Random

Life as a stay at home mom of an 8 month old isn't all that adventurous, so we have to make up our own fun. This week consisted of reminiscing about my mom, in the best way possible...food.
Memory #1: Yogurt
I have no idea why, but Safeway brand yogurt stands out in my head as something we ate often as kids. Kaylee has started eating yogurt this past week and she absolutely loves every flavor tried so far - Dano-nino's vanilla, peach/mango, and strawberry/banana. Before you get upset that I gave my baby dairy before she's a year old, I DID check with a registered dietician and our pediatrician who explained that the proteins in milk that cause allergies are limited after the culturing process. So we tried a little yogurt and waited to see if there were any reactions. No negative reactions, so yogurt has become a favorite. Here is the mess we make with yogurt...I'm sure I could be a lot more efficient, but how cute is this face?!

If you're up to date on your Lady Gaga music, you might sing "yo-yo-yo-yogurt face" like I do while bouncing around the kitchen. Maybe that's why her face looks like this!

Memory #2: Chocolate and pretzels
My mom often said that chocolate went well with salty things (she would have loved the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate from Starbucks) and so another snack that was common in our house was mini-pretzels in a little bowl with chocolate chips. The BEST way to eat them is to put a chocolate chip upside down in each hole in the pretzel (3), then put the whole thing in your mouth at once. Well, I didn't have mini-pretzels or chocolate chips, but I did have pretzel sticks and dipping chocolate so this was my snack one day this week. Kaylee will have to wait awhile for these though.


And last but not least, Memory #3: Sewing
Not just sewing straight lines, but actually following a pattern to make an outfit for Kaylee. My mom made many of our clothes over the years. Matching Easter outfits for us 3 girls, cheerleading uniforms for my whole team (oops, did I just let that cat out of the bag!), costumes, and we even had matching dresses for my cousin's wedding in 2001! She was an excellent seamstress and creator, partially due to her insane attention to details. I, on the other hand, hate details. So following patterns is not my forte. However, I did feel that it is my duty, as a mom who does know how to sew, to make at least one outfit. Here's a sneak peak.

See food, pick up food, eat food...sounds so easy!

or even better....

picasion.com

So this is what a blog is for....

5 years, 6 months later I finally got angry. Now mind you, my "anger" lasted a few minutes and really only took place in my head as I drove to the grocery store with Kaylee sleeping soundly in the backseat. You would think that having a baby would have triggered missing my mom more than it really has, but I blame that on me being too practical in daily life. Sure I can miss my mom, but what good does it do Kaylee and John to have me moping around the house? No good comes of that, so I express my sadness occasionally, talk about my mom often, and look for ways to remember her. What brought this on you ask? Last night Kaylee ate chicken and rice off my dinner plate, one of many milestones in her 8 months, probably not something huge to anyone but her own mom. But today as I tried to share my excitement I realized that the one person who I really wanted to hear this story was my mom. So I got angry. Believe it or not, today was the first time I have ever wanted to slap that stupid guy. But in true fashion, my anger subsided quickly and I was back to having forgiven the guy. Someday I'll see my mom in Heaven and she'll tell me that she heard all my stories along the way. Until then, I'll continue sharing my stories on the blog. Here is the chicken and rice story...again, it's a pretty boring story if you aren't Kaylee's mom, but sharing it with the "masses" feels good.

So I made New Orleans style rice (similar to rice a roni) and Chipotle BBQ'd chicken for dinner. Kaylee was sitting in my lap as I attempted to eat my meal. She reached onto my plate, grabbed a handful of rice, and shoveled it into her mouth. What makes this a milestone is that she is just barely learning to grab at small things on her highchair tray, and even when she does grab small things she doesn't get them into her mouth easily. She hasn't had extra flavored food yet (i.e. salt, bbq sauce, spices, etc) so I was expecting her to spit it out, but she chomped away at the rice, licked her lips, and opened her mouth for more. So I gave her more! She sat there smiling and opening her mouth for more and more. Feeling bold I gave her a few tiny bites of the spicy bbq'd chicken to complete the meal. She munched on that with her gums, swallowed and opened for more. I cut her off after a few bites since it was all so new and there were so many different spices involved. I wasn't sure how she'd react. Today all has been good, no signs of intolerance, and infact had rice again for dinner. I am amazed at her eating. There hasn't been anything that she turned her nose up at (other than the unripe mango, but who wouldn't say no to that), and meal times are stress-free. I really credit the book Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense by Ellyn Satter for our great food successes. Thanks Kathy!!!

8 months

Kaylee continues to be a busy little girl this month! We joined a mom's Bible Study through church a few of months ago. There are 5 other babies in the group and quite a few older children. Kaylee is especially having fun playing with Sawyer, 7 months, and Logan, 4 months, each week and I am enjoying my time with a wonderful group of ladies.

