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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Buggy's Culinary Adventures

Now that CarlyBug is six months old, and on the move, it is time to expand her horizons some - particularly in the department of food.

A week or two ago, we bought her some rice cereal and mashed up some bananas, thinking that she was more than ready.  She was grabbing at our food, trying to snag a bite of Hoot's toast, scooting around at warp-speed to get to our snacks.  We assumed she was trying to tell us something.

Turns out, we were wrong. 

We tried to give her some of her delicious banana/rice cereal concoction.





She acted like we were feeding her poison.

When Hayden started solid foods, she was all of 4 months old.  She wasn't a strapping young woman like her sister, but just a little sprite of a thing.  We took her to her 4 month appointment only to find that she had not gained an ounce in two months, despite having grown 3 inches.  I was in no way willing to give her any formula, so I decided that since I was starving my kid with my skim milk, we would throw in some rice cereal, some avocado, some veggies, fruit, etc. and see what would happen.  Hayden was an eager and willing participant from the start, and actually screamed when we weren't shoveling her food in fast enough.  She ate everything (except green beans) and relished it.  By eight months, through a combination of baby mush and something known as "baby-led weaning" or "baby-led solids" and nursing like mad-women every two hours whether she asked or not, she was back on track.  She remained a string bean, but was growing.

I assumed that we would have a similar situation with Baby #2....

Boy was I surprised when Bug became the "Meatball" to Hoot's "String-bean"!!  We have a good thing going here - based on her hulking 17.5 pound weigh-in at the doctor, I am not starving this one! LOL  So I waited to give her the mush. 

Then it was an epic fail.

No one ever said that being the Head Chef for this bunch was easy.

So, after several more tries with the mush, all yielding similar results, I headed back to the drawing board. 

Yesterday, I returned from the garage (where I was grabbing the sweet nectar that keeps this mother a float on any given day, aka Diet Pepsi) to find my two little ladies, huddled around a small pile of Goldfish crackers, both happily chewing. 

Bug was eating Goldfish.

First I freaked.  She is too little!!   Then it dawned on me that she actually isn't.  She was actually enjoying it.

So I regrouped. Turns out that I have a baby who hates baby food, likes finger foods and LOVES the boob.  And that is fine by me.

Here she is sampling some avocado slices, a graham cracker, and a couple of green beans.

(For whatever reason, this thumbnail makes the video look like it is all about Hoot, but it is mostly Bugster and a small cameo from Daddy...)


Here is another little sneak peek at our girl, eating dinner with the family.



I am just relaxing, letting her explore.  Letting her try things at her own pace, learn to truly enjoy eating.  I am not shoveling the food in anymore.  Right now, she is clearly getting enough calories from the boob, and the fact is that she is mostly putting the food in, chewing and sucking, and working it back out of her mouth.  And that is fine for now.


This is just another reminder that Rule #1 of Motherhood is as follows:

"Just when you think you know what you're doing,
something will remind you that you really don't have a clue. 
But it's okay. You'll figure it out. After all, you da mom."




(For more information on baby-led weaning, or BLW, click HERE, HERE, or HERE.  Google has a ton of other interesting links, as does Pinterest. Get clicking!!)

Monday, February 27, 2012

in other news...



Buggy is on the move.

And into EVERYTHING.

She mostly likes stuff she isn't supposed to have (i.e. TV remotes, phones, specks of things from the carpet, baby shampoo in the bathroom, etc.) and things that belong to Hoot. 

This downright pisses Hayden off. LOL Carly can spot Hayden's things - her artwork, her water cup, her blocks, her favorite stuffed animal or doll - and scoots across the room at Super Lightning Baby Speed to put Hayden's favorite stuff in her slobbery little mouth.  And Hayden has an absolute fit.

 From one big sister to another, Hayden - it will only get worse.   LOL Poor Hootie.

tub time

everyone loves pictures of someone else's goofy kids in the tub, right?

Bug is big enough for the little tub-ring seat in the tub now.  When did she get that big?  I feel like she is growing up even faster than Hoots did at this age.  Isn't she just the cutest, fattest little thing?  I want to eat her up.


Hayden lives for bathtime. 


She loves it so much because she likes to "help" her sister get clean.  She dreams of dumping a cup of water over Carly's chubby little head.  And bossing her around with the bath toys.  And the thing that stands between Hayden and running the show is me, her mean old mom.  LOL It doesn't stop the little stinker from trying, though.




The Bugster takes it all in stride.  She adores her sis, even if she is a Bossy Cow. LOL

sundays are my fave

These little faces.


Lounging about all day.

Sunday dinner with the family.

And this week, this delicious pie I made with apples from our co-op order this week.


HEAVEN.  :-)

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Sawyer's New Pal

My poor little chocolate dog.

We got Sawyer a year and a half after we got my sweet little angel puggy, Piper.  And as we know, Piper was the Alpha dog of our family.  Whether you were canine or human, adult or child, Queen Piper ruled.  Poor Sawyer Brown spent her first five years being relentlessly bossed around by the pug, who we would often refer to as "The Sherriff" in regards to the way that she treated Sawyer.

The last two months have been kind of hard for Sawyer.  She is so used to being ruled over that without Pipey here, she has been a little lost.  And very clingy and needy.  She doesn't discriminate with who she is clingy and needy to, either.  Garrett and I are constantly telling her to go lay down because she is right in our space.   ALL.  THE.  TIME.

So she has someone new to cling to.  Someone who can't get away. 


She is bugging poor Carly all the time now.   Lucky for Sawyer, Carly seems to like it.