Solid Foods, Game On!

Violet did great with the sweet potatoes. She honestly loves them and loves eating. But we need to build some variety, so we introduced the butternut squash, or cucurbita moschata, which roughly translates to 'Noble Pumpkin of Sweet and Nut'. To prepare for feeding time, we'll need the following:







We've been toting this Magic Bullet around for years, 6 to be precise. It is usually stored for a year or more at a time, only seeing the light of day when we (a) decide to make an Orange Lazarus (ummm, OJ, ice, vanilla, vodka, I think), (b) move to a new house, or now (c) puree some fresh baby food. Storage trays are a must-have. It's basically an ice cube tray with a lid, which is perfect for dividing and storing meal-sized butternut-squash-sicles. Bowls and spoons, derrrr! Nothing fancy here. We used my baby spoon for her first feeding, but because it was the only spoon we had. I recommend those rubber-coated spoons, which we use now. Riot gear is optional, but the situation can get messy quick. I recommend using at least the face shield.

Violet is such a good eater, and she knows it too. I had to grab the flip cam for last night's introduction to butternut squash because she wants so badly to use the spoon herself. The only distraction she has while eating is deciding "is there more food on the spoon or on my hand, and which should I put in my mouth first?"

1. Sweet Potatoes, baked for 45 minutes at 400 F   
2. Butternut Squash, halved, seeded, then baked for 40 minutes 410 F   
3. Green Beans, TBD
4. Avocado, TBD, and so on...

Four Month Stats and New Experiences

Violet has been making some pretty bold moves this week.

First off, she's going to bed at a more respectable time. We try to get her asleep earlier, but she protests. She argues, "if I don't stay up to watch Carson Daily (*does he still have a show?) I will have NOTHING to talk about at the water cooler tomorrow!" Earlier would be better, and we're getting there night by night, but we can manage these sleep shifts.

Violet upped her stats like a Mage wandering the plains this week at her four month checkup.  She equipped a +100 immunity gauntlet and gained 1 lb and 13 oz of experience points. Currently she is weighing in at 15 lb, 7 oz, and is 26 in.

Being four months old, Violet is ready to explore solid foods. There is some debate whether waiting four months or six months is the best approach to introducing solids. Lately, it has been popular to publish "studies" outlining the faults in waiting six months (the previous trend) and the advantages of waiting at least four (the current trend, also the one our pediatrician follows). I emphasize the quotes on "studies" because I realize it's just a pseudonym for "our best guess". We decided to give it a try now. I'm sure the choice we made is the best choice for Violet. And if we suddenly decide to abandon solid foods until six months, well that will be the best choice for Violet as well. Violet started her exploration of solid foods with the vegetable that single-handedly brought the dinosaurs to extinction, the sweet potato. She loved it, and of course we had the video camera rolling.



Next food up will be the daring butternut squash. No rice cereal for this pioneer. After she is introduced to a few vegetables and fruits (following the allotted 4 day allergy "testing" per each selection, of course) we plan on trying out some baby led weaning cues. Here's to growing kiddos and Pluto. Never forget.

* Yes, I misspelled Carson Daly and YOU noticed! Burn!

When is this kid gonna cut some mouth digits already?

Aside from giving herself knuckle sandwiches on the reg, this girl has been loving Bunny. Bunny is one of her favorite friends.

Fore! I mean, FOUR...months, that is!

I figured Violet's Poppa would appreciate this title. A big shout out to you, Jerry! We know you are recovering and we will try to update even more now, since we know you're somewhat couch-bound.

Today, Violet is four months old, on the nose. It went by in a flash. I know everyone says these things and they are right! Time is a funny thing, you know...so let's see. Violet babbles (think Da-da-da-da-da!) and drools and is almost sitting up. She is a roller. Her eyes are a deep green now with specks of brown. She finally loves bathtime! She is wearing 6 month clothing. (Very long limbs, like her folks!) When she wears disposable diapers, she is in size 3! Yikes! She is super active and likes to scoot across the floor during tummy time. She is pretty much a pro at this. It is almost scary to think that she will be crawling soon, but exciting at the same time.

Lately, we like to wake up when Daddy goes to work to be changed and fed. Then, we nap for about an hour or two. (Sometimes longer!) Then it's go time! From playing in her jumper, on her playmat and her StepNPlay piano; her tummy time mat, her Bumbo and just chatting with her friends in her RockNPlay and laughing her head off at the dogs and cat, she has a pretty jam-packed day. Repeat, eat, get changed...repeat, repeat, repeat...bedtime! (Baths are every other nightish.) She sleeps anywhere from 7 to 10 hours per night. Once in awhile she has a bad time. She is teething and drooling like crazy, but for the most part, this is her routine (if you could call it that) for now. Her 4 month appointment is next week, so stats are up in the air.



