Baby says.....OK!

It is official and marked in the record books, at 13 months and 14 days Ocoee said her first word.

This morning I was getting her up and ready for daycare when I said, "We need to go to the bathroom to change your diaper ok". She was not babbling or anything, it was completely quiet and then she said.......OK. 

Woohoo. Not only did she say her first word but it was a word that says, sure mom, that is a great idea. 

She has said things in the past that we thought for sure were words...but this was so clear and fit the occasion perfect that we are claiming it as first word. 

Hubby of course was mad he missed it, but that is payback for me missing her first steps.

Ok

Cheers

Baby photos of everyday life

I have switched gears now that Ocoee is mobile and we do more photos of everday life and less photo shoots.  I try to save the photo shoots for the special occasions and snap photos of all the daily activities. These change daily so it is nice to capture them.

Being in the dog bed has always been a favorite. She tries to play with the doggers but really only Brodie has any patience for her. Even his is short lived.

 Another favorite activity is playing in the drawers. We have given her a special drawer in the kitchen for her stuff. She likes to pull all of her clothes from her dresser upstairs...making her room look like a tornado hit it.

In these last photos above she looks so much older to me....she really is a big girl now. Her baby looks is being changed into a full fledge toddler look. Way too fast! Sigh.

Cheers
J

Baby fashion-mini Boden

Ocoee is wearing a pair of corduroy overalls from mini Boden, which is now sold at Nordstroms as well as their website. Super cute, warm and fleece lined. Under she has a shirt from cachcach, a friend gave to her at my baby shower and was purchased at Spoiled boutique in anchorage.

In the other picture she is wearing a REI fleece vest, Cherokee leggings from Target, and a onesie from baby gap. The hat is mine from swoop the brand that makes the down puffer skirts. I don't own a skirt but the hat is adorable. Ocoee has a thing for wearing out hats.

Baby fashion is ridiculously fun!

Cheers
J

Big girl-New changes, Montessori bed and stand up diapering

So now that is Ocoee is one year we are beginning a few new parenting practices around the house. The first one is using a Montessori approach to her bedroom. We ditched the crib and placed her mattress on the floor. This gives her freedom to get in and out of bed as she wants within a safe enviroment. The idea is freedom within boundaries. She is a great sleeper and has no desire to be out of her bed....but she is thrilled she can sit on it when in her room. As I sat there with her this morning I thought about how big I felt sitting on this little mattress on the floor and how I was out of scale.....then I realized this is how she must feel with all of our furniture. The next step is to replace our rocking chair with table and chairs that are her size.

There is a great link here to another blog and their approach to Montessori bedroom.

Ocoee also has given up the tray on her high chair and sits at the table without it. We are working on spoon and open cups skills as well.

Since her bed is on the floor she has options of when to get in and out....but her room is completely safe. She has been sleeping and no problems so far. The philosophy is, "Never do for a child what they can fail to do for themselves." Even failure in a safe environment leads to learning.

We are also doing stand up diapering which we read about here. The idea is simple. You change diapers while the child stands up. You talk about pee or poop so they learn the difference. You only use the bathroom at home so they begin to associate that with going to pee or poo. You show them how to flush and let them participate in getting wipes. It is the first step towards potty training. It has been working well and we use cloth diapers. She has an interest in all things bathroom and can stand by herself or holding on to us or the tub, so it was a good time to switch.

I want more than anything to raise an independent, strong capable child. These approaches make sense to me and are working so far.

The next step is to move her books to front facing bookshelves where the beautiful covers are more appealing. I saw a great idea on Pinterest....to use Ikea spice racks and paint them for front facing bookshelves. I will pick up a few when we head to Portland in February. Ocoee is changing and it only makes sense that her environment and freedoms change as well.

Cheers
Janelle

Yummy- salmon cakes

I have a friend who is in a tough battle with breast cancer and wanted to cook a nice healthy meal for her. No casseroles or other carb laden dishes would fit either of our lifestyles so I made sweet potato salmon cakes with Boursin cream sauce, French green beans with shaved Romano cheese and basalmic glazed butternut squash with almond slivers.

It was beautiful, yummy and enough To feed my friend and my family. Ocoee loved the salmon and sweet potato cakes. I packed the extra batches up and will drop of for my friend tomorrow. Food is comfort, love and nourishment all wrapped up in one. Best thing to give. When Ocoee was born the people who brought food were a huge blessing. I could barely keep up with the demands of a new baby, much less cook.

I don't really use recipes. I just look for a list of ingredients and then Wong it with what I have. The basalmic glaze and almond slivers with the butternut squash were just an idea. And it worked. Roasted in olive oil, green beans were fresh and sautéed in olive oil, cakes were all mixed together with our homemade canned salmon, bread crumbs, sweet potatoes ( steamed and mashed) onion, and baked in our toaster oven with olive oil. Love me some olive oil! It was the best meal we have had in ages. I hope it nourished my friend and helps sustain her during her fight to recover.

Cheers
J

Made it through

We stayed home today since Ocoee had a stomach bug. It was great. I never got out of my pjs and Ocoee is the happiest sick baby ever.

She played in her new tunnel and cuddled with me as I read her tons of books. She napped for three solid hours. We made it through and the blow out seem to be subsiding.

Also I now have 6 friends who are pregnant! Found out today of another one and that one pregnant couple is expecting a boy. Babies are everywhere. Such a sense of excitement and expectation in the air. Ocoee is going to be playing with all of these babies in the future! I also have a coworker who is expecting. Guess that makes it 7!! Oh my.

Also go big red!!!

Cheers
J

Sick baby

Ocoee woke up this morning with a huge blow out. I am able to go to school late one day a week, which came in handy since we had two more blow outs and outfit changes before we left the house. Ocoee usually get diarrhea during teething episodes so I just chalked it up to teething. She wasn't in bad spirits, with a temperature, or not eating so I dropped her off at daycare and warned hubby he might be getting a call.

Sure enough at 3, her daycare called saying she had blow outs and had to go home, which means she is banned for 24 hours. I scrambled to cancel our sitter and head to the performance arts center to exchange our Of Mice And Men play tickets for another date. Since we are subscribers we are able to switch the tickets. I got Nutcracker tickets for the day after thanksgiving instead. I'll take Ocoee and hope it goes well. It will be her first play.

Ocoee still seemed to be feeling ok when we put her to bed. I even commented at dinner, while knocking on wood, at least she hasn't ever thrown up.

Boy did I jinx myself. At 8, bug woke up throwing up. It was the saddest thing ever. Her little face was all covered and she was sobbing her heart out. I can't imagine how horrible it must be to throw up for the first time.

We cleaned her all up and forced some pedialite in her. She was smiling and playing within 5 minutes. Crazy. Still no fever and she is back to snoozing away. I hope it is a quick bug and will pass. She had the first flu shot a month ago and was due for her second in the series tomorrow. I'll have to call and see how that goes. May end up taking her in. I just want to hold her close to me all night and make her feel better. Sick baby is no bueno!!