A happy baby turns one
'Time has gone by so fast.'
Maren Jacquelin-Anna Riedemann played a tune for her parents on her xylophone.Brainerd Dispatch/Jennifer Stockinger
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CROSBY -- When Maren Jacquelin-Anna Riedemann of Crosby gets excited her grandma and grandpa call her "The Birdie."
That's because when Maren gets excited she flaps her hands and arms like a bird. Maren gets stimulated about many things, including seeing her grandparents as well as the many adventures in life, such as getting her hands on the TV remote control.
Maren, the daughter of Ted and Erin Riedemann of Crosby, will turn one on New Year's Day. She was the first baby born in 2004 and she was born at the Cuyuna Range Medical Center in Crosby.
Maren's first year of life has been typical. She smiled for the first time when she was a month old, she rolled over at four months, crawled at eight months and will walk any day now.
Maren is the Riedemann's first child and the first year of their daughter's life has been a joy.
"She has been such a good baby," said Erin. "Time has gone by so fast. She is always happy and is always smiling. She's only crabby when she is teething."
Brainerd Dispatch/Jennifer Stockinger
Maren got her first tooth at seven months and since then three more came in and two more are beginning to poke through her gums.
"Ma-ma" was Maren's first word. She also can say daddy and "ba-ba" for bottle.
Maren started to sleep through the night at three weeks. She sleeps usually from 7:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. straight. Maren also is a good eater. She will even eat spinach. Her favorite foods include, chicken, macaroni and cheese, bananas and Nutri-Grain bars.
The Riedemanns have gotten a lot of compliments over this past year on how happy Maren is. Their friends tell them they got lucky this time with a happy baby and that their next baby will be the opposite. The first-time parents want to have another baby soon.
"We'll try. It took us a year and-a-half to get Maren," said Erin. "So I'm not sure how long it will take this time."
Brainerd Dispatch/Jennifer Stockinger
The first few days was an adjustment for the family. Maren had jaundice and had to be in a Billy blanket for three days.
"It was tough," said Ted. "She had to be in that blanket all the time and she had to have her foot pricked everyday."
Erin said it was hard to get up to feed Maren in the first few days. Maren got up two times a night. But after a few days Erin adjusted and had no problem getting up.
Maren slept in the bassinet next to her parents bed for three months before sleeping in the crib in her own room.
"Her first night in the crib was hard," said Erin. "I was up all the time to check on her to make sure she was OK and breathing."
The hardest thing for Erin was going back to work.
"I was with her for two months because I was on bed rest for a month," said Erin. "Separating myself from her was difficult. I kept on saying to myself I wonder what she is doing now. After the first week I started to calm down."
Maren and the family dog, Jake, get along well so this was not a hard adjustment. After Maren was born, Ted brought home an article of clothing home for the dog to smell to help with the transition.
"Maren crawls up to him (Jake) and will stay by her until she touches his feet," said Ted. "Then he leaves."
The Riedemanns had to adjust their schedule and lifestyle slightly since becoming parents. Ted, who gets off of work at 1 p.m., said, "Before I was free to go and do things after work. Now I have to wait until Erin is home to do things like mow the lawn."
Erin said when she shops she pays attention to the time to make sure Maren gets dinner on time.
When they go out at night they also "don't party as much" as they used, they said.
In a nutshell, the Riedemanns have had a great year with their daughter. They said they have been blessed with such a good baby. Maren is always happy and loves to gives hugs and kisses.
Maren also is a sweetie, her mom says, and loves the song, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."
JENNIFER STOCKINGER can be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.