Puff-a-holic

We've reached a point now that all parents dream of. I can now put E in her high chair, give her a handful of puffs, and leave her there. She will sit happily for up to 15 minutes, carefully trying to maneuver these flavorless puffed rice snacks into her mouth, which leaves me free to engage in such exciting and glamorous activities as unloading the dishwasher (ooh!), doing laundry (aah!), and emptying the diaper pail (don't even bother trying to hide your jealousy).

Yay for puffs!

Snacks require heavy concentration

A few days ago, I put her in her high chair and went into the kitchen to clean up. When I returned, less than 3 minutes later, all the puffs were gone. Not stuck to her hands, not mashed into her seat, but gone. I was very impressed that she had mastered her puff eating technique so well.

Until I realized that she may have had some assistance in helping the puffs fulfill their snack time destiny.

Request for help

I have been a member of message board for mommies & mommies-to-be for quite a while now. A few days ago, we recieved heartbreaking news about one of our members from a local board in California. She suffered an amniotic embolism and died giving birth to her baby girl. You can read a bit more about her here.

The girls from her local board have asked for help in getting the word out on how we can help her husband and daughter. If you could pass this information on in your own blogs, it would be greatly appreciated.

Formula checks and diaper coupons can be sent to:
Jewelyn Okamoto Memorial Fund
PO Box 235971
Encinitas, CA 92023-5971

For those who want to send packages (larger than an envelope), the address is:
Brandi Futrell
c/o Jewelyn Okamoto Memorial Fund
14928 S. Maple Ave.
Gardena, CA 90248

Cash donations can be made through PayPal, to the address 4jewelyn@gmail.com. The name that will come up during the transaction is Irma.

Weekend fun

First we got up and brushed our teeth.
Then we went to the park to play.

And then we went home and watched some tv!

Crawling!!!

We officially have a crawler! E finally figured it out on Wednesday. So far she only does it a few times before she collapses, but she's definitely got the motions down. I guess it's time to go shopping for baby gates.

And here is a video of the epic struggle that is dinnertime. She loves to eat, but she is determined to grab the whole bowl of food. Or the spoon, which then has to be wrestled away from her. Or she'll open her mouth for a bite, and then stick her hand in her mouth at the very last second. Or suck her thumb while she has a mouthful and then smear it on her head. I could go on and on. It would probably help if we stopped laughing hysterically while she was doing these things, thus encouraging her behavior, but it is so cute and hilarious that I can't help it.

Toys!

Mr. Bug. The glue that holds her whole world together.

Nom nom nom

Hard at work.

"Leave me alone, Mom. I'm trying to finish my TPS report. Didn't you get that memo?"

6 Months Old!!!!!

::sob:: My beautiful, gorgeous, amazing little girl turned 6 months on Saturday. I can't believe she's been here for 6 months already, and furthermore, I can't believe that I've been a mom for 6 months. I remember laying in the hospital bed holding her on the day she was born and thinking that I loved her so much I could explode. I love her even more now. She really is the sweetest and most fun baby on earth, and I am in amazement every day that I get to be her mom.

We went to the doctor today and she is doing great! She's in the 15th percentile for weight now at 14 lbs 3 oz, up from the 10th percentile at her last visit. She is in the 74th percentile for height now! Elliot did great at the visit, right up the vaccinations. She got her flu shot today, so that made a total of 6 vaccines- 1 oral and 5 injections. Poor baby :( She usually does fine with the oral vaccine, but she wasn't having it today. She screamed and screamed, and finally decided to hold her breath. Usually it doesn't get to that point until they start the shots. She continued holding her breath during the shots, which she usually does, but this time she held it for so long that she turned gray. Even the nurse blowing in her face didn't make her exhale. Luckily, our nurse today was quick with the shots, so it was over fast. By the time we got back into the waiting room to book our next appointment I had my happy little girl back.

We celebrated her 6 month birthday by going to the place every 6 month old dreams of.....the Spinach Festival!!!! (Hey, we live in Kansas. This is exciting stuff for us.) Matt and I were happy because there was delicious spinach artichoke pizza, and E was happy because there was a swingset. Everybody wins at Spinach Fest!

I'm at the Spinach Festival. Woohoo.

And these are just outtakes from our 6 month photo shoot that were too cute not to post.

Why I make my own baby food

Here is $2.00 worth of store-bought baby food.



And here it is next to $2.00 worth of homemade baby food.

We bought sweet potatoes and squash at the farmer's market yesterday, and I made an enormous amount of food for E for less than $4.00!

We got E's shopping cart cover in the mail today, so we made a special trip to the store to try it out. We bought an avocado to try this weekend. We're starting fruits on Saturday! It was sunny, so she's not very smiley, but I think the cart cover is too cute!

She was super-cute when I went in to get her up from her nap this morning, so I had to go grab the camera.

"Oh noz! I'm in a cage!"

"I know! I'll gnaw my way out!"

"Hmmmm, no luck. Maybe I'll try looking really cute until Mom can't stand it and has to pick me up."

These pictures are from Monday, but I forgot to post them until now. We were at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and of course the Nans had to check out the coffee maker aisle.

"Oooohhhh, this one looks nice!"

"Please, Mom?"

Must.Blog.More.Often.

I have been neglecting my blog terribly lately. I usually only use the computer while I'm pumping, and I hate typing one handed. I'm going to try really, really hard to do better. Promise!

We went shopping for E's fall wardrobe last weekend. She has tons of super-cute new outfits, and since we have a terrible addiction, new jammies as well. I've only taken pictures of her in a few of her new outfits so far. I still need to get some shoes for her, which should be interesting. I love shoes, and fail to see how the fact that she's a baby means that she somehow doesn't deserve to enjoy the same variety of footwear options as I do. Let's hope I get through this shoe-shopping experience without Matt stealing and hiding my credit card.






As far as developmental milestones go, E is hard at work on a new goal. Sitting, crawling, and standing have all been put on hold as she puts all her energy into mastering the art of the raspberry. While it is adorable to watch her practice, it is getting increasingly difficult to get a good picture of the kid. I put her in a cute outfit, set her down somewhere, and as soon as I pick up the camera I hear, "Pphhhhhttttthththththt." I now have dozens of photos of her making this face:

She is eating solid foods for dinner every night, and loving it. So far she's has sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, squash, and green beans. She loves everything but peas. Tomorrow we are trying pumpkin, and then moving on to fruit. She gets really excited when she eats and lunges at the bowl, so I decided to let her try feeding herself some squash the other day.