Thursday, June 11, 2009

Thoughtful Thursday


Today is June 11th. Every 11th of the month I am reminded that Little One is yet another month older. Little One is 7 months chronological age (and 4 months corrected) today. It never ceases to amaze me at how much she's gone through and how much she's grown. Even though we constantly get "Oh! She's so wee!" or "She's a tiny one, isn't she?" or "Is she really that old?" when we're at the bank or grocery store, we know how much she's grown. I constantly have to say, "Yes. She was a preemie. She was born twelve weeks early. She is tiny, but she's doing really well. She is perfectly normal. She's just small..."

*sigh*
Here she is with Moo on her 7 month monthaversary (above). You can see how much she's grown since her 3 month photo (below). We couldn't get photos with Moo for months 1 and 2 because she was in an incubator/isolette in the NICU for the first two months of her life.

Here are her hands, which are very busy these days! She is constantly grabbing at whatever she can get her hands on!
Here are her hands when she was just born. Looking back at her early photos makes me so thankful that I've been blessed with such a strong, healthy, resilient, headstrong baby. To be honest (and I can be honest here, since it's my blog), it bothers me when people compare Little One to other babies who were born at term. Of course she isn't going to be at the same stage as other babies. She isn't going to be as big or as heavy as other babies. Of course not. She was born TWELVE weeks early! That is twelve weeks outside of the womb when she should have still been inside.

Little One is still being nursed. Yes, she is 7 months old and I am still nursing her. I am proud to say that I have been able to give her breast milk since the beginning. I plan to nurse her for as long as I can/as long as she still wants to nurse. Okay, I'm thinking maybe a year?
Hubby gives her a bottle of breast milk with her vitamins. Here she is telling Dad that she doesn't need his help anymore. She's a very determined, strong-willed little girl. The nurses were telling me that this is often a preemie trait!

I received a diaper sample in the mail yesterday. The funny thing is that it reads:
"FWD RESIDUE" on it. I was expecting it to read "RESIDENT". I thought it was funny.

Little One thought it was funny too!

I received this question from Patti the other day:
"What is your chili recipe if you don't mind me asking. I don't have one."

Patti, this one's for you!
C's CHILI
4 c tomato sauce (I make mine homemade, but I suppose canned tomato sauce will work just as well)
1 onion (diced)
garlic (minced and as much as you like)
1 lb ground beef
1 c corn
1 c kidney beans
1 c chickpeas
1 green pepper (diced)
cumin, oregano, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili flakes, a few dashes of hot sauce
My secret ingredient is a dash or two of Watkins cinnamon.
In a large pot, saute onion and garlic in a little bit of olive oil. Add ground beef and let cook. Once the ground beef is cooked, add tomato sauce, corn, kidney beans, chickpeas, green pepper and spices. Let simmer. The longer it cooks, the better the flavour. If the chili gets too thick, you can add a little water if you wish. **Make sure you use cooked chickpeas and cooked kidney beans!!! If not, make sure you soak your peas and beans overnight and then you'll also have to cook the chili for longer so the peas and beans aren't hard.**
Simple. Easy. Yummy.
Serve with a salad and homemade bread or some nachos for dipping.

We had some friends over for supper last night and this is what I served. Usually, I try to make sure my meals only take 30 minutes from start to finish, but this meal took about an hour and a half to get ready since I baked a cake for dessert.
Hot Potato Salad


Broccoli salad


Carrot salad

Baked Salmon. For my recipe, click here.

Strawberry Shortcake
The cake part is the same recipe as my Rhubarb-Red Currant Torte. The topping is just a quick strawberry coulis made with strawberries from last summer, which I froze for winter use.
I've also received several messages (via e-mail, the blog, Twitter, Facebook and phone) asking if I am pregnant again. The answer is...
*chuckle* No. Well, not that I know of! I have been feeling exceptionally moody, exhausted, nauseous, headachy, and dizzy. I've also been craving pizza with pineapple on it and I've been having odd dreams. All of the above were what I experienced when I was pregnant with Little One, but I don't think I'm pregnant. Perhaps I'm just coming down with something. The flu or a summer cold perhaps? :) Thank you all for your concern though! If I am expecting, I will let you know! ;)

20 comments:

♥.Trish.♥ Drumboys said...

Oh C - Little one is just divine .She is getting so big now - love the panda shots.
I love the funny one too.
I am still nursing my boys at 2 yrs :) you are doing a great job supper momma

♥.Trish.♥ Drumboys said...

Ooops I just had another look it's a cow ...not a panda .No I haven't had a wine yet LOL

Unknown said...

Trish:
Thank you :) Oh, you had me laughing with "the panda shots"! You are too sweet! You had me laughing even more with your second comment! ;) Too funny! xoxo

~tinytreegirl~ said...

Little one is small but mighty...an admirable trait if ever there was one! You are both an inspiration and a reminder that it's the ~little~ things in life that matter most.

Unknown said...

Tiny:
Hi! Thank you for stopping by and thank you for your sweet comment :) Do you have a blog too? How did you happen to stumble upon this one (amongst all the blogs out there in the blogosphere)? Please stop by again! :)

Patti said...

