Baby on Board

As I wait for my final load of cloth diapers to finish up in the washer, I actually have time to blog a quick second, and try not to worry.  Granted its my fault I procrastinated, but its a lot different traveling with baby on board.  What if I run out of diapers?  What if our plane is delayed and I run out of food for Kenzie?  Or what if her ears hurt on the plane and our normally bubbly baby is a melancholy (okay screaming) Mackenzie?   Not only do I have a million things running through my heading, but to add to it, the little lady JUST went to sleep about thirty minutes ago, about 3 hours later than usual.  She has been fine all day and night...until I put her to bed.  Her belly was full, so as usual I thought she'd watch the mobile for awhile and drift off.  Instead she screamed and cried.  Could she be cutting a tooth?  Is she getting sick?  Or is she just super excited for her first plane ride?  Lets hope the latter since we are packing up and jetting off to Maine to see one of my college roommates and her husband Jason in beautiful Portland Maine!  We are so excited to get away and to visit Vacationland!!  Fingers crossed Kenzie is too!

WordFULL Wednesday

How could we possibly have Wordless Wednesday, when Mackenzie said her first "word" today.  We've been working on "Moma," "Da-da," and "doggy" which would all result in a gummy smile.  But today has been full of Da-da-da-da-das!  I don't think she quite gets the connect between "Da-da" and Donny, but there is no doubt by her smile when he enters the room, who the favorite man in her life is!

 **Her finger may be small, but she can still wrap her Daddy around it**

It's not always rainbows...

Well I'd say we've reached our first roadblock on the parenting highway.  Kenzie has been the picture of calm, easy going, great sleeper, on schedule, smiley, lovable baby.  But just to remind us who's the boss, the feeding woes continue.  So we decided to put a hiatus on the feeding front.  For one last ditch effort, we moved on to bananas hoping something sweet would spark her interest, but it just ended in frustration and tears...me included.  Through the hiatus, we are trying to reintroduce the spoon is a positive way, which seems to be working.  She also has a huge interest in the foods we've been eating.  So I guess it's more of a speedbump than roadblock, because she WILL eat solids someday.  She'd look silly gnawing on a plastic spoon at her wedding.      

Our new pack member

When Kenzie was born, our family of 4 quickly turned to a whopping family of 5.  Now most would assume family of 3, but when it comes to our first babies, Grady and Fausto, are forever included as members of the family.  Some said.."oh that will change when you have a baby."  But I just couldn't see that happening with us...not with my Grady-pup and Fausto-bear.  And although these boys have given us a run for our money; including getting kicked out of daycare while we were vacationing in Mexico, a brand new pair of Ugg boots turned into very expensive chew toys, and multiple pieces of furniture requiring some re-stuffing and eventually a trip to the curb -- I am still crazy about our first babies!  First my birthday surprise Grady, and then our unexpected blessing, Fausto...they made up our first family.  These sweet babies taught me how to love as a mom and gave me the first glimpse at how amazing their Dad was gonna be at the "real" thing.  The joys they have brought us are countless. 

exactly one month untill 1 makes 5

I remember being pregnant and talking with Donny about how Grady and Fausto would be with the new baby.  We figured Grady...the loner but lover, would not care too much and just keep to himself...until food was involved.  Then there's Fausto...the big baby and snuggler, would be the in-your-face kind of brother; sleeping on her nursery floor, snatching up snacks from her hands, and being as close as possible, even if it meant squishing her.  

He's been a fan of hers since the beginning..and continues to be as you can see in all the pictures of the two of them. 

 

Everyone asks us, "how are the dogs with the baby."  Well we were pretty spot on.  Grady comes around on his own time and gives her some smooches when no one is looking, and Fausto pretty much licks her cheeks off any chance he gets!

 I think these three are gonna be best of friends soon.  Especially once they realize she will likely end up with more food on her face and hands and leaving a trail behind her!  I can't wait to see her sandwiched in the middle of these two, running and playing.  But for now I'll just enjoy her light up when she sees them and decifering her "conversations" with them!!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday (A day late)

Bon Appetit

Starting solids -- This is one of those things I think both Donny and I were really eager to get started on.  So we got the go-ahead back when Kenzie was 4 months to start solids.  But through a lot of my research and knowledge as a dietitian, I knew I really wanted to push it closer to 6 months.  And lets be honest...Kenzie was not hurting for more food, was sleeping through the night since she was 3 weeks old, and it was just one more thing to worry about.

Since Kenzie was wee-little I've been dying to whip out my babycook and get the freezer stocked up.  I'm glad I didn't...because now that I'm making her food, I just can't stop.  It's rather relaxing and I love coming up with all these different concoctions for her.  I also love that I can taste test the final product and not wonder what else is in there.  So this little lady will be eating well the next few months.  So far in the freezer we have, Organic Apples, Pears, Apple-Pear, Organic Mango, Organic Peaches, Peaches-Banana, Mango-Blueberries, Organic Peas, Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Potato-Apple, Organic Carrot, Carrot-Peas.  Tonight is Organic Blueberries, and Prunes! 

Now I say, she'll be eating well...but that is, if she liked eating.  I know there is a learning curve, but I gotta say she's not the little ham I hoped for.  She sits in her Bumbo, she eats her bib, she looks around, she plays with the drips of food, she looks up at the light, she rubs her hands through her hair, she grabs for the spoon, she hangs over the bumbo, she grabs for things on table....And yes this is all cute, but I hoped for a little more interest.  When we do get some food in her, she is usually gagging - seriously. 

So what has she been snacking on?  Well we started with the usual rice cereal..although I was excited to find a brown rice cereal for her.  She did well at first, but has since started to slow down and seems bored and bothered.  She then had avocado, which she seriously hated, but after the 4 days of that, she was tolerating it.  She also had peas in there, because we got discouraged with the 'cado, again...gagged.  I think my problem with the avocado and peas was I couldn't get them pureed to the super smooth store bought consistency.  So even the tiniest of piece made her reject it. Tonight was day 2 of sweet potatoes.  She seems to just pocket and pool the food until it becomes so spitty and soupy it just dribbles out.  I hope Kenzie's learning curve is not too steep!

Stay tuned for the development of Kenzie's palate...she's so fancy!

Rice Cereal

 Avocado

 Sweet Peas

Sweet Potatoes