Feeding the babe

Blake is a hungry girl and has been from day one. I have exclusively breastfed her from the beginning and have been very lucky to have had an easy go of it. I'm happy that is has been so easy for several reasons, its free, its portable and its always ready to go. Even now that she is on solids it is still a life saver to be able to nurse her if we are out and about and she is all of the sudden hungry. 

As far as solids go we started cereal and pureed solids at 6 months, introducing one food at a time for three days before adding something new. Then at around 7-8 months I got over that and just gave her whatever we had. Neither Chris nor I have any allergies and so we are guessing (hoping) she won't either. 

At 8 months I started giving her puffs to see how she was with chunky solids and since then have added more and more whole (soft) solids to her diet. She has 5 teeth now and is a champ at chewing and absolutely loves being able to pick food up and feed herself. She also takes after her mother and loves sweets and carbs, but is still a pretty good veggie eater when its her only option. Oh and she loves Ella's Organic pouches! The child is a bird eater with other things but will house one of those pouches! So, without further ado here is a list of what Blake has eaten. 

Pureed Foods (6-8 months)

Cereal

Avocado

Banana

Sweet Potatoes**

Apple*

Peas

Spinach

Brocolli*

Zucchini*

Pears**

Yogurt (Yo-baby-Blueberry, Peach*)

Plain yogurt (Yuck!)

Cauliflower

Carrots

Lentils

Butternut squash

Turkey/Chicken (Organic prepared)

Whole Foods (steamed to soft if not already)

Puffs

Banana**

Blueberries*

Avocado

Bread** (Sourdough is a fav!)

Cheese*

Beans (Black and pinto)

Pasta

Pancakes

Waffles

Beets

Squash

Brocolli

Carrots

Hummus

I think thats about it, but honestly if we are out and there is something soft on my plate she eats it too. All the starred items are favorites of the little miss. We feed her breakfast (usually cereal and yogurt), a snack around lunch time (cheese, yogurt, applesauce, avocado, puffs), and dinner (veggies and protein).

I absolutely love watching her try new foods and explore taste and textures. Since I love food so much it is exciting to watch her love it too! Especially when she starts flapping her arms over a new delicious treat.

2013 Calendar

Every year I make a calendar for my mom as a Christmas present. Typically it includes pictures of all the Walker crew throughout the previous year, highlighting the invidual(s) whose birthday it is during a particular month. As the years have gone on it has become more difficult to collect pictures from everyone so this year I made an executive decision and decided to feature the most loved member of the family....Little Miss Blake E. B.

But I couldn't just use pictures we had already snapped of her. No, that would be too easy. I needed to present a month/holiday/season coordinated calendar of our little darling to my mom (and many others) this Christmas, so a little in home photo shoot with 12 costume changes was in order. 

And without further ado here are the shots that made the calendar:

~ January ~

Happy New Year!

~ February ~

Happy Valentines!

~ March ~

Hoppy Easter!

~ April ~

April showers bring....

~ May ~

May flowers!

 

~ June ~

Blake is 1!

~ July ~

Happy Independence Day!

~ August ~

Catching the last rays of summer

~ September ~

Play Ball!

~ October ~

Happy Halloween!

~ November ~

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

~ December ~

Merry Christmas!

Blake's 9 month well visit

Today we had Blake's 9 month well visit at the pediatrician (crazy I know!) She was so good! She had a toe prick for an anemia lab and got a DTaP shot and didn't cry or squirm. 

As per usual she was more interested in the equipment the doctor had then what was being done to her...pretty sure she'll go into medicine ;)

She has also been confirmed as a shrimp and while the Dr. isn't concerned she wouldn't mind if little miss gained a few pounds...either way we got a clean bill of health and couldn't be happier!

9 Month Stats 

Weight: 15lbs 10oz, 6 percentile

Height: 28.25 inches, 75 percentile

(tall and lean!)

