The Only Thing Better than One Hila, is Two Hilas

Yesterday, while Hila and I were checking out the new H&M at Kenyon Malcha, Hila made a new friend.

Hila has seen herself in mirrors before, but somehow, this full length mirror at H&M totally snuck up on her. She was running around H&M looking at all the pretty clothes ("so pitty!") when all of a sudden she saw a beautiful little girl opposite her. She stopped, stared, and then kept walking. But wait--where'd that girl go? she must have been thinking, because then she turned back and went to the mirror again. VOILA! Her friend appeared, delighted to see her. She responded in equal delight. She kept slinking away slowly, and then quickly reappearing to find a very excited reflection in the mirror. She struck different poses...and so did Hila #2! She put her hands on the floor and then put her hands in the air...and so did her friend! She hugged and kissed and talked to her new friend, while strangers walked by laughing at her discovery.

Then she walked away and bumped into a rack of clothes, fell down, and cried. Game over.

Some Random Thoughts

• For Tal Bagels' sake, they should mix their salads more thoroughly. Yesterday I ordered a salad that was supposed to have avocado in it but as I started digging around in the heaping pile of boring lettuce, I saw nothing. I called the waitress over and pointed to "avocado" on the menu and said that my salad was missing this key ingredient. She brought over a nice side plate filled with sliced avocado for me to add to my salad and said that she'll give me the extra, but that there is avocado in the salad. I fished deeper into the lettuce pile and found a huge amount of avocado hiding underneath. I lucked out!

• I love sharing my birthday with Hila. I had so much fun yesterday singing "Happy Birthday to Us" and telling our waiter at Roladin that it was both of our birthdays. (He came back with a sparkler in our cake.) So how did we celebrate? On Shabbat we had a little bday party/seudat shlishit in the park in Modiin and then on our proper birthday we went to Roladin and had cake. Hila ate her cheesecake using a cinnamon stick I had given her from my hot cider. She's adorable.
  

• We are going to Rome in a week and a half for four days and then to New York for 10 days and then to Miami for seven weeks and then to Orlando for one week (Pesach). And I am SOOOOO excited!!

• I am a very lucky person.
  

• For example, I have lost another few pounds! I have about 9 lbs to go until I hit my pre-wedding weight! (I already hit pre-baby weight a few pounds ago.)
  

• Another example: I have lost that weight despite the fact that I have a serious chocolate addiction and continue to eat unnormally large amounts of Clusters and milk.
  

• But really I am lucky because I have an amazing family, both the one I came from and the one I am working to create, and the best friends ever. I realized that I missed my twisted bowel-versary this year (Jan. 20). Around this time of year I like to reflect on how precious life is and how wonderful my friends and family are.

Sleeping though the Night with Earplugs

I used to think I had a bladder problem because I'd wake up once or twice to pee in the middle of the night. It was very frustrating.

But I realize now, after sleeping through the night for the last 2 weeks, that it wasn't a problem with my bladder, but rather an inability to stay asleep with the slightest bit of noise around me. Once I was up, I'd inevitably have to pee as I lay there anxiously trying to fall back asleep.

Such noises include a sometimes snoring husband (no names, to respect his privacy), our old lady neighbor's blaring TV that she keeps on through the night, cars honking, etc.

I put these magic little foam plugs into my ears and...silence. All night long, I get to sleep in a deep, cocoon of silence. I sleep so deeply that my body (bladder included) forgets that it has any other function to perform other than sleep.

"But Sarah," you may wonder, "what do you do about your 11-month old baby? Isn't Menachem (oh shoot, now you know who I was talking about before), like, the deepest sleeper ever?"

Thank God, Hila's got a healthy set of lungs. She makes sure that one of us wakes up when she's ready to play.

Kisses, kisses, everywhere! and The Zoo

Hila likes to kiss. If you say the word "kiss" she'll pucker up. She kisses her stuffed animals and dolls, her books, the floor...everything!

In other news, Hila started mishpachton this week. As of now it's 3 babies, a babysitter, and a mom who's in and out (it's at her house and one of the babies is hers). The situation is not ideal. It's a rather small play space--but how much room does a 10.5 month old need? The babystitter is only 18--but she's haredi (so lots of siblings) and the mom is there a lot of the time, maybe even most of the time. There's construction going on right outside the window--but the noise doesn't seem to bother Hila.

