iPhone photo

This is photo Daniel took of Elsa and her birthday cake.

I gave him iPhone to prevent him from taking over and blowing out al the candles. It worked for distraction but not for great image capturing! Luckily I took photos, too.

Brownie Helper

Daniel's learning tower is used very often during the times when we must be indoors and find something other than watching the washing machine or watching a Sesame Street DVD to occupy his time.

He can pour the batter mix into the bowl without spills these days, but he does prefer to pour in the (premeasured) water and oil.  He also points to the eggs and says something that sounds like the word egg.  He usually drops the whole egg in the bowl if I am not watching!  I always crack the eggs, but I think soon he will want this gooey job.

Daniel has been fascinated by sprinkles since his Dad let him put them on muffins a few months ago.  He gets into the cabinet with baking supplies (which is off limits, so then he gets in trouble) and carries around the containers of sprinkles (and cinnamon and etc).  I let him put the sprinkles on the brownies unassisted this time.  WOW.  There were a lot of sprinkles!

 He really, really loves chocolate, and while I have my qualms about letting him lick the batter (raw eggs! Salmonella!), the pediatrician said he lets his kids do it, and Daniel isn't immunocompromised....so... we'll follow his lead and let him lick the spoon and then expect him to grow up as healthy as we did as frequent-spoon-lickers, too.

Happy Pudding Face!

I discovered a way to give myself at least one half hour with my child sitting in one place.  I can use this half hour for exercise, putting away laundry, mopping the floor, or pretty much anything else I need to do that requires Daniel to be still and only mildly supervised.

I let him feed himself pudding (or yogurt or applesauce, but pudding gives him the most enjoyment!) with a spoon.  I could feed him this in about three minutes, but it takes him at least times longer.  Sometimes, its closer to one hour!  

Believe it or not, no pudding ended up on the floor, and very little pudding was left on the spoon, container, or his body.  He got it all in!

Notice all those teeth?  They are all almost in!

He was so happy with this snack.  And so proud of his accomplishments!

He is really growing up!  For most of his meals, he does feed himself.  However, we speed things along by feeding foods like this to him and sometimes by loading up one fork with bites to eat and switching it with the fork in his hand.  Usually self-feeding means he eats less food per meal and more carb-type foods (muffins, crackers, fruits, etc) but we've been having good luck with bean burritos, chicken, hamburger sandwiches, and yogurt.  Obviously, we are having good luck with pudding!  If only there was a way for vegetables to make their way into pudding... he would be set!

A Creative Game of His Own Device

I was preparing a meal at my parents house and using their computer as a cookbook, so I admit that I only had one eye on my son, and at times, only half.  He was walking around their dining room table and peeking into their pantry.  There were no loud noises or mysterious lack of sounds, so it sounded like normal play time.    I realized about five minutes later what he was doing.

He was so serious as he transfered their canned items from a lower shelf on the pantry onto the table top.  He even stacked some of the cans!  It was his own arrangement, and as you can see from the photos, he was taking his work very seriously.  

Once all of the cans and jars had been moved to the table, he closed the pantry and began to play with some trucks.  It was if his work was done!  I left the cans there for a few hours, then put them away so as not to confuse my parents.

Learning To Be Self Sufficient

A big part of parenting is teaching a child to be independent.

 Daniel loves to have his hand held and enjoys us to play with him, but he also is learning to take risks and operate on his own.

Here are photos of my precious son learning to use an adult water bottle. I included all of them because I thought he was just so sweet sitting on the couch next to me with his bare feet dangling.  He was so proud of his accomplishment, too.

The time has come at 8 months formy son to sample all things that look somewhat edible. This week he has really started to pinch small objects and put them in his mouth... and chew.


So far he has tried:


1) Grass
2) Mulch

3) Medium sized stones from a planter
4) Potting soil


All of these things are gross to adults, but quite inticing for children, I suppose.

And here are photo of him of finding small bits of nature to try to eat. He looks pretty fascinated by his newfound ability to pick up miniscule inedible objects, doesn't he?

Milestone: Finger Foods!

DHH started to work on his pincher grasp this week.  He had been pinching pieces of fabrics and trying to grab buttons on his dad's shirt, so I thought maybe he could handle some self-feeding.

And he can.

 

On Saturday, the day these photos were taken, Daniel started to learn how to eat puffs, which are small, soft baby cereal morsels.

On Monday, he tried yogurt puffs.  They are easy to hold, but he didn't seem to have a strong affection for them.

Last night while he was sitting on my lap, he put some Spanish rice, guacamole, and refried beans in his fist and some made it into his mouth. He went back for three or four more fistfills.

This morning, he tried small banana bits.  Most of them were squished on the high chair tray, but a few did go into his mouth! He had about 1/4 of a banana! 

This is more fun than I thought it would be. I am more patient and less nutso about messes than I anticipated.  He still prefers really wet and mushy foods, such as rice cereal mixed with applesauce or pureed green beans, but its nice to see him try some food that looks a bit more like adult food!