A Photo Retrospective

Tomorrow my little baby will be 11 months old. I can’t believe that time has flown so fast. Very soon she will be a 1 year. Very soon she won’t be my little baby. And, if you have read a few of my posts you will know that I am very sentimental about my little muffin, monkey, pumpkin, sugar face growing so quickly.

Words can’t do it justice.

So instead, here are some never blogged before pictures of the little one over the last 11 months. It's rare for me to post pictures so this is a special treat. And tell me, wouldn't you want her to stay little like I do?!

~ humps

Baby's First Christmas

We had a wonderful holiday. I will be back to the regular routine on Monday - not that we are getting down to much partying right now. But it has been nice doing nothing at all over the last couple of days! Although I am on a blogging hiatus I would be remiss if I didn't post pictures of Baby's First Christmas.

We spent Christmas eve and Christmas day at my mother's house. She does the Christmas dinner with our extended family on the 24th. Of course my little girl got all of the attention from young and old. Her little cousins (even the two year old) spoiled her rotten with hugs, kisses and a whole lot of attention.

And yes, BABY learned quickly how to open presents. Here are some of my favorite Christmas pictures:

~ humps

The Day After

It's been a while since my last post. All week I have been busy planning a surprise birthday party for one of my closest friends. You guys don't understand how hard it is for me to keep a secret. I'm a terrible liar. And I talk to her on a daily basis! I also couldn't write about it on this blog or Twitter on the odd chance that she was reading it. The torture!!

The party was Friday. Big success. Lots of fun. All day I have been vegging on her couch eating leftover appetizers and cake. And BABY is decked out in her day after-party tracksuit, playing with an assortment of toys on the floor.

None of my pictures turned out any good - partly because I couldn't find my camera for the first half of the night.

But since it's been a while since my last post with BABY's pictures, I thought that I would share this one taken recently. So... my little baby:

What's For Dinner?

This weekend, my little girl is turning 6 months old. I am sad and excited at the same time. Sad - because she is growing up so fast. Excited - because I know that there are more wonderful milestones to come.

The latest milestone: solid foods!! Yesterday I gave her solids for the first time. Big deal, no?

I was preparing for this moment emotionally and physically for a long time. (I am dramatic like that). At our last appointment for her 4 month immunization shots, BABY's physician gave me the go ahead to start solids. I was a little stunned. I wasn't ready to hear that. It felt counter to everything that I was reading, which advised moms to keep breastfeeding their children to 6 months. Weren't both the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF - two huge worldwide organizations - recommending just breast milk for the first 6 months and then breastfeeding with supplemental food until 2 years old and beyond?!

I'm sure that there is a certain face one creates when one knows that they are not going to take given advice. This is the same face teenagers use when they are going to immediately dismiss something that their parents say, or the face that a husband gives when he is ignoring a comment from his wife. I gave this face to my doctor. It was a blank stare with nod type of face. Luckily he doesn't know me well enough to notice. In fact, I'm fairly sure that he was just scribbling something down. Not even looking in my direction.

Over the last couple of months, our doctor was joined by a growing list of people that I was quietly ignoring on the subject of solids for baby including my grandmother, mother, a few moms that I knew who started their babies on solids around four months. Instead of these people I decided to pay attention to BABY's cues and behaviour, and listen to my own instincts.

In the meantime, I got ready physically while my emotions caught up. I picked some solid food appropriate bibs, adorable baby spoons and dishes (in BPA-free plastic since I couldn't really find non-plastic items that were in my very limited price range! Holla at me if you have any recommendations). Since I am planning on making my own baby food, I made sure that my Magic Bullet was working and that I had a few extra ice cube trays for freezing. I re-read the Starting Solids chapter of What to Expect: The First Year, and another book that I have on naturally healthy first foods. I researched homemade baby food recipes online. I talked to other moms.

Then I was ready emotionally.

On Monday, I had my first foray into the homemade baby food world. I was equipped with my recipes for homemade rice cereals, which I decided would be BABY's first food. I actually made two different versions:

Cooking Then Blending
- Cook short grain brown rice according to package directions. (I did a batch in my rice cooker for dinner and only portioned out a 1/4 cup for the baby food.)
- Place the cooked brown rice in a blender or food processor with the breast milk/water/formula.
- Puree until completely smooth.
- I poured most of it into ice trays and froze overnight, then put into a freezer bag.

Blending Then Cooking
- Blend short grain brown rice into a fine powder using a blender or food processor.
- Boil water in a saucepan. Once boiling, whisk in rice.
- Simmer for about 10 minutes, while whisking the entire time. It will get thicker and thicker.

I would have to say that solid foods was a big success. I gave BABY a little bit of both versions. She played in it and ate some. We had lots of laughing and no crying. Personally, I think that the proof is in the pictures.



