Baby, Bye Bye Bye

Yesterday we said goodbye to Freida's bottle.

Freida was born a mere 4 pounds 8 ounces, and was consistently below the curve ever since. Nursing her seemed to at least keep up the chubby-baby look - I felt good enough knowing she had plenty rolls, and I would be ecstatic when people would comment on how "fat" my baby was. Once she randomly decided to self-ween, her weight began to drop. I was planning on nixing the suckling altogether, but she didn't down milk from a sippy cup very well at all so I  transitioned her to a bottle, and sure enough the fat and calorie content delivered by 12 oz. of daily milk kept her pants up! :)

I know Doctors generally recommend giving up a bottle at around the first birthday, but I decided to keep her on it for as long as I had intended to breastfeed her: 2 years. At our most recent visit to the Doctor (for her first vaccination), he pronounced her weight and height "healthy". Took that as a sign to get on the road to banning the bottle...

This past weekend my husband and I made a point to speak to Freida about certain things being only for babies, and about the concept of growing up. I went on to name different (slightly older) cousins, friends etc. that don't drink from a bottle because they are "growing up" and not "babies" anymore. She seemed to like that bit, and later asked me "does Sima have a bottle? No. Does Dovi have a bottle? No." etc. That's when I figured she fully got the idea.

Yesterday morning I brought out a stack of old pregnancy/baby/family magazines, and we sat together leafing through the pages to spot pictures of babies and cut them out. Once we had a nice selection of "babies", I gave Freida some glue and an old cardboard box (I think it was from our esrog...), and had her glue the pictures all over the "baby bottle box". We added some tissue paper (can't hurt to bring some prettiness to a painful goodbye!), and Freida said goodbye to her bottles - for good. Once boxed up we gave it to the mailman - she loves the mailman! - (I obviously had him put it back in my mailbox so I could sterilize and store them away), and said farewell!

She went to bed last night without it, and was able to easily verbalize "gave my bottles to the babies", and woke up this morning sans bottle as well! She asked for it this morning, but she proceeded to tell me where it went... she definitely wasn't stoked about not waking up without the bottle relaxation, but with a bit of distraction she got up and had breakfast really easily.

Seems to have been a successful transition - thank God! - and I would definitely suggest using this method for getting rid on bottles/pacifiers/blankies etc. It involves the kids in such a hands-on way, and makes them feel like they are really part of the process - which is key to all successful good riddance! Good Luck!!

On a Jet Plane...

Took a flight out to Arizona to spend some time with my family. My parents came in from Chicago to spend some of Chanukah with the Scottsdale-based grandchildren, and Freida and I flew here to meet up with them for an extended weekend together. Apologies in advance if the postings are sparse... P.S. There is something so magical about the expressions that splash across the face of a child during an airplane trip... It was one of our most sweetest hours together. She cried when it was time to get off the plane! Had the whole Southwest crew cracking up by saying, "don't wanna get off! wanna sit down fly again!". There is so much joy in observing the little ones discover the small miracles of the universe...

(Granted, it was a one hour flight - don't think I'd be so la-dee-da on a 4 hour.) :)

Festival of Lights

I've been thinking a lot about time today, with the anniversary of this blog etc. I just can't believe that tonight we light our last little candle for this year... Another holiday gone by, another festival escaping time... Can't quite grasp how much has transpired from last Chanukah until now. Feeling very much in-touch with the chassidic phrase, "A summer day and a winter night are a year." Time just slips on by...

Enjoy and relish in the last of this year's miraculous lights....!!!

Year One!

Shocked at how quickly time passes! Can't believe it's been one whole year since I started blogging...

This whole web venture started out with this post (though, this was the first actual post), and was initially intended as a spot to store, save, and share my bookmarks and favorites with family and friends. I had never imagined the volume of feedback that would be received! This has evolved into a wonderful journey, sharing in a sisterhood, of sorts, with other mothers, wives, and homemakers. Over this year, I met with and spoke with so many fabulously talented people in the design industry, blogosphere, and preschools - would never have had so many opportunities if not for all you dear readers!

So whether you've been with me since the beginning or are reading this here on your very first visit, want to give you a gigantic shout-out of thanks! Thanks for reading this blog and supporting my work!! Could never have done it without you!

Please continue to share your finds, experiences, tips etc. And spread the FreidaFroo joy to all your girlfreinds!

Cheers! Here's to another year of design, style, and function; of adding some sparkle to potty-training, a touch of glamour to washing dishes, and to finding and keeping the fun vested in the best jobs on earth!!

(Celebratory image via urbancitylife.flickr photostream)

Birthday Candles!

 

Wishing the happiest birthday to my adorably charming husband!! Simply put, you are the dearest and most awesome element of my life...! Thanks for being the perfect man for me, and the best daddy out there - we love you heaps and heaps!!! Hope this year brings you completion and culmination in all you set out to accomplish - just like these 5 most special Chanukah lights that heralded you into this world....