Mini and Her Milk

Mini is doing so much better with 2 weeks on only Breast Milk.  Her moods were much better since her tummy was happy. She does not seem as uncomfortable either and has gotten lots of cute baby chub. Plus her skin was much less dry and flaky. 

 Then I suddenly ran out and couldn't meet up with the other mother.  Within 12 hours of giving her formula, Mini got really congested and stuffy sounding.  She also was more uncomfortable and cranky.  With the Breast Milk, she was slurping down 4 oz after I would nurse her.  With the formula, she barely would drink 2 oz.  Yesterday we were able to meet up and I gave her the milk last night and today.  It seems to be settling her stomach again already. 

my 2 little bears

Thanks to everyone for an overwhelmingly positive support.  I wasn't sure what people would think when I put something personal and controversial out there (but seriously, an actual 'wet nurse' has been around for thousands of years, so milk sharing shouldn't seem weird).  

Friends and strangers {aka new friends} have messaged me privately and I so appreciate that. I have also had a friend donate some of her milk too! 

Plant A Tree for Tu B'Shvat

Today we planted a tree for Tu B'Shvat.  

Tu B'Shvat is a Jewish holiday that we celebrate the New Year of the Trees. Why would we need to know about the age of a tree?  Well, there are different traditions on planting and picking the fruit of trees that require a 'start date'.  We need to know when it is OK to start eating the fruit, and we need to know what years we need to refrain from eating the fruit in a year where we leave the land fallow.  

You also eat fruits to celebrate, especially grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates, all fruits that grow in the land of Israel and are mentioned in the Torah.

Planting a seed is such a great tactile way to celebrate, so Baby Bear and I planted tree seeds today.  It is really cold outside, so we planted our seeds of Colorado Blue Spruce in a glass jar.

I let Baby Bear dig a little hole, put the seeds and water it.

Now we just have to wait for it to grow so we can plant a seedling outside!

Now we get to watch it grow! 

{PS we got these cool containers at a Bar Mitzvah}

To find out more about Tu B'Shvat, go here

Make a Difference Mitzvah Friday~Birdhouse for Autism

My Make a Difference Organization for today is called Birdhouse for Autism.  Since giving is also about donating your time: They are looking for some awesome developers specializing in Ruby, Rails, JavaScript or IOS  to help them build their app.  

Birdhouse is the project of our friends Ben and Dani.

My Friend Dani has guest blogged here before and she is the Momma of Little Bird, an amazing 8 year old that has autism who is friends with Baby Bear.  

Here is a great video explatantion of Birdhouse

If can help, got to www.birdhousehq.com   

Easy Tip for Calm Diaper Change

My aunt taught me this tip for Baby Bear.  

She got us the Baby Buzzr when Baby Bear was born. I just pulled out this toy when I heard it buzzing around in our baby toy bin and tried it with Mini.

Tip to Calm a Baby During a Diaper Change

Play a classical music toy near them. {we have the Baby Buzzr} You can see Mini listening intently on the sound.

  

She was fussing when I put her on the changing table, but when I put the music on, she stopped and listened.  

Baby Bear liked to hold this toy during a diaper change when she got older and it is also fun to up in their mouth.  

Everyday Should be MLK Day when raising kids

Everyday Should be MLK Day when raising kids.  Teaching your kids equality and love for their friends of all colors, religions and sexes is your duty as a parent.  

I am raising my 2 little Bears with a strong Jewish religious background, but that does not mean that they will not have friends of other religious or colors.   They will learn to love everyone.  I am so proud that they will grow up in a world that has made it possible for them to have friends with 2 mommies or 2 daddies and never know that this was not always possible.

I am ashamed to admit that my own family was at one point torn apart by racism by my own Maternal Grandmother who would not let her sister-in-laws bi-racial children be part of the family.  I am so glad that my own children will grow up to know and love their cousins and not ever look at their skin color as different then their own.  We were so disgusted by what my Grandmother did, we did not name Baby Bear or Mini Bear after her (a tradition done to honor a deceased family member).  

I really hate even to use the word different colors, because that is further pointing out the difference between you and me.  When I look at other people, I try to see just that 'people' and not a label of what that person.  I know that I too am guilty of not always doing this, but I try very hard.  

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, bearded at Left, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a 1968 antiwar protest.

I think that Martin Luther King Jrs 'I had a Dream' also should be a battle cry for the Anti Bullying movement.  If we all saw one another as people then we would not bully. 

My favorite statement shirt is one by Defeat the Label

 Sadly, we still have to DREAM about equality and MLK's speech is not yet a reality.

I have a Dream

{part of a speech given by Martin Luther King Jr in 1963}

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.

photo from examiner.com

Things only a Grandparent can do {via modern technology}

Baby Bear just assumes that when she talks to someone that there is the possibility to FaceTime or Skype and see them.  She is growing up in a world where this is the default and your friends and family can join you at anytime on real time video.  

Tonight Baby Bear really did not want to go to bed in her own bed and was having a hysterical breakdown.  Mr. BBH was not home.  I tried to calm her down and put her back in bed, but nothing worked.  I called my Dad {Baby Bear's "Babba"} since I knew her would help and not judge my parenting {my mom totally would tell me what to do!}.  

