Trader Joe's Woes

Trader Joe's are few and far between around here, but when we were visiting David's Gramma we decided to go to one just around the corner.  David calls it the Hippie Store.  Politically correct?  No.  Funny?  Yes.  Let me say that if you're a TJ's first-timer, you will stand out like a sore thumb.  People who shop there regularly know where they're going.  I definitely felt lost and out of sorts several times...reading all the labels wondering exactly what I'm looking at.  I realize I just ended a sentence with a preposition. 

I was mostly looking for things for Amelia.  Not that I'm super picky about what I feed her, although I do try to give her well-rounded meals and snacks.  She is getting about 5 teeth right now but she still doesn't chew things very well so I'm forever chopping up her food in little pieces which completely cramps my laid-back-mom style.  What's worse is when I spend more time chopping than Amelia spends time even considering eating it.  Tess is a very fat dog right now.  Imagine my complete elation when I stumbled across these in Trader Joe's:

They're teeny tiny ravioli!  Perfect for munchkins with few teeth.  Plus, they're freeze dried so they don't have to be refrigerated or cooked all at once.  I thought I was being all clever when I boiled enough of these to last a few of her meals.  We also bought mini tortellini with pesto filling. Brilliant!

These things are nasty.  Amelia won't touch them.  I tried one and they taste like...well, like freeze dried cheese would taste.  Major convenience fail.  I'm pretty sad about this - I am hoping Amelia will develop a liking to them.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, these...

...are awesome.

They're also $3.50/box which is roughly $.59/package.  Amelia really likes them.

I also bought some hummus which, paired with calamata olives, pita bread, and cucumber, was a very yummy dinner for me tonight.

A few Amelia things:

~  Last night she was sitting and eating at dinner and I was going to be a little longer fixing my plate so David sat down to eat, too.  As soon as I sat down to eat, Amelia clasped her hands and bowed her head.  She knew it was time to pray!  Even though David had said his own already, he said a prayer for all of us.  Very proud moment for us!

~  My dad has always called us girls his "chickens".  Before (or maybe right after) Amelia was born, my dad picked out chicken ornaments for each of us.  I think they're supposed to be ornaments for a Christmas tree, but I took the hook and string off and it became a decoration in Amelia's room.  Every morning when I go get her up for the day she points to it on her shelf and says "Bid, bid" (bird).  Then she does the motorboat thing with her mouth and that is her trying to say "bird" the correct way.  Every single morning this happens - like that bird is the first thing on her mind!  I snuck in her room and took the bird off her shelf so I could show it to you!

~  She has started blowing kisses.  She puts her hand to her mouth and says "Muuuuah!" but doesn't remove her hand, so she's keeping the kisses to herself for now.  She's also started giving kisses close-mouthed which is a little less messy but makes me a little sad. 

~  She took 3 steps on Wednesday, 3 steps on Thursday, and a couple today.  She could be on her way to walking!  Everyone tells me that when they walk is when you have to look out and be careful, but she's been standing and cruising for months.  I can't imagine anything that would be in her reach now that wasn't in her reach before.  I'm ready to be able to take her to the park and let her walk around.  Right now she just sits on my lap which can't be fun for her.  She'll walk about 5 steps next to me while holding my hand so I let her do that while we're out and about sometimes.  She loves, loves, loves going crawling after church at the building.  Grandpa follows her around and cheers her on which is so cute.

We went to a local street fair today.  It was less than I was expecting but still nice to get out and about.   

Happy Weekend!

Late at night when all the world is sleeping

Wow, it takes a lot of time and energy to start up and run a business, even a tiny one-woman operation like mine.  Granted, I enjoy it and want to put a lot of time into it so it has inched its way up my list of priorities.

I need to update this blog, though, since it is the only way I will remember anything about Millie's infant years.  Well, I might remember things but not the minute details or when exactly she hit milestones or stopped nursing.

