yum yum yum

it's official, Alessia looooves food. And loves to let you know she loves it. She insists on "singing" while you feed her. Tonight she practiced her "eeee" and "aaayyy" sounds while she chowed down on some butternut squash. Cute, but makes it difficult to feed her. Today she also had avocado for the first time. My mom said she made a funny face at first, but still ate it. So far, she hasn't rejected anything. Soon to come: oatmeal (we've been eating brown rice cereal), peas, green beans, and carrots. I have to get some recipes for some yummy combos for her as well. Any suggestions?

Tomorrow I'm playing hookie from work so I can spend the whole day with her and show her off in her costume. We're driving all over creation to make the rounds to all the "important" people, then back home to do some trick-or-treating with Danielle, Eliza and Pete. Can't wait!

Wordless Wednesday

...and we're back!

Sorry I've been MIA (though did anyone really care?). There have been plenty of blog-worthy events and topics, however for various reasons - being freakin exhausted, having to self-censor, and having absolutely no time to do anything - I haven't posted a thing. So here's some news:

Alessia is 6 months today! How the hell did that happen?! She's too cute. I'm too lazy to download any pics because this computer is too slow for my patience tonight, so I'll have to add some tomorrow. But here's just a few amazing (well at least to me) things she has been doing:

• make an array of noises, some even I can't make
• transfer objects from one hand to the other, even tiny pieces of ribbon on her toys
• sit up with minimal assistance
• rock on all fours - actually she kind of does like a military crawl, but gets annoyed after a while and decides it's just faster to roll around to get places
• anticipate what's going to happen in her favorite bedtime books - every night when we read The Going to Bed Book, right before the last line "...they rock and rock and rock to sleep." she starts to smile and giggle cuz she knows we're about to rock her. When we read Good Morning, Good Night, she gets ansy for the last page where she can play with the little blanket that covers the baby.
• she's starting to love "peek-a-boo"
• she gives me huge, tight hugs when I pick her up from my mom's everyday

She's been enjoying "big people food" for the past 2 weeks, and so far has had apple sauce, pears, bananas, sweet potato and butternut squash. She's loved them all, and gets so excited when she sees the bowls coming. It's all been homemade, so I'm happy she likes them.

She was supposed to have her 6 month check up tomorrow, but when I didn't get a call from the office to confirm, I called them only to find out that someone cancelled the appointment without calling me, and she wasn't in the system. So we're going next week. No biggie. I'm happy she's not getting shots tomorrow, but really wanted to see how much she weighs. I guess I'll just have to wait!

Wordless Wednesday

more big people food and other updates

This weekend Alessia had applesauce for the first time! (homemade) The first time we got a mixed review when she had it separately - I don't think the apples I used were really sweet. But she ate it when I mixed it into the cereal. Today she was uberexcited when she saw the bowl, and was lovin the cereal, but still not excited about the apples on their own. I mixed it in, and then kept sneaking her some apple-only spoonfuls on the side.

Yesterday I also made her pears and sweet potatoes and froze them. I figure we'll try the pears Wed. then try either the sweet potatoes or squash on Sat. Should be fun!

So while food has been going well, Alessia's sleep patterns have been horrible. For the past week, she has been waking up around 10 screaming and will only calm down if I go get her. If Mark gets her she continues to wail and look for me. As soon as I pick her up she falls back asleep, but I can't get her to go back in her crib. I wonder if she could be having nightmares? Last night while I was holding her, she started to whimper then cry again in her sleep like she was scared. I tried a night light earlier in the week but it didn't seem to make a difference. I'll try it again tonight, and hoping it will work. Before going back to work, getting her to go to bed and sleep had gotten so much easier. The past two months have felt like we took 3 steps back. I just hope it'll get better soon! I can't take all these wakings during the night when I have to get up before 5 in the morning.

Okay, I've procrastinated doing my lesson plans enough. I'm off!

