Baby Food Blues

PIZZA CRUST, CHOCOLATE FROSTY, A PICKLE, AND A ROLLY POLLY

These are the things Sonnet has eaten this week. I know, I know...she's only 9 months old. Where are the mashed bananas and soft cheese and rice cereal that she's supposed to be eating? Where’s the healthy stuff? I tried, I tell you. We try every morning and every evening. We dance around like fools, we mix new things with old things, we disguise, we deceive, we play games. I even let her finger-paint with all her mushy little foods thinking that once she figured out that the stuff wouldn't kill her, she would be willing to put it in her mouth. Nope. It ended up in every orifice of her tiny body except the one that we were aiming for. And I had the loathsome task of wiping her clean (I do not do well with messes, especially sticky, slimy, multicolored ones that flail). So I've just decided that Sonnet is a picky eater. And I don't understand it. Anyone who knows me knows that I have pretty much never met a food that I didn't want to eat...and eat a lot of (not counting sausage, caviar, or artificially colored green things). So I can't figure out a person who won't eat. Nate on the other hand is not much of an eater. A few bites will satisfy the guy for as long as it would take me to die of starvation. So he tries to tell me that maybe Sonnet just isn't hungry. Maybe the couple of bites of fruit that I managed to slide into her mouth when she laughed were enough to fill her up. But then why does every turn in the high chair become a crying fest? Why will she willingly suck down ounce after ounce of baby milk, but refuse all other nourishment? Oh she's hungry all right...just not for healthy things that normal babies eat. As a test (and because I was so desperate to believe that she won't be drinking bottles and eating cheerios until she's 8) I offered her a spoonful of frosty yesterday. Somehow she knew that what was coming was not your typical sugar-free, salt-free strained vegetable and she opened that mouth wider than a Great White. I should have stopped there but that smile on her face after she tasted chocolate for the first time was too much for my chocoholic heart to refuse. So then later Nate was eating a pickle and "somehow" Sonnet got a hold of one. She sucked on that thing with vigor and then carried it around the house the rest of the night. How she can crawl so deftly with her fist wrapped around a pickle is anyone's guess. The pizza crust she tried at Costco (I'm sorry but a freaking huge slice of pizza packed with cheese for $1.50- it's the greatest dinner on the planet and since we live right next to Costco it was only a matter of time before our obsession rubbed off on the baby). And the rolly polly...well...I don't exactly know how that happened. Let’s just say that I got it out of her mouth fast enough that it was still recognizable, but no longer living. Mouthwash anyone?

So, I’m sensing that this rant is disjointed and random, but I'm feeling like a bad mom. My child won’t eat. Rephrase that: She won’t eat like they say a normal 9 month old should eat. The books all say something about 3 tablespoons of this and a half a cup of that and eating all the colors in the rainbow to get proper nutrition. Easier said than done. I should look at the bigger picture… she’s healthy and happy. She’s growing and meeting all her milestones. I know that I need to just keep offering the good stuff and not get worked up and that eventually she'll eat better and that I should stop worrying...but I’m a mom. That’s what we do.

I think I need some chocolate.

for your viewing pleasure

My videography skills will probably make you carsick, but Sonnet Grannys everywhere need to see her in real time once in a while. Ha Ha! :) Here she is imitating Daddy with some of her new tricks, making crazy Popeye faces, and laughing way too hard for someone who should be in bed.

9 months old!

