August 31, 2011 (4:20 pm)
by Kristen Suzanne
I’m always asked about what I feed Kamea other than powerful, nutrient rich breastmilk. So, let’s take a peek at what she has awaiting her today.
I like to give her choices and I found myself putting a few different things in a bowl, where they would ultimately end up getting mixed together. Not a big deal, but I wanted to keep them separate so she could see them better. I went on the hunt for the perfect feeding tray and I found it! I found a couple of things actually (and I’ll blog about the others in the future), but this is the one we’re using at home the most. It’s a BPA-free plastic tray with lid, shaped like a pineapple with tiny compartments perfect for filling with little baby bits of food.
Today she’s gobbling up the following organic vegan and raw snacks…
- soaked goji berries
- black beans (not raw)
- diced prunes
- raisins
- pine nuts
- diced mango with complete protein hemp seeds
- orange bell pepper
She’s one happy baby!
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June 30, 2011 (9:21 pm)
by Kristen Suzanne
Over the weekend we celebrated Kamea’s first birthday. WOW! What an experience that was. It was a day filled with emotion as I thought back on the day of her birth. I knew it would be a special day, but honestly, I didn’t know how awesomely special! It was really cool… my baby is now ONE! 
In preparation for her birthday, I was asked, mostly by family, “Will you be having a birthday cake?”
My response, “Why would I give her a sugar filled cake?”
Kamea has been primarily consuming breastmilk for the past year, exclusively breastfed for the first 8 months. Since then it’s primarily breastmilk along with some pure and healthy whole foods, many of which are raw, introduced slowly to taste and play with. It’s only now, around 12 months, that she actually takes a few bites of things. We’re more or less following Baby Led Weaning so I make things available. Sometimes she’s interested and sometimes she’s not. There is one thing she seems especially fond of… my delicious nutrient filled smoothies. Read More »
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May 16, 2011 (4:10 pm)
by Kristen Suzanne
Kamea is 10 1/2 months old, and while she isn’t eating many solids (what can I say? She loves her mama’s breastmilk!), there is one recipe of which she actually eats a few spoonfuls. For the most part, she nibbles on an apple slice once in a while, she does the same with cucumber. But, most days, she’s still just tasting and experimenting with solids. Some gets on her face, some gets on her clothes, and a lot gets on the floor. But, once in a while… a little makes its way into her mouth. She also sprouted a few new teeth over the past week!
I’m glad she likes her Cinnamon Apricot Prunes because it’s loaded with iron and nutrients (mama and daddy love it, too! The cinnamon combined with the sweet apricots and prunes is yummers!).
Cinnamon Apricot Prunes
4 prunes
2 dried apricots*
Water to soak
pinch of ground cinnamon
Put the prunes and dried apricots in a bowl and add enough water to reach the top of them. Let them soak like this for an hour or so… you want them plump. Transfer the prunes, apricots, and soak water to a blender (I’m loving my Tribest Travel Blender for making Kamea’s purees lickety-split!). Add the cinnamon and blend to a puree. She doesn’t eat the entire thing in one sitting. What she doesn’t eat I store in the refrigerator if I don’t eat it myself. 
* My favorite place for dried apricots is Blue Mountain Organics. OMG! It’s like eating candy they’re so deliciously sweet!
Question! I’ve read that sippy cups are a bad idea because they can cause speech development problems and to use a sippy straw cup instead. Thoughts?
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April 18, 2011 (12:52 pm)
by Kristen Suzanne
When staying at my mom’s house, we’re lucky that her neighbor across the street allows us unrestricted access to their salt water swimming pool. My experience with Kamea since she was born is that she is fascinated with water whether it’s coming out of a faucet, garden hose, sitting in a dog bowl, or if she’s taking a bath. As you can imagine, I’ve been dying to see how she is in a pool. The verdict? I think the picture speaks volumes. She’s totally Hollywood and chillin’ like life couldn’t be better. In fact, she is teething right now and yesterday was a rough day (in spite of the amber necklace I blogged about here, although I hate to think of how it would be without it?). I took her to the pool and all was better! Yay! Looks like a lot of pool time in our future.
In anticipation of Kamea’s first time in a pool, we bought her a baby swim diaper, baby raft, and Nana bought her some groovy shades.
