There are times when I look at Baby Champuru and marvel at how much she has grown, the new skills she has developed, and how much of her little personality is emerging every day. I think I must say it in every monthly update, but I just want to stop time and enjoy these moments with her.
She has perfected crawling and sitting up, and is now working on standing and cruising. She will pull herself up using any stationary object within reach and can stand for a good length of time before she will decide that it’s time to plop down on her bottom for a rest. With more muscle control, she is much better about landing safely — as opposed to last month when she would often land flat on her back or in odd positions, trapping her arm against the mesh walls of the playard. She enjoys clutching my fingers in her tiny fists and pulling herself into a standing position to attempt a few wobbly steps. It thrills her when she is able to accomplish this, and she’ll be wearing a huge smile the entire time.
As for her diet, I am still introducing new foods at a rate of one per week. I haven’t been adventurous enough to start her on meats, so she’s been enjoying an organic vegetarian menu so far. My challenge thus far in making her baby food is finding organic ingredients. I wish more stores would offer a wider variety of organic produce, but so far it’s been pretty limited. That is, unless I want to drive to Whole Foods or to the KCC Farmer’s Market. So, for those items that I can’t find fresh organic, I have been buying Gerber Organics. Most notably, organic pears — as this is useful for mixing with other foods and her morning cereal. Since it’s easily digestable, I prefer to use pears more often than applesauce since I read apples may be binding.
Our doctor recommended starting her on teething biscuits at 7 months, but I’ve been a little reluctant to do so due to the choking hazard. I bought her a can of Veggie Dip finger food from Gerber Graduates that look like Cheetos. I’ve allowed her to eat a few of those, but I am still uncomfortable about her popping the entire piece in her mouth. I hold my breath and pray she won’t choke, then when it looks like she’s done, I open her mouth to check. Yes, I do this every — single — time. I queried the experienced moms on the Hawaii MomsLikeMe discussion board about their recommendations for teething biscuits and got a few suggestions that I’ll follow up on. Maybe I’ll do a video review of them later on.
She has been revealing more of her personality, as a strong-minded, determined little girl who smiles easily, laughs out loud, and loves to hear herself babble and squeal.
Recently, she learned how to dance Okinawan kachashi (at least that’s what we’re calling it) and wave bye-bye. She loves accolades and will “dance” to get cheers from us. When we say how smart or cute she is, she gives us a coy smile or giggles with glee.
We visit the pediatrician next month for her well-baby checkup at 9 months old. (Oh my gosh, 9 months. Now there’s a milestone! *sniff*) I am curious to see how much she has grown in the past few months since her last visit.
There’s a beautiful and extremely effective commercial for Kapiolani Hospital that always chokes me up when I see it on TV. If you haven’t seen it, click here to watch it on YouTube. The part that really gets me is the father holding his newborn baby girl as a photograph is placed beside her depicting her “future” as a graduate. B.C. (before children), I likely would not have been as emotional about images such as these. However, motherhood has changed me in ways I would never have imagined. I believe, for the better.
