At sixteen months old, Baby Champuru I have observed a few things about her personality:

Baby Champuru is proficient at drinking out of a straw cup now (hooray!), but still refuses to drink milk from anything that isn’t outfitted with a nipple.  Quite frankly, that concerns me.  It has been 12 days since she drank from a bottle, which means it’s been 12 days since she drank a good amount [...]]]>

Baby Champuru is proficient at drinking out of a straw cup now (hooray!), but still refuses to drink milk from anything that isn’t outfitted with a nipple.  Quite frankly, that concerns me.  It has been 12 days since she drank from a bottle, which means it’s been 12 days since she drank a good amount of milk.  (At the time of her transition, she would drink anywhere from 24-32 oz. of milk a day.  I know that’s actually too much for her age, though.)   As I mentioned in my previous entry, she is still nursing 3 times a day, but I have no idea how much milk she gets from that.

Any suggestions on how to get Baby Champuru to drink milk again?

It will be fun [...]]]> I have decided to start documenting Baby Champuru’s vocabulary here.  Listing them off the top of my head, there were 37 words so far.  At 16 months, she’s getting quite good at mimicking us.  Those words don’t make the list unless she uses them regularly of her own volition (not just repeating).

It will be fun to see the list continue to grow!

Baby Champuru is steadily expanding her vocabulary and one of her newest words is “bubbles.”  Whenever she sees the bottle of bubbles, she will point and say “bubbles”!   Her Jiji (grandpa) was the one who introduced her to this wonderful world of bubbly goodness.  In addition to chasing airborne bubbles, she also loves blowing [...]]]>

Baby Champuru is steadily expanding her vocabulary and one of her newest words is “bubbles.”  Whenever she sees the bottle of bubbles, she will point and say “bubbles”!   Her Jiji (grandpa) was the one who introduced her to this wonderful world of bubbly goodness.  In addition to chasing airborne bubbles, she also loves blowing them, too.

At Baby Champuru’s last well baby check-up in January, I got the tsk-tsk from the doctor in regards to her still drinking from a bottle.  She had been struggling with constipation since the last time I tried to get her off the bottle while switching  from infant formula to whole milk at the same time. [...]]]>

At Baby Champuru’s last well baby check-up in January, I got the tsk-tsk from the doctor in regards to her still drinking from a bottle.  She had been struggling with constipation since the last time I tried to get her off the bottle while switching  from infant formula to whole milk at the same time. She has been taking a low dose of Miralax daily to help her stay regular.  The doctor mentioned that transitioning her to a cup will help resolve her constipation.  He said that babies who drink from a bottle tend to drink more milk than those who use a cup — and to make matters worse, milk tends to be constipating. Babies who drink less milk will tend to eat more solids, and hopefully more fiber (fruits and vegetables) which also help keep the bowels moving in the right direction.  Our next visit to the doctor is at 18 months and I promised myself that I would have Baby Champuru off the bottle before then.  I didn’t want another lecture from the doc.

We have been trying to get Baby Champuru to accept the cup for over half a year now.  She simply would not drink more than a few sips from the cup and then would flatly refuse to drink anything that was not served up in a bottle.  We bought cups of every style imaginable: soft spout (Nuby), hard spout (Playtex), flat hard spout (Dr. Brown’s), bottle-to-sippy conversion kit (Avent), toddler travel cups with straw (Munchkin), disposable cup and straw, and open cup.  We had minimal success with the open cup, but it was terribly messy and she would always try to snatch it from us and the water would end up everywhere except in her mouth.

The doctor recommended going cold turkey with the bottle to cup transition. I actually tried that at around 13 months and she ended up going on a liquid strike, giving her the worst bout of constipation ever. So, I caved in and gave her back the bottle.  Yes, I’m a wuss, but I couldn’t stand to see her suffering: passing rock hard stools or none at all, constantly straining to push, and eventually, it became so painful that she ended up straining to hold it in to avoid the discomfort of having a bowel movement.

I decided to try the cold turkey method again since this time we had the Miralax to keep her regular.  This time, we decided to offer her diluted apple juice in the cup.  She took to it almost immediately.  However, whenever I gave her milk in the cup, she would take one sip, discover that it was milk and vehemently refuse it as if I was trying to feed her something toxic.  We ended up spoon-feeding her milk, just to get the taste in her mouth, then switch to the open cup — but that would work for only about an ounce at the most.  A far cry from the 24-32 oz. of milk she had been drinking from a bottle previously.

The first couple of days, she would sign the word “milk” and be upset that we would not give it to her in the bottle.  While we were out and she signed the word “milk,” I told her that we didn’t have any milk with us and that she could have some when we got home. I offered her the cup with diluted juice and she seemed happy enough with that.  This is nothing short of a minor miracle.  The bottle had been her source of comfort and calm, especially when she was tired.  I was amazed that she accepted the cup just as readily in those situations.