The raft I chose has nice reviews on Amazon, comes with a sun shade, and should last us a long time. It’s a little big for her still, so we put a couple of swim noodles under it. I don’t think it’s entirely necessary, but it looks more comfortable for her. And, she does look comfy wouldn’t you say?!
Kamea’s baby swim diaper we bought at Giggle (we have a store near us, but here is a link to their online store). I like that it’s free of PVC and super absorbent gels and that no other diaper is necessary. Apparently there are some states that require the use of approved swim diapers in public pools. Arizona requires the use of them. However, I doubt we’ll be in any public pools in the near future because I’m not crazy about chlorine pools. So far we’re opting to just have her wear the diaper instead of a full swimsuit. It seems easier to take on and off than a full swimsuit, and also seems like it would be really comfortable for her this way.
The shades are so stinkin’ adorable. My mom’s favorite print is animal print so naturally that is what she bought for Kamea. Cute! She bought them at a health food store, but they’re also available on Amazon (although my mom paid less than what Amazon is charging right now). According to Frubi’s website, “Not only do the Ultraguard® lenses on Frubi Shades block 100% of UVA and UVB, they also block all of the harmful blue light. Research shows that blue light may contribute to macular degeneration (the leading cause of blindness in elder Americans).” That’s extra important for us in Arizona where the sun shines almost daily. More info on their website here.
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March 14, 2011 (2:21 pm)
by Kristen Suzanne
I’m very excited and proud that I exclusively breastfed Kamea for so long. Over 8 months. But, the time has come and it feels right (last time I wrote about timing and introducing solids here). My little baby isn’t so little anymore. She cut her first tooth at 8 months, she started crawling at the same time. She’s big time! I’m a tad sad… lol… but excited, too. Geez, if I’m this way because she’s tasting solids, how will I be when she goes to college?
Kamea tinkering... aren't her feet so cute?!
Kamea is a little over 8 1/2 months now. For the past week or so, I’ve been introducing tastes to her. For example, when I’m eating an organic apple or pear, I let her lick it after each of my bites. She really likes that! I made a green juice with mostly cucumber, some celery, and a bit of swiss chard… I gave her a little tiny spoonful of it. Some made it into her mouth and some went on her shirt. Oh yeah… put a bib on me, mom! But, I wouldn’t consider those examples to be eating solids. After all, her poop didn’t change.
Then, I tried to officially introduce her to smashed organic banana with breastmilk. We decided to use our new high chair (I scored a great deal on it at MamaBargains.com) – more on that below. We used her little wooden bowl and spoon. We took the camera out. I thought this would be a big day! Read More »
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March 6, 2011 (9:43 pm)
by Kristen Suzanne
At six months, Kamea’s rate of weight gain decreased a little, to just under 50th percentile. Her two doctors (a naturopath and an allopath) had different reactions. Her naturopath wasn’t concerned. In fact, it didn’t even really come up. He just mentioned that as she became more active we might see a drop in weight gain. Her allopath, however, thought it was worth keeping an eye on. He said that babies/kids eventually find their natural steady spot on the percentile chart based on things like genetics, but that a consistent decrease in percentile over time could indicate a problem. Ok, nothing to be concerned about… right? (I’m a mom. Moms worry. That’s part of the job.) Then, he admitted that he was not using (in fact, does not even possess) the growth chart for breastfed babies, and I did a little private eye roll in my mind. Modern pediatricians push breastfeeding pretty hard, which is great… you’d think they’d download a more relevant chart off those Interwebs. A chart which, incidentally, I was able to find in 2.3 seconds on Google when I got home.
He told us to introduce solids and come back in 6 weeks for another visit just to weigh her.
Even though I felt deep down that she was fine… breastmilk is the best option for her, she’s great at nursing, her naturopath (Kamea’s “official” doctor) wasn’t concerned, and many breastfed babies go through exactly what she was going through (a drop in her weight gain growth)… I couldn’t help but… wonder. I made the appointment for the weigh in and we left the office. Read More »
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February 28, 2011 (7:08 pm)
by Kristen Suzanne
Kamea turned 8 months at the end of February and she is just now cutting her first tooth (looks like her second is close to coming in, too). For the past couple of months, I’ve been putting a baltic amber teething necklace on Kamea in an attempt to help her through any discomfort she might have from teething. I remember when I first heard of these necklaces, and decided I wanted to look into buying one… I thought they were for chewing on. No – lol! It’s a necklace that is worn. The warmth from the baby’s skin causes the necklace to release small amounts of a healing oil, which are then absorbed into the baby’s skin, helping with inflammation and teething. Baltic amber teething necklaces have high concentrations of sussinic acid in them and they’ve been used for hundreds of years (more details here). They can be worn by babies between ages 3 months to 2 years. Other reputed benefits are that they are soothing and calming for fussy babies, accelerate healing from the teething process, and have immune boosting properties. Makes me want to get one for myself!
