Parenting | A Sugar-Mamma's Thoughts: A blog by Beth Kickert

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The best toys…

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

The best toys are not ones that you buy at the store and make a lot of noise. The best toys are not ones that cost a lot of money. The best toys are not the ones you (as the parent) choose as your favorite.

No, the best toys are what you would least likely expect them to be. They are items that you already have on hand or items that cost little. Some of Mikayla’s favorite toys have been things like pots and spoons or magazines or containers of Puff’s. This weekend we spent time with some dear friends in Tallahassee (see this post for more information) and Mikayla found a new toy…a laundry basket. Who knew laundry baskets could be so much fun! She liked to put things in it and then promptly take them out. She enjoyed being dragged around their apartment while sitting in the laundry basket.

Then she got the bright idea to stand up behind the laundry basket and try her hand at walking up and down the hallway pushing it. She was really moving. Check her out:

How cute is she? Let’s take a poll…will she be walking by her first birthday (April 28)?

Tags: Growing up, Mikayla, toys, vacation, walking
Posted in Life, Parenting |

My Little Chef

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Mikayla apparently takes after me and loves to cook. Take a look for yourself. Note the level of concentration on her face.

2010-03-02 Chef, spaghetti 016

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We also had our first go at spaghetti this week. I must say, she stayed cleaner than some of my kiddos at school when she ate it.

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Sunday marked Mikayla’s 10 month birthday. Hard to believe 10 months have already passed. Check out this, this and this post for past giraffe growth pictures. Here she is at 10 months (note it is getting harder and harder to get her to lay still long enough to snap the photos).

She is now standing for long periods and scooting along furniture. She has even gone from sitting to standing a couple of times. We fear walking is in our near future! "Talking" up a storm too. And even dancing a little, if you could call it that! Here are a couple more videos of my Little Munchkin!

Sorry, this post got longer than I had intended. Hope you enjoyed!

Tags: chef, Growing up, Mikayla
Posted in Life, Parenting |

She’s perfect…

Monday, February 1st, 2010

…even the doctor agrees! We already knew that she was perfect, but Dr. F. confirmed it this morning at her nine month check up. Those were his words…"she’s perfect"! Here are her nine month stats:

Height – 27 inches, up 7 inches from birth. Pops, I think we have a ball player on our hands. She has always been in the "above average" category for height.

Weight – 17lbs 5oz, up almost 10 pounds from birth (she was 7lbs 7oz in the hospital). This has been an up and down battle with us, but she is right at the 25th percentile. Dr. F. says that is great, so we will take it!

Head – 43.5cm…we are moving on up. Her head has actually just made it on the average growth curve, she has always been below average in this category.

MLK has grown so much in these past nine months, I can’t believe she is only 3 months away from her first birthday! She has accomplished so much. Here are a few of her latest tricks.

MLK can crawl. If you have followed this blog at all you already knew that, but she is really moving these days. All over the place.
Pulling up. Again, she has been doing this for some time now, but has really perfected it in the last few weeks.
Standing on her own for around 20 seconds. It won’t be long now before she is walking.
Feeding herself. She actually prefers this method much more than us feeding her. She uses her hands (we will work on manners later) and makes a big mess, but she is doing great.
One tooth and one more on the way. This has caused quite the battle at night time, but we are managing.
Mimicking. She is at a really fun age right now because she tries to do everything we do. If we click our tongue, she attempts to click hers. If we wave our arms around, she will do the same. It is so cute!

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Snow Day – In case you didn’t get the memo, BG got a ton of snow this past weekend. A ton for us anyway. We got between 6 and 8 inches. It was beautiful. MLK wasn’t a huge fan of the snow, but really all she can do at this point is sit in it. Maybe next year. Here are a few pictures from our snow adventures, but please excuse her "snow suit". It is a Snoopy Halloween costume and it was the warmest thing we could find for her. She showed a little resemblance to Randy from A Christmas Story, but at least she was warm!