A pro: Efrat (the mom in charge) is extremely flexible. Most gans here make you pay for full time, even if you won't be coming in all the time. And I have a feeling that few would let you sign up for just two months. We've signed up for 4 afternoons a week and only this month and next (because then we go to America). She's also very nice and speaks English (though the babysitter herself does not.)

Another pro: The house is very close to the park and Mazi (the babysitter) takes Hila to the park every day. (I think one of the babies leaves earlier in the day, so it's just Hila and Efrat's 1.5 year old son.)

Another pro: It's really close to Present Tense where Menachem and I take turns doing our working. It's also close to Emek. So while it's not super close to our house, it's a nice walk and is close to everything else.

So why do I use the word "zoo" above? I'll tell you.

This week is Chanukah (Happy Chanukah!) and Efrat's other six children were home. The oldest of these seven (total) children looks like she's about 8. And it's not a large apartment.

Hila seems less overwhelmed than I was. Even Menachem seemed a little nervous about the situation.

But Hila seems happy. The kids all love her. When I drop her off the older girls come running to her with open arms, eager to play.

Efrat says that Hila just crawls around laughing and smiling and playing all day. And I believe her.

Hila does now have terrible diaper rash (probably our fault) and she isn't eating lunch there. But you know what? Hila eats a good breakfast and a good dinner. She was home today and I couldn't get her to eat lunch today either.

Meanwhile, if it doesn't rain tomorrow, my mom, Eden, Hila, and I will be going to the real zoo (the one with the animals).

I pray for rain in Israel, but only at night and in the early morning.

A mother's unoriginal perspective: My child is a genius.

Today Hila and I went to the doctor for a 10-month old checkup. To sum up, the doctor says Hila is tall, weird, and delicious.

Tall and delicious are obvious observations.

About "weird", which may sound like an odd thing for a doctor to say about a 10-month old: I told him that when I say, "It's time to eat an eggy," Hila goes to her highchair. And when I say, "Go read a book," Hila goes and reads her books. He said to this, "That is weird. That is just a little too advanced." And then he seemed really skeptical about everything I had said when I told him that she says the words "up" and "book." But she does! I promise! (Good thing I didn't also tell him that she has said carrot, eggy, what's this, thank you, and bottle--am I delusional?)

But then he said "weird" again! Is it so weird that Hila likes to get her ears checked?

So as you can see, Hila is doing great, which means we're all doing great. She's a fantastic night sleeper and takes a 1.5-3 hour morning nap. An afternoon nap doesn't always happen.

This morning's nap, for example, was insane. Three hours passed and we didn't hear a peep from her room. Usually when she wakes up she plays some music and sings. This morning, nothing. We crept in there, expecting to find her still sleeping, but she was sitting up, reading a book, quiet as a silent mouse!

Hila's newest adorable act: Yelling at strangers out the window. Really loudly. And continuously.

This Morning

Hila usually wakes up between 6:00-7:00am. I generally hear her playing or singing at the early end of that and we don't go in there until she sounds like she needs us -- sometimes 30 minutes later.

Since we both work from home, we don't get up until Hila wakes us (and then Menachem usually lets me sleep a little later...).

This morning we woke up at 8:15, on our own. Hmmmm. 8:25 comes and goes. Strange. And then 8:35.

I don't generally worry, but Hila's not one to sleep for 13 hours straight, so maybe we should just go check on her....

We quietly turn the knob of her door and we hear her sucking an empty bottle--we leave a bottle of water in her crib for her.

Who knows how long she's been up, but there's my little angel sitting up quietly, finishing her water bottle, not making a peep, letting her mommy and daddy sleep late.

She was very excited to see us. :)

Oh, but of course...

I don't believe in jinxes, per say, yet it does always seem to work out this way. Hila has not slept through the night since that last post I wrote. She wakes up at least once, but usually twice, and sometimes three or even four times in the night. She's not hungry (which is good, at least), and it usually just takes a few minutes of rocking and a few sips of water to get her to go back into her crib and fall asleep. But sometimes it takes longer.