This month has been full of interacting and reciprocating. Kaylee loves to wave the "Miss America" wave where she rotates her hand. She waves hello and goodbye, and any other time someone waves at her. She's very proud of herself...of course the fact that mommy and daddy wave emphatically back to her while squealing with excitement, doesn't have anything to do with her pride I'm sure. ;) She's working on crawling, but loves to stand.

She also gives kisses on demand...which we tend to "demand" a lot just because it is so fun to have her love on us back. She's likes to play peek-a-boo, especially if you hide behind something big like a door or the couch. She knows who we all are and will look at the appropriate person when you ask her "where's daddy/mommy?" She even looks at the computer when we say "Where's Grandpa?"!!

She's still eating very well, and a lot! She actually enjoys zucchini which is good because we eat a lot of that around here. The ice cube tray trick is wonderful...here is zucchini and sweet potato ready for freezing. She'll eat 1-2 cubes (reheated of course) per meal plus half a banana in chunks, or pear chunks, or apple sauce, plus her never changing side dish of oatmeal.

Still working on teeth. She's had a couple of biter biscuits, but prefers toys to chew on.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Month 7 in pictures

Month 7 has turned out to be a busy month for Kaylee! Because we waited until 6 months old to start solid foods she was ready to skip pureed food and moved straight to chunks and thick fork-mashed foods. Here is what she has tried so far (all homemade): apples, pears, bananas, peaches, avocado, mango, zucchini, sweet potato, sticky rice, and carrots. Her favorites are apples, bananas and sweet potato. Here are the many colors of Kaylee:

zucchini and rice

avocado

carrots

Somedays she refuses to be fed and will only eat if she can do it herself. She's pretty good at it so I let her do her thing.

Just this week we tried out these fun food, teether, chewing things. She loved the cold canned pear slice in this one.

We also started the transition from the bassinet to the crib. We're still in the process, mostly because mommy hates walking all the way to the other end of the house when Kaylee wakes up every other hour. (Our house is a rectangle and we're literally on complete opposite ends) However, Kaylee does seem to enjoy the crib and usually plays and talks to herself for 15-30 minutes before she cries out in the morning. This is what I come into:

excuse the bed head! haha

Kaylee has been sitting up unsupported for a couple of months now and is now headed in the direction of crawling. I stole the idea of the progression photos from our friend Amy whose daughter, Sofia, is 3 days older than Kaylee. Although, Amy captured Sofia's movement much better. :)



She also has an obsession with her feet! Its actually helping her roll over from back to front and is really cute. Unless of course you're changing her diaper and 1) have to battle her for her legs, and 2) have to really watch for her rolling off the table!


And to start off month 8 we celebrated with snow!

Christmas Story anyone?

Another beautiful day...

I am slowly starting to get my etsy shop up and running again. With a broken sewing machine currently, I have switched over to making hair bows for babies until I get the machine fixed. And since I have such a cute model to show off my bows I end up taking pictures of her rather than the actual bows! haha I am making a few bows for some of the baby girls in my mom's Bible study to hopefully get some feedback before I make a bunch to sell. As for today's photo session, here is a picture of Kaylee...I mean, the flower clip. :)

1st picnic!

One of the downfalls of living in the south is the bugs...they're big! And because of the bugs I rarely enjoy time outside. However, in the middle of winter there are no bugs, but who goes outside in 20 degree weather? Not me, and especially not Kaylee. Fortunately, my dad must have brought the California weather with him and left it here for us because today, while pouring rain in CA, it is 65 degrees with clear blue skies! So Kaylee and I enjoyed a picnic together on the front deck. We both really enjoyed our time in the warm sun with oatmeal and homemade applesauce for lunch.

Visitors!

This past week, Grandpa Rowe and Michele came out to visit Kaylee! It was obvious that Kaylee recognized her Grandpa from all the daily "skyping" we do. She was fascinated by him and was immediately comfortable with him. Video chatting is an amazing way to keep families close!


Tonight's entertainment: Mommy singing and dancing! (and you wondered where Kaylee got her long tongue...sheesh!)


We walked around the Raleigh Flea Market for the first time since moving here. The weather was wonderful this week! Then we headed to Red, Hot, and Blue for dinner. It's Grandpa's favorite restaurant. Kaylee was a big girl and sat in the restaurant high chair! She also tasted a lemon and a pickle for the first time. She liked both of them and wasn't happy when mommy wouldn't let her actually eat them!

"My little bear is growing up"

That's from a country song that John and I seem to quote daily. :) Yesterday I went to our one nice grocery store (similar to Lunardi's, Whole Foods, etc) for some specific items that Walmart doesn't carry. So since we were in a "safer" environment I had Kaylee try out the shopping cart seat! I'm not ready to outright expose her to the craziness of our Walmart. I found this fun seat cover at TJ Max for way cheaper than regular stores. It has rings and a stuffed cat and dog attached to it, and it worked very well. Kaylee seemed to enjoy the views and all the ooh's and ahh's she elicited from other store patrons. Such a big girl!!

Check out my fashionable cheetah jacket! Thanks Michele! I wear it a lot since it is so cold right now!!