Tag Archives: parent

Happy First Birthday, Emmett!

Posted on July 25 by Jillian416 • 0 Comments

I think if I were a one year old, I would have been really happy with how Emmett spent his first birthday.

When my niece celebrated her first birthday back in May, my sister had commented how she wished she had taken the day off just to spend it with her. I made a mental note of this comment. I know me and I know how much it means to me to be with the ones I love on their special days, so I took off July 23rd, as did Seamus. We made no real concrete plans, we didn’t want to, we wanted to go with the flow of the day and in the end it was simply perfect.

Emmett woke up at his normal weekend time, around 6 am and we spent a little time cuddling in bed (our normal weekend routine, described here). After awhile, Seamus was still tired and I wanted to go get breakfast, so Emmett and I headed out to get bagels at Bagel Jay’s an awesome local bagel restaurant, while Seamus tried to nap longer. Emmett and I ate there, I wanted to just be alone with my baby boy before our day really got going. He was wonderful, just smiley and loving, I was so happy.

We got home and while daddy ate his breakfast, I got Emmett dressed in his birthday shirt. It had his name, a train and a 1 on it. It was a hand-me-down but it was perfect for his special day. Don’t worry, we’ll be getting him his own for his birthday party in August.

Not that a one year old can make their own decisions, but I wanted Emmett to dictate how the day went to the best of his abilities, meaning that he’d nap when he wanted to and we’d go out for lunch when he woke up, we’d play with the toys he chose, read if he decided he wanted to be curled up in our laps, I didn’t care. I wanted the day to be about him (and our memories of his birth).

We played and he practiced walking all morning long. By the time nap time had rolled around he’d been so active that he was pooped, he nursed and fell fast a sleep for a nice long nap. He woke up with a squeal (of delight) on the monitor. I went in to find him sitting up in the corner of his crib, playing with his pacifier and blanket, just smiling away. I know that he’s only one and likely had no idea that it was his birthday, but he sure acted like it was a special day, maybe it was just being home with Seamus and I.

Before we headed out for lunch, Seamus gave Emmett his first present from us (he’ll get more at his party in August), a set of Duplo Legos. Oh my goodness, this child is in love with them! We spent so much time just opening the package and examining every block. We’d then stack them up and Emmett would knock them down, it was a blast.

At lunch, we had a happy, silly boy. I got a ton of great pictures, as you can see below. He always seems to really enjoy himself when we go out, I think it’s because he has new scenery to look at. We don’t give Emmett a lot of sweets, typically the sweetest thing he eats is fruit but we let him splurge, since it was his birthday. He had his very first Cone Head sundae at Friendly’s and he loved it SO much!

Seamus and I decided that for as long as Emmett will tolerate it, we will take him to Friendly’s for his birthday. I think it might be the first tradition we’ll be making as a family, you have NO idea how excited this makes me. Along with my love of reminiscing, comes my love of traditions, I’m sure you can understand why.

The rest of the evening was spent playing with his new Legos and going outside for a bit.

See! Doesn’t it sound like THE perfect first birthday?

Question of the day:

How did you spend your children’s first birthdays?

Filed Under: Daily Updates, Emmett's Birthday, Family

Emmett’s Baby Led Weaning

Posted on April 5 by Jillian416 • 3 Comments

Around four months of age the topic of solids was broached at Emmett’s doctor’s appointment but we let his pediatrician know that we had no plans of introducing solids until he was 6 months old. We wanted his stomach to be as developed and ready for solid foods as possible. Plus I knew that he could sleep through the night without a “midnight snack” so solids seemed unnecessary for that reason. I will admit that he didn’t always sleep through the night but I knew that he was physically able to.

I have previously mentioned and did a book review of, Baby Led Weaning, you can see my review here. When I came across this method of introducing solids, it seemed like the best decision for us but I still had to convince Seamus that it was the right thing to do for our baby. I’ll be honest, I was concerned it would be tough to convince him but with my solid level of knowledge and armed with answers to all of his questions, it was pretty easy to sway him.

