Random Happenings

• Despite the snow and ice storms we had, some of our garden survived the winter and is now growing better than it did last summer.  We were able to use the parsley all winter, have already had chard twice and are watching the celery to see if it will grow tall enough to eat.
• And speaking of vegetables, just when I think Amelia doesn't like meat, she loved eating chicken off of the bone.   Maybe she's not a vegetarian after all.
• And speaking of eating, I love that Sophia is old enough to eat solids.  But once again, I am reminded of how much I hate food mess.  Amelia is finally eating relatively mess free, but it has started all over again with Sophia.
• I have a variety of cookware, but it seems like I use the same pan(s) daily.  Does anyone else get tired of cleaning the same pan over and over and over?
• Lately Amelia has started bringing books with her to bed.  Not just one or two, but almost every book from her bookshelf.  She doesn't seem to mind that there is barely room for her, or that books fall off the bed or onto her in the middle of the night.
• Sophia is getting great at entertaining herself.  I put her toy box next to her, and pretty soon she has every toy out of the box and on/ around her lap.
• Yesterday I made an impulse purchase.  I was at Trader Joes - a store I find very hard not to make multiple impulse purchases - and found an item I was sure we would all enjoy . . . cocoa almond spread.  It's like Nutella, only made with almonds, instead of hazelnuts.  And it is yummy!  After putting it on his ice cream, Ken has already warned me that the jar is likely to get used up fast.
• I was reading a friend's blog last night, and she commented that she and her husband had had their first overnight trip without their 9-mon old son.  Sadly, I realized that I have never spent the night without my children; Ken has, but I haven't.  I think I need to change that.
• We're on day #5 of sunshine and the forecast is sun for another 5 days - yeah!

Sophia at 6-months

I can hardly believe that my baby is 6 months old already.  I love watching Sophia develop day by day.  She is great at sitting up, but has no interest in rolling over.  Sophia gives great "monkey" hugs - she wraps her arms around me and holds on tight.  She loves to smile and laugh and "talk".

Sophia is getting so chunky now that she's eating formula instead of my "skim" breast milk.  She weighs 14 lbs 4 oz and is in the 20% for weight (but she gained 3 lbs in 2 months, so I think we're onto bigger and better days ahead), and she is 26 1/2" long, which is 70% for height.  She loves eating solid foods (cereal, pears, sweet potatoes, pureed chicken, peaches) and I love that she loves eating.

Sophia doesn't take a binkie, but she occasionally sucks on her fingers.  She's still learning, however, how far she can stick her fingers in her mouth and frequently makes herself gag ;)  She reaches for toys and Amelia's hair and anything she can get a hold of.

We love you Sophia and love having you in our home!

Little white lies

I'm not an advocate of lying, and frankly, I've never been a good lier.   But lately, I've found myself telling Amelia more and more lies.  For example:

• I tell her that the fluoride pill she takes at bedtime after brushing her teeth is "candy" so that she'll eat it.  I kind of suspect she knows it's not candy, but it's so sweet, she eats it anyway.
• And lately, when she asks where her binkie is, I lie and tell her I don't know, when it's really in my pocket - I just don't want her to have it all the time.
• Last night for dinner, I made crab and corn soup, using imitation crab meat.  Amelia kept calling the crab cheese and kept asking for more.   She kept saying how yummy it was, and ate so much of it, I didn't want to tell her it was fish for fear she wouldn't eat it.

More randomness

• Every time Amelia sings a song, she says "yeah" at the end.  But I still thought it was cute when she said "yeah" at the end of the opening song at church yesterday.
• We finally found a bed frame on Craigslist for our extra bed.  It says a lot about my day when I preferred to drive 3 hours (round-trip) to get the bed frame than to stay at home with the girls.
• After much searching and many websites, I finally found the perfect outfits for the girls for our family picture.  Now to find something for Ken and I to wear.
• Ken is ready for Amelia to start potty training.  I'm not ready . . . and I'm not sure Amelia is either.
• The weather has been perfect for weeding lately - rainy weather, followed by warm, dry weather.  The weeds just pull right out.  I could spend hours weeding, but with Sophia in the Snugglie and Amelia "helping", I only get brief moments.  Oh well, it's fun while it lasts.
• Ken made the best chocolate chip cookies yesterday.  Perfect texture, shape, and taste.  Thanks for not giving them all to your home teaching families.

Randomness

• I think I jinxed myself by saying that Sophia was sleeping better.  She slept better for a few days (probably so tired from not sleeping for a few weeks), but now she's back to her 20-30 min. naps.  Yawn!
• Despite her lack of sleep, she's actually a pretty happy camper.  At least now I know she's getting enough to eat.

• Ken had a birthday last weekend.  We didn't do much to celebrate, but his Dad came for dinner, and that was fun.  I think Amelia was confused that Grandpa was at her house though.
• I played Hide-n-Seek with Amelia yesterday.  It's funny playing Hide-n-Seek with a 2-year old.  She doesn't quite get the concept of hiding, but we had fun anyway.

• Amelia loves to count things.  The other day she was counting the spots on my face.  Hmm?  Fun for her, not so fun for me ;)
• Ken's mom came up for Ken's birthday weekend.  Amelia loved having her Grandma visit . . . as you can tell by the smile on her face.

Easter Egg Hunt

Ken was in Portland on Saturday and I decided to be brave (for me) and take Amelia to an Easter egg hunt.  A Methodist church down the street from us had advertised "Easter for kids"  from 9:30am-Noon.  I thought it was a come and go event:  play some games, do a little Easter craft, egg hunt, and then leave to do the rest of my errands before lunch.  The problem:  the church had a religious agenda (I guess I should have assumed that seeing that it was at a church).  I think I got bored before Amelia did, but since it was a small church, we had to sit through some of the agenda before I could find a graceful time to leave . . . and no egg hunt.  But then I remembered that our subdivision was doing an egg hunt at noon - and it was perfect.  Not too many people and lots of eggs to find.   Without too much prompting, Amelia seemed to know just what to do.  It was cute to watch her run from one egg to another, passing up one to get the one she had her sights on.  I took some video, but it won't upload to the blog, so all you get are these pictures.  Happy Easter everyone!

Bitter Sweet

I stopped breastfeeding Sophia this week.  I wasn't planning on stopping quite so soon, but it had to be done.  My milk is almost gone, and probably has been for over a month.  My theory:  I've been accidentally starving my baby, which has resulted in fussiness, gassiness, lack of sleep, and generally an unhappy baby.  I've loved being able to breastfeed, and wish I could have done it a bit longer.  Getting Sophia to take a bottle was rough for a few days; it required force feeding with a dropper at times, but she has now accepted the bottle.  I have already noticed better sleeping and less gassiness, so hopefully things will continue to improve.

While we were introducing new things, we thought we'd give rice cereal a try.   She didn't hate it, but I don't think it was her favorite either.