Just a quick note to say Alex didn't wake up at all last night or early this morning, so fears of establishing an undesireable pattern are quelled for now. Also, I made her some homemade macaroni and cheese yesterday for dinner and a home cooked mashed sweet potato. Both seemed to taste good to her, but she was still very reluctant about swallowing this new food with its new texture. We'll keep working. She is on the floor now patting her hands on a nice stainless steel mixing bowl that makes a really musical sounds as she strikes it. I gave her a wooden spoon to use as a mallot, but she prefers to suck on the spoon while she hits the bowl with her hands. I actually saw her swallow a little piece of banana she was fingering while I got her oatmeal ready this morning. No gagging, no watery eyes, so I guess she's slowly getting somewhere with finger foods! Yay, Alex! Oh, and she's learning how to clap, too! When I clap for her, she puts her hands together and sortof bounces them up and down. So cute! Clap Clap Clap!
We are breaking routine today and moving our walk to this afternoon so we can go to the nursery this morning and buy some flowers to plant to take place of the pansies that are rapidly croaking due to heat and lack of rain. I planted those pansies last October, before Alex was born! And I remember thinking as I planted them how they would be with us until she was about 6 or 7 months old, and the next time I planted flowers, I'd be doing it with my little baby out beside me in her stroller. I think, tho, I might do it while she's napping this afternoon or this morning. I'm not sure she'd be 100% thrilled about just sitting in her stroller as I planted. She's a bit more "hands on" than that.
We leave tomorrow morning to go up to my parents house for the weekend. My little cousin (more like a niece to me) is turning 3 and her parents are throwing her a pizza party! This will be Alex's first birthday party... I think she'll love it.
Alex has finished her jam session and is ready to move on, so off we go to get dressed and head to the nursery!
(Lyrics to Summer's Here by James Taylor.)
Cully has been brought out of retirement just for our sweet friend Abbey, because she likes to feed him steak! Cully says "Thanks for the grrrrreat steak, Abbey! Yum yum! Purrr..."