Happy Birthday, America!

Happy Independence Day, everyone!  As you can see, we dressed for the occasion.  All in all, it was a pretty laid-back day - church, a little afternoon rest.  Brian did grill some hot dogs and brats, but we stayed home and just had a nice family day.

We let Xander stay up late tonight to watch fireworks on TV (A Capitol Fourth), and got the added bonus of being able to see some live fireworks out of our family room window.  They were just backyard fireworks, but it was still neat to watch them all snuggled on the couch together in the dark.  Xander loved it; we conducted and played pretend drums and trombones to the music, and we made a game out of who could see the fireworks outside first.  And since they were far away, there were no loud noises to scare him - just little popping sounds.  Or, as Xander said, "I like the fireworks.  They have pretty colors and pop like popcorns."

Adventures in eating...round 2

One of the subjects I focused on when I first started blogging about Xander back in 2007 is food.  Anyone who has spent any time with me knows I like good food.  I married a chef who obviously likes good food.  So when it was time to start feeding my precious baby boy solid food, I wanted to do it right.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find much direction on the web.  Hence, I figured I would try to chronicle my own journey.

I don't think I lasted very long (a side effect of my spasmodic blogging style), but I did make little notes here and there in his first year calendar.  I've looked back at these notes every now and then as I begin the journey again with Amelia - what vegetables did we give him?  how long did it take us to work up to three meals a day?  when did we start finger foods? - but on the whole, I haven't been quite as worried about the specifics (doesn't that just sum up the second child entirely?).

Don't leave the bowl on the high-chair tray or Amelia will take it and try to eat it!

I am making her food just as I did with Xander.  I just love the process, and I feel good knowing exactly what went into her meal.  I hope it encourages her to be an adventurous eater; Xander's not very picky for a three-year-old, and of course I credit it to our policy of feeding him what we're eating for dinner.  Of course, it may just be one more thing for them to bring up in therapy when they grow up..."Mom always made such a big deal out of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!"

Amelia at 7 months

We're already past the half-year mark?  How did that happen?  Our little girl is sitting up, can roll from her tummy to her back easily now (even with the bar), and she's thisclose to rolling from her back to her tummy (it's gotta be hard to get momentum with those shoes!).  She's eating three meals a day and loves her food - we're working on the sign for "more", but she usually just opens her mouth like a little bird and bangs on her high chair tray.  Xander is enjoying his little sister more now that he can interact with her, too.

She's a cutie, that's for sure!