Sonnet is 9 months old today! She seems more like a little girl and less like a baby everyday. The big news is that she's finally getting her first tooth! I felt the little razor-sharp thing today on her bottom right side. She's great at crawling, but lately she's been sticking her butt up in the air and balancing on her fingers and toes...I think she's trying to stand up, but she just looks like she's doing yoga. She pulls up on everything- the couch, the toilet, mom's pants- and she cruises between the furniture. She can stand alone for about a nano-second, but hey, a nano-second is a nano-second. :) Daddy is working hard to get her closer to those first steps. He holds her hands and lets her practice...she takes one giant step with her left foot and then a little baby one with her right. "Big step, little step..." It's hilarious! She sleeps pretty great at night! We only get about 8-9 hours out of her, but they're consecutive so we're happy. She's also started to nap like a normal baby giving up the 30 minute boosters for an hour or two. Hallelujah! She smiles at everyone she sees except for when she's having a "serious day..." and she has this funny habit of staring at Grandpa for about 10 minutes before she decides that he's kosher. She's outgrown all of her clothes and when Granny Janny saw her high-water pants last weekend she couldn't resist buying her some new duds. She loves little kids- she'll even laugh at pictures of them in a magazine. Her hair is finally growing! She rubs her head all the time...I think she likes the way it feels. She loves to sing "Where is Thumbkin" and she bobs her head when she hears music. She's got the biggest crush on her Daddy and she just looks so smug and happy whenever he picks her up. I have to hear about him all day too... "dadadadadadadadadada!" Where's the love for the Mama? She's starting to imitate us. She'll clap or blow raspberries with her lips or stick out her tongue...whatever we do. It's a pretty fun game. She's somewhat of a picky eater. We've started doing the "highchair dance" where we stand in front of her with a spoonful of food and then spin or jump or run around the kitchen until she laughs and then we shove the food in her mouth. We're probably not teaching her very good table manners with that one, but I need the exercise anyway. :) She loves Cheerios and squash (not together). Sonnet got a Valentine from her Great Gramma Suzy last week and I got all worked up about it picturing her coming home from 1st grade with a box full of notes from her friends. Oh! She loves to be outside. We take walks everyday and she sits mesmorized in her stroller babbling about what she sees. She sucks on the pointer finger of her left hand. She burps all the time. She's inherited an old cell phone from Granny and she thinks she's pretty cool carrying it all over the house. Sometimes she still gets a hold of my phone and before I know it she's hit speed dial and I'm hearing Jenae's voicemail telling us to leave a message. Whoops! She's got a loud, crazy laugh. She's ticklish under her neck and under her ribs. She loves to play peek-a-boo with a blanket. And, last night she decided that she wasn't going to be scared of the vacuum anymore and she crawled right up to it when it was on, yelled at it, poked it, and then moved on with her life. She's growing so fast and we're so proud! :)

Our Little One

Sonnet and Daddy ready for church!

Helping Mom with the dishes!

Don't bug me, I'm eating!

Don't let that face fool you...she's not eating any of the healthy things that mom put on her plate. She got ahold of the crust from dad's pizza and shoved the entire thing into her mouth! We figured that we should just be glad that she willingly ate something besides Cheerios!

Ode To Sonnet

In honor of Valentine's Day next week, here's 51 reasons why Mom and Daddy love Sonnet!

We love you because...

