"I need" vs. "I want"

If it's not one thing, it's another. That's basically life with a child. Just when you think you've figured your kid out and have mastered something...boom! It changes and you now have a new challenge to deal with.

Cam is growing so fast and while we're delighted by all his milestones, each one essentially makes him a different baby. Parenting is about adjusting to change after change, trying desperately to figure out your child's needs and meet them appropriately. Sounds easy enough in theory but as always, reality is much different.

Now that Cam's 6 months, "crying with purpose" is starting to emerge. He no longer just cries because he needs something, but cries because he WANTS something (or in some cases, doesn't want!) He's more aware of his surroundings and is quickly figuring out that crying gets him stuff.

This is actually a good thing because that's how he communicates. He cries and if we meet his need or want, he's happy. He knows that mommy and daddy are responding to him and he trusts that. But as wonderful as that is, his purposeful cries are definitely not always fun to deal with.

Aside from the basic need cries (hungry, tired, in pain, etc. which, btw Cam rarely cries for such things), Cam has now taken to the following purposeful cries:

• He cries when I'm feeding him solids but he wants his milk. As soon as he gets his milk, the tears magically disappear and he's happy as a clam.
• He cries (more like whines) when he wants out of his crib in the morning or after a nap. He wakes up extremely happy and usually very quietly so at times I leave him there if I need to finish getting myself ready or need another 5 minutes for something. He's usually very patient but when he feels he's been patient enough, he'll let you know!
• And most recently, he's been crying to tell me, "I don't want to take a nap." This one is starting to take a toll on me because I know that he NEEDS TO NAP. Most of the time I can get him to sleep but the last couple of days he really doesn't want to go down for his afternoon nap. He cries and cries and I know he's doing it on purpose because some days after an hour of crying (and me checking on him countless times during that hour), I take him out because I plain give up. The SECOND I take him out of the room, he smiles up a storm and even laughs at times. He knows that if he cries enough he just might get out of his crib. Conniving little bugger.
  

Now, they say you can't spoil your child by tending to his cries for the first year of life. I don't disagree with this statement. If your baby is crying, it's definitely for something. But I'm also learning that while you can't "spoil" your baby, you CAN teach him things in that first year that ultimately may lessen "want cries" in the future (this is my non-scientific-but-I-am-a-parent opinion anyway). For example, how to soothe himself back to sleep. This is definitely a learned behavior and babies won't learn how to sleep on their own if you immediately jump at every cry, whether it be during naps or in the middle of the night.

Teaching Camden how to be patient and starting to set expectations and boundaries, I think, is also possible. Things like teaching him to not expect someone to tend to him every minute of the day. At times, I think Camden needs to play on his own and be by himself. I don't go to him at every whine and he plays very nicely by himself. Learning to be independent is a good thing.

Teaching him what's acceptable and what isn't can also start early. I tell Camden "stop it" when he "want cries" excessively. I don't know if it's the tone of my voice, or the words, or if he's just distracted by what I'm saying (or maybe a combination of all three?) but whatever it is, it usually works. Eventually, I think Cam will learn what it means when I tell him to "stop" and hopefully he will listen.

It's amazing how much Camden knows at 6 months! We're biased, but of course think he's a smart kid. Every day, he's more aware and I swear, this kid understands A LOT. :)

I just hope I'm able to be a good mommy and can balance giving him what he needs with giving IN to what he wants.

excessive cuteness = no afternoon nap

After a half hour of trying to get Cam to take his afternoon nap, this is how we found him in his room. Unf, the video came out really dark so this is the best I could do to brighten it. (It gets clearer during the second half) Toward the end of the video, Camden shows us how smart he is by putting his pacifier in his mouth all by himself, twice!

After this cuteness, we didn't have the heart to make him take a nap. We buckled under all this adorable behavior and he totally got his way with mommy and daddy.

kabocha squash is really pumpkin.

Next on my veggie list was squash. Brian went to the market for me and came back with kabocha squash. Technically, it's a Japanese "squash" but it looks and tastes like a pumpkin. That would be a fruit, right? Eh. I did a little bit of research and it seems to be a good baby food. I doubt no one but Hawaii/Japanese peeps use it though. Kinda like how only Hawaii babies eat poi (which I really want to try just to see how Camden reacts!)