There’s nothing magical that happens on the exact date that a baby turns 6 months but we wanted to wait until that specific date. Well, unfortunately it had to be postponed for a couple extra nights because our power went out on his 6 month birthday and then again the next day. I was disappointed but also it just prolonged the excitement of giving my baby his first solids.

The book talks about what foods are best to start with and the one they recommend most frequently is broccoli, so we went with that. I was really curious on how Emmett would react to his first taste of food, he’s been breastfed since birth so he’s not used to the exact same flavored drink like formula fed babies are, so I wasn’t nervous but I couldn’t wait to see his facial expressions.

Seamus cut the head of broccoli into long stalks and we roasted it plain for about 10 minutes. Once it cooled, we placed a couple stalks in front of him; he almost instantly picked one up and put it to his mouth. He sucked on the florets and his face was instantly covered in the little buds, it was adorable but there wasn’t a single funny expression. He didn’t cringe or look grossed out, he just ate. I was shocked! I truly expected him to have even a slightly negative reaction but there was none. At that moment, I knew I had chosen the correct path for Emmett.

We continued to have success with each of the new foods we introduced to him. He didn’t turn anything away until we gave him plain chicken breast. I’m not sure whether it was bland or he just didn’t like it but he just would have nothing to do with it that night. The next time we gave him chicken we seasoned it and he was fine with it. Who knows, maybe he just wasn’t in the mood for chicken; I know I’m not always in the mood for chicken. 🙂

There were a couple of times where I almost called it quits with BLW because the gagging and choking was making me nervous. Seamus, being a wonderful and supportive husband, encouraged me to skim the book again to look for any tips on how to handle gagging and whether it was normal. Being the nervous first time mom I was, I had read AND HIGHLIGHTED the section all about how gagging was normal, but had forgotten I’d done this. After rereading and see that it was completely normal and even expected, I was right back on the BLW bandwagon. That has pretty much been my only time faltering.

We did hit a few roadblocks with Emmett eating this way while at day care, but we overcame them with the help of our center’s director. This was the first time they had ever heard of a baby being fed this way and because they needed to remain compliant with many different standards they were leery of how things would go. Seamus and I met with the director to explain the process and the reasoning behind Emmett eating this way and after a couple of weeks things were up and running smoothly. They ensured us that someone would sit and watch Emmett while he. As he’s become more and more proficient with food, they’ve begun feeding him while watching other babies at the same time. Not all day care centers may be willing to work with you if you choose this method, but I encourage you to at least check with them and fully educate them before completely writing the idea off. I promise you, that feeding a baby this way is as easy as feeding them pureed food with a spoon and sometimes even easier.

This method may not be right for everyone but it has been nothing but successful for us. Emmett eats pretty much everything and we rarely have to make a separate meal for him, so it saves time in meal prep. Plus, Seamus and I are able to eat our food when it’s hot since Emmett is feeding himself and we don’t need to take extra time to feed him separately. The benefits of a baby eating this way are pretty much endless and I absolutely would recommend this to any parent who will be introducing solids to their baby soon.

To date, Emmett has tried and enjoyed (in no particular order), broccoli, sweet potatoes, corn bread, bananas, rolled oats (prepared), plums, red potatoes, chicken, mini-meatloaf, mini-quesadillas, mini-hamburgers, sweet peppers, apples, avocado, spaghetti, yogurt, mum mums, pierogi, pickles, ham, sausage, eggs, bread, cheese, pizza crust (with a tiny amount of sauce and cheese left on it), asparagus, tomato, peaches, strawberries, carrots, cucumbers, pears, cabbage, corned beef, pork tenderloin, grilled cheese sandwiches and applesauce (which he surprising did not like at all). There very well may be more but this is all that I can recall at this moment.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me!! Go ahead and use the ‘Contact Me’ button at the top of the page.

Filed Under: Family, Food & Recipes