Little foodie

As I mentioned in the 6 month  post yesterday, Madeline is quite the little foodie. I have been making all of her baby food, a puree with chunks.

I also practice some Baby Led Weaning by letting her reach for and feed herself food that is too big to choke on.

I always make sure I am eating when I feed her too. I like for meal time to be a social time and she is also able to watch how I am feeding myself. I think this has a lot to do with why she reaches for food instead of being a little bird, mouth open and waiting...even though that is so cute when babies do that. She looks at the spoon, then opens, makes her 'Mmmm' noises and everything else is on hold as she completely enjoys whatever she is having...except green beans, but I'm going to spice them up a bit for her and see what she thinks then. I gave her zucchini and carrot with a tiny bit a garlic last night and she definitely enjoyed it, so I think some veggies will need a dash of something.

I do a lot of research...on just about everything.  92% of my internet time is spent getting facts, 3% baby forums, 3% facebook and 2% here. I know, it's not healthy to pick apart every little thing and fact it to death, but I do. I rarely share my need to look things up and compare [especially with my husband!] because well, I look obsessive.

I did read a study about how breastfed babies tend to like a little bit of flavor to their food because they are already getting some spices from the mother's milk. It shouldn't have, but it amazed me. I say it shouldn't have because I can compare my [frozen] milk from one day to the next and they are completely different colors ranging from blueish to orange! Crazy. It all looks the same once thawed out and in a sippy cup though...

She's getting the hang of it.

Since I'm on that topic, I'd like to give myself a little pat on the back. My breastfeeding goal was 3 months and I have doubled it! I'm going to try for a year, but that is my max. I do have to add, teeth scare me and I am glad she doesn't have any yet.

Anyway, I also read that Avocado is awesome for a developing baby's brain and nervous system. Brain food?! I stocked up on them and have been combining them with other fruits...bananacado, pearcado, papayacado! See, I get obsessive. I do have fruits without it too. Actually, I had to remake all of my fruit last night. Yesterday, I came home to my bag of about 40 servings of fruit, melted on the counter. I was sad. But, it didn't take long to restock.
It is such a satisfying feeling to have anyone like your cooking and hearing a baby make 'Mmm' noises is even better!
There's a lot of love going into that food, for sure!

Ummmm....could I be enjoying this any more????

Happy 6 Months, Madeline!

Our little [cuddle/love/snuggle] BUG...so big, too fast...and honestly, it doesn't get ANY cuter than you! So much love.smiles.slobbers.laughs.bites.kisses.squeezes.

You are completely adored by everyone and you know it....making cute faces and noises for our viewing pleasure...you have even mastered "talking" over our loud family when need be. I hope that you always stay as affectionate as you are right now...loving kisses and even giving the best slobbery kisses of your own.

Food happens to be your absolute favorite thing right now. You LOVE to try new things and take what you want from our plate, from pizza crust to pickles to watermelon, you grab it and go to town! There is usually an Mmmm noise that follows...you sounded like a lawnmower this morning as you ate the BananaCado I made.

Your giggles fill the air when we play peek-a-boo or attack your belly and you love when I make silly faces...I think you try to imitate them sometimes.

You enjoy our morning walks and the pool has become one of your favorite places now that it is warm.

It is so hard to believe we are half-way there to one year old. You have brought so much joy to our family and it's hard to even imagine what it was ever like before January 27.

We used your brother, Josh's, baseball jersey as the 6 this month...
[check out the personality in these!]

You sure do know how to steal a heart.

I think I'll try that Wordless Wednesday thing again....

What I've been up to for the past couple weeks......

I usually only put the immediates in my blog photos. All other photos will be up on FB tonight.

Sippy cups

I often throw around the phrase "I'm THAT Mom". But really, I am. I'm the Mom that other kids are probably thankful they don't have....the one that corrects your grammar/pronunciation...has a late, but reasonable bedtime even in the summer and weekends...the one that doesn't let you sleep until noon during the summer [even if I let you slide on that bedtime thing]...doesn't allow you to plop your butt on the couch for the whole day...expects manners at the table, even if it's just you sitting there...can't stand when you mumble...doesn't tolerate an attitude...has a time limit on video games...expects you to acknowledge and be polite to the people around you...and I will tell you on a daily basis that you need to earn your keep. Mean? Yes. I know it is. But, it is my way of preparing for real life. Real life is not a hand out and that's how I parent. I love you, I will do anything for you, but I'm also going to teach you life lessons on a daily basis. I know my Mom [or anyone else, that was just an example] probably comes here and wonders why I run such a tight ship. And anyone that got an attitude back from their kids as much as I do on a daily basis would really give up! But, not me....I'm stubborn as hell and not even a preteen attitude will run me down. I'm one tough cookie as a Mom, but dammit, I hope like hell he is getting something out of all this correcting [yelling] that I do! I give him credit, he's a strong kid and doesn't even know it, he still tries to test me, but not enough to make me snap.yet.

I read that breastfed babies tend to go right to the cup, so I have decided to give it a try. Sippy cups. Ah yes, that's a simple little thing you buy at Wal-Mart, right? Not anymore. Nope, now there has to be a special Babies R Us trip involved to get the special "first sips" training cups that go with the only bottle our little cutie will take [when she has to take a bottle]. Quite a process too. There were 2 different first cups...why would you do that to ME, Tommee Tippee?? I'm one of the most indecisive people EVER. Giving me TWO completely different choices and call them the FIRST training cup? Great. That leaves me standing there, reading the packages over and over again, trying to figure out the difference. Then my husband kindly says, "please don't make a project out of this". WHAT?! Don't make a project out of it?? TWO different cups say they are what you should give FIRST...how can I not make a big deal out of this? We ended up getting both. Here they are....

I'm SO neurotic, I'll willingly admit it. Parenting decisions are hard....right down to the cup.haha. Seriously though, why does it matter so much? Is it really going to mess up everything if I give the wrong cup? In a Moms mind, yes.

Oh yeah, the pictures....that will be tomorrow.....

I FLIPPIN LOVE YOU, PICASA!

I FLIPPIN LOVE YOU, PICASA! Look out, I'm back, baby! I used the Picasa photo program to upload my pictures. Be on the lookout for many blogs tonight...family picnic, my cousin's wedding, basically everything I have been doing for the past month! WOOT!
I'd do it now, but .....
Looks like today is going to be another pool day...if Madeline ever wakes up from her long nap!
We went to the pool with my Mom yesterday and Madeline LOVED her fish float that Me-mom got her. She is a little small for it, but does this pimp lean and gets really comfortable, so comfortable she even fell asleep!

We had a blast while she was awake though. She was kicking and playing with her ducks, it was awesome.

I wear a bikini. I may not have the best bikini bod, but I tend to have a 'if you don't like it, don't look' attitude. *snap snap snap* BAM! Yeah, that's right.