Children are great sources for laughter. The simple things they do bring so much joy. Teaching Jane to eat solids at four months old was a fun adventure that brought on different expressions and behaviors. The most memorable was when we fed her peas, which is now her favorite dish.
Product Review – Why Disney’s Finding Nemo Jumper Was Our #1 Choice
Disney’s Finding Nemo Jumper
When Jane was capable of keeping her head up on her own, we were eager to find toys that would further her development, such as a good jumper. At four months, Jane was spending her days on her tummy, rolling here and there and playing with some toys of different shapes, colors and noises. We wanted a toy that would get her on her feet so we decided that it was time to search for a jumper. Since we are huge Disney followers, we wanted a jumper with Disney characters. The only jumper to our liking had a Finding Nemo theme. Since we planned to have more kids in the future with the possibility of having a boy, we needed to make sure the jumper was gender neutral so we spent the extra money and bought the Disney’s Finding Nemo Jumper. If you haven’t seen Finding Nemo, take the time to do so with your child. It’s an adorable movie about a little fish that gets lost on his way to school and meets other creatures of the sea during his journey back home.
Easy to Assemble and Clean
The Finding Nemo Jumper was Jane’s Easter gift. I washed the pieces before Adam put it together, which he said was easier that he expected. The pieces were easy to wash too. All are plastic and didn’t show any signs of water damage after being submerged. Of course, there are some pieces that are battery operated so I wiped those down with a warm soapy cloth before installing. The seat is machine washable on warm. I add it to my daughters sock and towel load and hang it to air dry.
Introducing The Finding Nemo Jumper
We put Jane in the Finding Nemo Jumper when she was four months old. She was still very young for it, but it introduced her to a new way to play and discover shapes, colors and sounds. Her first few sessions in the Finding Nemo Jumper was uneventful. She sat in the chair with her hands clenched to her chest; too timid to try to reach for anything. We would encourage her to touch the toys, but nothing. After a week, she started to reach for the toys; only moving them slightly. By close to six months, she was jumping and interacting with the toys around her.
What My Daughter Likes About the Finding Nemo Jumper
Jane is 13 months old now and she still plays in her jumper. Even when she isn’t in the Finding Nemo Jumper, she walks over to it to play with the attachments. She loves spinning the little Nemo fish tank, which lights up and plays an under the sea bubble sound. She also like chewing on the yellow starfish that can either remain attached or be detached from the Finding Nemo Jumper. Jane likes to throw things so we keep it attached. Jane enjoys reaching for the jellyfish and small fish that hang from the stingray above her. Those can also be detached. She plays with the shark often because it rattles loudly. She likes to pull on the shark while she jumps around. I think it’s more about making the loud noises for her. On occasion, she will play with the turtle that when pressed will play a song or make various sounds. The squares light up in various colors.
Problems with the Finding Nemo Jumper
Let me start by saying that I love the jumper and I can see that Jane does too. However, there are always some things to improve on, right? My greatest complaint is the restricted movement of the seat. Jane is a very strong baby, but she often will stay in one position because the seat doesn’t turn without a lot of force. My other complaint is that it is a challenge to move around the house. It’s not a toy that can be picked up quickly and placed in the kitchen. It’s slightly heavier than most jumpers and poor handling will lead to broken parts.
Conclusion
I have recommended the Finding Nemo Jumper to others and I will continue to do so. It was a great addition to Jane’s toy collection. She has spent much time in the jumper. It must be comfortable because she has fallen asleep in it on occasion. It is a very strong and sturdy jumper and I think it will maintain its great condition with the children we plan to have in the future. We purchased our Finding Nemo Jumper from Amazon; however, it seems that they do not carry that item at this time. You can purchase the same jumper for the same price on Targets website. Click to view the Finding Nemo Jumper.
