chop chop

This is one thing that makes me wanna put him back inside my belly!!!
Inside where I  knew he was safe.  In his bubble protected by me, warm , fed, comforted. Now he's in pain. He wakes up crying  in the middle of the night and is gnawing on all sorts of things in the day.
My little one is teething!!!!!!!!

What a horrible feeling to hear him cry like he does, you feel the pain, and teething is one of those pains we live with all of our lives. Who likes a tooth ache... ??? Thank God we don't remember the actually time our gums become thinner, rawer and well getting ready for the first tooth to cut through. OUCH!
All i can do is comfort, I feel helpless, there has got to be something other than the homeopathic viles he's been getting drunk on.( I actually thought to myself, what can I make with all these empty viles, besides recycling them, a empty vile gingerbread house, a bike, maybe a nice necklace) OK back to the point... I researched , went into all the books I have and everyone has a theory....homeopathic, herbal, medical.... here they are and well what I'm choosing to do:
I've chosen to give him 30 ch of camomillia ( a homeopathic teething remedy) often. At least 3 times a day
Also I read  rubbing rescue remedy  directly on the gums relieves and is very calming at the same time  (rescue remedy is a tincture from the Bach flowers)
There is a great recipe for a teething tea, which can be given to both mom and baby to help relax and ease the pain of teething. here it is:
1/2 ounce dried chamomile flowers
1/2 ounce dried lemon balm
1/2 ounce dried catnip leaves
1/2 ounce dried lavender flowers
1 cup of boiling water
combine all herbs
take one tablespoon of the mixture and let steep in water for 15 mins, for a very irritable baby leave steep for 30 mins. It can be taken safely in large amounts... give it to baby with a dropper or in a bottle or by spoon...
i just discovered this tonight so I haven't tried it yet but you bet I'll be heading to my local heath food store tomorrow to pick these herbs up !!!! You can also by these herbs in tinctures (liquid form) and give 5 drops of each mixed together 3 or 4 times a day. ( I think this is a much easier way)
Medically I will give him Tempra only if all else fails and nothing else works.

Hopefully this will  help, so that tomorrow I rock him to sleep once and I won't have to continuously comfort him as he wales in pain, and my heart breaks!!!

teeth and love everyone,
L&L

ninna nanna

"ninna nanna ninna o

 questo bimbo a chi lo do se lo do a la befana se lo tiene una settimana 

 se lo do al uomo nero se lo tiene un anno intero

 ninna nanna ninna o" 

This Italian nursery rhyme  has been sung and passed on from centuries ago, actually they say it originated in the 1950's and yet still today we sing the very tune that was sung to us years back. Except this nursery rhyme was written in the mist of a war, during a really  hard and sad time in southern Italy.   Translated word for word, this lullaby would not make Freddy Kruger sleep it's so unsettling! (If i give you to the fairy she'll keep you for a week and if i give you to the dark man he'll keep you for a year) what????

Thankfully we don't listen to the words, it's mommies voice that puts us to sleep,  and yet I wonder if subconsciously it's an explanation for Lewis waking up crying some nights!

 Sleepy time  became another obstacle - I don't know when it happened but we did and still do rock our son to sleep-

shhh don't tell the critics.... every one has a theory on this too... as soon as the baby falls asleep put him down. Except most of the time I fall asleep with him from pure exhaustion ( breastfeeding every 2 hours!!!) Some say, put him in his crib and let him fall asleep on his own,  and I tried this; it worked for awhile when Lewis was about a month old. He would fall asleep on his own, I would put him down and before I knew it he was out. It didn't last very long, because I vaguely remember that time. Before I knew it, he was fussy and not wanting to sleep.  Exhaustion was written all over his tiny face, and yet he fought it with all his might.... so the rocking started, I enjoyed it too, really. It never took really long, a few sways and poof he was out, no harm in that right? Well the rocking became a ritual and some nights I didn't feel like rocking and well, it was too late. Feel it or not you're rocking or you ain't sleeping get it? So rock rock rock till that doesn't help anymore, now it's tap rock shake... tap, rock, shake, rock, tap shake, tap shake rock...... I'm getting nauseous.  

Then we leave for a one week holiday and there is no rocking chair so I improvise with the stroller and once inside, I used the bed; I would bounce up and down, it worked -OUT!