~ humps

A Great Grandmother

My mom has one of those really big photo albums from the 70s with the hundreds of pages, gold accents on a pearlized hardcover, clear plastic vinyl and sticky pages, large metal binder-style rings. You had to take the plastic from the sticky pages apart and put the pictures inside. The photo albums were so heavy that I'm sure they were a hazard to have in the house. Those albums were kept stashed away.

A few of the photo albums are dedicated to pictures of me as a kid - I'm an only child so I was the subject most of the time. I used to look at the pictures in the albums a lot. It was great to relive the vacations with aunts and uncles, the holidays with cousins, the summer days with neighbors and friends. I especially like looking at pictures when I was a baby - most of which included my grandmother.

One of the most memorable pictures I had was with my grandmother giving me a bath.

My grandmother and I have always been very close. I can't put into words how much she was a part of my life since I was young. Caregiver, baby sitter, role model, teacher, therapist, confidant, accomplice, companion, nurse, best friend, chauffeur, daycare-pickuper, booboo-kisser, overall-everything. We used to spend a lot of time together. She took care of me.

About 10 years ago she moved back to the West Indies for health reasons. Her arthritis, food allergies, back problems made living in Toronto's cold winters too difficult. When her job with a bank became redundant and early retirement was offered, her physician suggested that was the perfect time to make the move. Most years, she comes up to Toronto for the summer and returns to the West Indies before it gets too cold. Sometimes she avoids the hassle and doesn't come.

My grandmother bought a ticket back to Toronto in time for BABY's birth. She wanted to be here. I wanted her here. There was no else that I wanted to share this summer with more than her. She was at the hospital when I had BABY - at times walking the halls with me, rubbing my back to relieve my contractions, holding my hand when I needed it. At 2:00 am she was holding my little girl in her arms. I cried. My daughter is her 10th Great Grandchild.

This summer we spent a lot of time together. When I brought BABY home from the hospital, my grandmother was looking over my shoulder as I gave her first bath. Just like the picture that I remember looking at in my mother's albums.

Her flight left on Friday. I brought BABY to say goodbye. My grandmother kissed her forehead, called her Princess and hugged her. BABY smiled. When my Grandmother comes back next year - God willing - my daughter will a year old. She will be older, different. She will be waddling instead of just reaching.

Over the last few months I have begun my own extra large photo album. It might not be like the 70s version that my mom had. There are no sticky pages or plastic, or metal rings or hard covers. But there are lots of pictures of my grandmother.




~ humps

Worth a Thousand Words

BABY trying out her highchair for the first time. Just before 5 months, was maybe a bit too early. She is clearly giving me a look here that says, "What the hell are you thinking mommy??!!"

Baby's Photo Shoot

When I look at our daughter I wish I could stop time. She will be one month old in a few days and she is already growing too fast! Not only do I admit to watching her sleep – imagining her at 6 months, 1 year, 6 years, 16 – I also take the little spare time when she is asleep to pour over pictures and video. Pictures are the closest thing to stopping time.

Two weeks ago, for Mother’s Day weekend, we had a photographer take Baby’s first professional pictures. She was just over two weeks ago, and it was the best possible way for me to celebrate being a mom. I was also so fortunate to be able to share the experience with my mom and my grandmother. We took the opportunity to have a picture taken with four generations of women – my daughter, myself, her grandmother and her great-grandmother.

Malinda at Studio DPI made the photo shoot experience so relaxed, easy going and comfortable for us. She stayed at our house for over two hours, to capture of a variety of shots. Her experience working with newborns really paid off. She knew when to rest, try something new and when to take a little break for cuddles. (When Baby peed on me I didn’t feel like THAT MUCH of an idiot). It was a pleasure working with someone who was so patient, creative, passionate and talented.

I had a chance to get to know Malinda through our blogs months before Baby came to us. I encourage you to check out her website and blog.

My advice for people looking to take professional pictures of your newborn:
1. Style: Get to know your photographer’s style and personality beforehand by looking at his/her portfolio and talking with one another. A good rapport helps!
2. Experience: Ask if the photographer has worked with newborns before. You will likely have a more positive experience on the day of and more variety in the shots.
3. Comfort: Consider an on location shoot at your home for very young babies. You may feel more comfortable in familiar surroundings. And you also don’t have to lug the little one across town!!
4. Timing: I was very lucky to have a photographer who was very flexible in scheduling the photo shoot. Since you never know when the baby will arrive, we held off on confirming a date and time until she was born.

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the shoot.

A lot happens in a week...

Baby is just the most adorable thing we've ever seen. I'm a bit biased - I know. But you gotta love these!