Time change caught up with Alexa

In her highchair. During breakfast. She's snoring! Seriously, if she was this tired, why did she have to wake us up at 6 a.m. this morning?! Kid needs to learn how to sleep in. Funny thing is that after her 20-minute catnap, she woke up and upon discovering that there was still half a muffin in her hand, proceeded to stuff said muffin in her mouth, along with other items on her tray. As my friend Libby said, "Sometimes you just need to rest up to finish your meal."

Eating can be ... messy! (video)

Especially when you don't use a spoon! The good news: Alexa has taken to feeding herself with gusto! The bad news: She's more interested in whole hand insertion than scooping with a spoon. The result? Messy baby, messy high chair, messy floor, messy everything! But it sure looks like fun, huh?

Want to see for yourself? Put a bib on and get ready for a MESS!

Waffles and Walking!

Alexa likes waffles, and we liked brunch last month at North End Beach Grill, so off we went! Alexa had fun playing with plastic spoons and fake keys until the food arrived. Then she went to town on my waffles! Yum, yum!

After breakfast, Alexa walked off the calories with a little exercise... And gave Mommy lots of hugs and giggles!

She also bonded with Mema over art... Sort of. We gave her a wet paint brush, hoping that she would enjoy "painting" a piece of cardboard. The wet strokes turn the cardboard a darker color. But all she wanted to do was practice walking and play with fake oranges. Oh well, maybe next time!

Click on photos to enlarge!

One more picture... Our little Alexa at the rest stop... Look how small she is compared to her Daddy!

Alexa LOVES Challah! Yes she does!

Grandma E took the train down today for a visit, so we picked up some yummy Challah and lit the Shabbat candles. What a wonderful way to start the weekend! Alexa, as you might recall, LOVES Challah! She ate hers, grabbed at ours and had a ball. What a cutie!

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Sand! Ocean! Water ice! Cats & Dogs! Oh my!

With a hot day expected, we headed to the beach early, at 9:30 am! Luckily, we had several umbrellas to keep Alexa shaded!

Cousin Samantha and Aunt Missy were in town for a visit and had fun playing with Alexa, who especially liked playing with her bath cups, a bottle of sunscreen and Aunt Missy's hat! 

Unlike our last visit, Alexa didn't shy away from the sand. In fact, she got plenty dirty and proceeded to get sand everywhere! And unlike our last visit, when the ocean waves upset her, this time she LOVED the ocean! The cold water shocked her at first, but then she was all smiles as she sat on my lap waiting for the waves. No pictures of the ocean, unfortunately, since I was busy playing with Alexa!

After a brief nap in my arms, we headed to Brown's for lunch, followed by some water ice! Alexa LOVED the water ice! She'll be a beach babe in no time...

After washing off all the sand, Alexa joined us for a wine and cheese happy hour. Well, not so much the wine and cheese. But she sure enjoyed the Ritz crackers! She also enjoyed Vicky the dog... When we first arrived, she started crying when the dog came over. But she eventually got over her fear and in fact started crawling after (chasing) the cat and reaching out to touch the dog! What a weekend of firsts for Alexa!

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Peas! Peas! Peas! And Carrots.

On the recommendation of a mom friend, we got some frozen peas and carrots to heat up for Alexa to try! She seemed interested, but then spit them out! Arg. She did the same with couscous! New textures appear to be a bit of a challenge... She did seem to be more attracted to the GREEN peas than the boring orange carrots...

Food, glorious food!

We have been on a food adventure with Alexa! We are trying to get her ready to eat table food by the time she is 1, which is coming up soon. So we are introducing a variety of finger foods to get her used to new tastes and textures. Up this week: Egg yolks, avocado, bananas and peaches!

Here is Alexa trying the egg yolks. Babies aren't supposed to have the whites until they reach 1 because it often causes allergic reactions. So I hard boiled the eggs and let her try the yolk. It crumbled a lot, which made it hard for her to eat. It was also a very weird texture for her. I ended up mashing it up and mixing it into a jar of veggies to add texture and allow her to taste it and get the nutritional benefit.

Next, we tried avocado, which is supposed to be an excellent food for babies. Unfortunately, the avocado was not as soft as I would have liked, so it was hard to mash. I plan to try this one again, hopefully, with a more ripe avocado! Several of my mom friends report that their babies LOVE mashed avocado.

