teeth, naps, milk etc

I think Nelson is working on the two top teeth - lots and lots of droooooooooooooool. Also, naps have not been stellar lately. I also think my milk is going down a bit so he has been drinking MORE bottles, which is OK. I've never been a million month nurser. All of my kids have weaned between 5 and 7 months. We will keep it up as long as he and I can. Finally, we went swimming for the first time this season yesterday. The water was very nice since we have had such a mild winter, all the kids remembered their "skills", and Nelson looked studly in his swimming trunks.

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone. Thanks for tuning in.

b-day in the house

Great Honk, my girl Diana is NINE today - on to the double digits next year!

We started the morning out with Ghirardelli chocolate at breakfast and so the day will go!

Happy Birthday Diana!!!!

6 months

Oh yea, 6 months of lovin' this guy.

concert and disasters

Diana and Emily sang their first 2 EVMCO concerts on Friday night and did an awesome job! The children's chorus sang "The Lonely Goatherd" from The Sound of Music and Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze" in German. They also sang "When You Believe" from Prince of Egypt with the combined choirs. Both Diana and Emily have decided to sing again next semester. Nora is disappointed I won't let her join yet, but we can't make it to the earlier Young Singer's rehearsal (Although, I must say., those 4-6 year old's the cutest thing EVER!)

The Adult choir sang a big range of stuff "O Fortuna", "Dies Ire", "Agnus Dei" (all in Latin), "Les Voici" from Carmen in French, "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's 9th in German, "Oklahoma" from Oklahoma and "Somewhere" from West Side Story. It was a stacked and fun concert and it was a lot of fun for me to have the girls be part of something that is part of my out of the house life.

Since we had two concerts in one evening (5 and 8 pm) we had a 3 pm call so the kids had two babysitters, one in the afternoon and one at night while Ryan was at the 8 pm concert. The first babysitter got to deal with a nice little disaster. Sarah fell while getting off the trampoline and split the back of her head - lots of blood etc. She was a awesome babysitter and did it all right, but it was still a bit of a mess.

When we all finally got home I got the girls to bed and hopped in the shower. As I was drying off I heard, "Can I have a little help here." Nora had thrown up ALL OVER her bed, in her hair etc - ikkkkkkollllla! She was a mess, so I threw her in the shower while Ryan stripped her bed. It's now Sunday, and she is still sick - poor kid - when she gets it she gets it bad.

sharing

Just had to share.

Kiss those cheeks Grandma and notice the arm rolls - oh yea!

a lovely weekend

Aunt Mel and Grammy Chase were over for the weekend and we had a lovely time.

We jumped on the trampoline with the hose.

We hiked "A" mountain.

We hunted eggs with friends in our neighborhood.

We celebrated Ryan's birthday with lasagna and strawberry pie - YUM!

We hung out on the front lawn with books and milkshakes.

I found a beautiful swimming suit at Goodwill for Sarah and she wore it all day.

Aunt Mel got lots of quality time with Nelson and loves him even though he spit up on her MANY times on Monday for some reason.

Grammy will be back at the end of the week for more fun and frivolity! Yipee!

more baby led weaning and choking

Hey Karen, according to the "book" infants gag reflex is placed further forward that adults, so they may gag often without being in danger of choking. Obviously whole grapes etc need to be avoided, but I find Nelson sucking and gnawing not so much biting food pieces off.

baby led weaning

A few questions about feeding without cereal or purees. Yes, the kids feed themselves. Newer research shows that kids (especially kids who get an iron fortified bottle every twice and a while) really don't need the rice cereal etc, and do great without the purees. Once your kids can sit up in a high chair he/she gets table food to play with and chew on. The book does emphasize there is mess involved but insists that it is pretty short lived as kids develop coordination. I have a copy of the book and it's a quick read if you want to borrow it. As far as he is concerned Nelson is having the time of his life. I am hoping he will develop into a more independent eater who isn't very picky.

news

Big man Nelson learned how to sit up 2 or 3 days ago and rolled over for the first time yesterday (out of order, I know, but still very handsome). Since sitting up he has joined us at the table in his high chair and is exploring new and exciting foods. He has had broccoli, carrots, oranges, pretzels, and cucumbers. I read a book called "Baby Led Weaning" that encourages skipping the whole rice cereal/pureed foods stuff, ran it by my pediatrician and she was OK with it so we are doing it - so far I LOVE not doing the cereal etc!