far this does not impress her.

6 month MCADD appointment

I'm not a fan of doctors offices, in particular with specialists that tend to overreact and make my life dramatic.  But I couldn't be happier with Cupcake's metabolic team at Mt Sinai, though.  They are easy going, warm, and very reassuring. 

Cupcake is 6 months now, and she went for her mid-year appointment.  She's doing great!  No metabolic crisis so far (which we don't know if it's because she's asymptomatic, or because we've been diligent with her feedings; in either case, yay!!).  She weighs almost 18 lbs, and is tall for her age.  Which is unrelated to MCADD, but it's reassuring to know that she's growing rapidly.  Then the doctor played with Cupcake a bit, to get a sense if she could respond, babble, sit on her own, had a good grip, etc.  And of course she can do all those things!  So to our immense relief, they decided they didn't need blood samples.  Cupcake is hitting her physical milestones well, and is fat and growing, so there's no point in getting a metabolic breakdown at this point.

Also, we've been cleared to have her go 5 HOURS without feeding.  And another hour every month until we hit the 8 hour mark.  Our doctors here don't feel comfortable having her go longer than 8 hours until she's about two, mostly because her initial C8/C10 numbers as a newborn were really high (or was it low? whatever it was, it was not the desired amount, lol).  So now we have the luxury of sleeping one whole hour longer, and a baby that probably will not cooperate.  Whatever, I'm just excited to join the throng of parents that can complain about normal night wakings. And isn't 5-6 hours technically considered sleeping through the night?  Music to my ears.

The older cupcake gets, the less MCADD scares me.  She's 6 months now, she's eating solids and still breastfeeding wonderfully.  Her body is strong, and she's getting more and more antibodies as she's exposed to the world.  She's up to date with her vaccines.  She'll have stronger defenses to fight disease.  I know that with an FOD you're never out of the woods, but as she gets bigger and older it feels much more manageable.  My heart goes out to all my fellow mamas that had to take their weeks-old babies to the ER.  It must be very scary and you have my utmost admiration.

So now we are diving into solid foods, and our doctor told us not stress over it too much.  Keep nursing Cupcake at our normal times, and she will naturally take less milk as she eats more food.  It's easy during the day, when we can observe if anything is different.  The danger is at night, when we wouldn't notice if she's lethargic because she's sleeping, and we are too tired.  We were even told to not worry about her diet too much at this point, since she'll still be nursing and getting all her proteins from me.  We'll go back to see them in 3-4 months, once Cupcake starts taking protein and her eating habits shift to solid food.  At that point, we'll meet with a nutritionist to give us some tips.  But even then, it seems that as long as she's not fasting, MCADD doesn't require a strict diet.  Just make sure it's low fat, but that's what ALL of us should be eating anyway.

Letter to my baby: 6 months

Dear Cupcake,

You are 6 months old today, and I am amazed at how much you've grown and how we can't even remember what life was like before you made us a family.  Seriously, how did we spend our evenings?  It feels like we always gave you carrots, played with you, and did your night time routine.  Its so nice.

You're getting really big, and according to your pediatrician, you are still on the 95+ % for height.  Since a couple of days ago, you can sit by yourself for long periods of time.  Today you spent long stretches sitting on your activity gym playing with your toys.  I couldn't be prouder of how strong your muscles are.  You like rolling over from your back to your belly, but you haven't figured out how to roll back.  Why is that?  Specially since you don't really enjoy tummy time that much.  It's a curious thing.

We think you are teething, because you were waking up a lot a few nights ago.  Mama & Dad are tired, little one, so please be nice to us. Then last night you slept wonderful, only waking for your scheduled feeds, so who knows what's going on with your biological clock.  I've even acquired a bunch of sleep books from friends to help you sleep better.  Do you need them?  I just want you to be getting the rest that you need to grow and be happy.

You have started eating some solid foods.  So far you really like bananas, though I am terrified of what they are doing to your diapers.  In the next few days we are going to embrace solids full throttle, so get ready for lots of fun tastes and textures.

Recently, you have also discovered our faces, and we keep getting poked and prodded by your adorable fingers.  Do you know that you are super strong?  I am amazed how hard you can pull hair, or scratch my nose.  Your nails also grow incredibly fast, it must be a good sign.  Maybe your got my fingernails after all, and you'll enjoy an adulthood of super strong unbreakable nails.