Tags: crawling, Family, Growing up, Mikayla, snow
Posted in Parenting |

Chatty Cathy

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Sometimes we just like to talk…that’s all!

Tags: Growing up, Mikayla
Posted in Life, Parenting |

I Have A Dream

Monday, January 18th, 2010

In case you haven’t heard today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. A day we set aside to remember the awesomeness that was MLK. He was a powerful, yet peaceful man who left a huge impact on our world. He had such an impact on my husband and I we decided to name our daughter after him, Mikayla Lillian Kickert. Here she is sporting her MLK shirt and marching (by marching I mean riding very snuggled up in her stroller) with us in the annual MLK march/service in BG interspersed with some MLK’s most impressionable quotes (in my mind anyway).

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.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

Mikayla can’t yet grasp the prophetic significance that her name holds, but my dream is that one day she will. With that being said, here is my "I have a dream" speech for my daughter:

I have a dream that Mikayla will not look at the color of people’s skin, but rather their true being. Befriend who she wants and love everyone, even those she hates.

I have a dream that Mikayla will treat everyone as equals.

I have a dream that my daughter will grow up in a world that is loving and non-judgmental. A world that embraces everyone regardless of race, class or ethnicity.

I have a dream that Mikayla will succeed in her life dreams doing and becoming whatever she chooses.

I have a dream that my daughter will find a man that makes her as happy as Ben makes me. I dream that she will be blessed with a loving family.

I have a dream that Mikayla will always have food, clothing and shelter to meet her basic needs.

I have a dream that Mikayla will embrace her namesake and strive to make the dreams of Reverend MLK come alive in her world.

I have a dream that Mikayla will live in a world where she is free to make her own choices and not be ridiculed because of them.

I have a dream that Mikayla will always feel safe and loved.

I have a dream that Mikayla will be open minded and adventurous.

I have a dream that Mikayla will keep her innocence and inquisitiveness her entire life.

I have a dream that Mikayla will be a nurturer, lover and helper.

I have a dream that Mikayla will not only embrace the characteristics and qualities of MLK, but also those of Jesus.

I have a dream that Mikayla will love the poor, embrace the outcasts, and rescue the marginalized.

I have a dream today!

I have many more dreams for my daughter, but these are the ones that come to mind this evening. My speech is not quite as powerful as MLK’s was, but there it is.

Tags: dream, love, Mikayla, MLK
Posted in Parenting |

MLK Update

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day, Mikayla’s namesake. Check back later for pictures and comments about this and how we celebrated. But for tonight, here are some recent pictures of our little MLK.

If you recall this post, you will be able to see how much MLK has really grown in 8.5 months.

Mom got MLK this little zebra at a consignment sale, and while she isn’t quite ready to ride on her own, she is enjoying it. Even Shiloh wanted in on the action! 2010-January 070

MLK was very eager to help me fold and put away the laundry yesterday. She was a great helper!

Tags: Family, Growing up, Mikayla
Posted in Life, Parenting |

Fun Mikayla Pictures

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

Mikayla is now 8+ months old, crawling, pulling up and one tooth in her mouth. Here are some recent pictures of my little lady.

Here she is sporting a new outfit from her Great Aunt Dawn while lounging in her bean bag from Aunt Christa, Uncle Kris, and Cousins Tyson and Tanner. She loves it!

Ben took this photo the other day. Napping has become somewhat non-existent in the last week. She has never been a great napper (unlike her mommy, I can nap with the best of them), but in the past week she has refused to lay down for a morning nap. If we can manage to get her down, she just sits in the crib and plays or cries. We are lucky if she sleeps for 15-20 minutes. The other morning she fell asleep while drinking her bottle, so Ben laid her in the floor. This is what she looked like.

2010-January 052

Bath Time Fun! Mikayla has gotten to where she really enjoys playing in the tub. She likes to crawl around a lot, so this presents some problems, but we are managing. She really likes to chew on her Rubber Ducky that determines the proper temperature of the water.

