Starting Solids

We've been slowly introducing Mara to solid foods for the last two months now and it's been an interesting adventure.  We started by simply putting Mara in her high chair around four months.  She was able to sit up for the most part on her own and enjoyed sitting with us at the table while we ate dinner.

At first she wasn't interested in the food we were eating and was satisfied to play with a toy or a spoon while we ate.  She quickly started to pick up on our mannerisms and began mimicking chewing and putting things in her mouth.  It was only another few days and she was wanting what we were eating.

So we started her off with a few tastes here and there.  Some sweet potato, mango juice, banana.  Talk about opening a can of worms!  Now every time we would sit down she would demand tastes; fussing until we would get her something to try.  Also a few tastes were never enough.  One morning she ate almost a full ounce of mango juice!

Although we hadn't quite hit that 6 month exclusively breastfed target I had originally set, I knew it was time to start introducing solids to Mara.  She was ready.

From the beginning I've known that I wanted to make Mara's food.  Mainly because I can regulate what's in it but also because it's so much cheaper then buying the prepackaged kind.  I did a little research about what foods were most appropriate and how to introduce them and jumped in.

We started out with fruits and vegetables.  I didn't want to do rice cereal (a staple first food in most of the US) because I feel its just processed sugar and don't think it's a necessary first step.  With most of the vegetables, I simply roasted them in the oven with a little olive oil till they were soft enough to puree.  Fruits I allowed to ripen and then simply put them in the food processor.  The only fruit that took a little more work was apples which had to be boiled and then pureed.

I didn't worry too much about the consistency to which I pureed the food either.  I wanted Mara to get used to a lot of different textures.  I knew that if there were a few chunks in there I would be near to make sure she didn't choke.

Experimenting with a spoon

On days that I would make baby food, I would make sure to do a large batch of whatever I was working on.  I would freeze it in ice cube trays specifically made for baby food and then transfer the cubes to zip locks when the cubes had set.  This worked really great for the everyday.  As much as I wanted to make her food, it was too much for me to make it fresh everyday.

We've tried sweet potatoes, zucchini, red peppers, carrots, green beans, bananas, avocado, pears, peaches, and apples.  Mara loves her fruits and doesn't mind some of the "sweeter" veggies such as carrots, red peppers and sweet potatoes (yes I know this isn't a veggie per say).  As we've introduced new foods to her we have also experimented with combinations of things as well as some spices.  She loves a pinch of cinnamon in her applesauce and a little shake of cloves on her sweet potato.

Recently I've even lessened my reins with Mara's food.  We've been traveling and I knew it would be hard to make or take food with us.  I again hit the internet and did a little research.  I found a few brands that I felt comfortable with and picked up a few pouches.  Besides the price, I've been super happy with the quality of these products (we use the Earth's Best brand) and Mara just loves them.  Maybe a little too much...
But overall they have been great for traveling and are so convenient to just squeeze out onto a spoon.

She loves to suck on pickles

I think the most important lesson I learned about introducing solids to Mara was to keep trying.  She initially went through a phase where she was eager and excited to try everything in front of her.  But a few weeks later was barely interested.  We backed off but kept trying.  I think this is key because now she eats a good 2 oz. at every sitting and could probably eat three times a day if we sat down with her.

I also found that she does best if everyone else is eating.  She likes to watch others and feel like she's engaging in the same behavior.  She also likes to help feed herself and guides the spoon to her mouth with ease.  We're still working on her pincer grasp but have found giving her small pieces of bread and puff cereal are helping with this.

Surprisingly she isn't too interested in foods in their "true form" yet.  We've given her pieces of banana and avocado but she just doesn't quite get it.  Now if you just put these pieces on a spoon she's right there and has it in her mouth.  Funny!  But I think this stems from us starting with the spoon early and how fast she catches on.

I'm always amazed with the new stages we go through with Mara.  When we're about to begin one it always feels so overwhelming.  I felt like we were finally in a routine before solids and couldn't imagine having to prepare actual food for her.

But now its normal.  She loves to eat and is a great eater.  Sure its a bit messier but I love that she's getting to explore new tastes and try new things.

A First Mother's Day

I try to be honest in this little blog world of mine.  Record my feelings and day to day activities without fear of what others may think or believe.  This is one of those posts...

Leading into my first mother's day, I had all these warm, fuzzy expectations of the day.  Now in my head I'm not sure what this exactly entailed but it sure felt good.  Here I was finally in the "Mom" category and look a day all about me type of thing.

When the actual day rolled around, it wasn't anything like I expected.  Yes my husband remembered the day with the sweetest handwritten cards and a thoughtful and useful gift.  But it wasn't this amazing day as I had imagined in my head.  I walked around all day in a fog, a funk, that I just couldn't shake.

