Eat your fruits and veggies

I started Courtney on solids at 4 months because I was hoping they'd help her sleep through the night. I did all my reading and did what the pediatrician said, started with the cereals, then veggies and then later introduced the fruits. It was all going so well. She'd eat all kids of veggies - squash, cauliflower, avocado, sweet potatoes and so on. And she loved the fruits - mango, apples, bananas - whatever I would give to her. At some point in the past 3 months, I gave her yogurt and she LOVES it. LOVES it. And now, she won't eat her veggies to save my live and all she wants is the dumb yogurt. She looks at the veggies, snubs her nose at them, turns her head and laughs at me.

I'm still nursing so the nutritional value from the food isn't as important as the exercise in eating. But I don't want her to end up like Paul: everything she eats must be white. How do I get her back to eating her veggies? At least she's eating her fruits with her yogurt but she's going to end up with this crazy sweet tooth. I started out making her food, then switched to jarred but I still make some of it myself. I made a sweet potato the other day and she wanted nothing to do with it. I even added apple to it to sweeten it up and nada. (I ended up eating it myself, it was quite yummy.)

Anyone have any tips for me?

Her bad eating habits could have something to do with eating napkins

Or maybe because she's eating the actual jar of babyfood

However, the blueberries were quite delish

Martha Stewart I Am Not

In a frenzy of domestication the other day, I decided I was going to sew some clothes for Courtney. I find it outrageous that baby dresses are $40 or more for something my child will wear twice, if I'm lucky. So I went on Etsy.com, love me some Etsy, and bought a bunch of dress patterns and fabric. Then, I borrowed Tiffany's sewing machine (if you don't know Tiffany, she truly is giving Martha a run for her money), bought a bunch of fabric samples and decided I would "practice" my sewing.

Today was day one of "Karen's Special Kids Sewing Camp." Now, I don't mean to be un-PC or offend anyone, but man, it was ugly. I'm pretty sure Hunter, my furry little friend, would have had more luck than me with this little project. First I couldn't get the bobbin threaded properly. I had to step away from the machine, do a little Googling, get a drink, do some laundry and return to the machine to attempt moron task #1 again. Eventually I got it threaded. Then, I tried to sew something and things still weren't running the way they should be. After some soul searching, more Googling, and actually reading the manual, I realized the needle wasn't threaded properly. So I followed the instructions and, low and behold, I was able to sew a stitch.

My first day of drawing my freshman year in college (remember, I was an art student and all freshman in the art school had to take drawing), we spent the first 2 weeks of class (that's 10 hours people) drawing straight lines. The teacher would say, "NO, I SAID STRAIGHT!!!" 800 pieces of drawing paper later and one very sore arm, I probably had 2 truly straight lines. I share this warm, special moment with you because like drawing, I can't sew a straight line. Nope, no straight lines. And my curves were not so Jennifer Hudson voluptuous (that reminds me of drawing the naked lady in that same drawing class but that's another story for another time). They were more like drunk driving curvy - way off the mark. So now I'm taking yet another break, having sewed the fabric to itself (on purpose) during my own sewing 101, figured out the workings of the bobbin and the needle, and will maybe do a little Googling for some sewing tips.

Or, maybe I'll wake up Courtney and take her shopping for that $40 dress.

PS - Tiffany, I promise your sewing machine is in perfectly safe hands.

Music to my ears

We had a great weekend here in the Holder family. We had good weather, cookouts, dinner with friends and lots of quality baby time. Courtney was a real trooper, allowing us to drag her all over, missing naps and going to bed way past her bedtime. She's harder to manage when she's over tired, you have to hold her and try and prevent her from poking your eye out or spilling your drink in your lap. She's wiggly and squirmy and she wants to touch everything and then put it in her mouth but she's still adorable.

When Courtney is extra tired, we can keep her happy sitting on the floor and playing with her. Sunday was another long day for Courtney and we were just trying to keep her from melting down completely while we waited for her bedtime to get here. Sometimes just a little silliness on our part can result in some of our best times.




There's nothing I love more than listening to my baby girl laugh.

Who needs those stinkin' toys

Like any good parent, I've bought my child oodles and oodles of plastic toy goodness. We have blocks and rings and stacking cups and exercausers and things-I-don't-even-know-the-name-of (hopefully) BPA free fun. But of course, like a kid on Christmas all we care about is the box.

