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Nov. 14th, 2005 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaReally nice weekend.
My parents' visit was marvelous. We didn't go anywhere except church for Alex's dedication (my mother is very uncomfortable in cities, and would rather just stay at the house), so even though I had a lot of cooking to do for the post-dedication lunch the weekend felt very relaxed. Alex survived the initial shock of being handed off to my father so that I could park Mom's car, and within a couple of hours had developed a passionate fondness for her grandparents. She was as sunny and charming as could be, all weekend long.
The dedication and lunch party went very smoothly. I held it together until the hymn, when the minister led us up and down the aisle so that everyone could give Alex a word or gesture of blessing. Seeing all of those beaming faces, feeling so cherished by our church community, I broke down and started to cry from happiness. I'm so damn lucky. Alex behaved perfectly - she talked a little bit during the dedication itself, seemed to enjoy the parade of blessings, and then sucked down a bottle and fell asleep. She slept through the rest of the service and the walk home, which meant that she was ready to be sunny and charming to our guests for lunch.
We had juuuust enough meat and cheese on the deli tray and way too much pasta salad, and the lemon bars were a big hit - they turned out fabulously well. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and the two babies - Alex and Zoe - were much admired. They're starting to seem excited to see each other, which is fun. They spent a bunch of time amicably taking toys out of each others' hands and feeling each other's faces.
Alex is seeming more and more like a grown-up baby. She pulled up to stand twice more this weekend. (Both times, she grabbed onto my mother's pant legs. I wonder if she knows that this could also be done with furniture.) She's still not quite crawling, but she moves around on the floor with increasing skill and sophistication. From a sitting position, she leans forward until she's balanced on hands and knees. She's good at kneeling and exploring - say, getting up on her knees and bending over the diaper bag to take everything out of it piece by piece. And she slides around on her stomach, using her arms to move forward or backward, legs scrabbling behind. That used to happen semi-randomly - now she clearly directs herself towards what she wants.
My parents were surprised by her attention span. They brought a set of miniature board books which fit into a cardboard case. Alex played with it for half an hour at a time, or more - taking each book out of the case, tasting it, chewing on it, throwing it and wiggling after it, hitting two books together, turning the case over and over in her hands. She was completely absorbed. She also sat in her highchair at our dinnertime and played quietly with kitchen tools for a good 40 minutes. (Usually Michael and I eat after Alex is in bed, but my parents aren't used to waiting that long, so we ate early and put her in her chair. I was amazed at how well it went.)
When I first started her on fruits and vegetables at six months, it didn't take. She willingly tasted everything, but didn't want more than a couple of bites. So I dialled it way back: instead of a meal of solids twice a day, I gave her little tastes once a day or once every other day. Now she's excited about them again, and is also starting to lose interest in her bottle a little. So I'm going to start giving her a solid breakfast and dinner every day, in quantities that are a little more meal-like. And I'm going to start making some foods myself to give her better variety.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tammylc recommended First Meals by Annabel Karmel, which answers the question "what happens when a Cordon Bleu chef has kids?" For Alex's age, there are great suggestions about combination purees, and there are a lot of appealing vegetable dishes for older babies and toddlers. Maybe we won't have to have mac-n-cheese for lunch five days a week like so many families I know.
She's so involved with the world these days. When we go out for a walk, she leans forward in the stroller and grabs onto the front bar, eagerly looking around. Almost everyone we meet, stranger or friend, gets a sweet happy smile. She's always swiveling around when we carry her, trying to see everything - and on the floor, she throws herself at everything, eager to explore. She's active and energetic, but (usually) not in a hyper or demanding way. Sure, some days she wants to climb on me all day, or wants to be held in a standing position for hours - but other days she's perfectly content to wiggle around on the floor under her own power, thoughtfully regarding and chewing on her toys. She talks away to herself - long strings of syllables or sounds. Her high-pitched chattering laugh rings out dozens of times a day. She has this great way of sharing her excitement: she'll look at whatever she's excited about and laugh or reach, then turn around to look at me with a big grin, and then reach back to whatever the exciting thing is. You can almost hear her saying, "Hey Mom, look at this!"
I am so happy.
My parents' visit was marvelous. We didn't go anywhere except church for Alex's dedication (my mother is very uncomfortable in cities, and would rather just stay at the house), so even though I had a lot of cooking to do for the post-dedication lunch the weekend felt very relaxed. Alex survived the initial shock of being handed off to my father so that I could park Mom's car, and within a couple of hours had developed a passionate fondness for her grandparents. She was as sunny and charming as could be, all weekend long.