Then, late last night Mara cried out and I got up to comfort her.  I just picked her up and brought her into bed to cuddle with me.  I'm not sure how long we stayed that way or when we fell asleep but when I woke up that fog had lifted.

Yes the day was about me and yes I felt blessed by the gifts I received.  But its also about this remarkable little girl who made me a mama.  What a blessing she is in my life and how lucky I am to play that role in her life.

And about my hubby and the walk we take together as parents.  What a remarkable man I married that will remember me on this special day and try to make it memorable!

Happy Mother's day!

Baptism

For awhile I've been thinking and praying about believer's baptism.  I knew it was something I wanted to do but up till a little while ago the timing and the church just wasn't right.  Then we came to North Carolina.

I love our church community here; every part of it.  Our pastor, the women's bible group, the ladies in the nursery, the congregation as a whole...It's where we've found the closest relationships and best friends.  It's really amazing how when you are so far away from family (as you normally are with the military) God blesses you with an "extended family" of sorts.

Well one day after our pastor just casually mentioned that some people were thinking about baptism, I just knew that I had to be a part of that.  That this was the church, this was the time.  After some planning we finally found a day and location that would work.  

We held the baptism at a local YMCA after service on April 13th.  It was so touching to have the whole congregation gathered around as well as Josh and his parents, who had traveled up for it.

Six Month Photos

Awhile ago I had Josh take some six month photos of Mara and they turned out amazing.  She has quite the little personality blooming and she was super excited to sit outside and smile for a few shots.  These are some of my favorites!

Three Month Photos

I've been trying to routinely get Josh to take pictures of Mara on a 3 month basis.  She is changing so fast and I want to make sure we capture it.

Well we we're a bit late and didn't get around to it till she was about four months.  Of course she was not into it all.  We tried a number of times but in the end it just wasn't the day.  Luckily we got a few shots that will work.

Mara wasn't really into pictures that day, so mama had to be in them too

Rare smile

She had just filled her pants...loudly

Curious eyes

Love her checking me out

Mama and mini

Rocking neon green

Strong Girl

Weekend Wrap-up

Last weekend we headed out of town to Williamsburg, Virginia to attend a Strong Bonds event.  Strong Bonds is a program put on by the chaplains that is geared toward strengthening relationships whether that be marriage retreats or programs for single soldiers.

This event was a marriage retreat focusing on the 5 love languages.  On Friday, we all loaded up and headed to Virginia.  The drive went pretty well.  We beat the rain and Mara slept for the majority of it.  Once checked into the hotel we wasted no time in getting to the waterpark.

The Great Wolfe Lodge has a waterpark on the first floor with slides, a wave pool and areas for kids. We were excited to introduce Mara to the park and see how she did in the water.

As per usual she had a blast.  Our girl loves the water.  She enjoyed splashing in the water pools and trying to drink from the bubbler.  Josh took her under the waterfalls where she promptly shut her eyes and stuck out her tongue.  She loves to try to drink water whether its in the bathtub or at the park.

Swimsuits on and ready to go!

The rest of the night was spent getting settled and checking in with the marriage retreat.

Early the next day we headed down to breakfast and then got Mara off to daycare.  Once in the retreat we walked through each of the love languages.  I had never heard of the love languages but really enjoyed walking through them and seeing how both Josh and I responded to them.  Its good to know what language he expresses love in and learn what I am doing and what I can do in our marriage to show him how much I love him.

We finished up around 2 and then the rest of the day was ours.  We headed back to the park and Mara got to splash around again.  After about an hour she passed out and one of the other wives was kind enough to hold her while Josh and I headed down some slides.

just drinking from the bubbler

That night we headed out for a date night.  The Strong Bonds event was kind enough to schedule daycare again for this!  I can't say how much of a treat this was.  We rarely go out without Mara and hadn't since our anniversary in November.  We had a great meal and enjoyed just being together.

On Sunday we attended the service provided and then headed into colonial Williamsburg.  There was an art festival going on so we spend most of the morning walking around the stalls.  After a delicious lunch, we packed up and headed back home.

It was a long trip but so worth it.  With the deployment on the horizon we really needed this weekend to get away and reconnect.  It was also great that we could get some quality family time in as well.

Mara-7 Months

Weight: Not exactly sure where you stand on this.  I think you're probably getting closer to 20 lbs and are still probably around 26 inches.

mmm grass

Health: You are still my healthy little girl.  I am a little worried with all the traveling we have coming up but I guess we'll see.  It always seems that when we get on an airplane or go visit family you come back with a cold.

An ultimate player in the making

Social: You are super social still and everyone who comes in contact with you says so.  We are always getting compliments about how happy and friendly you are little girl.  You smile at just about everyone who talks to you and now also try to engage them in conversation.

At home you ramble on and on for minutes to your daddy and I.  You are perfectly content to have a one sided conversation and are going to be our talkative girl!

