Time to Eat!

Grace has recently turned 6 months old!! (I can't believe it!). We have half-heartedly started solids just a couple days before she turned 6 months old. She is somewhat enjoying them. When I say "half-heartedly" I mean that it can be a pain! It's just another thing to add to an already busy day! Mealtime also means bath time right afterwards because she gets so messy.

I'm doing something called "baby-led weaning". This is the gradual process from weaning off breast milk being her only food source to including solids (no, it does not mean that I'm weaning her from nursing). Instead of doing cereal and baby food/purees, she is starting right in with real people food. So far her favorite foods are pickles and spaghetti (those pictures will be the next post as I'm playing "catch-up" with my blog).

So far she's had:
yogurt-likes
sweet potatoes-dislikes
apples-likes
spaghetti with turkey meat sauce-loves
pickles-loves
avocado-dislikes
banana-likes
tofu-dislikes
broccoli-likes
toast with peach apple sauce-likes
waffles with peach apple sauce-not sure
peach/apple sauce-likes (she likes this on a spoon!)

How does she eat these foods if I don't puree them? Here's what I do:

yogurt and applesauce-scoop up on a spoon and then I give her the spoon and she brings it to her mouth. Can you believe my 6 month old is using a spoon?!
sweet potato, apples, broccoli-I slice the potato and apples and cook them in the microwave until they are soft. Then I set them on her tray and she picks them up. I slice them so she has something to hold onto. For the broccoli I cut the trees, cook them in the microwave and then she picks them up by the trunk.
banana, avocado, pickles-I cut these into slices so she can pick them up and sick/chew on them.
waffles and toast-cut into strips so she can hold onto them
spaghetti-I use the curly noodles so she can pick them up. The turkey is ground up so she picks up the little pieces.

It's easier than making pureed baby food, BUT it's very messy. She has had several baths in the kitchen sink since she started eating!

William eating guacamole-his favorite!

Grace loves to be carried!

Check out my new ring slings. Grace LOVES to be carried, and I love carrying her! I have a ring sling from when William was a baby, but I needed a new one because I wanted something with pretty material. The white one is a water ring sling. I wear it when we go swimming, because it's so much easier to have my hands free so I can play with William.

Just Hangin' Out

Gracie is such a darling little girl that I can't take just one picture of her! Instead I have to take at least 10! I love her big blue eyes. She often receives compliments in public because of her eyes.

Fun at the Park

Recently we went to the park and had a picnic. William enjoyed running around at the park, and he especially enjoyed the swings. I remember last year he refused to go on the swings and was afraid of them, but this year that's all he wanted to do!

Gracie

Family and The Cabin

We spent the 4th up at my parents' cabin this year. Holy exhausting weekend! Gracie decided to act like a newborn again and was up a lot at night. I needed to come back home so I could rest! Kevin and his girlfriend, Anne, came back to visit from Oregon. It was great to see them! William just loves being at the cabin. He has so much fun up there, and he loves spending time with everyone, especially his papa. He loves going on the boat, playing in the water, and hanging out with everyone. He really is in his glory up there, and he wouldn't care if he ever came home again! We are so lucky to have a place we can go and "get away".

One more...

Here is a picture of William (AKA Buzz Lightyear)!

William (AKA Buzz Lightyear)

William loves Buzz Lightyear. Actually, No, William is obsessed with Buzz Lightyear. I was never too thrilled about character clothing or shoes, but I just had to give in this one time. William saw the Buzz shoes and it was love at first sight. I tried desperately to talk him into an adorable pair of Sketcher tennis shoes. He even let me try one on his foot, but nope, he just wasn't feelin' it. So, I gave in and we left the store with Buzz Light year shoes (at least they cost less than the Sketchers!). And these things not only light up, but they talk. To Infinity and Beyond!

William has seen Toy Story 3 at the theatre twice. He has seen Toy Story 1 approximately 20 times, and he has seen Toy Story 2, most likely, more than anyone else on this earth (including the people who work at Pixar). He loves Buzz. I love Woody (who can resist an adorable little cowboy who says "there's a snake in my boot"?). I even have a favorite part in each movie (William does too). Most of our current conversations consist of discussing our favorite parts in each movie, asking and answering questions about why certain things happen in each movie (he asks, I answer), and deciding who would play each character in our own Toy Story movie (of course William is always Buzz and I am always Woody).

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!