BIG weekend for Vienne!

I know this is turning into a blog mostly about Vienne lately....but, that's what mostly dominates my mind anyway!

So, this weekend we had quite a few big firsts from her.

1.  I laid her down for her usual afternoon nap on Saturday before we were to head over to a 4th of July bbq.  Unfortunately, this turned out to be one of those random fluke days that Vienne decided to skip her afternoon nap (she does this from time to time).  The days she chooses to do this, she typically lays in there, in the dark, and "chit chats" to herself for a half hour and then cries and whimpers for the next 30 minutes.  I usually make her stay in there for an hour.  Well, this day she was in there for the entire hour giggling, singing, and chattering LOUDLY the entire time.  I mean giggling so hard I could have sworn that someone was in there tickling her!  Finally, after the hour was up, I went in there (in frustration at her) and found her standing up and bouncing on her mattress!  This is a first, people!  This is the first time she has sat up from the laying position and then continued to pull herself to standing!  No wonder she was laughing with glee the entire time.  She was so proud!  All I could do was laugh right along.

2.  My girl is walking!  Well, not entirely confidently all around the house.  But, she is solidly 'island-hopping' - like from the table to the chair to the cabinets to the wall and so forth!  No more needing mom or dad to steady herself and hold her hand!  Check out the video of her walking between us but just using us as stopping points.  Pretty exciting!  We finally started baby-proofing the house this weekend.

3.  Vienne might be proving to be an artist!  Maybe like her mommy?  So, during one of her naps this weekend, I pulled out some paper and pencil to sketch a bit.  I left it laying on the couch that afternoon.  Once she was up, I left her playing in the living room while I cooked (living space and kitchen are one huge open connected space where I can watch over her....love it!).  Anyway, I look over and find that she has picked up my pencil and brought it over to the paper and started drawing on it!  First off, let me clarify that we have never taught Vienne how to use a pencil yet.  We've never played with crayons or anything.  So, as you can imagine, I am just overwhelmingly shocked that she has succeeded to not only pick up the pencil and hold it the right way, but to also put the writing end onto the paper and then continue to draw with it!  She covered the paper w/mostly scribbles....and not once did she touch the couch or cushions with that pencil.  Well, after she was finished and I picked that paper up.....look below at what I discovered on it!!!
NOT KIDDING!  Do you see the two stars???  Two!!  Crazy, huh?!  Now, I must admit that I have been pretty reserved in boasting any exceptional behavior from her until this point.  I even admit that I used to think that she might just be behind most of the 'typical' kids her age.  She has never exhibited the need to rush forth with anything, prove anything, or acquire new skills quickly.  But, now I'm starting to rethink things about her.  I am wondering if she is just that quiet smart little one who sits back and really watches everything.  I've always known that she is extremely watchful and observant, I guess I just never put it together that she was actually learning so much from that watchful behavior!  I am excited to see what else she pulls out in the months and years to come!

First Steps

Vienne Juliet is 14 mo. old today.

My little baby girl is pretty much walking now!  Very exciting times in our home.  She's been walking, holding onto our hands for a few months now - but now she is walking back and forth between me and Mark!  And, last night for the first time, she let go of the edge of the table to walk towards my open arms!  That was huge!  Any day now I know she is just going to let go and walk towards something that she wants instead of towards my arms of security.

She has also been sleeping on her tummy every night and naptime and now I find her on her hands and knees once she is awake.  Perhaps she will finally start crawling after she is walking!?  That would be funny!  Or at least this position is teaching her to sit up on her own....finally!

As far as first words, Vienne has been saying "Mama" and Dada" for quite some time and also says "num num" on occasion and just added "Bob" to the vocabulary.  "Bob"?  You ask?  Oh yes, Bob is one of Grammy's puppies.  

Vienne has been mimicking me more and more, which has been totally cute.  She now picks up her comb and tries to rub it on her head.  She has picked up my makeup brushes and shoved them at her face.  Last week she started using her spoon quite accurately.  And, of course the organizational skills of hers continue to grow and grow.  Have I mentioned these?  This girl loves to organize - to put things away, in their place or at least some new place she has assigned them.  Rarely does she make a catastrophic mess because she is always putting things in containers and back up on shelves and in little holes.  Yes, of course we have covers on the outlets!  Her favorite toys are tupperware containers and boxes along with tiny little objects to sort in the boxes and then shut them away with the lids.  The other week we were in a little health food store and I set her down on the ground to walk along a shelf that was at her level.  The shelf was filled with display boxes of granola bars and such.  A normal baby would probably pull everything out of those boxes and strew them all over the floor.  Nope.  Not my Vienne.  She re-organized those boxes in her own terms - removing bars from one box to put them in the next.  Not one granola bar was on the floor, nor even on the actual shelf....each of them were in different boxes from their original spot.  It was so funny.  Of course, I had to put everything back where it belonged before we left - but I was quite impressed.