1. I CAN’T KEEP SOCKS OR SHOES ON YOUR FEET TO SAVE MY LIFE.
2. EVERYONE SAYS YOU ARE THE HAPPIEST BABY THEY’VE EVER SEEN
3. YOU GOT DADDY’S BEAUTIFUL LONG EYELASHES
4. EVERYTIME YOU CRY- OR WE GET STUCK IN TRAFFIC OR I HAVE A BAD HAIR DAY- WE THINK YOU’RE TEETHING
5. WHEN I SAY “SAY MAMA” YOU SAY “DADA”
6. YOU LAUGH AT EVERY LITTLE KID YOU SEE LIKE THEY’RE A STAND-UP COMIC
7. YOU LOOK LIKE YOU’VE WON THE LOTTERY EVERYTIME YOUR DADDY PICKS YOU UP
8. YOU SMILE ON CUE WHENEVER I GET OUT MY CAMERA
9. SOMETIMES YOU HAVE SERIOUS DAYS
10. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT AND AREN’T AFRAID TO LET EVERYONE KNOW
11. YOU’VE GOTTEN MUCH MORE TOLERANT OF YOUR CARSEAT
12. YOU’RE STARTING TO TAKE NAPS LASTING LONGER THAN 30 MINUTES!
13. YOU THINK MOM IS HILARIOUS WHEN SHE HAS CURLERS IN HER HAIR
14. YOU PULL ALL THE BLANKETS OFF MY BED, ALL MY SHOES OFF THE SHOE RACK, AND ALL THE FOOD OUT OF THE PANTRY, BUT YOU LEAVE MY BOOKSHELVES ALONE
15. YOU LOVE TO RIDE AROUND IN THE SHOPPING CART AND SMILE AT ALL THE PEOPLE WHO PASS US
16. YOU GIVE AN ACADEMY AWARD WINNING PORTRAYAL OF TORTURE AND DEATH EVERY TIME I FEED YOU VEGETABLES
17. YOU’RE LEARNING TO HOLD YOUR OWN BOTTLE
18. YOU CRAWL SO FAST YOU COULD WIN THE DAYTONA 500
19. YOU’RE ALWAYS BABBLING ABOUT SOMETHING IMPORTANT WHETHER ANYONE IS LISTENING OR NOT
20. YOU LOVE TO SPLASH AND SWISH IN THE BATHTUB- AND MUCH TO MOM’S HORROR- IN THE TOILET (KEEP THOSE LIDS CLOSED!)
21. YOU’VE FIGURED OUT HOW TO PULL OFF YOUR HEADBAND OR HAT BEFORE WE EVEN GET OUT THE DOOR
22. YOU CHEW ON YOUR BINKIES INSTEAD OF SUCKING THEM LIKE NORMAL BABIES
23. YOU SNORE WHEN YOU SLEEP ON YOUR BACK
24. YOU’RE CRAZY ABOUT CHEERIOS!
25. YOU WEAR YOURSELF OUT GOING UP THE STAIRS OVER AND OVER AGAIN ALL DAY
26. YOU SCREAM AND TWIST AND ROLL WHENEVER I TRY TO CHANGE YOUR DIAPER
27. YOU LOVE DOGS- AND HORSES AND CATS AND BUNNIES AND I’M SURE EVERY OTHER ANIMAL YOU’LL MEET IN THE FUTURE
28. YOU’RE A NIGHTOWL AND YOU LIKE TO SLEEP IN
29. YOUR FEET AND HANDS SWEAT LIKE MOM’S (I’M SORRY!)
30. YOUR HAIR IS FINALLY STARTING TO GROW!
31. YOUR LAUGH IS THE GREATEST MUSIC I’VE EVER HEARD
32. YOU PUT EVERYTHING IN YOUR MOUTH
33. YOU HAVE BEAUTIFUL BLUE EYES
34. YOU STAND UP IN YOUR CRIB AND YELL INTO THE MONITOR WHEN YOU’VE DECIDED THAT NAPTIME IS OVER
35. YOU LOVE TO RIP MOM’S MAGAZINES TO PIECES AND THEN CRAWL AWAY LEAVING A WAKE OF DESTRUCTION BEHIND YOU
36. YOU TRY TO TURN THE PAGES WHEN I READ YOU A BOOK
37. YOU WON’T GO TO BED UNTIL YOU’VE WATCHED THE SLIDESHOW OF YOURSELF ON YOUR BLOG (NARCISSIST!)
38. YOU LIKE TO LAY ON THE BED AND WATCH THE CEILING FAN GO AROUND AND AROUND
39. YOU YELL AT THE VACUUM AND THEN LAUGH THE SECOND I TURN IT OFF
40. YOU TRY TO SHARE YOUR BINKY (OR WHATEVER YOU’VE GOT IN YOUR MOUTH) WITH THE PERSON WHO’S HOLDING YOU
41. SOMETIMES YOU’RE SHY
42. YOUR FAVORITE TOY IS MOM’S CELL PHONE- AND YOU’RE GOOD AT PUSHING SPEED DIAL WHEN I’M NOT PAYING ATTENTION (HELLO? HELLO?)
43. YOU’LL DO JUST ABOUT ANYTHING FOR AN EMPTY SODA CAN
44. YOU THINK YOUR DOLL IS A REAL BABY AND YOU JUST HOLD HER HANDS AND LAUGH AT HER
45. YOU CAN BELCH LOUDER THAN DADDY- USUALLY RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF CHURCH
46. NO ONE GETS YOUR NAME RIGHT ON THE FIRST TRY
47. YOU CAME 10 DAYS EARLY (ON THE DAY THAT UNCLE HAYDEN GOT HIS MISSION CALL AND GRANNY WAS ALREADY IN TOWN AND I WAS ALREADY ON MY WAY TO THE DOCTOR--- SO ORGANIZED!)
48. YOU RAISE UP ONE EYEBROW AND LOOK AT ME LIKE I’M NUTS WHENEVER I DO SOMETHING SILLY
49. YOU’RE SUPER HAPPY WHENEVER I TAKE YOU FOR A WALK IN YOUR STROLLER
50. YOU MADE ME A MOM
51. YOU’RE HERE AND YOU’RE HEALTHY AND YOU’RE THE GREATEST LITTLE VALENTINE ANYONE EVER HAD

