This past week Sonja turned 5 months old! I don't know where the time has gone. All I know is last year at this time I was trying to wrap my head around the fact that there was a new person growing in my tummy AND we hadn't told our friends or most of our family yet. Now, here we are with our amazing daughter!
So, I thought this week I'd reflect and recap all the common parent concepts/questions/subjects.
On Parenting: we are practicing attachment parenting, sort of. I set Sonja down when I need to do something awkward or "dangerous" - like cooking by a hot stove. Or when I'm cleaning the bathroom. Or when I go to the bathroom, usually.
On Breastfeeding: Sonja is still exclusively breastfed. She has only had a sip of water, when she yoinked a cup out of her Aunt Emily's hands. And the other night I was juicing some grapefruits and had the juice all over my hands when she shoved my fingers into her mouth. She shot her tongue out and drooled all over the place, so I doubt any of that juice actually made its way into her tummy.
On Bottles: We do still use a bottle (full of human milk obviously) for when I'm at work (for an hour a day) or when I go to yoga.
On Pacifiers: I use my boob as a pacifier. She has never had a silicone/rubber pacifier. She only comfort suckles at night right before falling asleep and then I remove my nipple and we all go to sleep wonderfully.
On Co-Sleeping (bed sharing, sleep sharing or family bed): Sonja still sleeps in bed with us. In the middle of the bed. I want to cry when I think about little babies all alone in their room, they have to scream to get their parents to hear them, to know if they're hungry. BUT if you're afraid of rolling over on them I understand, that's why we used a close secure sleeper, basically like bumper pads so we were trained to not roll on her. Now, we are used to her and neither of us move much in our sleep.
On Cloth Diapering: We are still using the Gdiapers. But I'm no longer sure if these are the BEST. They are perfect for us because we're also using E.C. (see below) and she doesn't really poop in them. But, for parents who are still changing poopy diapers 1. I'm sorry. 2. Gdiapers don't always contain the whole mess as nicely as I might expect.
I just throw the diapers in with our wash, the breastmilk poops wash right out, we'll see how it goes once we introduce food.
Speaking of Food: We plan on doing the child lead weaning process of letting Sonja decide when she wants less milk and more real food. We don't plan on pureeing her food, even though I could with my uber fancy food processor. The point is that she will grab food and if we think it's appropriate we will let her eat it, un-cooked and mushed, just right off our plates. She won't be able to swallow the large object so there is no risk of choking. She will be allowed to explore the food with her mouth and develop the reflexes for eating. We are going to wait until after 6 months to let her decide, because before 6 months, babies digestive systems are "open" meaning anything besides breastmilk can enter the blood stream through the intestines triggering allergic reactions. After 6 months it's a closed system, so we can introduce things as we like. We will NOT be serving Sonja Honey, peanuts or strawberries (or probably any fruits) until after 1 year, for various allergy and preference reasons.
On Potty Training also known as Elimination Communication (E.C.): Sonja goes to the bathroom the majority of the time on her becoPotty or on the normal toilet. Sometimes she still pees in her diaper and rarely poops in her diaper. I'd say about 70% of her pees are on the toilet and about 90% of her poops are on the toilet. we started EC at about 2 months when I first heard about it. I make a "SSSSSSS" sound when I hold her over the toilet after naps and feedings and she pees. I also do it randomly throughout the day, when I feel like she needs to go. We also used to do the grunting to signal poop but we don't have to anymore usually she just goes.
On sign language: Right now we sign "Potty" and "Milk" eventually we will introduce more vocab but, seriously, this is all she does right now!
On Toys: We have a few wooden toys and a few stuffed toys, both types are made from natural wood or fibers and are untreated. She has wooden rattles, stuffed sighfoos and books. That's it. I doubt we'll ever buy her much else, definitely no action figures or Barbies!
On Teething: None yet! although she has been drooling, coughing, fussing and grabbing her ears. All signs of the inevitable. I was a late teether (10 months) so who knows when we'll actually see the little whites.
I think those are the most common issues with being a parent, if I forgot to mention something, remind me in the comments!
Happy Momma Monday!
