veggie monster

For over a week, Rachel outright refused to eat vegetables of any kind. Five days ago, I scooped some green peas into a little Rachel-sized bowl, and she began to whine and say, "No-no-no-no...." I told her she didn't have to eat the peas, I just wanted to put them on her tray, in case she changes her mind (sometimes, when she refuses a food, I'll put it in front of her and then pretend not to notice or care if she eats it, and, as soon as I turn my back, she eats it). The closer the peas got to her, the more upset she became, to the point where she was crying actual tears by the time I set them on her tray. She cried, but ceased immediately when I removed the peas. Drama, drama. Yesterday for lunch, Rachel ate a scrambled egg with cheese, a big serving of yogurt, and a big serving of applesauce (the applesauce made special for her by her PopPop). Ten minutes after cleaning her up and getting her down from her seat, she was asking to eat again. I said to her, "Fine--if you want to eat again, you are going to eat vegetables." We went back and forth a time or two, and she protested, but finally agreed that she would eat green beans ("bee beas"). I opened a can and handed her a bean. She smiled at it and held it for a minute, and then she ate it. And THEN, she asked for more. I gave her more, which she ate, and then asked for more, until the whole can of beans was gone. I could not believe it, but praise God!

cute moment

While she was eating those beans, I scooped up a bean that was curved at the end and then came to a point. When Rachel saw it, she pointed, laughed, and then said, "duck, duck, duck, duck." She is so silly.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel has such fun riding on her blanket-sleigh.

Rachel also thinks it's great fun to diaper Elmo.

gobbler

We had another good day, with a 1.5 hour morning nap and a 2 hour afternoon nap! Rachel and I met her friend Koen and his mommy Carla for lunch. I was determined to feed Rachel real real food, so I ordered for her from the Kids' menu!! She had some yummy mac & cheese, and she ate some cottage cheese and crackers from the salad bar. She was such a good girl! And Koen was in a great mood, grinning the whole meal and cleaning his plate. I took Rachel's new flip phone with us, and was very careful to pick it up when we left (Koen had been playing with it and so it was at his place on the table). After I drove away, I realized I had left MY cell phone on the table! I was pretty frustrated with myself. Luckily, Carla and Koen hung around long enough for the waitress to chase them down with it. I can be so spacey.

So far, since Rachel's birthday, she has tried and LOVED chicken, corn, and turkey. Poor PopPop offered Rachel some of his corn and ended up never getting a bite. In fact, I had to heat up more because Rachel ate so much! I was a little worried it might upset her stomach, but it didn't seem to bother her at all. She also gobbled up some turkey tonight. It's a relief that she likes chicken and turkey, because I haven't really given her any meat, and I was afraid she would hate it!

Rachel also experienced bubbles for the first time today. I thought she would be enthralled. She was barely impressed, and quickly continued her rock collecting.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	3	6
poop	2	0

cute moment

Rachel and I had some quality snuggle time tonight. She seemed ready for bed before I wanted to put her down, so we sat in the rocking chair and played with a little cloth. I put it over her face, and she pulled it off and put it on her belly, and then waited for me to be surprised (she opened her mouth in anticipation of me doing the same). As soon as my mouth dropped open and I gasped, she just cackled! She could hardly contain herself, and we played the game over and over.

non-toy toy of the day

PopPops are good for inventing new, strange games. Rachel loved her sled, which was really part of the box from the scrapbook Aunt KiKi made (the most beautiful scrapbook you've ever seen). Since Rachel is so into sitting on things, it was the perfect game.

here today, gone tomorrow

We had a really fun day today. Rachel slept straight through until 6:15am, and took two good naps. We went to lunch with my two Dutch friends, Carla and Sylvia! I’ve mentioned Carla many times, and Sylvia goes to our church. When I heard Sylvia say she is from Holland, I knew Carla would enjoy meeting her and speaking Dutch for a change! They had fun with Rachel, too. I told Carla that everyone in the restaurant was probably confused about whose baby she is, since she definitely looks more like she belongs with the fair Dutch ladies than with me. See the picture and judge for yourself.