Kamea wears her baltic amber teething necklace all day and she looks super stylin’. But, when she sleeps at night, I take it off for safety purposes. I sometimes let her wear it during her naps, but that’s because I’m usually next to her while she sleeps to keep a close eye on her.
Does it work? All I can say so far, now that I know she is officially teething, is that it seems to be working! Kamea hasn’t really fussed or acted as if she were experiencing pain or discomfort from teething. She has pretty much breezed through this first tooth. Now, does that mean it’s the necklace? I don’t know. Could be. Kind of cool if it is, eh? (I bought Kamea’s necklace through Amazon here.)
Does your baby wear a Baltic Amber Teething Necklace? What do you think of it?
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February 22, 2011 (5:35 am)
by Kristen Suzanne
Over the weekend we had friends visit from out of town. On Saturday evening we met up with them at a local restaurant, Calistro Bistro (only a couple miles from home) so we didn’t have to venture out far, or for long. But, when Sunday rolled around, we knew we would need to do more than just meet up a few miles away. They did travel to visit us after all! Lol. So, we packed up Kamea and the car full of everything we thought we might need for a day away from home. I packed all kinds of stuff… just in case. And, boy, I’m glad I did because it made it easier on us to have options throughout the day. We had our Beco Baby Carrier, Orbit stroller, Orbit stroller seat (not the car seat that attaches. We opted to bring the more comfortable stroller seat and leave the car seat in the car), diaper bag with the normal stuff (diapers, wipes, toys, blanket, hat, changing pad, etc), the normal nursing pillow I use at home, booster chair for restaurant, snacks for us, extra blanket… I think that’s it. Read More »
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January 10, 2011 (6:57 pm)
by Kristen Suzanne
Sorry for my lack of posts the past couple of weeks. Between Kamea, taking care of household duties, and maintaining my Kristen’s Raw blog… time sure does fly, eh? Kamea turned 6 months of age at the end of December 2010 – yowza! It’s so exciting to watch her grow and see her little personality coming out. It’s been a non-stop blast with her.
Traditionally, this is the time that many parents are excited to try giving their baby solids to eat. But, we haven’t followed that tradition. She’s about 6.5 months now and I don’t feel the need to introduce solids yet. I’ve read a number of sources that state a mom can breastfeed her baby exclusively for up to a year. While that is not my goal or intention, I do feel a strong pull in the direction to go beyond the conventional 6-month mark of exclusive breastfeeding.
There are a few markers that many parents look for before introducing solids:
1) Teeth – Kamea doesn’t have any teeth yet. However, some babies don’t start teething until close to a year old. This doesn’t mean you don’t introduce solids before that, but some people use it as one indicator (of a few) as to the readiness of baby to have solids.
2) Sitting up unassisted and having solid head control – Kamea started sitting unassisted just before she turned 6 months. She’s had solid head control for awhile.
3) Interest in foods – Many babies show their eagerness towards solids by reaching for mama’s food. Kamea hasn’t really done this. She definitely eyes us when we’re eating, but she doesn’t grab for it specifically. She pretty much grabs for everything within reach, so her reach for my smoothie cup doesn’t tell me she’s trying to reach for it to drink it.
4) Hunger – If a baby seems hungry beyond the normal feedings of breastmilk then it could be a sign of readiness for solids.
Most importantly though, I’m simply following my own mama intuition. Read More »
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November 5, 2010 (7:24 pm)
by Kristen Suzanne
Just before Kamea’s 4-month birthday, we took her for a wellness visit with her Naturopathic Doctor (read about it here). Until now, she has been seeing an NMD (naturopathic medical doctor) exclusively. We’ve been extremely happy with him and look forward to having him be Kamea’s primary doctor. In fact, in addition to being a pediatrician, he’s a family doctor so he’s my doctor, too. Whenever I have questions or issues with my own health, this doctor knows I’m breastfeeding and is familiar with my family so it makes treating me more convenient and, in my opinion, a bit safer. For instance, he’s more likely to take into consideration my breastfeeding Kamea when he’s treating me with medicine or herbs, if the need should arise.
