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Cubes of baby food, ready to freeze

Katherine is about to start eating solid foods. Saturday, in fact. We are going to start with sweet potatoes. Since I don’t do anything the easy way (see cloth diapers ), I am going to try making baby food myself. So, today I went to Whole Foods and bought three organic sweet potatoes. I was shocked that they cost just over nine dollars but oh well. Tonight I boiled them and then pureed them in my magic bullet . After the sweet potatoes were nice and soupy, I poured them into ice cube trays.

That was when I realized how many servings those two sweet potatoes made (I only cooked 2 because I did not have any big enough pots). It made 36 ice cubes plus another small bowl. I estimate that it will be about 20 servings. So, at a potato and 10 servings per potato, each serving is only $.30! Compare that to a jar of baby food and I am saving money. A jar of organic baby food from Whole Foods is $.59. I am not certain how much a jar of regular Gerber baby food is, but I think I remember seeing it for $.40 a jar.

 So, it may be the harder way, but it was kind of fun. And knowing that I am saving a little money is great. The real reason I am going to do it though is because I think it will be healthier. I will not be a pure home made baby food mom, but I will try to do it as often as possible.

Ready, set, go!

Katherine is really trying to crawl. The funny thing is that she tries the hardest when I am changing her diaper. I thought she was hard to change when she found her toes, but this is worse. As soon as I put her on the table, she flips over. Then she pushes up on to all fours and starts to rock back and forth. I expect her to take off any time. She is better at going backwards than forwards and I have been scared that she will back off the table into her clothes hamper. I am learning to change diapers and clothes when she is on her tummy, her side and her back.

Let me touch your face.

Today we went to visit my friend, Sarah, who has an 8 week old, Sydney. Lynette and Caedmon were there too. As the three kids were on the floor playing, Katherine was rolling over the other two kids and grabbing their faces. Once I even saw her trying to put Caedmon’s hand in her mouth.

We actually think she is a sweet girl who just appears to be the bully because she was the only one who was able to move around since she is 3-4 months older than the other two.

Reading with Daddy

Katherine loves to books. Sometimes she likes to read them. Other times she loves to eat them. She is learning about books right now. She knows how to hold them and that their pages turn. It is all a part of pre-reading.

For Father’s Day Katherine gave her daddy a tool book to read together. Each page has a tool piece that comes out of the book. She is investigating the screwdriver.

Do you really want me in here?

I think it is time to but the bouncy seat away (actually, give it back to Amy V.) Today she was fully sitting up in it and yesterday she was trying to roll over so hard that I thought she would tip it over. Not really, but she was sure determined.

Katherine is in a phase right now where she does not really want to be in any one spot for too long. Nor does she want her mommy to be out of her sight. It is very exhausting for one of us.

On a positive note, she is so interactive and fun. So, we are spending a lot of time reading, playing and singing together.

Sitting up

There are many milestones for the first year - sleeping, holding head up, rolling over, sitting, crawling, walking. All baby books have places for you to record when these things happen. The problem is that many of these milestones are more of a process than an event. With rolling over, I can mark down exactly when that happened. Katherine could not roll over and then one day we saw her do it. Sure she would get on her side for awhile, but there was a definite time that she went from not being able to roll to being able to.

Not so with sitting. I realized today that Katherine can sit. When did this happen? What day do I write in her book? I have no idea. A few weeks ago she could sit really well on our lap. Last week she could sit unassisted between my legs or surrounded by the boppy pillow. Now, she can sit with nothing around her for at least 30 seconds.

So, when do I say she was sitting? Is she sitting now? She still falls over after 30 seconds and cannot get herself into the sitting position without my help. Why don’t they define for you when you get to cross these milestones off your list?

Well, I say she is sitting up now.

Today we went to play with J.G. and Amy. When we got there, J.G. was taking a nap. When he woke up, he was ready to play, full of energy, smiles and a head of out of control hair.

It was so fun to see Katherine and J.G. interacting. Katherine is getting so expressive and she is really noticing other babies. She was smiling, talking and reaching for J.G.

J.G. was funny. He kept trying to spank Katherine. He sees his mommy patting a baby doll on the bottom/back like she is burping the baby. J.G. saw this and copies his mommy by burping Katherine, patting her bottom. Luckily she has a thick diaper and he has a gentle spank.

While J.G. was eating his snack, we let Katherine play with his Leapfrog table. We don’t have any big toys like this yet, just rattles and teethers so Katherine was very interested. She was all smiles, touching all of the buttons, watching the lights and listening to the music.  

Learning the computer

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Katherine did this post on her own. She is fascinated with the computer. I often have her on my lap when I am working on the computer. She always tried to punch all the buttons. This time I put her on the floor by the computer and let her actually do it. She loved it. i have no idea what the post says, but then again, I never know what she is saying.

Reach out and touch someone

Katherine is really fascinated with faces. She will reach out and touch your eyes, nose and especially your mouth. This is especially fun since she waits until her cute little fingers are nice and slobbery before putting them in your mouth.

We went to lunch with Richard and Jen at LePeep. I was super excited because LePeep is a favorite childhood restaurant of mine and the one close to us closed a few years ago. Mmmm I love the nomad with goey buns.

 Anyway, Richard was holding Katherine and she became very interested in his goatee and kept reaching out for it. Sam has never had a beard (and if I can help it he never will) but he does have wiskers. The full goatee was a lot of fun for her.

Richard and Jen are expecting their first baby in December so they will be having many cute pictures in the next year.

Shannon is ready to pop!

Friday we took dinner to George and Shannon and the kids. Shannon was due last Monday. Poor girl is ready for Peanut to arrive. They are planning a home birth and I am on call to go over and take care of the kids while she is in labor. Then the kids may or may not watch the birth. Pray that Peanut decides to come soon.

 The picture of Shannon was actually about a month ago, not as ready as she is now.