7

My sweet baby girl is 7 months old! She is now sitting on her own, scooting, and has her two bottom teeth. It is so amazing how fast she grows. It seems like every other day something new is happening.

Baby girl has taken to eating well. She seems to enjoy feeding herself and has learned to chew pretty good. We've been feeding her mostly small, softish foods like toast with spread, fruits, vegetables, and puffs. She's also had chicken, turkey, and hamburger. I wouldn't really say she has any dislikes yet but she seemed to especially enjoy nectarines this past week and likes almost anything when paired with toast. Oh, and puffs. She loves puffs. We have vegetable and cheddar and she loves them all. I think she likes hearing the crunching of her teeth biting into it. It's really cute.

I can't believe it's summer! Hubby gets to spend some quality time with Honeybee now that school is out, which I love. It is so sweet seeing them together; watching Hubby make her laugh, play games with her, take her to the store... he is a good dad. We are lucky to have such a good baby too. Honeybee is pretty easy going and only cries when she's hungry or tired. We definitely have bad days, but most of the time we are all happy.

Speaking of hubby... he finally got hired on permanently! Being a teacher is hard right now so I am very proud of him for sticking through it the last few years. He's staying at the same school which is nice because it's only 5 minutes from our house, he already knows the teachers and principal, and it's a good school. Hopefully he gets tenure and stays at that school for awhile, or until he wants to move on.

My job is another story. The governor is threatening my program, putting my job at risk. We don't think his proposal will go through, but if it did I would likely transfer to a new program. It wouldn't be the end of the world because I work for a good Department but it'd be hard to learn a new job right now. I like my current position and even though I have taken on some new projects since returning from maternity leave, it has been nice to be comfortable in my job and not stress too much. I guess I'll know in a week or so...

Life was hectic for a few months but I have a feeling things are going to get easier. Hubby and I are trying to keep up good communication so neither of us feels overwhelmed. Plus we are trying to get our finances in order. The last year has been busy and things have changed a lot so we are sitting down to make sure we don't become those awful kind of people who work all the time and still never have any money. We came up with a plan to save more and pay off our debt faster and smarter. I'm still secretly trying to think of ways to become a millionaire overnight but so far I haven't thought of anything practical.

And now for some sweet pictures of my baby girl...

Pink for Mother's Day

First time in the pool

Having fun while drying off from the pool

Swinging at the park

Puffs and zucchini!

BLW... well sort of

Honeybee is six months old! Oh my gosh! We just had her well baby check up and she is 14.5 pounds! Holy growth spurt! No wonder I haven't been able to keep up with her milk demands. :) Actually, we started giving baby girl a formula supplement at about 5 months old because she was eating so much. She has been doing well though and I have been anxiously awaiting the time when I could start giving her solids.

While I was pregnant I spent some time researching weaning methods and learned there are several ways to start babies on solids. Traditionally, babies start with rice cereal and then get spoon fed baby food from a jar. This method teaches babies to swallow and then later they learn to chew when they are given chunkier foods. It's trendy now to make your own baby food instead of buying jar food, but the method of weaning seems to be the same. Baby led weaning is when babies eat what their parents eat (as long as it is soft and baby appropriate). There are some guidelines to baby led weaning (BLW) but babies essentially feed themselves which usually means they learn to chew before they learn to swallow.

Well... I think I am somewhere in the middle of these weaning methods. I'm guessing that many parents decide to do their own thing based on what feels right to them. For hubby and I, we wanted honeybee to experience food on her own terms, which is more BLW, but we didn't really want her eating the same thing as us, so it isn't completely BLW.

Honeybee's first food was technically a banana. We gave her one two weeks ago because she was still awake at dinner time and kept trying to get at our food. I cut the banana into steak fry sized pieces and set in out in front of her. She quickly grabbed for it and brought it straight to her mouth. Success! About a week later she got a little avocado with her banana while sitting in her highchair. It was a huge mess but also a success.

I had been planning her first food to be sweet potato so that is what she got on her 1/2 year birthday. I cut a sweet potato into fry pieces and baked them until they were soft. Again, I set them out for her and she quickly had them in her mouth. It is so amazing watching her experience the food on her terms. She can feel it in her hands and bring it to her mouth if she wants and of course, stop whenever she wants. So far so good!

I think we will continue on this path for now and see if she continues to enjoy feeding herself. I am not at all opposed to spoon feeding her pureed baby food if the current method does not work out. I may even do a little of both. :)

Here are some pictures of my sweet baby girl feeding herself.

First taste!

It's so squishy in my fingers Mom :)

Mmm... sucking sweet potato off her fingers. 

All done!