Our sweet Elle is officially 6 months old as of yesterday! I can't believe she's been in our lives for half a year now. Even crazier, just one year ago I was early in my pregnancy. Pregnancy is WAY too short. We took her down to Orange County for a playdate with her friend Katelyn and to visit her Babcia Kinga. The playdate turned into a lunchdate for the grown-ups because we were all hungry. It was Elle's first time in a high chair! She did pretty well but next time I'll need to make sure to bring toys that can attach to her high chair cover. She was knocking her toys on the floor the whole time. Casey took a silly video of Katelyn pulling Elle's pacifier out of her mouth. Too funny!
I discovered a feeding approach called "Baby Lead Weaning" and spent some time researching it last night. Needless to say, I was intrigued but not sold yet. Basically, you skip the puree and introduce large chunks of fruits and vegetables that the baby is able to grasp. The baby then decides how much she wants to eat and feeds herself. The idea behind it is that this was the method of feeding prior to the invention of baby foods and so it's more natural and allows the baby to discover foods. I assumed that baby's would choke on anything not pureed and you have to feed them small chunks of food, if anything. I learned that feeding them small chunks is far more of a choking hazard and the baby wont chew off more than she can swallow. So interesting. I need to do more research first but to test it out, I decided to give Elle a slice of orange (with the skin) and a slice of pear. She did FAR better with the orange because she was able to get a good grip. The pear was slimy and kept falling on the floor. She didn't choke! She didn't actually --eat-- that much of either fruit. I had some orange alongside her and she seemed to LOVE that we were eating the same thing. It was really cute. She was "mmm-ing" and grunting the entire time.
Daddy got to play alone with Elle today until about 2:00 PM. I was dress shopping with my sister and mom for my sister's wedding! It was so fun. She picked such a beautiful dress. It could not be more perfect for her. I L-O-V-E it. It's so much fun and has so much personality. Just like her :)
We fed Elle more avocado in the AM and again when I got back from dress shopping. This time we heated it up and she seemed to like it even more. It was greeted with flapping arms, an open mouth, grunting, and a "mmm" noise after she took a bite. We got her "mmm"-ing over it on camera...aww. I knew I'd love feeding my baby. I'll probably not be as enthusiastic when she rejects a food I spent time making but until then...awwww.
Boy am I behind. I owe my blog an Easter recap and a Mother's day recap. In the meantime, I'll recap this past week :)
Grandpa Bill stopped by on his way home from UCSB last Friday evening. He brought Elle a UCSB outfit! He also brought a UCSB pink sweatshirt but I haven't taken a picture of Elle in it yet. She has been wearing it on all her walks! Perfect timing--she just outgrew her last hoodie. Here she is Saturday morning. Maybe she'll be a Gaucho like her parents (and Grandpa, and second cousin...). Doesn't she look tired?
Casey and I picked up our new BOB jogger stroller last week and it is AMAZING. My walks have doubled. It's all-terrain and it's so nice to have such a smooth ride. Plus, I'm pretty sure Elle loves it too. Casey, Elle, and I took a 2 hour walk on Saturday. Elle then had some fun "riding" her horse Marley.
Elle having a stare-off with Delilah
Elle had her 6-month well-baby doctor's appointment on Monday. While driving to her Pediatrician, we heard a grunt from the backseat, a cry out, followed by stink...then silence. Elle had pooped. Almost unsurprisingly, when we took her out of her carseat, it had exploded out of her pants. Casey carried her with a burp cloth over her butt so he wouldn't get poop juiced. However, when we got to our Pediatrician's office, we discovered that they had MOVED LOCATIONS. Thanks for the heads up! Anyway, we were a little ticked off and Casey had the pleasure of changing Elle's poopie diaper/pants in the hallway. We drove across town to their new location and took Elle to the doctor without pants. She didn't seem to mind. Elle now weighs 19 lbs 1 oz and is 28 inches long (!). She is as big as a 10 month old! Big girl. Our Pediatrician was impressed with her ability to sit-up unassisted and her balance. He said about 25% of 6-month olds are able to do so...and she isn't even 6 months yet! That's our girl! Elle got her last round of vaccinations. I was so impressed! Not only was she SUPER tired because her 9:00 AM appointment was now taking place at 10:30 because of their surprise relocation but she was also hungry. She took the shots like a champ. Casey and I waved her favorite toys (her magic wand) in front of her face to distract her. She cried pretty hard but I picked her up and she was fine. We took a little video of pantsless Elle on the pony while waiting for the doctor.
I picked up a Beaba baby food maker earlier today with Elle. I can't wait to use it! What a fun new fad. We had some avocados laying around so Casey and I decided to feed Elle her "first" official solid tonight. Technically, its #3 on the list our doctor gave us but whatever. She can enjoy squash and sweet potato this weekend once I have the Beaba up and running. She loved it! She tried feeding it to herself and was an overall mess. So much fun! Here are some highlights...
Elle just went down for a nap and I really need to shower but I thought I'd post a few pictures first of my sweet love. She will be 6 months next Sunday! Where has the time gone? These pics are from yesterday. Why is my baby such a doll!?
The weekend goes by far too fast. I love having Casey with me all weekend long to help me with Elle. It's so nice to have an extra pair of hands. I don't know how my mom did it. She didn't have any family around (or even in the same country), my dad was busy working and finishing his PhD, and she had 4 little ones under 6. Yikes.
I had the pleasure of meeting two new baby's this past Friday and Saturday. Friday I went over to meet my manager, Sandy's, new little baby Naomi. We tried to get a picture of them together and it was hilariously difficult. My sweet Elle, who is normally as chipper as can be, was whining, giving me the grumpy face, and crying her little eyes out. She was tired. It's so challenging to go anywhere when she only has 1.5 hours of awake time between naps. Even though Sandy only lives 5 miles away, by the time I got there an hour had already passed. Got to love Los Angeles. Elle was whiny within 20 minutes and full-on pissed within an hour. Naomi is a beautiful baby with a head full of hair! She is just 2.5 weeks old and I really couldn't believe Elle was ever that small. And that I was so comfortable handling Elle when she was that small.
Mom, I said no more pictures!
Elle has started to wake up at 6:00 AM now so we took her on a walk early Saturday morning. It was our usual stroll to Coffee Bean just a mile away. We wanted to check-out baby joggers this weekend and found a store that carried both of the ones we are interested in--the Baby Jogger and the B.O.B. An all-terrain stroller is SO essential here. Poor Elle has the bumpiest ride imaginable on these sidewalks. Once we got there, it was disappointing to see they only carried 1 model of each. Kind of funny side note--the store opened at 11:00 so we wanted to get there as soon as they opened so there would be a sales clerk available to help us. We got there 10:55, the small store already had 3-4 families waiting, and all sales clerks were busy. Again, got to love Los Angeles.
After Elle woke up from her afternoon nap, we made an impromptu trip to Irvine to meet Mr. Grady Jones Suttle. I know Elle and Grady will have many, many playdates in the future so it was important for me to get a picture of them together while they're still teeny tiny. He is just 2 weeks old and again, I had the same thought as with Naomi: was Elle really that small!? And she absolutely was. I just can't believe it. Here are a few shots of Elle with her future BF.
Elle is digging the new man in town
Little Grady
Casey and I are becoming increasingly comfortable with Elle and our Bassets. She sort of lead the way with that one. Whenever they approach her, she reaches her little hands out and tries to pet them. It's too cute. Marley and Delilah LOVE it. We tried to get a shot of Casey, Elle, and Marley together yesterday. Here are a few attempts...it was difficult to say the least.
