The answer to a perplexing situation, and Danielle's progress in life.

I posted a while back about my confusion as to whether I should start Danielle on solid foods. Well, within three days of writing that, I had my answer. It came with a simple weight check. Donald decided that we should weigh our little darling to see how she had progressed, and to our dismay, she had regressed! She had lost 7 oz since the last time we weighed her. I then decided to start her on solid foods right away.

I first gave her banana...she didn't like that very much at all.

I then gave her avocado--which she absolutely loved (probably because I've eaten so much of it over the last several months), followed by sweet potato, which she also loved (and tomorrow she gets to try green beans!). In the last two weeks since I've started her on solids (I just feed her once a day, so far), she's gained well over a pound. So I think she's right on track again.

In an effort to save money and keep my baby healthy, I have been making my own baby food. It is sooo simple that I don't see why more moms don't do this. I merely choose my vegetable, cook it (usually steam it), blend it up, place it in an ice cube tray, cover it with foil, and freeze it. Once the food is frozen, I pop out the cubes, and place them in freezer bags. Then, about an hour before I want to feed her, I get out a cube (which is one serving) or more, and set it out to thaw. It is sooo simple (literally only takes me 5 minutes to prepare enough food for 2 weeks worth of meals), saves lots of money, and is a much healthier alternative. So I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself over that. :-)

Now...as to Danielle's progress in life. I am happy to announce that yesterday she learned to go from all fours to a sitting position. Then, she also scooted across the room to me, pushing with her back legs and pulling with her arms. Now that she's learned those two tricks, she is quite mobile, and therefore goes wherever she wants, and can sit up whenever she wants (which she is really pleased about that one, as she loves sitting up).

She is such a little joy, and I just cannot imagine life without her. I especially love how excited she gets when she sees me first thing in the morning, and knows she's about to be fed. This morning, she nearly jumped out of her daddy's arms with excitement. It was sooo cute. :-)

Anyway...there's a little update. Life in general is going pretty well. Last night, I went to a nursing mothers' group and won a membership and one month's worth of unlimited lessons with Stroller Strides (www.strollerstrides.com), so am super excited about that, and hope to start on that soon, and lose the rest of this pregnancy weight.

I guess in a nutshell, this sums up my life right now: God and my husband are much better to me than I deserve, and seem to love me despite my failures/weaknesses. And I'm especially glad that babies are so forgiving, and seldom remember their mother's mistakes. ;-)

Blessings,
Melody