With a side of broccoli

Now that Esme is into feeding herself more eating out with her has taken on new possibilities. No longer do we have to find ways of amusing her while we scarf down our meals. She can join right in and eat along side us. She gets quite a kick out of it. This weekend we had dinner at a local restaurant. Kristopher ordered the brisket. I the salmon. While Esme had her scrambled egg yolk with a side of broccoli.

Swing of Spring

Esme took her first turn in a swing this week. Grandma performed the inaugural push. The verdict? I think this picture speaks for itself. Now that the weather's warmer, I see many trips to the park in our future.

Breakfast of Champions

Solid food is still a mystery around here for both Esme and me, even though we've been working at it for over two months now. For me, I never know what's she going to take to, how much she's actually going to eat and what she's really capable of eating in terms of consistency.





That's a frozen cube of pear purée in the bowl. No worries, I do defrost it before serving it to her. It gets mixed with either oat cereal or as of last week, yogurt. Anyway, here's the final product...



The banana I cut up into teeny tiny pieces which I scatter before her. This is in an effort to encourage her to self-feed. I'm convinced she'll become a happier, more consistent eater if she can be a more active participant in the process. The thing is, though, I'm so nervous about choking. She's gagged a few times, and that's enough for me to keep her on purées until her 16th birthday. So most of the exercise consists of Esme attempting to pry lentil-sized, sticky banana pieces off her high chair tray. Then if she does manage to make it that far, move said banana morsels into her mouth which may or may not be open by the time her hand makes it there. Most of the banana winds up on her chin, bib or on a good day, teetering on her lower lip. I'd take pictures of the process only I'm so afraid to take my eyes off her for even a second.

Her morning routine is banana, pears and as of this weekend, mango. I fully expected her to love mango. How could you not? The reception thus far has been lukewarm. I've let her self-feed with it and have also used it in her mesh teether. I've pretty much moved the cereal to the evening meal and stuck to yogurt in the morning.



On a good day, the end of the meal looks something like this...

Riding the Wave

Esme has not been sleeping great for many weeks now. This, of course, has prompted much discussion as to the cause... growing pains, teething pains, etc. etc. I've been told that babies on the verge of a developmental milestone may experience sleep disruptions. At the rate we've been going I expect to walk into her room any morning now and see her walking, talking, reading the paper and drinking a cup of coffee that she's just brewed herself. I realize that I've got to lower the bar, so for this week Esme's great achievement is raising her hands over her head.

Here she is before...



...and after.



What I love most about this new skill is the randomness of it. She doesn't seem to be asking to be picked up. Those little arms just pop up at any given moment, as if she's participating in some great wave game only we can't see the other wavers. She's particularly tickled if you choose to join in and now has even come to expect it. She'll throw her arms up in the air and then stare at you with an air of grave seriousness. She doesn't mess around with the wave.

And speaking of waving, she appears to be doing that now too. Not so much a hand-wagging wave, hers is more a dainty wrist tilt that's somewhere between the Queen and Miss America. Too cute.

Salad Days

There's a new post up at my other blog, Seedling. The lettuce seeds are in, and if all goes well we'll be knee deep in leafy greens by May.

Welcome

At long last I have this up and running. Stop by any time you want an idea of what's happening chez nous. You can count on plenty of Esme updates as her milestones are much more exciting than ours.