I got Baby Bear to go in her own bed with a promise that Babba would FaceTime.  My Dad called and then sang her some songs until she was ready to lay down and go to bed.  It was great and she even got to see his face while he was singing to her.  Incredible.

Nanna & Babba with Baby Bear outside their potential new house

Make a Difference Mitzvah Friday~Detroit Baby Drive

To help make the world a better place, I am going to try to share a great Non-Profit that you might not know about.  The first week is a local group called Detroit Baby Drive that collects new & used baby items to give to parents that need them.  

They collect new and used baby items everything including toys, clothing (0-5), diapers, wipes, formula, strollers, nursing pillows, pumps, cribs, bassinets, car seats, snap n' go frames, high chairs, baths, playmats, exersaucers, etc.  So check out your basements and closets and help put these things to good use!

My Modern Wet Nurse

As you know, I am slightly obsessed with Breast Feeding since I had such a hard time with Baby Bear and didn't get enough milk.  

I prayed that I would not have the same issue with Mini, so we monitored it very closely with weight checks every few days in the first few weeks. The verdict was in that I have Insufficient Glandular Tissue sometimes called IBT also.  You can read about it here.  I can produce some milk, but not enough for Mini to thrive on so I have to supplement.  Mini has horrible gas and bloating plus always sounded congested so I tried several types of formula on her and nothing really helped.  

What if I could just give her breast milk though?

So I am not into actually having someone physically nurse my baby (besides me) I just needed some milk.

 I looked into 'eats on feets' with Baby Bear

 {a group of women that have milk needs or donations for no charge}  but was not brave enough to try it. I took a leap of 

Mini's Donor Milk

faith for Mini and I met a donor in the area and got all of her medical history from their Doctor to make sure that she had no communicable diseases and then took home a bag of frozen milk.  Mini has been nursing and drinking the donor milk for less then a day, but so far she already slept better at night.  I will update as we grow on Mommas' Milk!

I was unsure if I wanted to share this on my blog, but I wanted to reach out to others that could benefit from using 'eats of feets' for their own babies benefit and hope that others in the same situation will reach out to me to support me.  

And hey, everyone is doing it.. 

Kim & Kourtney Kardashian are going to cross-nurse so milk sharing seems pretty boring! 

image from today.com

Raising a Bilingual Child {2 years 4 months}

raising a bilingual child אני מדברת עברית

Where, What, WHO? Language Development

Baby Bear is into a new language phase.  She want to know where everyone is all the time.  She always asks us in Hebrew:

"Where is [insert name here]?" "Where are they?"  

It gets kind of ridiculous because all day long she comes up with the names of anybody that she ever knew and asks where they are.  Sometimes after I answered the question a few times, I will ask her where they are!  My sister moved to Worcester, Mass. 

She lived with us for a month before she moved to help with Baby Bear when Mini came and to spend lots of time with Baby Bear before going back to school.  She knows that her Uncle 'Bean' sees her on FaceTime, but her Mima {what she calls my sister Marissa} usually comes over to see her a few times a week with her Basset Hound Annie.  Now when I asked her where Mima was, she pointed to the phone.  

She also wants to know what every thing is.  She always asks what objects and sounds are in Hebrew if she doesn't know what it is or what it is called.  Everything has to have a name now that she is talking up a storm.  She loves knowing names of people.  She will go and name all of the friends that she saw that day for me.  Then she asks where they are   after we leave.  

The best part of all of this is that she is very concerned where Mini Bear is.  If she can't see her face, she will ask "Where is Mini?"  I love that she cares about her in this way. 

Happy Birthday to ME!

It's my Birthday!

Before I became a mom, I always thought that my birthday was a celebration of ME.  After having Baby Bear, I realized the person that really should be celebrated was the women that carried me for 9 long months in her belly and birthed me on that day.  Happy Birthday Mom!!  Thanks for making me!

Remember that Girls...

leave some comment love

Detroit indoor rainy day & winter fun day trips~ Keeping Active in the Winter II

keeping kids active in the winter

It is really important for me to keep Baby Bear active all year long.  We like to play outside in all seasons, but sometimes we just want to get away and do something active inside that I don't have to prepare for.  

Active Indoor or Rainy Day Outings
In Metro Detroit

Jungle Java 

$7 all day play, 12-23 months $3, free under 12 months and adults 

Various Metro Detroit Locations

Detroit Kid City

$10, free under 12 month and adults

Southfield, MI

Tiny Town Play Lounge

$7.50, 0-6 Months FREE with paid sibling or 2.50, 7-11 Months: 4.50

Northville, MI

Bouncing off the walls

$6, FREE adults

Wyandotte, MI

Boogie Babies

$7.00, $5.00 12 - 23 months, Free Under 1 year and adults

Rochester, MI

Pump it up

See website for pricing

Various Metro Detroit Locations

Bottom of the 9th Batting Cages

Clinton Twp

Safari Playground

1 to 2 Child(ren) $5 per child, 3 to 4 Children $4 per child, 5 or more $3 per child

Walled Lake, MI

Baby Bear playing at Safari Playground

Family Swim at Goldfish School

Check locations for times and pricing

Various Metro Detroit Locations

~Other Ideas~

Indoor Mall Play Areas- FREE
{Some McDonalds also have free play areas}

Find a local roller rink or ice skating ring

Swimming Pools 

Got another idea? Have a photo of your child at one of these places? Got feedback about my ideas.. leave a comment!