Growth-wise, Vienne is still so very small.  I'm not really concerned because she still has a decent amount of chunk on her thighs, belly, and cheeks.  I just wonder when she will have a growth spurt!  She is 14 months now and can still fit into 9 mo. size clothing!  And  last night I just happened to check the tag on one of the jammies she regularly wears...it is size 6 mo.!  I put it away for principle's sake!  And, man oh man, her feet have never grown!!  She still wears a size 2 shoes!  That is the same size she was wearing a year ago!  Surely saves on the pocketbook!  But it's kinda weird, isn't it?  At her 12 mo. checkup (which was actually at 11mo.) they said she was "perfect" so I'm not going to think twice, I guess.  

And I think that about sums up June for us!  And, here's a video of those first steps last week along with a few cute pictures!

Summer finally arrived here on the Oregon coast!

Getting my girl out to enjoy the beach she lives at

Organizing garlic into the jars while she eats lunch on the counter

Took a morning walk to check out the low tide and the tide pools around Haystack Rock

Being coy

Vienne Updates - June '09

Well, this past week has been full of a few new things from our precious little girl.  

Last week, while visiting Grandpa in Portland, Vienne took her very first 4 steps on her own, away from her Daddy's secure hand.  It was very exciting and showed us that she may just be closer to fully walking on her own than we thought!  She has grown very skilled at scaling the walls and really only needs one hand on the wall or furniture to get around.  I think it's more for her own security than anything else...like she doesn't realize that she really can do it on her own.  One characteristic I've really been noting about this little girl is that she is in no rush to acquire a new skill...or at least hasn't been up until this point.  She takes her own leisurely time and doesn't need to prove anything.  It's funny.  Most kids I see are just so dang determined!  She's totally skipped the crawling stage...and if I haven't mentioned before, we've already gotten a lot of flack about that one!  Like you can control whether they crawl or don't!  It's funny - this girl can pull herself up to standing position and pretty much navigate around any obstacle as long as she can have a grasp on one edge of it...but, if laying on her back she canNOT sit herself up to save her life!  When on her back, she is like a beached whale flapping her arms until you sit her up or pick her up!  Isn't that weird??  I know she'll learn it on her own, soon enough...but it is strange.  She'll be walking on her own soon, but won't even know how to sit up on her own....like a turtle flipped on it's back! 

Well, along with this new realization that she is sooooo close to walking, she has just actually given up the interest in scaling the walls in preference to holding our hand and walking her all around the house, in circles, back and forth.  It's terrible and tiring.  And, of course since I am not game to do this for more than one loop around the house, she has begun to reveal her first selfish tantrums!  I experienced the very first full-body fit just the night before last.  It was sooo strange for me to watch!  Let me explain - this girl has been sooo mild-tempered and easily consoled and distracted.  Now, she knows what she wants and it's all that's on her mind and she will scream to get it...finally showing that 'determination' that I thought she lacked!  I was a kindergarten teacher for like 4 years...I've seen my fair share of fits, so I don't give in too easily.  I just stood over her and watched her thrash until she calmed down, panting and gasping for breath.  Then I held her until she was breathing normal.  Once she was calm and content, I let her walk just a bit.  But, I want to nip this in the butt as soon as I can...I am not one who will placate her through her tantrums and give her what she wants.  But, man oh man, it is so ugly to see this new side of your child!  I should also add in, though, that that night we discovered a new tooth that just broke through the surface that day...thus, most likely explaining her dramatics and moodiness.  Poor girl.  

So, this week has been interesting...pushing a little toother forth and enduring many little fits.  It's hard to get much done now when she's awake cuz she's so moody if she doesn't get to walk about, holding my hand.  Eventually, I just sit her on her bum, or leave her holding onto the couch and tell her that if she wants to walk that she needs to do it on her own. Yeah, that's not getting across to her too well...but, that's my mentality!  Anyone have any suggestions for how they've dealt with their baby's tantrums??

