Happy Halloween!

This has been a very exciting Halloween for Little Ish, as it is the first time he has Trick-or-Treated.  Liliana got dressed up this year too because I figured Little Ish might be mad if she didn't.

Before Trick-or-Treating officially began, we walked to the leasing office of our apartment complex since they were giving out treats during their regular hours.

Little Ish was a pirate.  You can tell he is just a pretend pirate because he is wearing sandals.

Liliana was Raggedy Ann.  As soon as I put her costume on her, Little Ish knew exactly what she was dressed as.

After dinner, Little Ish went Trick-or-Treating with Big Ish, and Lily changed into her Halloween pajamas and helped me pass out candy to all the kids who stopped by.  Little Ish had a ton of fun.  Lily was not so keen on the trick-or-treaters.  She loved when they arrived at the door, but she would wail when they left (Little Ish did the same thing last year).

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch Adventures

Today, Ish and I brought the kids to a local farm to pick a pumpkin. Both kids enjoyed the outing.  Ish and I hope to make this into a family tradition.

Little Ish picked a wagon.  It was for the pumpkin, but he got a ride out of the deal too.

Looking for a pumpkin. 

Lily trying a more hands on approach to picking a pumpkin.

And we have a pumpkin!

Lily inspects Little Ish's choice.

She approves, and they take the obligatory sweet sibling photo (the outtakes are a little less sweet).

After claiming our pumpkins, the real fun began.  Wagons!

Little Ish spent a long time choosing various wagons and pulling them around.

He also had fun playing at the fence and watching cars arrive at the farm.

He kept poking his head through the fence and saying, "Come into the pumpkin patch!" The farm could hire him as a greeter.

And finally, a sweet moment between Ish and Liliana.

Standing at the Window

Gollum's Favorite Song

___________________________________________
Me: What song would you like to listen to?

Little Ish: We want to listen to Gollum's favorite song.

Me: Okay.  What song do you think is his favorite?

Little Ish: Umm...It's called Dwarfish Parties

___________________________________________

Here is the song he is referring to:

Brown Pants

It isn't any secret that toddlers are very opinionated and often have a very set preference of how they want things to be.  Little Ish is fairly flexible for a two year old.  He does, however, have one rather specific request that if not met tends to cause a lot of whining and fussing.  He only wants to wear "brown pants" (known to the rest of the world as khakis).  This preference has developed in the past month as he has been perfecting his ability to differentiate between and label different colors.  It is still possible to get him to wear his denim overalls (probably because he doesn't think of them as pants), and occasionally I can get him to wear Uncle Scott pants which is what he calls any pants with vertical stripes down the side.  The biggest fussing hoopla occurs when I try to get him to wear gray pants.  The other morning when I went upstairs to pick out his clothes, he called up after me reminding me, "Mommy, no gray pants!"

On Sandals

****************************
Me: Go find your sandals so we can go to Lola's.
Little Ish: Okay!  [Little Ish runs cheerfully to the shoe pile.  Upon arriving he turns and looks up at me with a very serious expression] Pirates don't wear sandals.
****************************

Camp Feed Your Baby

As a mom of 2 little ones who both had their share of eating struggles and triumphs, I have gathered a fairly large and comprehensive collection of baby feeding resources. Here is a shortlist of some of my favorites.

Breastfeeding Resources
Since I breastfed both children for varying periods of time, I have probably spent the majority of my feeding research in this area.  My list could be 3 or 4 times the size of this, but I would rather provide you with the best of the best.  

KellyMom is by far my favorite online breastfeeding resource.  Although I mostly used the website the facebook page is great for asking questions and getting online support from other moms.

My favorite facebook resource for breastfeeding is the The Leaky B@@b.  This community of moms provides great support to eachother and is particularly helpful when you are at your wits end and a 2AM call to your favorite IBCLC is clearly out of the question.

For books I prefer The Nursing Mother's Companion by Kathleen Huggins R.N., M.S.  It literally answers just about any breastfeeding question you might have.  I did, however, also refer a lot to Ina May's Guide to Breastfeeding by Ina May Gaskin.  It has a more personable feel to it and is a better read then most other breastfeeding resources (it may have something to do with Ina May's masters degree in English).

Milksharing
Due to a combination of supply issues and Little Ish refusing to supplement with formula, I stumbled into the world of milksharing.  Milksharing is basically a modern day form of wet-nursing. Moms who have extra breastmilk in their freezer stash  will work with other moms to provide babies in need with breastmilk. I was fortunate to have 3 amazing donors who were able to help me feed Little Ish.  Here are the resources I used to connect to these moms.

Human Milk 4 Human Babies is a grassroots milksharing community that connects moms all over the globes so that all babies can have access to breastmilk.  This community runs exclusively through facebook.  I highly recommend checking out their FAQ page to learn more about their community.

MilkShare is another great milksharing community.  Although they request a donation to help with the upkeep of the community, it is a well worth the cost.  It was through this community that I found Little Ish's main milk donor.