Anyway, making kabocha baby food was HARD WORK. So, I documented the process for posterity.

First, Brian had to cut the pumpkin -- no easy task.

Then, he had to peel the skin with a vegetable peeler. This was a total pain in the ass as well. But, he got it done! What a good hubby.

Cut it in half and it looked like this:



I then cut it into small cubes. The meat is really tough so I had to cut slowly. After that, it was time for steaming! About 12 minutes and it was very soft. Faster than I thought, so that was a plus.



After steaming, it was off to the trusty magic bullet. I love this thing. It can puree, blend and even grind coffee beans. Might be the greatest $50 we ever spent.



Added water as the pureeing went along and in the end, had enough pumpkin for three ice cube trays. Thankfully, Camden seems to like it because believe me, after all that this kid is eating kabocha for awhile.



And that's my life as a desperate housewife making my own baby food. It's sort of fun. Who knew?

the not so happy meal

This has nothing to do with Camden but is so disturbing that I had to share it somewhere. Check out this woman's blog and photo (click on photo to get there) of a Mickey D's happy meal that she kept for a year as an experiment. It looks like she bought it yesterday. Gross.

I think Brian and I need to go back to our boycott of McDonald's that we started after watching Super Size Me. This is DISGUSTING.

camden hates rice?

Is this Brian's son or what? Brian, lover of all things rice, cannot possibly have a son who hates rice cereal. But it is true.

At first I thought it was just because he was learning how to eat solids that he didn't like rice cereal. But now that he's a pro at it, I've determined that he in fact, abhors it. He cries and fusses and will not eat it willingly. I figured it was the taste so I started mixing it with sweet potato. Mini success for awhile but now he's even over that.

I think it must be too bland because he LOVES sweet potato by itself and likes his peas. He eats both without complaint and opens his mouth wide for more.

I'm thinking that I'm going to start just feeding him veggies, add in fruit soon, and leave it at that. I mean, do I have to give him cereal? As far as I can tell, the only benefit to cereal is the extra iron and he's getting that from formula anyway. My little vegetarian for now?

grown up bed? yes, please.

Camden just loves rolling around on our bed. I think he likes the fluffiness and feel of the comforter. Whenever we put him down on it, he just rolls all over the place and squeals in delight! He must think his crib is boring in comparison.

i need a fort.

Here's Kella in a fort that her grandma built her. This is a genius idea. Camden TOTALLY needs a fort.

I'm sitting all by myself!

Yes, playing with the ball is probably helping his balance some. But still, I'm impressed.

6:30pm-6:30am!!

Let us all please note the date and forever keep it in our memories. Well, I will anyway. Cam slept through the night for the first time!! Pretty much.

He went down early yesterday cause he missed his afternoon nap. Went to sleep at around 6:30pm. He fussed at around 8pm (who knows why) so I went in and gave him a pacifier. Back to sleep in a second.

I heard him cry at around 2am but it wasn't a big cry. He cried out once and then quieted down. Brian and I usually wait for a few consecutive cries before deciding that yes, he probably needs something and we should drag out butts out of bed. He seemed okay so back to sleep I went. Heard another cry at about 4am. Same thing, a couple of small cries and back to sleep on his own!

Brian got up to go to work at around 5:30am. He asked if he should check on Camden since this is the first night we haven't given him a feeding. I told him I think Cam's fine but if he wants to check on him he can -- just don't wake him up!

So, Brian goes in and I hear Camden make a noise. In my head, I envision Brian rushing out of the room as quickly and quietly as possible for fear of ruining this blissful stretch of him sleeping. I bet it was a funny sight.

Cam finally gets up at around 6:15. I hear him stirring and then he starts really talking, telling me to come get him at 6:30am. I'd say that counts as sleeping through the night, don't you?

Yay, Camden! Now, I just hope he keeps this up!!

makin' cam some baby food

I knew I wanted to try and make Cam's baby food for various reasons. 1) I'm home, so I have time to do it. 2) It's more economical. 3) I know exactly what's going into the baby food.

He tried rice cereal and seemed to like it at first. And then he didn't. So then I tried oatmeal. He seems to like that better. But then I started to think that he didn't really like the taste of either. He'd fuss and cry after awhile and I couldn't get him to eat much at times. I know some of this is just the solid food eating process and normal. But it had been a couple weeks so I decided to see if he'd react differently to some kind of vegetable. (I debated giving fruits first but decided against it)

Peas seemed easy and a vegetable that's somewhat sweet.

