Rice Cereal 101

There's really nothing to it!  

Insert baby in high chair - newly bestowed upon her by big sister.

Struggle with the "easy pour spout" opening on the cereal box.

Pour small amount of precious (liquid gold) breastmilk into bowl.

Add in some rice flakes and stir (don't shake).

Grab a really big bib and a tiny little spoon. 

Move goop-filled spoon toward baby's mouth.

When she opens wide, shovel it in!

Capture those initial expressions of ...

what the heck is this?

Beware of grasping hands,

"returned" mouthfuls for gooey-ness,

and a baby who just can't get enough!

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You can see more great photos and Word-less-ful Wednesday
posts here and here.

ESP: Six Weeks

Current Weight: 7  pounds

EAT:  From an eating standpoint, the past ten days have been very different.  At her one month check-up (10 days ago), the pediatrician deemed her weight gain (6 lbs. 9 oz. at that point) significant and consistent.  Enough that I got the go-ahead to stop the pumping, stop the bottle-feeding, stop waking her for feedings, and breastfeed exclusively and on-demand.    What a relief!  I was so happy to finally be released from the pump prison!   The best part, though, the switch has been nothing but successful!  I am amazed by how well my little baby transitioned from chugging a bottle to sucking the ... well, I don't want to get graphic, but you know. 

And I would say that she's even better at nursing than NHV ... not that I am comparing or making it a competition.  It just surprises me because I've heard so much about nipple confusion and babies who refuse to nurse after drinking from a bottle for extended amounts of time.  Even more impressive, CJV goes for decent stretches in between feedings ... 2, 3, 4, even 5 hours.  NHV nursed all the freaking time ... like every hour and a half to two hours ... longer stretches were rare rather than the norm.

In the past few days, I have noticed an increase in spit-up ... but I think that's normal at this point.  I just hope it doesn't last as long as it did with Natalie.

SLEEP:  Charlotte continues to be a pretty darn good sleeper.  (Gosh, I hope I am not totally jinxing myself here!)  And her periods of alertness are definitely increasing.  She's not great at putting herself to sleep; she fights it a little.  She doesn't really cry or fuss ... just gets that wide-eyed stare, classic overstimulation.  But the 5 S's ... swaddle, side, shush, swing, and suck ... are pretty fool-proof in triggering her calming reflex.  Of course, CJV still prefers to be held while snoozing - she's a newborn afterall, but she can also sleep for good stretches in her bassinet ... if the planets align just right.  The Ergo carrier has been invaluable during the day.  Charlotte will sleep in there while Natalie and I go about our business.  When she does get really tired, the stork bites on her eyelids get darker.

PERSONALITY:  I know I am completely biased, but geez, this baby girl is so very sweet!  She's very calm and mellow ... the majority of the time.  Even when she does get upset, Charlotte is quick to soothe and overall very content.  I love all the baby sounds she is making now ... aaaaahs and ooooohs and sighs.  Although she honks less, there are still plenty of grunts and snorts.  If she's waking up and feeling hungry, she tells me with a series of stretches and grunts.  She also has the best sleep grins.  I am still waiting on the real thing, but in the meantime, I cannot get enough of her little grins! 

Charlotte's favorite things (aside from the girls) ... her binky, my face, when I sing, "Hey, hey pretty Charlotte," the Fussy Baby poster next to her changing table, a foam wedge, and the fan in our master bathroom.

And I'll leave you with one more photo ... her little outfit, a gift from my friend Sarah Lou, says, "Whoooo's the cutest?"

You are Charlotte Jane.  You are.

3 Days to 2

This day will further more be known as the Great Broccoli Showdown. And let's be clear, I didn't win this one. As I've mentioned before, Natalie is currently not eating fruits or vegetables ... with very few exceptions. Can you tell that I am a little perturbed by the situation? My inner control freak is going nuts with every failed attempt to get this almost-two-year-old to eat something more nutritious than Veggie Booty! After tonight's incident, I even pulled out the Deceptively Delicious cookbook, a gift from my thoughtful friend Tammy, with the best of intentions but a lack of enthusiasm when I realized that all of the recipes include at least 10 ingredients - that's not my kind of cooking.

Enough about my kitchen shortcomings and back to the Great Broccoli Showdown ...

The plate of food I prepared for Natalie had bits of chicken strips, ranch dip, pieces of focaccia bread, a slice of Havarti cheese, and one floret of broccoli cut into smaller chunks. She ate one bite of chicken, bread, and cheese, and then pronounced that she was "all done." With a full plate of food on her tray - a meal that I had spent time planning and preparing - I was more than disappointed by her feeble efforts.