I’ve been pushing myself to let Rachel try some new, ‘real’ foods, since she’ll be 11 months old tomorrow. Yesterday she tried real green beans, and she liked them fine, though she wasn’t crazy about them. At lunch today, she first tried cottage cheese. She hated it. Then, she tried vanilla pudding. She loved it. Last, she tried vanilla ice cream. She devoured it.

Our college friend, Jay, came over when he got off work today. It was his first time meeting Rachel, but he feels like he knows her because he keeps up with the blog! Jay does lots of voices and impersonations, and Rachel found his booming voice amusing. Jay got to watch Rachel try some more new foods: real carrots and mushy multi-grain pasta. She hated them both, screwing up her face and ejecting each bite. I guess we’ll try that again tomorrow.

Speaking of trying new things, it seems that Rachel has successfully weaned herself. She has nursed better the last day or two, but she doesn't seem to be getting enough, which means that the little strike she went on may have done in my milk supply. It was a hard decision, but when she only peepeed 4 times today, I knew I had to do something. So tonight, I mixed her up some formula. She loves drinking out of her cup, so I thought she wouldn't skip a beat. She got really excited when she saw the sippy cup, and she clamped down on it for her first gulp. Her first gulp immediately came leaking out of the side of her mouth. She gave a confused look at the cup (she has only ever had water from the cup) and caustiously tried once more. She shuttered at what she tasted, and would only play with the spout after that. I don't really know what to do now, but I'll sleep on it and see what tomorrow brings.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	2	2
poop	1	0

cute moment

This morning, Rachel played with her "My First Purse," a gift from Aunt KiKi. She actually put it on her little arm and was walking around her room like she was on a shopping trip to the mall. I know Aunt KiKi will be thrilled, since she's looking forward to taking Rachel shopping a lot in the future!

non-toy toy of the day

The long curtains that hang in our dining room over the sliding glass door have been off for a couple weeks because I hemmed, washed, and ironed them. Now that they're back up, Rachel has discovered that they are great for playing hide and seek. She went back and forth behind them this afternoon, giggling every time she peeked out. I guess that should be a no-no...we'll start tomorrow.

and now back to our regularly scheduled program

We had a busy-but-fun weekend. My 16-year-old cousin, Cory, spent the night with us Saturday night. He and Jarrad had fun playing...they went to the movies, played XBox, skateboarded. It's nice for Jarrad to have an excuse to be a big kid sometimes. Cory went home Sunday afternoon, and Aunt Julie and Landin came over last night so Jarrad and I could go to church. I left Aunt Julie specific bedtime routine instructions, and she put her to bed last night! Rachel had no problems adjusting.

Our day was not perfect today, but it was immensely closer to normal than any day we've had in two weeks. Rachel woke up at 4:00am (booooo), but went right back to sleep until 6:40am. She woke up as happy as ever, and she played in her crib for almost 30 minutes before I got her up (she hasn't done that in forever). She has been in a great mood all day, even taking two 1.5-hour naps.

Rachel has been eating a LOT lately, which leads me to believe I hadn't been feeding her enough. It's just so hard to believe she really wants more food sometimes. I felt awful when I realized that might be her problem, so I really stuffed her today, and she had a big, tight belly to prove it!

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	5	4
poop	2	0

cute moment

Rachel has been in the best mood since she has been catching up on her lost sleep. It doesn't take much to get a giggle out of her. Our newest game is that I will stretch out my arms and say, "Come here, Rachel, come to Mommy." She grins and starts walking towards me, only to veer in another direction before she reaches me. She thinks it so funny, but she really laughs when I reach a little more and grab her, smothering her with Mommy kisses.

non-toy toy of the day

Still, Rachel isn't playing with much of anything. She is really enjoying just picking things up and carrying them around. And anything will do: Little Rex, a sock, washcloth, shoe, a piece of fuzz, a ball, coupons, or any combination (she really loves to carry multiple things in one hand). She also figuree out how to open one of her dresser drawers today, and she pulled a few things out of there to carry around.

weekend bliss

It's so fun to have PopPop and Uma in town! GreatGrandmaw G. taught PopPop how to make all kinds of goodies from apples, and he brought Rachel some special homemade applesauce. She loves it! He also made yummy Apple Butter and Apple Jelly. He made pickles, too! He's so handy.