THANK YOU!! I will try to chili this weekend. It sounds sooo good! Oh and I love that brocolli salad too! My mom makes it lots in the summer, so I always try to invite myself to her place when I know it's being served! lol.
Again, thank you so much. My hubby will thank you too. : )

hotmommy said...

lil munchkin has come a long way chris. you are doin a super job mama! keep on keepin on. don't be discouraged by competamoms, she will grow and do things on her own schedule. plus she's so advanced for her chronological age and her corrected age!

can you post the recepies for the other dishes you made, esp the shortcake? better yet , can you just come tomy house and make it for me? {{{{{{lol}}}} cuz as if i'd make it myself!!! ;op

Unknown said...

Patti:
You're very welcome :) Let me know how it turns out!

The broccoli salad is delicious! It's so refreshing in the summer! The first time I tried it was at a farm meeting. Not sure if it was an OMAFRA meeting or a Cattleman's meeting! All I know is that it was some sort of annual meeting and the food was amazing! LOL!

Hope to see you around soon.

Word ver= lumpolo
LOL!

Unknown said...

HM:
You are so sweet! Thanks! Oh! "Competamoms"! Ha! I've never heard of that term before! Too funny! Well, it's not so much about competamoms. I haven't really met any competamoms. It's just more like people expecting LO to 'be', 'look', and 'act' like a 7 month should. It really, REALLY is starting to grate on me that they just don't seem to understand that SHE IS A PREEMIE. Of course she's little!!!

If I hear another, "Oh, she'll come around in time" or "She'll catch up", I think I am going to scream! LOL! I KNOW she is going to catch up. She is doing just fine, thank you very much :)

You are right. For her age (corrected and chronological), she's doing great. She's babbling, cooing, rolling, playing, sitting (with help and also in her Bumbo chair), sleeping through the nights,etc.

Like her doctors and neonatologist have said, "you cannot compare a preemie to a term baby". Plus, every baby is different. Anyway, enough of my rant :) LOL! Thanks for listening! XOXO

E said...

Hi C!
I think that picture of me holding LO when she was *really* teeny tiny ('cause she sure ain't now!) and she was holding her head up just proves how "big" she really is! She's leaps and bounds ahead of where anyone expects her to be. Every time I see her she's so much bigger! But then again, she's a baby - it's her job to grow! I gotta visit sometime soon! Maybe you could bring her over to R&J's, too! :)
E. xo

louann said...

Look at her holding her bottle! She is sooo cute!

I also think it is awesome that your are still giving her pure breastmilk. Mind you, it isn't easy but the benefits far more outweigh all other reason not to.

I also plan to give my baby pure breastmilk as long as I can. I am so obsessed about pumping enough milk for him!

Dina said...

love the smiley photo! She is so sweet!

AND I remember your broccoli salad-YUMMMMM!!

Jeanna said...

You are a wonder, all that food, what a great Chili recipe, and that salmon looks great.
The little picture of little one, OMG. She looks so healthy now (making baby noises).
The last thing I made, my dad spent an hour and a half trying to "fix" it in the kitchen.
Grumble.
Hey, I have a joke for you, tell me if you've heard it.
Q. How do you get Canadians out of the pool?
A. Say, "Hey, you Canadians, get out of the pool."

Unknown said...

Esther:
Hey! Youngest Niece and my MIL went to see Pirates last night. They had a blast! MIL liked the storyline for Pinafore better though. Youngest Niece thought Ray Scott was hilarious! It's the facial expressions!!! :)

Yes! See you soon-ish! We'll have to take the baby to R & J's soon. J told me at your b-day cake and ice cream do that she'd like me to bring LO over :)

Word ver= chinspi
Hahaha! Too funny!

Unknown said...

Louann:
Yes, she's quite the character!
I hear ya on the pumping thing. I'm obsessed with pumping enough milk for her too. I don't know why I'm obsessed...I BF her, but want to make sure I have enough in store just in case...

Paranoid. I know.

Unknown said...

Dina:
I MISS YOU!!!!

Unknown said...

Jeanna:
LOL! OMG! You had me laughing my butt off with that silly joke. Where on earth did you hear that one? Too funny!

I actually repeated the joke to Hubby in my best Canadian Bacon voice. He think I'm nuts. Hey, at least I got a good laugh out of LO! She'll laugh at anything her Mama says or does :)

P.S. Salmon recipe = so easy and quick! Garlic, soy sauce, maple syrup, slather and bake for 20 mins. Oh so yummy!

Jeanna said...

I heard it on a great local commercial-free radio station, WORT.
One of the DJs laughed and said, "Yeah, hey Canadians please get out of the pool" and the other DJ said "You don't even have to say please, they just roll with it."
That's why Canadian Bacon was so funny, no?
Salmon recipe here I come.
Thanks.

Sharon - Mom Generations said...

Little One is the most perfect little girl in the whole entire world! She is a fighter and a winner and she has the biggest and most courageous heart. Just like her Mommy! I love her hands. Someday you will be showing her these photos and you will be holding her hands... and she will be holding your hands so close and so loving and so perfect and you'll wonder, "Where did the time go?" I think you are the perfect Mommy the way each moment is so precious to you. You make me so happy to know you all!

Jinxy said...

Happy 7 months Little One, you've come a long way!

I love that picture of her smiling, it is so cute!

Good for her holding her bottle. Lily holds her's too, but it always ends up off to the side after a bit. Its funny watching her try to work it back upright.

I can't believe how tiny her hands and legs were when she was newborn, I know I've seen the picture before. It just blows me away every time.

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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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