The dedication and lunch party went very smoothly. I held it together until the hymn, when the minister led us up and down the aisle so that everyone could give Alex a word or gesture of blessing. Seeing all of those beaming faces, feeling so cherished by our church community, I broke down and started to cry from happiness. I'm so damn lucky. Alex behaved perfectly - she talked a little bit during the dedication itself, seemed to enjoy the parade of blessings, and then sucked down a bottle and fell asleep. She slept through the rest of the service and the walk home, which meant that she was ready to be sunny and charming to our guests for lunch.
We had juuuust enough meat and cheese on the deli tray and way too much pasta salad, and the lemon bars were a big hit - they turned out fabulously well. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and the two babies - Alex and Zoe - were much admired. They're starting to seem excited to see each other, which is fun. They spent a bunch of time amicably taking toys out of each others' hands and feeling each other's faces.
Alex is seeming more and more like a grown-up baby. She pulled up to stand twice more this weekend. (Both times, she grabbed onto my mother's pant legs. I wonder if she knows that this could also be done with furniture.) She's still not quite crawling, but she moves around on the floor with increasing skill and sophistication. From a sitting position, she leans forward until she's balanced on hands and knees. She's good at kneeling and exploring - say, getting up on her knees and bending over the diaper bag to take everything out of it piece by piece. And she slides around on her stomach, using her arms to move forward or backward, legs scrabbling behind. That used to happen semi-randomly - now she clearly directs herself towards what she wants.
My parents were surprised by her attention span. They brought a set of miniature board books which fit into a cardboard case. Alex played with it for half an hour at a time, or more - taking each book out of the case, tasting it, chewing on it, throwing it and wiggling after it, hitting two books together, turning the case over and over in her hands. She was completely absorbed. She also sat in her highchair at our dinnertime and played quietly with kitchen tools for a good 40 minutes. (Usually Michael and I eat after Alex is in bed, but my parents aren't used to waiting that long, so we ate early and put her in her chair. I was amazed at how well it went.)
When I first started her on fruits and vegetables at six months, it didn't take. She willingly tasted everything, but didn't want more than a couple of bites. So I dialled it way back: instead of a meal of solids twice a day, I gave her little tastes once a day or once every other day. Now she's excited about them again, and is also starting to lose interest in her bottle a little. So I'm going to start giving her a solid breakfast and dinner every day, in quantities that are a little more meal-like. And I'm going to start making some foods myself to give her better variety.
tammylc recommended First Meals by Annabel Karmel, which answers the question "what happens when a Cordon Bleu chef has kids?" For Alex's age, there are great suggestions about combination purees, and there are a lot of appealing vegetable dishes for older babies and toddlers. Maybe we won't have to have mac-n-cheese for lunch five days a week like so many families I know.She's so involved with the world these days. When we go out for a walk, she leans forward in the stroller and grabs onto the front bar, eagerly looking around. Almost everyone we meet, stranger or friend, gets a sweet happy smile. She's always swiveling around when we carry her, trying to see everything - and on the floor, she throws herself at everything, eager to explore. She's active and energetic, but (usually) not in a hyper or demanding way. Sure, some days she wants to climb on me all day, or wants to be held in a standing position for hours - but other days she's perfectly content to wiggle around on the floor under her own power, thoughtfully regarding and chewing on her toys. She talks away to herself - long strings of syllables or sounds. Her high-pitched chattering laugh rings out dozens of times a day. She has this great way of sharing her excitement: she'll look at whatever she's excited about and laugh or reach, then turn around to look at me with a big grin, and then reach back to whatever the exciting thing is. You can almost hear her saying, "Hey Mom, look at this!"
I am so happy.
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Date: 2005-11-14 05:18 pm (UTC)I have a suggestion regarding solids, and that suggestion is: stuffing. Yes, the sort of stuff you stuff into a turkey at Thanksgiving. My kids loved it when they were learning to eat--it's soft and easy to chew, and it sticks to the spoon so it's great "training food" for learning to use utensils. The great thing is how easily you can mix in other foods--little bits of meat, chopped up vegetables, cheese--and get the baby used to new flavors by presenting them combined with something they already like. I used to mix up a batch and call it Purina Baby Chow.
Just a outdated bit of my mom-experience that you may find useful. Enjoy!
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Date: 2005-11-14 05:20 pm (UTC)