Yesterday, PopPop, along with Pop, Landin, Kevin, and Uncle Travis, helped Jarrad with a huge project. Our neighbor, Jimmy, owns a tree service, and he graciously brought a few of his employees over to clear our backyard! We are now nearly treeless behind our house. There's still a lot of work to be done (I'm told) before we can have a green grassy yard, but we're one step closer, and I couldn't be more excited. I can't wait for Rachel to have a safe place to play outside. Check out the before and after!

While the guys were doing the loud work, Rachel and I spent the day at Aunt KiKi and Uncle Travis's house. Rachel fell asleep in the car on the way there, and thought that 15 minutes was a sufficient nap for the morning. So she and I played while Tyler slept, and Aunt KiKi attended a bridal shower.

The three of us had lunch and played a while, and then played a little while longer when Aunt KiKi came home. She took Tyler to see his Grandpa, and Rachel took a good afternoon nap in Tyler's crib. She enjoyed seeing Uncle Travis when she woke up, since he is so very silly and will do about anything to get Rachel to grin and giggle

When we got home, Aunt Julie came over with her little dog, Jack. We all spoke in cheery voices, as Rachel watched Jack closely from her stroller. She didn't cry at all, and she even let Jack lick her toes! We had dinner with Aunt Julie and Mr. Landin, and Rachel was very ready for bed.

That leads us to today. She slept until a respectable 6:15am. She was dry for the third morning in a row (that's seven of the last 9 mornings!). She refused to take her usual abbreviated Sunday morning in-the-car-with-Daddy nap, so she was cranky by the time church was over. She took a short nap on the way home, and then took her regular afternoon nap after lunch. PopPop and Uma came by on their way out of town. PopPop fed Rachel some more homemade applesauce! Early to bed for Rachel tonight.

Progress Report (Sunday)

	potty	diaper
peepee	6	5
poop	1	0

	AM nap	PM nap
duration	N/A	1:15
diaper	N/A	dry

I got really frustrated with pottying on Friday (Rachel seemed anxious too), so I decided we would take a potty break Saturday. Since we weren't home most of the day anyway, it was the perfect opportunity to take a little vacation. She did use the potty two or three times when we were home, but I didn't even take it with us to Tyler's house. I felt much more relaxed today, and I keep telling myself not to rush things or overreact to what I think are her cues.

cute moment

When Tyler woke up, I put Rachel in his crib. Tyler was still sleepy, so Rachel took the opportunity to bully him by stealing his paci right out of his mouth. Since he has extras in his crib, he didn't seem to mind. She pulled his paci out, he replaced it with another, she took that one, he replaced it, and so on. They played several rounds of this. Tyler was very polite to humor Rachel.

non-toy toy of the day

PopPop's Gatorade bottle was a fun distraction while we sat outside and chatted Saturday afternoon.

how 'bout them peas??

Rachel woke up at 5:00am today. I had hopes that she would go back to sleep. She didn't. And, even though I slept horribly last night, I somehow didn't feel too tired. I think my sleep has lapsed. She went to sleep easily for her morning nap (1 hr 15 mins) and woke up with a dry diaper, and then slept as pictured this afternoon for a whole hour. (I didn't put the doll there--that's how these two were when I peeked in!) We went for a walk outside today before dinner...

And, yes, how was dinner? I tried giving her the peas. She liked them, I think, more than the carrots, but not crazy about them. After a few bites, it was clear I should break out the pre-packaged Gerber peas. I will be trying again, but with dried peas I think. I used fresh-frozen--maybe not the best choice.

Aunt Mamber came over for a visit late this afternon. Rachel was so excited to have another person to climb on!

