These are the days, these are the days you'll remember. Never before and never since, I promise- will the whole world be as warm as this. And as you feel it, you'll know it's true- that you are blessed and lucky. It's true that you are touched by something that will grow and bloom in you.
Today Evie is 6 months old!
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! A couple weekends ago, I had some time because I was cancelled to work one of my shifts, and so I was able to decorate the house. It is pretty fun having another stocking to hang by the chimney with care. :)
Everyone keeps asking if Santa will have gifts under the tree for Evie! The sad reality is- nope. Sure don't think we will have anything under the tree for Evie this year. Maybe I should just wrap an empty box up or something so it can look like she actually had a gift for her first Christmas. Are we the worst parents ever? I just kind of don't see the point. We live in a sardine can of a house, there isn't much room for more baby stuff. I barely have enough room for all of her gear as it is. We will see... I guess I have a few more days before the big day.
Several people have been asking me about this "Baby Led Weaning thing" that I referred to in my last blog post. So, I thought I might take some time to kind of explain and bring y'all up to speed on how we're doing with it.
I first heard about Baby Led Weaning from my friend Katie. I went to a wedding with her and her baby (I think she was around 7 or 8 months at the time), and Emme was just eating food off of Katie's plate! I couldn't believe my eyes! She wasn't fighting with spoon feeding a baby! The baby was feeding herself. She was happy and she was picking and choosing what she wanted to eat! Mind blown. I was hooked and I wasn't even pregnant yet.
For starters, I want to clarify- I'm not trying to make some statement by choosing to avoid spoon feeding puree's to my child... and honestly, if you choose to do the puree route- more power to you! I'm not trying to "stick it to the man" and avoid conformity- ya know, like "F the police"- no none of that. I'm not trying to get back to my good ol' free spirited, earthy roots and avoid vaccinations (definitely getting Ev vaccinated- third round done today, btw), dress Evie in hemp clothing and avoid any and all Western medical interventions. Nope. Really, I'm doing this because I'm lazy. Well, lazy, and because it makes sense to us.
So, Baby Led Weaning (BLW) in a nutshell- No spoonfeeding. No puree's. Their website slogan is "The mush stops here!" I love that. Because when I think about eating- the last thing I want is some nasty, mushy stuff. The name Baby Led WEANING is a bit of a misnomer... it's not really weaning per se. At the beginning stages of BLW, it is merely the introduction of food in addition to breast milk or formula.
BLW puts the eating in the hands of the baby...literally. They hold the food, choose to eat what they want, when they want, at a pace that works for them. In the beginning, they pick up the food and suck on it (maybe swallow a little bit), but mostly they are just learning about different tastes and textures- before they really get down to the nitty gritty of chewing.
Another hallmark of BLW is that milk is always offered prior to eating "real" food. So, that remains their primary source of nutrition until they are a year old. Thus the saying "Food under 1 is just for fun" is another phrase frequently heard with BLW.
In addition to teaching the baby to chew, this is also a great way to develop hand-eye coordination. Ideally, meals should be done together so that the baby can see and try to imitate everyone around her. Her meals should also be the same as your meals. Given options on her plate, it is theorized that she may choose items off her plate that contain the nutrients she may be lacking. AMAZING!
A big question I have heard a lot is- won't she choke?! Those that advocate BLW say that babies are less likely to choke on their food than those that are spoon fed, because they are not capable of moving food from the front of the mouth to the back until they have first learned to chew. In my limited (less than a week) of experience with Evie around this, she has not choked. And I have found, that the bulk of the food she puts in her mouth, ends up out of her mouth eventually (thank G for a million bibs. I thought we had too many. Clearly I was grossly mistaken).
The video below was the very first food I ever gave her- Avocado. Now, BLW is supposed to be the baby feeding herself- but we were having issues with that because the Avocado was so slippery. So the first time I fed her, I held onto it, but as you can see- I let her choose when she wanted to take a bit/suck.
So, we're trying it. And, so far so good. Here is a sampling of what she has tried so far: Avocado, Cucumber (loves cucumber), Turkey, Roast Beef, Tomato, Bread, Clementine, Ginger Snap Cookie, Carrots, Broccoli, Cauliflower and basically anything else I happen to be eating that I think she can hold on to. She's enjoying it. I'm enjoying it. It's messy- but I think any baby eating is messy. It has been so fun and funny to watch her discover this new venture in her life. I love it! These are the days...
I love that it will help grow her independence... and allow me to simultaneously be lazy. Because let me tell you, these days, more than ever I love being lazy!
Until next time...
