When I had been preparing for Emily's first birthday, I didn't really give much thought to the fact that she was turning 1 and becoming a toddler. I assumed the transition would be easy, just like all her other transitions were, and it would be just a matter of just giving her whole milk instead of formula and giving her more solids. But boy was I wrong. Emily turned 1 on a Monday, and she suddenly became a toddler monster.
On Tues after her birthday, we took her to the doctor for her 1 year check up. Our pediatrician advised us to stop giving her formula and switch to just whole milk. So when we came home, instead of giving her usual formula, we gave her cold whole milk. She took 1 sip, and then immediately rejected it. She started crying (with tears!) every time I tried to put it to her mouth. It was so shocking! I guess I had just assumed that Emily would transition fine. She always switched formula brands easily with no problems. She switched from breastmilk to formula easily as well. I had thought this would be no different. But I was so wrong. Even her food eating suddenly flipped. She used to eat solids so well! Never had any issues with the food we gave her. She pretty much loved everything we gave her as long as it wasn't too hard to chew. But all of a sudden, she was spitting everything out. She would either let it dribble out of her mouth or she would pull it out of her mouth. Furthermore, she would be crying hysterically (oh so many tears!) because she was just hating everything I gave her. She basically would only eat the foods she liked - banana and cheese. It was just the strangest thing. Even foods she ate just fine a day ago was now horrific to her. This became super worrisome to me. Here she was - refusing to drink milk, refusing to eat her food. I was freaking out that she was going to become a malnourished little girl who would soon die from withering away from lack of food and liquid. On top of this, I was afraid that I was creating a negative association with food with all the crying. What was I supposed to do? Sy and I argued each meal because we just didn't know what the right thing to do was. Do we force her to eat bc she needs the calories and sustenance? Do we just give her food she likes? Does that mean she'll become spoiled or a picky eater? We read that when kids don't like foods, you have them try it 10x. Did that mean 10x in a row? or 10x sporadically? What the heck were we supposed to do? Sy has always been more of a tough love kind of guy, and I have been more like if it doesn't kill you, why not? So we butted heads like crazy for 2 days as we fretted over Emily's sudden change of temperament.
After a few days of hysterical crying, I decided we just needed to feed her stuff she would like. I made Emily her first grilled cheese sandwich, and it was a huge success! She was all smiles and giggles during lunch, and happily feeding herself pieces and begging for more. We had to freeze the soup I had originally made her and just make a new pot of spaghetti for her. I had to sneak in some pureed squash into pieces of toast so she couldn't taste it.
As for her milk, I started over and gave her straight up formula again. After a day of giving her formula, I felt like I had regained her trust, and then began the weaning process. I gave her 4oz of formula and 1 oz of milk for 1 day. She drank it fine. The next day, I gave her 3 oz of formula and 1 oz of milk. She again did fine. Next day, she went 50/50, then 75/25, and then finally 100% all milk. She was totally fine with the milk transition and now she is fully on whole milk alone. It's pretty crazy to me that we no longer need to make formula bottles for her anymore. It seems like a huge step towards toddlerhood.
Eventually, I DID see Emily sprout a new tooth! So it turned out she was crabby bc of her tooth! She started growing her 5th tooth - a sharp little tooth next to her bottom teeth. Now it made sense why she had been so crazy for days.
The sad thing is that over the weekend, Sy got sick, and soon Emily got sick too. She began being fussy and crabby all over again and her poor sleep began again. Sigh. Dealing with a sick baby is SO hard. I was sad because she got sick RIGHT when I needed to go back to work. I have enough guilt about my in-laws watching Emily so many times a week. And now they had to deal with a sick Emily - who is so difficult to be with. She's extra clingy, extra whiny, not a great sleeper, not a good eater, and just not happy. Luckily, it wasn't a terrible cold - not like the last one. But a cold is still a cold.
I'll post again soon to talk about Emily's fun developments. In the meantime, I just wanted to record this crazy week of Emily turning 1. SMH.
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Happy 1st Birthday! Week 48 + 49 Observations
It's been a busy few weeks, and I just haven't had time to sit down to blog. Emily's dohl party was this past Saturday, so it had been a crazy few weeks as we were doing last minute preparations for her party.
Emily is talking a little now! A few weeks ago, we noticed that Emily's normal babbling seemed to be more logical now. We noticed it when I was making her bottle, which I call mama. And when I said, I'm making mama, she would say mama back. And sometimes when I was just standing in the bottle-making area, she would just say mama herself proactively. And that's when we realized that she was learning words! So in addition to learning words, she's also learned how to mimic our words a little better. I'm so proud of her! Here's what she can say: umma, abba, mama, nana, dada, kkakka, and duck. It's pretty fun to test her. I love when she does it all in a row.
