Food and a Baby

When I was pregnant one of the things I looked forward to the most was cooking for and feeding my daughter.  I knew I wanted to breastfeed her and am blessed that it came so easily to me.  When it was time for her to have purees I was excited to go to the store and buy fruits and veggies and bring them home and cook and mash them for her baby food.  Now that she's older it's fun to give her finger foods and watch her explore the food with her hands and feed herself.

I always liked to cook and bake with my mom.  I really hope that Madilynn wants to do the same with me.  Right now she likes to sit in her high chair when I cook dinner.  I talk to her and tell her what I'm doing.  I let her smell, touch and, if appropriate, taste the ingredients.  Most nights Jordan and I eat dinner at the kitchen table and she eats with us.  It's one of my favorite parts of the day that we can sit as a family and be together.  If I have something on the menu that she can mash in her mouth and eat I put it on her tray so she can examine it.  Most of the time she makes a big mess and I'm learning to relax and let her have fun and not worry so much about her sticky fingers and the food in her hair.

Now that she's a little older, she likes to ride in the shopping cart.  She really enjoys looking around at all the people.  I like to hand her some of the food before I put it in a bag so that she can explore it.  She's just so observant and content to see everything and everyone as we shop.

I love food so much.  I love to cook it.  I love to eat it even more.  I love cooking for other people, especially my friends and family.  It's just so fun to share something I love so much with my daughter.  It makes me so happy to see that she's starting to get interested in it too.  And my girl LOVES to eat.

 Graham Cracker

 Waffle

 Spaghetti

Bagel

9 Months Old

Madilynn turns 9 months old tomorrow.  She's been out in the world a little longer than she's been in my belly.  I can't believe how the time has flown by.  

Here are some things that are new and awesome:

She can wave hello and goodbye.  She waves to Jordan and I all the time.  She's starting to wave to strangers, but it's hit or miss.  She'll even wave if you say "hello" to her without waving at her.  It's really neat.

She has 2 bottom teeth and 2 top teeth.  She's in the process of cutting more on top.  It looks strange.  It also hurts to nurse.  She's bitten me a few times and has drawn blood.  When she nurses her top teeth rub on my nipples when she eats and it's very painful.

She can move from her belly to sitting up.  This is a big deal because when she falls over she can fix herself to sitting instead of crying until I fix her.

She says "mama" and "dada."  She doesn't use the words right, but it's nice to hear.

She loves to eat real food.  If I'm eating something that she can "chew" and mash up in her mouth then I give it to her.  She LOVES food.  Just like her mommy.

She's sleeping through the night and takes a 2.5-3 hour nap a day.  Nice.

She can clap.  She claps when I clap or when I go "Yaaaaaay"

She's on the very of crawling.  She gets up on her knees and can crawl 2-3 "steps" before falling or moving back to sit.

We can have her sit in the shopping cart while I go grocery shopping.  This frees up SO much space in the cart.  She can look around and explore the food before I put it in the cart.

Here are some things that are not so great:

I'm gaining weight.  I was so thin after I gave birth.  I was looking forward to using that head start to maintain my waist line.  However, I was so tired and busy last summer and into the winter that there's just no time or energy.  Maybe one day......*sigh*

Madilynn's about to crawl.  I'm not ready.  I see all my mom friend's babies and they're all crawling and getting into everything.  It's stressful on them.  I'm happy with her sitting and playing with her toys in one place.

My stress and anxiety is still higher than I'd like.  It gets really bad around my period.  Jordan's really good at taking M and letting me have some alone time to de-stress.  It helps that I have mom groups to attend.  They know what I'm going though and it's great to vent to them.

What's new for me:

I've started sewing.  I've made one dress for Madilynn and I'm working on her St. Patrick's Day dress.  They're not perfect, but I have a lot of fun doing it.

The trim on the lower level of the house is almost finished being painted.  I can't wait for it to be done and for me to have my house back.

I'm starting to test recipes for Madilynn's birthday.  It's only 3 months away but I feel like I need to start planning now.  We're having it at our place and I'm doing all the cooking.  There's going to be around 50 people so I need to start practicing now.

Here are some pictures of when we took Madilynn to the city.

We finished painting the trim and crown moulding in the family room and it looks awesome!  Now we have to pick colors for the walls, paint, and hang up some stuff on the walls and it will be done.  I'm still working on filling holes and getting ready to prime and paint the rest of the trim in the house.  I'm hoping it will be done before Madilynn's birthday party.

We worked on baby proofing the house this weekend.  We put on outlet covers, padded the edges of the coffee table, and put up one of 3 baby gates.  The gate is at the top of the stairs.  I often put M to play on the landing there while I do laundry or shower.  I give her a few toys to play with and she's content for the 10 or so minuets that it takes to get things done.  Though she's not fully crawling yet, she has learned to scoot a bit and can get around.  It freaked me out having her by the stairs so we put the gate there.  It's a tall gate but the walk-through door is kinda skinny.  I'm a little scared to walk through it holding the baby cause I have to sort of turn sideways so that we both fit.  It's making we wonder if it's helping more than hurting.  It's a loose loose right now.  I run the risk of her falling if I take the gate down.  And, I feel like I run a huge risk if we both fall while trying to squeeze though the door.  Maybe I'll just get used to it?

Speaking of Madilynn, she's really sick right now.  She's got a bad cough and runny nose.  I don't know if it's a cold or if she's cutting her top teeth.  She had something very similar when she got her bottom teeth so only time will tell.  She's eating a LOT of new foods now.  I make all her baby food at home and it's saving a lot of money and I know what's going into it.  When I eat dinner I give her what I'm having if it's something that she can smash up in her mouth.  I'm excited for when she turns 9 months old cause then she can have meat.  I'm trying to expose her to as many different foods and tastes as possible.  She loves to eat and explore with food.

I actually got out by myself a few times this week.  I went to see a movie with some friends.  On Saturday I went out to dinner and drinks with some moms from group.  It was so nice just to get out and about without the baby.  Jordan likes hanging out with her and watching movies and paying and getting alone time with her too so it's a win-win.

Other than that, things are going well.  Keeping busy.  I want to try to start trying to get more active and maybe loose some of this baby weight.  Actually I was pretty thin after giving birth and have been gaining from holiday eating and general winter laziness.  We shall see how it works out.

 M pushed herself under the sofa at a playdate

 Trying to taste her pack and play

 Loving her ball-pit pack and play