Thirty Five Weeks!

 

Weight: Somewhere between 15 and a half  and 16 pounds.

  
Sleep: Well, that sleeping through the night "binge" was certainly fleeting. Not that I have anything to complain about, really -- she's just getting up once at night, again to eat, even when she's eaten a ton before going to  bed. So I'm blaming it on a mental growth spurt, which always makes me excited to think of what's coming next!

Medical Issues: Today is day 10 of antibiotics for Lizzie girl's icky cough. She's still coughing maybe once or twice a day, which makes me wonder… should I call her doctor again and mention it? He said if it wasn't better by the end of the antibiotics, to call… any thoughts?

Clothes: We're in three to six month clothes and three to six month jammies.

Socialite!: Hanging out with friendly friends at daycare!

Diet: This week, I let Lizzie try mashed potatoes without my help -- meaning she got some dumped on her plate :) After initially just playing with them and getting to know their texture, girlfriend figured out she could put them in her mouth very successfully by using her hands. I've been offering her a baby spoon or baby fork at some meals now as well, and though I have to load it for her, she is relatively successful at getting the food to her mouth with it.

I also made her some scrambled eggs with spinach for lunch last Saturday, which she was a huge fan of. She had egg yolks around six months old (you're supposed to be cautious about the whites) and wasn't too crazy about them -- but that was when we had just started our BLW journey. This time, I sautéed some roughly torn-up spinach in olive oil and poured a slightly beaten egg + pepper (no salt!) into the pan.

Also new this week were pancakes! I made the batter for all of us, but left out the salt first. After I made her baby pancakes, I set them aside to cool and then added the salt to our batter before making the rest. Worked beautifully! We didn't do any syrup, as I'm kind of against added sugar (as much as I can be) at this point. I topped them with a little butter and cut them into strips and she devoured them!

We also tried strawberries this week. Another new food she loves! I held off on strawberries until now because those can be a potential allergen as well. But with no family history of it, I decided we could give it a little try -- and no negative reaction, woohoo! I've been considering peanut butter, as there are also no family allergies with that, but haven't done it yet…

Anyway, favorites right now include…

Veggies | Carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, mashed potatoes

Fruit | Bananas, strawberries, blackberries, clementines (skin around individual sections removed… which is tedious, but this girl loves her clementines!), pears, cherries (frozen, then thawed, so they're mushy), peaches (frozen, then thawed, so they're mushy) and avocado (is avocado a fruit? I think it is). We do all fresh fruits, except for cherries and peaches, which we buy frozen (no sugar added) right now.

Main course | Anything red-sauce related. We had a tortellini pasta bake that she devoured, and she's loved anything similar to spaghetti (she eats whole grain rotini because it's easier to grab onto). She also really likes pizza, but I generally take off the cheese and some toppings, if they're of the saltier variety (i.e. pepperonis). 

She enjoys hummus (red pepper) on whole wheat toast, whole wheat homemade broccoli mac and cheese, and chicken.

Baby Gear Love: Repeats of last week! How boring. We love the Fisher-Price Go Baby Go! 1-2-3 Crawl Along Snail and the Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn: Learning Kitchen. She's also a mega-fan of the Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Fun with Friends Musical Table. Quite honestly her favorite part of the whole thing is the plastic, rattling phone that it comes with (that is nothing more than a hunk of plastic that makes a nice rattling sound). She loves that thing! Take it away, and you'll be sorry.

Maybe the most popular thing in our house right now is anything she can stand next to. Our ottoman is the perfect height for her to stand next to, plus it's upholstered, so it's nice and soft for her to stand next to and pat her hands on :) She loves standing next to it -- she can't get enough!

Crying: Lizzie cries when hungry or tired and if we take something away that she's playing with. 

Mommy News: After my sad daycare experience last week, I'm happy to say things are back to how they should be… I am back in the "number one" spot compared to the daycare ladies -- woohoo! Babe's only got eyes for mama :)

Andy was out of town from Sunday to Wednesday this week for work (in San Diego… lucky guy!), so I was a single momma. Though I had to be extra organized and get everything ready the night before, getting out of the house (relatively) on time went really well. One morning we were even ahead of schedule, until someone decided to have a poopy diaper (no, not me), which ended up setting us back a few minutes. Oh well -- just a few extra minutes with my sweet girl, so I can't complain :)

Something I'm trying to savor is her cuddliness. I don't have any baby to compare it to, but I think Lizzie is a cuddly baby. Yesterday morning after she had her morning bottle, she sat on my lap and let me just hold her there, rocking back and forth. That definitely set us back quite a few minutes for our departure time, but I really didn't care even a little. Those ten minutes of just rocking, singing and talking before starting our day is completely worth it. Schedules, schmedules =)
 

Milestones: Girlfriend is crazy about walking! All she wants to do is stand and walk from toy to toy (while holding on to our hands, of course). But overnight, it seems, she figured out how to pick up her little feet and take steps. It is way. Too. Cute! Because she's still such a little peanut, so it's hilarious to watch.

Still no strong consonant babbling to speak of, but we've heard a few really strong, "BUH" sounds come out of her yesterday… so it's coming!