She is in the middle of growing her first tooth--we actually see it and feel it this time--so that could be related. And she's a little sniffly and snotty, so that could be it too. Or maybe she just got bored of sleeping through the night.

In other big news, Hila, today, at nine months and one day old, finally ate from a spoon eagerly and excitedly. It was apple yogurt that did the trick. Later I pressed my luck and tried giving her cottage cheese, but she was no longer interested. We'll try again tomorrow. Otherwise, she's been eating finger foods beautifully.

And now, off to my screaming baby I go...

Hila Update

Hila is getting cuter and cuter everyday. She spits, pulls hair, knocks over garbage cans, throws food--wait, those are going to stop getting cute, aren't they?

Lately we've overcome some challenges, and we're so proud of our big girl! First, while Hila still prefers to feed herself and doesn't allow us near her with a spoon (unless it's for her to play with), she's starting to feed herself more efficiently, getting more food, and more varieties of food, into her mouth and then down into her belly. She also sometimes lets us feed her little bits of food off a fork. I think she just doesn't like mushed up food.

Some of Hila's favorite foods: chicken, tofu, peas, avocado, cheerios, bread, eggs, humus, tzfatit cheese, peanut butter, and crackers. Yes, as you can see, fruits and veggies are few...we're working on that.

The second challenge we've overcome is...SLEEP!! Yay Hila! Hila has been sleepipng through the night (7pm-7am) for at least a week. And if she does wake up, all she needs is a cuddle and maybe a bottle of water. No more night time feeds! (Though sometimes I miss her nighttime cuddles so much that Menachem has to pull me away from her door so I don't go wake her up for a hug.)

Naps are a bit more challenging because she has a more energy and likes to stand up in her crib, which is just way too exciting to pass up. A blanket sleeping bag sort of helps, but I'm convinced that she'd stand up even if we tied her lets together and glued her to the mattress.

I think it was my father who once said that everything is a phase. Bad things come to an end and good things come to an end too. And we've seen that with Hila, because she used to sleep through the night fine when she was about 5 or 6 months old.

So, we appreciate what we have, for as long as we're lucky to have it.

Foods I Like Better American

Raisins
Cornflakes
Granola bars
Ice cream
Cheap orange juice

(This is a work in progress. Next up: Foods I Like Better Israeli.)

Drinking Water with the Cap Off

(This post is dedicated to my loving husband, Menachem -- my first blog dedicee ever.)

I am always hot and dehydrated, especially since I got pregnant and gave birth. I wake up with extreme thirst (I've gotten tested for diabetes and don't have it, thank God) and spend most of the day thirsty, though often I am too thirsty to drink--no one understands that--so I get more thirsty. People think of me as a "water-drinker", probably because you will rarely see me without a water bottle by my side...but do you ever see me actually drinking from that water bottle?

Anyways, Menachem is a very good water-drinking-encourager and has been telling me for about a year now that I would drink more if I took the stupid sport's cap off my water bottle and just drank straight from the bottle. But I LOVE drinking from a sport's cap, but it's true, whenever I finally give in to my thirst and take a drink, it usually ends up being a tiny sip, which is not enough.

Recently we bought some Supersal (really Shufersal) sport's cap water bottles--I had forgotten how annoying their sport's caps are, even more annoying than Mei Eden bottles, and not nearly as wonderful as Neviot.

I can't be bothered breaking my teeth trying to get that sport's cap up--I'm a very lazy water drinker--and so now, finally, after all these months and years, I am taking off the cap and drinking straight from the bottle.

And now, I think, I'm less dehydrated.

Next step: Learn how to drink from a cup.

This is not a recipe blog...

But I'd like to share a recipe.

As you know, I do not know how to follow a recipe. Sometimes, before I start cooking or baking, I'll say, "Okay, THIS time, I'm going to follow the recipe exactly, just to see if I can." But no way am I putting in as much oil as the recipe calls for! And maybe I'll use whole wheat flour instead of white. Preheat the oven? Pish!

I started out making zucchini carrot bread for shabbat lunch, using this recipe. But my carrots were bad, so it became zucchini bread. And I used less oil, of course. And my bran cereal was dairy (WHY?!), so I put some multi grain cheerios in the blender and used those instead. Then I decided that I really didn't need another side dish, so I added some cocoa powder and chunks of bittersweet chocolate. And I baked it in a bundt pan and sprinkled powder sugar on it.

