Baby's Skin: The Largest & Precious Organ

A baby’s skin is far more sensitive compared to an adult’s. It’s smoother, softer, and new. Baby's skin requires more protection to keep it clean and moisturized.

I first noticed this when Raychel was less than 1 month. I noticed how sensitive to skin creams, soaps and more perceptible to eczema she was compared to other babies I knew in my circle of family and friends.

So I immediately wanted to some advice from my doctor and a natural path associate to see what products/ointments to use on a daily basis and also to help alleviate any discomforts associated to sensitive skin. Of course, alongside a prescription face cream from our family doctor, we use Johnson’s Baby products and I’m happy to know that this product is still a recommended and popular choice.

Their products are clearly timeless because our family for generations has been loyal avid users.

I currently use on Raychel the pink classic lotion and their Bedtime lotion with Lavender. They both smell amazing on her. Sometimes I’ll buy an extra bottle or two just for myself b/c it’s lightweight on the skin and smells refreshing.
If you need to buy a simple unisex baby shower gift, I strongly suggest their gift set below:

JOHNSON'S® BEDTIME® SWEET SLEEP™ Gift Set
 All the essentials for your baby's nightly routine

• This baby gift set includes everything you need to help your baby get a good night's sleep. The products in this set are formulated with NATURALCALM™ essences, a unique blend of patent pending essences that has been tested and proven to have relaxing properties. When used as part of a nightly routine of bath, massage and quiet time, these products help your baby fall asleep easier and sleep through the night better.

JOHNSON'S® BEDTIME SWEET SLEEP SET™ contains:
• JOHNSON'S® BEDTIME® BATH 9 oz
• JOHNSON'S® BEDTIME® LOTION 9 oz
• JOHNSON'S® Baby Shampoo with Natural Lavender 15 oz
• Soft Baby Wash Cloth
• And a special bonus to enhance your baby's nightly routine (usually a book or a soft toy)

Children's birthday parties

Celebrating birthdays is a fun yet expensive occasion. So you can only imagine how much time, money and effort it takes for a child’s party. Ever since I’ve become a mother, I’ve attended more children’s birthday parties with Raychel than I did before I had my own child. It’s almost like a cult – the Mommy cult. As soon as you’re labeled as a parent, you’re immediately attending birthday parties with clowns, balloons, overly sweet tasting cake and children running around uncontrollably. Because I’m thrown into this foreign world, you learn as you go along the children’s party etiquette – the do’s and don’ts for surviving the party.

One thing I’m a huge advocate for is making sure that your child has a nap or had a good night sleep before the day of the party. Last thing you need is a cranky, exhausted child to deal with especially in front of guests. If the party is scheduled during Raychel’s normal naptime, I come prepared with her stroller, bottle of milk and extra blankets so that she’s ready to transition into nap time once we leave or in case the party is a whole day event, need to escape into a quiet area.

Raychel will be 1 years old in a few weeks – my party for her is going to be simple and intimate. It will consist of take-out dinner with family and an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen at home. She loves ice cream so I think that will be a great treat for her since she’s not going to remember anything else that day. This way, I don’t have to worry about my party etiquette and I can save some money too.

I’ve come across lots of websites and magazine articles about children’s birthday party etiquette and I find them very helpful. If I get time, I like reviewing them before we attend or plan a party so that I feel like I’m “somewhat prepared” in this situation.

http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/partytips.htm

http://www.kids-birthday-party-guide.com/kids-birthday-party-etiquette.html

http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/kids/82581/etiquette-for-kids-birthday-parties-kids-birthday-party-guide-2010

Raychel and her baby food

"While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about."
~Angela Schwindt

Raychel likes to eat anything, especially homemade baby food. I can't blame her b/c the homemade stuff tastes pretty good and I always end up making larger portions so that I can enjoy it too. For example, one of her favourite meals is avocado and egg yoke. I use 1 whole avocado and 2 egg yokes. Mix it all together until it's very smooth and then serve. However, before I serve it to her, I put half the portion into a bowl for myself and I'll enjoy my meal after she's finished.

She also enjoys my sweet potato and parsnip mash. I cook 1 large whole sweet potato and 2 parsnips into a pot together for 1h15 minutes. Then I mash them together very well until it's smooth like regular mashed potatoes. I eat this myself and I love it too.

For our Thanksgiving dinner, I made her mashed sweet potatoes and regular potatoes with a little bit of turkey. She loved it. I did notice that the mash was rather thick so we added a bit of baby formula to thin it out.

I still serve her baby food from the jars - she loves all the Heinz ones. I'm fortunate that she does b/c I have tons of coupons for their food. Every time the grocery stores has Heinz food and juices on sale, I immediately make my pilgrimage to the store holding my coupons proudly. Silly as it sounds, I'm happy to make the journey there b/c I know that I'm feeding my child with food she likes and at the same time I'm saving money too.

Raychel also likes her cookies - what kid doesn't? She likes brands such as Baby Mum Mum, Arrowroot, and Heinz. Gerber makes these toddler snacks called Lil Crunchies and she goes crazy for them! I will serve her 3-4 and they don't last for very long. My favourite flavour is Veggie Dip but I'm sure Raychel would rather me not still her snacks.

