Solids!

J feeding her little brother!

Starting solids is a messy messy ordeal, especially when you have an over-eager toddler helper on your hands.  We got the okay from our pediatrician to start solids with A and one of the things I definitely did right with J is with food.  She eats everything.  She's willing to try new foods (well, most of the time) and she typically just eats whatever we're eating. Case in point: devoured liver meatballs and beef goulash during our trip to Prague.
I want to make sure I do the same thing with A.  And basically once I started foods with J, I didn't stop - every 3-4 days I tried something new and just kept going and going...

Cannot get the food in fast enough

So A started solids about a week ago and so far he has enjoyed rice cereal, bananas, and avocado. And so far so good.  My fingers are crossed for an equally good eater.  The only difference is that this time, I'm trying my hand at making my own baby food.  For those that know me, this is definitely from my "crunchier" side.  I didn't even attempt this with J, but definitely something I wanted to at least try with A.  My best friend bought us the Baby Bullet and honestly, it's super easy.  One banana gave me almost 6 jars of food and one avocado gave me about the same.  So I have plenty of food for the week with two pieces of fruit and it took me five minutes, literally. I imagine I'll have to buy some more jars as he starts eating more and I'll definitely buy some baby food from the store, just to make sure I have it on hand, but the thought of not having the additives/preservatives in his food makes me happy.
Now, anytime you feed a 4.5 month old, it's going to get messy, but throw in my happy-to-help 3 year old and it's a MESS.  But if she can teach him all her good eating habits...I'll be a happy mommy.

18 months going on 18 years

So after our night from hell, we hightailed it over to Buy Buy Baby to get some new gear for our big girl.

On our list:

Crib Tent and/or Toddler Bed

Potty Seat - not starting to train, but figured while I was there, might as well get it

Baby Proofing stuff (especially if we get the bed)

So here's how it went...the Crib Tent looks like a freaking cage.  I know it works for many families.  But I seriously think J would go batshit if we put that over her crib. And Mike? He was not into this at all.

So we went for the toddler bed.  I know she's a bit young for a bed, but I also thought she was a bit young to be climbing out of her crib.  So it is what it is.  I was also thinking that at daycare she naps on a close to the ground cot, so maybe the transition wouldn't be too crazy.

We bought something that looks like this one.  The one we got matched the rest of the furniture in her room and is a little curvier than this one, but you get the idea. 

While we were there, we picked up a Dora potty seat, which she was happily sitting on in the store and for $30 we figured why not...

Sunday went a little like this:

Before heading to our friends' house to watch some football, I was going to the bathroom and I asked J if she wanted to sit on the potty.  She nodded (I think) and jokingly I was telling her to "PUSH!" Honestly, it was more for the funny way she says "push" than anything else...but holy shit (pun intended) she pooped in the potty.  I didn't know what to do.  I was excited over her poop.  Now I know it was a total fluke, but as my friend from work said, at least she now knows what "push"means...

On our way home from our friends she fell asleep, we transfered her into the bed and a couple of hours later, she was pretty much out of her mind.  It must be pretty crazy waking up in a strange place in your own room...so into our bed she came - So I guess Night #1 = FAIL!

Now we're on night 2 and with a much longer wind down she did fall asleep in there - so fingers are crossed that she'll last longer in there than last night...

Oh transitions...they're so much fun!

How do you do it?

I've been getting this question a lot lately..."How do you do it - stay at home all day?" or variations including "Oh my god, I need to go to work, I couldn't stay home and do what you do," and "It must be so hard, staying home"

Well I have some responses to these questions...

I do not in any way shape or form, stay home all day! J and I do tons of stuff, music classes, tumbling classes, classes for me, museums, play spaces, friend's houses...the list goes on. In fact on days where we stay at home it's either because the weather forces us to or I just need some down time.
I chose to put my career on hold to stay with my daughter and raise her. This was my choice, and I have not regretted it for one minute. This is the hardest job I have ever had, but it is also the most fulfilling and rewarding experience of my life. When I was pregnant someone told me "they're only young once, if you can push pause on your career and experience your child's childhood then do it" and I chose to do that. My feeling was that I spent nine months with J 24/7 inside me, there was no way I was going to leave her with someone else after 6 weeks, or even 6 months. This decision did not come without some sacrifices, both financial and personal, but we felt (and still feel) that they were worth it.

I was never more sure of this decision than this past Wednesday. It was about 2:30 in the afternoon and we were at my friend's house with some other mommies and babies. I was showing J their music table and she WALKED over to it...took a full 4 or 5 steps! And you know who was there to see it? ME! Her mommy...I didn't hear about it from her nanny, or her grandma, or her daycare teacher...I was there at 2:30 in the afternoon on a random Wednesday when my daughter decided to take her first few steps. After I practically scared her with my enthusiasm, I thought about how if I were at work, I would've missed this moment...and that's all it is, just a fleeting moment in time when she took steps for the FIRST time. (I know there will be many more, but there's only one first!)

Now, I'm not saying being home with her doesn't have it's moments. I'd be lying if I said everyday was like this past Wednesday, but I think in every job, you have good days and bad days, long days and great days. But for me, great days means I get to see my daughter hit a milestone in her life...not sure that any job has great days like that.

So in answer to the question, "How do you do it?"
My response is since I had the choice, "How can I not do it?"