However, Kamea also sees an allopathic doctor (i.e., a “regular” doctor). She had her first visit with him last week. We used the “4-month well checkup visit” as our first experience with him, officially establishing her as his patient in the event that we need him in the future.
Why two doctors? Read More »
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October 31, 2010 (7:31 pm)
by Kristen Suzanne
Even though our Halloween didn’t involve trick-or-treating this year, it was still filled with fun. Greg carved a great jack-o-lantern (he does every year) and we can’t wait until the day Kamea carves her own! Aren’t kids soooo fun!?
And… here is Kamea’s first Halloween costume. She is a Chipotle Veggie Burrito! tee hee! We swaddled her in an organic blanket first and you can see the rest. Foil. Organic lettuce. I actually thought she’d hate it because she’s not big on the swaddle thing, but she was a real trooper in her costume as Greg took photos. For those of you who are not familiar with Chipotle, they are a nationwide chain restaurant that makes awesome burritos, vegan if desired. They use some organic ingredients, too.
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October 26, 2010 (5:09 pm)
by Kristen Suzanne
Now that Kamea is four months old, we’re really finding our groove. This mama job is a breeze.
For the past month, we’ve been sleeping better. Kamea co-sleeps with us and it’s been such a joy. Most nights she sleeps quite well. We can stay in bed for 9-12 hours at night. She doesn’t sleep straight through but she kind of does. She tosses and turns when she’s hungry, I roll on my side and latch her on, and we’re both back in dreamland. Well, I usually get back to dreamland. Some nights she thrashes around a lot which keeps me awake because I keep putting her back on my breast (my husband says she’s practicing her “ninja” skills). But, some nights, like last night, we both sleep soundly. There are the occasional nights where she decides she’d like to wake up after about 4 hours of sleep and stay up. When this happens, it only takes about an hour of hanging out with her in bed and she’s ready to sleep again.
Nap time has been great too. We’re not on a schedule, but I’d estimate that she wants to nap every few hours. The one nap I can count on is in the morning. About 2 hours after waking, she’s ready for a nap. Sometimes she naps for 40-60 minutes and other times she sleeps a whole 2 hours.
What does all that mean? Mommy is getting more sleep! My eyes are no longer bloodshot and I feel like I can drive a car without causing harm to myself or others. Seriously, I didn’t start driving again until just recently because I only felt I had enough energy to make it through my day at home. Driving a car required too much alertness.
The pretty colored ones are Swaddlebees Econappies. The white diaper with easy-to-use colored snaps are BabyKicks.
We’re also getting into cloth diapers more regularly (every time I use one, depending on the size, I save about 30 cents – gotta love that). They’re still not as great as I thought they’d be. For starters, Read More »
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October 21, 2010 (5:23 pm)
by Kristen Suzanne
Today, we took Kamea for her 4 month check up. She’s 16 1/2 weeks and has her four month birthday early next week. She’s all decked out in her fall colors and organic fashion.
She did AWESOME with her doctor. Kamea weighed in at 13 pounds, 14 ounces and her length is 25 3/4 inches. That makes her in the 50th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for length. We have a tall girl. Will she be a supermodel? A professional tennis player (I think Anna Kournikova is tall)? Hmmmm… I wonder I wonder.
Kamea is growing, thriving, happy, and easily meeting her developmental milestones. In fact, she’s already bearing weight on her legs and loves to stand (with our hands loosely on her in case she falls down of course). She gets the biggest smile on her face when she stands, like she’s really proud of herself. Kamea is not one to just lie back (never was really). No. She wants to have us sit her up or stand her up so she can see what’s going on. She loves being worn for short periods of time and seems especially happy when I wear her facing out. See that grin?
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October 15, 2010 (7:10 pm)
by Kristen Suzanne
Since Kamea was born, Greg has been doing the food shopping. He’s done an amazing job – yay Greg! This week, as I wrote our shopping list, I realized that we had a lot of food to buy. I thought it might be better if I went, too. This meant Kamea was going! Read more over on my Kristen’s Raw blog.