Let's try it.

Looking at the "dirty dozen" list, I didn't buy organic frozen peas as regular peas should be fine. And cheaper.

Got home and steamed them. Bad move. The inside of the peas didn't soften enough. I should have boiled them instead? Oh well. Microwave it is.

Peas are a little softer so I tried mashing it with a fork to see how far I'd get. Um, not very far.

Bust out the blender and put all the mashed peas in. Seems dry so I add water. That should work to help puree it, right? (I'm totally guessing at this point. In hindsight, more research would have been smart).

Water seemed to work well and I now have what looks like baby food! Finally, 2 hours later.

Put them in an ice cube tray and have peas to last me awhile. Think to myself that Cam better like these peas cause I worked so hard making them!!

Next day, feed Cam the peas mixed with a little bit of formula. He likes it!! Nice. He seems to like it much better than the oatmeal so I think it has to do with taste.

Three days of peas and no allergic reaction that I can see. He tends to fuss at some feedings like he doesn't want to eat solids of any kind at all. He wants his milk. I find that switching back and forth usually does the trick. Sometimes he needs to just drink his milk first and then he's willing to eat his solids. Whatever gets him to eat, I suppose.

Next venture? Sweet potato. Mmm mmm.

what's been going on

I'm in a lazy blogging mood. Here's the shorthand version of what's been happening the last week or so.

• Cam's morning naps are getting shorter and shorter. Before, it was the longest nap of the day. He'd nap 3 hours sometimes in the morning. Now, he naps an hour tops and then his afternoon nap is longer (1.5-2+ hours).
• His teeth keep on growing! You can see his bottom teeth when Cam smiles now. Too cute.
  
• Cam seems to hate rice cereal. He likes oatmeal a little more, really little. So, I decided to try some peas to see if he likes the taste of that better. Success! So far, yesterday and today he likes it. Making your own baby food is harder than it looks though. It was for my first try anyway. I think I need to buy another magic bullet to make my life easier. I'll try and muster up the energy for a "first go at making baby food" post.
• Crawling is around the corner, I think. He's trying but then gets frustrated when he wants t something in front of him but can't can't get to it.
  
• Camden's personality is showing more! He sure tells you when he wants or doesn't want something now. He's incredibly active and wants to be on the ground, moving around. He still likes to be carried but will let you know when he's over it.
  
• Stranger anxiety might be setting in a little. Before, he'd go to whomever, whenever. Yesterday, my Uncle George came over and tried to hold Cam. He went to him but then immediately started crying. He did go to my Aunty Sandy though so maybe he just didn't like the way he was being held by uncle? We'll see in the next few weeks...
  
• I took Cam to his first Baby Hui meeting today. About 10 moms in the group and Cam's one of the oldest. Everyone seems really nice and I'm hoping it's a good support and resource for us. Maybe mommy and Camden will make some new friends too!

getting mobile

I'm scooting! Backwards, but still. It's progress!

9 hours!!

The last 3 nights, Camden has slept 9 hours straight! I've been reluctant to write anything about it for fear of jinxing this new habit. (knock on wood)

But it's been 3 consecutive nights now that he's slept from about 7pm to 4am. Needless to say, Brian and I LOVE IT.

and now for some grossness...

Poor Camden. Not only was he sick earlier this week but yesterday he was so badly constipated that he cried every time he tried to poop.

He hadn't pooped since Monday, the day he got sick, and since the doctor had us switch to soy formula (easier on his tummy), I think his system was shot. Soy sometimes makes babies constipated, said the doctor AFTER I had given it to him for a whole day. He couldn't tell me that earlier???

Anyway, Cam tried to poop yesterday morning and I knew he was constipated cause he whined while trying to get it out. A little pellet came out but I wasn't too worried. Kids get constipated sometimes, right? I had no idea what was to come.

Early afternoon and Camden is trying again. This time, it's more like crying rather than just whining. I rub his tummy to try and help him out and it seems to make him feel better. But still no poop. So, I put him in his car seat to help it along (something about that seat makes him poop!). I see him pushing, trying to get it out while sitting in the seat. He's crying now and I keep saying, "It's okay. I know. Push it out." I feel SO BAD for him!