Last weekend we took you to play on the swings for the first time.  You had so much fun, and I hope this is the beginning of lots of trips to the play ground.   I can't wait to take you to the Zoo, so you'll finally get what all these animals and sounds are about.  Or the botanical gardens, or Times Square, or the beach.

For your half birthday, we got your a gift.  You now have a Sophie Giraffe.  Please don't think we are cliches, it just looked so cute at the store, and we wanted to give you something special.  Because we love you sooooo soooo much.  You have no idea.  You probably think it's totally normal to be part of our family.  But before you were born, we weren't a full family yet.  We are still getting used to it.  There are mornings when I wake up and I stare at you and your dad sleeping next to each other and I'm so happy you came into our lives.

Keep growing, my little cupcake.  Life is wonderful, and I'm so glad you are getting to enjoy it.

Love,

Mom

Fun with solids

Cupcake has been starting slowly on solids for about a week now.  She's just so into it!  Since she was about 4 months old, she would stare at us as we ate and reach out for our food, so we'd give her little tasters, a carrot to play with, let her gnaw on pita bread or something similar.  But it was very sporadic and just for fun.

Now, once she got over her cold, we decided that she was overdue to try actually eating.  Our plan was to try to feed her some carrots, see if she'd like it, and take it from there.  We actually expected her to be interested in the concept of food, but not it's actual delivery.  We weren't going to force solids on her, she'd start when she was ready.

I steamed some baby carrots, and then ground them with a little manual grinder we bought just for this.  And fed it to her with a baby spoon.

The first spoonful she kinda made a face, put the food in her mouth, and then slowly spit it out.  No biggie, we let her play with the spoon, it was all good.  We were having our own dinner at the table too.  I tried giving her some again, and she just looked so happy, so expectant.  And after a couple of times she totally got the swallowing business down, and kept opening her mouth for more.  She'd eat, grab the spoon and put it in her mouth.   So awesome!

We fed her carrots for three days, she did great, and then last night, while I went out for a birthday dinner, Nate gave her some mashed banana. From the smells and surprises coming out of her diaper this morning, she really enjoyed and fully ate the piece of banana.

I'm so excited about my little girl growing, and embracing food, but this diaper?  It might have been the most horrifying thing I've ever seen come out of a butt.  I hear it only gets better !!  And I'm so excited by how happy she looks when she eats that I'm okay with the future poops.

Flying with a baby

We've just spent 10 days visiting the grandparents in Texas, and man, it's been amazing and exhausting.

This is actually Cupcake's second trip on a plane, but the first time she was 2 1/2 months and slept the entire flight. (Of course, at the time, I was super terrified of having that baby that would cry the entire plane ride.  Silly me, not realizing that babies under 3 months sleep and sleep and sleep some more).  Five-and-a-half-month-olds, however, stay awake for 2 hours at a time, need to be entertained, and have clear idea of what they want.  And they like to express it.

So here are my tips for flying with a baby older than 4 months, old enough to be awake, but not quite crawling/walking yet.

 -  Take a carrier.  We had an Ergo (awesome!), but really, any carrier that your baby is used to will do.  We were able to move around the airport with no problems, and Cupcake was close to me at all times.  We took a stroller as well, but we just piled it with all the stuff and rolled it (hello free airport cart!).  I even used the Ergo to rock her to sleep while we were flying.  I just bounced around the cabin during the roaming times.  People probably though I was crazy, but who cares, the baby was content.

- The stroller/car seat can be gate checked.  We also had Nate go into the plane first (when they called for all the people with small children to board early) so he could take care of disassembling the stroller, getting our carry-ons on the overhead compartment, and get our space set up.  I went in at the very end to minimize the time cupcake would spend in the plane.

- If possible, see if your neighbors can move to another row.  This worked wonderfully on our flight to Houston, where we had three seats to ourselves.  Cupcake had room to sit, stretch, and we were able to change her diaper on the seats.  On the flight back, however, we had no such luxury, as it was a full.

