Looking Back

Not sure why lately, maybe it's the crawling thing, but I'm just getting more aware of how big Lailey has gotten. It makes me sad! While sorting through some photos on my computer tonight, I came across a few of these and decided to put them together for comparison.

Her little feet weren't even close to the edge of the car seat, but now they hang over!

No matter the age, she still loves Daddy.

...and her Rudy. They share a birthday, you know. She was born on his third birthday (April 7th) Sometimes I think she was overdue on purpose just to make it that way! He's still as patient and sweet as ever. Check out the handful of dog she's got there. Don't worry, I stopped her promptly after that. And Rudy just got up and moved.

Puppy kisses

In this video, I think she was just talking to Rudy. Like any good dog, he sat there and listened. Before Lailey was born I would talk to him like another person, particularly when I was home by myself. Ok, I still have conversations with him. He's a great listener.

Adventures of a Crawler

Life has changed a bit in the last week. Things that can topple over have been moved, outlets covered, dog bones put away (again and again), floors vacuumed and vacuumed...and vacuumed again to clear away anything Lailey can stick in her mouth (which is everything), cords tucked into hidden places, and the list goes on. Here are some pictures to show what fun we've been having.

What's on your head, Mommy?Enjoying a sweet, but brief, snuggle with Daddy. She quit using a pacifier long ago, but she plays with and chews on one occasionally just for fun.

Baby put herself in this corner. Ha! She crawled over there and then in a minute or two I noticed she was sitting up playing. I thought, wait a minute, I didn't sit her back up. Did she do that herself? Yes, as of today she is now going from crawling to sitting. This makes her very happy.
The time has come, inevitably. Mobility has been attained, and the world awaits for Lailey to find and stick everything in her mouth that comes with it. While it is work chasing her around and moving her when she finds something she doesn't need to play with, it is so cute to see the mischievous, delighted look on her face as she eyes something else and goes to explore, be it a telephone cord or Tweety Bird. I think if I could read her mind, it would go something like this...

Oooh! Doggie bed! (wet spot on her pants from a tipped over sippy cup in the high chair...that Mommy didn't notice for a minute...long enough to get her a little wet)

Am I supposed to be in here? YES!

Uh-oh, my chunky belly and knees won't go over the edge. Oh well. I'll go find something else to get into.

OOOOHHH!!! Doggie toys! Rudy, can I have some? These look like more fun than my toys, simply because they're not mine!

She promptly dumped the dog toy basket when she got to it, and then Rudy came over to investigate curiously, as you can tell from the perked up ears. Thankfully, he isn't too possessive and just licks her if she goes for his bone while he has it. I've been watching carefully, of course, but he's very sweet to her. They've been pals since the beginning.

I had a really cute video, but after several failed attempts to upload it last night, I just realized it is just over the limit for file size. I'll have to see if I can shorten it somehow. Bye for now.

Breakfast of Champions and More Crafting

Monday morning breakfast was mostly a hit. We all three loved the pancakes (with sweet potato), as you can see from Lailey's picture below. Okay, okay, she wasn't really smiling about the pancakes, rather smiling at her Daddy, but she did continue to ignore the Gerber puffs - a favorite - and head for the pieces of pancake instead. I also tried the scrambled eggs (with cauliflower), and I liked them but Davey did not. That's ok. We'll do regular scrambled eggs next time, since those aren't bad anyway. Two recipes down, lots to go.
MORE CRAFTING...
Okay, I loved this little soft shoe pattern when I saw it. It's not a complicated pattern, just tricky since the shoes are so tiny.
For a first try, I am very proud. The buttons are my favorite part. Even better, I found the brown and pink fabric in the scrap pile at the store, so about $2.00 total for that. The suede was a little more, but you can get three pairs of shoes out of one piece. I'm sure there are more handmade shoes in Lailey's future.

Here is the finished project for the little blue dress. For some reason the picture is not all that in focus, so you can't see the pockets that well, but they ended up really cute. They also look crooked in the picture, but they're not. I suppose that would just add a little more personality though.
I am definitely having fun with my new hobby. Well, old hobby revived really. Davey told me recently that I seriously needed a hobby, something fun as a good outlet for stress. Sewing and crafting has fit the bill. I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. Even spending too many hours on tiny little pockets. It was all worth it.

Spinach Brownies, Anyone?

