Da da verses Mmmma ma!

So my Little "big" Bundle of Cash has been saying "Da da" for quite some time now. Since about 5months! He began eating solids around 6 mths. Began crawling at 8 months and now at LAST at 9mths, he has started saying Mama mmmmama! I was so excited.

However I've noticed that when he is hungry, tired or simply irritable he says mmmmama mmmama, (especially if he wants me to pick him up and snuggle with him)

BUT when he wants to play and be silly he of course says...what???? That's right Da da!

Isn't that a hoot? Babies seem to know who God designed to comfort & nurture them "best" verses who is "fun"! Don't get me wrong... I'm not implying that Daddy's can't comfort or nurture and Mommy's can't be fun and play, but it seems ( in my house anyway) that dada is the fun, crazy parent and I'm the nurturer and primary caregiver.

I tend to focus more on teaching Cash on how to feed himself, simple signs, play with his toys, read with him and talk to him about various things. Daddy tends to chase him around the house (as he is crawling) play hide n seek and play with his toys (but in a much different way than I do) and make all kind of boy/elephant spitting sounds!

I, of course chase Cash around the house and play, silly play... too, but Cash seems to enjoy it much more with DaDa!

Dada helps with feeding him, simple signing with him, bath time, diaper changing, bedtime, etc but Cash seems to respond better when I'm the one helping him with these things.

It's interesting that even at the young age of 9months he has already determined what he likes and with who!

AHA! New Uses for Old Things

I love reading the magazine Real Simple! It is just so fun!!

One of my favorite sections to read is Solutions/ New Uses for Old Things...

Here are a few of my AHA! Uses:

1) BABY STROLLER:


Original purpose: Transporting Baby to events, outings, and more! Keeps hands free and baby happy!


AHA! Use: While shopping (which 1st time mom hasn't done in a while like 9months or so) it's a great shopping cart for clothes! Your hands are free to shop and you can pile up the clothes so you only have 1 visit to the dressing room. And if your blessed (like me) baby sleeps through most of the shopping!

2) BABY WIPES:

Original Purpose: Wiping up baby poo & other yucky stuff!

AHA! USE: Wiping off paint drips while painting on the wall! Since I love to paint, especially wall murals this is something I discovered that works better than paper towels!

These are a few of the murals I've painted... some on my own some with another artist.

My step daughter's room & Children's Areas in a local church not my church

Baby Cash's Room (of course it's not finished yet)

Or you can go here! Just about everything in the Children's Areas at Bay Area Fellowship I've painted or helped paint!(except the long beach mural & stork) And I was pregnant with Baby Cash at the time!

And I used baby wipes on all those walls! To wipe up paint drips and wipe away mess ups!

3) Panty Liners:

Original Purpose: To protect undergarments from blood stains!

Aha! Use: To protect back of heel from rubbing the back of those CUTE shoes you just had to buy! Which relieves the OUCH! Simply peel and stick! And if you use the scented ones ... it keeps your shoes from smelling stinky!!

I like carefree orginal longs. Simply peel and stick! And as you can see .. you can't see it once you are wearing the shoe!!

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR AHA! USES FOR OLD THINGS? PLEASE SHARE!!

Got Mommy's Milk? It's Lifesharing!

I wrote this after reading an article written in babytalk magazine, August 2008, entitled:"other mother's milk: Is Breast still Best when It's not Your Own?" by Stephanie Wood

Let’s think about this for a moment, why are we questioning whether milksharing is right or wrong? It’s lifesharing! Many of us do not hesitate to donate blood for others in our country. According to the American Red Cross someone in the United States needs blood every two seconds. There is no substitute. It saves lives. Many of us don’t donate blood, but we don’t question whether or not this is the “right thing to do” because we know it is. We know donated blood saves lives.

Why is human milk any different from blood?

Questioning whether milksharing, or donating milk is appropriate or not is simply depriving others of life. Depriving our youngest, most innocent, most dependent, the next generation of life, is simply against our design. As a Christian and first time mom I am a strong believer in giving life. Jesus is the Ultimate Life giver, of course, of Eternal Life. He not only offered His BLOOD, He sacrificed His Life for us so that we could have eternal life with Him. Ponder the analogy here, Blood=Life (according to the Red Cross), Christ’s Blood=Eternal Life (John 3:16); breastmilk = best nutrition and best life (physically for both baby & mom), God’s word: Holy Bible = best nutrition, best spiritual life (John 1:1-14 & John 6:53-58 ) . Wow!

God has blessed women as Life givers to the human race. We give birth, and we nourish life! Our milk, which God in His infinite wisdom purposely designed in our bodies to produce once we have given birth, is a life giver! He placed it within us to provide for others, the most fragile of others. He designed it perfectly as He has created all things. It’s the perfect temperature, it is the most complete form of nutrition for infants, and studies show infants that are breastfed or consume breast milk score higher on IQ test, especially if the baby is born premature. Breastfed babies have fewer illnesses which in turn decrease doctor’s visits and medical issues, including medical bills.

I was determined to breastfeed my son. I knew it was best. I thought this going to be easy, God designed my body to provide nourishment for my son. I was wrong. It wasn’t easy. It was painstaking, sleep depriving and quite simply HARD WORK. Yet after 4 weeks, 4 extremely long, torturous “sacrificial” weeks of pumping non-stop after each breastfeeding attempt, sore nipples and tired peepers, it paid off. My son figured out his perfect latch and could suck! Now he is a healthy, strong 9 month old. He has only ran a fever twice in these first nine months, and although the first weeks were challenging, and he lost a full pound and had to be poked for blood work, it was worth it!


