First Bites

Before Sophie was born I read in a few books that babies don't need solid foods for six months and that all their nutritional needs can be met solely from nursing (or formula). I was determined to wait the whole six months because of this and because I didn't want the smell of her dirty diapers to get exponentially worse.

Well, over the past month or so we've been having a few problems nursing. My milk production and let down is very temperamental and more often than not the milk doesn't come soon enough or fast enough to Sophie's liking. She's usually a calm baby, but when you mess with her food -- watch out. Several times a week I'd literally have to put her to sleep, then wake her just enough to feed her. She's a lot more patient when she's sleepy. I didn't want to supplement with a bottle because I was afraid my milk supply would dwindle and make the situation worse. I also wondered if she was getting enough because she would act mad when she was done eating. After she burps, she's just fine, so I'm wondering if she can tell the difference between hunger and gas pains.

Sophie had her 4-month check up right before we moved and the doctor said that she was probably ready to try a little rice cereal. "Ya right," I thought. I was determined to wait the six months. But as I watched her over the next week or so, I noticed that she really did seem to be ready. Developmentally, she's doing everything on the little "readiness checklist". She especially stares at us, totally enthralled, when we're eating or drinking something, and she loves to suck on ice cubes.

See what I mean:

Ok, this looks like we're being facetious. I really do try to feed her before we eat, but she really looks at us like that every time we put something in our mouths.

So this week we took the plunge, and I mixed her up some rice cereal. I used breastmilk, which made me feel a little better and I made it really, really soupy. Here's what happened...

Here's the second day. I think we have a winner. :)

So far I haven't noticed any change in diaper smell or frequency of feedings. She's still getting enough from mama with some extra treats on the side. :)

By the way, my friend (and fellow Etsyian) Chelsea made the bibs. Aren't they cute? I may have put them on backwards. I'm not sure, but they're cute either way!

Correction

My dad informed me that the trailer was 22 feet, not 12 as I had estimated. I was never very good at guessing distance.

Oh, and here are some of the pics he sent me...

Here we are even longer than before.



This was a little stop we made at an outlet mall in Vacaville. Sophie loves being strapped to us. My mom is standing next to me and Matt is on the left.



A little hat we scored for $3!



The girls didn't want to get out of the car for the picture, so here we are in front of the Oakland Temple. We're live only 15 minutes away!



Here's Soph in another hat we love and a new pair of jammies. :)

Our California Adventure Begins

Wow, it's been almost a week and a half since I wrote last. That must be some kind of record. Well, here we are in sunny California. Steve ran off to fetch a treasure I found on Craigslist and Sophie just fell asleep. I'm all alone with both hands free. I could be in the kitchen continuing to organize things but I can always do that with Sophie strapped to my front. I'd rather chill for a few minutes and post an update on how the past week has gone.

My parents arrived in Provo on Thursday evening to load up the trailer, then off we went. Steve and Matt (his friend from Cali who flew out to help us move -- what an awesome friend!!) were driving our Honda and stopped and spent the night at my grandparents' in Sandy. They figured they'd rather catch up to us going about 80 instead of getting stuck behind us the whole way going 60. My dad didn't stop, though. He drove until FOUR IN THE MORNING. I have no idea how he kept himself awake after the 4-hour drive to Provo and hauling our stuff down three flights of stairs into the trailer. I don't think even Coke is that powerful. You have to know my dad, though. When he's on a mission, there's pretty much no stopping him.

The drive was nice. Mostly because we were in a motorhome and didn't have to stare out into the bleak nothingness of Nevada. Remember that picture of the motorhome and Ellie hooked up behind? Replace Ellie with a 12-foot (I think), enclosed snowmachine trailer and that's how we looked barreling down the freeway. (And I took another shower while en route. I'm getting pretty good at it!)

Sophie in the motorhome. I think the trip and all of the commotion wore her out!

We arrived Friday evening and all of us were too pooped to start packing it into our new place, so we had dinner and crashed. The next morning Steve's dad and brother arrived to help us, as well as a friendly little raincloud that sprinkled on us until we finished hauling boxes in. Then it stopped. It was the only time it rained this month. Figures.

My dad wanted to try out Steve's new scooter. Sophie wasn't sure about it, though. She's probably concerned that some idiot will hit Steve on the way to school because no one's used to having those on the roads around here. Oh wait, that's me.

Luckily, we only had two casualties during the move. The first was a window we broke trying to get our box spring around the corner and up the stairs...

The second was our cool little betta fish, Antonio. I found him on Monday morning stiff as a board at the bottom of his bowl. He made it the whole way to California in an open mason jar in the cup holder of the Honda. That might have done him in, I think. Or maybe he just wanted to be let loose in the Bay. We had him for 2 1/2 years and even taught him a few tricks. He'll definitely be missed.

I'm beginning to think that my perception of what's "ghetto" is changing. I used to think the town we lived in was ghetto. That was until we picked up a pot rack (another Craigslist treasure!) in Oakland last night at some guy's house. South Oakland is ghetto, not San Leandro, which is a little run-down, but it doesn't make me nervous anymore. Our neighbors are all really nice, and I've met some great people since we got here. (That made my mom feel better about leaving us here.)

This is a little off-topic, but yesterday I was sitting on the couch with Sophie and I heard what sounded like an ice cream truck approaching. I wasn't sure if it was an ice cream truck or a taco truck because it was playing "La Cucaracha" over its speakers. It was an ice cream truck after all, and the guy driving it was wearing a turban. Talk about being multi-cultural around here.

Well, we still have some unpacking to do, and I really should go back in the kitchen and finish while the baby is still asleep. I'll post pictures when we get everything situated and we finish painting.