The biggest hit so far has been bananas! She LOVES them! She is definitely partial to fruit, as is common with babies. They love sweet stuff. We try to offer her vegetables and meat first, then give her fruit for desert. The bananas were a big hit, both raw like this and also frozen and served in the mesh bags. Go bananas!

And, finally, here is Alexa having fun with peaches! Daddy sliced some up for her. She's already had pureed peaches, but this was the first time she tried it fresh. She made some funny faces, but after she got a taste, she liked it!

Alexa loves eating ribs at Merle's!

Once in Chicago, we realized how hungry we were! Luckily, we met up with my friends who were about to dive into a feast of ribs at Merle's! After eating most of the meat on the bones, I gave a couple to Alexa to suck on. She loved them! We also gave her a few pieces of mac & cheese, which she sort of liked. She ate her baby food as well, but we are trying to get her ready to eat table foods!

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Alexa loves Challah!

I've joined a group for non-Jewish mothers raising Jewish children called Mother's Circle at the 6th & I Temple so that I can learn about the traditions, values and food associated with the Jewish heritage. At our first meeting, we made Shabbat candle holders and practiced the Shabbat blessings. So I got some Challah and we celebrated Shabbat together as a family!

As you can see, Alexa especially enjoyed the Challah! At first, Alexa wanted to eat the whole thing. Then Daddy showed her how to pull off a piece. She then proceeded to suck on her piece of Challah all dinner long! We did too. It was yummy!

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Eating watermelon can be MESSY!

On our walk back form the BBQ joint last weekend, we stopped at a Farmer's Market and bought a watermelon and some peaches! Here is Alexa trying out the watermelon... At first, she was like, WHAT is this? Then when I held it to her mouth so she could taste it, she seemed to like it. And when I put it in a mesh bag she could hold, she really liked it! Watermelon is kind of slippery, yo.

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Alexa loves eating food!

Dinner tonight: One 4 oz. jar of Chicken & Mango Risotto form Earth's Best. One 4 oz. tub of applesauce. A handful of Sweet Potato Puffs. Earth's Best teething biscuit. A few Yogurt Melts.

She ate it all! And she had a great time doing so! Alexa really loves the Puffs because she is able to feed herself. She just grabs a handful and tries to get as many as she can in her mouth. It's the throw spaghetti on the wall technique. At least one will make it in her mouth. Score!

Oh, in case you are following her diet... This week chicken is NEW! Her first meat!

And one more thing... If you look carefully, you can sort of see her two bottom teeth! They are just coming in, so they are only barely visible. Click on the photo to enlarge!

Alexa loves her new snack! (Plus, teeth are on the way!)

THIS is a great idea! It's a snack pop for babies that has netting so you can fill it with frozen fruit and let them eat/suck on it without worrying that small pieces will break off and choke them. We tried it out for the first time this past weekend and Alexa LOVED it!

We have been giving it to her with banana or cantalope in it as dessert after she finishes dinner. She can't seem to get enough of it! It's also great for teething!

Because guess what... ALEXA IS GETTING TEETH! We just glimpsed them for the first time on Monday night. You can't see them very well because they have just barely broken through, but she'll soon have two pearly whites on the bottom!

Busy day, lots of photos! (video)

We woke up on Saturday to a happy baby ready to play! Mommy and Daddy had fun laughing with our little doll. And how cute is this outfit? Answer: So cute!

After our pretty baby got tired of playing with us, we turned to several new toys, courtesy of family and friends: A drum that lights up when you touch it, a cell phone (what every girl needs!) and, of course, a baby doll!

Finally, when all toys failed, it was time to eat lunch! Alexa looks mighty tiny in this high chair, but she ate like a giant! She even tried sucking on a bagel, which she appeared to enjoy. Click HERE to watch our little darling having her lunch. (In case you are wondering, she is eating prunes & oatmeal from Earth's Best.)

After Alexa ate lunch, it was time for Mommy & Daddy to eat lunch too! So off we went to the Ritz Diner... Alexa's first time at the Ritz! She sat in a high chair like a big girl and played with her toys. Yay!

