Where has the Year Gone?!

Wow, so much has happened in the past two months. Bodhi celebrated his first Christmas, New Years, and turned ONE YEAR OLD today!!! My man Bodhi has been such a wonderful light in my life this past year. I never truly realized how powerful and life changing motherhood could be.
I want to recount some of the highlights of this year so I can always remember them :)

January 19th 2009 - Bodhi's Birth!!
I will always look back fondly at my birth experience (although I would have loved to experience a home birth, Daddy was NOT having that and I was ok with that as long as I could be with my midwife). I started labor on January 17th but then it stopped. On the 19th I called Susan because, at this point, I was 9 days overdue. We went in and induction began. It didn't take long for the contractions to start. I was in labor for 12 hours before Mr. Bodhi arrived. The delivery was peaceful and joyful. The first thing I remember about Bodhi are his floppy ears and how tiny he was....6lbs. 13oz. He smelled so sweet as a newborn and I loved his little cries that sounded like he was saying "ah-huh, ah-huh." What an incredible day!

Bodhi's Blessing
I firmly believe that my pregnancy was a gift from the universe (and thanks to Acupuncture). We tried for so long and when I finally went to meet Aiya, who has recently become my Guru, I was pregnant a week later. Explain that?! After Bodhi was born we took him to meet The Mother and to have him blessed by Aiya. It was a spectacular day and I will take to heart the advice that Aiya gave us for Bodhi: He told to teach Bodhi that there are many paths to God...not just one. He told us to take him to Church if we want, take him to a Temple, teach him to meditate, pray, be in nature, etc. I loved this advice because we are not ones to feel that God only exists in this faith or that....God is in everything and that is proven every time I stare at my son.

To Be Continued (So many highlights!!).....

Gobble Gobble Gobble!!

Hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving! We celebrated at our place and had a wonderful feast of both traditional and vegetarian fare. Bodhi wore his sweet little bib and onesie that he got from Sitty (so cute - has a Jack Russell in a Pilgrim suit:). Bodhi enjoyed garden vegetables, pumpkin pie, and some bites of roll. He is eating SO MUCH lately!
We enjoyed hanging out with cousins Kaylie, Noah, and Xander, as well as Aunt Kari & Uncle Justin. It was great having the family all together at my place for a change.
We have started a new Thanksgiving tradition and it is one I hope will teach Bodhi about compassion and loving our animal friends. We sponsored a turkey (Rhonda is her name) from the Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glenn, NY. Our sponsorship will help feed Rhonda and provide her with vet care. We got a little card in the mail with her photo, her interests, and her favorite foods. I will save this for Bodhi and we will do this every year now. I think it'll be awesome to visit the sanctuary when he is old enough to understand - he can see all the turkeys that he is helping to save.
Other events of the Thanksgiving week included a trip to the temple in Rochester. It was a very big day for John and I. We love to have Bodhi exposed to all the wonderful energy at the temple. Bodhi seems to really love the music and even made friends with two of the children there.
Soon I will have a month off to spend with Mr. B. We will have lots of time to cuddle, sing, dance, wrap gifts, play with new toys, and love on Gracie. We put our Christmas tree up the other day and Bodhi is mesmerized with the lights. I love watching him experience all these new things. Motherhood is truly amazing.

My Little Worm

For those who did not get to see the little worm on Halloween, here he is.....

We Have A Comedian In the House!

Bodhi is a funny, funny man. He is cracking this Momma up more and more each day. As of late, his newest comedy show involves growling. Yes, growling. I'm not quite sure where he picked this up. Perhaps it's the pirate on Sprout that he sees. Maybe it's my rendition of "Where the Wild Things Are" or it could be that he doesn't know yet that he is a human baby and not a baby monster. Either way, it is really really cute. I didn't think it could get any cuter than the "ooooh" face that he enjoys making at anyone that will look his way. Alas, Bodhi never ceases to surprise his momma.

