8 (eight, osiem, ocho, huit) months

Penny-pot:

Sweet girl, you've got mama and daddy running around in circles after you this month. You've pulled so many new tricks out of your hat. You continue to be such a joy to us, you always make your needs known and there is so little guesswork when it comes to you.

Penny's new skills this month:

• Food: because two of the weeks this month we were battling some sickies, there hasn't been a whole lot of new foods introduced. She loves steamed pumpkin and asparagus. She's tried a bit of home made jam, cucumbers, bananas (still not a huge fan), she's played with a spaghetti noodle but didn't quite connect that it could be eaten as well.
• She started with scooting, then graduated to a few crawl-steps at a time, and now we're in full on crawl-sprint. She's even faster when uninhibited by clothes.
• She pulls herself up onto everything - she insists on being Queen of the Mountain. No matter how tall or short, she's got to be on top of it. I tested just putting a piece of paper on the floor and no surprise, Penny bee-lined to it and had to land that cute belly on top of it.
• In the last few days she's even shocked us when she simply chooses to let go.. luckily, that big fluffy butt of hers pads her fall ;)
•  She now loves to crawl around in the bath tub and splash with her hands. 
• In the middle of the month, her bottom two teeth broke though. I was so shocked because she didn't give us any indication that they were coming. She wasn't fussy or overly drooly. One afternoon, I let her taste some of our home made spiced pear jam from my finger and I felt something sharp.. I checked again and there were definitely some little white caps in there! It took about another two weeks for them to be visible above the gum line.
• Her sleep has varied a lot this month. In retrospect, I should have guessed that her teeth were bothering her. Normally she likes to sleep between mama and daddy, but doesn't really need either of our warmth. The couple weeks leading up to her teeth breaking through, she needed to be snuggled up to me or sleeping on top of me (which hasn't been a requirement from her for a very long time - I usually pull her onto me in the early morning for my sake). Now that her teeth have broken through and we seem to be in a lull between the next set, she's back to needing a bit of her own space. 
• You  might not see it in pictures, but her hair is starting to come in a lot more.. Maybe by her birthday I'll get to put it up with cute little hair clips?? Here's hoping...

We took her to a local park and found a swing set.. just couldn't resist! She had so much fun.

You might be noticing the super cute hat upon her noggin. Her crafty babcia whipped it up for her, it's a little giraffe hat. Just need to find the perfect buttons for its eyes.

I'm so especially excited for the coming months because the holidays are coming, which means getting to see the look of wonder in her eyes when she sees the Christmas tree lit for the first time, getting to try Thanksgiving turkey and getting to play with all of her cousins.

Barlean's Review and Giveaway!

Some major growing up has been going on at The Pierogie Mama! Today I am hosting my very first review and giveaway. I get to talk to you about Barlean's Omega Swirl and Flax Oil - one of the ways that I make sure that I'm getting the proper amount of Omega 3's into my diet. Want to learn more about the importance of Omega 3's? Check out this truly adorable video!

Barlean's was first recommended to me by my midwife, and I found their gel caps at my local Fred Meyer in the organic vitamin section. I tried these with hesitation - I had taken fish oil in the past and was seriously grossed out by the fishy smell coming from the bottle and from my pores later. With the Barlean's gel caps, I was so pleasantly surprised!  When you twist open the bottle, you're greeted with a citrus scent, which reminds me of squeezing lemon onto my fish chips! And I'm also sure you're dying to know - I never felt like I was sweating fish.  Even for someone who does have difficulty swallowing larger pills, these gel capsules are very easy to take. More recently I've gotten the chance to try the Omega Swirl (which comes in many flavors).  This is in liquid form so it's even easier for those of us who have difficulty with pills. Here's another cute video...

When I squeezed the Omega Swirl onto a spoon for the first time, I found myself humming "just a spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down..." And again, Barlean's has proved me wrong. The Key Lime flavor was actually yummy! Would you believe me if I told you that I look forward to taking this each and every morning? It's the truth!  When Penelope was born and in my bleary alertness in the first couple weeks, there were a few days that went by that I'd forget to take my supplements. One of her eyelids had a tendency for being dry and flakey, which I was treating with Aquafor several times per day. I soon found a correlation between whenever I was good about taking my fish oil supplement, the irritation went away. I talked to our pediatrician about it, and she agreed that taking fish oil daily would help with Penelope's skin as well. The other supplement that I've become more knowledged about since having Penelope is flax seed oil. Barlean's prides itself on having the freshest flax seed oil around, with a proprietary press that extracts the oil from the flax seeds without damaging the product. Their Flax Oil is also organic and non-GMO certified (this is important, folks!! Read more about why you need to know about GMO's here) Now, to be completely fair, I also tried the flax seed oil straight via tablespoon and I wouldn't liken the taste towards "yummy." It truly had a very fresh grain taste to it. The consistency is a little less viscous than olive oil but it looks very similar, and can be incorporated into many different recipes without anyone being the wiser, like salads, cookies or soups . I've mixed it in with my cereal, oatmeal and cream of wheat. For a list of recipes that you can use any of Barlean's organic oils with, check them out here. You might find yourself wondering, what is the difference between Fish oil and Flax Oil?