The Challenges With Feeding Solids And Transitioning To The Sippy Cup
Introducing Solids
When my daughter, Jane, turned four months old, Adam and I were beyond excited when her pediatrician recommended that we start feeding solids. We started small with oatmeal followed by sweet potatoes, which she absolutely hated. Over time we were able to find solids that she enjoyed and solids that she enjoyed most of the time. She hates carrots when I make them for her, but she seems to love carrots when grandma makes them. I need to figure out her secret. Many first experiences with feeding solids were camera worthy, such as the time we fed her peas and she refused to eat it with a spoon. No, she preferred to lick it off her bib (see video). Feeding her solids were not the only challenge we faced. How many parents found the transition from bottle to sippy cup painful?
For The Love Of Puffs
By seven months, we started feeding her puffs. Puffs are perfect for infants who are ready to feed themselves and practice some light chewing. The puffs dissolve in the mouth quickly and come in many flavors that are commonly favored by infants. Jane loves the blueberry flavor puffs. At first, I broke the puffs in half before giving them to her one at a time. She had some trouble with coordination as it took some time for her to effectively pick up a puff and bring it from tray to mouth. After some time, she got the hang of it and can now eat full puffs when I place them on her tray. Actually, she enjoys them so much you would think we were placing a large bowl of ice cream in front of her.
Introducing The Sippy Cup
By eight months, we introduced the sippy cup. She absolutely hated the thing! Instead of drinking her milk or water from the sippy cup, she filled her mouth with the liquid and spit it out. It created a mess and Jane didn’t benefit in any nutritional way. Instead, she got some entertainment and giggles in from playing with her food. I tried verbal discipline, such as saying “Jane, no” in a stern voice, taking the sippy cup away for a few minutes before trying again and showing her the correct way to drink from the sippy cup by imitating the motions, but my efforts didn’t get us anywhere for some time.
By 12 months, we started noticing a change in her eating habits. She developed an independence when eating; always wanting to feed herself. she also started accepting the sippy cup with water during meals. Determined to remove the bottle from Jane’s daily routine, we only fed her a bottle in the evening during her bedtime routine. We are still battling the occasional gulp and spit game that she loves so much, but when she is thirsty, she drinks like a pro.
Feeding A One Year Old
Now that Jane is one, her pediatrician along with several parenting books I have read explain that Jane should be feeding herself by hand and with a spoon. While she mastered feeding herself by hand at seven month, she thinks the spoon is still a toy that makes loud noises when pounding on the high chair tray or fun to throw across the dining room. Often, she refuses to allow us to feed her by spoon because she is determined to feed herself by hand. Not a bad trait to have at times. She is also expected to eat her food from a plate. So we purchased some children’s plates with suction at the base. They work great and she thinks it’s fun to eat off something so colorful.
I still run into the challenge of trusting the process. As a new mom, each stage is a new adventure for me as well as Jane so I am always concerned with the following:
- Fear of Choking – Even though I have gone through many CPR and first aid classes, I fear that she will choke on the food I give her. I know what to do, but I second guess the effectiveness of my efforts if such an event were to happen. To prevent choking, I’ve cut all her food into small bites and made sure that each serving is soft and can easily be chewed. She still chokes on some bites, leaving me a little concerned, but she recovers quickly with a smile to reassure me that she is okay.
- Messy Mealtimes – Mealtimes are very messy. Last night was pasta night so we prepared the noodles to be extra mushy and added some delicious meat sauce. Jane gobbled it up. With every handful of food, half made it in her mouth while the other half either collected on her bib or dropped to the tray, lap or floor where our dog, Bella, was quick to clean (gobble) it up. I know it’s inevitable to have a messy experience with each meal and it’s something I need to get used to even though the clean freak in me is screaming.
- Allergies to Foods – Is she going to have an allergic reaction to the foods we feed her? You never know. As far as we know, our daughter is only allergic to milk, which she has outgrown. Finding out that she had a milk allergy was a nightmare! She was vomiting often and she seemed to have a runny nose that wouldn’t quit. Her pediatrician urged us to try a different formula and give it time to work its way into her system to see if it would make a difference. We started feeding her Nutramigen and she has been doing very well since. It’s a very scary thing to watch your child work his/her way through an illness and have limited tools to make him/her better. All I could do was give Jane endless amounts of love and comfort and follow the doctor’s recommendations.
