SPRING IS HERE!

I'm so excited that spring is here.  (Well, almost.)  It definitely feels and looks like spring.  All the flowers are blooming and it's just gorgeous.  I used to really love cold weather.  In fact, most of my wardrobe is cardigans.  I have a practically non-existant warm weather wardrobe despite living in a state with mostly face-melting hot months.  But, I hate going out in the cold with Violet.  I always worry she's not warm enough.    

We've had some warm weather lately though.  (We've even been wearing shorts!)  And thank goodness because Violet recently had a growth spurt and all her winter clothing was suddenly too small.  I may or may not have looked kind of like a negligent parent because I didn't want to buy bigger clothes for just one more week of winter weather.

Jon just got back from another weeklong business trip to Houston.  Luckily, it went by pretty quickly.  And when he came back he brought me back a half a dozen cupcakes from Crave Cupcakes.  Holy goodness.  I immediately inhaled one and a half...and another one around 3 a.m. when Violet was up teething.  And I don't feel guilty.  

Violet and I are just so excited Jon's back.  

I finally finished Pride and Prejudice!  A lot of modern-day love stories are filled with characters that are kind of selfish and sometimes mean.  What I love about this story is the main characters are genuinely good people.  They love their siblings and their families.  Most of the book is a series of events where characters are trying to protect and care for their family.  If you enjoy Downton Abbey (which you should!), then you'll like this book.
So now I'm super behind on March's book (The Food Babe Way) and I'll probably be behind all year now!  

16 MONTHS OLD!

Violet is 16 months old!  How did this happen???  

Violet's personality has really bloomed this past month.  She is silly and funny.  She loves to dance, read, give kisses, and when she gives you a hug, she runs at you with the force of an NFL linebacker. I literally have to brace myself for impact.  If you're caught off guard, she will mow. you. down.  

I thought it would be fun to tell you 16 things about my 16 month old.

1. Violet's favorite books are: Love You Forever, The Foot Book, and The Beginner's Bible for Toddlers.
2. She likes to sit in boxes.  If I were trying to set a trap for this child, all I need to do it put a box on the ground and she'll climb in. 
3. She tries to be such a little helper.  She likes to fold laundry---especially the already folded laundry that's been put away.  She also likes to put things away.  I find random items in my sock drawer all the time.  In fact, if I can't find my toothbrush, that's where I look first.
4. Violet loves when it's time to brush her teeth.  She goes into the drawer and gets her toothbrush herself.  And when she's done, she puts it away, too!  
5. Her newest animal noise is a snake.  She says "ssssssssssssssssss."  
6. Before she learned what a snake says, she learned what a cow says and her "moo" was the most depressing "moo" you ever heard.  It was so cute, I saved a picture of a cow on my iPhone's lock screen because she'd say it every time she saw it.  It never got old.
7. Violet goes through these intense food phases where she cannot get enough of a certain item.  A couple months ago it is was peas.  Last month is was blueberries.  And this month it's broccoli.  One night for dinner she ate like an entire head of broccoli!  (Don't worry, she ate other foods, too.)
8. Her language is exploding.  She's constantly doing her best to imitate words we say.  Some of her words sound like she has a British accent.  Is it bad I'm not trying to correct it?
9. Speaking of language, I am finally "mama"!!!!!!  She's long since said the word, but to her everyone was "dada".  Last week I walked up to her while she was at her bookshelf, and she looked up at me and said, "Hi, Mama!"  My heart melted.
10. She can say and identify where your nose, eyes, and bellybutton are.  I'm nervously waiting for the day she pokes someone's eye out.  I mean, it's bound to happen.
11. Violet loves to go outside soo much.  She will try to escape anytime the door opens.  It doesn't matter if it's freezing or raining, or both.  
12. This kid loves to dance.  There doesn't even have to be music on.  There's music in her heart...and I'm pretty sure it's funk.  
13. Perhaps the most annoying fact about my child is that she's figured out how to take her diapers off.  It's been fun.  (And by fun, I mean not fun.)
14. My daughter is a night owl.  No matter how often I manage to get her bedtime in the 8 o'clock range, she manages to push it back every time.  Luckily daylight's savings time is coming up, which I'm hoping will help.
15. Anytime Violet "reads" a book or magazine with pictures of food, she says, "mmmmmm, mmmmmm, nom, nom, mmmmmmmm."
16. And lastly, she's finally learned how to climb onto the sofa on her own.  As soon as she figure it out, she promptly got down and practiced climbing up again.  This kid...

I'm ashamed to say I didn't meet my February goal of reading Pride and Prejudice.  I have really been enjoying the book, though!  It's even better than the movie, which is my all-time favorite.  Part of why I haven't finished is because I got March's book at the beginning of last month, The Food Baby Way by Vani Hari, and couldn't help but read some.