After the third day, she didn’t seem as interested in milk and was happy enough to get her milk fix via our 3x day nursing sessions (morning, afternoon, and evening).

It’s been 5 days since she has had a bottle and she has been well-hydrated with water and diluted juice.  On the positive side, she has been regular without the aid of Miralax.  (I’m thankful for this since I was uncomfortable keeping her on a drug for something that I felt should have been manageable with diet alone.)  On the other hand, I am unhappy that she has stopped drinking milk.  Although, I feel somewhat better knowing that she’s still nursing and getting some benefit from that. I’m also supplementing her diet with other calcium-rich foods such as cheese and yogurt to compensate.

The transition from bottle to cup wasn’t as traumatic as our battle at 13 months.  At nearly 16 months, I suppose she was a little more ready to give up the bottle.  As for weaning her from the breast, hopefully that won’t take another 5 years.

Questions for you parents: At what age did you transition your baby from bottle to cup?  And when did your baby wean from the breast?  Are you a proponent of extended breastfeeding?  If so, how long did you continue nursing until you weaned your baby?  I appreciate your comments!

My parents, who grew up in the small plantation towns of [...]]]> “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)

My parents, who grew up in the small plantation towns of Wahiawa and Lanai City, had fond memories of living in communities where residents were not just neighbors, but they were also friends.  They shared vegetables from their gardens or fresh eggs from their chicken coop.  Men gathered under the shade of a neighbor’s garage sharing beers after a long, arduous day of physical labor.  Women swapped recipes and fresh baked goodies.  They got into each other’s business. In a good way. Most of the time.

It’s unfortunate, but since I moved from Wahiawa (years ago) into a newer development, the residents were of a different ilk.  Young families, busy between working and whisking their children to and from soccer games in their minivans, never seemed to have the time or inclination to make friends with their neighbors.

Even in the land of Aloha, I’ve never lived next door to folks that I could honestly call my friends beyond “hellos” across the fence.  Until now.

I am blessed to live next door to a phenomenal couple who have become fast friends. Jan is generous to a fault and truly embodies the spirit of sharing. We are prayer partners, interceding on each other’s behalf, and we touch base daily — not always in person, but often by e-mail.

Jan has influenced me in many ways. Her sweet, loving heart reminds me how to seek the best in others.  Her positive, prayerful spirit demonstrates the power of making our requests known to God. Her kindness and long-suffering encourages me to be a better mom, wife, and daughter.  Her artistic talent inspires me to tap into my creative side.

You may have seen my previous entry about Jan’s upcoming class to teach us how to make a Friendship Star for Valentine’s Day. (If you are on Oahu and are interested in attending the class, please visit this entry for details on how to sign up.)  But I wanted to give her art blog, Pictures with Words a quick shout-out, too.  As a professional watercolor artist and calligrapher, she creates beautifully inspired artwork regularly and shares them on her blog.  It’s a fabulous way to keep her skills honed and a venue to share her art with the world.  And if I may toot my own horn for a moment here, I introduced her to the wonderful world of blogging. But honestly, I can’t take any credit for the way Jan seized the medium and ran with it, making it truly her own.  It is my hope that more people will discover her blog and enjoy her artwork.

Jan is hosting a giveaway right now and all you need to do is visit her blog at http://jancalligrapher.blogspot.com and leave a comment on her Giveaway entry.  She will be drawing a name from those that leave a comment and the lucky person will receive a set of Thank-You cards featuring her artwork and calligraphy. (The photo above is one of the designs that you can choose from if you win.)  If you have a Blogger or Google account, please be sure to become a follower, too!

To learn more about Jan’s artwork, please visit her website at http://www.jandesigns.net or her Etsy Store.

Baby Champuru (15 mo) loves playing with building blocks.  We bought a set of these large Mega Bloks from Toys R Us on her first birthday.  Initially, she just enjoyed dumping the blocks out of the bag, then discovered the joy of putting them back in the bag, and now she is using the blocks [...]]]>

Baby Champuru (15 mo) loves playing with building blocks.  We bought a set of these large Mega Bloks from Toys R Us on her first birthday.  Initially, she just enjoyed dumping the blocks out of the bag, then discovered the joy of putting them back in the bag, and now she is using the blocks to build creative little structures.  Today she made great strides in her building skills when she constructed the tower you see in the photo above.  Daddy helped a bit with the foundation, but she did everything above the purple blocks.

I love watching her build things. She is unfettered by convention and limitations. It is amazing to see the creative mind of a one year old at work.

She was so proud of her creation. I told her that I wanted to take a picture of her building, so she held it up and smiled big and proud.  That little girl makes my heart swell with pride each and every day!