Mara seems unamused that my head is in its mouth

Diet: You are still nursing about the same amount!  We have tried to interest you in a sippy cup but you'd rather drink milk right from the source.

You are still eating solids.  For awhile I was getting discouraged because you just didn't seem interested in eating at night anymore.  This weekend you were so interested in food while we ate breakfast and lunch that we tried feeding you then.  You ate so much!!  I think for now we're going to try to eat lunch and breakfast instead of dinner.

Your favorites are definitely anything sweet.  You like sweet potatoes, bananas, blueberries, apples, pears, carrots and peaches.  You're not a huge veggie eater but gnawed on a piece of celery the other day.  

You still like to feed yourself and request to do so often.  Surprisingly though if you really like what you're eating you're perfectly content for mama or daddy to feed you.

You have been getting treats from daddy lately.  He's let you chew on pizza crust, eat mango sorbet, try some rice and even have some of his apple pie!  You lucky girl!

Unaware of the fun that awaits her at the waterpark

Clothes: You are still exclusively in 9 month clothes. I think we have at least another few weeks in them before we have to think about 12 month things.

You may be moving into size 2 shoes soon.  Although your toes still fit in size 1, I think its about time to move to the bigger sizes.

It may be time to move to the largest size on your cloth diapers.  We have had too many blowouts in them.  We need more "height" in the back.  This past weekend we went on a trip and you wore size two disposables but those were too small.

Loves to drink water any way possible

Mama's Favorites: I love watching you experience new things.  You take everything in stride little girl.  You observe and take it in.  The joy in your face is priceless.

I will never get tired of you with your daddy.  You love him so much (the feeling is mutual) and light up when he's in the room.  You giggle the loudest for him and know he is always doing something fun that you can be a part of.

Oh poor buddy

Crying: You don't really cry too much, girl.  Now you're biggest issue is when you get frustrated.  You're so ready to do more physically but you don't quite have the capabilities yet.  You grunt and get angry when you can't figure it out.

A new favorite toy...the hanger

Sleep:  Sleep is always an issue in our house.  While you were doing great you had a few days were you were just off.  You woke up a lot and were looking for reassurance from your mama.  Then we went away and you did even worse.

We did learn some valuable lessons though.  Our swaddler that we just got is now obsolete.  You have figured out how to roll over in it and that's a no no.  So your arms are now out.  Last night was the first night for this and I was scared.  BUT....you did great.  So here we are in this cycle of good nights and rough.  Maybe you're teething again.  Maybe you're just growing.

Naps are something I haven't really written about here.  You are still taking three a day: one two hours after you wake up, one around 1 and one at about 5.  Your naps range from 20 minutes to an hour.  You are a cat napper and could probably get down to two naps if we could get you to sleep longer in the morning.

I am still holding you while you nap as you wake up the instant I put you down.  I have successfully put you down a few times and just need to do it more often.

7 months

 This Week: This week we went to Williamsburg, Virginia for a weekend away.  It was so much fun to introduce you to the waterpark there.  You didn't do so great in the daycare but that's ok.

We also spent a lot of time outside swinging and enjoying the nice weather.

my happy girl

Baby Likes: You love your new lunchbox toy Grandma got you for Easter.  You especially love the apple and reach for it immediately.

You loved playing in the water at the waterpark.  You splashed in the water and tried drinking out of the bubbler.  Daddy even took you down the slide.

You love Buddy and try so hard to reach him.  Once you do you pull his hair and ears.  He must love you a lot because he puts up with it.

You love to make and hear people make the kissing sound.  It instantly puts a smile on your face.

You have recently started to form an attachment to stuffed animals and dolls.  You love your pink bunny and your ballerina doll you got for Easter.
 

You love to hold our hands and instantly quiet down when you slip your hand in either of ours.  You especially need to hold our hands in the car.

                                         

Milestones: You are saying more and more sounds.  Its fun to hear you put certain sounds together.

We are trying to teach you sign language.  We do the signs for milk, eat, more, all done, and cat.  You know what milk and eat means for sure.  You smile and get excited.  We've also caught you doing the milk sign a couple of times when you were pretty fussy and wanted to nurse.

You are really close to crawling.  You push yourself backwards with ease but haven't figured out how to go forward yet.  You have scooted a bit on your butt by reaching forward with your hands and pulling your butt along.

You got a swing for Easter and have loved swinging in it.  You get wide eyed and break into this huge grin every time we push you.

You discovered grass for the first time.  You loved pulling it out and trying to put it in your mouth (of course).
You have mastered sitting.  You don't really fall back anymore and now would rather sit to play than lay.

Best of Times:  Getting to spend quality time as a family.  We played outside, went to the waterpark and just tried to soak in every minute before daddy has to leave.

Worst of Times:  The few nights where you were super clingy.  We had to get up multiple times during the night and that's just hard on mommy and daddy.  We're all much happier when you get a lot of sleep.