Baby Feeding Funtimes

Thanks to Plum Organics for sponsoring my post about tips for baby feeding magic. What if you let baby choose what's for dinner? Check out their cute "Quest for Yum!" video and see what happens!

We are deep into the baby food these days.  Which, honestly, was something I was dreading this time around.  It's gross and messy and fraught with lots of decisions.  So I thought I'd share some tips for making the whole thing alot more relaxed and fun:

1.)  Trust your instinct / let them lead the way.  This is one of my fav. parenting tips in general but it is especially true for food.  They will let you know when it's time for the next step.  For example the recommendations on when certain kids can have certain foods?  Yeah I kindof ignore those.  My kid isn't even close to crawling and yet:

TEETHING BISCUIT CONTRABAND!!!!!

 2.)  PUFFS!!!!  I've talked before about how much I love the puffs.  They are the perfect starter food.  They dissolve so you don't have to worry about your kid choking (within reason.  I mean don't shove a whole fistfull of them in there or something) and they are great practice for the fine motor skills required to feed themselves. 

Even if they don't get it right the first time.

Or 100th time.

And can I just tell you how much I love the SuperPuffs?  They come in literally a rainbow of flavors.  For someone as color obsessed for me is So. Much. Fun. Plus it's a great way for me to explain eating a variety of fruits and veggies to my toddler.  Rainbows = YUM. 

My mom kindof has a thing for colors...

3.)  I don't feed my kids something that I wouldn't eat myself.  I remember a distinct moment when feeding my daughter when I opened package of somesortof processed meat stick thing for babies.  I took one look at it and threw it in the garbage opting instead to give her tiny bites of the turkey from my sandwich.  Since then I've been pretty strict about this one.  I don't eat piles of processed stuff so it just won't exist in our household.

4.)  Mix stuff you know they like with the new things they might not.  My son LOVES the pears.  Any of the veggies (especially carrots)?  Not so much.  But if I mix them together...

Everything is better mixed with pears is the baby equivalent of everything tastes better covered in cheese.

In this case he's eating and loving the Plum Organic Blueberry, Pear, & Purple Carrot mix.

5.) Keep their hands busy with something dishwasher safe.  I've found it to be much easier to feed him if he's not grabbing at the spoon.  When he gets a little bigger and less flail-y I'll just give him his own spoon to play with but for now he rocks the plastic keys.


And when he's done eating?  They go straight in the dishwasher.  Super simple.

6.)  It doesn't have to be made specifically for babies to be used to feed them.  Seriously, you guys.  It took me so long to figure this one out.  You can put baby food in regular people bowls.  CRAZY THAT!

7.)  Use the bumbo as a high chair.  It takes up so much less space than the GIANT PLASTIC high chair we had for our daughter.  I can clean the whole thing in the sink and make the whole thing disappear when not in use.  Simple.

8.)  I feed him when we eat.  Not only is it more convenient b/c we're in the kitchen anyways but it's getting us into the good habit of family dinners from day one.  Plus his sister keeps him happy:

9.)  Balanced over a week.  This one came straight from my pediatrician and has become my mantra.  As long as your kid eats a balanced diet over a week you don't have to worry about if they are eating one balanced meal (or eating it at all).  So much less stressful this way!

10.)  Keep it fun.  Heart shaped grilled cheese sandwich:

Enough said.

So yeah - the baby food phase has been ALOT more fun this time around.  And really is there anything cuter than a messy baby?

For more adorable check out this video by Plum Organics:

I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. To learn more about Plum Organics, visit their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/PlumOrganics.

6 months.

So today is the little dude's six month birthday.

And once again I'm having trouble finding the words.  Watching him go from being so tiny and sleepy to this:

Well. It's been pretty amazing. He’s turned into this fun little person with his own personality.

He's super curious and wants to interact with and grab at anything and everything.


He's a chatty boy who vocalizes all the time. His main sound is squawking like a little bird but other sounds are starting to come, too. He tells whole stories and has long conversations with anyone who will talk back to him:

He has quite the temper. Gets immediately red-faced angry when he drops a toy or when something happens that he didn't expect. He gets done with things just as quickly as he's interested in them. And once he's done with a toy he is DONE.

He has a clear sense of humor - certain things just crack him up. Peek-a-boo? Slays him every time. Even if it's played by his sister running into and out of his view. And if you tickle his tummy or blow on his face you will be rewarded with lots of giggles.



He likes to play rough - already being thrown around for rough house with daddy.


And sometimes his doggie:

And when his sister pushes him around in the walker or bounces his bouncer he shriek giggles. So does she.

His likes and dislikes are also abundantly clear. Likes: grabbing at things, water, bathtime, bouncing, standing, bananas, rocking, wind, and his robots blanket. Dislikes: any food other than bananas and sometimes peaches, being frustrated, tummy time, and having to stay up past bedtime.

His favorite thing in the whole world, though, is water. He LOVES the water. Bathtime, being hosed off after a meal, the beach:


LOVE.

