First PB&J Sandwich

Made Mads her first PB&J sammie last week. It was a hit. She really enjoyed taking it apart and just licking the PB.

I think something pissed her off here....

She's wearing one of her new Mini Mioche tops here. Once the weather is warmer I'll share more pics of her in her Mini Mioche clothes. I recieved some items from their Spring lineup and it's just super cute. All the clothes are 100% organic cotton and made in Toronto AND the stuff just looks so comfortable. I'll share more later but you can check it out at minimioche.com

Weekend Pics

Here's what happens when you ask her to show you her belly button. She then comes over to you and asks to see yours and wants to poke it. It's cute so you pull up your shirt to let her, of course.

She was wondering around with a bag of crackers. I thought she was just snacking. Then I realized she had put a handful of them on the couch next to Winston. She then started to feed him directly. This dog has it made - he doesn't even have to get off the couch!!

Breakfast - apple sauce and cereal.

She does this big toothy grin a lot now and I just looooove it.

Bring on 2010

It's with great pleasure that I share with you my resolution for 2010. This resolution was born out of many months of dinner time frustration. Most nights, our time from 5pm-7pm is dedicated to Madeline. We're wrapping up work, picking her up from daycare, playing with her, then feeding, bathing and getting her to bed. We have a great routine figured out and it goes pretty smoothly each night. Michael and I are both involved in the routine, which is great because it means that we're each getting some time to play with her.

7pm then hits.

She's in bed and we stand and stare at each other wondering what we're going to do for dinner. We usually point a few fingers in an effort to determine whose turn it is to come up with an idea for dinner. We then make spagehetti (because we have nothing else in the house to eat) and watch tv. I have no idea why I don't weigh 500 lbs.
In an effort to avoid this 7pm craziness (and lack of inspired, boring, repetitive meals), my new year's resolution is to become an excellent meal planner. I hope is that by planning out a week of dinner ideas, I'll:

1. Only have to hit the grocery store once (probably twice) in the week. I dislike grocery shopping and this would be a real treat.
2. We'll try more recipes....not just the same 5 things over and over again. My goal is to try one new recipe per week.
3. We'll look forward to dinner time and not fight over who is responsible for dinner each night.
4. We may save some money - everytime I go to the grocery store I buy crap we don't need! I will now be making a list that coincides with our plan for the week. Therefore, no unnecessary purchases (or at least fewer).

So we're on day 2 of the meal plan. So far I have only had to shop on Sunday and I already know that I have enough groceries for dinner each day of the week! That feels good. A good start to the year :)

Spoon Practice

We're working on the spoon thing. In this first video you can see we're getting pretty close....


and then 2 minutes later.....

Learning to drink from a cup

Since Madeline seems to always want to drink from my cup, I decided to try and let her have her own cup. Clearly she is not quite ready for this stage.

Peaches

We packed our bags and headed up north to the cottage for an awesome weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect. We had a couple of friends up there with us which was great - lots of amazing food, drinks and a little bit of cranium action.
Best part of the weekend....discovering Maddy can eat a whole peach. We picked up groceries Friday afternoon on the way up to the cottage. When we arrived, we moved everything into the foyer. I let Maddy hang out here while we brought stuff to the kitchen. A few moments later I return to find her tearing into a whole peach. Took me a few minutes to find my video camera but I was able to catch some of the destruction. Enjoy.

A Meal with Maddy

I think a few months ago I commented on how neat of an eater Maddy is. Times have changed. You'll notice that she now goes naked for dinner. It's just easier that way. She gets covered in food and then she's ready for her bath. I know that many people would still say this is clean compared to their kids eating spaghetti sauce...but we must remember that all I knew was my little girl who neatly ate her cheerios and pears with her two fingers. Yes indeed, times have changed.
As you'll see below, just because her hands are covered in sauce doesn't mean that she doesn't want to play with her hair. Nothing will stop this little lady from playing with her hair.

ummm....you have a blueberry in your teeth

Yes, that's Madeline smiling with a blueberry between her teeth.

Spaghetti

Maddy has a new favourite food. She basically seems to want to eat whatever we're eating!