Wordless Wednesday

From 20081011 First REAL Food

yumm-o

Day 2 of real food for Alessia: organic brown rice cereal again this morning, just thicker. Big success. Most of it actually stayed in her mouth and got to her belly this time. And Mark called it - she's a hummer. Just like sometimes when she nurses, she likes to hum while she eats. Today she kept grabbing the spoon as I put it in her mouth and wouldn't let me take it out. I had to grab another spoon for her to play with just so I could pry the other one out of her clutches. When she finished what was in the bowl, she cried and made her usual panting for more food noises, so I made a smidge more and a bit thicker. She loved it. It's very exciting around here!

So now we start thinking about fruit and veggies. I started looking on the web for some recipes and advice on what should really be organic (the so-called "dirty dozen") and what doesn't really matter, and what to start with. Danielle led me to wholesomebabyfood, which I found very useful. Got a few basic recipes and went off to the store to get provisions.

Day 1: Applesauce. I used the apples we picked last weekend. Believe it or not, this is the first time I've ever made it! It's not a typical dish you'd find in an Italian household, so I actually needed a recipe for it. Boy did I feel dumb when I realized all you had to do was peel, core, chop and boil/steam them. But it was fun. Alessia was very interested in the whole process.



I didn't buy enough trays to make more than one kind of food in a day, so I'll have to do a little at a time. What's to come: Butternut and acorn squash, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, and pears. As we introduce them, I'll let you know what she likes.

You know, I never imagined I would be the kind of mom I am: breastfeeding, babywearing, green (as much as I can be), and making my own babyfood. But I'm loving it. Except for the part where I have to go to work everyday. I could live without that for now. And I think that surprises me the most.

My little baby is growing up!

My little girl is growing up! We made the decision to start her on cereal this weekend (which I know my family thinks we should've done like 2 months ago). Alessia has been super interested in food for about the past month, drooling like crazy and "chewing" when she sees us eating. If she's on my lap, she reaches for my food and stares at me as I put it in my mouth, following the fork with her eyes. I was very adamant about waiting until she was 6 months, keeping her diet exclusively breastmilk. We almost made it - she'll be 6 months in about 2 weeks. This past week, her usual bottles just weren't cutting it for her, and even on my days off, she was eating like a fiend. There is no way I can get more milk for her, so rather than trying to increase the quantity, I decided it was time to introduce cereal. Why not just supplement with formula you may ask? We've made it this far without it, it doesn't make sense to start for two weeks.

So how'd it go? Take a look:

At first she didn't know what to do with it, but after a while, she was real excited and doing a pretty good job getting it down. So over the next few days we'll experiment with the thickness of it (it was very soupy today), then I guess we'll start to add some fruit. We're using HappyBaby organic brown rice cereal to start with, then I want to try the oatmeal and multigrain. I haven't been able to get their frozen food yet - none of the stores near me carry it, so I got someEarth's Best stage 1 pears to start. I've also hear good things about Tasty Baby from Danielle, so am thinking about trying that out. I really want to try making my own food, I just have to find the time and get some appropriate size (and safe) containers to freeze it in. I was planning on making apple sauce with the apples we picked, but have not gotten around to it yet and we've already eaten most of them. So it's off to the store or maybe the farm next door. I also got some yummy squashes from the farm that I figured I would roast and puree.


I would gladly welcome any yummy recipes you have that your babies enjoyed or any suggestions of products.

Another day off

I had off today due to the holiday, so I got to spend the day with my bambina. What a beautiful day it turned out to be! We went for two walks with our buddies, Danielle and Eliza, and then played for a bit at the playground in our development. But of course I didn't have my camera with me, which was a shame. She was so cute sitting in the plastic airplane rocking back and forth (and of course I'm sitting there thinking "how toxic is this stuff?") We'll have to make it over there again with a camera.

Today she started doing the cutest thing. She smacks her lips together, kinda like a big fish (Mark would know exactly what kind of fish to compare her to, but not me) making this cute "popping" noise. Too cute.