A word about milksharing.  If you decide to feed your baby via shared milk, please remember not to go into it blindly.  Milksharing should be an informed choice.

Formula Feeding
Due to severe milk and soy protein intolerances, Liliana has been formula fed since she was 5 months old.  Unfortunately the number of formula feeding resources out there are very small.  There is, however, one resource that I absolutely love.

Fearless Formula Feeder  is perhaps the only resource for formula feeders on the web that not only provides information about formula feeding but also provides emotional support to moms who struggle with their need to formula feed their child.  This website knocked me off of my high-lactivist-horse when I was still breastfeeding Little Ish and it provided me with the support I needed while transitioning Lily to formula.  I particularly love FFF Friday posts. Like the website? Pre-order her book!

Solid Food
Personally, I hate starting solid foods with babies.  It is messy, and neither of my kids would eat purees.  Regardless of my disdain for this stage in infant feeding, I do have a few resources that I found helpful.

If you have any solid food questions that extends beyond what you can learn from the back of a baby food jar, Wholesome Baby Food is a great onestop resource.  It is especially great for anyone planning to make their own babyfood.

If you've spent anytime in a parenting forum, you've probably come across the term Baby Led Weaning.  Although my children all but forced me to go this route, I actually have not done much research into this area. If you are looking for a broad overview of babyled weaning, I like the explanations here and here.  The book she refers to is Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Foods by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett



Well that brings us to the end of my resource list.  Do you have any resources to share in addition to this list?  

A Trip to Longwood Gardens

Last Thursday, Ish and I took the children on an evening outing to Longwood Gardens.  They currently have an exhibit called Light which involves several light installations by British light artist Bruce Munro.  This was to be the main focus of our trip.  Little Ish, however, much preferred just about everything else Longwood Gardens has to offer.

He particularly enjoyed running away from me at top speed freely through the gardens...

...And drinking from the coolest drinking water fountains I have ever seen.

This was his reaction when we told him it was time to go see the Light exhibit.

And for good measure, here is one of the pictures from our walk through the Forest of Light

Apple Picking

On Saturday morning, we went as a family to go apple picking at our friends' farm (also the farm we get our CSA share from).  Ish's sister and her family were also there.  Here are a few pictures from our morning.

The Simple Things

Here is a conversation between Ish and Little Ish after dinner tonight.
 --------------------------------------
Ish: Ferkel, are you a happy guy?
Little Ish: Yeah!
Ish: What makes you so happy?
Little Ish: Applesauce.
--------------------------------------

Camera Play

After getting home from Mass last Saturday, I followed Little Ish around with my camera as he played outside. I had a lot of fun running after him trying to take photos before he ran away.  Here are a few of my favorites.  And yes, in true Little Ish fashion, he is wearing sandals with corduroys!

Caution: Lily at Play

One of the things I most love about Lily right now is how much joy she gets out of playing.  Her capacity for play has grown exponentially in the past couple of months and it is so fun to watch her as she explores and figures out the world around her. 

Animal Sounds

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Little Ish: [Pointing to a picture of a cow] That's elephant!

Me: Actually buddy, it's a cow.

Little Ish: Cows say oink.

Me: Oh?

Little Ish: [giggles] Piggies say oink!

Me: Right! What do cows say?

Little Ish: PIRATES!

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Look Who's Talking Now.

Liliana has become a bit more proficient of a talker since my post about her saying "Hi, Dada".  Over the past few weeks she has accumulated 10 different words that she can use proficiently.  They are:

• Dada
• Hi
• Momma
• More
• No
• Bottle (Baba)
• Book
• Bean
• Puff (as in the made for new eaters finger food)
• Beep (it sounds more like bup but she says it when she beeps noses)

What amazes me most about her mini language explosion is how well she uses more and no.  She indicates she is hungry by saying "more bottle" and when she doesn't want something she says "no".  The other night she didn't want me to feed her a bottle, and she kept saying "No. Dada."  When Ish came downstairs I handed Lily to him.  She took the bottle from him with out complaint.  It is fairly clear to me that she is using her words to have meaningful communication.

A cute proposal

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Little Ish:Momma?

Me: Yeah, buddy?

Little Ish: Little Ish wants to marry Momma at the bank, Little Ishy.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Babies on the Brain

Lately, Little Ish has been very intrigued by the idea of pregnancy and the concept that pregnant women are carrying babies inside of them. Here are two different conversations I have had with him this week.

______________________

Conversation 1:

Little Ish:Momma?

Me:Yes?

Little Ish:Little Ish wants Mommy put Lily back in her baby belly, Little Ishy*. 

______________________

Conversation 2:

Me: Good morning!

Little Ish:Momma has a baby in her belly.

Me: No, sweetie, I don't.

Little Ish: Oh! Momma has a shirt on her belly.

______________________

* Little Ish uses Little Ishy as an intensifier in the same way someone speaking in the first person might use the pronoun  myself.

Look what I found on my computer today...