Quick Food Prep For Your Infant On A Budget
Until recently, my husband and I prepared meals for Jane well in advance; that is because we are now trying to feed her what we eat each day. When we prepared the meals in advance, we selected foods that provided her a well balanced diet. It was a little challenging because Jane favors fruit over vegetables, like most children I know. In preparing the food, we made sure that the fruit, vegetable, chicken, etc. were soft and easy to chew. Between the age of six months to eleven months, we would prepare and puree her food in advance. Since we keep busy schedules, we would fill ice cube trays with the pureed food and freeze them. Once frozen, we would place them in labeled ziplock baggies to consume later. It was a lifesaver on busy days.
Preparing her meals in advance were very easy. Jane’s favorite freezable meals were squash, zucchini, strawberries, applesauce and cantaloupe. I often froze pureed ground turkey and mixed it with her zucchini or squash. To add some grain to her fruit dishes, I’ll added oatmeal (with grain). She liked that very much. Now that Jane’s eating a wider variety of solids, she is eating the same meals that Adam and I eat chopped into baby bite size. In the mornings, Jane enjoys eggs with whole grain toast or half a banana with cereal (whole grain cheerios) and she usually eats a wide variety of meals for lunch and dinner. She has come to love spaghetti night and will gobble up chicken and potatoes. We give her a sippy cup with milk with each meal and water in between meals or with her snacks.
What To Look Forward To
Close are the days that Jane will say “thank you mommy” when I place her meal in front of her. Close are the days that I won’t have to cut her food into small bite sizes. Someday my husband and I won’t have to take a wet cloth to our baby girl and scrub the floor under her high chair after each meal. We’ve started taking her out for ice cream after a trip to the doctor’s which she enjoys very much. Slowly, feeding Jane has gotten to be less scary, more work and eventful.
Thank you!
As always, I want to thank you for reading my blog. Please share and leave a comment. I’d love to learn more about how you have transitioned your child into eating different foods and drinking from different cups.
Election Chaos – Letters to my Daughter
Dear Jane,
The country is divided after the 2016 Election results. Republicans vs. Democrats. Blame, hate and cruelty is being passed around on every media outlet. I’m sorry that you have to grow up in a world where hate dominates our neighbors, friends and family.
You are too young to understand what I am talking about. At this point in your life, you are focused on how to get your new toy to make that cool noise again, figuring out how to walk or crawl to the flashy thing across the house, wondering what foods mommy will ask you to try next or gaining excitement when you see that daddy is home from work; wondering what funny face he will make today. Thank goodness you don’t understand everything now. My hope is that by the time you are old enough to understand the dark cloud that has taken over our country, it will be only a history lesson that we have all learned from. Hopefully that lesson will be to love each other no matter what beliefs we follow.
2016 Election – Trump vs. Clinton
This election was chaotic from the start. With a country filled with geniuses, heroes, and level headed, moral individuals, we had the choice between a billionaire businessman who is accused of being a racist, hothead and cheat or a women whom is a career politician accused of being a criminal with an FBI investigation on her belt. Both candidates have heavy baggage, baggage that is too heavy and extensive to get into in this simple letter. This is the best our country can do? Really!
Last week, our country chose what we felt was the lesser of two evils. Since we are a country of various minds, beliefs and motivations, it was a close race with Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote and Donald Trump winning the electoral votes. So, Trump won.
The Election Turned Us Dark
The moment the results were released, our country changed. Riots, protests, vandalism and hate spread across the streets, social media and our television sets. Hateful words were spoken without care whom it hurt. So much so that I feel threatened to share my own beliefs or even discuss the election. I’m not the only one, many continue to stay silent (desperately trying to dodge an argument) while others freely speak their mind without thought of how their words will impact friends, family, co-workers, neighbors… It’s sad really.
While some say it’s scary that Trump is our next president, many have come to be more scared of each other. What we are doing to each other is scary. How quickly we can turn and call our friends, family and neighbors idiots, uneducated, criminals, racist, womanizers, etc.. This was supposed to be our opportunity to join together and be a strong force with the mission to overcome and make sure that America is the greatest country. One man or woman will not determine that. Making America great is our mission and it can only be achieved by working together, respecting each other and loving our country no matter what. Trump alone is not America, we are America. All of us. Black, white, Latino, Asian, gays, straight, all religions, etc.; together, we are America.