Anyways, it was okay. Sort of dry and a little bland. But that's not the recipe I wanted to share.

It's this one, that I made up and that was a success:

Roasted Rosemary Garlic Chicken
1 whole chicken
2 heads of garlic
some dried rosemary
some course sea salt

1. Clean chicken and place in your stoneware chicken cooker (WHAT?? You don't have one of these?)
2. No wait, before you do that, put some salt and the 2 garlic heads in the chicken cavity. Then put it in the cooker.
3. Rub dried rosemary all over the chicken.
4. Sprinkle with sea salt on and around the chicken.
5. Bake at 375 degrees (Fahrenheit) uncovered for 45 minutes and then for another 30 minutes covered.

(I didn't actually look at the clock, so those times are approximate. Just cut into the chicken to make sure it's really done.)

Cut up the chicken and serve with the garlic.

Enjoy!

It's nice when someone thinks you're lucky!

I'm at Cafe Cafe (worst food ever) with Hila who is sitting and playing so nicely in her stroller next to me and a pregnant woman at the table next to me just told me how lucky I am and how she hopes her baby will let her work the way Hila lets me.

Yes, it's true. I'm lucky.

Whereas in last post I expressed my frustration about Hila's moodiness/screami-ness/unwillingness to cooperate in the fields of eating and sleeping, in this post I'd like to highlight Hila's spectacularness.

Some things about Hila:

• Her favorite toys are my wallet and my cell phone. I even tried giving her her own cell phone (my old one) and she'd have none of it. She wants my phone and no broken substitute.
  
• Hila says dada constantly. And now she says di-da, which may be her version of daddy. We're not sure.
  
• Hila can pull herself to standing if she's sitting in her crib facing the railing. It's so cute and she gets so excited.
  
• Which brings me to the next thing--it's very easy to get Hila excited. She puts her hands together and bumps her torso up and down and squeals with delight.
  
• Hila gags when we give her food. She's not actually choking on it. I think she's just being dramatic and proving a point: STOP JAMMING FOOD DOWN MY THROAT!
  
• Hila makes friends wherever she goes. She's very popular.
• Hila is well-mannered, patient, funny, sweet, and smart!The other day I read her two long Dr. Suess books and she sat so patiently listening.
  
• According to The Baby Whisperer, Hila is a Spirited/Textbook baby, which to us, is the best type of baby there is. That means she's generally very easy to read and does what she's supposed to do, when she's supposed to do (Textbook), but she's got spunk and spirit along the way and likes to vocalize what she likes and dislikes what's expected of her (Spirited). And even though it means some stubbornness and sometimes lots of tears, it also means a lot of fun and excitement.
  

(And now I must get back to work since the pregnant woman next to me just came to my table and we just talked for like 1/2 hour

Happy Baby Hila: An Update

Lots has happened in the last two months. Hila is growing so fast and is quickly developing a very strong and opinionated (and yet still very happy) personality. She smiles at people, music, her toys, and mostly, her beautiful reflection in the mirror. She laughs when things are funny--she seems to have a good sense of humor! And she stares at you blankly when she is tired or bored, until you stare at her back and then a huge smile erupts onto her face. Man, she's cute.

Here's another recent tidbit about Hila. Despite her extreme happiness, she has turned into quite the little screamer. You see, two weeks ago Hila decided that she is a big girl and does not need a pacifier anymore. Despite my constant begging for her to reconsider, she has firmly made up her mind on the issue and now lives a pacifier-free lifestyle.

I didn't realize how much the pacifier pacified her until now. When it's time to sleep, nothing calms her (except lots of screaming), especially if she's teething. Sometimes we're truly at a loss for what to do.

I have two theories about why she started rejecting the pacifier:
1. She had a bad teething week (still no teeth) just when she quit the pacifier, so maybe the pacifier was hurting her gums--though that doesn't really explain why she puts basically everything but the kitchen sink/pacifier into her mouth...