FLYING SOLO

A couple of weeks ago Jon had to go to Houston for a business trip for a whole week.  It was a long, hard week.  I'm not kidding.  Usually, our days going something like this: Violet wakes up.  We run some errands.  We come home and she takes a nap and I get dinner going.  Violet wakes up and we play, read, and dance.  Then Jon comes home and I'm free!!!! plays with Violet while I finish getting dinner ready.  With Jon away, it was like a super intense 12 hour Wall Street work day times five.  The week was relatively uneventful, smooth sailing even, until Wednesday when one of her dang teeth decided to start coming in.  Then life got much harder.  Violet started developing a runny nose (allergies maybe?), skipping naps, and waking up every couple of hours during the night.

Thankfully, right as I was reaching my breaking point, Jon came back home!  [Insert deep sigh of relief.]

Here's some photos of our not-so-adventerous adventures.

OUR LONG OVERDUE FIRST DATE

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated Jon's 31st birthday and went on our first date since having Violet.  She's 15 months old.  Yikes.  

I know some mom's have no qualms about going out after only a couple of weeks, but I just couldn't.  Maybe it was maternal instinct, maybe it was separation anxiety, maybe it was hormones, but I just didn't want to leave her for very long.  Truthfully, I really couldn't leave V for more than a couple of hours anyway since I didn't pump.  Now that she's eating solids though (except for sleep-related nursing), it's much easier to get away without worrying about her needing me.

So on Jon's birthday, his parents came over to watch Violet while we went out on the town.  We had dinner at John Besh's La Provence, our go-to restaurant for date nights before Violet was born.  And it was nothing short of a religious experience.  For my main dish, I ordered jumbo gulf shrimp & creamy risotto and Jon got their slow cooked Mississippi rabbit.  God, it was good.  I wish our iPhone pictures did the food justice.  Actually, I wish they were scratch and sniff.

It was definitely really nice having a couple of hours to ourselves.  It was mostly nice because I didn't have to hold a baby while eating/rush through a meal in 5 minutes/eat once hot, now cold food.  

And when we got home, it was clear Violet didn't even realize we had been gone.  

15 MONTHS OLD!

Milestones:

Violet is definitely understanding more of what we're saying to her.  I can tell her to go pick out a book to read and she'll go get one, whereas before I might have to point at the books while telling her.  She loves to read and with the weather warming up, I decided to take her to the library a couple of weeks ago for the first time to pick out some books.  She was totally overwhelmed with the urge to pull down all the books from all the shelves.  So, let's just say it was an adventure for both of us.  I did find out they have a storytelling time for her age group on Tuesday mornings we are going to start going to, which I'm excited about.

Violet has also figured out how to climb on some of our chairs, which is surely a milestone in her eyes.  The first time she did it, she just sat up there with the smuggest little smile.  We're definitely going to be in trouble when she can finally climb on the sofa because she literally becomes a wild animal when she's on it.  I do not understand it.

Likes:

Violet loves going outside.  She knows the word "outside" and runs to the front door and practically hangs on it.  I've always taken her for walks in her stroller when the weather is decent, but now she just wants to run and explore on her own more.

Bubble baths.  I introduced Violet to the world of bubble baths a couple weeks ago and bath time is suddenly the event of a lifetime.  Before I would have to chase her around to try peel off her clothes and now she hangs over the tub trying to get in on her own.

Dislikes:

Um, discipline.  I know Violet knows what "no" means.  I know because she tells me no.  I think this is the part of parenting when things get fun and parents of teenagers make comments like, "oh just you wait..."  At least they can take away things from their kids as punishment and they'll understand there are consequences for their actions.  With Violet there's just mutiny, I sternly say "no" or something else equally offensive in her eyes, and then she has some kind of highly dramatic, emotional display of opposition.

Life Now-a-Days:

This past week has been a rough one on the homestead.  Violet's been teething/has a cold.  I can't ever tell if it's one, the other, or if it's both and I'm just that lucky.  Thankfully the roughest patch ended a couple days ago, but her runny nose has still lingered on like an unwelcome houseguest.  She was blowing snot bubbles the size of half dollars---I kid you not.  And she was skipping naps left and right, which made kinda feel like the mayor of Crazytown for a few days there.  So as you can imagine, besides her being a mess, so was I, and the house.

On another note, I finished reading The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson.  And whoa.  If you watch the show, Longmire (which you should if you don't), then just know it's different from the episode.  At the end of the book I was both shocked and saddened.  So, I definitely recommend it if you like mysteries.  I'm going to read the rest of books in series, but next month I decided to finish reading Pride and Prejudice.  I know it might technically be cheating since I said I'd read a book a month and I already started it, but February is kinda cheating because it has fewer days.

