Rise and Shine!

I've never been a morning person. I'm writing this at 3am, so my love of being up late may have something to do with that! I love a quiet house, the tv and computer to myself, and a late night snack. So mornings are not my friend...until recently.

Our morning routine starts around 6-7, when Gabriel wakes up. He sleeps in bed with me, which means I wake up to smiles instead of cries from the other room. I love that his stirring wakes me up, and I'm then able to watch him wake up, roll over, look up at me and smile his gigantic smile. He almost always pats my cheek as he's grinning from ear to ear. I know this is his way of saying, "Good morning, Momma."

We make our way downstairs, and I put Gabriel in his exersaucer. He plays, and I watch. I love how active he is the morning. He mashes buttons, spins noisemakers, chews on the toys that hang out far enough, and smiles and smiles and smiles! Recently, he's been cracking me up looking at himself in the mirror. He catches a glimpse, leans in real close, and then cheeses so big!

After some good playing, we head into the kitchen for some breakfast. Gabriel watches me whip up something yummy from his highchair. Lately, he's been having oatmeal and a fruit. He always starts out using his spoon.

But quickly chooses the quicker route...

(Notice those bananas are still hanging out on his tray. He wasn't a fan. Bananas are one of the very few things I don't like. I know I said Mmmmm in the same way I have with every other food he's tried, but maybe he picked up my icky banana vibe?)

This face might be a pretty good indicator that I need to Mmmmm with a little more enthusiasm.

I was laughing at his face instead of making sure the camera was focused...darn it!

After a good wipe down, Gabriel is usually ready for a nap. I join in on the fun most days. I can't seem to turn down a nap. Plus, it's the perfect way to round out our morning. I never would have imagined loving mornings like I do now. Just another way this little man has improved my life!

Are you a morning person? What's your morning routine?



Gabriel's Adventures in Baby Led Weaning

I mentioned in an earlier post that we had decided on baby led weaning as our method of introducing solid foods to Gabriel. Now that we've been at it for a while, I couldn't be more thrilled with that decision! Gabriel loves feeding himself, and I love that I can take pictures instead of manning the spoon! Here's some pictures of our recent adventures with solid foods!






He made a face at first, but loved his broccoli.



He couldn't get enough mango! Call it coincedence if you choose, but he made Mmmmm noises the whole time!



Oatmeal was yummy and super messy! He used a spoon at first, but as you can tell it didn't last long.



Using a mesh feeder helps him hold real slippery fruit like cantaloupe.

Apples, sweet potato, and avocado make a boy awfully messy.

And messy boys get hosed off in the sink!

Here you can see the two new chompers he's been using to eat all these yummies!



Baby Led Weaning

So far, Gabriel has had ZERO interest in baby food. He'll let you put in a bite of baby mush and that's about it. He has however, been eye-balling and reaching for everything that we eat for quite some time now. Our pediatrician told us at his four month appointment that we could start trying solids and mentioned that he is a big fan of just letting baby try a taste of what's on your plate. We weren't opposed to that at all, but I guess at the time I didn't think too much about it. We tried rice cereal and oatmeal on and off with no success. I wasn't in a hurry to get him to eat solid foods yet; it's more about exploring at this age anyway. So after laying off for about a month or more, we tried sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, apples, and bananas all several times- still nothing. He started to become more agitated while watching the big people eat though, so slowly I started giving him a taste. He tore up the sweet potato I was eating at Outback Steakhouse, went to town on a lemon wedge that we gave him as a joke, and snatched Mimi's piece of raisin bread right out of her hand and shoved it in his mouth!! (By the way, seeing whole re-hydrated raisins later in his diaper was really quite disturbing!) So I started wondering why I couldn't just give him normal table food? After a little research online, I found quite a bit of information on Baby Led Weaning, which is just a fancy name for giving your little one regular food in manageable pieces that they eat all on their own. This obviously means lots of messes to clean up, but also means that baby is learning to chew before swallowing (which baby food doesn't teach); they're exploring different textures, and developing fine motor skills. So it's been decided. Gabriel will be a BLW baby. Although we've played around at this already without really knowing it, today was the first time Gabriel sat in his seat and was served up regular food that was all his own. He thoroughly enjoyed nom nom noming on his green beans!

Green bean cigarette?

For more info on baby led weaning and the most adorable pics of babes chowing down, visit http://www.babyledweaning.com/


Did any of you choose to skip over baby food? I'd love to hear your experiences!