Progress Report

	potty	diaper	floor
peepee	4	7	1
poop	1	0

Rachel was very obstinate when it came to pottying and diapering today, and I'm pretty certain we had our first protest "accident." She hopped off the potty and, before I even had a chance to hold her down and diaper her, she scooted under her crib, where she peepeed on the floor.

cute moment

Rachel rediscovered Monkey today. Monkey was given to her by Aunt Julie at Christmas. He wears a lovely red NC State shirt, and Rachel LOVES him. He's been away for a few days (out of toy rotation), and when she found him, she could not stop giving him kisses. She laughed and kissed and laughed and kissed. It was a happy reunion.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel played with one of her BabyLegs socks for a really long time today. It stretches nicely, so she could pull it and sling it around. What great fun!

what's in these carrots??

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PopPop!! In honor of PopPop, I tried to cook carrots for Rachel again. My first several attempts failed, even though she likes the Gerber carrots. When PopPop and Uma were last here, I tried again, this time cooking the things to death, hoping that was the problem. Of course that wasn't the problem at all, and Rachel entertained us with various crazy faces. Believe me, the video camera was out. PopPop suggested I use baby carrots (which are sweeter) instead of the big kind I'd been using, so, today, I did. And Rachel still refused them. She still likes Gerber carrots though. Tomorrow I'm trying peas, which she's loved coming out of the little plastic Gerber pack. If she doesn't like those, I'm contacting WRAL 5 on Your Side to investigate...what in the world is Gerber doing to that food?? The ingredients say: "carrots, water." There must be something else in there, or they'd taste like carrots. And, here I am again, regretting I didn't start doing what's healthier from the beginning instead of putting it off. Sheesh.

As for sleep, last night was great until about 5:45am. She went down relatively easily for her nap this morning (1.5 hours), and then took over an hour to go to sleep this afternoon. I'm trying hard to let her figure this out, but after an hour, I had to help her along. I finally put her down, asleep, around 3.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper	floor
peepee	7	6	1	oops!
poop	1	0

I tried two potty experiments today (are you figuring out that this is not really work for me, but more like a project?). Late this morning, I put Rachel on the potty as usual, and she pooped. I was very happy because it's been several days since she pooped on the potty. I knew peepee was coming shortly, but I didn't have the heart to make her stay seated until it came. So I dangerously left her diaperless, wondering what she'd do. She pulled herself up at the window, so i shoved a towel between her legs on the floor (just in case). Sure enough, a couple minutes passed and she looked away from the window, gazed over at the potty, and peepeed. She gets it! Am I going to throw her on the potty now every time she looks at it? No--she also loves to play with the potty. But at least I know she's aware of what her body's doing (something toddlers often have trouble with after ignoring it for so long), and I know, eventually, she'll be able to communicate that to me with the sign for potty or whatever.

The second experiment was this afternoon. I put her on the potty and she protested even more than usual (she was sleepy). I set her on it twice and she got up without trying both times (believe me, I do know when she's tried). So, on a whim, I put her Eeyore stuffed animal on it, made the psspss noise I usually make when she goes and to signal her to go, got him up and said, "Yay, Eeyore peepeed on the potty, yay!!" as Eeyore jumped up and down. I sat her back on there, and she went, no hesitation! Weird!

cute moment

Rachel has decided it's more interesting to play with her bib than eat (especially my home-cooked carrots, of course). She yanks on her bib and pulls it up over her face. She puts it in her mouth (Aunt Mamber says she's wiping off her tongue), and she finally pulls it off and waves it around. Really, the bib has become more of a mess-maker than a mess-preventer. She also found the bear on the back of her highchair, and she turned often to give him a kiss or to wack him and laugh.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel played by the windows a lot today. She has two sets of windows in her room. One set is really tall, starting almost at the floor, so it's the perfect place for Rachel to pull up and look outside. There she found a little plastic piece that is supposed to attach to the blinds so you can twist them closed or open. It had fallen off, and it was the perfect size for Rachel to pick up and hold tightly in her hand, which she did for a loooong time. Even when she wasn't actually playing with it, if she dropped it, she immediately looked to pick it up again. I stayed close by her, but I only had to keep her from putting it in her mouth a couple of times. I think she just enjoyed having it in her hand.

Here is Rachel, concentrating on the task at hand.