Let them eat cake!!

Disclaimer: this is only my opinion – no offense to any mommies out there.

I was just reading one of the message boards I frequent filled with moms of Toddlers from 12-24 months and a mom posted a “dilemma” her word, not mine, because she didn’t know what to give her daughter for her birthday cake.  Come on! Give her cake.  I am all about being health conscious and teaching Alexis to eat healthy.  I buy organic when I can and make sure that she eats fruits and vegetables every day.   It has paid off because she is a great eater.  She loves broccoli, asparagus, corn, tomatoes, etc.  Not to mention all variety of fruits.  She has fish once a week and all the other meats.

However, I do allow her to have “junk food” also.  When we go out to eat I will give her french fries – not an entire order but a few.  I control what she eats not her.  So as long as she is eating whatever food I got her then she can have a few french fries.  She likes them.  She has also had cookies, chocolate, cake, and (gasp!) cake batter!  I believe in moderation and I know how happy chocolate makes me so why not allow my daughter to indulge a bit.  Again, as long as it is in moderation and as long as she eats the healthy food as well.  I think it’s important to have variety and that includes the bad stuff!  There are a few things that I will not allow – soda is one of them.  I do not think there is anything even slightly good about drinking soda so I will keep her away from that as long as possible.

I know there is an obesity epidemic and kids are heavier than ever which is why I do believe in moderation.  When I take her to fast food places, I opt for the healthy options for her – the apple fries, milk, I take half the bread off the cheeseburger and make sure she has tomoato on the burger.   When she’s old enough, I will enroll her in sports to make sure that she is not a sedentary child.

Anyway, I say, Let them eat cake!!!!! They are kids after all

Confessions

Here goes:

I let Alexis watch TV even though the American Academy of Pediatrics says no TV until age 2.   Sometimes it just helps me get things done,  I can fold laundry or wash dishes.  I don’t let her eatch tv all day long and I don’t let her watch inappropriate shows, but she likes Yo Gabba Gabba, Backyardigans, and the Sprout channel and she also likes Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!.

I bring Alexis into bed with me when I’m too exhausted to help her fall back asleep.  This is not something that I do frequently, but if she wakes in the middle of the night and will not fall back asleep usually due to teething pain, I do not have the heart to let her cry so I bring her into bed until she falls back asleep.  Or if she wakes too early in the morning, she comes into bed.  She usually wakes up between 8 – 8:30 sometimes earlier.  I will get up if it’s at least 7:30, but any earlier I just can’t do it, so she comes into bed.

I give her food she shouldn’t be eating yet.  Chocolate, mainly.  Yes, most of the time she eats healthy but if I’m having something yummy i give her a taste.

I have 2 blankets in her crib and they have been there since she has been in there.  Actually, I covered her with a blanket in her bassinet b/c she hated being swaddled.  Even when I did swaddle her with her arms out, I still added an additional blanket.  Our house is cold and I didn’t want her to be cold.  When I put her in the crib, I would tuck the blanket into the mattress at the bottom of the crib.  By that point she was able to pick herself up and she would cry if anything happened to her.  I would check on her at first to make sure she was ok and she was so I felt comfortable leaving it there.  Now the blankets are a bit heavier since it’s cooler outside.

I also have bumpers in her crib.  They are not only cute, but they keep her from bumping her head.  See above for picking her head up, rolling over, and crying if there was an issue.

I know a lot of these things are no-nos but I’m the mom and I would not do anything that I felt would be dangerous to Alexis.  So there it’s out I’ve confessed!!!!

Alexis is 11 months old today!!!!

One more month and the first year is over – it’s incredible!!  She has gotten so big it’s hard to believe.  She is extremely active these days.  She crawls all over the place, she stands without support and she cruises a lot.  She’ll be walking soon I’m sure.  She is talking more also – she says bye-bye, leche, and sometime she says upa (spanish for “up”).  She definitely has a strong personality and knows what she wants.  She likes being on the floor most of the time playing with her toys.  She can also eat with a spoon now.  Not well, but she can do it.  When I put food on the spoon, she knows how to put it into ther mouth to eat.  She is a very good eater and I still haven’t found anything she won’t eat.  She has 8 teeth – 4 top and 4 bottom and her molars are starting to come in but haven’t yet broken through.  She’s a lot of fun and likes to giggle and laugh.  She is very vocal.  She is also very squirmy and makes changing her extremely difficult!  The minute I lay her down she flips over and tried to get away so it’s always a fight changing her.  Luckily I stopped using a changing table a long time ago and I just use the floor.  I haven’t weighed her really, but I put her on our scale and it said 21 pounds which sounds right.    That’s about it.  I’m planning her 1st birthday party now and I just can’t believe how fast this first year has gone by!!!

When did I become a mom?

Was it when I was pregnant?  When Alexis was born?  Or some other time?  Well, I guess technically I was a mom when I got pregnant, when I started doing things for the yet-to-be known human growing inside me.  I changed the way I ate, what i drank, medicines I took, and I was always a bit more careful with my actions.  Once I found out I was having a girl, I was able to connect more and really begin to “see” the baby.  Then when Alexis was born and it was a real baby, a baby I could hold then I really was a mom.  I had to sign papers that said so!

But I really think it happened later than that.  The first few weeks are crazy.  I had no idea what I was doing.  I was feeding and changing like I was supposed to.  I would pick her up when she cried, but I really didn’t know what to do.  I had no confidence, when she cried I had no idea why she was crying, I was guessing.  She thrived and got bigger and did what she was supposed to be doing so I guess I was doing things right.  But boy I was not sure back then.  I could not look on that time with the perspective I have now and think it will get better, things aren’t always this crazy.   So, recently I realized that I’m a mom.  I know what I’m doing.  I’m confident in my decisions.  I have gotten Alexis to sleep through the nigth sucessfully.  I have gotten her moved to her crib from her bassinet and I got her to nap in her crib when previously she would only nap in her swing.  I make decisions based on my knowledge of my daughter.  I don’t feel like I need to ask my mom / friends for their approval on whether I’m doing things right.  Not that I don’t still ask b/c I still like having advice from those who have been there.  I know what I’m doing is right.  When Alexis cries these days, I can *usually* tell why – hunger, tiredness, grouchiness, etc.  Not always of course, but more often than not.  Alexis has become a central part of my life and I can’t remember before she was around!  Now, I feel like I’m a mom, not just someone with a baby.  She knows me, looks for me when I’m not around.  I’m sure it’s different for everyone, I ‘m sure there are some who feel like the minute they find out they’re pregnant.  But for me, while I loved her from the moment I knew she existed, I didn’t feel like mom until later!