People on the resort thought I was nuts !!! I found this cobblestone road which helped Lewis fall asleep,  but boy you gotta stroll fast ! They must have called us crazy!!! I thought I was until one morning I run into a family with a toddler,  the mom was watching me hurry along the path to help Lewis fall asleep , as we all get closer together, she smiles at me, that mother smile, and says "it'll pass" . Words of comfort and reassurance, words that I needed to hear. I wasn't the only one giving my child shaken child syndrome!!!! IT'LL PASS, (Oh thank you blonde lady in Punta Cana). She made me feel normal and  most of all gave me hope. 

So whatever the books say, great, and if you can follow it and it works, great! But if you have to improvise and get creative don't you worry this too will pass. And one day you'll wonder if you remember how it feels to rock your kid..... I definitely won't forget!!!

Buona Notte

L&L

Mmmm buono?

"mmm buono lewis??" I ask as I slide the spoon filled with avocado into his tiny mouth. 

Once you think you've mastered the teething dilemma it becomes time to "ween".  To finally introduce some sort of texture and flavor to the liquid diet .  


Oh yes it's feeding time  everyone!!!!


When to start? How to start? What foods to start with? Boiled or steamed? Oh you can bake really? What age is best for what foods? Cereal or no cereal?  Veggies? Fruit? Meat? What comes first?  


I knew Lewis was ready.   We had just come back from a vacation down south
(my sis got married in the Dominican republic)   I noticed he wasn't satisfied when he drank.  Then it happened- he bit me, yes you read me right, he BIT my nipple!  Hard enough that my first impulse was to smack him,  NO I DIDN'T!!! WOW it hurt! I sternly said NO Lewis,  and put my throbbing boob away.  He got the message.  He was frustrated ...  so i looked into it, and asked his pediatrician, it could be my milk production was low,  i  was told to get these  two natural products to help:
-blessed thistle, a tincture you add to water 1-3 times a day 
-fenugreek- an herb in pill form which you also take 1-3 a day
Before I knew it,  I had the milk flow I had when Lewis was a month old!!!! I hadn't felt that feeling of fullness for awhile now, this stuff really works!!! 


Yet he still looked at us so intensely when we ate, to the point where i felt uncomfortable (like the kid who sits across  the lunch table with the thin,  almost empty dry sandwich. Watching me eat my moms amazing fritata sandwich,  loaded with mayo and lettuce.  The kind where you open the wax paper, and it bounces up at you it's so thick!)  
What can i say,  we're Italian,  food is everything!
You see since Lewis was a tiny tot, I've been making him smell foods, anything I'd be cooking, I'd bring over to him to smell.   With everything I put beneath his tiny nose,  he would take a deep breath, as if he were actually taking it all in. Future chef-Perhaps.  I sit him down on his high chair at my counter where i do all my chopping and preparing and he loves to watch and touch.   So really  it was only a matter of time for him to want to start eating !!  One morning I just did it . I took out the brown rice cereal I had bought (healthy times organic cereal)   added my milk making it really liquidy and fed it to him..... HE LIKED IT!!! And so it begins Lewis is eating solids!!!! I went through all the books I  had on the topic and again all mixed messages.... no fruit , only fruit, cereal only , veggies first, add milk,  add water.  So i asked the  pediatrician, and then asked my friend what her pediatrician said? And well all were different.  What to do?
Who knew really? 
So i took everything I had heard and read and asked and decided on the things I  felt to be ok. I decided no fruit right now, lots of veggies and always for 3 days in a row ( in case of allergies)  so if it's zucchini ,organic of course, steam  (they say it's much more nutritious)
skin and all and then puree it,  add some of the water from the pot. 
(the exception to this rule is carrots, never add the water from steamed or boiled carrots) 
I always add a little of my milk so there if some sort of familiar taste for him,  I can't wait to see what his favorites foods are... hopefully  very many!!!


Things are going so fast, it seems like we want each step to move along, especially the  colic and teething steps but the introduction to foods makes you want to freeze time, each and every moment.   I will enjoy every bite along side him, As he begins to discover a big part of life.  What unites people in almost every country,  for almost every occasion;  food!


Buon appetito!!!
L&L