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October 13, 2010 (10:39 am)
by Kristen Suzanne
We’ve come a long way since Kamea had her first bath and didn’t take to it very well (read more here). But, she bathes like a champ now. She loves it. It gets easier every week as she grows a bit more and gets stronger. Bath time is fun for both of us. This is an action shot – haha.
So, what do I do? We bathe together because that seems to be the easiest. We started with this bath tub seat for her but it wasn’t as easy as it looks. I liked that it was small – for infants – and figured it would be a better option. However, it’s on quite an incline so she was sliding down it a bit. I found myself holding her in place with one hand and washing with the other hand. Not the easiest.
Then, I decided to try this bath tub sling/chair – it was really cheap so why not. Read More »
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October 5, 2010 (7:59 pm)
by Kristen Suzanne
This week I’m on vacation over at my mom’s house. She doesn’t live far from us, but it still feels like a vacation anyway. We packed up Kamea (so much to pack – lol!) and we drove over with our big dog. It’s been awesome because mom has a big house with all hard wood floors and tile throughout so I’ve been able to push Kamea around in her stroller and it’s like going for a walk – haha. It’s much bigger than our condo so I’m loving it! This is her dining room where Greg is working.
Love all those books!
I’ve been practicing with the Moby wrap now that I decided it’d be better with Kamea’s feeties out. I was right! So much easier to do and she is really starting to like it! Here is my first attempt.
Kamea is licking it - lol.
Here is our second attempt the next day (which was today). For the first time…. she fell asleep in a babywearing thing! I was so happy.
My precious sweet darling.
Kamea has had a few firsts while we’re over at her Nana’s. For starters, she is now officially grabbing at things and holding onto them. I didn’t come too prepared with toys for our stay, but thankfully I grabbed the little colored rings that I rigged onto her buggy. She’s happy. And, the second big event for us… she had her first fit of giggles. She was watching my mom’s two small dogs play together and she couldn’t take her eyes off them. Then, she started laughing and couldn’t stop. It was so awesome! I wish I had recorded it. Read More »
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September 23, 2010 (7:38 am)
by Kristen Suzanne
Since Kamea was born in June, we’ve left home only a handful of times and they were all for doctor and midwife appointments. There were a few reasons that we stayed homebound for this long. For starters, it’s been hot as hell outside in Arizona (typical summer). Taking Kamea for an outing that wasn’t really needed is just plain silly with the temperatures so high. Secondly, I was tired! The last thing I wanted to do was get ready, pack Kamea up, and go out… just to go out. Thirdly, I was still learning and thinking about how I’d breastfeed in public, what to do if she had a meltdown, etc. All of those reasons just added to my stress level when I was already trying to keep it all together as a first time mama. It felt natural and “right” to just stay home and bond with my baby… get to know her… stay snugly all day and relax.
But. When she turned 12 weeks on Saturday, something changed a bit. I woke up that morning and said, “Let’s take Kamea out for a little adventure.” It just felt like the time was right. I felt confident and ready to show her life outside the home.
Kamea having fun at Starbucks
So, where did we go? Well, I wanted to keep it very local and I wanted it to be a short, relaxing trip. We went to our local Starbucks. I know… kind of lame to some people. But, Greg and I actually enjoy spending time there reading, chatting, surfing the web, etc. We work from home, so it’s nice to sometimes move our “office” to Starbucks and work for awhile. Of course, we didn’t bring work with us when we had Kamea.
Here’s Kamea in her groovy Orbit stroller / infant car seat system. I love how the seat rotates 360 degrees so I can push her closer up to the table (I rotated it 90 degrees here). We also bought the stroller seat for walks and LOVE it. Actually, Kamea loves the stroller seat – lol – it rotates 360 degrees like the car seat, but also reclines three levels and is made of materials that are a little “cooler” since she doesn’t have to be protected in it like she does the car. I’ll write more on the Orbit system in a future post with a video. Check out how “green” Orbit is here.
The little trip to Starbucks was a big success. Kamea loved it… she looked around at new things and smelled new smells. It was fun. I can’t wait to do it again!
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August 29, 2010 (9:26 am)
by Kristen Suzanne
Kamea had her two month doctor visit this week and my little baby is thriving! She is in the 75th percentile for her weight and 90th percentile for her length. She’s just perfect!
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