The Starr Family Blog: 4/12/09

Friday, April 17, 2009

Walking Upright on our busy day!

Today, Claire and I were heading upstairs for the evening. I opened the babygate, and she stepped onto the bottom step upright, and then continued up 3 more steps upright while only hanging onto the wall, not me! I was very impressed! I think she started learning this while at my parents house as the bottom 1/4 of their stairs has a banister that she could use to walk up their steps upright at the last visit. It majorly freaked me out though, as she can fit her head between the rungs still. And if her head fits, that means that her whole body fits. I tried it. I passed her whole body through. She still fits...eep.

This morning we went to a local LLL toddler group, which was as always informative and fun. Claire gets to socialize with other kiddos, and I get to converse with other mommies. The topic was "Weaning" for the monthly series meeting, which is always interesting. Some of the things discussed were criticism for nursing a toddler and how to handle that, as well as why society pressures breastfeeding moms to wean at a year. Of course, the advantages of breastfeeding a toddler were also discussed. All of those things that are so awesome and beneficial to a baby, continue into toddlerhood if the nursing continues like fewer illnesses which are less serious like diarrhea, ear infections, allergies, asthma, respiratory infections, even future chances of diabetes and cancers, etc. Plus, they help mom out too, by decreasing her chances of getting edometrial, breast, ovarian cancers.

I wonder if any research has been done on cancers nowadays since the big formula push of the 1950s to see if there is a formula risk factor involved. Or maybe if it's not the formula itself that has caused cancers that are appearing, but BPA in the bottle plastics or other impurities in the water or something. There was also some talk about how the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends breastfeeding until age 2 or as long as mutually desired (no cow milk needed if this is the case), but the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) only says until age 1 or as long as mutually desired. There was some mention of the AAP needing to change their age from 1 to 2. I don't know if that would really change anybody's opinions or choices.

But I do know that I'm glad on days when Claire is being picky and will eat only fruit or a "Cherrio-only" day that she still gets balanced nutrition from my milk. I weighed her yesterday. Our scale said 29 lbs. WOW. That can't be right. I know she's had a big growth spurt and is pushing the length limit on her 24 month jammies...but wow! We have a weight check next week. I'm going to be pretty smug when I tell Dr. W. that I did not put her on cow's milk or pediasure. I just let her body follow it's natural pattern.

I was also thinking of how glad I am that she still nurses in the event of a serious illness...god forbid...but how would they hook up an IV to a toddler without her ripping it out! I know even if she was not able to hold down any food, she could hold down my milk.

Another toddler advantage...sippy boobs...in the event of a forgotten or lost sippy cup...there would be no need for a tantrum while trying to find a drinking fountain or a place to buy something to drink. Enough about nursing...

Well Claire popped another tooth last night! Yay! It is tooth 13! Unlucky number but that explains why she woke up 37,000 times last night. What is worse...when your child wakes up for a long block of time and won't go back to sleep or wakes up several times, but will go back to sleep reasonably quickly? And how many teeth should she have at almost 21 months? I must do some online searching if you don't leave me a good detailed comment!

Claire and I enjoyed a nice long walk after her nap this afternoon. She walked about half of the big loop! Then we played bubbles. Holly gave me the bubble machine she used at her wedding. SCORE! The 3 neighbor girls enjoyed it too! :) Claire still insisted for me to "Mommy, Blow more bubble!" even though the machine was cranking them out...sigh. Tomorrow I will leave the bottle of bubble inside and just let the machine do all the work! Claire also had fun riding on Amelia's little tricycle and was able to push herself forward and backwards with her feet. I need to convert her little green walker into a car again for her to try outside!

Claire also had her first ride on a Power Wheels with Olivia. She loved it! Oh...and I hit up 3 garage sales on my way home from the LLL meeting. I added 6 books to my must read shelf for only $1.50. What a deal! Claire had fun carrying around my wallet at the garage sales while shouting, "My WALL-et" which was quite funny because she puts a huge emphasis on the "Wall" part of the word. I'm hoping to snag some great riding toys like a trike or wagon sometime soon!

Overall, it was a good day. It was made even better by reading about these funny bacon products. Here, have a laugh: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/5118283/Bacon-sandwich-really-does-cure-a-hangover.html AND http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/product/bacon_exotic_candy_bar/exotic_candy_bars Seriously...what is the deal with bacon!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Little Sentences

Claire has continue to floor me and others with her words and little phrases. Yesterday before we left Valpo, Holly asked Claire what she was eating. Claire replied, "I eat mac-a-roni-N-cheese!" plain as day. It is one of her favorites. She also picked up the names Gaby and Rachy (short for Rachel) who were the 2 other flower girls this weekend. She also started saying Mark for her new Uncle! One can never have enough playmates! Claire and I were glad to get home yesterday and sleep in a little today. Yay!