Through all of this, Vienne surprised us the other night by sleeping fully through the night!  What a treat for me!  So, despite the fact that she is breaking a tooth forth, I am going to go ahead and start weaning her from her one night time feeding...which, I know, is against the books.  "They" instruct you to wait til their body is not going though anything traumatic, but I think she is ready and I want to follow through with what she accomplished the other night by doing it all on her own.  So, that's my new endeavor...maybe this Mama will be more refreshed and rested through the days!  yay!

Here are a few pictures...

This is my "mild baby" - the one who sits on the counter and plays with garlic cloves for 20-30 minutes while I cook.  But, this is soon to change, I am learning!

So close to doing it on her own.

Bored with that...now wants my hand!

Starting to whine and getting close to a possible fit...

This is her yelling for me since I walked out of the room...haha

Playing 'pat-a-cake'

Rubber ducky...did you know...

Here's a disappointing fact I just learned from my 'Natural Solutions' magazine: 

 

The iconic rubber ducky gets up to 50% of its weight from phthalates, chemicals linked to cancer, early onset puberty, and obesity.

I supposed I could've already guessed this but it's still disappointing and frustrating to learn the facts.  We have a friend who collects rubber duckies and finds joy in sharing them with our daughter.  As I've spoken of in an earlier post, we try to steer away from most plastic toys...but, hey, I'm not a Nazi about it, either.  No more playing with the dearly loved adorable ducky, though.  I need to be more alert and careful to what random objects she is choosing to play with.  Just a heads up for all you moms who care about this stuff....which is, I hope, all of you!

My little Doll

"We say that a girl with her doll anticipates the mother.  It is more true, perhaps, that most

mothers are still but children with playthings."

~Francis Herbert Bradley~

Toys! Toys! Toys!

Well, the hype of Christmas is beginning to fade and new toys are beginning to mix in with the old ones, only to be soon forgotten.  Before it was too late, I wanted to share our convictions on toys and perhaps shed some light on the reasonings behind our particular choices.

My husband and I have opted to do our best to steer clear of most plastic, battery-operated toys.  We prefer beautiful wooden or plush cloth toys.  We have chosen this route for several reasons:

-Imagination & Creativity - Wooden toys do not do all the work for you.  A child must employ their creativity and imagination to bring it to life.  Where does a child's imagination go when all their toys do it for them?  A battery-operated rocking horse that whinnies, rocks, turns it's head, and swishes it's tail?  How can the child imagine and create it's own character for that horse when the horse does it all for them?  Wooden and plush toys are simpler.  They require imagination.  And imagination brews a wonderfully creative, witty, brilliant child.

-Safety & Health - The majority of mainstream plastic toys are actually made of PVC which is laden with harmful toxins like phthalates.  With a teething infant, where do most toys go?  Her mouth.  Here is one article from Mothering magazine (one of my faves!) on this very topic.  Or, just Google 'phthalates' to learn it's affects on human health.  We have even chosen to give Vienne all organic pure rubber pacifiers...these are the coolest pacifiers out there!  They are one piece so there are no crevices for bacteria to grow and every part of it is soft and chewable when she is learning to insert into her own mouth.

-Creating a Peaceful Home - This may be more of a selfish reason on our part, but we do not want our main living spaces cluttered w/piles of neon-colored, loud, plastic crap....that most likely rarely gets used.  It is sad to me when I walk into a home and their main living space is over-taken by shelves of toys, plastic pink play houses, a matchbox car race track...every corner inhabited by loud obnoxious toys.  Talk about over-stimulation!  Mark and I do not like clutter...we cannot function around it.  How does a child learn?  Focus?  With sooo many toys, sooo many options, sooo much noise and stuff going on...I just don't understand how they are able to settle down, imagine, create, and learn.

-Environment - Wooden toys last forever!  Plastic toys with batteries often break or eventually stop working.  Obviously, when a wooden toy is recycled it is safer on the environment.  We know plastics and batteries are not.  'nough said.

-Simplicity and minimalism -  We are minimalists...or we are, at least, trying to be so.  I've already learned with having just an infant so far, that babies and children do not need much to entertain themselves.  Vienne already gets bored w/her toys and would much rather prefer the tupperware in the cabinet, a small cardboard box, a scarf, her shoe...you know what I mean.  Don't you?  Haven't you found that your children are much more entertained by the things that are not toys?  So, why fill your house with extra unneeded clutter?