Yes. We put his bumbo seat in the waves. He was the happiest kid in the entire world that day.


And did I mention he hates tummy time? Well now that he's figured out this rolling thing he just refuses it. You put him on his belly and this happens:





Which makes him very pleased with himself.



And not to compare to his sister too much but he is such a different kid. Especially where bedtime is concerned. Most nights he goes down with out any fuss of problems. Unlike someone else who we were already deep into cry it out and all of that by now. However the problem comes when he has to stay up late. Dude DOES NOT LIKE being up late. He freaks out and the only solution is laying him down - preferably in his crib:


He likes his crib.

So yeah. Life has been pretty overwhelming these last 6 months. But pretty amazing, too.

Seven

Today is our Seventh Wedding anniversary.

We've been married for a crazy amount of time.  Long enough that when we look at our wedding photos I think "We look so young!"  So when we went to the Sidewalk Chalk Festival at the Cleveland Museum of Art a few weeks ago I couldn't resist taking some then/now pictures.

2004:


2011:
Both were taken in the same exact spot.

2004:


2011:


2004:


2011:


Last night we went out to the Greenhouse Tavern to celebrate.  Just a warning on that one:  if you order the BBQ Pig's Head you get an actual Pig's head.  Smiling at you.  With jawbones and teeth.  Delicious face but still... face.



And then went to a comedy show at Pickwick and Frolic.  And then since it was the first night out together w/o the kids since the dude was born we tied one on at the Velvet Tango Room.

Moscow Mule.  Best drink in Cleveland.

I love that my husband is up for ridiculous adventures as much as I am.  Even if they are currently more in the "lets order something weird and stay out way to late" vein then the "lets go hike up a mountain in another country" craziness that they used to be.  He's still my favorite person to adventure with.  I'd say it's been a pretty wonderful 7 years.

3 Things Disney related

Thing 1: Disney on Ice. So thanks to KaKaKaKaty Matt and I took our little girl to Disney on Ice.

  


It was pretty amazing. Disney certainly doesn't do anything half-assed and this was no exception. Ridiculous from the perspective of a 2.5 year old and pretty enjoyable as an adult, too. Especially from the seats we had:

Although seeing something like this as an adult brought up so, SO many questions. Like how do you get into the Ice Show's game? What career path led them here? And how often does this cast have to travel? And learn new choreography? Or do they recycle past shows? And who did this guy piss off:

Yes. That would be a costume that requires the skater to skate on all fours. Amazing and awful all at the same time.

Matt and I had a ball speculating about these things. And I think I showed great restraint in that I made it to the second act before making a toe pick joke.

The ice was way to fascinating to look away from even for a picture.

 Thing 2: Brave.  On Friday we had our daughter's 6 month follow up for her broken leg. She had to have another x-ray and go through another doctor's appointment. Which she is rightfully pretty terrified of. But she once again was BRAVE and handled the whole thing so well. No tears, no fits, just stiffened her lip and got through it. And we got the best news we could get:


Her leg is perfect. We never have to worry about this ever again.

We celebrated with an impromptu trip to the zoo. Totally unplanned, totally unprepared. On the way home from the doctor I said to her, "we should go somewhere fun to celebrate. Maybe the zoo?" She responded in the same tone and inflection that I use when someone asks me if I want a jack and coke:

YES.

I did a u-turn and we went immediately.

I had no idea we would end up at the zoo today! This is crazy! And my leg is all better! BEST DAY EVER!!!!

Ok that one wasn't all that Disney related except that it once again shows that their next movie is about my child.

Thing 3: Maleficent for Halloween. My daughter decided waaaaaay back when that she wanted to be Maleficent for Halloween. They don't make Malificent costumes in a 2T and my sewing skills aren't that impressive.

Ok.  Now picture her with crazy curly red hair.  And as toddler.

Stay tuned!

Edited to Add:  Thing 4.  THIS:

Fairy Wings:

Recently my child has discovered dress up:

Today I came into the living room to find my daughter watching the "Abby's Flying Fairy School" segment of Sesame Street wearing her fairy wings.

Totally adorable. And cute that she made that connection, went and got her wings out, and put them on all on her own.

But then this conversation happened:

"My wings don't work."
Me: What do you mean your wings don't work?
"I can't fly a me wings."



 I wonder what process of elimination she went through to discover that her fairy wings are just for decoration?

How've ya been?

Taptaptaptaptap... is this thing on? Oh hey check it out! I have a blog? Crazy that. 

So. How've ya been? We've been... well... yeah. Pretty much just spent the end of summer traveling, working, and enjoying the crazy life of having two little ones.

How about some random:

 

Yes. That would be a series of pictures of Matt jumping over our kid. Funtimes. Hopefully a post with more content-y content soon! Until then how about some pigtails:

 

a baby smile:

 

and some dining room camping:

 

Hope all is well with everyone!