Bed Time Routine

From the early on, probably around 2 months we have tried to keep Blake on a "bed time" routine. This  included a bath, a little singing, pre-sleep meal and into bed. At 2 months this was her co-sleeper at 9 pm. After 3 months she moved to her crib and bed time moved to around 8 pm. 

She always gets a little wound up during bath time as she loves it so much so I found that singing the same lullabies (Rock a Bye Baby, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Hush Little Baby) and rocking her in the dark gets her quickly back into bed time mode.  Then I nurse her and put her to bed....this usually requires several return trips to her room to calm her down and get her back to sleep but it works for us and I love that we have a set routine and songs that will always be apart of her bed time memories.

I know that Twinkle Twinkle has additional lyrics than the ones we all know but I never actually knew them, so I made up my own and hope that it is something Blake will one day know too.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star-- Brewer version

Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.

As the city starts to dim, stars come out to shine again.

Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.

In the sky for all the years, millions, billions see your cheer.

Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.

In the shape of belts and bears, dippers there are a pair.

Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.

Shooting spinning cross the sky, make a wish as they fly by.

Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.

In the morning sun comes out, stars they go to bed themselves.

Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.

5 minutes

It seems that every night lately I've been on the verge of frustration when putting Blake to bed. 

She gets her bath, eats, rocks and then I lay her in her crib. As soon as I do she gets upset and immediately grabs onto my finger and starts sucking her thumb, which calms her right down. 

And then I try to remove my finger from her grasp and leave the room, this just makes her jump, cry and reach back out for me. And every time I just sigh and readjust my feet to settle in for the next few minutes because this is what my baby girl wants. 

While my mind is telling me to rush out to get to that glass of wine, tv show, shower, stack of dishes or warm bed, my body and heart are telling me to just stay still. 

My little girl needs me there to feel comfortable and to settle down for the night and in those five minutes where I think I should run to other tasks, I look down at her relaxed face and feel her sweet, but fierce grib on my finger and know that there is no where else I should be or want to be. 

Holding her hand and soothing her fears. Thats the right place.

Blake Emme- Month 8

Dear Blake,

Well that month seemed to go quicker than the rest. Maybe it was because we didn't have much going on. Maybe it was the anticipation of visitors in February, either way it was it was quick!

But no matter how quick it was it was still great!

We spent a lot of mornings at the gym, with you hanging out in Kids Club and mama getting in an hour or so of alone time and exercise.

We cuddled at home and continued to love our hour of uninteruppted mommy and me time in bed in the morning. 

You played non-stop with your new toys.

You enjoyed several new kinds of food, but loved puffs the most.

You got a top tooth!

You are still trying to crawl.

You saw more snow, welcomed a new year and cheered every time the dogs entered a room.

You light up whenever you hear that daddy is home.

You are a professional Skyper.

And you learned to give a mean high five.

You continue to grow in so many ways and it thrills us to be apart of your life and journey.

We love you,

Mom and Dad

Updates

How big are you?  

You know I'm not really sure! I'm guessing around 16 lbs...

Where did we go? 

No where new! We spent most of our time at home, the gym and Fridays at Music Together.

What did you do new?

Got a new tooth, celebrated a New Year and ate whole foods.

Who did you see?

Mainly just us.

When did you sleep?

You are now a really good napper! Once down you sleep for an hour or two at 10 and 2. It still takes a little while to get you to sleep but the length of these naps is wonderful! You go to bed around 7:30 and wake up around 2 to eat, go back to sleep, then eat again at 5:30 then back to sleep until 8:30.....We need to work on this sleeping through the night thing.

Playnest play time....And getting stuck time

 The closest we have gotten to pictures of Blake with the dogs...

Playing her instruments for Gigi on Facetime

Bathtime fun

Whatcha making mom?

Eating puffs and wearing puffs...

 

Sweet sleepy bear



8 month photo shoot

 "You took away my sign!"

"Oh, there it is..."

 "Much better, thanks mom"

"And now I'll rip it to pieces!"