Should I be concerned that Courtney is looking forward to a life behind bars?

There was a clanging noise coming from her room the other day and when I looked at her in the monitor, she was running her pacifier back and forth against the bars. It was like she was some prison inmate getting ready for a riot or something.

What's so fascinating about the wall and should I be concerned that she's sticking her fingers in the disgusting 30 year old air vents?

Don't stick your finger in that socket

Life around here is a thrill a minute. I mean, never ending excitement. Actually, I can't complain, I love my life. Courtney and I keep busy during our days and on good days (and most of them are), I get to play on the computer and maybe even do a little reading.

Courtney and I joined the Y this week with the hope of taking some swim lessons. I was all excited to sign her up only to find out the class on Saturdays is full. I'm pretty bummed out by that but we can start after the next session. Until then, I've gone to a couple of exercise classes this week and left C in the daycare for the first time ever. She was fine with my leaving her there but both times I came to get her, she was crying. Both times I think she was over tired but since she doesn't say much, I'm not really sure. I don't think anything bad happened or anything like that but we may have to adjust our arrival time so she isn't so sleepy.

But, when we aren't exercising, or eating, or grocery shopping or doing dishes or doing laundry, we're pretty much doing what you see in the video below. It's not the most riveting of videos but I could (and do) watch Courtney do this all day. Although, it's not going to be long until I'm chasing her around the house.

As you'll see, she's fascinated by my toenails but who can blame her? Oh, and she's taken to snorting. I'm not really sure I understand what that's all about.




And just for the record, I don't let her play with the outlets every day, only on special occasions.

I'm a quitter

As some would say, "Rehab is for quitters." Others would say, "No one likes a quitter." As the little engine would say, "I think I can." But the squirrels say, "We won! You quit. Haha!" I give up. The tomatoes will go with the rodents and next year I'm planting jalapenos. I tried the chili pepper. I tried the dish soap. I even tried a net (which did nothing but mess with the dog). And there's a chance, a small little chance, that I threw a rock at a squirrel as I called it every name in the book. Those stupid squirrels (and chipmunks, I think) have had a field day with my tomatoes. There's nothing left for me. Sure, there are some tomatoes still on the plants but lets face it, they will probably magically disappear overnight, and if they don't, well, they'll never make it to ripe. So that's it, I quit. I didn't have this problem last year, I don't know why this year they're attacking me so vigorously.

If they touch my basil, I'm going to go postal.

The girl's a flirt

On Friday, Courtney and I went to one of our first official play dates at someones house. We've spent a fair bit of time around other babies but this was our first time with Courtney as a crawler (she's DEFINITELY a crawler now) and not a baby lump who just lays there. It was a riot!! Our host has twin boys, Leaf and Sam (9 months), and another friend has baby Tessie (8 months), then Courtney at 7 months and another little girl who is 4 months. Other than the 4 month old, all of those babies are on the go.

Let's just say my girl is a brute (I wonder if she's on her way to being a tomboy??) and we need to work on her social graces. First she tried to use Tessie as her stable object to pull herself to her feet. Needless to say, Tessie didn't appreciate that. Then, she grabbed Leaf's nose in a not-so-friendly manner and he cried. But Sam provided her with the most entertainment - he was a human jungle gym. She crawled all over that boy!! She'd want the toy on the other side of him so up and over him she'd go. He would be laying in front of her so she would lay on top of him. He would try to get away and she'd attempt to suck his foot. Luckily for Courtney, Sam took it all in stride and didn't balk at all of Courtney's activities.

I told Paul that he'd half to keep a close eye on his little girl, she's already after the boys and she can't even walk yet!!

Is she grabbing his butt?

Courtney crawling on Sam

Courtney making a move for Sam's foot

Tessie, Courtney and Leaf all enjoying some frozen teethers

(Excuse the quality of my pix - they're from the phone)

Crawling?

Well, Courtney did it, she crawled! It may have only been a foot or two but she was on the go. Hopefully she won't realize she can crawl if she wants to, I'm not quite ready to lose my "freedom."



You be the judge, it looks like crawling to me...

Courtney in Action

Here's a little bit of Courtney attempting to be on the go. She's also started waving, it's SO cute!!

What's wrong with this picture?