Natalie: "All done. All done. All done."

Me: "Ummm. No my sweet girl you are not 'all done' - you need to eat two more bites of chicken."

She gave into that request and picked up two pieces of chicken and shoved them both in her mouth. After chewing for about 20 seconds, she spit her mouthful of chicken puree onto the plate. I was all but furious at this point. I was really letting her get to me.

Natalie: "All done. All done. All done."

Me: "Ummm. No, Natalie, you are not 'all done' - you need to try one bite of broccoli."

Natalie: "Noooooo. Noooooo. All done. Down. Down."

This is where things got interesting. I was not about to give up this little fight. She was going to eat a bite of broccoli and that was all there was to it!

At first I remained calm and repeated the choice she needed to make, "You may get down after you try one bite of broccoli."

And Natalie replying, "No. All done."

And my reminder, "If you don't try the broccoli, you may not get down."

This exchange went back and forth for a good two minutes when Chad said, "Well, you can't back down now." So true, so true.

In a weak moment, one I am not even remotely proud of, a moment I am fairly certain would qualify me for MckMama's "Not Me Monday," I picked up a piece of green mush and put it in her mouth while she squirmed and protested.

So not the right move. I know that. She cried and I felt awful and mean and sad. I wiped her face and hands, let her down from her chair, and hugged her close.

Broccoli is so not worth it!

Meal Planning - Let's Try This Again

So my good intentions fell a little flat on this one ... it's been three weeks since I posted a meal plan, but I am giving it another try. I can do this!

This week's meal plan ... in no particular order:

1. Gram's Chicken Pot Pie Updated ("homemade" with a store-bought pie crust)
2. Panera Bread Company (just being realistic!)
3. Homemade Pizza (I'm going to try the Trader Joe's pizza dough)
4. CPV's special spinach and cheese scrambled eggs and whole wheat English muffins
5. Trader Joe's Pasta Medley (a vegetarian entree that I supplement with turkey sausage)

Not bad. There's decent amount of variety here. Here's hoping that I can maintain my sanity and sunny disposition between 5 and 7 each evening this week :) What's cooking at your house?

Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping

Hubby did me a huge favor today. He kept Natalie while I went to the grocery store to do our weekly shopping. I was in-and-out in about 30 minutes with all the fixings for five meals plus stuff for breakfast and snacks and what-not. Impressive, I know!

Usually for our weekly shopping trips, it's me and baby girl and one of those big ol' racecar shopping carts ... because no one told me what a mistake that is ... before I made that mistake myself ... and now there's no going back. Speaking of back, I am beginning to wonder if you all really do have mine?!

This delightful trip to the "market" was all part of my master plan, I mean, my meal plan for this week. For about the past 4 months, I completely got out of this habit, and I was really starting to HATE dinner. Quite often I ponder the possibility of skipping meals and receiving nutrients/calories through an IV instead. Wouldn't that be so much easier? I know you self-proclaimed "lovers-of-food" will be aghast at such an idea. But stop and think about it. Couldn't you use extra time in your day? How many hours a day do I waste thinking about what we're going to eat, getting the ingredients (because I don't plan ahead that typically means a trip to the market), preparing the food whilst entertaining my little one, eating (this takes a fraction of the time as all the rest), and cleaning up the mess (btw: my husband is a champ when it comes to CUD, clean up duty)? Thus, the "give-me-an-IV" mentality has been adopted on numerous occasions.

But I am not terribly fond of needles ... in fact, the IV was the worst part of giving birth, in my opinion/experience ... and so I am back on the meal plan bandwagon in the hopes of changing my attitude and making the 5:00-7:00 part of my day go much more smoothly :)

This week's meal plan - in no particular order:
1. Easy Cheesy Chicken & Noodles - from KraftFoods Magazine

2. Tuna Cakes & Spinach Salad - another KraftFoods idea

3. Kielbasa, Baked Potatoes, and Green Beans - straight from my mom's repertoire

4. Sloppy Joes, Onion Rings, and Apple Slices - Easy Weeknight Favorites

5. Steak Stroganoff - Easy Weeknight Favorites

6. Pizza - I am just being realistic!

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I realize this information may not be even remotely helpful or interesting to you, but I thought blogging my weekly meal plans would help ME be more accountable. Yes, this is a totally selfish blog post ... sorry 'bout that :)