Liquid Smoke

Sometimes JJ makes me laugh so hard. A few days ago I was making a puree for Finn and JJ said he would finish up the steaming. It was edamame and he let the water all evaporate and the whole bottom of the pan burned.

The following day, he was feeding Finn the puree and took a bite himself. He looked at me and in total seriousness said, "Did you put liquid smoke in this?"

I just started laughing so hard. He honestly hadn't remembered that he totally added the smoke taste himself :)

Very Funny

I just spent the last two hours reading this blog and laughing so hard:

www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com

Ah, so funny!

A "Sweet and Sour" Day for Me

Yesterday after Finn's morning nap (which turned out to be his only nap) we headed to the hospital to visit Miss Maggie. We ate at the YUMMY OHSU cafeteria and I had a sweet and sour chicken tempura which was excellent, like everything else I've eaten there this last week.

After eating, we headed up to the NICU for some snuggles with the babe. She's doing great: cooing, eating like a champ and is now intervention free. It's so wonderful that she is doing so much better and it was fun to finally hold her! They are going to keep observing her and she has a few little tests to pass, but hopefully will be heading home early this week.

After visiting, we headed to The Yellow House to hang out with JJ's family. We tried to put Finn down for an afternoon nap (no dice...he had cousins to play with!) so we took the kids to the park:

We then spent the evening playing a couple different games with James and Staci while the kids played and then watched a movie after Finn went to sleep. We also ate Chinese food and what did I have...sweet and sour chicken (which was completely different than what I have for lunch, but made me laugh when I realized I had doubled up).

Feeding Himself

Finn's diet is now at, I'd estimate, 90% finger foods. He still gets 2 ounces of prune puree in the morning (that's a must to keep the little guy's digestive system intact) and I've been giving him spinach puree for dinner because it's such a healthy green that he really enjoys and I don't think he could chew it up quite yet, although I may try soon.

He is just so very happy feeding himself and I am so very happy to be able to make dinner while he's having a snack or unload the dishwasher while he's eating breakfast. He hasn't mastered the sippy cup quite yet, so he still requires some help from Mama at mealtimes, but other than that, he's on his own. (Don't worry, I don't leave the room. I know he could totally choke if I do.)

The only downside is the mess and man, can that kid make a mess. Because we don't use a traditional highchair, there is nothing to catch the fallers so the food gets all over my house. I actually found some under a chair in our living room the other day.

It's all worth it though. My goal from the beginning has been that by the time he turns one, I'm pretty much not feeding him at all, besides nursing. I can't believe he turns one in NINE WEEKS! That's just beyond my comprehension!

Finger Foods

We are definitely moving away from purees with Finn. He will still eat them, but he is much happier feeding himself. The problem is I feel like most of the finger foods that we serve him are borderline junk. I mean we don't feed him candy or french fries or anything like that, but the majority of soft finger foods are carb based: cheerios, soft granola bars, rice, noodles, etc.

So lately I've been on a hunt for healthy finger foods. About a week ago I started giving him organic canned beans and sweet peas. I also give him chopped up peaches and mangoes. Today I decided to chop and steam some crunchier fruits and veggies for him to eat on his own. I made carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips and apples. I think he's going to enjoy them!

Mac N' Cheese

I wonder why I don't feel so bad eating Mac N' Cheese when it's in the shell shape instead of the elbow shape? Like it's better for me or something. I am eating Annie's, so at least it's organic, right?

My Bad

Finn is so active! I'm sure he is just a typical nine and a half month old boy, but some days he just wears me out. He gets into everything and right now his biggest joy is dumping things out: our bedroom drawers, all the cookbooks, the pots and pans, etc. I feel like I walk around all day cleaning up one mess after another. I'm really not complaining. He is so cute and always so happy. But I feel like I'm constantly saying "No, no, no." I do not want to be that mom that is constantly telling her kid "no" so I'm working on ways to say "yes." I'm trying to distract him and get him involved in safer and less messy activities and sometimes to just ignore the behaviors I don't love, even if that means my kitchen is a room full of empty drawers. My parents always said that their parenting strategy was to find ways to say "yes" so I'm practicing now in the littlest ways in hopes that it becomes a habit for when we have to start dealing with the big things.

11:11 on 1/1/11

JJ came in and took a picture of me during my last evening snuggle-feed with Finn!

Farewell 2010

2010 was easily the year that brought the most change to our lives. JJ and I welcomed our amazing Finn and life as we knew it will never be the same.

We started out the year like this, just the two of us (with Finn growing inside me):

As the year went on, it became more and more obvious that a baby was about to join our family:

Then, on March 19, we welcomed Finn Tokola Avison:

And now here we are, loving our active, chatty nine month old, who gets into everything, but still gives the best snuggles around:

We are so looking forward to 2011 and all the fun it will bring!