She had her 6 month doctors visit today too! Snapped a few cute pics while there:
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| Trying to crawl! |
I celebrated my 31st birthday on Tuesday! It was definitely a different celebration than in years past (um, hello- not one single sip of an alcoholic beverage?!), but it was actually a great birthday! I went to lunch with a friend who recently delivered a baby- we had some great conversation and I definitely ate a giant piece of Salted Caramel and Praline Cheesecake- to die! And then, that night I went to work with some of the best ladies around! They threw me a birthday celebration that should go down in the books! I felt so incredibly loved. People kept saying "I can't believe you're working on your birthday!" and my response was "And miss a fun night, hanging out with my bitches?! No way!" Hads (my super fabulous friend that took care of me when I delivered Evie), baked me a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting! It pays to have friends that bake. That's all Imma say.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! A couple weekends ago, I had some time because I was cancelled to work one of my shifts, and so I was able to decorate the house. It is pretty fun having another stocking to hang by the chimney with care. :)
Everyone keeps asking if Santa will have gifts under the tree for Evie! The sad reality is- nope. Sure don't think we will have anything under the tree for Evie this year. Maybe I should just wrap an empty box up or something so it can look like she actually had a gift for her first Christmas. Are we the worst parents ever? I just kind of don't see the point. We live in a sardine can of a house, there isn't much room for more baby stuff. I barely have enough room for all of her gear as it is. We will see... I guess I have a few more days before the big day.
Several people have been asking me about this "Baby Led Weaning thing" that I referred to in my last blog post. So, I thought I might take some time to kind of explain and bring y'all up to speed on how we're doing with it.
I first heard about Baby Led Weaning from my friend Katie. I went to a wedding with her and her baby (I think she was around 7 or 8 months at the time), and Emme was just eating food off of Katie's plate! I couldn't believe my eyes! She wasn't fighting with spoon feeding a baby! The baby was feeding herself. She was happy and she was picking and choosing what she wanted to eat! Mind blown. I was hooked and I wasn't even pregnant yet.
For starters, I want to clarify- I'm not trying to make some statement by choosing to avoid spoon feeding puree's to my child... and honestly, if you choose to do the puree route- more power to you! I'm not trying to "stick it to the man" and avoid conformity- ya know, like "F the police"- no none of that. I'm not trying to get back to my good ol' free spirited, earthy roots and avoid vaccinations (definitely getting Ev vaccinated- third round done today, btw), dress Evie in hemp clothing and avoid any and all Western medical interventions. Nope. Really, I'm doing this because I'm lazy. Well, lazy, and because it makes sense to us.
So, Baby Led Weaning (BLW) in a nutshell- No spoonfeeding. No puree's. Their website slogan is "The mush stops here!" I love that. Because when I think about eating- the last thing I want is some nasty, mushy stuff. The name Baby Led WEANING is a bit of a misnomer... it's not really weaning per se. At the beginning stages of BLW, it is merely the introduction of food in addition to breast milk or formula.
BLW puts the eating in the hands of the baby...literally. They hold the food, choose to eat what they want, when they want, at a pace that works for them. In the beginning, they pick up the food and suck on it (maybe swallow a little bit), but mostly they are just learning about different tastes and textures- before they really get down to the nitty gritty of chewing.
Another hallmark of BLW is that milk is always offered prior to eating "real" food. So, that remains their primary source of nutrition until they are a year old. Thus the saying "Food under 1 is just for fun" is another phrase frequently heard with BLW.
In addition to teaching the baby to chew, this is also a great way to develop hand-eye coordination. Ideally, meals should be done together so that the baby can see and try to imitate everyone around her. Her meals should also be the same as your meals. Given options on her plate, it is theorized that she may choose items off her plate that contain the nutrients she may be lacking. AMAZING!
A big question I have heard a lot is- won't she choke?! Those that advocate BLW say that babies are less likely to choke on their food than those that are spoon fed, because they are not capable of moving food from the front of the mouth to the back until they have first learned to chew. In my limited (less than a week) of experience with Evie around this, she has not choked. And I have found, that the bulk of the food she puts in her mouth, ends up out of her mouth eventually (thank G for a million bibs. I thought we had too many. Clearly I was grossly mistaken).
The video below was the very first food I ever gave her- Avocado. Now, BLW is supposed to be the baby feeding herself- but we were having issues with that because the Avocado was so slippery. So the first time I fed her, I held onto it, but as you can see- I let her choose when she wanted to take a bit/suck.
So, we're trying it. And, so far so good. Here is a sampling of what she has tried so far: Avocado, Cucumber (loves cucumber), Turkey, Roast Beef, Tomato, Bread, Clementine, Ginger Snap Cookie, Carrots, Broccoli, Cauliflower and basically anything else I happen to be eating that I think she can hold on to. She's enjoying it. I'm enjoying it. It's messy- but I think any baby eating is messy. It has been so fun and funny to watch her discover this new venture in her life. I love it! These are the days...
Until next time...
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