My Hope For You
I’m so sorry you have to live in a world with so much hate. My hope for you is that you learn from this and adopt a character of composure, love, respect, trust and moral standing. Never tell someone that they are idiots, uneducated or too hillbilly to make a good choice. That is not how your father and I have raised you and will continue to raise you. Be the change in yourself by exhibiting love and kindness. If, in the future, you do not agree with another’s decision, wish them the best and pray that things will work out. You will have your beliefs, but never lash out in hate. Please!
Jane, even though you are only one year old, you are part of the change. Your smile reminds people that there is good in this world, your laugh establishing happiness and your endless baby babble brings hope and innocence. As you grow, you will change and your actions will too. Those actions will impact everyone around you. People will remember what you say and do, so make sure it’s an act of love, not hate. Inspire, rather than degrade and respect everyone even if you do not believe as they do.
Hopefully Trump will surprise us. I hope the American people can set aside their differences and learn to work together. Remember, Trump alone can’t do that, it’s up to us! Up to you, my dear!
Love you so much!
Mommy
We Have Big News!
“Every decision you make impacts your life in a grand way.”
When our daughter, Jane, was born, our lives changed in ways that only parents can understand. Not only did our lives change, but we changed. Everything we do has Jane’s best interest in mind. Above all, we grew in more ways than one.
After Jane was born, my husband and I questioned if we wanted another child on the nights she refused to sleep or would cry and cry and cry… However, we couldn’t imagine our lives without her. The joy she brings into our lives is worth all the stress and exhaustion. When she smiles, giggles, learns a new skill, or has a conversation with us in her adorable babble, our hearts are happy and full. When she makes others smile or laugh, we are proud. When she locks eyes with us in the morning and holds her arms up in excitement for our attention, we feel so much joy. So much love.
You see, having a child is one of the most exhausting jobs. Actually, it is the hardest job. However, it is the best job and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Our decision to start our family brought us so much beauty. We tossed around the idea of having another now that Jane is 11 months old. We wanted our children to be close in age and now that I am 32 years old, popping out four kids before 38 is looking to be unlikely. Darn our personal goals! We worried that trying for another baby so soon would be unhealthy so I made an appointment with my OB. She asked me a ton of questions and check me up and down and said that I am more than ready for baby #2. She gave me her blessing and said she expected to see me back real soon.
Within two weeks of that appointment, I started noticing small things, cramping in the lower part of my stomach, I started feeling very dizzy, very hungry and tired. I took a few pregnancy tests while my husband was at work – all displayed two bright pink lines. I went to Jane and told her first. “Jane, you’re going to be a big sister!” Jane looked at me and smiled. She, of course, had no idea what I was saying. She only responded to the huge smile on my own face.
Right away, Jane and I went to work to make daddy a card to share the good news. Jane scribbled on the card designs that came natural to her while I made sure she didn’t put the marker in her mouth. When Adam got home, it took him a few moments to notice the card on the table. He was too occupied with saying hello to Jane and I while our dog, Bella, jumped around for his attention too. Adam read the card and said, “No way! No way!” He kissed me and went to Jane to tell her that she is going to have a little brother soon. While he loves his baby girl to pieces, he wants a son so badly.
So, with that news, we have even more to look forward to. I’ll be able to share the ups and downs of pregnancy, the transition from one child to two and the challenges of parenting not one, but two littles under two. Adam and I are so excited!
Sure, we are a little nervous about having another child. Many questions run through our mind, but we have joined the club of believing that it’s never a good time to have children. There will always be challenges, things we wish we would have done before children and the desire to sleep through the night as we did before Jane, but we do what parents do best, we adjust and overcome.
If you have any suggestions for parents of two under the age of two, please share. As always, thank you so much for stopping by and reading my blog. Please share with your friends and family and please leave a comment. I enjoy hearing from my readers.
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