I've also learned that in making these rules for our home, people are more careful and thoughtful in what they buy for Vienne.  It's not just any random cheap toy from the Toys-R-Us aisles that will break in a few short months or never get used.  If a friend or family has opted to buy her a toy, it is usually just one very nice beautiful wooden piece that was thoughtfully chosen and will last forever, to be cherished as that one special toy that Grandma or Auntie bought for her.  You know what I mean?  Wooden or nice plush toys are a bit more pricey...which helps to keep the collection small, keeping the clutter and over-stimulation to a minimum.  And, that has greatly helped in keeping our goal for simplicity.

As the collection of toys inevitably will grow through the coming years, Mark and I have also established a goal for recycling toys to help keep things at a minimum and to help inspire a heart for giving.  So, our current 'goal' is to establish a rule for new toys that come into the house.  At Christmas time or birthdays, for every new toy that is received we will aim to choose a few old toys to give away to either a children's home, our church, or a resale shop. We hope to make it a 'fun' event of sharing and blessing others.  Hope is the key word.  We know that we must be realistic in our goals, but all goals are a challenge and we are determined to try and make this one work. Guess, I'll have to report back as Vienne grows and as I grow my family through the coming years!

Now, I must make one disclaimer before I post this:  All of this does not mean that our home is completely free of plastic toys.  No.  We still will receive gifts and let Vienne play with them for a short while.  We are not completely radically unrealistic!  

Here are a few more sources that I've randomly selected that offer great info on natural toys:

Mothering Magazine - Wonderful articles for natural mothering

Babies Online - One of many found articles on natural toys

Three Sisters Toys

Willow Tree Toys

Incredible Video

Have you seen this? Or heard of it? I hadn't until this morning. You MUST watch this video! Especially if you are a parent. This made me cry with fear and wonder. Wow.



Go to www.infantswim.com to find more information on this.  I wanna sign Vienne up!

For the Love of Cloth Diapers!

Hey!  Did you know that:

Over 27 billion disposable diapers are sold and then put into landfills in the US?

or that

Disposable diapers contain traces of dioxin, listed by the EPA as the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals?!  In small quantities, dioxin causes birth defects, immune system suppression, skin and liver diseases, and genetic damage in lab animals.  It is banned in most countries...but not the US.

or

Americans spend about 7 billion dollars on disposable diapers every year.  If every one of those families switched to simple home-laundered cloth diapers, they would save more than $6 billion, enough to feed about 2.5 million American children for an entire year.

or that

In 1955, before modern disposable diapers were sold and consumed, it was estimated that 7% of babies and toddlers had diaper rash.  In 1991, long after plastic disposable diapers dominated the market, the number jumped to 78%.

or

Disposable diapers contain Tributyl-tin (TBT) a toxic pollutant known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals.

or that

Disposable diapers also contain Sodium Polyacrylate, a type of super absorbent polymer (SAP), which becomes a gel-like substance when wet.  This chemical can cause kin irritations and severe allergic reactions including vomiting, staph infections, and fever.

or

Disposable diapers generate sixty times more solid waste than cloth.

or that

Disposable diapers use 20 times more raw materials, like crude oil and wood pulp.

or 

Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills, and represent about 4% of solid waste.  In a house with a child in diapers, disposables make up 50% of household waste.

or that

If you purchase disposable diapers, you can easily spend over $65 a month.  You will have spent more than $1,600 by the time you baby turns two (this doesn't include the cost of disposable wipes).  

But

If you use simple pre-fold cloth diapers and covers, you will only need a few dozen diapers (in various sizes), which you can use over and over throughout your baby's diapering years.  The cost of cloth diapering can vary considerably from as low as $300 for a basic set-up to $1000 or more for organic cotton fitted diapers.

-Info collected from a pamphlet for

www.DiaperShops.com

 

Gives you a nice guilt trip, huh?  Wellll....that, of course, is NOT my intention at all!  But, I just purchased a few more Fuzzi Bunz cloth dipes for my daughter and received this pamphlet with them, in the mail.  I had to share the info....it was so astounding to me.  I mean, of course I knew a lot of this beforehand, which lead us to make the decision for cloth...but the stats are still shocking!

