Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Learning and Development

     I feel like Kaelynn has a lot of toys, but not a lot at the same time. She prefers to play with everything she's not supposed to have: shoes, plasticware, diapers, cords, etc.
     She has a basket of toys in our bedroom and a toy organizer in the living room. Her favourite type of toys is anything she can destroy or nest in.
     For Christmas she got K Kid's Hungry Pelican and Lamaze's My First Fish bowl. The pelican isn't used much, but she loves to put things in its belly (has not figured out that he "eats" them). The fish bowl is used daily. Everything goes in it.
The fish are all different, to help her senses (even the pelican food is different).

     If I were to buy another baby a toy, this would be it. I'm even going to keep it when she's older. It's cute and interactive and interesting.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Clapping

Two days ago, she started to clap and not just wring her hands. <3

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Cold day, warm muffins

It's a chilly day. The kind where it calls for oatmeal. I know Kaelynn doesn't really like the texture of oatmeal..so I made muffins.
Yesterday on Facebook, someone posted Blender Muffins. Yum! I had to make them.

I ended up using the Baby Bullet to make the oats a fine powder, the blender wasn't cutting it (haha). I put all the ingredients (including some flax seed) into the blender. Unfortunately, our blender is tiny, 3 cups tiny. I put everything in a metal bowl and potato mashed it.
They cooked for 20 mins and were delicious. The recipe says it makes 10, I made 12. They were so good, Kaelynn ate 2 and is now mooching her dad's.

The link isn't cooperating, but copy/paste always works : http://www.yummymummyclub.ca/blogs/maija-moments-canned-soup-mom/20121106/blender-muffins-recipe

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Play group

     Finally, this afternoon I decided we should go to play group and meet more babies. Health Canada has issued a cold warning for this week, but we bundled up. I chose today because I had hoped for not a lot of people - less stimulating.
     We got all ready and daddy walked us there. It was chilly, but doable.
We get there, after a 15 min walk, only to realize we could have cut across the schools play ground.
     Daddy leaves and we go in. It was strange from the beginning.
     There were 3 mommys and babies. They all knew eachother.
We introduced ourselves, but nothing was reciprocated. Kaelynn just wandered around and touched all the toys. She was really in love with a pink baby carriage. She could push it AND put things in it. Her 2 favourite things. There was a ride upon helicopter and she put herself on and off.
     Another woman came in with a little boy (9mths) and we sat with them.
The other moms talked about their childrens food and sleep and going back to work. I felt weird. They all formula feed, give cows milk and have jobs to go to. One woman affords a live in nanny, who cooks and cleans. One woman who spends almost $2,000 a month on daycare and will eventually be sending her son to Montessori school . It was like listening to another world. I now know how non breastfeeding moms feel when all the boobs are whipped out.
     We might go back, we should go back. Kaelynn needs friends (or at least being social with other littles).

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

11 Months Old

     It's hard to believe that we're a month away from being 1 year old.    

Kaelynn is all kinds of personality.
She is walking all over, running sometimes. She is talking up a storm and loves to sing. There are no definitive words except "mama", "hiiii" and " yea". She loves to growl and squawk. Many times she sounds like an exorcism baby.
When she wants something, she will gesture towards it, hold her hand out or bounce up and down.
She loves her toys and loves to have books read to her (sometimes will read books by herself).
Her hair is growing like wild fire, but still no teeth. There is a lot of drool and attitude though.
When it comes to sleep, we have to figure out a better schedule. We go up to bed around 8pm. Nurse to sleep. An hour later she is awake and full of energy until about 11pm. She will then sleep until 9am, waking once or twice (but only to nurse and go back down).

    It's been a wild ride so far.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Going fishing

     I was shown a recipe by a friend and I was curious. A Sunday morning seemed like the perfect time to try it out.
 
     Everything I had on hand already, even a food processor (once I figured out how it worked).
     The basic idea is smoosh the flours, spices, cheese and butter (I used olive oil margarine) together. I wrapped it all up and kept it in the fridge 30 mins.
     When it came to rolling it out, I failed. I had greater success at pressing it down. J had to show me how it was done. We each made a batch then.
     The only small cookie cutter in the house was a star from a Kinder egg. It worked quite well, even if I wanted kitties and piggies and tea pots (I'm sure they're still around somewhere from the move).
 
     They taste almost identical to the real deal (maybe add more spice or salt?). They are everyday ingredients and the most expensive item is the cheese.
The recipe says it makes about 100 crackers, but that depends on thickness and the size of the cutter. J made the last batch and made a large square with the leftovers instead of rolling it out again, but even so, we have a nice bowl full.

     If you're feeling like trying something new to bake, I suggest these gold (star) fish crackers.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

More physio therapy

     This morning, we braved the cold to go to her physiotherapy appointment. I had hoped it would be her last, but we go back in 2 months.
     We discussed her past ultrasound and it was the same as the technician told us: the muscles are slowly thickening and straightening. Doctor Davidson just came back from a torticollis conference and they suggested a type of noxious stimulus.
     Introducing the TOT COLLAR. I've found little information on how effective it is, more information is on its design. I was given a prescription so I could call the company to get a cost quote and see if insurance covers it. The doctors know it's not for anyone. When I first saw the picture that she showed me when explaining it, I was meh. And after hearing that it's basically a baby shock collar, I am more unimpressed. I will discuss with her dad.
     Where I stand now, the answer is no. It was also noticed that when she stands she is straighter than when she sits. Baby on the go will constantly be on the go, if need be. And when sitting, we can promote straight head just by righting her, like we have been.
    

Monday, January 6, 2014

Birthday prep

     Kaelynn's birthday is about a month away & I am making her a booby smash cake. I've never been good at making/decorating cakes. Today, I made 2 test cakes.
     I used a Meyer lemon from Kaelynn's tree and some custard cups. 2 mini cakes were made- one to taste and one to decorate. Tasted good. Decorating was another matter.
     The icing I made was a tad too runny, so the areola colour ran. I redipped the cake and waited. Unsure of how I would do the nipple, I used a pink Smartie. Real cake time, I will make a ball of cake dipped in icing. I tried to make flesh colour with neon food colouring - success? For her smash cake, I will buy premade icing, I feel it won't be runny.