2. I've been pushing Hila to eat solids with a spoon since she was 4.5 months old. I tried almost daily shoveling food into a closed mouth until I decided we all needed a break around 5.5 months. We then started up again around the time that she started rejecting her pacifier. And now, whenever I offer her a spoonful of food, a pacifier, or a bottle when she's not hungry, she purses her lips in a very firm and defininitive manner, making her point very clear that she does not want me jamming anything into her mouth. I think because her food rejection was so strong, she began to distrust the fact that I was putting other things in her mouth without her asking for it. And so now she does not let me put a pacifier into her mouth--what if it's (*GASP*) food???

Hila's got strong likes and dislikes and is extremely vocal about them. She talks and sings all day long (unless she's screaming). And even when she is screaming, if you go into her room and pick her up, she gets a gigantic smile and starts bouncing up and down...sometimes I think she's just too excited and happy about life that she doesn't want to waste it sleeping.

Once she does scream herself to sleep, however, she's a good sleeper.

Hila Loves her Mommy (and vice versa)

Sometimes I put Hila in her beloved exersaucer, sit down at my computer, and let us each play in our own worlds for a little while. She plays, sings, bangs around with the toys, and every so often, gets very, very quiet.

I look up to find her staring straight at her mama (me) with a huge grin on her face. I smile back and then get back to writing or reading or whatever it is I do to pass the time. But she's still quiet a few minutes later. I glance up, and she's still staring at me and grinning non-stop. How does that make me feel? So good.

You know what else makes me feel good? The fact that Hila now goes from 8pm-8am (and sometimes later) without being fed. She's still waking up every so often for a pacifier, but we're still so proud of her!

Now the only thing we need to work on is going to sleep before 3am.... Sounds easier than it is.

Sleeping in....

Hila has made a mistake that I'll bet she's regretting...

She slept until 8:45-9:00am for a few days in a row.

If she thinks she can get away with waking up at 6:00 or 7:00 or even 8:00, she better think again.

Like this morning she woke up around 7:00 and made it pretty clear that she didn't want to go back to bed. But I wrapped her up tightly, gave her the pacifier, and stuck her in bed with us, and didn't hear back from her til almost 9:15! (Some of these mornings she's made it til 9:00 in her own bed, but sometimes I just don't have the energy to fight the whose-bed fight.)

Menachem and I usually go to bed around 1:30 or 2:00am, so while 7:00 or 8:00 may seem like normal wakeup times for you, they're still a bit early for us night owls.

P.S. We have successfully gotten rid of the 4:00am feed, but Hila still struggles to stay asleep in those early morning hours and calls out for her pacifier at least 2-3 times (down from 4-5 times). Things are looking up. Good job, Hila!

Hila went 8.5 hours between feeds!!

(That is, at night. We wouldn't encourage that otherwise.)

I woke up this morning so proud of Hila that I forgot that I wasn't feeling well. (I'm actually not feeling great, now that I've remembered, but I do feel a lot better than the last few days.) Anyways, Hila.

We decided that the pacifier was our problem. She didn't need food anymore at 4am, but she needed her pacifier. And not just at 4am, but many, many times between 3am and 7am when she finally "woke up" from a not very deep sleep of the last four hours.

Last night I gave her paci as usual. 8pm and she was asleep. 9:30 she cried (sort or as usual) and I didn't go in. She cried for 10 minutes and fell back asleep. At 12:30am I gave her a dreamfeed (she was still asleep). We went to bed at 1:30. At 4:45 (so late!!) she cried. I let her cry for 15 minutes before giving in and giving her the pacifier. I think maybe I heard her once for a second at around 6, but I ignored it.

Now here's the amazing part. I woke up to hear her playing in her crib, not at 7. Not at 7:30. Not even at 8. BUT AT 8:45!! Of course now her 8-12-4-8-12 feeding schedule is off. BUT WHO CARES?!

I also cheated and put rice cereal in her midnight bottle. I know it's not recommended to do that. But guess who will keep doing that until we get rid of that feed? This (somewhat) well-rested mama!

Hooray for Hila!

Sick Mom / Healthy Baby

I don't usually believe in jinxes, but this is just too big of a coincidence. I wrote that post about looking up cold symptoms TOTALLY HYPOTHETICALLY. I did not, at the time, exhibit any of those symptoms.