You may have heard of the cookbook, "Deceptively Delicious," at some point in the last couple of years. I received it last Christmas from my sister-in-law, Whitney, but since "Baby Akin" was still baking and not eating solids yet, haha, I had only perused it and not tried any recipes. Lailey is now expanding her tastes and eating more "normal" food (not just the mashed-up-real-good kind), and I'm becoming more aware of the fact that I don't have a clue about feeding a toddler, especially the picky kind, and I hear they can be pretty common. But hey, I didn't know anything about homemade baby food until I tried either, so it will be a fun adventure. Back to the book. I think I still have a point here somewhere. Oh yeah, so it's written by Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry's wife), and it's very interesting. All the recipes are pretty normal kid-friendly foods, but each one has at least one added vegetable or fruit, in the form of a puree. She started developing these recipes to sneak in added veggies and fruits into her kids' food, making it easier for them to get what they needed nutritionally, especially when they wouldn't eat the veggies or fruits plain. Of course, her recommendation is to still offer at least one vegetable at meals, because kids still need to learn to eat them, but at least you'll know they're getting more of the good stuff no matter what they eat on their plates.

So, with Grandpa Jim keeping Lailey busy this evening (or is it the other way around?), my kitchen became a frenzy of vegetable washing, cutting, roasting, steaming, and food-processing. I prepared 4 vegetables - broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes - and this is the end result...
I've never photographed the inside of a freezer before, but it felt odd. Back to the veggies- these are 1/2 cup servings of each puree, labeled and ready to go. When a recipe calls for 1/2 cup of broccoli puree, you just thaw it in warm water, cut the corner off the bag, and squeeze it out into whatever you're making. Now your chicken nuggets can pack a punch with vitamin C and calcium, and your kids won't know the difference. Apparently the author's daughter, the oldest of three with two younger brothers, is extremely picky and all the recipes have passed her kids' taste tests, and Jerry's too. If you're a Seinfeld fan, then this means something to you. And I'm sure I've heard this at some point in my life, but this book also made me aware that broccoli is a great nondairy source of calcium and better absorbed that it's calcium-rich neighbor, spinach. (To Amy: am I making my almost-registered-dietician-sister proud?) One suggestion that I just happened to read in a couple of places recently is to help get picky kids to eat more veggies, you should let them help with the planning of meals and choosing of ingredients and such so as to give them some ownership in the whole process. I won't lie: this works on husbands too. Actually, he's not really that picky, but I thought it would be fun to let him pick a recipe from the book to get us started. On the menu for tomorrow morning? Pancakes, with sweet potato. In fact, I already mixed the batter and it's ready to tango with a hot sizzling pan in the morning.

So, if this all sounds like a lot of work and too much for busy parents, then you're right...sort of. It does take some work, but once you get good at it, you can spend about an hour or so a week (according to the author) prepping your purees, and then you're done. Just thaw and use in her recipes, which I must say are not just for kids. Spaghetti and meatballs, burgers, beef stew, lasagna, and Italian meatloaf, to name just a few, are all great family meals. However, for some strange reason I am vehemently opposed to eating anything in a "loaf" except bread, so the last one's out for me. Don't ask why. Anyway, I think the work is worth it because I know that I will be getting more vegetables and so will my family. It just takes a little prioritizing.

Eventually I will blog about how the pancakes turn out. My first pick, after Davey's, is the mac 'n' cheese recipe (with butternut squash or cauliflower). The one I'm most intrigued by? Yep, you guessed it...brownies with carrot and spinach. She says they fool everyone. Can't wait to try! If I show up at your house with brownies, beware! Well, truthfully, they won't make it to your house because I'm sure I'll eat them first.

Gettin' Crafty

In honor of a dear friend and fellow nursing, sewing, and blogging mom, I decided to make something after being inspired by her crafts and charge to "get your craft on." (Love ya, Lindsey!) My first project? A sundress for Lailey. You know, since it's warm outside and perfect for romping in the sun...uh huh. Well, it was a simple first project anyway, and will still fit her this summer. Here are some progress pictures. I made it last night, and it only took a couple of hours. This is the pattern cut out, with the tie finished.

By the way, I've had that "Sarah's Ruler" since elementary school I do believe. Little piece of history for you. This is the front and back finished, but not together yet.

This is the almost finished product, just needing a bottom hem once I can fit it on Lailey. She was sound asleep at the time. I don't think she would have appreciated my reason for waking her.