• Both provide Omega-3 fatty acids that many of us do not have enough of in our diets. To get it the old fashioned way, one should eat oily fish (salmon and mackerel are good examples) several times per week, which is not feasible for many families. Getting your daily requirement of Omega-3's is so easy with Barlean's Omega Swirl or Flax Oil. 
• According to the Barlean's website, Flax Oil and Fish Oil have the following mutual benefits: Heart Health, Cholesterol Levels Already Within a Healthy Range, Joint Mobility & Bone Density, Energy & Endurance, Blood Glucose Levels Already Within a Healthy Range and Skin, Hair & Nail Health. 
• Flax Oil is a great way for vegetarians to get their Omega-3's.
• Flax Oil is a natural lactogenic - meaning it can help increase your milk supply while breastfeeding.

Ultimately, you'll find that both oils have many similarities but a few key points will help you choose which is best for you.  

Big, Scary Disclaimer:  I am not a health professional! Please run any of your questions by your doctor!  

Happy Disclaimer: Barlean's provided products for me to sample so that I could post my review to you, however all opinions expressed are my own. I promise you that I only give stellar reviews to products or services that I really love and think my readers will love too. 

 

Bottom line:

I love the Barlean's brand because while Penelope is still relying on me for her nutrition, it's of the utmost importance that I can incorporate organic, GMO-free, and simply healthy ingredients into my diet. Barlean's goes through a lot of trouble to get ingredients of the highest quality and my family deserves no less. Another (albeit small) point is that Barlean's is based out of little old Ferndale, WA - a stone's throw from my college town. I love supporting local whenever I can.  Now for the fun part! Barlean's sent me a bottle of the Omega Swirl and Flax Oil to try out - now you get a chance to try it out too! One lucky winner will have a choice of either the Omega Swirl or Flax Oil.  Check out the giveaway details and enter via the Rafflecopter window below! You can also sign up for a free sample and check out their store for more of their great products. Fine Print: This giveaway is open to US residents only. One winner will be notified within 48 hours of the end of the contest and will have one week to respond with their mailing address. Good luck!

This giveaway is over - thanks to all for entering! 

Keep an eye out for more Pierogie Mama Giveaways.

Halloweenie

Happy (late) Halloween everyone!-

Here's Lil' P in her very first Halloween costume - an octopus. Her costume was super easy.. stuffed Baby Legs (another Seattle owned company!) and socks, a long sleeved onesie and a felt hat that I sewed for the occasion.  I originally was planning on making her a pierogie costume, but I eventually decided that no one would get it..so many another year ;) I already have next year's costume in the memory bank though.

Halloween was pretty uneventful.. as in, really uneventful. We didn't have a single trick or treater..so Penny didn't even get to show off her costume to anyone! Thank goodness for picture texting and digital cameras because otherwise this entire event would have gone undocumented.

Penny's costume is a simple long sleeved onesie, an octopus head felt hat with eyes glued on and a skirt of Babylegs. I attached the legs to a ribbon waistband and tied it around her cute tubby tummy.



After all that playing around and dressing up,
our princess was close to turning into a pumpkin
so we called it a night.











We also did a pumpkin photo shoot a few weeks ago.. My husband is beginning to wonder why I love taking pictures of our daughter naked.. and my response is that this is the very short period of time in her life where it is appropriate and cute :) I just love her chubby rolls!

A year ago (October 2011)

Thinking back to what we were up to a year ago is sort of my way of always keeping life in perspective. And October of 2011 was a serious pivot point in our lives.

For the first part of the month we took an 11 day "babymoon."  We hadn't really planned it in advance, but took advantage of our stockpile of airmiles and found a great deal on a Mediterranean cruise. We had enough airmiles to fly first class - to say it was amazing would be an understatement. I was in the beginning of my second trimester and sitting was becoming a little uncomfortable sometimes.  On Trans-Atlantic flights, the seats are set up to recline far enough to be a bed. Bliss for this then-pregnant mama. We flew to Barcelona, hung out for a few days and then took a week long cruise along the Mediterranean down Italy's west coast. Our ports included Florence, Rome, Naples and Palma de Majorca. Our favorite by far was Naples, because we visited the archaeological site of Pompeii and took a drive down the absolutely gorgeous Amalfi coast to the town of Sorrento. I was 17 weeks pregnant and just crossed the bridge to where food tasted good again.. Just in time! You can read more about our trip here. Oh, and my favorite facebook status from the entire trip: "While waiting for the first leg of our flight, which is from Seattle to LA, I asked Adam if he thinks we'll get food in first class on such a short flight. He says "I don't know but I certainly expect an ice sculpture." Ahhh, the life.

