Bean 16.5 Months

*walking for a over a month, prefers crawling sometime
*says ouph (ouch) when we get hurt!
*very particular about nursing - lets me know which side he prefers and does not care for modesty.
*feeding therapy - trying to get the Bean to eat regular food - still only eats purees
*says elbow
*loves to sing "hands a washing" from music class
*likes to be in learning tower
*checks out situation before playing i.e. we went to Tumbleweed park. Bean sat on the ground for a few minutes looking at the playground equipment, decided which section he wanted to go to and played there the entire time we were at the park.
*Likes to hold my hand while riding in his smart trike - super sweet, although hard to do if I am the one pushing him
*Climbing wherever he can
*likes park benches

Lent 2012

Right now, I am feeling the need to clean my smelly kitchen, but have decided it is important to take a few moments and reflect upon the beginning of Lent tomorrow.

For Lent, I like to add something positive, as well as make a sacrifice. As a busy mom of a child who has difficulty sleeping day and night, I find it challenging to find time for prayer and meditation. I certainly don't have time to sit and meditate alone. I don't even get to pee alone. During this Lenten season, I plan to focus more on prayer and meditation. I know I will not be able to find quiet moments for myself, but my goal is to remember to pray and meditate on good intentions for my loved ones throughout the day. My husband and I both have/had grandmothers who were prayer warriors for their family. I want to be that kind of mama for my family.

I also want to add in focusing on the positive. In general, this is something I do a lot of, but have found this to be a bit of a struggle the past few months, I think because I am over tired. When I have feelings of jealousy or insecurity creep up, I want to remind myself to think about where others are coming from, empathize, and rise above negative feelings, especially in dealings with my husband. I really want to be his greatest supporter.

As far as giving up something for Lent, I am going to give up ... chocolate and animal protein - 46 days, I can do it, right? When I am craving chocolate or dairy that will be a reminder to meditate on how great my life really is and say a prayer for the health, safety, and well being of my loved ones.

I wish you all a blessed Easter season!

Partial Night Weaning

Let me start by saying I am not a fan of weaning babies from breast feeding. I think child led weaning is best. However, I haven't  had more than a few hours sleep since I was 28 weeks pregnant, and not more than 2 hours of sleep in a row since the Bean was about 5 months old. Mama is tired!

I am actually not weaning Bean or even completely night weaning, but I think I am going to go mental if I don't start getting more sleep. The plan is to partially night wean, in the hope that Bean will start sleeping longer, allowing the whole family to get a good nights rest. There was a period between four and five months where he went to sleep at 11 pm, slept until 3, nursed until 4, then slept until about 7 am. For whatever reason, around 5 months, he started waking every two hours. The last couple of months it has been every hour or hour and a half, which has led us to this point.

I am following a modified version of Dr. Jay Gordon's gentle night weaning. I have been seriously planning on making the change for about a month and have felt sick to my stomach every time I think about it. I have worked really hard to establish a bond of trust with my sweet baby that I want to last a lifetime. I have been worried about breaking that trust or causing him to feel abandoned by his mama. I want him to know that I am here for him anytime as long as I live. I can't imagine leaving him to cry alone in his crib, especially since he is used to sleeping with me. My hope is that he will realize mama is there to comfort him, just in a different way than he is used to. I have a feeling he is not going to be happy about it in the beginning!

I don't expect this to be a quick or easy process. I am going to document what happens for the next 10 - 14 days. Hopefully that post will find Family Karamesic well rested!

Our Son At 15 Months

Other than not sleeping more than two hours at a time, and often only one hour, this is such a fun age! On January 8, Bean took two steps. He stood up from his soccer ball chair and took two steps towards Tata. He likes to play "no hands," which is where he stands up, balances for several seconds then falls forwards or backwards purposely in between our hands. He has been bouncing from his bottom into an almost standing position. Walking up and down stairs while holding our hands is another favorite right now.

For quite a long time, I thought Bean made little noises when tired. Over the last few weeks I realized he is actually singing. I sing and hum a lullaby to him while getting him to sleep. He often "sings" along with me while he is nursing. His voice follows my rhythm and pitch. I hope I can get a recording.

Bean doesn't like to be worn in the carrier as often as he used to, which makes cooking a little more difficult than in the past. What used to take twice as long with a baby on my back has quadrupled with a baby hanging on my pants legs while we shuffle around the kitchen.

A large part of my day is spent with Bean in my arms, walking around while he points to everything in sight and says "this?" with the cutest little lisp. He wants to know what every object is. I think he is storing the information in that amazing brain and will start spitting out all those words soon.

Walking and talking seem to be just around the corner. We are looking forward to seeing what comes next. Oh, I almost forgot - he has six teeth, not including the evil molars that are making their way down. It feels like two molars on each side are coming through.