Yeah, she stopped wanting to nurse.  I've given myself a good kick in the proverbial pants about it and have taken many a ride on the Guilt Trip Express.  While it makes me a little sad that I'm no longer the one providing her sole nourishment, it also eases some stress that inevitably would come when it was time for her to eat.  She would NOT nurse during the day unless, and I'm not kidding, we were in a dark room with no noises and no one else but us. I did that for a while but she would be hungry right after nursing so I'd have to give her a bottle anyway.  From the time she was a newborn she would break the latch constantly for no reason that I could ever figure out except perhaps a short attention span. She had trouble gaining weight in the beginning because my milk didn't come in for 5 days. Maybe that's where all the trouble began, I don't know.  Starting at around 5-6 months we would only use formula to supplement at night before she went to bed since, if we didn't, she would scream after being laid down because she was still hungry. Pretty soon after 6 or 7 months we started giving her a bottle in the middle of the night, too, since she wasn't ever satisfied with just breastfeeding.  I always thought I would nurse my baby until she was a year old - maybe even past that at bedtime. Maybe I'm crazy but it's never been all fireworks and stars for me as some women say it is for them - and as much as I tried to make it be such a deep bonding experience - it wasn't.  Formula is expensive, and it's not an expense our family had budgeted so that part really stinks, too.  I feel like I short-changed my daughter because, deep down, I feel like I could have kept going somehow. Maybe pumped more, taken Fenugreek more regularly (and ignored clogged ducts and headaches it seemed to give me), and really been vigilant at it. But, she doesn't WANT to, so I feel like I shouldn't make her.  And, in the end, mama and baby are less stressed and fully nourished.  The impact of not nursing anymore is just starting to hit me and, I'm not sure why, but I want to cry.  Okay...this might be harder than I thought.  Amelia's fine.  She won't be stupid or obese as an adult because she's on formula now.  You won't be criticized or thought of as a sub par mom because of this.  Your family actually won't go broke by adding an additional $100/month to the budgeted expenses.  Everybody is fine!  You think moms who nurse have these thoughts?  Nope!  I never want to hear a mom who breastfeeds tell me that they feel criticized for the decision to nurse their baby.  I would take the criticism and judgment for that any day.

Completely not a tangent I planned on taking.

Things happening, in bullets.
-  Amelia dances.  Started doing it last weekend, rocking out to "La Cucaracha" from her music table.

-  If she's in a talkative mood, she'll usually say "Hi" when prompted as of last weekend.

-  For some odd reason, she pulls her hair while she drinks a bottle.  I can actually see her scalp raising with each pull.  I figure some day she'll realize she's the one inflicting pain and she'll stop.
-  For the past couple of weeks, a 10 hour stretch of sleep at night is not uncommon.  Last night she slept 12 hours.  Tonight, she was a pill to put to sleep and didn't fall asleep until 11pm.

-  Naps have been generally only twice a day and 40 minutes to an hour long each.  Today, however, she slept for an hour and a half and two hours, respectively.

-  Our daughter is a daredevil.  She tries to dive off of our bed, which is why one of us has her by the ankle at all times when she's up there.  She loves riding on Daddy's shoulders and swinging in his arms.  He also throws her into the air and she laughs like crazy.

-  Her second tooth (the other bottom one) broke through last Friday.

-  She has discovered where the dog sleeps (in our bedroom closet...that's where she likes to sleep!) and now crawls back there on her own, sits at the door of the closet, and laughs at Tess.

-  Everything goes in her mouth.  She loves finding the smallest fuzzy on the floor and trying to pick it up with her forefinger and thumb then shoving it into her mouth.  This doesn't really bode well for my bow-making business.  I have to keep every little scrap of ribbon picked up off the floor at all times or she'll find it.  Already we've had to dig 2 pieces of 3/8" ribbon (about 1/2" long each) out of her mouth.  She's quick about it, too.  We only notice that it looks like she's chewing on something and that justifies a finger sweep of her mouth.

I have pictures and video but will have to post them later.  Our computers run on a network which is based on our PC in the bedroom.  When it's shut down or asleep, I can't access our pictures which are kept on that computer.  And, at 1:30am I dare not go in there and wake up the PC because I'm sure David would wake up, too.  And that's just inconsiderate.
Coming soon...

- A baby food making blog
- Pictures, pictures, and a video or two
- Our trip to the local photography studio for Amelia's 8 month pictures

By the way, if I reach 175 fans on Facebook I'm going to do a BIG giveaway.  So, tell your friends & family to become a fan of Millie's Bows!  http://www.facebook.com/milliesbows

Happy Tuesday,