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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Dinner Time!

Button is 6 months old! Or she will be on Friday. I can't believe she is already half a year old. It goes by so quickly. She is such a good, sweet girl. She can sit up by herself, "talks" quite a lot and is reaching and grabbing for things.  In fact, last Friday we picked up some burgers after Bub's soccer practice and I was holding her on my lap as I was eating and she reached out and grabbed my burger from me and tried to stuff it in her mouth.  I thought that was a good sign she was ready for solids.

I'd heard about a method for teaching babies self-feeding called Baby Led Weaning and had read the book and I knew that is what I wanted to do for Button. For Bub we did the traditional purees and while it was fine it wasn't that much fun and really it only lasted til he was 8 months when he started eating table food. Button is older than he was and she has been avidly watching us eat for about a month now, making the chewing motions. She thinks she is a big girl, wanting to be up there with her brother. So I gave her some bread from my bun and she had a good time getting it into her mouth. Since then she has had cornbread, potatoes, broccoli, snap peas, cauliflower, cucumber and even some alligator sausage! She doesn't eat all of it. Some of it she just sucks on or gnaws on. Last night she had chicken and baby corn and got quite a bit of it down. Her little eyes light up when I put food on her tray and reaches and grabs. It is quite a bit of fun to watch. I am enjoying watching her explore food in a way I never did when Bub started solids. I've had a couple of naysayers but in the end she is having a good time eating, she is working on her hand/eye/mouth skills and generally it has been a good experience so far.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Mother and Daughter



BT also took this picture. I wanted one to match a maternity picture that was taken of Bub and I looking into the water in silhouette but he wouldn't stand still for it and wandered off so it is just Button and I. We will have to try again later. But it turned out to be a lovely picture.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Father and son



I love this collage. I didn't take the pictures but I made the collage. BT was trying to do a self-portrait silhouette and Bub walked into the picture. It makes for a sweet picture. My fellas.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

On being good

This year has resulted in a lot of changes. Clearly the biggest one has been the new addition to the family. But starting in late February we had to remove Bub from the daycare he had been going to for 4 years because of the preschool teacher. So BT started working nights to keep Bub during the day. And then I had Button and Bub stayed home with the two of us. This was not the most stimulating of times for him. I pretty much left him to his own devices while I was dealing with the newborn. When I went back to work Bub started at a summer camp near our house which was good for him. He got out of the house, played with kids his own age and got to go on field trips. I think he missed his old life though and playing with the friends that he has known since he was one year old and seeing his dad every night. He has always been a child who likes familiarity and doesn't like change. He also likes structure and schedules but at the same time will try to get away with everything I let him.

He is not doing well in kindergarten, another big change for the family and a huge change for him. He won't be quiet and sit still, he keeps drawing on his papers (something that aggravates his teacher) and he plays around all the time. I am at a loss right now. I really don't want him to be that kid. I know that it is the beginning of the year and they have only had one full week since last week was interrupted by a hurricane. But the lack of good behavior has me worried and is resulting in more changes. No more TV after I get home, early bedtime, no video games if there is a bad report from school. I am trying everything I can. I know that he will catch on though. His pre-k teacher when he was 3 had a good behavior system in place and he responded well to it. I think it has been so long since he has had any structure that it is hard on him.