Our favorite toddler must have items are the Kinderville bowls and cups because of the toxin-free way to store and serve your child’s food.  We love them because not only are they toxin-free but you can put them in the dishwasher, microwave and refrigerator…aka super easy AND safe! I was perusing Zulily (daily deals on [...]

Belén is Miss Independent.  We cannot figure out where she gets it.  She is all about the food we are eating and she wants to eat it in the same ways in which we eat it.

Corn cut off of the cob.  BOOO!

Corn on the cob, even if it is not exactly manageable to eat it independently

We have a ways to go before these words are signed or said at will at the appropriate time, but this is progress people!

Belén loves this chili recipe. I have now made two batches which I freeze part of and use for endless amounts of future protein-possessing lunches.

Tonight was the first night I let her feed the chili to herself. Usually I spoon-feed her.

Being the overachiever I am, we are working hard on all six vectors. I used to strive to do things like get my MBA and become a project manager and run a 50K. Now I strive to drink from sippy cups full time. Funny how that is.

Belén likes the Nuby sippy cups we have been using for awhile now, but she doesn’t love them and they most often end up on the floor fairly quickly. This weekend while grocery shopping, I bought two new types of sippy cups at the grocery store, a taller version of the Nuby and a Dora sippy cup with a straw (Amalah and others recommend the straw kind for oral development.)

While all of you are puckering up to your special loved one this Valentine’s Day, Belén would like to point out that puckering is as natural as sunshine.

In fact, puckering is a perfectly instinctual response to banana, peach, raspberry baby food, which is, indeed, is pucker-worthy.

Sunday Andy made guacamole at the worse possible time. I had logged 37 miles of running for the week including six HARD miles earlier that day in an effort to training my body to run tired. Lunch had worn off and I was hungry for dinner. That is when he brought out the crackamole.

I need to come clean. I am a total freak about formula. Why, you may ask? ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD REASON! It is one of those things that I got in my head I wasn’t going to do and haven’t thought much about it since until now when I am only pumping 5-7 oz. at lunch and each day that I do it I have been wondering how much longer I can really keep it up.

Now that she is nearly nine months old almost all food with the exception of milk, honey, eggs and nuts are viable feeding options. We have not explored most of the non-vegetable/fruit options but intend to start doing so. Sunday night we were at Highland Hollow with my parents and we decided to let her try a mushy fry and bite off pieces of a saltine cracker. It was a full-blown feeding adventure. We even dipped the partial fry in catchup. Welcome to American eating culture, Belén.

The best part about beets (besides the nutritional benefits) is the pictures. They look like a baby version of CSI sans creepy bugs.