Orange

Today's meal was sponsored by the color: Orange. Here we have Chicken and Rice, Carrots, Apricots and a little leftover apple cinnamon oatmeal from breakfast.

 There have certainly been a lot of transitional food moments in the last year. Breastfeeding to formula for 7 months, solids at 4 months, a little water at 5 months, pick up foods at 6 months. She rejected the texture of meat for awhile but liked a Vienna sausages type food wonderfully called  meat sticks. Now she doesn't like meat sticks. The other day Eliot found organic chicken nuggets and she really liked those. But not once they got cold.

It seems like she really dislikes reheated food which can be difficult in a air conditioned Florida home and a culture driven my microwaves. The foods that keep her going are piles of fruit. She loves all kinds but lately she likes biting off of my apples, peaches, etc.

The bigger the better. An American girl at her very core I suppose because yesterday I cut up a steamed carrot for her but she didn't even touch it. But when I gave her a whole steamed carrot she grabbed it with zest and ate the whole thing. Matter of fact, she ate 4 whole baby carrots.

She has mastered drinking from a straw but she doesn't want all that water. So she sucks it all up and then lets it pour out her mouth slowly drenching her entire shirt.

In 20 days she will transition to whole milk and her doctor recommended that on her birthday we just give Lydia a cup of milk and hope for the best. She explained that they only need about 12 ounces a day but that it was the best way to get the bottle out of the picture too. I think it's a little too much all at ounce, don't you think?

Muddled Mommy Moments

In the last year I have reflected on many mothering moments and recently there have been two that have simply taken the cake. Lydia had a perpetual runny nose after a week I took her in to the doctor because we had noticed that she was pulling on her ear a bit and didn't want to allow an ear infection to set in. Luckily, the doctor said that her ears were fine, her chest was clear and that more than likely she was just teething. My precious daughter had become a precious nightmare overnight. All in all with her current 7 teeth we had been blessed with no side affects. We didn't have a series of restless nights or agonizing  screams. Matter a fact, each tooth arrived with a delightful gentle surprise and some extra toys in the mouth but nothing that would even be commented on really, in the scope of things. Not until this. Over this past weekend there was no consoling her. I offered her everything that I could think of and she just screamed. I attempted to comfort her, change her, put her down for a nap, feed her, even Tylenol and this child sat next to me on the couch and yelled at the top of her lungs. Just screamed. I looked at her and tried to reason with her. I gave her every cold item I could think of. Eventually I called the child's father who recommended that ibuprofen may be a better decision and could be given to her now. In that time I remember thinking...I got nothing. I have no idea how to help. And while there is that feeling of helplessness, there is also that feeling of why isn't there a 1-800-Help-MOM number that would provide suggestions. Something...just another reminder that there is no manual, my friends and we all do just the very best that we can as parents.

She loves Panera's Mac & Cheese more than anything.

In these high teething days I realized that Lydia really liked cold spoons. I enthusiastically grabbed a couple of them ran them under water and put them in the freezer. Honestly thinking to myself what a brilliant mommy trick. Of course she loves silverware that grown ups use because it is so shiny and mysteriously big in comparison. The ice will feel amazing on her teeth. This clearly is a win-win-win mom moment. A few hours passed and I gave her a spoon. She grabs it with zest and straight into her mouth it goes for a fraction of a second I am delighted with myself. Then I see that her lips are stuck to the spoon. I had Christmas Storied my baby! I immediately dislodged the silver frozen stick from her and ran it under water, again, to melt the ice off. She still liked the spoon.

Enjoying the Just Dance game with her mommy and daddy. (She is much better at it than both of us!)

Summer End Staycation

Despite the rain we had a wonderfully relaxing time at the beach this week which is exactly what we all needed before getting back in the swing of things. Both Eliot and Lydia had some sniffles thus naps and snacks were a big part of things. We did manage several wonderful walk on the beach and I was thankful for the overcast instead of the hot bright life sucking sun. My dad and I watched several movies.

We played Monopoly (I conquered them all taking them down each one by one) and took Lydia to the playground which she loved.

This morning was our last (for awhile) Friday morning cuddle time. Lydia usually wakes up and I grab her and bring her into bed with me. We watch all sorts of cartoons, drink our morning milk, jump on the bed. Basically take our sweet time waking up and every second of it is lovely.  This morning we met Holland and Tracy at the Great Explorations where they successfully explored great things and lunched. We have busy weekend ahead of us celebrating birthdays and going to church come Monday I will be at work. It has been an amazing summer!

Just when you thought it was over...

Just when you thought pooptastic moments were over something amazingly surprising happens. This evening Lydia and I were getting ready for our last summer hurrah a beach stayacation with the grandfolk. I was cutting up fruit snacks while she was eating dinner. Later we were folding clothes and putting them in the laundry basket. A seemingly normal evening at the G family home. There was no indication on what was coming.

In hopes getting a little art into her life I decided to I put her in high chair and let her "finger paint." I added just one drop of food coloring to spoonfuls of her Yo Baby banana yogurt. She had a ball! I took her right into the bath when the little artist genius was done. We watched the water and bubbles fill the tub its normal 2 inches or so and then I put her in. We dumped her army of duck toys and other bath time fun in and I sat down next to the tub. For a split second I look at my phone to send pictures of my little artist when suddenly I look in the water and it's murky. It dawns on me what that is and I immediately pull her out thinking only of being a lifeguard and how you just close down the pool if what happened happens.

But Lydia was quite finished so we had a situation. I conceal the area, as best as possible and take her to her changing table where I discover that now she has finished. I think carry her to the kitchen and quickly with one hand as most mommy things are actually completed clean the kitchen sink and put her in to finish her bath. Lydia gets happily clean.

Eliot was at work you see so this pooptastic moment was all me. Our tub has a drain problem really from being an old house, it can't be helped too much thus the clean up involved plastic gloves, bleach, pluggers, Mr. Bubbles, old sponges, mops, etc. It was a lengthy process all the rinsing. My hands feel raw from the bleach but somehow I don't really mind. Off to the beach in the clean shiny morning!