solid food and sippy cups

I think I might be mentally challenged. I used to think I was smart.... well smart enough, I'm no genius. I don't do math, but that's another topic for another day. I used to pride my self on my memorization skills. I could remember passages from books (page number whereabouts), movie quotes and scenes, an extended list of phone numbers (long distance at that!), grocery lists, to-do lists and the list goes on and on. ha ha. My brain no longer functions properly. I can't remember to pick up detergent at the grocery store and I actually forgot to rinse shampoo out of my hair last week. It's getting ugly people. Hopefully you get the point and I can segue into the real reason for this post. Baby food. Solid baby food. You would think that a person who has enough brain power to graduate from college could reasonably understand how to incorporate solid food into a baby's schedule. Oliver eats solid food. He actually eats it three times a day. Oatmeal/fruit combo for breakfast, veggie/fruit blend for lunch and veggie/fruit blend for dinner. He has had this routine (along with his regular bottles) for the past month. As we approach the 7th month of his life I feel like we need to get the ball rolling on finger foods and broaden the scope of his baby food repertoire. Up until now, I have been a complete baby food snob. I would make my own, but let's be real, I cannot even find the time to vacuum my area rugs let alone steam, puree and store organic baby foods. Why really when you can buy pre-packaged organic baby food for the bargain price of $0.89 - $1.49 each? Our favorite baby food brands are (yes I try Ollie's baby food and no I don't blame him for hating green beans) 1. Plum Organics 2. Happy Baby. Ollie is actually a really adventurous eater. He doesn't balk at spinach peas and pears, pumpkin banana (his all time fave) or even prunes.

I guess the questions (and the confusion) start coming when I ask my self the following questions:

• How much solid food should he be eating daily?
• Just how much variety should a 6-9 month old have in his diet? Am I pushing it with the blueberry/beet combo?
• Should I introduce yogurt for breakfast? Move oatmeal to dinner?
• Are we behind on finger food introduction? The kid can't even figure out melty puffs let alone eat finely chopped chicken.
• Am I a bad mother for being too tired at the end of the day and not cutting up teeny tiny pieces of avocado and tofu for him to practice his pincer grasp? Don't answer that. I already know the answer.
• We don't do juice. I don't believe in drinking empty calories. Should he be drinking juice?
• Is it awful that I am scared to death to introduce finger foods? My anxiety levels rise at the thought that we might be home alone and he chokes on a lentil and then I'm screwed because my gut reaction would be to stick my finger down his throat to dislodge said lentil and that's exactly what the baby books tell you NOT to do.

For now, he is gaining weight and seems to be growing and progressing just fine. I just cross my fingers and hope he is getting enough iron and vitamins AthruE. On a positive note, it only took 5 sippy cups to find the one that worked. It was like watching a lightbulb go off in his head  -- "I know how this thing works!!" He loves his sippy (H20 only). We took one to school today. It's orange and I put his name on it with my label maker.

My lucky day

I am not an extreme couponer. I like coupons, I just don't go out of my way to collect, sort, research, etc. I do print Target coupons weekly and keep Pampers coupons in my wallet at all times. My minimal effort at couponing paid off this morning and I am still giddy from the deal (insert evil laugh). I ran by Target early, 8am early, to get some diapers to take to daycare this afternoon. I picked up a pack of Target brand diapers because I never leave home without my $1 off Target brand coupon and Target diapers are excellent quality. That made that pack of diapers $5.50 and you can't beat that! I swung by the endcap and they had just marked down Pampers Prints diaper 66 count cases (size 3 - Ollie's size hoorah) from $19.99 to 12.00. I had two $2 off Pampers coupons and if you bought two cases you got a $5 Target giftcard -- SCORE!! Holla deal of the day. Yes, I know its slightly sad that I am so ecstatic over something Oliver is going to use for a bm and then go directly into a landfill. The shame of consumerism.

Well my dealing for the day (and endless consumerism) did not stop at Target. I have been researching a high chair option for Ollie. I love his travel chair that we hook to the island but I am always feeding him from the side and I don't want him to develop a complex because we have wonky feeding issues. Plus, it would be nice to be able to move him around so I can clean the island without worrying about him ingesting chemical fumes/germs.