Appointments, Errands, and Culinary Bombs

I sent Steve to take the baby to her appointment this morning. We had a late night last night, and because I usually sleep as long as Sophie does in the morning, we stayed in bed until 9:45. By the time I fed and changed her, it was time to go to the appointment and I was still a woolly mess. I also didn't want to go because she was getting more shots. I hate being there for that.

Steve came back a while later to report Sophie's stats. She's grown 3 inches and gained about 2 1/2 lbs. That puts her in the 35th percentile for weight and the 92nd percentile for height. Wow. Two months ago she was in the 60th for height. I guess she's still a tall, skinny thing.

After they got back, I jumped in the car to go get some bubble wrap, packing tape and rent some furniture blankets from U-Haul. Here's a good lesson for you: NEVER buy packing tape at the grocery store. I bought a roll at Macey's the other day for about $7. I thought that was a little high, but I didn't feel like going to another store. I found a 6-pack today at a paper/shipping/packing place (Xpedex if you live in Provo. It's great.) for $4.80.

Oh, by the way, I made another GROF last night, but it turned out kinda weird. I think I was a little overconfident after the last one and I thought, for some reason, eggplant and apples might work together in a pasta dish. (I promise I'm not pregnant.) It wasn't bad, actually. But I didn't think it was blog-worthy.

Seriously Playing

This interactive kicking toy was bought by my aunt at DI for like $5. After getting passed around a few cousins, it ended up in our possession. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep it because it takes up a lot of space and Sophie hadn't shown any interest in it . . . until a couple of weeks ago.

If she kicks the blue bar across the bottom, the toys on the top spin and it plays music and sounds. If you move the dangley things, it does the same thing. Sophie figured that out pretty quickly. I love how carefully she lifts her legs up and kicks them. She's so serious about it.

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 4th anniversary. We had plans for tonight. Nothing elaborate, but plans nonetheless. Plans change.

Steve being in the military has its ups and downs. I'm glad that he gets a sense of fulfillment for serving his country, oh, and the benefits have been nice, too. Despite the good things, the military has a way of separating us--especially on significant days of the year. Today he had to fly to Colorado Springs to demobilize. Basically, because he's quitting his job, he has to fly over there for a couple of days to do some paperwork. Probably things he could easily do in Orem. I know it doesn't make sense, but after dealing with the Army/National Guard for four years, I quit asking why they do things the way they do.

After dropping Steve off at the airport, I ran a quick errand, then went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to visit. It makes me sad that we won't be able to go over there on a whim or have Sunday dinner anymore, so I'm glad that I went over tonight.

It's nice not being totally alone at home when Steve's gone, too.

And Bombay House can wait a couple of days.

Big Girl

Sophie seems to think she's a big girl. She's always trying to sit up or stand up and hates it when she's turned inward and can't see what's going on. What she plans on doing once she sits up is beyond me -- she usually ends up flopping over. Eventually she'll learn to think ahead a little. :)

My friends at work got her a Bumbo seat. She's starting to tolerate it better than she used to. At least now she doesn't fuss. I think she likes that she's sitting up like the rest of us. The other day she wouldn't let me put her down, so I put her in this and set her on the kitchen table so I could get some dishes done. She always seems to slide to one side or the other . . .

Colorado

Alright, here's the skinny on our trip last weekend.

The Ride

Here we are in all our caravaning glory -- my parents' motor home with Ellie tagging along behind. Riding in a motor home is definitely better than being strapped down in a car. Sophie sure thought so, at least. The rumbling and shaking lulled her to sleep if she was lying down for more than 10 minutes. This mode of travel does have its drawbacks, though. Trying to take a shower while barreling down the freeway at 65 mph is an interesting experience. Luckily I came away unscathed, but I did get carsick while blow drying my hair.

The Reception

The reception was nice, and a little different than we expected. At the open house in Idaho, we had a steady stream of people come and go for two hours. At this reception, everyone was there by 7:30 and stayed the whole time. I think the wedding line was only assembled for about 10 minutes before it fell apart. People would come in the door and see Devin and Andrea across the room and wonder, "What are they doing clear over there? Oh look, there's food," then wander over to a table and sit down.

Here's a pictures of Steve, Sophie, my mom and my sister, Hillie. Andrea's mom made all of the bridesmaid dresses and my sister didn't even try hers on until the day before the wedding. It fit her like a glove as you can see -- with no alterations needed. We try not to be jealous of her stick-like figure, but it's awfully hard sometimes.

Sophie

Although the reception was intended to honor Devin and Andrea, Sophie unintentionally stole some thunder. Here's the cute dress I was talking about. She doesn't have her shoes on, though, but you can see them in the picture above with Dev and Andrea.

And here's the clip I mentioned yesterday. It cracks me up how intense she was working, trying to throw tootsie rolls everywhere. It reminded me a lot of Hoppy (my family's pet rabbit) when he was trying to get carrots out of his bowl.

New Tricks Tuesdays

It seems like every week, around Tuesday, Sophie does something new--or at least a little different. Today I had her sitting on my lap and she kept pulling herself forward like she wanted to get up. I stood her on her feet and started smiling and talking to her. Her eyes were on my mouth and as I smiled at her, she started giggling. A real giggle. She's shrieked, squealed and made every other variation of a laugh, but today was the real thing. When she did it, it made me laugh, which, in turn, made her laugh again. We laughed at each other for a minute and then she started staring at something she wanted to grab. Then it was over. It all happened so quickly, I couldn't get a picture or a clip.

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! We went to Colorado with my family for my brother's wedding reception. More updates will come about that, as well as pictures. (Which I need to get from my dad because, of course, I didn't take any!) Plus a really cute clip of Sophie trying desperately to clear a small, glass bowl of the tootsie rolls inside. I've never seen her concentrate so hard on doing something before.