For desert, we met up with Daddy's friend Brian and his baby Jason for some ice cream! We even let the babies in on the fun: They got to try some plain frozen yogurt. After making a face, Alexa seemed to enjoy it and soon could not eat it fast enough! I think that means it's time to introduce yogurt to her meals!

And finally, after ice cream, we proceeded to the park for a nice walk and swing time. Grandma E met us at the park. Do you think we took enough pictures of our darling little cutie pie?

Another great day with Miss A!

Today, Miss Alexa got all dressed up and we headed out to Virginia to check out Aunt Chimmy's new townhouse. Alexa loved it! Tons of new carpet space to crawl on and TONS of moving boxes to pull up on! Aunt Chimmy baked a delicious brunch and we had a nice meal while Alexa played on the floor. She then ate some applesauce and played some more! Then slept as we drove home. What an easy baby! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera battery so we have no pictures.

When we got home, we went for a walk and I tried out my Moby carrier with Alexa facing out. She loved it! So much to look at!

For dinner, she had Carrots & Tomato in her high chair! Because... Earlier today, Alexa managed to GET OUT of her Bumbo chair! So, we decided to move her into her high chair, which was a gift from Aunt Jen, Aunt Kelly & Uncle Ben (thanks, guys!) It still seems a bit big for her, but she's slowly getting used to it!

Another great day with Grandma E!

Alexa woke up happy, and she was even happier when she got to practice pulling herself up! Look at that smile. What a cutie pie!

She continued the smiles as she downed her breakfast. Yum! She LOVES her teething biscuit, by the way. It's her new favorite thing.

Finally, we headed to Alexa's swim class! Alexa was still not sure what to make of all the water. But this is a great way to get used to it. That way, she'll be right at home in the pool when we visit Grandpa Tom and Grandma Lil!

After swim class, Grandma E and Alexa had a girls night while Mommy went to a baby shower and wedding reception. It was nice to get away, but I missed my Alexa!

Our good little eater!

Alexa has really taken to food. At first, she didn't eat much and a lot of it came back out! It seems like over the past month, she's really started to get it. And to have favorites!

She has now finished the veggie started pack (carrots, sweet potatoes & peas) and fruit starter pack (pears, apple & banana). We just started her on Apple-Butternut Squash, and she loves it! Here she is after downing an entire 4 oz jar of it! Then she had some oatmeal... and peas...

Later on, Daddy fed her dinner and she ate a 4 oz jar of Sweet Potatoes, followed by ANOTHER 4 oz jar of Pears! Wow! In addition, we are experimenting with some finger foods. She tried some banana fruit puffs, which she's still not sure about. And, she had her first teething biscuit! See below. She LOVED it! (Note expression below right when I tried to take it away! Ha!)

Photos above taken at a mom's group brunch! Here are all of us moms with our babies and husbands at the brunch. It was great to see everyone!

Gear Note: Waterproof bibs that can be wiped clean, and that have a pocket at the bottom to catch things are the best for feeding. I really like the DexBaby bib that Alexa is wearing in the top photo. I also like these JJ Cole bibs and these Bumpkins bibs.

Alexa's first vegetable... Carrots!!

Yum, carrots!! Momma loves carrots, Daddy loves carrots, so we decided to see if Alexa likes carrots too! Granted, Alexa didn't get to enjoy crunching on carrot sticks or dipping them into hummus, which I like to do. But she did get a taste of them in a very liquid state...

Here is Alexa, all excited to try her first vegetable!!

Yum, carrots!!

Hmmm, I'm not so sure about this... Carrots??

Update: We fed carrots again to Alexa on Sunday and she ate a whole tablespoon! She then washed it down with water. What a good girl!

I am reading a book called Super Baby Food, which was recommended by one of the women in my mom's group. I don't know if I will be whipping up any homemade baby food, but I certainly can do some things, like mash up fresh bananas or avocados.

The book has gotten us thinking about the foods we give Alexa... We have decided to start with organic foods. So we got a 1st Foods Starter Kit-Vegetable with carrots, peas and sweet potato that we started on right away, per her doctor's recommendation.

We also got a 1st Foods Starter Kit-Fruit with banana, pears and apples for Alexa to try next. Both are from Earth's Best, an organic baby food company. We also got some organic rice cereal and oatmeal. Yum, organic!

Here is one last food shot... Alexa eating rice cereal on Friday!