Then, a few days ago, I felt like someone punched me in the nose. I'm assuming that it was my squirmy, jolty, four month old (a.k.a Hila Z.) who punches me and kicks me all the time all over. I don't remember it happening, but whatever. My nose kills.

Then this morning my achy, swollen nose started running a bit. Okay, fine. It hurts to blow a nose that feels broken.

And now, I feel like I have the flu. I'm all achy and stuffy. My gums itch like mad (do you get that too?) and I have a slight fever.

And the ironic thing, is that I had a doctor's appointment this morning, and I was whining to him about so many other things that I decided not to mention my broken runny nose.

On a happier note, Hila had an appointment today too (we see the doc together) and she is doing great! She weighs 6.73 kg (that's almost 15 lbs!) and does all the tricks she's supposed to do. He was very impressed with her cheerfulness and her ability to stand up (with a little help). He said she may start to crawl soon!

We're still working on getting her to sleep through the night. She's back in her crib for the whole night (!!!) and sleeps usually from 8pm to 7am. In that time, however, she cries for her pacifier about five times and wakes up to eat around midnight and around 4am. Sometimes it's hard to put her back to bed at 4am.

Sorry I didn't warn you, Hila Bila, but tonight we're getting rid of the 4am feed. We got it down from 120ml to 90ml to 60ml and then to 30ml. And tonight is the big night when we give her 0ml.

You'll do fine, Hila -- you're such a big girl! And mommy needs her sleep!

Google Diagnosis

I'm surprised that Google doesn't have a feature where you plug in your symptoms and it gives you a diagnosis.

(type) Symptoms runny nose, chills, achiness
(enter)

"You have a cold."

Still Waiting for the Big Sleep

I made a mistake. It's not irreversible, but it's going to take work to undo it and I'm not looking forward to it.

When Menachem was in miluim, Hila slept in my bed with me every night. It was at the height of my breastfeeding (which has now come to an abrupt end -- another story for another time), I missed Menachem, we were at my parents' and their porta-crib is annoying, and it just made sense to cuddle up with my baby.

Now, a week has passed since we've been back home and Hila refuses to sleep in her crib. Sometimes (if we're lucky) she'll fall asleep in it, but only for a few hours. And then she'll wake up crying and will not let me leave her alone.

When we do try and leave her room she reaches out for us and looks at us pleadingly not to leave her in her crib. And then she cries. So...I take her out and plop her back into bed with us. And Menachem and I don't sleep so well when she's in bed with us.

Maybe there was a night or two where we convinced her to stay in her room, but it wasn't with her -- then regular, now not -- long stretches of sleep, easy feeds, and easy drifting right back to sleep.

And that's another thing. Hila has been so easy overall, that I thought that by now we'd be sleeping through the night. But she still wakes up every 3,4, or 5 hours to eat. (About a month ago she was sleeping 6,7, or 8 hours at a time and then plus more after a feed -- but not anymore.)

And while Meanchem or my mom (when she's around) both have offered to take night feeds, I end up waking up anyways (Menachem never hears her) and stay awake until I know that she's back asleep. So what's the point of having a third person wake up? I may as well just feed her myself. (And as of last week I was nursing her for every feed anyways, so I wouldn't let anyone else feed her.)

We're not in favor of co-sleeping, but what do you do if your baby insists on it? We need to toughen up, right?

(P.S. While I was nursing I never felt like Hila was getting enough food during the day alone and now that I'm not nursing, Hila is all of a sudden rejecting bottles after only half a feed (and not making up for it later). So only when I know that she's eating enough during the day, will I then be ready to push her to sleep through the night. But for now, I think she still needs those night time calories.)

Hila is cute

I'm holding a mirror in front oh Hila and she is smiling and laughing at the new friend she's just made! This may possibly be the cutest she's ever been. Maybe she's so happy because she finally sees how adorable and perfect she is. She finally gets why we're crazy about her.

Do you think she really thinks that its another person?

NOTE: She is going crazy! She is laughing and talking and sqealing and kicking. For a long time! I'd get the camera but I need to keep holding the mirror (I'm typing with one hand...a skill I've gotten to be extremely good at!). And the camera needs to be charged. But I do wish I could capture this....