Time To Eat

At Stella's 4-month check-up we were given the thumbs up to start

feeding her some "real people" food.

The doctor gave us a schedule of the order in which to introduce solids.

We were to start with rice cereal, and then move on to other white colored foods

and then move on to the oranges and greens.

I went right out and bought some rice cereal,

and Stella basically hated it.

She just would not eat any of it.

So we kept trying it every few nights

with no success.

We decided to give oatmeal a shot, and that went over a little better

Just this past week, we have put forth a concerted effort to introducing solids.

And it has been met with mixed reviews by Stella.

Daddy tried to feed her some oatmeal.



I think she wore more than she ate.

We also tried avocado, which she loved.

It was time to really kick this eating thing up a notch.

We had decided that instead of buying jarred baby food

we would be making our own.

I found this website: Wholesome Baby Food that was very informational and helpful.

I also had gotten this cookbook for Christmas.

I was ready to go.

So off to Whole Foods we went, and came home with

an acorn squash

and a sweet potato.

I already had the avocado, but it made it into the picture anyway.

I'm not a big veggie eater, so I had never before cooked a sweet potato.

But based on everything that I had read, you just cook it like a regular potato.

So I did.

It came out very soft,

Perfect.

It was also very moist, so I didn't even have to add any water or milk.

I just mashed it.

And divided it into small storage containers.

I can't wait to try them out tomorrow.

And then on to the squash!

I hope she likes it!

Proud Momma!

Last night was Parent-Teacher Conferences at Cole's school.

This can either be a good or bad thing for kids.

It is usually good for Cole.

He is a very good student.

Sometimes however, he lacks a certain...

...how do I say it....

attention to detail.

Often I get comments like:

his handwriting could use some work,

he could work on neatness.

You get the idea.

But last night was a little different.

I heard words like maturity, bright, and creative.

I had a couple of good laughs as well.

One teacher in particular is clearly in touch with who Cole is and appreciates him.

She told us that while he was doing some sort of writing assignment

that was going to be sent in for grading

by someone other than herself

she had spent quite a bit of time at Cole's table

making sure that his letters were properly formed.

She knew that his content would be great, but she was worried that the reader might be

"frustrated" by having to decipher Cole's code.

Ha! Don't I know it!

She also told Cole that a computer will be his savior in high school

because he can type things and they'll be legible.

Hint that maybe we need to invest in a computer for him next year.

Ha!

~and the funniest comment~

She asked Cole how he prepared for tests, and he said that he reviews the material,

but admitted that he could probably study more.

She said: "we'll see how that works for you in high school"

Ha!

I loved her straightforward nature and it was clear that she could see that he is going to be just fine!

Cole's school has so many wonderful teachers.

They clearly care about the success of their students

and love telling parents about all of the wonderful things that the students are doing each day.

I'm proud of Cole every single day,

but it's nice to hear that others know he's special too!

Got Milk?

**Warning- this post is about breast milk**

I spend a lot of time every day thinking about feeding Stella.

I don't nurse her anymore,

but she still gets breastmilk.

That means that 4 or 5 times every day I pump.

I didn't realize how much work it would be to be an "exclusive pumper."

Some days it seems like a full-time job.

I've kind of gotten it down to a science though.

I try to pump at the same times each day,

and luckily I make more milk each day than Stella consumes, so I'm able to freeze some.

There are some herbal supplements that I take that help in my milk production.

I drink Mother's Milk tea 3 times a day.

And I also take another herbal supplement.

It's amazing how well they work.

Here is our freezer.

Each one of these ziploc bags has about a weeks worth of milk in it for the daycare.

I currently have 15 bags.

My goal is to freeze enough milk so that I can stop pumping

and just use our freezer stash to get her to her first birthday.

I think I'll be able to accomplish that by the end of May.

I hope!

People keep telling me that I should sell the milk.

I actually looked into it because I was curious and it goes for about $1/oz.

I usually can freeze around 100 oz per week.

That would be a nice part time job.

But I also kind of hate pumping, so I'm not sure that I'd really ever pursue that.

