Greens

Eden hates just about every green vegetable imaginable. Peas...hates them. Green beans...was tolerating them a few weeks ago, but as of tonight...not so much. However, I was reading one of my baby food cookbooks and I saw that you could give babies zucchini puree. Desperate to get her to eat something green, I bought some and pureed it and gave it to her a few days ago.


And......



SUCCESS!!!

John's mom got us a baby food maker for Christmas (I had asked her for it as a gift for me but she sent it for "us") and I love making Eden's food. I'm more excited for when she gets a little bit older and I can experiment with more foods, but we're doing pretty well so far. I've made sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, carrots, pears, and I do bananas the day she's going to eat them just by taking a banana and smashing it up before giving it to her. I'm wanting to introduce herbs and spices, but I'm going to wait until her 6 month appointment to check with her doctor just to make sure it'll be ok. I want her to be a good eater and I know I can't control that, but I can try by exposing her to as much as possible now and continuing the trend the older she gets. Tomorrow....we try mango which I'm sure will be a success. I've yet to find a fruit she doesn't like. But I think that's typical.

Christmas

I realize it's a few days past Christmas, but I figure better late than never. We had a really good Christmas despite being away from family. John's mom went crazy buying for Eden which made our tree overly stuffed with presents, but I guess that's never a bad thing (although, in my book, Christmas is not about gifts). John and I opened our gifts to each other and from our parents on Christmas Eve, and we did Eden's on Christmas morning. Even though she didn't know any different, she did seem to enjoy helping open her gifts, but I'm sure it was more about trying to get the paper in her mouth as you will see in the pictures below.

John got me a very nice, new, high tech camera which I'm still trying to figure out how to use to it's ability. I'm hoping that I'll get it all figured out and be able to get some really good pictures in the coming months. I'm so excited about the great pictures it does take...but like I said, I'm still trying to figure out the proper way to use it and get the best shots possible out of it. In the mean time...ENJOY!








And....the aftermath.

My Favorite Pictures

I finally got the photos that I had taken when Eden and I were home in October and I thought I'd share a few of my favorites. She is already such a different baby!










Same picture...just in color.




I like all of them, but these are just my favorites that aren't on Facebook...minus the one.

My Favorite Thing

My favorite thing that Eden has been doing the past few days is the way she looks at me sometimes. It's straight in the face, like really looking at me. It's almost like a look of understanding or wonder...nose to nose, and she just stares straight at me...I don't really know how to explain it, but I LOVE it. It's one of those moments that I'd kill to have in a photo, but considering I'm the only one home with her most days and it's a photo I'd never be able to take myself. Boo! I'm hoping someday she'll do it when John is around and he can maybe catch it...but I'm not super hopeful. However, it's a moment and look that I adore so much, that it's forever in head.

My Own Eyes

Finally...I have seen my daughter roll over with my own eyes. This makes me feel so much better! I knew that she could do it because I've put her in bed awake on her belly and then 10 minutes later she would be on her back kicking her legs up in the air. It's just so much more reassuring when you see it with your own eyes. She has to work at it, but she can do it. Now we just need more practice to get good.

Birthday Picture

Here are some pictures from yesterday of little miss in her birthday jammies. I seriously don't know where the last 5 months have gone, and that they've gone as fast as they have.



And of course...one with "the face."


She still isn't rolling over on a regular basis or sitting up on her own. I know that all kids will go at their own pace, but it makes me feel like I'm a bad parent or something or like I'm doing something wrong. I'm not wanting her to grow up too fast or anything, but I just feel like she should be doing those things. She's capable of rolling on her side and she acts like she's going to go all the way over, but then doesn't. So...I don't know. I just hope I'm doing everything right!

Sneaky

Someone has rolled over in her crib, but doesn't seem to want to any other time. Sneaky baby!

Christmas Photo

I just got our christmas cards out today and here are 2 of the rejected photos that I didn't include. BIG thanks to Tricia for our Christmas bow!! You can see her bow better on the photos that I put on the card, so you'll just have to wait to see.

Smiles

I have a smiley child...however, she hardly ever smiles for the camera. She always gives me "the face." If you're wondering what "the face" is...see below.







That surprised, open mouth, "What the hell are you doing?" look on her face. But sure as shit, as soon as I put it away...SMILE!

Thankfully, I did get one good one today.

This and That

Our house has been hit, yet again, with the cold bug. Or maybe I should say, Eden was hit with the cold bug, and so graciously has passed it on to me. Just when she was finally over the last one, John's time off was up and I finally had to take her back to babysitting at the gym and no more than 2 days later, she was sneezing, and then the next day, nasty boogery nose and congestion. I was fine until yesterday evening. It seemed to have come out of nowhere and punch me right in the throat. UGH!

On top of that, Eden was waking up at 4 am for almost a week and I would hear her little, "Eh, eh, eh, eh," and now that that's stopped...I'M still waking up waiting to hear it. Then I can't fall back to sleep which was the case in point last night. I didn't fall back asleep until 7am, and then the alarm went off at 8 for me to get up and get ready for the gym. Needless to say, I'm dragging ass today. I'd love to take a nap, but I know it'll screw with me when I try, yet again, to go to bed at a reasonable hour. And I'll add that today would be the perfect day for a nap since my little princess has been napping for over 2 hours!! It's stupid that it worries me, but it does because she NEVER naps this long...EVER! Maybe she's moving into taking one long nap a day along with 2 shorter ones, I don't know. I thought we were all figured out, but it appears that that may be changing.

Regardless...I feel a little guilty knowing that I've enjoyed the past 2 hours laying on the couch in my robe, covered up, watching tv, and not entertaining anyone or cleaning anything up. I love playing with Eden, but when I don't feel good, I really enjoy doing nothing. So maybe I don't feel so guilty since I do feel like shit.
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So much for trying to post once a week! Oh well. My excuse is that I've been enjoying the fact that my child has been going to bed by 10 just about every night and I stay up either watching tv, getting a movie on the weekends, or catching up with friends on the phone. Granted, I know we should be putting Eden to bed awake by now, or at least that's what "the books" say, but I can't help that she falls asleep taking her last milk...and I damn sure don't plan on feeding her for the last time at 7pm and then trying to put her to bed at 8 or 9, and then her get up at the ass crack of dawn for the day. Nope.

Not much new is going on in our neck of the woods. Eden is trying a variety of foods lately and her favorites appear to be fruit and most things orange (minus squash which her belly doesn't want to digest). I made my own sweet potato baby food today because I don't like the fact that on some of the baby foods, they add asorbic acid. I don't really know that it's necessary, so with those things, I want to make those myself. Although, I may try to just make everything myself...especially when meat and all that stuff is introduced. That chicken sticks shit in a jar that I see on the shelf...there is no way in hell that I'm feeding that to my kid! If I don't want to think about eating it...I'm not giving it to her.

Here's some pictures of Eden and new foods.

Squash is GROSS!!


Greenbeans....not a big fan.


Yummmm! Carrots!!