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kirsten and truett

kids inc

Please mama, can I have more food?

November 18, 2009

I’ve forgotten what a messy affair introducing solids to a baby is. Kirsten started her first meal of baby rice a couple of days ago at 18 weeks, 2 weeks earlier than Tru. It’s even messier because her tiny mouth is so small that most of the cereal dribbles out before it even gets in. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she’s not ready but I’ve done this before, so I’m like an expert on weaning now.

With the first kid, you’re stumbling in the dark, not sure if it’s too early to start solids, whether it will cause indigestion or hives. You panic at the slightest sniffle and rush him to the hospital. The first sign of teething sends you into overdrive because at first, you don’t know why your perfect little baby is cranky and acting like a monster.

That’s what comes from being a second-time mom. Experience. And bigger boobs. But mostly the first one. This time, you see all the signs coming from a mile off. Baby girl has been in a foul mood the past few days, refusing to nap and wanting to be carried all the time. She used to entertain herself talking to her friends (cot mobile) but it was impossible to put her down even for a minute. When Tru went through a similar phase a year ago, I was flustered and frustrated after a day but this time, I was cool. Relatively.

Slight temperature, fussiness, finger chomping, drooling, all classic signs of teething, so I put some ice cubes into a baby feeder to soothe her sore gums. Worked like a charm.

She’s also been licking her lips every time she sees us eating, so I figured it was time to bring out the baby rice. It just confirms my theory that my kids are foodies. I have friends who, if they could, would take a pill to meet their entire day’s nutritional needs. To them, eating is for sustenance. Kinda like crapping and flossing. (I’m sure there are people who derive immense pleasure from these activities, but most of us just do it cos we have to)

My kids, on the other hand, LOVE TO EAT. Kirsten took to the baby rice like a fish to water. She chomped down every last bit and started screaming when it was all gone. My 18-week-old baby. Screaming for more Healthy Times brown rice cereal. I know some folks advocate introducing solids after 6 months, but when it comes to food, my girl is way ahead of the pack. Less than a week in, she’s on half a bowl of cereal (ok, a really tiny bowl) twice a day. I think those juicy rolls on her thighs are going to explode.

Food makes me smile

Food makes me smile

Incidentally, every time I feed baby girl, Tru goes into a frenzy. Seeing his sister slurp up every bite, he seems to think plain baby rice is like manna from heaven. When he sees me taking out the bowl, he’ll point to it and go eat, eat, eat, EAT, EATTTT! Next time I want him to eat his broccoli, I’ll pretend to make Kirsten eat it first to see if it works.

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milestones & musings

The Marshmallow Experiment

September 18, 2009

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

Check out this brilliant video on the battle between instant and delayed gratification. It’s modeled after a test done by Walter Mischel at Stanford University in the 1960s. The test followed the subjects all the way to adulthood and it was discovered that the kids who were able to wait became smarter, more successful and get this, less likely to take drugs.

My theory is that girls are naturally predisposed to delayed gratification, and they’ve got loads more self-control, which explains why they’re generally smarter than boys.

I’m pretty sure Kirsten will pass with flying colors and she’ll be chilling like ice-cream filling the whole time, unbothered by the marshmallow. But Tru, I’m not so sure. He’ll be touching it, smelling it, licking it and grabbing his head in torment if he manages to wait it out. Given the startling results, I will conduct this test on him myself everyday until he learns to wait. And I will bind his hands with tape if I have to.

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motherhood

Somebody tell me again why I’m breastfeeding

September 14, 2009

The good news is that Kirsten has started sleeping through the night. Since she turned 6 weeks, she’s been sleeping from 12 midnight to 6 in the morning, which gives me six whole hours of uninterrupted sleep. Now at 9 weeks, she’s been stretching that to 10 hours every night.

Naturally, I’ve been taking advantage of this new development to catch as much sleep as I can, except that my breasts seem hell bent on destroying me. I figured that if I ignored them, they would stop bothering me and eventually adjust to the new feeding hours so for a few nights, I express my last round of milk at 1o and crawl into bed by 11.30. This would last till 7 in the morning when Kirsten starts stirring. Initially, I started leaking milk all over my top, which I was prepared to handle in exchange for more sleep, but a after 2-3 days of leaking, they decided to develop blocked ducts instead and believe me, it is a pain in the ass breast.

I know it sounds like a very mild condition, like a blocked nose or something, but no, it is nothing like it at all. You can’t just blow it out and go along your merry way. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s worse than hemorrhoids combined with herpes at the same time. The pain is pretty much indescribable, like someone stuffed rocks into my breast and started beating it. Repeatedly.

A few nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with a sharp pain in my left breast. I waited for it to pass, but it got so unbearable that I had to get up to check it. I tried expressing, but putting the pump to it was sheer torture. The entire breast had become rock hard, inflamed and filled with tiny lumps. Worst thing is, nothing came out. I’ve been averaging 120ml per session, but after 45 minutes, I was still at 20ml. The next morning, I came down with a flu and a fever. A quick check on google and apparently, these are all symptoms of blocked ducts. And check this out, if left untreated, it could develop into mastitis, which is NOT GOOD. You don’t want to mess with a name like mastitis.

Despite the pain, I’ve been back to a 3-hour expressing schedule, even through the night. And I have to battle a flu at the same time. Just like that, there goes my dreams of sleeping through the night. Now I can only look on with envy as my 9-week-old sleeps like a baby for 10 straight hours, while I’m banished to breast purgatory.

I never thought breastfeeding would be this hard. After going through all that initial teething problems, I though I had paid my dues but it just keeps getting worse. I only hope all that “Breast is best” propaganda is true, then at least it would all be worth it. If not, I’m seriously going to set fire to the person who came up with it.

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