And, let me tell you - we are so very happy with our decision for cloth!  Yes, when I first thought about using them I was initially grossed out - thinking what you probably think: "eewwww, I don't want cloth diapers soaking in my toilet and then have to wash them...nor do I want all that work!"  Those were the old days...back when we were diapered.  But, now they have everything for our modern day needs...we are so spoiled!  Vienne has a collection of the cutest cloth diapers in all colors.  They are soft against her skin and oh so easy to use! With velcro or snap tabs, they are all one piece.  You put them on like a disposable diaper and then just toss them into the diaper pail after use.  I have about 23, now, and I think we do laundry every 2-3 days.  We are not running to the store every week to replenish her diaper stash....not only saving diaper money, but also saving gas!  We also use cloth wipes which are so handy.  I keep them w/water in a wipes warmer...nice, soft, and warm against her tush.  Everything is tossed together into the pail and ready to be washed.  I just dump it all into the washing machine (don't have to touch anything!), soak it in cold water for 30 minutes or so and then wash in hot water.  Dry as usual or out in the sun to get out any lingering stains.  

For our diapers, we chose to use bumgenius (primarily) and fuzzi bunz.  The bumgenius dipes are one-size-fits-all...which means that they snap down to fit her while she is tiny and unsnap to stretch out for a potty training babe!  So this means that I have saved from having to buy many different sizes....meaning more money saved.  And, if we take good care of them (which we are), then I intend to use them for the next babe (or, you can resell them if they are in good shape)....saving even more!  I mean, it all just makes sooo much sense.

Anyway, if you have questions please feel free to ask....or just hit the links that I have included in this post and learn more!

Dedicated Unto the Lord

Vienne Juliet ~ 'alive and full of life'

(with our pastor at church)

"I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with 

inner strength through His Spirit.  Then Christ will make His home in your 

heart as you trust in Him.  Your roots will grow down into God's love 

and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, 

as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep 

His love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great 

to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete with all 

the fullness of life and power that comes from God!" 

~Ephesians 3:16-19

Yesterday was Vienne's dedication at church.  This is the scripture passage that we chose for her when she was born - a prayer over her life and a reference to the meaning of her name. 'Full of life' - that my daughter surely is!

It is our prayer that we raise her to wholly love the Lord and to choose Him above all else. And, in this prayer and hope, I am reminded to ask myself if I do the same thing that I wish for my daughter?  I do wholly love the Lord.  But, do I choose Him above all else?  How dedicated have I been unto Him?  Do I fully understand 'how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love truly is'??  A good question to ask every now and then.  

First Foods

This week we embarked on the adventure of solid foods for Vienne! After much research we decided to start with avocados. Avocados are considered nature's 'perfect food' - a food in which we could lively solely off of. The high healthy fat content is perfect for babies...especially for our little one who is a bit small.

But, why not start her off with cereal? Well after much reading, especially in Sally Fallon's 'Nourishing Traditions', I learned that cereal is actually the worst food to start baby off with. What?!! I know, I was confounded, as well. As it turns out, grains are actually the hardest food for humans to digest! (for more info on this read here)  Hhhmmm...makes some sense when you think about all the gluten-sensitive people you know out there, huh? Well, I guess that grains naturally have an acid on them called 'phytates'. Phytates are what make them so difficult on our digestive system. We, adults, have an enzyme, 'amylase', that helps us to digest these phytates...but it's still difficult even on our adult systems. I guess that babies do not have enough of this amylase to break down the phytates...making the acid wreak havoc on their poor little bodies. Feeding grains to babies too early may lead to grain allergies. I know that most babies seem fine when they do eat cereals...but it's all about prevention. Symptoms develop over time. Don't we want to lay down good foundations for our little ones? I learned that it is best to wait until your baby reaches 12+ months of age to feed them grains.
So, what should I feed her in the meantime? After much searching and reading, Nourishing Traditions and La Leche League both recommend animal proteins as healthy foods to start baby on because of the high protein and iron content. Softly cooked egg yolks have been strongly recommended. For me, personally though, I felt weird feeding her pureed chicken as her first introduction to foods. First off, it just sounds GROSS and secondly I have often felt that meat was a bit hard to digest as well...at least for myself. So, I opted for fruits. Avocado first and then banana. I can't wait to introduce her to more yummy goodness and watch that beautiful little mouth work and squish it all around!
And, now I'm done with my nerdy science talk....off to good eatin' and more exciting things!