Mikayla’s hair is at a funny stage right now. She basically has two layers. A long dark layer that she was born with and has grown for 8 months and then a bottom light layer that is just starting to come in. It almost looks like she has a comb over because of the differences. Ben thinks we should cut it, I am voting no. I mean if we cut it, we can no longer give her funny hair dos like the one below during bath time!

Tags: bath, Family, Growing up, Mikayla, nap
Posted in Parenting |

My growing girl

Friday, January 8th, 2010

It seems like almost everyday Mikayla “learns” something new. One week it was how to pull out the electrical outlet covers (if you missed that video on Ben’s blog check it out here). Another week it was moving from the “worm” to actually crawling. It never ceases to amaze me all the things she knows how to do.

Most recently Mikayla has learned to clap her hands. It is so stinking cute (I will admit I am a little biased, but what mom isn’t?). Add in her cute personality with the clapping and she is just the cutest thing ever! I can’t tell you how many times she does something and Ben and I look at her and say, “Could she be any cuter?”

In addition to clapping, she is pulling up on things like crazy. She has been doing this for some time now, but is pretty consistent with getting up and down at this point. She even “cruises” along after she pulls up a bit. It is crazy. Growing like a weed I tell, growing like a weed!

Tags: Ben, Growing up, Mikayla, videos
Posted in Parenting |

It’s official!

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Our little (although not so little anymore) is on the move…the official move..she is a real crawler! In this post, I mentioned that she was doing a glorified worm. Today however, she made it official and actually began the crawling movement. And like any good parent, I was so excited about her crawling, that I failed to get it on video or camera…awesome! She has already found the cd/DVD shelves and torn them apart! We are in for a rude awakening…is it time to start baby proofing yet?

Tags: crawling, Growing up, Mikayla
Posted in Parenting |

Making Your Own Baby Food

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

We have been very intentional with the way we have been raising Mikayla. We have tried to buy as little new stuff as possible and recycle old stuff instead (in other words we have made or borrowed as much stuff as possible). Part of this is because we are what some people would refer to as “cheap”, but most of it is we saw how quickly children cycle through toys and clothes, leaving them in excellent condition when they were through. We couldn’t justify buying brand new stuff when we could borrow from family and friends items that were gently used.

We have also been using cloth diapers since Mikayla was around 1-2 months old. Despite the fact that they are super cute and cheaper than disposables in the long run, they are much easier on the environment than disposables. I have loved every minute of it!

Speaking of “green” things, when we found out we were pregnant we decided that we would make our own baby food. Call us crazy, but we knew we could make it work. It began as a money saver, and has now turned into much more. We make our own food because we feel it is healthier for our daughter. Making your own baby food is easy as 1-2-3 (and maybe 4).

Wash, peel and chop vegetables (omit this step if you are using frozen veggies).
Place in steamer basket (we have on that fits in our saucepan) and steam until soft (can easily break with a spoon).
Place steamed veggies in food processor and puree until desired consistency (pretty runny at first). If too thick then add leftover water from saucepan in processor.
Place pureed food in ice cube trays, cover and freeze until hardened. Once frozen transfer to ziplock bags, label and store in freezer. Frozen baby food can be stored for up to 8 weeks. We mix and match our food as needed, pulling out a cube or two from several bags for each feeding. **Don’t forget the all important rule of introducing only one new food at a time for a couple of feedings to determine allergies.**

When I first began making my own baby food I searched the internet high and low for advice, recipes and tips, and of course talked to some friends who were doing the same. Here are some helpful websites and books I have found.

Annabel Karmel has some great books with high quality recipes and detailed instructions. She also has a pretty good website and books for recipes when cooking for toddlers. She has some great ideas!
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ This website is filled with recipes and valuable information when making your own baby food.
http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-to-make-your-own-baby-food_1401482.bc
http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4309.htm
http://www.chow.com/stories/11562
http://homecooking.about.com/od/specificfood/a/babyfooddos.htm (quick bulleted list of do’s and don’ts)

Mikayla even seems to think it tastes pretty good!

Tags: Cooking, Mikayla
Posted in Parenting |