Eating the Rainbow

Now that Elsie is eating so much big-person food, I've been struggling with how to make sure she is getting a balanced diet. After a few months, I've gone back to a diet I used in college (and by "diet" I mean "system of eating" not "restrictive meal plan"). Called the "Rainbow Diet," it basically means that we try to eat every color of the rainbow at every meal (or at least every day). Strangely, this works because foods of similar colors tend to have the same unique chemical/vitamin composition. Easy enough, right? For instance, today Elsie's lunch consisted of this:



Red (strawberries and red peppers)
Orange (-)
Yellow (pineapple and pear)
Green (asparagus and green pepper)
Blue/Purple (-)
White/Brown (potatoes and grilled chicken)

We missed two colors at this meal, but had them for breakfast [blueberries (blue/purple) and clementines (orange)]. Not bad! And it's easier for me to remember what colors we missed, thus what I need to serve at the next meal, than to remember (for instance) that Elsie still needs more vitamin C and antioxidants for the day. Most importantly, Elsie is gaining weight like a champ, is learning to love a variety of foods of various flavors and textures, and is learning that mealtime is fun!

Playing at Papa Todd's

On Mother's day, Mama, Daddy, Auntie Manda, Campbell and I went to Papa Todd's to play with him and Grandma Julie. They had lots of great toys! Papa helped Campbell and me play with the dollhouse my great uncle Kim gave me.



Daddy helped me ride on all the big fuzzy animals. I wasn't sure about the dinosaur, but I loved the big froggy. It was so much fun!




And even though it was Mama's first Mother's Day, it appears that we only took pictures of me with Daddy. Whoops.

Playing with Grandma RJ and cousin Campbell

This is my cousin Campbell. He is only six months old, but he weights more than me. That was a problem when we took this picture, because he kept leaning and trying to push me off the chair. I'm taller, though, so it evened out alright.

I spent a long weekend with him, playing and drooling and teaching him the ropes about sitting, teething, and other big kid stuff. I can't wait until he is bigger and we can cause all kinds of mischief together.


On Saturday, I wouldn't go to sleep so my David friend held me and we chilled out on the couch. He taught me all about football. It looks kind of dangerous! I wonder if Campbell wears that cool helmet because he is a football player? I'll have to ask him the next time I see him.

On Sunday morning, I got up early with Mama and we snuggled with Grandma RJ, Campbell, and Auntie Manda on the bed. Campbell even let me borrow his frog baby, Ribbit. What a great way to wake up!

Ten-month randomness

Maracas and egg shakers- Elsie's favorite toys!


At the zoo with Elsie's friend, Dexter, who loves to push things (even when he is being carried).


"Yes, I WAS just playing with the winter hats in my hat basket! How did you know?"


Wonderful table manners- peas on her shirt and a cheerio on her head :)


Elsie's new favorite game: water sensory time on the porch.

When the weather gets hot and steamy...

...Elsie's hair gets really curly, just like her mom's!

More arboretum pics!

These were taken by my good photographer friend Lea, so enjoy but please don't steal copies :)

Springtime in the Arboretum

Easter Fun

I went looking for the Easter Bunny, but all I found was an Easter Pig. I guess that's okay, since I can't eat the Easter Bunny's chocolate, anyway.

Waving "good-bye"

Elsie loves having visitors. Look how happy she was playing with Grandma RJ during her last visit:




I included those pictures so that you don't get the wrong idea when you read my next statement: one of Elsie's favorite parts of having visitors is waving "good-bye" when they go!

Yes, Elsie loves to wave. She is thrilled when we ask her to do so, and grins like a goon while she obliges us.

She doesn't just reserve her good-bye waving for visitors, though- she will happily wave any time anyone leaves, well, anywhere!

Waving "bye" to Daddy is the thrill of her morning. She waves when I take out the trash, and she even likes to wave when Daddy or I leave a room.

Here she is, demonstrating proper "waving" form in our front window (her favorite waving place) while Grandma RJ drives away:




We hope you can visit soon, so that Elsie can wave good-bye to you, too!

My Friend, Adah

Every-other Thursday, Mama and I go to my friend Adah's house to play. It is so much fun there! Max, Henry, Edie, and Veda usually come to play, too.

Adah has a really cool cart I like to push. Since Adah doesn't know how to walk and push things yet, I try to show her how. Pushing things is easy for me though, so I often practice pushing, walking, and clapping at the same time. That's harder.


This is Adah. She and I have some good conversations over our toys.


Adah has lots of fun toys. Here I am showing you one of Adah's Egg Shakers. They are my favorite! Sometimes Adah and I hold one in each hand and "dance" together while we make "music."



This is Max. He likes to climb on me and pull my headbands. He's only nine months old, just a baby, so I don't mind.




This summer will be a lot of fun, since we will all be turning One. I can't wait for the birthday parties to start!

10 months old!

Health and Growth

Elsie now weighs 16lbs, 8oz (8%) and stretches to 27.5 inches (35%).

The biggest news this month is that she is officially sleeping through the night, a feat that makes her Daddy and me shout for joy (thanks for the sleep training, Grandma RJ!). She generally goes to bed about 7, wakes up about 5 for a feeding, then goes back to sleep for another hour. She seems to have decided that one nap a day is perfectly sufficient, and it usually lasting about 2 hours.

This is what I wrote last month about Elsie's teething:
"Her first tooth came in shortly after her 7-month birthday, and in the last few days she has sprouted one more on top and another on the bottom. We're hoping that the teething is over for now, and her sleep might improve even more!"
Strangely enough, the other middle bottom tooth that we could see back then still hasn't cut through the gum, but she pushed out another top tooth instead. For those keeping track, she now has three teeth, all on the left side of her mouth. Sadly, her adorable lopsided smile will be changing again soon, as we can now see three more teeth about the pop through (the matching pairs for the three she already has).

Communication

Signs Elsie does: milk, good-bye and hello (waving), no (shaking head)
Signs and words Elsie recognizes: all done, more, kitty, duck, bird, cow, horse, diaper change, poop, food, water

We are still working with Elsie on animal noises and other simple words like kitty, Daddy, Mama, Pongo, milk, bath, food, water and nap. She gets excited when we say them, but hasn't tried to reproduce any of the sounds yet. Her favorite word recently is "clap"...she will clap on demand, or anytime she sees someone else clapping. She even claps when she hears applause on tv!

This month we tried to work teaching Elsie to blow kisses...it's still a work in progress!

Activities

Elsie is working hard at walking. She consistently takes 4 or 5 steps on her own, and has turned into a speedy "army crawler" in the last few weeks. She can stand for over a minute by herself when she wants to- and when Daddy or I try to time her standing and she DOESN'T want to, she sits down on her own and grins at us.

Elsie is thrilled to have a new kitty in the house to play with- Isiah, our foster kitty. He loves to cuddle and be held, and submits to Elsie's "petting" very nicely. She also loves the toy he brought with him- she will crawl across the room to play with his "ball stuck in a round tube" toy.

Watch Elsie Grow! Comparison Photos:
One Week


One Month


Two Months


Three Months


Four Months


Five Months


Six Months


Seven Months


Eight Months


Nine Months


Ten Months