Amelie and Mama

Friends

Sometimes we go hang out at Shauna's house. I'm hoping that when it finally stops snowing, we can walk at the park more regularly. She has a big nice playroom, and Ezra is quite charming.

He took an interest in Baby James.

Amelie didn't want to be interrupted.

"She did not just do that."

Back to the important business of reading me Peter Pan.

First Foods

Ready, Set ...

James's first food was sweet potato!

We're doing baby-led solids again (also called baby-led weaning, you can read more about it here). Basically, it means really waiting until the baby is good and ready for solid food, using almost all regular table foods, and mostly just letting the baby feed himself.

It's a messy process.

Yum!

He's also had a very, very ripe pear

I think it's been his favorite so far. I've got some more ripening in a brown paper bag right now.

I would really like it if he wanted to eat this avocado. It's so good for babies! He might have consumed half a teaspoon before he dumped the avocado off and played with the spoon.

*As an added benefit, Amelie's eaten an enormous quantity of sweet potato and pear over the past week. She's not buying into the avocado goodness, either, though. 

Laundry

James, helping Mama put clothes away:

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

 For Grandpa Buffaloe's 61st birthday:

Mama and James

At the Big Park

Here's Amelie playing at Cosmo Park. She's still happy with just the playground equipment at our neighborhood park, but she's recently started asking sometimes to go to the "big, huge park."

Toddler Menu

I thought it would be fun to keep track of Amelie's diet for the day. We used to do this all the time. (Thank goodness that's all over.) Anyway:

Breakfast: 
1/2 scrambled egg
1/2 blueberry yogurt
honey bunches of oats with almonds
whole milk

Snack:
an entire pear
popcorn

Lunch:
1.5 slices of homemade pepperoni pizza
juice

Second Lunch: 
veggie bowtie pasta
pineapple tidbits
an entire banana

Snack:
bell pepper strips
even more veggie bowtie pasta & pineapple tidbits

Supper:
1/2 tortilla
taste of salsa
1/6 baked sweet potato
1/4 banana

Dessert: 
chocolate chips

Doctor Visit

James had his 6-month well-baby visit yesterday.

Amelie came, too:

I was able to make James's upcoming 9-month appointment and Amelie's 3-year appointment for the same time, which was nice.

Weight: 16 pounds, 11 ounces. That's up 1 pound, 10 ounces since his 4-month appointment (35th percentile)

Length: 25.5 inches. That's only up 1/2 an inch since his 4-month appointment, though he was being pretty squirrely on the table (18th percentile)

New since our last visit:

• Rolling back-to-front
• Scooting around in a circle on his back
• Noticing his feet
• Transferring items from one hand to another
• Manipulating his pacifier & putting it back in his mouth
• Sitting up (very briefly!)
• Eating solid food! (post to come)

Riding Toy

I'll be glad when it's finally nice outside and we can do stuff like this more often. Amelie riding the Thomas the Train at her grandparents' house:

And thanks to Caitlin for the spiffy coat :)

Half a Year

I took these pictures yesterday, when James turned six months old:

They may be just a tiny bit staged, since he likes to sit up with just a little support, but he's only been able to sit up by himself for a few seconds at a time so far (11 seconds is the record thus far).

I tried to take a video, too: 

Happy half-birthday, baby!

Pictures with Mom

Scrolling back through the blog, I realized that there haven't been many recent pictures of me with the kids, so I got Sam to take some. The juice box is always a big hit:

As is the thumb (and there are those snowman jammies, Karie :) -- I just wish snowmen weren't actually still happening in March:

Naked Baby

Happy naked baby, I should say.

I was thinking the lack of cumbersome clothing and diaper would lead James to want to roll over and over, but I was wrong. He can roll over, and he has rolled over many times, but it's definitely not an everyday occurrence and so far he's only made one 180-degree flip at a time. He has started scooching himself around in a circle to point the other direction, though (staying on his back the whole time).