As she played with, or rather ate, some toys in her room, I started to go through her drawers and closet and put away all the clothes that don't fit her anymore or that are too summery. I can't believe how fast she's growing up! (or just how many clothes she has!) It did suck putting away some things that she only wore once, but hey, I guess that's what happens. Maybe I'll have another girl (in the very distant future) so we can use all these clothes. If not, we'll just pass them down to someone else's baby I guess.

Speaking of growing up, stayed tuned to see what big step Alessia makes this weekend!

Fun times

We have been very busy around here lately. Saturday, we went to a baby and toddler expo with Danielle and Eliza. It was fun, but a loooong drive, at least in my world. But the girls were fabulous and slept there and back. One major complaint about the expo: the entrance they told us to use was not stroller accessible! We ended up wearing the girls and lugging the strollers up the stairs. I don't know why we bothered bringing the strollers in...neither girl really stayed in them long. We just never learn! I was really looking forward to Deidre Imus' seminar on "growing up green", but it ended up being a disappointment. She started almost a 1/2 hour late, and spent most of the time just scaring the crap out of me with statistics about childhood chronic illnesses, cancers, etc, etc. (which I already know), then basically was just plugging her products and book. I was hoping for some practical info, like what I could start doing at home. So we bolted - it's not like the girls were really sitting there quietly anyway. Then we made it to the expo floor, and I have to say I was a little disappointed at the lack of freebies or samples. Just mailing lists. Although I did end up winning a discount on a sitting with a professional photographer (which I'll never use) and Eliza was a finalist in the cutest baby contest.

Yesterday we went apple and pumpkin picking with the inlaws and Danielle, Pete and Eliza. Although the weather was yucky, cool and wet in the morning, we had a fun time. Got a few apples (time to learn how to make apple sauce for Alessia - any good recipes?) and a lot of great shots. Here are my faves:

Do moms get sick days?

It was about time I got sick. I made it almost 5 weeks this year before it hit. Tuesday night, I had the worst sore throat, and of course Alessia had a rough night and I lost count how many times she got up. I went in yesterday, but was absolutely miserable and by the end of the day, I was almost near tears every time I swallowed. So I prepped for a sub just in case. I woke up this morning to a little less pain, but now my ears itch as well as my throat. Fun! So I called in sick. But do we moms really get sick days? Of course not! Though my mom offered to take Alessia for the day, it just didn't make sense for Mark to take her there and pick her up after work. They wouldn't have gotten home until 6. So I ended up getting a second day home with my bebe!

She woke up at 5:30, much to my dismay, and would not go back to sleep. She rolled around in my sheets for a bit, then I put her in the pack and play (whichis still next to our bed) and she played in there a bit, but I couldn't hold her off for long. So after a couple diaper changes and a feeding, we decided to go out for a walk with Danielle and Eliza - cuz that's what you do when you're sick, right? I just needed some fresh air, but definitely did not have the energy for our normal loop today. But Alessia was sooo cute in the little sweater my friend Meri knit for her and the hat a colleague crocheted, I had to snap a shot:

AFter the walk, mommy got a great nap while Alessia lay passed out in her crib. After that, we've just been chillin, and of course I waste all other nap times online rather than doing work around the house or work work that I really need to do.
She's turned into quite the roller - you can't turn your head for a minute or she's across the room! God help us when she starts crawling! Here are some cute shots from the day

Oh and for those of you that care, apparently her rash is a reaction to her poop. Something in my diet is the culprit, so it's time to start eliminating again. First round: all dairy (again) and soy - though I don't think it's the dairy, but we shall see!

Win a handbag!

In addition to my crazy shoe obsession, I love handbags, and thanks to Dana, I found out about this great giveaway! Handbag planet is giving away a handbag every hour for 24 hours to celebrate their launch. Go check them out! They have a great selection of bags, and I know even though us moms are usually just toting around a diaper bag, it's nice to have some awesome accessories for those sans-baby moments or for when we finally don't need those big bags!
So what are you waiting for??!! Go get yours!

Wordless Wednesday