Goals for 2012

I don't make New Year's resolutions, but I do try to take stock of what is happening in my life and create goals that I want to accomplish for the year. Writing down a goal is the first step in making that goal a reality. Here is what I want to accomplish in 2012:

* Yoga 2x per week - at least once in a studio

*Saturday family fun day (occasionally Sunday fun day if Zjelo plays on Saturday) This means we go out as a family for a few hours, maybe for coffee or a hike, but no sitting on the couch and someone is going to spend less time playing video games!

*Sweet treat night 1x per week, Cut back on processed sugar. We will have one night a week (Friday) in which we can indulge. The night of the week is subject to change.

*Walk 3x per week minimum

*Attend Mass on a more regular basis (1x per month minimum)

*Read 1 book a month

*Go on at least 6 dates with my husband

*Find a way to have a clean house

*Continue to eat vegetarian, moving closer to a vegan diet

What are your goals for the coming year?

Christmas 2011

 It is Christmas Day night and I'm feeling those Christmas day night blues.  Right now I am missing my family and close friends who are far away. Even though the closing of Christmas day is a little sad, I am also feeling blessed and very happy. We had a great 2nd Christmas with the Bean.

Last night we attended Mass. Mass with a 14 month old is challenging, but it was a lovely service with beautiful music, followed by dinner and relaxing a little with Amel and some eggnog. I actually managed to get the downstairs cleaned to almost pre-Bean status. What a great feeling to relax in a clean, uncluttered home! Amel and I stayed up until one am putting Bean's toys together. We simply and loosely wrapped his gifts so he would be able to open them easily. He didn't really get into opening his gifts,but seems to like them all. However, the pots, pans, spoons and cups are still the preferred play objects. Thanks to technology my family in Ohio and Amel's family in Croatia were able to be with us while we opened gifts. I am loving my birthday gift (my iPad).

We had brunch with our dear friends, Nadar, Diane, and Nasar. We got to spend the day together, eating, drinking, playing with Bean and his toys, and playing some wii. It really was a great day!
We truly are blessed to be able to give and receive such nice gifts, but much more importantly we are blessed with good health, a home filled with love and family and true friends who care about us. There could be no better way to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

                               

Bean at 13.5 months

Aaarrgh! I have not done very well at keeping up with my blog lately. In part, I blame it on being tired due to all night nursing and staying up late to "get things done" like I am doing right now!

Unfortunately, tomorrow we will be making a trip to the GI doctor. The Beanster keeps going through long bouts of constipation, we're talking a week to 10 days. The pediatrician said to give him Miralax, but we don't want to give him medication all the time. It seems strange a child who only eats fruits, veggies, and grains would have these kinds of issues. I have cut out rice and bananas, but that doesn't seem to make much of a difference. I have taken Maika to a chiropractor a couple of times and think it is helping. Amel says it is coincidental, but I really think it's working. I don't think there is anything seriously wrong, but we want to make sure.

The Bean is cutting new teeth. His eye tooth on the left just popped through and the right side is making its way down. I had no idea how difficult the teething process is! Teeth are evil and tortuous for my poor baby. He wakes up more often than usual and nurses through out much of the night. This makes for one tired mama! I can't believe we have 22 more teeth (including molars) to go through...

Bean has added some new words to his repertoire; he says and signs all done and says na na, which means danger. I hate say no all the time, in fact, I try to avoid saying no. I've been saying "danger" when Maika heads for a power cord or outlet. Now he crawls over to wires and says na na and proceeds to play with it anyway. I am finding redirecting him to another activity works well.

Bean is becoming a pro at standing up. This past week he started cruising around the furniture. He is so cautious when lowering himself back to the ground. His leg muscles must be sore, as it takes him quite awhile to complete his squat. It is quite adorable to see him pull himself up to the window in his room after a bath, before we have a chance to get his pj's on and see that chubby little tushy.

He still won't eat anything that is not pureed completely smooth. I keep offering him real food, but he pushes it away. On the other hand, Bean loves feeding other people. He fed me a whole box of raisins, one at a time! He also like to pretend to feed us with his spoon.

Speaking of spoons, a lot of children have a lovey, such as a blankie or favorite stuffed animal. Well, the Bean     enjoys carrying around a baby spoon from morning until night. We joke that he will be a MEMS engineer when he grows up. MEMS stand for micro-electro-mechanical systems. Apparently, these are the dudes who work with very small technology. No kidding, Bean finds pepper seeds and grains of sand and hands them to us.

We are really having fun watching all of Bean's new discoveries. I am looking forward to spending our second Christmas with him and seeing more and more of his personality coming out.