Not the best picture, but I was afraid she'd let go of the chair and fall, so it was a quick snap. It does show off her cute little chunky legs though. I could just eat them.

This little dress, also called a pillowcase dress or potato sack dress (neither of which I like), will grow with her and she can wear it as a shirt with leggings, pants, or even bloomers in the summer. She can even wear it now with a long sleeved onesie and tights. It's not the cutest pattern ever, but I adore the fabric, and I think for a first attempt at dress making for Lailey it came out darling. If anyone wants the pattern (it's a PDF file I found online), let me know.

If you missed the last post, check out Lailey crawling!!!

And She's Off!

Slowly but surely, our little one is crawling! It's been so incredibly fun to watch the process as she's figured out how to push up, get up on hands and knees, scoot backwards, rock back and forth, bunny hop with her knees, lift her hands, then lift her knees, and then get it all together and move forward. I have never watched this learning process so closely before, and it's quite incredible how many prerequisite skills are required to do such a thing. Next time I crawl across the floor with her, I'll be sure to remember that.


Also, Lailey is much better now, but we found out on Monday that she had the flu. This surprised us and our pediatrician for a few reasons: 1) She had had the first round of the flu shot. 2) She definitely didn't "look" like she had the flu, according to the doctor. Apparently, kids typically look a lot worse off. 3) She was still eating and nursing well the whole time. By that evening after we took her in to the doctor's office, she was already looking and feeling much better, and by the next day her fever was down. We're praising the Lord for her quick recovery and, except for an occasional cough that is fading every day, she has no lasting effects.

An Interesting Week

Before I get into why this week was interesting, I wanted to post this sweet photo of Lailey and her 2nd cousin, Abigayle, on New Year's Eve. This was our last night together before my cousin Jen, her husband Mike, and three kids, Noah, Ethan, and Abigayle took off across the country to move to Washington state. For those of you who don't know, this is ironic because my family is from WA originally, and now part of the family is moving back there. I miss them so much already, but I'm excited to see how God uses them in their new location. Love you guys!

Okay, last Saturday (Jan. 2nd) Lailey started on a nursing strike. Basically, she would be hungry but refuse to nurse altogether. The causes are varied, but it's not uncommon for babies to do this around this age. I am not able to pump enough to keep up with her growing appetite, so my stock of frozen milk in the freezer began to quickly diminish. I'm thankful I had as much as I did though. Sunday evening I started to feel sick, and ended up with a cold that lasted the better part of 3 days, fever and all. Davey had to assume Daddy and Mommy duties for a little while. This picture is entitled: "what happens when Daddy takes over housework..."(that's the tie from my bathrobe around her head)

So with Lailey not nursing, me trying to pump when I could get out of bed, and both of us feeling pretty rotten about the entire situation, it was not fun. Then Wednesday afternoon, I started to feel a little better, and she decided she was going to nurse. Hooray! Except for the fact that I noticed that she was burning up. Pulled out the thermometer, 27.2 sec. later I hear: beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep! My thermometer's way of telling me that yes indeed, my sweet baby girl was running a fever, for the first time I might add.

Well, the next 48 hours involved lots of Tylenol, temperature checking, nursing (thankfully!) and most of all cuddling. Poor kid did not want to be put down for anything. Lailey does not generally like to be held while she naps, so the fact that that was the only way she would sleep all day Thursday told me how bad she felt. Dr. said she probably just caught what I had and it would take a little while for her to feel better. Oh yeah, she had her 9 month checkup and besides the virus she's doing great. Usually she likes to be social with all the nurses and our doctor, but not this time. She was not a happy camper! She didn't want to be messed with and cried whenever somebody tried. By the way, she is now 27.5 in. tall and weighs 17.75 lbs.

Now I'm feeling mostly better, and Lailey is on her way to recovery, though still not quite herself. Hopefully she will be soon though.

A week or two ago, I was surprised when I went in to get her from her crib, hearing that she was awake after a nap, and found her on her tummy, scooting backwards! Just recently she has started sleeping on her side and now her tummy once in awhile.

Our 9 month old

It's time for another video. She was talking while I was taking her teddy photo today, so I thought I'd capture it on video. You'll notice that when she claps for patty-cake that her hands are sort of folded. That's because she's starting to sign "more" and gets it mixed up with clapping.