More food

Evelyn is finally getting over the learning curve with real food. As much as I joke about her only liking floor food, it really is her preferred way of feeding herself. She defies the Food Establishment that says you should only eat off of approved surfaces (note to self: get that steam mop you’ve been looking at). Today she ate most of a Baby Mum-Mum of her own accord just by picking up the pieces she had dropped while in the high chair where I was trying to feed her yogurt and applesauce (status: rejected after two spoonfuls).

But the big breakthrough today was when Evelyn grabbed a pickle and NOT ONLY put it in her mouth BUT ALSO sucked on it like crazy and then chewed it a bit. Since she kept slurping the whole thing in, I was afraid she was going to choke so I swapped her for something else lest she immediately start screaming (this is a new thing. it’s really annoying. it also means I can’t hide things and pretend they don’t exist anymore because she no longer has a goldfish memory.).

(The thing I swapped it for was a french fry. Minus 10 Mom points to me.)

((And minus 100 diet points to me for eating the rest of them.))

Tricksy

Since Evelyn thinks that “paper” is its own food group, I decided to see if she would be fooled into thinking that nori was not food and therefore should be eaten immediately.

Success!

So now the house smells like a sushi bar and there are little bits of seaweed stuck to everything. But I feel better knowing that she will eat SOMETHING.

Solid success

I have finally discovered the secret to introducing new foods: throw them on the ground.

Avocado on a tray: GROSS
Tiny bit of avocado that fell to the floor overlooked: YUM

I’m going to try this approach from now on.

Giving Evelyn a chicken bone to gnaw has also proved useful in stealth nutrition.

8 months

Evelyn’s development seems to be more gradual now rather than overnight changes. Aside from teething hell, there’s not that much going on. She has mastered standing and pulling up. She can cruise though she doesn’t do it a lot. She’s capable of putting her weight on one leg or the other and scooting the other leg forward, but she hasn’t tried it more than a couple of times. I’m guessing she’s going to start walking more this month.

She can say “mama” assuming that she stops after the first two “ma”s. She says it to the refrigerator, her reflection, the door, specks of dirt, Sophie, and the step stool but not to me. Sometimes if my back is to her, I pretend she is saying it to me, but when I turn around, she doesn’t seem to notice. So I guess I can’t count this as a first word just yet. Too bad. I’m tired of all of the physical developments – those bring nothing but trouble. I’d love to see talking or mimicking happen soon. She can learn to play with her toys differently by watching us but only to a certain extent. We’ve made some half-assed attempts at signing, but it has not caught on.

And she still doesn’t like solids that you’re supposed to eat, but swallowing paper is just dandy. Great.

Edit: I’m not making another post for this – tooth #6 was just discovered. That better be all for several months!

Also

Tooth #5 is coming up next to #4.

So I guess that’s why nobody’s gotten any sleep lately.

I stand corrected

Tooth #4 was hot on the heels of #3.

In other news, two tiny, shaky, unaided steps yesterday. None since.

Toof!

Tooth #3 is coming out on top on the right. I wish #4 were coming with it so we don’t have to do this AGAIN in a couple of weeks or however long. I’m going to miss that toothless grin. Babies start looking weird when their little teeth come in all snaggly and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Save your money

Presents received for Christmas: 50 hojillion (approx.)
Currently playing with: the cardboard tube from the paper towel roll

First Christmas

Since we’ll be in Mississippi for Christmas day, we have now had three other family Christmases including one with great-grandparents, one with one set of grandparents, and one with just us so we don’t have to haul even more suitcases with us. Santa has been working overtime.

We have so far given Evelyn a birdhouse that you can put four birds in and dump out OR you can just pick it up by the handle and fling it about wildly – whichever – plus a shape sorter which has just been looked at suspiciously, plus an activity walker thing. Not the kind of walker that is illegal in Canada, just one of the kinds that you can either play with while sitting or push it around the house. Or try to use to pull up and have it scoot out from under you. Because it is currently the most dangerous present, it is also the favorite.

Since she doesn’t eat candy yet, she had a stocking with a new sippy cup that has a soft straw which I got thinking it would be easier to use since it doesn’t have to be tipped upward to get the liquid out, plus new pacifiers in a larger size since she can fit her old ones almost entirely in her mouth, and another Amineko cat with kittens for “her” collection.

Unfortunately, Evelyn is also suffering through her first cold (along with me suffering through my hundredth or so). We took her to the doctor on Saturday to make sure she would be okay to fly. Her ears and lungs are fine, she just has a river of snot leaking out so I have been trying to get that cleared up. They banned all of the good meds for babies since stupid parents were overdosing their kids which leaves squirting saline up her nose in hopes she will get mad enough to get everything out, using a humidifier in her room, and using baby vaporub. None of it is really working. The pharmacist said I could use an antihistamine as a last resort so of course I used it immediately and she barfed it back up onto the carpet.

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Later… (since I started this before we left and now we are in MS)

The plane ride wasn’t so bad. Evelyn slept for about an hour and then got up and fussed for the rest of the ride. Nobody commented this time that they didn’t even know there was a baby on the plane. At least we didn’t have the only fussy one though. Sorry, holiday travelers!

Since we have been here, Evelyn’s sleep has been way off. I try to keep her on PST which means that she goes to bed at 10 here (more time to play with Sa-Sa and Uncle Will). She usually goes down for a couple of hours and then she’s up again. Last night (Christmas Eve) was the worst. She was up from 4 until 6 and then got up again at 8 at which point she slept (fitfully) on Josh until about 11 which was when I gave up on getting more than a couple of hours of sleep. She hasn’t slept this badly since the first couple of days after we got home from the hospital. I hope tonight will be better, but I don’t have much hope. At least her nose isn’t as bad as it was.

Christmas morning(ish) was nice. Evelyn was more interested in Uncle Will’s gift cards than her own presents. She eventually noticed them and knocked all of the blocks over. She hasn’t really taken to Baby Huggums or her Obnoxious Octopus whose batteries may get “lost” on the way home.

Here’s hoping we have all recovered in time for the flight home. Merry Christmas!

Helpful hints for dining with a baby in a restaurant

1. Go at 5 pm with all of the old people.

2. Take distractions.

3. Ask for the check as soon as your food comes. That way when the baby pitches a fit right as you’re finishing up, there’s no frantic 10 minutes of trying to track down your server who has inevitably disappeared while the other parent hops around outside in the cold with the child.