Emily has learned how to gesture now. She does this little hand twirl that means pretty much 2 things. It can mean "bring this to me" or "take me there." It's pretty funny because we've essentially become her servants now. We're constantly obeying her every request. But it's nice to see that she's learning new things.
Emily is finally starting to like books now. Her favorite book is "Mama's Pajamas" that has different textured cloths on each page. She likes to touch each page. It's really sweet to see how she has memorized where the textured piece is on each page. But sadly, her attention span is still really small - so we only can get through maybe 2-3 pages before she moves on.
Emily has also started to like lying down on our couch. It's the cutest thing to see. While we're doing bottle time, she'll take a break, crawl around on the sofa, and then just lie down and smile or giggle so hard. She'll lie down and then roll over to lie down in another spot. It's so, so cute to see her roll around and just be so happy. We got a new sofa, and I think she must really like this sofa a lot. Haha!
Emily has begun to hate oatmeal/pureed foods. Feeding Emily has become a HUGE pain. She spits out food, she pulls it out of her mouth, she sometimes legit spits by going pfffff. It's been SUCH an annoying time. I dread feeding her now. So on top of her lack of milk, it's so hard to get the oatmeal down. It's become clear that she has foods that she likes, and for those, she eats it fine. She loves all fruit, gogoma, and cheese. Anything that's too tough to eat, she will spit out. We gave her bad combination of quinoa and chicken breast. It was a disaster. The chicken was too dry and she spit it out. Quinoa was too chewy and she spit it out. What a frustrating time!
Last week, Emily seemed to be going through something. She was waking up a little more at night, and she was very, very irritable. We wonder if she is teething or going through a growth spurt. She has suddenly outgrown her clothes, so we know she's getting taller. But maybe it's also teeth? She still only has 4 teeth, so there's definitely more to come.
2 weeks ago, it was my birthday. It was my first birthday as a mother, and man, it made me realize how much life changes when you're a mom. In years past, I loved my birthday so much. The more outings I had with friends, the better. I wanted to eat good food, have lots of desserts, get lots of presents. This year, I barely went out for my birthday. I went to 1 dinner with friends, and 1 night out with Sy. I even barely got any gifts. But the crazy thing was - there was nothing I really wanted. When Sy would ask me what I wanted for my birthday, I couldn't think of anything. I just didn't care. My birthday is basically any old day now when you have a baby. And because Emily's birthday is so close to mine, I basically was just too busy working on her party to think of anything else. All I wanted was a picture of me and Emily blowing out a candle. And that's what I got! And that was all I needed. Sy and I did get to go out though, which was nice. We went to Peter Luger's steakhouse - my first time. It was delicious and really nice to get out without Emily.
Emily's Dohl Party was this past Saturday, and man, it has been a crazy time preparing for it. I basically was doing something for her dohl every day for the past month. Whether it was going to a different store each day to buy something else, or ordering something online for her party. I pinterest-researched for weeks, designed all the tables, and worked so hard to stay on low budget. I wanted everything to look beautiful without spending a fortune. It was a lot of hard work, but everything turned out great! Emily's dohl table ended up looking beautiful, and all the guests enjoyed the food and venue. The best part though was Emily's doljabi event. She did SUCH a great job! I think because she had been held in people's arms for several hours, it was such a joy for her to finally be put down on the ground to crawl. And then to see a whole bunch of toys in front of her, she was not shy at all to go towards the doljabi items. Emily eagerly crawled to the toys, selected the pen - and victoriously thrust it in the air! Everyone cheered and laughed at how great she was! And then for her second item, she happily selected the money and thrust it in the air with triumph again! Everyone cheered again and she was so fine! She didn't cry from all the attention, she didn't freeze up. She was just her usual self, and it was so wonderful to see her so adorable. I was so proud of my little girl. She's just the best.
Overall, planning and executing Emily's party was quite a lot of work. I wonder how I'll ever do this again if we have a 2nd child. It was manageable to do because I was unemployed and able to go out nearly everyday to buy something. How on earth would I do this with a 2nd child and a job? Who knows? I guess I'll have to cross that bridge when I get there.
In the meantime, I can't believe I have a 1 year old. We did it! We made it to Emily's first birthday! It went by so fast. I can still very vividly remember my contractions, and going to the hospital. I can still vividly remember Emily as a few weeks old and rocking her around the house. How did an entire year go by? The saying is right - the days are long, but the years are short. I can't believe Emily is no longer a baby - but a toddler! She's been such a joy to our lives. I can't imagine life without her. And yes, there are hard days, but we still miss her every night after we put her to bed. She's the best thing that's ever happened to us and I thank God every day for her.
Emily is talking a little now! A few weeks ago, we noticed that Emily's normal babbling seemed to be more logical now. We noticed it when I was making her bottle, which I call mama. And when I said, I'm making mama, she would say mama back. And sometimes when I was just standing in the bottle-making area, she would just say mama herself proactively. And that's when we realized that she was learning words! So in addition to learning words, she's also learned how to mimic our words a little better. I'm so proud of her! Here's what she can say: umma, abba, mama, nana, dada, kkakka, and duck. It's pretty fun to test her. I love when she does it all in a row.