Here's a little early Valentine's poem from the wee one, to you, faithful and loyal blog viewers!

Roses are red.
Violet is cool.
No bib can impede
This river of drool.

Stylish Blogger Award? Sure! Why not?!

A friend of mine recently tagged this blog with this award (Thanks LissaSue! Truly an honor!!!) So I have decided to follow the rules, return the favor and have fun with it!

Now on to the rules that come with receiving this award....

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.
*Done (see above)


2. Share 7 things about yourself.
*Okay!
1. I am tall. I am talking 5'11'' people. And I am the "short one" in my family. My younger brother towers over me at 6'4''.
2. I took dance classes (tap, jazz, ballet, point) for years and can still remember every routine from each recital.
3. I love camping. My favorite campground is a state park on a barrier island with no electric hook ups at the sites. Also, there are wild ponies at this beachy getaway. I have gone every year since I was two years old and it is my favorite place to be. I wish I could live near there, but alas, there are no job opportunities closeby and I am afraid it may ruin the awe, wonder and nostalgia of it all. *sigh*
4. I am a giver, not a taker. I love to share and give gifts, but suck at receiving them. I get all embarrassed and weird about it. (I cannot stand being taken advantage of bc of my giving nature. I may be selfless, but I am not stupid.)
5. I am a new mom. (duh) It's the best job I have ever had and the best one I will ever have.
6. I am a music freak. I like nearly every genre and am great with lyrics, dates, etc. when it comes to music. I make excellent mixes and have superb taste! :P
7. Bill Murray is my hero.


3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers. So, in no particular order, here we go!
1. Melissa at Up To The Moon and Back
2. Trina at Look At The Birds
3. Stephanie at Dear Baby Spencer
4. Katie at Vegetarian Lunchbox (I do not know this person, nor am I a vegetarian, but the food looks delicious and I get great lunch ideas from it.)
5. Mackenzie at They Said I'm Not Dead Yet
6. Jenna at Two Percent Perfection
7. Jamie at The Positively True Adventures of Getting KTFU
8. Jenna (again!!!) at The Joy of Fluff
9. Kelly and Gudrun at The Camera vs. The Cooking Pot
10. Maxine at Life Unscripted
11. Amy at Life is Way too Short... To be Anything but Happy
12. Michelle at Jonathan, Michelle and Isabelle
13. Donna at Adventures of Mayham N Cheese
14. Sherry and John at Young House Love
15. Amber at Amber's Ambry

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!
Okay, so I might do this. I am lazy and I do not personally know every one of the authors to these blogs, so we shall see. :)

Geeky Sunday

Football? What's a Superbawl? Church?! Violet, Mama, and I spent our Sunday the only way we know how, watching Monty Python, playing Magic: the Gathering, and coding User Interfaces. All this activity is fueled by Mountain Dew and Fritos of course. Well maybe we weren't that geeky today (sometimes we are), but we did dress up our little code monkey for some geek-tastic photos.

That's little miss \/!013+ in her mc chris onesie and atari baby legs, chillin' with my 1's and 0's blanket. She is super excited because she just haxored the Gibson. Not bad for a 16-week-old.

Violet is talking (babbling) a lot this week. Sometimes it's frustration over teething, but mostly she is just excited about everything. A Fresh diaper, her Pook-a-Looz, the puppies; there is a lot to be excited about. Nothing makes her laugh like the puppies though. Judging by today, I'd say her first words are going to be "interrupt vector" or "memory map", that is unless she learns the phrases "windows sucks" or "DLL hell" from her dad first.

One Year

One year ago today, Violet became a reality to Lea and I. We had dreamed of having a child for quite some time, but on this day we began dreaming of our child.

It started in the bathroom, as most things do. Lea called me in to look at something. In hind sight I believe I suspected what she was up to, but in reality I'm sure I thought I'd be unclogging a drain. I was in Violet's room which served as a computer room / guest bedroom at the time.
"Mike, come here and look at this" Lea asked calmly.
"Duh... I'm a stupid face!" Mike said stupidly. "I wish I cleaned around the house and stopped wasting my time on these dumb video games!"

(curses... It appears I dozed off at the keyboard and Lea typed some stuff then stole the backspace key. We'll have to let it ride. For the record, I never said I was a stupid face. As I was saying...)

"Mike, come here and look at this" Lea asked calmly.
I got up and took a short walk to the bathroom. As I crossed the threshold my eyes were drawn to the edge of the sink. In an instant I knew exactly what I was looking at. An instant was the longest Lea could hold back her excitement. We jumped and screamed and shed some tears. I remember my first thought, this was too good to be true. And my second thought? We need a video camera to record everything!

I sometimes still have a hard time believing everything, since it's so amazing. At the same time I realize how easily things can be taken for granted and the extraordinariness of everything we have.

So many amazing things have happened in the last year.
And so many things have been peed upon since this stick too.