During our trip I felt Pierogie's kicks for the first time! They felt like soft little waves, similar to what you feel underwater at the pool.

We found out that our little Pierogie is... a girl! I was so ecstatic! Our chinese gender chart pointed towards us having a boy, and of course I was going to be happy either way, but I wanted a little girl deep down in my heart. Our family was going through a bit of a baby boom and out of about 10 kids born, Penny was one of two girls.

On Halloween Adam started his new job and moved 3 hours away from home. Our plan was for me to continue working at my job until I took maternity leave. It just didn't make sense to quit a good job half way through my pregnancy and try to find a new job in the Seattle area when ultimately I planned on being a stay at home mom. Adam alternated his weeks staying with different family members and drove home on weekends to be with the dogs and I, so that we could finish working on our house. It wasn't easy, but we both saw the long term benefits of going this route so we stuck it out.

Amber

I've decided that Penelope is one of those chronic teethers. She had her first episodes of teething pain back in July (at four months old), but we knew that she was nowhere near pushing those chompers out.  At almost 8 months old, she has finally sprouted her first pearlies (post to come soon!). A few months ago, my parents visited our family in Poland and the main item I asked for them to bring back was a teething amber necklace for Penny.

Although I have personally grown up with amber all around me, when I became a part of the Natural Parenting community I read about many parents using amber during a baby's teething phase to help ease the pain naturally. I began to wonder how does a stone help with that?

Well for starters, amber is petrified resin, not a stone. It warms to the touch fairly quickly and is comfortable to wear for babies, which might be a part of the reason why they don't mind wearing it so much. Amber has been used as a medicinal property for as long as history has been recorded. Peoples from around the world have used amber in various ways, all to cure ailments of the body.

I personally have grown up around amber because of my Polish heritage. Baltic amber is lauded to be the best in the world and the Poles use a lot of amber in their jewelry and art. My mother's house has several gorgeous vases which present Polish amber wrapped in curvaceous silver. Her jewelry chest also features amber of varying colors and designs, from the common knotted rope to large stones in broaches (yes, she has broaches) and rings.


Amber presents itself in different colors based on several factors, including what kind of resin it is made from, degree of oxidation, inclusions inside and how it has weathered over the few million years. Different shades of amber depict their healing power and therefore quality. If you're not looking to use amber medicinally, then you've got a broad range of amber colors to choose from - ranging from yellow to sage green, to even black. Most commonly it is light or dark brown in color, clear to fully opaque. It can have flecks of organic material (read: fossils!) inside.

Part of the amber color range -  source

One of my favorite birthday gifts from Adam is a little necklace with a droplet of honey amber, which looks like milky honey. It has a little honey bee and flower charm. My niece, Pammy, who is five, once asked me "Auntie B, why is there a bee on your necklace?" She's so damn cute.

Although there are several hundred different variations of amber cataloged in the world, Baltic amber is considered to be the most valuable.  Baltic amber is sought after the most for medicinal use due to its high concentration of succinic acid. Our bodies naturally produce succinic acid in the Krebs Cycle (I'm not even going to pretend to completely understand how the Krebs Cycle works, or attempt to explain it - read about it here.) which is a part of our metabolism. However, the little bit of succinic acid that we produce is automatically used for daily function. Adding a little bit of extra succinic acid into our systems has been linked to many health benefits, such as pain relief. The FDA has approved succinic acid in foods as an additive or supplement, preservatives, cosmetics, you name it. However, second to producing succinic acid ourselves, absorbing it via amber is the most natural way to get additional succinic acid.

Like I mentioned before, Penny had a few unhappy episodes prior to wearing the necklace full time.  Overall she is a happy and very easy going baby, so when she cries or fusses I know that there is something really bothering her. With the amber necklace, she has shown almost no signs of discomfort related to teething.  Adam and I were sort of reserved about it, figured "hey, if it works it works!" But lately, now that Penny is in full teething mode - I am a 100% believer.  There have been two times where at the end of the day, I look back and think "wow, she was really fussy today.." and realize that her amber necklace wasn't put on after bath time the night before. I really can't say that it's coincidence.

What do you think, does wearing amber really make teething better? 

Does/did your baby wear amber?