Wednesday, February 17, 2010

In my kitchen this Lent...


In years past, I have had a more fulfilling Lent when I take something on rather than give something up. My most memorable Lent was 2003, my brother's senior year of high school, when he, my mother and I made a conscious effort to spend time together on a weekly basis. We didn't miss a week and had a good time. Emotionally, that was a very full year for me, and starting it that way really helped. My least favorite Lenten discipline was giving up chocolate one year while I was in high school. I was miserable. My mother told me on Easter that I was never allowed to do that again.

My Lenten discipline this year is going to be baking bread and making baby food. This will serve two main purposes, and multiple other ones as well. In the main, we will save money and eat healthier. It will also taste better, which is always a good thing. I made a batch of the master loaf from the wonderful book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. (That's the jclc.org library link. If you want to buy it, visit your local independent bookseller. They need the business more than amazon.com.) The premise of the book is that you make a large batch of dough that gets refridgerated and used over a two week period. The resulting bread tasted good. I've baked three loaves and a pizza from it and I really like it. I think I'm going to enjoy this. My grandfather (who passed away in 2003) used to love making bread. I think he would be glad that I have picked up his habit.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Winni Wednesday, take 1 . . .

Here's old one-track Winni. Single-minded in her concentration on a milkbone. So much so that her ear stick out like that. So cute.

Could you just give it to me already!

Winni is such a photogenic dog that I might try to include more pictures of her and her furry friends on the blog, least y'all think Emmeline is taking over.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Emmeline - 7 months (Can you believe it!)

So Emmeline is 7 months old. I cannot believe how quickly she is growing. David bought be an infant beam scale at the thrift store, so I can tell you her exact stats.

Weight: 16 lbs. 15 oz. (59%)
Height: 26 inches (46%)
Head Circumference: 17 inches (62%)

She is really enjoying floor time and is getting the hang of playing now. I was checking the babycenter.com Milestone Chart and trying to find out what they mean by "object performance." (Edited to say: What this really is is "object permanence," which makes a lot more sense. Perhaps Dad should teach reading comprehension. Thanks for pointing out my typo, LAG!) They use the example of peek-a-boo. Well, Emmeline has been playing peek-a-boo for a LONG time. Starting at about 4 or 5 months, when I would take her pants off during her nightly routine, I would put them over her face. She would then pant with excitement, and wait a few second and then pull them off and grin really big. This went on until she was about five and a half months old and then she started to put anything within reach over her face, pant with excitement and then pull them away and give me a big grin. Who knew that this was "object performance" and was a normal milestone at 7 months! So smart, my child!

We have gotten back into a normal sleeping schedule after the craziness of Christmas and two infected ears. She now nurses 4 or 5 times during the day, one of which is a dream feed before I go to bed, and then once at night. She takes three bottles at daycare. She has finally gotten the hang of solids and LOVES them. Amy, her favorite teacher, mentioned to me that Emmeline would screech every time anyone else was being fed. Incredulously I sent a container of sweet potatoes to daycare the next day. We had been trying for weeks to get her to eat solids. I made my own baby food, I mushed up bananas and avocados, I mixed rice cereal - all to no avail. What finally worked was peer pressure. After that first serving at daycare, Emmeline hasn't looked back and now eats anything we feed her. She ate stage one foods for about two weeks and now is onto stage two.

The picture on the left shows her about 3 weeks ago. The one on the right was taken last weekend.

The other milestones she has met this month include:
sitting unassisted
scooting / crawling backward
going from hands and knees to sitting (she does this every few days, so I think she is almost ready to do it consistently)
stands while holding onto something (she can almost pull herself up in her crib)
waves good-bye
passes things from hand to had
understands cause and effect (that's the nice way to say "throws things off of high chair tray")
the above also means that she is beginning to experience stranger and separation anxiety

A highlight of the past week was her first injury - a black eye. She was on hands and knees and lunged forward for a toy and face-planted on it instead. Can I mention that David and I were both sitting on the floor with her. Geez, we felt terrible.

All in all she is growing into a beautiful child. I am really enjoying being her parent.