Katie-Bear update

Well, the Bear has started "solids". I use quotes because, as anyone knows who has ever fed a baby, the word "solid" is used very loosely. The real term should be "liquids with some texture", but I guess that's too long to say. We started Katie off with some mushy banana -- but she decided she liked doing it herself better:


banana babe

I wouldn't have minded doing it that way if she hadn't tried to eat half the banana in one bite!

So far we haven't found a new food that she hasn't made a yuck face for. Well, except perhaps mashed avocado, which seems to be her favorite! Of all the first foods, I thought for sure that THAT one would merit a yuck face!

I have mixed feelings about her starting solids. For one thing, she seems to be sleeping better at night -- for a while there she was waking up 3x at night, where she used to wake up only once! So getting something a little more filling into her seems to be helping. On the other hand, MY BABY IS GROWING UP! *weep weep, sob* Feeding baby solids is just proof that SHE DOESN'T NEED ME ANYMORE! *weep weep, sob* All right, I'm not THAT emotional about it. But weaning is a big deal, and it starts with feeding solids. It's kind of silly how emotional some women in my La Leche League group get about weaning. I was so anxious for Miriam to wean! I couldn't wait to feel like I had my body back. I doubt I'll feel any differently about Katie weaning. For one thing she's not a very polite nurser -- has a little too much energy to lie still. I can't believe she STILL kicks me in the ribs. I thought we were done with that 8 months ago!

Anyway, in other Katie news, she is now OFFICIALLY crawling! *sigh* And now I get to spend my days pulling her away from the bookcase... pulling her away from the plants... pulling her away from the phone books (she successfully ripped the cover off of one)... pulling her away from lamp cords... pulling her away from the CDs... have I mentioned that we haven't finished baby proofing yet? :)

It's been fun watching her develop into this stage. It happened so quickly though! Within 6 weeks she went from sitting to roll/scootching, to army crawling (on her belly), to genuine hands-&-knees crawling, to trying to stand! In the picture above, you may notice a little bandage on her big toe -- that was taken during her scootching phase when she developed blisters on her big toes! Our rug is really terrible for rugrats -- now Kate's got chafed knees. She doesn't seem to mind at all -- she never even complained about the blisters (just mostly tried to eat the bandages). She just keeps on truckin'! I'm wondering how long before she figures out the stairs... we need some more baby gates!