- Take a boppy pillow.  Seriously.  Though it seems like a bulky item to take as a carry on, it helped us sooo much.  We just crammed it into a rolling carry-on and took it out once we were on the plane.  I was able to breastfeed comfortable, support her so she could sit on her own seat, and have her nap on me without my legs going numb.

- This is an oldie but goodie, but feed during takeoff and landing.  I discovered that once cupcake began to be upset with landing, I didn't care who saw my boob, it was just about keeping my baby happy.  And you know what?  no one seems to care if you feed your baby on the plane.  I guess people would rather have a nipple  flash than hear a cranky crying baby, and I don't blame them.

- Pack three extra outfits.  Because yes, they will have a blowout on the plane.  Not in the airport.  Not right before you leave, while still in the comfort of your home (unless, of course, you have packed all their clothes and the cab is waiting outside).  And they will need changing.  So it's easier to just prepare for the diaper equivalent to the apocalypse.

In the end, what made the biggest difference was having both of us there with Cupcake. Even though the bulk on the baby entertaining and soothing fell on me (she seemed to have a serious case of mamitis), it was still reassuring to know that Nate was there to hand off the baby when I needed to use the bathroom.

Baby feet

We have reached one of my favorite baby milestones:  Cupcake has found her feet.

I remember when I was pregnant, dreaming about this moment.  How babies spend hours on end staring at their own feet, fascinated by the notion that these strange things are indeed part of their bodies.  Are they?  They taste weird, but I feel something in my body!  Far out! Apparently, in my head, babies are inherently surfers.

Little toes, little feet.  So cute.  Such a joyful pastime, watching her grab her feet and gingerly taste it, as if confirming that it indeed is solid.  And then covering her feet with drool and spreading said drool everywhere.

Usually, she prefers toe sucking when she's on her changing table.  Maybe its the solid nature of the surface, maybe it's that her feet are already up for us to wipe her butt.  Whatever the reason, she will distract herself silly with her own limbs.  She's always liked having her diaper changed, and how I have one more reason to enjoy it.

Incidentally, the first time she rolled over, it was also on the changing table.  It must be magic.

Tummy time

Cupcake doesn't like tummy time.

I've heard this is actually quite common, that one places their young baby gingerly on a play mat, only to have said baby wail within minutes to be turned back over.  So I just avoided it.  And like many other first-time moms, I felt immense guilt about . Was I keeping my baby from developing? Would she take longer to roll over/walk/crawl/get into Harvard? You know, the common concerns with a two month old. And add to it that I kept reading that many MCAD babies had slower physical development from the norm.

Whatever. Cupcake didn't like it, and I told my abstract concerns to shove it. I was reading my baby, and my baby was saying that she was not happy on her tummy.

I asked our pediatrician about it at the three-month appointment, and she basically confirmed my feelings: that tummy time was another thing to make parents feel like they were "doing something", but Cupcake was strong and had good neck control so it wasn't necessary to force tummy time on her if she didn't want to. Our pediatrician even confided that the tummy time requirements were, in her opinion, just another way to guilt-trip parents. Was that on the record, or just practical parenting advice? No matter, I ran with it.

From then on Cupcake did not do tummy time unless she wanted to.  Which was never for more than a couple of minutes at a time.

Sure, I've read the articles of how since the "back to sleep" campaign was implemented one of the unfortunate side effects was that babies started crawling and rolling over later. I don't care, we aren't in a hurry. Mobility will come eventually, and meanwhile we are just going to do our thing.

Then it just happened that Cupcake could  hold her neck well enough to fit into an exersaucer at 3 months. (It also helps that she's really tall for her age, in the 101% and tends to be as tall as babies a couple of months older). Then she rolled over last week, before she was even 4 months old. And she just strong. Glad we didn't torture her with an activity that distressed her so much when it doesn't seem to have affected her development that much.
Of course I am not suggesting that tummy time is useless. I know the research is out, and it's recommended.  There are very valid reasons to encourage parents to put their babies on their bellies.  My argument is just that not ALL babies need it the same way.  In our case, it didn't seem to make a difference.  I'm just glad I was attuned enough to my child that we were able to provide for her individual needs.

Or course, even now as she rolls over from her back to her tummy, she doesn't like the end result.  And unable to return to her back and restore the balance in the world, she cries to me to flip her over. Which I do.  I figure she'll learn eventually.