Emily has learned how to gesture now. She does this little hand twirl that means pretty much 2 things. It can mean "bring this to me" or "take me there." It's pretty funny because we've essentially become her servants now. We're constantly obeying her every request. But it's nice to see that she's learning new things.
Emily is finally starting to like books now. Her favorite book is "Mama's Pajamas" that has different textured cloths on each page. She likes to touch each page. It's really sweet to see how she has memorized where the textured piece is on each page. But sadly, her attention span is still really small - so we only can get through maybe 2-3 pages before she moves on.
Emily has also started to like lying down on our couch. It's the cutest thing to see. While we're doing bottle time, she'll take a break, crawl around on the sofa, and then just lie down and smile or giggle so hard. She'll lie down and then roll over to lie down in another spot. It's so, so cute to see her roll around and just be so happy. We got a new sofa, and I think she must really like this sofa a lot. Haha!
Emily has begun to hate oatmeal/pureed foods. Feeding Emily has become a HUGE pain. She spits out food, she pulls it out of her mouth, she sometimes legit spits by going pfffff. It's been SUCH an annoying time. I dread feeding her now. So on top of her lack of milk, it's so hard to get the oatmeal down. It's become clear that she has foods that she likes, and for those, she eats it fine. She loves all fruit, gogoma, and cheese. Anything that's too tough to eat, she will spit out. We gave her bad combination of quinoa and chicken breast. It was a disaster. The chicken was too dry and she spit it out. Quinoa was too chewy and she spit it out. What a frustrating time!
Last week, Emily seemed to be going through something. She was waking up a little more at night, and she was very, very irritable. We wonder if she is teething or going through a growth spurt. She has suddenly outgrown her clothes, so we know she's getting taller. But maybe it's also teeth? She still only has 4 teeth, so there's definitely more to come.
2 weeks ago, it was my birthday. It was my first birthday as a mother, and man, it made me realize how much life changes when you're a mom. In years past, I loved my birthday so much. The more outings I had with friends, the better. I wanted to eat good food, have lots of desserts, get lots of presents. This year, I barely went out for my birthday. I went to 1 dinner with friends, and 1 night out with Sy. I even barely got any gifts. But the crazy thing was - there was nothing I really wanted. When Sy would ask me what I wanted for my birthday, I couldn't think of anything. I just didn't care. My birthday is basically any old day now when you have a baby. And because Emily's birthday is so close to mine, I basically was just too busy working on her party to think of anything else. All I wanted was a picture of me and Emily blowing out a candle. And that's what I got! And that was all I needed. Sy and I did get to go out though, which was nice. We went to Peter Luger's steakhouse - my first time. It was delicious and really nice to get out without Emily.
Emily's Dohl Party was this past Saturday, and man, it has been a crazy time preparing for it. I basically was doing something for her dohl every day for the past month. Whether it was going to a different store each day to buy something else, or ordering something online for her party. I pinterest-researched for weeks, designed all the tables, and worked so hard to stay on low budget. I wanted everything to look beautiful without spending a fortune. It was a lot of hard work, but everything turned out great! Emily's dohl table ended up looking beautiful, and all the guests enjoyed the food and venue. The best part though was Emily's doljabi event. She did SUCH a great job! I think because she had been held in people's arms for several hours, it was such a joy for her to finally be put down on the ground to crawl. And then to see a whole bunch of toys in front of her, she was not shy at all to go towards the doljabi items. Emily eagerly crawled to the toys, selected the pen - and victoriously thrust it in the air! Everyone cheered and laughed at how great she was! And then for her second item, she happily selected the money and thrust it in the air with triumph again! Everyone cheered again and she was so fine! She didn't cry from all the attention, she didn't freeze up. She was just her usual self, and it was so wonderful to see her so adorable. I was so proud of my little girl. She's just the best.
Overall, planning and executing Emily's party was quite a lot of work. I wonder how I'll ever do this again if we have a 2nd child. It was manageable to do because I was unemployed and able to go out nearly everyday to buy something. How on earth would I do this with a 2nd child and a job? Who knows? I guess I'll have to cross that bridge when I get there.
In the meantime, I can't believe I have a 1 year old. We did it! We made it to Emily's first birthday! It went by so fast. I can still very vividly remember my contractions, and going to the hospital. I can still vividly remember Emily as a few weeks old and rocking her around the house. How did an entire year go by? The saying is right - the days are long, but the years are short. I can't believe Emily is no longer a baby - but a toddler! She's been such a joy to our lives. I can't imagine life without her. And yes, there are hard days, but we still miss her every night after we put her to bed. She's the best thing that's ever happened to us and I thank God every day for her.
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