SuperBowl SuperBaby!

We braved the snow storm today and drove to the Ranch in Beaver for our Superbowl Sunday tradition of gorging ourselves on chicken wings and Cokes, making fun of the half-time show, and betting spouses a foot rub on who will win the game (that's the only reason we care). We had quite the trip...icy roads, psycho speeding semi trucks, and windshield wipers that apparently need to be replaced...and we came home to about an inch and a half of snow (yes, in St. George)!

Sonnet loves Hank! She kept trying to grab his tail which of course would flap every 2 seconds and send her into shrieking fits of laughter. And then the long, wet tongue came out and it was all over... my spit-covered baby couldn't have been happier!

As a notice: our sweet Bear dog had to be put down last week so Hank is doing his best to spread some canine cheer around the Ranch. His charm worked on Sonnet! We love Bear and we miss him! Here's Sonnet with her buddy Grandpa who hauled himself out to the tractor in the freezing cold and plowed the road so we could make it up for the game. Thanks! Yay, the Giants won the superbowl! We voted for the underdogs (I'm bitter against the Patriots QB for knocking up his girlfriend and then leaving her for a model) and we were pleasantly surprised when New York actually won! Sonnet pretty much napped through the game, but she was excited too!

It's late and the Mom is rambling...

So, here's my sob story: A couple weeks ago my camera was in the diaper bag and a bottle leaked spiling baby milk everywhere. I freaked out when I saw that the camera had been exposed, but after wiping it dry and checking to see that it turned on OK, I figured it had escaped unharmed. That is until I took my first post-spill photo...there was a great white spot on every picture! Problem was that the spot was not on the outside of the lens. Somehow the milk had infiltrated the entire camera and without messing up any of the electrical stuff, had lodged itself on the inside of my lens. I took the camera apart, figuring it was ruined anyway, to see if I could wipe the spot clean. I got most of it and managed to successfully put the camera back together, but the photos still don't come out clear. There must be milk somewhere that I can't see. All of my photos look like I'm experimenting with a soft focus fliter-- but not in a cool way. (see exhibit A)

Exhibit A (woulda been a cute picture too!)

So, I decided to get a new camera. For Christmas (in leiu of a Christmas bonus- LAME!) we got this gift card for a store that is cool but not exactly somewhere we shop at on a regular basis seeing as how the closest one is in Salt Lake and all they sell is outdoor equipment, so we decided to check online and see if we could find a camera. Our options were limited as most of their cameras come attached to heat-sensing hunting binoculars or something. But we found something reasonable and ordered it. It came, and though I swear this tiny thing is the most complicated device ever invented, I've managed to take a few pictures.

Here's a random shot of Sonnet in the tub:

More to come soon!