Honestly I haven’t really given much thought about sharing my breastmilk with other moms. Not until I came across an article in BabyTalk magazine, August 2008, “Other’s mother’s milk” “Is breast milk still best when it’s not your own?” written by Stephanie Wood

My reply is simple, “Is blood still best when it’s not your own?” And I’m guessing the majority of the population would agree “YES it is… it’s life saving”… and I would say mommy’s milk is life giving, and life saving even if it’s not your own!!

My own mom, who breastfed four children in the late 60’s and throughout the 70’s , donated milk. While breastfeeding me pumped her breastmilk for a little baby boy who was unable to digest formula (and she didn’t have the fancy electric pumps we have today, she used a hand pump.)

So it’s my turn to discover how I can share my breastmilk to help another… to be a life giver, giving like Christ, sacrificial giving for other infants in need.

My 1st attempt at breastfeeding The struggle here at almost 4 wks! Don't I look sleep deprived? And Now, at 9 months!!

Please share your thoughts with me!

The Amateur Chef

My husband is the chef in our house. He absolutely loves to create delicious food. He can simply look in the fridge, pantry or freezer and make whatever he finds into a fabulous meal. He does tend to get a bit "gourmet" and loves to make sauces especially white wine sauces with everything. The past couple of weeks I have tried my "amateur" hand at cooking meals for our family. I'm a pro at making homemade baby food for baby Cash... but that doesn't really take much creativity.

I have discovered the secret for me to create in the kitchen!! I am a visual learner. Maybe this is why I love to paint and create art. So I've discovered a few great places to go that are visually stimulating, mouthwatering and to so simple to follow... step by step!

The past few weeks I've made this which my husband stated "the best dang lasagna I've every had"! I've also made yummy banana peanut butter cake, chicken broccoli rice casserole, tuna melt sandwiches, and turkey meatloaf (with the help of my husband) he made the sauce topper :)!

I also made this yummmmmmmmmmy!

I snapped this photo to document my endeavor! So you guys would actually believe me!And this shot of my "gourmet husband" eating my zucchini cake creation!!!

I've discovered that cooking is just like art! There aren't any rules... of course recipes give you guidelines, but I've discovered what my husband already knows..... you can sub ingredients, and add your own little flare to the dish!!

I also made a nutritious fruit salad with fresh and frozen fruit!! Cut up fresh apples, bananas, plums, peaches & oranges, toss in frozen blueberries, mangoes add a half a cup of vanilla yogurt and this is what you get!

I've been stocking up on frozen peaches, mangos and blueberries for my "small fry" Baby Cash! They are great for him to eat while he's teething...

I simply put the frozen fruit inside this

and this is what it get!

I recommend these self feeding feeders to anyone who has a little one who is learning to eat solids and also teething.

Cash first learned how to use it with ice cubes!

Share your yummy recipes with me!

Currently I am learning the art of the yogurt based smoothie... instead of ice cream! I've discovered a splash of vanilla & honey may be the key!!

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

CASH LOVES

#1:His "froggy" jump a roo boy can he jump!!!

#2: Making fish lips and balloons....

#3: Being a Brunkenhoefer

Paw Paw Brunkenhoefer ... Great Uncle "Ocho" Robert Brunkenhoefer & Great Uncle "funny man" Kenneth Brunkenhoefer

& Baby Brunkenhoefer

#4: His maternal Grandparents Ron & Chita

#5: Swimming with GRAM & sissy Madeline

#5: Bath time & making elephant sounds

#6: Sticking out his tongue

#7: Breakfast... lunch ... & dinner

#8: Jack's Big Music Show

on Noggin... he loves this sing*along show as well as

moose & zeee...

#9: Playing in a box inside the pack & play

#9: Da da & clapping

#10: Animals: Pooger Pie & Cider...

Aunt Wednesday & Uncle Eric's pups

he loves aunt wednesday & uncle eric too

#10: Creating Masterpieces (aka Art)

(ok... maybe it's mommy who likes to create art)

These are a few of Mommy's favorite things:

1. Cash sleeps through the night (since 4 1/2 months)

2. No teeth yet... since he still gets mommy's milk

3. The "Hall of Crawl"

4. Falls asleep in the car... loves to be in the stroller

5. Doesn't suck thumb or pacifer...

6. Happy BABY!!!

7. Has a routine... not a schedule

8. Drinks from a sippy cup

9. Loves to read with mommy

10. Mommy also loves the Jump a roo & Jack's big music show = (shower time for mom)hehe

Fish Lips!!

FISH LIPS!

Beach Babes!

Mommy & Cash at Sunrise!

The above photo was taken before the big wipe out! I put Cash down in on the beach and daddy snapped this shot. Then Eric went to take off his flipflops and a wave came and knocked Cash over... and he was rolling in the surf. The following photo shows an after shot... i felt so bad i didn't grab him fast enough.... but then i wish Eric had the camera to catch it on film, because his expression was priceless... needless to say... Cash did not want me to let go of him the rest of the day....

After the big wipe out!



Checking out the surf and seagulls with Dad!