BABY-LED WEANING: PART 1

Before Violet was born I had plenty ideas on how I would parent her, some of which fell by the wayside.  One of those ideas would be that I would make all of her pureed baby food.  I am not keen on jarred/bagged baby foods.  Most have been diluted with water, are thickened with some kind of refined starch, and can contain artificial sweeteners and flavors, trans fats, preservatives, and contaminants (think pesticides, bugs, plastic, mold, icky things, etc.)  Also, something about the fact that the food was very likely older than my child just kinda grossed me out.  However, right around when Violet turned 6 months old, my hyperthyroid was in full swing and it left me feeling exhausted all the time, which meant I needed a new game plan.  Enter baby-led weaning!

Violet was exclusively breastfed for her first year and we did baby-led weaning, which just meant that we offered her solids when she showed us she was ready, but always second to breast milk.  By the time she was 12 months old, she was eager to self-wean, but didn't (and still doesn't) have the teeth to really chew food.  I was eager to offer her a variety of foods, but totally clueless on how to serve it.  I'd search Pinterest for ideas, but I always came across these complicated recipes, like fish rice balls and mushroom spinach quiche muffins, that frankly I didn't have the time to make.  I just wanted simple foods that were delicious and nutritious.

I've complied a list of some of the foods I serve her on a regular basis because they're easy and she enjoys them.  Now, does this mean I don't serve her processed food occasionally?  No, I do because that's life.  I have a pretty wicked addiction to Oreo's that I'm just not interested in rehabilitating from.  And I'm not at a place in my life where I wanna make my own pasta and yogurt.  I'd rather sleep in a little later/shower/read/anything else.  But, I do feel at ease knowing what's going into the majority of what my daughter eats.

(From top left...)

1. Steamed Squash.  Sliced and steamed for about 15 minutes.  I put the teensiest amount of salt on it. 
2. Sweet Potato Fries.  Peel and cut into strips.  Toss with olive oil, cinnamon, and brown sugar.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes.  The first time Violet had these, she shoved about ten in her mouth at once. 
3. Peas.  Violet loves peas.  I buy her frozen organic sweet peas and when she sees me put it in the buggy she whines for me to give her some.  On top of that, she loves to eat them frozen!  Sometimes I hand her a little cup of them to keep her busy while I'm preparing a meal for her.
4. Cantaloupe.  So juicy and delicious.
5. Avocado.  A delicious super food.  She eats it off a spoon and when I don't mind it getting in her hair, I give her small cubes of it. 
6. Yogurt.  I like giving Violet Siggi's because it's really low in sugar.  Violet also loves Noosa, which is sweetened with honey and has tons of fruit options.  Her favorites are pineapple and pumpkin.  My favorite is their passion fruit.
7. Blueberries.  They're great for picking up with little fingers and they're a superfood! 
8. Banana.  Violet calls them "nana."  They're perfect for when we're on the go.
9. Raspberries.  They're great because they mush so easily and require little to no teeth!
10. Pears.  Violet gobbles up pears.  There are so many soft varieties and I just cut them into little cubes for her.  

I hope this helps other mamas out!  Feel free to share other ideas and recipes that have worked for you.  And keep an eye out for another post with more on baby led weaning foods and recipes (including some baby/toddler-friendly dinners) that Violet (and the rest of us) eat.

GOODBYE 2014

Happy New Year!  (...even if it is a week late.)

Jon took off two weeks (!!!!!) for the holidays and Monday was his first day back to the salt mines.  We are definitely missing him around the house all day.  Violet's new thing is saying "Hi, Dada!" to everything, which is a constant reminder that he's there while we're here.  [insert sad face]

"Violet, do you want more?"
"Hi, Dada!"

"Look, there's Neil!"
"Hi, Dada!"

With the turning of every page in a book..."Hi, Dada!"

When giving me, HER MOTHER, a hug..."Hi, Dada!"

When saying hello or goodbye to anyone, "Hi, Dada!"

Violet also appears to be going through another Wonder Week  (hip, hip, hooray!).  Wonder Week 65 is right on time!  After weeks of blissfully easy bedtime, Violet is suddenly disinterested in going to bed again.  Violet, the horse is dead, put the stick down!  I might remind y'all that sleep deprivation is a torture technique used on suspected terrorists.  On a positive note though, Wonder Week 65 is nothing like the apocalyptic experience Wonder Week 55 was.

Well, in honor of the passing of 2014, I thought I'd share some sweet photos from last year of our once itty, bitty, little, baby girl.

 

My, how she's grown!

As for myself, I've never been one to make New Year's resolutions, but this year I'm gonna jump on that bandwagon.  I've resolved to read a book a month.  As a former high school English teacher, you'd think I read all the time, but I always feel like there's something else I should be doing---laundry, dishes, the list goes on...  However, if I'm going to be completely honest with myself, too often I could be reading and instead I am a lazy bag of Funyun farts.  So, my first book is The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson.  Wish me luck!