Bodhi "foodie" Farris

Bodhi is becoming quite the foodie and developing a sophisticated palate with tastes for things like lentils & carrots and those fun little puffy things that melt in his mouth :) It has finally dawned on me that I can be as creative with Bodhi's food as I am with my own. So, this weekend Mr. B is in for a treat (hopefully he will feel that way!). I'm going to make him a frozen banana, blueberry, coconut water, yogurt, & flax oil smoothie. Mmmmm. I'm also going to give lentils & brown rice a try, along with avocado & banana. The first time I ever made him something homemade (carrots w/ cinnamon), he made funny faces at me and refused to eat it. That was at 4 months old. Then at 6 months I tried mashed potatoes. He threw up. I thought they tasted good. Go figure. Now at 9 months he is gobbling up the lentils, carrots, & cinnamon that I made for him. Must be the Lebanese in him coming through!
I've purchased a few neat things to help me along my babyfood making journey. Jillians Drawers is a store in Ithaca that sells all kinds of cool baby gear and it is all eco-friendly. I bought the baby cubes to use as storage containers and they are the perfect size. If you want to check them out, here they are:
http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/products/forbaby/feeding/foodprepandstorage/babycubes
So it should be a fun-filled food weekend for us all. Eat up Mr. B!

Things That Scare Us

We've been lucky - really lucky - as Bodhi rarely cries. Sometimes I'll ask him, "Don't you ever want to cry?" I'm sure later on I'll kick myself for writing this. Someday when he throws the HUGEST public tantrum EVER, I'll remember bragging about how my kid doesn't cry. Anyways, he doesn't cry EXCEPT when he gets scared. That's what I'm discovering. The newest freaky thing in Bodhi's world is the flushing of a toilet. Nana and I met for one of our workday lunches and were shopping around a bit at JCPenny. It was time for a potty break for all of us. Bodhi was all smiles and happy boy and all that jazz until....dun dun dun.....the TOILET FLUSH!!!! Oh doom! Mr. Bodhi's lower lip popped out & he looked at me as if to say, "Holy Shit Mom, what WAS that?!" and then tears. I, although sad for him, could not help but giggle and think about how crazy the world around him must seem. All this new stuff. Taking it all in for the first time. It realy is an amazing process. So, I can add that to the list of fears thus far, along with big Physician's Assistants (I'm scared of them too), the sound of a saw, and a select few strange people that he has met. What a funny kid :)

From Co-Sleeping to Bed Sharing??

(Daddy and Bodhi co-sleeping)

I have been co-sleeping with Bodhi in some form or another since he was born. There have been a few occasions where he has slept in the bed with me (it was freezing or he wanted to cuddle, etc.) but never a nightly thing. The issue of co-sleeping has raised a few eyebrows along the way but bed sharing is a whole other game. I decided to co-sleep because I like the research I did on Attachment Parenting and the benefits of sleeping with your baby. What I'm finding from my own experience is that I could not do it any other way. My experience has been this: Bodhi is the last person I see before falling asleep and the first I see when I wake up. I get to hear his giggles in the night or reach over and hold his hand when he or I (let's be honest here) gets scared or has a bad dream. We often both start laughing in the morning when we first make eye contact....it's actually quite a blissful way to start my day. I've thought about having Bodhi sleep solo in his own room. I'm certainly not opposed to it and don't think it is wrong in any way to have your child sleep solo. I just don't think I can do it - I'd be up to check on him multiple times a night and don't think I could sleep as soundly as I do now. What I'm up against now, however, is the fact that Mr. Bodhi is quickly outgrowing his nice little co-sleeper, meaning our next step MAY be bed sharing. I worry - will I roll over onto him? Will I smother him with the blanket? Will I elbow him in the face? I'm sure these are the same concerns that others who aren't into bed sharing have. According to a great deal of research, none of these things are likely to happen if the proper set up is made. So, perhaps I'll be in search of a bigger bed soon, along with a guard rail and lighter bedding. As much as it is tempting to put Bodhi into his crib in his room and re-claim my bed for myself, I would be missing out on all the joy that co-sleeping has brought thus far. We aren't quite ready for bed sharing but I'll let you know how it goes when and if we get there! Until then, Bodhi and I will be continuing our nightly slumber party side by side.