Raychel's developmental milestones

Raychel has been growing up so quickly - it's amazing on how much developmental progress she's made. Like her gross motor skills for example: holding up all 20lbs of herself while she's standing up with support from chairs and sofas. Or her fine motor skills like taking her favourite rattle and shaking it loudly and also feeding herself by picking up her Gerber star shaped puffs and putting them into her mouth. She def likes looking at herself in the mirror and touching her reflection. And so much more, it's hard to remember them all. From all these behaviours, it doesn't seem like she's behind in her growing development. I'm happy for this b-c I know it's a challenge for both parents and child when behaviour development is progressing slowly. I recognize every child is different so it's important not to panic if she can't do all the things that's required/expected of a 10 month old.

One thing she likes to do is drink from my water bottle. I let try it once after I drank my bottled water in front of her and she seemed quite curious about my action. So I let her take a sip and to my surprise she drank it - no mess! It's like she already knew what to do. I know drinking from plastic water bottles aren't good for the environment and other cons to drinking from a bottled water but I was proud that my daughter could do it all on her own. Whenever she wants a drink, I support the bottle for her and she will put her hands around it too like she's actually drinking it on her own.

What a smart kid!

Transitioning into the bigger car seat...

"In bringing up children, spend on them half as much money and twice as much time." ~Author Unknown

Raychel is 20lbs and 27 inches! Our current car seat is a max of 22 lbs and we are waiting until she hits the max weight & height before installing the "big girl seat". I know we could technically do it now b/c she could use the other one since it starts at 5 lbs (guess we're trying to get the most bang for our buck) but it's doesn't go with our current travel set (yay Graco!).

Prior to having Raychel, I didn't know anything about car seat safety. Growing up, I took the bus or subway often and my memory of using a car seat during my early schooldays is blank. I don't recall if there were a lot of restrictions about car seats - or may be my family didn't see it as an issue (not trying to say they're unfit parents, who really knows why)?. So when I was doing my baby registry, we decided on two different sized car seats simply b-c we noticed a pattern that a lot of travel stroller sets didn't have car seats passed 22lbs so we would need another one for when she is bigger.

So where are we now? Preparing ourselves for the next car seat phase.

While I was pregnant, we learned in our pre-natal classes about the importance of having a car seat made in Canada since it's against the law to have any other car seat installed in your car b/c of our safety standards and laws. This fact was good to know b/c I have family in New Jersey and they could have easily bought us a car seat as a shower gift and we would sadly have to decline their thoughtful gesture. The instructor even said that we should have our car seat installed by a pro at either a police station or car seat clinic a few weeks before the due date to help us be prepared for the baby's arrival and departure from the hospital. Ray just told me that he paid $40 to have it installed at a clinic and we needed to book an appointment (no walk-ins at this location).

So where am I going with this blog entry? Well, I don't need to reiterate the importance of car seat safety and ensuring that your car seat is properly installed. I know (and hope) that it's engrained in your mind just like your own seat belt safety. Raychel is my precious cargo and we have been very fortunate to have a good properly installed rear-facing car seat all this time. Switching to a bigger seat b/c she has outgrown the max height and weight requires an acknowledgement that she's growing up (yikes) and that we have to take the same precautions to install the next one as we did before she was born.

Welcome to the Choking Phase

"Babies are curious little people. Cats are curious too. Curiosity killed the cat - but I don't want this fate for babies" - By Rian T Johnson (me)

At my last visit with Dr.Wong, he warned me of Raychel potentially choking on small items that she will find anywhere and put into her mouth. Even before he warned me of this, I already knew she liked to put anything she would find on the living room floor into her mouth. She would crawl so quickly to a camouflaged piece of dirt, plastic, coin or whatever else the vacuum didn't pick up and would sit still for more than a few seconds quietly looking around for me while sucking on the item (because she's trying to figure out how long this will last until I snatch it from her mouth). How do I prevent this from happening? Well, it means we're constantly tidying up which isn't a bad thing, but it means even more supervision while she's playing which at times, can be challenging especially if you need to go to the washroom. I hate to admit that I've developed a habit of leaving the washroom door open widely so I can take a peek every 15-30 secs on her while I'm washing my hands or brushing my teeth.

This morning, I came across an article in my September issue of Today's Parent with advice/tips on how to cope with babies and choking. I was surprised to see that according to Safe Kids Canada, roughly 291 Canadian kids under 14 are hospitalized and 39 die from choking and suffocation-related injuries! Even more shocking, almost 80% of these recorded incidents occurred to children under 5 years old. I really don't want Raychel to be a statistic so I'm going to do my best and take on some of the precautionary actions the article says.

• Supervise eating time
• Hold off on high-risk foods (hot dogs sliced into small "discs" and whole/half grapes and small candy)
• Reiterate these rules to Dad and other caregivers/babysitters
• Put away hazardous items
• Inspect play area
• Revise my choking first aid skills

Raychel's teeth

As promised, enclosed is a picture of her new teeth. Poor thing :)