There is actually quite a market for buying breastmilk though.

Who knew?

Phone Photo Dump Day

I take a lot of pictures with my phone

and then I forget about them.

As of right this moment, I have 420 photos on my phone.

So I wanted to share some of the moments that I thought needed to be captured.

Here is Stella this morning.

First time wearing the red cords that she got for Christmas (size 6-9 month!)

She has a bit of a muffin top!

Here we are yesterday in the car waiting for Cole's guitar lesson to start.

She's wearing Mommy's hat.

Cole wanted to make her look like a rasta.

Oh, some toys I wanted to buy for Stella.

Knew I wouldn't remember the names of them.

The half-paci.

Doesn't really need it, but doesn't want to be without it.

Mr. Cole.

Ignoring his Mom.

I know this is a little blurry, but I thought it was cute.

This is what I get to see every morning when I hear this little lady waking up.

She always shares the biggest smiles.

I love this face.

I love this face too!

Stella Videos

Stella turned 5 months last week.

She has been surprising us every day with something new.

Now everyone in the house has had the pleasure of hearing her giggle.

She still doesn't hand out the giggles readily, but they are coming more often.

Stella has also found a new sound.

The Scream!

This little squeal is a mix between delight and something else.

It's not really mad, but if it goes unnoticed, it can quickly turn on you.

Stella has also become quite chatty lately.

She captivates us with her storytelling.

It seems she really has a lot to say about the way she sees the world.

There are 2 people in particular who Stella is always interested in engaging in discussions:

Grandpa Bennett & Grandma Barb.

I'm not ever sure what she is saying,

but it's very clear that it is important.

Sometimes it seems like she really wants to tell us something

but she just can't quite get the words out.

When Jammies Attack

Stella was attacked by her jammies!

Earlier this week we had what we thought was a bad case of gas.

She was happily sleeping in her bouncy while I was wrapping things up for the night

when all of a sudden she started screaming.

Not your typical hungry/sleepy/wet cry.

This was something different.

Painful.

Jim and I quickly diagnosed that she must have gas.

We had just tried oatmeal with her

and assumed it must not have agreed with her.

So we did what we knew to do, gas drops and aggressive back patting.

She did burp (who wouldn't)

and finally after about a mile of walking around the living room

Jim was able to get her back to sleep.

When she got up in the night she ate and then did the same horrible, painful screaming.

I happened to notice as I was trying, unsuccessfully, to ease her pain

that her sleeper foot was a little bit crooked.

I touched her foot to try to fix it,

and the screaming increased.

I tried again, with the same result.

I'm not so quick at 1:00 AM when I'm holding an inconsolable baby.

So, once more I gave it a shot- and still with the screaming!

Hmmm, maybe I'm on to something.

So I quickly began to get her sleeper off, expecting to find something horrible inside.

Maybe bees or spiders.

What I found was that her toe had gotten caught up in some string

inside the foot of her jammies.

There are some flowers embroidered on the feet of that particular pair of jammies

and they attacked her.

Here is her foot- it's the "ring" toe.

It was pretty red, although it's hard to see in this picture.

Again, I'm not so quick at 1:00 in the morning, but

I thought I better take a picture, just in case.

Just in case of what? I'm not sure.

Maybe I thought her toe would fall off.

In any case, I was quick enough to throw those jammies into the trash.

And put on another pair with no toe string.

And Stella's toe is still attached.

Whew! Disaster averted.

For today.

First Laugh!

Stella laughed on Sunday!

A real, true giggle.

I was getting her ready for her bath and I was blowing on her tummy.

I've been doing this since the day we brought her home,

and I kept telling her that someday she would think that was hilarious.

I guess that day was Sunday.

Of course no one else was home to hear the laugh.

I managed to catch one tiny giggle on the camera while she was bathing.

If I hadn't, I don't think Jim or Cole would have even believed that it happened.

We haven't ben able to get her to do it again since.

But not because of a lack of effort on our part!

We've all become like a bunch of circus clowns around the house,

just trying to do anything that might strike her as funny again.

Enjoy!