I was on the fence whether to buy a full sized chair or go with one of those booster seats with a tray. After much research I landed on this cutie:


Fisher Price Dwell Studio



It's a full size chair that converts to a booster. All for the bargain price of $64 and cute to boot. One of the reviews said they found the same chair at BigLots so I ran (drove) to our local Rocky Mount store over lunch today. Score number two. I am excited to see if Ollie likes his new chair and to try some finger foods on his big boy tray. Moral of this post. It pays to go to Target every day so you can land a deal every once in a while and it pays to endlessly research baby goods before you buy. I especially enjoy amazon.com for endless review reading. Happy shopping.     

movin on up

Oliver moved up to his new classroom at school today. He is now the youngest baby in Nursery II. Daycare started off as a nightmare for me. When Ollie started his original daycare, I knew the first week that it wasn't working out for us. Everyday, they told me Oliver was fussy and cranky and cried all day. I knew this wasn't his personality. Oliver is such a good natured baby I found it hard to believe he was a problem child at school. We stayed there for two weeks which was 7 days too long. Why only 7 and not 10? The daycare called me three times in those two weeks to come pick him up because he would not calm down and stop crying. I felt horrible dropping him off everyday but in my post birth/going back to work/dealing with the trauma of leaving your child with strangers I just thought he was having a hard time adjusting to daycare. Looking back, I feel like an awful parent. The daycare was at capacity with 10 babies in the nursery and those poor babies basically sat in bouncy seats all day. Those last days I frantically started calling other area daycares to find a spot. When I had called originally, the waiting lists were LONG. So long, I didn't bother putting my name on the lists because I had found a daycare near our house that was highly recommended by people in our area. Not so. I just prayed I could find a spot somewhere, anywhere at this point to get him out of the awful situation. The first place I called happened to be the only 5 star rated daycare in our area. I thought what the hell, I might as well call and just check for a spot even though the waiting list had been a year+ back in July 2010. They had a spot. Actually, the baby room was completely empty. Due to the economy, the attendance was at a record low and no new babies had registered in the past few months. My prayers were answered. We started that next day. I love our new daycare. Oliver's teacher, Ms.Ann, has been there since they opened 33 years ago. She loves him so much and his face just lights up each morning when I take him to school. She calls me with updates throughout the day, takes his picture for me and basically just loves him to pieces. I love this woman for loving my baby. I felt so thankful to find Ms. Ann and could not believe our good luck to find a church based daycare and a 1:1 ratio for the bargain price of $200/wk. Today was a fresh start in his new room. He will have to share the teacher's attention with two other babies (poor spoiled baby - ha ha). I took this picture on his last day with Ms. Ann. I think she held him all day. I had to scrub really hard to get the lip prints off his cheeks that night :)

Ms. Ann didn't want her picture taken. Oliver loves her so. They are quite the pair!

6 months

Oliver - 6 months old on August 2, 2011

Oliver turned 6 months old yesterday. The past six months have truly been the best of my life. I can hardly remember life pre-Ollie. Okay, maybe I can remember staying up past 9pm and going shopping without six pieces of luggage shoved into the stroller under-carriage.

Oliver - you are the cutest, sweetest baby mommy and daddy could have ever dreamed of! You smile constantly and love a good tickle. You have the best laugh and you smile with your eyes (Tyra would be so proud)! You have two teeth (bottom fronts) and you love to nibble on toys, fingers and books. You also love trying new fruits and veggies. Your favorites so far are pumpkin&banana, sweet potatoes, sweet peas and mangoes. You have only tried green beans once and you promptly (via your one and only throw up) let me know that green beans ain't yo thing. You love bath time and the pool! You only like to cuddle when you are sleepy. That is my special time with you everyday because we rock and sing and you hold my hand while you fall asleep each night. I wouldn't trade anything in the world for that time I spend with you every day. In the mornings, you hang with Daddy. When you hear his voice you turn your head to look for him and light up with a huge grin. You like to jibber jabber away while we make dinner and wash dishes together. Your favorite word so far is dada and you make sure to say that when you are around momma...ha ha! We have a doctors appointment on Friday and I am excited to get your stats. You look like you have grown so much these past few weeks - you are almost out of your 3-6m clothes.

Edit: Oliver weighed 15lbs 15.5oz and was 26" tall at his 6month appointment.

beach baby

We went to the beach this past weekend. My sister graciously invited us to come stay at her place for the weekend. They have a great place at Holden Beach and I have been totally spoiled the last ten years because we have beach vacation access almost anytime we want it... at a great sister rate... FREE :) Yippee for sisters!

Oliver had a blast spending time with his cousins. He was the hit of the weekend. The kids couldn't get over how funny it was for him to roll over, eat baby food and laugh out loud. Tillie thought Ollie was a baby doll and didn't realize that once you start holding him you can't shove him to the side when your favorite episode of toddlers and tiaras is on the tube.

Ollie didn't hit the beach because Grandma decided to let me and Jake spend the day sunning and surfing while she held Ollie all day long. Great trade! Oliver did make his big debut in the pool. I was nervous that he wouldn't like it. He was a total pro. He sat in his little float and just floated (well daddy toted) around the pool.



pre-pool



It was so hot the camera lens got foggy.