An overdue update!

It's been a busy couple of weeks, but time for an update! A lot has actually happened.

I hate starting on a sad note, but it's top of mind so I must...our wonderful, amazing, spectacular part time nanny (one day a week) had to quit tonight due to cat allergies that are getting worse and worse as she works with us. :( I'm so sad, I have to admit I broke down and cried after she left. She loves the kids and was so sad too. It's so hard to find someone you love like this, so I'm super bummed. I have 2 weeks to find someone new. Big, huge sigh, but...

On happier notes, here is the latest!


Lots and lots of teeth!

Nathan now has all four front teeth and Kenna has SIX! She has four on top, two on bottom, which all came in before her eight month birthday. What a toothy little grin she has now. :) Amazingly, she was never really grumpy about it. Neither was Nathan...until last week. He was so grumpy suddenly and obsessing over his teeth - grinding them constantly (Kenna does that too, it's like finger nails on a chalkboard!). I assume he must have more coming in soon because of the grumpiness. He was his happy self today though, so hopefully we are on a good path. :)


Hair!

Kenna has had hair steadily coming in over the last few months but Nathan has been as bald as ever. Lately though he has started to get a little fuzzy and it's SO cute! I've really noticed it in the last two weeks. It still doesn't look like a lot but you can suddenly tell it's growing and when he wakes up from a nap he has "bed head" with little ruffled hair on the back. I think it's the sweetest thing ever (especially to go with the ultra grumpy he look he gets after nap time)!


Nathan knows Kenna exists!

Yes, Nathan officially has noticed that Kenna exists alongside him! For months and months now, Kenna has observed her brother intently, always curious about and interested in him. Nathan has never much cared to know what his baby sister is doing. But in the last couple of weeks all of that has changed. They now interact all the time! It's like the light switch went on for Nathan that he has a playmate. It started with a nighttime event when they were in PJs getting ready for bed. They suddenly began "chasing" each other around the living room and laughing. Nathan would crawl toward Kenna and she would crawl away as fast as possible, laughing all the while (she still doesn't do a regular crawl, but can move just as fast with the army crawl, slithering on the floor with arms and legs). Kenna laughing is also a new event - she would laugh out loud before when you tickled her, sort of as an automatic response, but now she is laughing out loud at things and it all started with her laughing at Nathan crawling after her! The funny thing is, originally I don't think Nathan was even crawling after her, he just came near her and she thought it was funny and crawled away quickly. But over time he joined in and now laughs too. This has now opened up a whole new world of interaction at different times, especially mealtime. When they try a new food they look at each other as if to say, "what do you think?" (sometimes while spitting it out!) They also reach across the high chairs to touch each other and sometimes just start laughing. It's so adorable when they connect like that! And I just love finally hearing Kenna laugh!


Need...more...containment devices!

Looking back on my last post, I can't believe it was only July 25th that Nathan mastered the crawl. I mean, he is EVERYWHERE. Opening drawers, pulling up on things, pulling on electrical cords (still working on baby proofing...), you name it. He knows when I say come here, and crawls with a big smile fast toward me, straight into my lap. Melts my heart every time. :) Kenna has that army crawl perfected and has shown no interest in getting her tummy off the ground. But she moves as fast as Nathan so why would she care?! She too is into everything and especially loves to pick small specks off the floor and study them as she slivers around. Kenna LOVES to investigate rugs for some reason. She picks up the different corners and pulls them up and down. Now that they are so mobile, they have a lot less interest in toys. They want to move chairs, look at rugs, open kitchen drawers, play with cords and anything else that isn't meant for them. I've started working on teaching them "no" and need to do babyproofing very soon (like yesterday). But, I don't want to completely baby proof because I want them to learn boundaries with some things that aren't dangerous but that they just aren't allowed to play with. I'm making some progress with a firm no and hand squeeze. Kenna listens much better than Nathan. He will whine then go back to what he wanted. Kenna looks at me, doesn't like that I am not happy, and moves on!


Kenna finds a new sleeping position...

Months after learning to roll over both ways, Kenna has decided that she wants to sleep on her stomach suddenly. With Nathan, he learned to roll over, and there has never been a day since that he has slept on his back. Kenna always slept on her back, but just the last week has been sleeping on her stomach. I was really surprised when I first saw it and a little scared because it was so unlike her! But it's been consistent for a few days so we may two stomach sleepers now.



Making baby food

This is really, really unlike me, but I have decided to make as much of the babies' food going forward as possible. I keep trying to figure out why I want to do this, because it is SO not like me, and here is what I can come up with:

1) I've gotten really into cooking in the last few months and making baby food is a great way for me to systematically learn to cook pretty much every vegetable and fruit! So, for one, it's a cool learning experience.

2) I have a lot more control over what they are eating. I really like the idea of them eating pure, fresh food in its original "form" without added preservatives and all those other things in the ingredient list on jars. I love knowing that when they eat pears, they are...just eating pears. Fresh and pure. Baby food can be on the shelf for up to 3 years in some cases with all the stuff that is in it!

3) I want them to have healthy eating habits, and this is a great way of supporting that. You can make a lot more variety than you can ever buy in "baby food packs". I want them to have the opportunity to learn about and like lots of different foods. So many kids are so picky and don't get well balanced diets, and it's my goal to avoid that as much as possible. I never thought I would be "that" mom, but I hope my kids don't know what fried food is for a very long time. :)

4) I can more easily control portion size. I have big eaters! When you buy those jars or packages, you are somewhat limited to the portions they come in. When you make your own food, you can freeze in whatever portions are most practical for you.

5) In addition to all that, it's cheaper!

On another food note, I'm peeling everything before preparing to get rid of as much of the pesticide residue as possible. It's hard to wash it all off and babies' bodies are much more sensitive to it (they get 60 times the exposure given the concentration of their foods). Anything without a peel I will buy organic. I can't believe I'm saying that, because like I said, I am totally not the I-buy-food-at-Whole-Foods-and-Trader-Joes-person-because-of-environmental-and-social-issues by nature. But I've been reading about organic food more and while my kids are small, I think it's worth while to give them the majority of food that is either peeled or organic given how much more they are impacted by it (compared to adults). I have a special concern about chicken and want to only feed them natural chicken, hormone free - I have endometriosis, which is thought to at least be partially caused by the extreme levels of estrogen in chicken (for people who eat a lot of meat). If I can minimize Kenna's risk at all of endo by only giving her hormone free meat at home, I think it's a very worthwhile pursuit.

So far I have made: peaches, pears, apples, mangos, bananas, carrots, zuchini, broccoli, asparagus, and garbanzo beans.

I will have to post some pictures later...gotta go find a nanny!