He tries and tries and I rub his tummy while he pushes. Finally, he relaxes, closes his eyes and goes to sleep. I take him out of his car seat and change his diaper. Yup. A hard, clay-like piece of poop. I think that's it and put him down for a nap.

He sleeps for two hours and gets up seemingly happy and smiling. Little did I know the worst was yet to come!

I take him out of his crib and put him on the changing pad. Immediately, he starts wailing. Open his diaper and see him pooping out a LOG of poop. As he's pushing, tears are streaming down his face and he is looking at me like, "Help me, mommy!! It hurts!"

I can't tell you how hard it is to look at your baby in pain and not be able to do anything about it. I wanted to cry!!

After he was done, I picked him up to cuddle him and we call the doctor. There's streaks of blood in his poop -- that can't be good.

Doc says that's okay. To just give him a little more water in his formula for a bit. The doctors must be thinking about placing us on their blacklist. We've called them 3 times this week since Cam's been sick. Doctors must HATE "first-time parent syndrome."

This morning, Cam fussed from 4-5:30am, which is unusual for him. He work up to start the day around 8am and I found him with a full poopy diaper. He must have been working that out during that hour and half. This poops was thick, but not logs like the others. Phew!!

I'm hoping that was the end of it and he starts getting better. My poor baby. :(

sick mommy, sick daddy, sick baby

It's been a rough couple of days.

Last Thursday, my dad was feeling sick. He threw up in the middle of the night and then sat around the house quietly the next day. Being the dad that he his, he kept saying he was fine and thought it was something he ate.

Then on Friday, my mom vomited in the middle of the night and spent all day Saturday in bed.

Brian and I went about our lives and kept ourselves and Cam away from my folks as best we could. Our best wasn't good enough.

Yesterday morning at 5am, I woke up feeling pretty crappy. I spent pretty much all day yesterday in bed. Chills, body aches, headache, nausea -- NOT FUN. I slept a lot because I knew I had to get better fast. I missed holding my baby already! I didn't think I could physically sleep as much as I did, but somehow my body took those zzz's without complaint.

Around 5pm, I was feeling better and just in time too. Brian started showing the same flu-like symptoms. Uh oh. So, I fed Cam and then handed him off to my dad who was now the only person in the house who wasn't sick (my mom had a relapse yesterday too). My dad is sitting on his chair with Camden in his lap. All of sudden, Camden throws up all over himself, my dad and the chair. At this point, I have no choice but to take care of him. Even if I'm not completely well, clearly Cam is sick so it probably doesn't matter now, right?

So, I comfort him, wipe him down and get him ready for bed. Then I call the doctor to see what we should do. He mentioned pedialyte at Cam's earlier appointment (just in case) so we had some in the house. Just needed more direction on how to handle this.

Doc says to give him pedialyte slowly, a half ounce at a time. Give him as much as he wants, he'll know when he's done, the doc says. Then, I have to give him soy-based formula for a couple of days to ease Cam's system back. Apparently, the formula we use, Enfamil, is lactose-based and harder on his intestinal tract.

After hanging up the phone, I try to give Cam some pedialyte. He took the bottle fine but made a funny face once he tasted it and fussed. I wondered if it's because the pedialyte is flavored? I have my dad go out and get the non-flavored bottle. He comes back and I try again. Camden is NOT having it. Now I'm freaking out because dehydration is the main concern here. If Cam won't drink the pedialyte, then what?! I start crying. I'm not exactly sure why. I'm worried but I think more than anything I just felt so bad for Camden. I can't explain in words what it feels like to know your child is sick and there's nothing you can do about it. And then what you CAN do, your child doesn't want. Crying seemed appropriate.

Well, I can't force Cam to drink the medicine so I decide to put him down for the night and see if he'll go to sleep. Surprisingly, he went down fairly easily and slept pretty well, considering.

I went to bed with a 100+ fever, as did Brian. Feeling a little better than B, I got up 3 times in the middle of the night to care for Camden and give him pedialyte (which he took, thank goodness!!). It's amazing what a mother can do when she has to. I mean, really. When I was sick, I could somewhat only focus on me being sick. But when I knew Camden was sick, my sickness no longer mattered. I just needed to take care of my baby.

Mommyhood is an amazing thing.