Monkey Business at Breakfast

ack! It's been almost a week since I posted last. Busy times I guess - but that's still no excuse. I'll try to do better!
This week I spent Monday and Tuesday in Boston on business. Cora and I had 2 full days of meetings at Mom Central - we were getting caught up on everything the US business is up to and filled them in on what we've got going on in Canada. They threw us an awesome cocktail party that didn't seem to end (the kind of party where you move from outside to inside and eventually to the kitchen). I was exhausted by 10pm. We had been up since 4am - that's what time you have to get up when you're flight is at 6:30. I guess when I booked that flight I wasn't actually doing the math. Funny thing is, once you're a Mom, getting up at 4am to start your day doesn't actually seem all that crazy. It didn't even phase me that I was also up at 2am to give Mad a bottle.
Our flight home was Tuesday evening and we at least managed to squeeze in an hour on Newbury Street doing some shopping. Love Boston. I was so excited to get home that evening!! This trip was harder to be away from Maddy and I was just so happy to see her when I got home. I was actually thrilled when she woke me up at 3am for a bottle.

Here are some pics from this morning of Mad having breakfast with a friend.

a bit random

Maddy recently realized she can drink her bottle on her own (when she feels like it!).

I just wanted to share my fav picture from the weekend. Not sure how I managed the nice focus on this flower in our backyard!! It has inspired me to look into getting some new lenses for my DSLR. I'm looking at getting the 50mm. I have a Canon Rebel in case anyone is looking to sell any lenses.

Finger Foods

Here's Mad showing off that she no longer needs her food to be pureed into a liquid consistency. She is loving Cheerios. Seriously, they entertain her for a good 30 minutes and she just gobbles them up! She's also tried pears, cheese, pasta, broccoli, acovado and banana.

Hey Little Lady

Making Baby Food

Made a trip today to the Big Carrot today. Picked up some yummy organic fruits to make Maddy some homemade baby food. I think the "back-to-work" guilt might be setting in and I'm feeling this urge to make sure she's got a stash of homemade food, not just the jar stuff. I also picked up some Sweet Pea Organic Baby Food. Their food, along with Mother Hen Organic baby food, is amazing. It's all homemade-style baby food and it's individually frozen in small serving sizes, so you just pop a cube in the microwave and it's ready to go. Maddy had the chicken and veggies this evening and LOVED it. 2 cubes were consumed in a matter of minutes.
I'm excited to try the Beef, Barley and Veggies tomorrow night. Anyways, I pureed blueberries and strawberries and added a bit of banana. I also made applesauce. I'm a good Mum, right? Going back to work is fine. I can handle this. I just need to keep making baby food and there will be no guilt.

From the weekend

Here are some pics from the weekend. The big developments over the past week have been her ability to sit on her own and play with the toys in front of her and also her desire to eat a lot of baby food!
The "sitting on her own" is quite a fun new stage. It allows me to put her on her playmat with a bunch of toys around her and she'll entertain herself for a good hour. The downside of this is that she can't get to that position on her own yet, so if she falls, I have to keep sitting her back up. Things she's loving to play with these days? Her Einstein table (with legs off), her sippy cup, Sophie, random kitchen items I bring out each afternoon as something "new and exciting" (for both of us!). Yesterday it was a rubber spoon. I wonder what I'll find today.
In the solid food department - she's eating almost anything I bring to her....and lots of it. Fruits are still the favourite but she is also really enjoying veggies now. Zuchini, Broccoli and Cauliflower are current favs. We have also introduced meats. Turkey and veggies were served and recieved pleasing results. I'm doing a mix of giving her food that I make and the store bought Organic baby foods. I haven't tried to puree meat yet - it seems bit more difficult. Maybe I'll put that on the "to do" list for next week.
Here are some pics from the weekend.
Eating her blueberries and pears.... Posing for Mommy

Playing with her LeapFrog table....

With Daddy at brunch on Sunday. We took her to my fav brunch spot - Universal Grill. They have the best pancakes there. I have actually become a bit of a regular there.....I try to convince someone to go with me almost every weekend. This weekend it was Michael and Maddy's turn. She was on her best behaviour. Sat on the table in her Bumbo and charmed the other brunch patrons while playing with her Sophie. Mornings are definitely her time to shine!

First Foods

Today was a big day. Maddy tried solid food for the first time (if you an call runny rice a "solid food"). Michael spent the morning putting together her high chair while we visited with Pam. This high chair was a gift from my parents and it is amazing!! It's got all sorts of bells and whistles including a toy that mounts to the tray and plays music and lights up. Very handy at distracting the little one while I make food. As you'll see in the video - she really liked the cereal. I was expecting her to reject it for a few days or even weeks but that wasn't the case at all.





The High Chair
Playing with the new toy

Waiting for food

First bitesYummy!